Testifying in the Spice case, former Podravka Supervisory Board chair Mladen Vedris said on Monday the body he was at the helm of in March 2007 had been informed of a strategic competitor, namely the possibility of a hostile takeover of the Koprivnica-based food company.
Although he originally said that this was discussed only at meetings of managers, Vedris said during the cross examination that former Managing Board president Darko Marinac informed the Supervisory Board on 29 March 2007 of the strategic competitor which wanted to get its hands on Podravka.
The accused in the case are: former deputy prime minister Damir Polancec, former Podravka executives Darko Marinac, Zdravko Sestak, Josip Pavlovic and Sasa Romac, owner of the Split-based SMS company Srdjan Mladinic, Fima Group co-owner Milan Horvat, and lawyer Zoran Markovic.
They are charged with attempt to take over Podravka with the company's own money, whereby they defrauded it of 400 million kuna (53 million euros). The accused claim that they were defending the company from a hostile takeover.
Vedris, who was at the helm of Podravka's Supervisory Board from June 2006 to May 2008, first said that "a hostile takeover" was discussed only "hypothetically" at workshops at which managers were trained how act in complex business situations. He said that as the head of the body in charge of supervising business activities, he was not aware of the so-called option deal between Podravka and the Varazdin-based Fimi company.
During the cross-examination, however, after he was presented with minutes from the sessions, Vedris confirmed that Marinac informed the Supervisory Board about everything.
Vedris arrived at the helm of the Podravka Supervisory Board at Marinac's invitation, after Privredna Banka director Bozo Prka vacated the position.
Vedris said he left Podravka after he was done with restructuring the company.
