However, the next hearing, originally set for Tuesday, was delayed until October 22 to give experts from the Zagreb Faculty of Transport and Traffic Engineering time to examine the bids.

The witness Milan Vrbanc, a former stand-in member of the original commission for the purchase of trucks, told the Zagreb County Court that the commission had considered the bids and found that the prices were higher than the funds available, but that the commission did not adopt any formal conclusions.

Vrbanc said that he had been responsible for the technical part of the procurement procedure, adding that he had attended four commission meetings.

The witness said that the minimum required carrying capacity was 5,000 kilograms. Responding to questions from officials from the national anti-corruption office USKOK, he said he did not know that the Defence Ministry's Logistics Department had requested trucks with a carrying capacity of between 4,000 and 5,000 kilograms.

Vrbanc said that the Armed Forces had tested MAN, Iveco and Mercedes trucks. USKOK objected to this statement, but the defence claimed there was evidence to show that Iveco trucks had also been tested, but that USKOK had been focused solely on MAN and Mercedes vehicles.

Roncevic and Bacic are charged with defrauding the state budget of 10.2 million kuna (1.4 million euros) by purchasing the trucks through a direct deal with Iveco, whose trucks were more expensive than MAN's.

The defence claims that the MAN trucks did not have the necessary carrying capacity.