One more member of food maker Podravka's supervisory board, Damir Felak, told the Zagreb County Court on Tuesday that the possibility of a hostile takeover of the Koprivnica-based company had been discussed a number of times, although it was never officially on the agenda.
Felak, who left the board in early 2009, was testifying in a trial for a graft case dubbed Spice. He recalled that one of the defendants, former Podravka executive Darko Marinac, had said that a number of companies were interested in Podravka's stock.
Several supervisory board members have mentioned the hostile takeover so far, but only Marko Hecimovic, who represented small shareholders on the board, has said the matter was discussed at official meetings as well.
The defendants in the Spice case are accused of trying to take over Podravka with its own money. They claim they were defending it from a hostile takeover.
Felak said he had also been acquainted with an option agreement between Podravka and the Fima company from Varazdin, whereby Podravka acquired the right to buy its own stock, but added he had not known about a loan given to the SMS company from Split whose owner, Srdjan Mladinic, is a defendant in this case.
According to the anti-corruption office USKOK, Podravka was defrauded of HRK 400 million (approx. 53.3 million euros). The defendants are former Deputy Prime Minister Polancec, former Podravka executives Marinac, Zdravko Sestak, Josip Pavlovic and Sasa Romac, Mladinic, Fima co-owner Milan Horvat, and attorney Zoran Markovic.
Apart from conspiracy, they are accused of abuse of office, aiding and abetting as well as inciting the abuse, and illegal brokerage.
The trial resumes on Wednesday.
