Croatia's anti-corruption investigators Uskok on Monday issued an indictment against a former CEO of the state-owned oil pipeline company Janaf, Dragan Kovacevic, two former directors in that company, and four businessmen on suspicion that they committed bribery and rigged tenders.

One of the suspects is businessman Kreso Petek charged with having given over HRK 6 million in bribes to Kovačević in exchange for steering lucrative contracts between the public company and Petek’s business.

USKOK did not reveal the identities of the seven suspects whom it charges with bribery schemes and illegal favouritism in public procurement.

Petek is suspected of having paid bribes to Kovačević, and JANAF executives Vlado Zoric and Damir Vrbanc in installments from July 2019 to September 2020 in exchange for rigged tenders in favour of his company in the amount of HRK 64.4 million.

Thus, Kovačević received HRK 6.2 million, Zorić HRK 550,000 and Vrbanc HRK 600,000 for those murky dealings.

One of the suspects is Ivan Širić whose IT company was awarded a HRK 18.2 million and he provided Kovačević with two flats in Zagreb and Split and a Alfa Romeo Giulietta car in exchange for that contract.

One of the indictees is businessman Edo Seifried who was also implicated in the bribery scheme and rigged tender processes.

Vatroslav Sablić, another suspects, is believed to have incited Vrbanc to award to his IT company a HRK 5.86 million deal in a rigged tender process.

(€1 = HRK 7.52)