"It's a fact that there are great interests and certain pressure, but such is my job. I accepted it knowing what I was getting into. I haven't come here to complain about threats, but to do my job," Zmajlovic said in an interview with Croatian Radio.

The minister said this was motivating him even more to deal with problems at hand and set different rules that needed to be observed by all, regardless of consequences.

"As far as, let's say, the mob is concerned, in all branches of the economy there are various anomalies that have not been dealt with. It's not up to me to investigate that now. It's a matter for the police and other institutions. My job is to set clear rules of the game," he said.

Zmajlovic said he would not want to generalise and say that everyone dealing with waste management was a mobster making money illegally, stressing that he wanted to ensure a functioning waste management system.

Spokeswoman for the Ministry of Environment and Nature Protection Dijana Susac told the media that the minister stood by everything he had said in the interview with Croatian Radio.

Zmajlovic's predecessor Mirela Holy has said she too was threatened while serving as environment minister.