Damir Vandjelic has been appointed as acting director of the Zagreb Reconstruction Fund because he is a manager and he has made it clear that he is willing to declare his assets transparently, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said in the parliament on Tuesday.

The statement was made in response to a question by Social Democrat MP Sinisa Hajdas Doncic who wanted to know if Vandjelic, who until recently had been the CEO of an insurance company and was now a member of its supervisory board, could now be in charge of the reconstruction fund’s assets and if this was a possible conflict of interest.

“The insurance company in question has probably had transactions with citizens regarding insurance against earthquake; isn’t that a potential conflict of interest?” asked Hajdas Doncic.

Vandjelic was selected because he is a manager, Plenkovic said, recalling that the fund’s director was not responsible for contractual relationships between an insurance company and citizens who had insured their property before the earthquake.

Plenkovic also stressed that since his appointment Vandjelic had made it clear that he was willing to declare his property transparently to the Conflict of Interest Commission even though he is not not an office-holder and did not have to do so.

Bridge MP Marin Miletic asked Justice and Public Administration Minister Ivan Malenica why the staged conduct of enforcement proceedings was not regulated by a law but by informal recommendations that are not binding on anyone.

The situation on the ground is such that a growing number of creditors and public notaries are not complying with your recommendations, said Miletic.

The minister said that the chamber of public notaries had given a clear guarantee that enforcements would be conducted in three stages and that he had received assurances that public notaries were acting accordingly.

The minister stressed that by having amended the Distraint Act the government was continuing to take care of both debtors and creditors.

The adoption of that law and the relevant rules will significantly reduce costs for public notaries, protect certain types of income like Christmas and Easter bonuses, holiday bonuses… I believe that the problem of citizens whose assets have been seized will be resolved with the amended Distraint Act and a new law on debt enforcement, said Malenica.