Zagreb Commercial Court rejected an appeal by Construction Minister Ivan Paladina who was seeking 67.5 million kuna (€9 million) for his 10 percent share in the Kupari resort project from a Singapore hotel group which has offered a settlement amount of 5.3 million kuna (€700,000).

In its reasoning, the court noted that Paladina’s 10 percent share is indeed worth 5.3 million kuna, or nearly 13 times less than Paladina asked for it.

The ruling was delivered following the main hearing at the end of April when an authorised court expert presented two options regarding the estimate of the minister’s share. “One option noted 20 million kuna and the other noted 5.3 million kuna, which is the amount the Singapore co-owner is prepared to pay,” state agency Hina said, without clarifying.

“My client, the HPL Singapore company, which holds a 90-percent share in Kupari Luxury Hotels d.o.o., are satisfied with the court’s decision. They believe that after the ongoing procedure only the court could deliver such a decision,” attorney Fran Olujic told Hina.

Vladimir Batarelo from the BDV company that is representing Paladina said that he was surprised by the court’s decision. “We weren’t expecting this ruling because in a certain way it deviates from existing practice by the High Commercial Court,” Batarelo said. Hina did not clarify his statement.

When he was appointed minister in March 2022, “Paladina transferred his management rights and assured the media that he would not participate in any way in the Kupari project,” Hina reported, without saying who did he transfer his management rights to.

(€1 = 7.53 kuna)