Former prime minister Ivo Sanader on Tuesday denied suspicions that he had abused his office and received a bribe from the owner of the Dioki petrochemical company, Robert Jezic. He would not say whether he was expecting another indictment against him.
"I'm not expecting anything," Sanader briefly told reporters after an hour-long interview with investigators from the national anti-corruption office USKOK.
His lawyer Jadranka Slokovic said that Sanader had denied all allegations in the investigation order against him and that he had drawn attention to "certain discrepancies." She would not elaborate, adding that she could not discuss details of the case with the press.
Sanader, Jezic, former HEP power company CEO Ivan Mravak and former HEP Supply director Ivan Mrljak are suspected of having arranged the sale of electricity to Dioki at lower prices, whereby the state-owned company HEP was defrauded of 6.3 million kuna (840,000 euros). Mravak is also suspected of granting a 15 million kuna (2 million euros) loan to Dioki's affiliates without the approval of the HEP board.
The investigation has widened to include accusations that Sanader and Jezic attempted to acquire an unlawful gain of 10 million euros for Dioki at the expense of the state-owned oil pipeline operator JANAF.
USKOK suspects that from November 2008 to June 2009 Sanader used his position as prime minister to effect as soon as possible the sale of construction land with an oil storage terminal in a Zagreb suburb for at least 28 million euros and under conditions set by Jezic. The price was 10 million euros higher than the actual price at which the land was eventually sold to JANAF. The initial deal was not signed because JANAF executives rejected Sanader's request aware that in that way they would have defrauded a state company.
Sanader also allegedly received a bribe from Jezic in the form of a bulletproof BMW car worth 4.2 million kuna (560,000 euros) for favouring his company.
