Tourism Minister Veljko Ostojic has resigned and the presidency of the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) at an extraordinary session which is expected to held in the northern Adriatic town of Pula on Saturday afternoon should, according to unofficial information, discuss its leaving the ruling coalition.
A news conference will be held after the session of the IDS presidency.
The issue was included in the agenda after the media reported that Veljko Ostojic is acquainted with details of the sales contract for the plot of land in Bale municipality in Istria county, whose value had risen from a million kuna to 25 million kuna after urbanisation and that his sister-in-law, allegedly in his presence, paid for the plot in cash and that she paid more than the amount reported to the Tax Administration, thus damaging the state budget.
According to the media, the former land owner, the Mitton family, sold the land in 2004 to the family of Veljko Ostojic who at that time was a member of the Istria County government. Ostojic's family bought the land for 860,000 kuna, shortly after which the area was urbanised and the price of that plot jumped to 25.6 million kuna.
After talking to Tourism Minister Veljko Ostojic, Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic has accepted his resignation, the Croatian government said in a statement on Saturday.
"The ruling coalition has set high ethical standards for members of the government and it does not plan to back down. we expect the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) to propose a new candidate for the Tourism Minister," the statement said.
