The Conflict of Interest Commission on Friday decided that Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic should be fined 3,000 kuna (€400) for discrepancies found in his declaration of assets.

Majda Uzelac of the Commission explained that it opened the case against Plenkovic last October when it was detected that he failed to declare that his wife had inherited a third of a property in the village of Makose near Dubrovnik when her father died decades ago. The proceedings were also instigated against Plenkovic for incorrectly stating the allowance his wife received while on maternity leave.

Plenkovic earlier explained in a deposition that his wife had not been aware that she had inherited a third of the property upon the death of her father when she was underage, and therefore he too could not have been aware of that inheritance. However, the Commission states that office-holders must check all the properties that are in their ownership according to public data.

As for the incorrect calculation of his wife’s income in the 2016-18 period, Mrs Maslac-Plenković actually declared a higher income than she received while the maternity leave. She explained that in addition to receiving a maternity allowance that was lower than her salary in the period concerned she also received other income and therefore she did not declare the lower earnings.

The Commission, however, found that office holders are required to declare any change in their income regardless if that change refers to a decrease or to an increase in income.