The Ministry of Environmental Protection, Physical Planning and Construction said in a statement on Sunday that Minister "Marina Matulovic Dropulic is not in conflict of interest as the media very incorrectly claim in news about protests against the construction of the Cvjetni Prolaz complex and the ramp in Varsavska Street" in downtown Zagreb.
The statement was issued in response to a media statement that the minister was in conflict of interest since she had a 0.9 per cent stake in the IGH construction company.
The statement underlined that the minister was not in conflict of interest and that the parliamentary commission on conflict of interest had discussed the matter.
The ministry said the mention of Matulovic Dropulic's name was aimed at obfuscating the real problem - that Zagreb's Social Democratic Party-led government did not want to claim responsibility for its actions.
The SDP-led City Assembly adopted changes to the City Zoning Plan that provided for the construction, thus legitimising the permits issued by the City of Zagreb, while the ministry processed the complaints filed against the permits, the statement said, adding that the ministry's decisions were recently upheld by the Administrative Court.
The ministry said the Administrative Court ruling made the development permit final.
The statement recalled that the Building Inspectorate had established that the investor was doing the construction works in line with the permit issued by the city office in charge.
The statement said the inspectorate could not ban legal construction, and that the permits should be discussed with the City Assembly.
More than 150 activists, politicians, lawyers, journalists and citizens were arrested and held in custody on Thursday because of their participation in a peaceful protest against the controversial construction project in the historic centre of Zagreb. They were arrested for offering passive resistance to the continuation of construction on a ramp to a private underground car park in Varsavska Street.
