A Deputy Prime Minister and Health and Social Welfare Minister, Darko Milinovic, on Monday refuted claims published by some dailies that he had been questioned by the anti-corruption agency USKOK and that he had made accusations against former health minister Neven Ljubicic and former heath of the Health Institute for Health Insurance Veceslav Berman.
A statement issued by the health ministry, said the ministry is obliged to submit documentation relevant for shedding light on the case in question.
USKOK was unavailable for comment on whether former health minister Ljubicic gave his statement on the Medikol case.
Ljubicic was also unavailable for comment.
According to media reports, an alleged HZZO memo of 5 February 2009 rejected the KBC Rijeka hospital's request for a PET/CT scanner with the explanation that the project, for opening PET/CT scan departments based on the model of public-private partnership, was being implemented by the private polyclinic Medikol.
Reporters also said the HZZO memo stated that Medikol was implementing the project in accordance with a contract with the Health Ministry. Milinovic said last week that those were contracts from 2006 and 2007, when he was not the minister of health, and that further questions should be put to the HZZO.
