Croatia's USKOK anti-corruption office and the EU's anti-fraud office OLAF are investigating four contracts signed by the Regional Development and EU Funds Ministry with the Omega Software company, with one having been signed by Tomislav Tolusic during his term as minister, says Jutarnji List daily.

The contracts with the company are being probed because the value of the deal with Omega Software, regarding the making and maintenance of the eFondovi system, grew from the initial HRK 4.6 million to close to HRK 32 million.

USKOK spokesman Sergej Abramov has confirmed that a preliminary investigation is underway but the public will not be informed of its findings as actions during preliminary investigations are confidential.

The first contract with Omega Software was signed by then Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Tolusic while the others were signed by former minister Gabrijela Zalac, who has been in custody since mid-November on suspicion of having embezzled, in a case dubbed Software, €1.8 million from the EU and Croatian budgets.

Tolusic has told Jutarnji List that he does not remember the deal with Omega Software because he was Regional Development and EU Funds Minister for a short period of time, and he has also said that nobody has contacted him or inquired about his winery which the media have been speculating about for some time, namely how he acquired it.

After Žalac, one of the contracts with Omega Software was signed with her successor Marko Pavić, and at the time the value of the contracts signed with the company was close to HRK 32 million.

The eFondovi system, made by Omega Software, has been used to sign 4,577 contracts worth HRK 44.2 billion.

The company, whose director is Goran Mihalić, has said that there is nothing disputable about the software and that its price rose to HRK 32 million because eFondovi “is an exceptionally complex system covering integral management of EU funds.”

Incumbent Regional Development and EU Funds Minister Nataša Tramišak said earlier this year that the system did not meet the ministry’s demands, that only one company could apply to a ministry tender, and ordered a new system from the Financial Agency worth HRK 14 million.

Around 450 reports have been filed with OLAF regarding Croatia, and so far around 250 cases have been closed. Not all reports refer to criminal activity, most concern administrative errors or failures, Jutarnji List says.