Sime Lucin, minister of the interior in Croatia's former coalition government led by the late Social Democrat Ivica Racan, repeated on Friday that he wanted light to be shed on all circumstances related to bribes paid by the German car manufacturer Daimler to Croatian government officials, expressing hope that the anti-corruption investigating agency USKOK and the State Prosecutor's Office would establish relevant facts.
"I hope that USKOK and the State Prosecutor's Office, by using international legal assistance or tracing Daimler's money flows, will establish relevant facts and the actual state of affairs. I am very much interested in that, and I hope my colleagues are too, so that my and their names could be cleared," Lucin told Croatian Radio.
Lucin said he regretted the fact that Daimler officials did not name the persons who had taken their bribes.
Top executives of the German automobile giant have admitted to giving bribes to government officials in 22 countries, including Croatia, and a federal court in Washington has fined them US $185 million.
They have admitted, among other things, to having paid, in the period from 2002 to January 2008, around EUR 4.7 million in bribes to Croatian government officials in connection with a EUR 85 million contract from 2003 on the purchase of 210 fire-fighting vehicles by the Croatian Ministry of the Interior.
Along with Ljubo Jurcic, who was Economy Minister in the Racan government, the contract with Daimler was also signed by the then finance and internal affairs ministers, Mato Crkvenac and Sime Lucin.
Former Finance Minister Crkvenac told Hina today that he had never been offered any money by anyone, "nor had anyone dared suggest bribery to me".
"I am aware that we who signed the contract are the most suspicious, as is the entire Racan government, and I am glad that the case is unfolding fast because now money flows can be traced and it can be established how Daimler AG 'exported corruption business' to as many as 22 countries," said Crkvenac.
Crkvenac dismissed any notion of his involvement in the case. When asked whether he suspected Jurcic and Lucin, Crkvenac said: "For God's sake, I don't suspect them either."
Crkvenac noted that the Racan government had been active until 2003. Daimler official Gero Hermann has admitted, with the company management's approval, that Daimler was responsible for bribing Croatian government officials in the period from 2002 to January 2008.
Crkvenac referred investigators and reporters to the Public Procurement Office which he said possessed original documents and bids for the said contract.
Crkvenac said that he did not know anything about Hermann's admission that the bribes paid for the EUR 85 million deal in Croatia amounted to EUR 4.7 million, or about the fact that, according to court documents, bribes for Croatian government officials in the amount of some EUR 3.02 million, were paid through IM Metal, a company from Ozalj, while another EUR 1,673,349 was paid through the US companies Biotop and MRC from Delaware and Wyoming.
When asked if he suspected IM Metal of criminal activity, Crkvenac said he had no knowledge of it whatsoever.
Noting that he was not trying to defend anyone, Crkvenac said it was possible that money had ended up where it should not have ended up, and that the owners or management of IM Metal were not directly involved in it.
A US judge ruled on the basis of a plea agreement that the office of Daimler ETF in Croatia should pay US$29,120,000 in damages for bribery in Croatia.
