The CEO of the Slavonski Brod-based company Djuro Djakovic - Specijalna Vozila, Bartol Jerkovic, told media on Wednesday that he would ensure full access to all documents relating to the 2007 purchase of 84 armoured fighting vehicles from the Finnish company Patria, as that was in the interests of the contracting parties -- the Croatian Ministry of Defence and the Djuro Djakovic-Patria consortium.
Jerkovic made the statement after the police confirmed that they had begun a criminal investigation into allegations that Patria had offered bribes in Croatia.
Jerkovic said that the Finnish armoured fighting vehicle was much cheaper and performed much better in tests than other bidders, and that Patria had offered a better off-set programme.
After the signing of the sales contract in 2007, based on the transfer of technology, the Croatian company set up a serial production of three vehicles a month, which in the first quarter of this year was to be increased to four vehicles a month, according to Jerkovic.
Former defence minister Berislav Roncevic signed the contract on behalf of the Croatian Ministry of Defence.
The scandal broke when the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation said there were suspicions that Patria had given bribes to Croatian government officials and decision-makers to win a contract for the sale of 84 armoured vehicles, worth 112 million euros, to the Croatian military.
Former Croatian president Stjepan Mesic said on Tuesday that the purchase of the vehicles from Patria was a very good deal, but confirmed that a person from Croatia had made a failed attempt to approach Patria, offering a more favourable deal after the contract had been signed.
Finnish authorities have opened an investigation into suspected corruption in Croatia after Patria allegedly bribed politicians in Slovenia in 2006 in concluding a deal worth 280 million euros. Former Slovenian prime minister Janez Jansa, former defence minister Karl Erjavec and former army commander Albin Gutman are under investigation in Slovenia.
