Interior Minister Davor Bozinovic confirmed on Thursday that the police have contacted the Croatian State Attorney's Office (DORH) regarding the sale of Fortenova shares, saying that they can also initiate activities based on publicly available headlines.

“On the basis of what is available from public and other sources, in coordination with the DORH, the Interior Ministry will see if and when circumstances arise that would require the further engagement of those two institutions,” Minister Bozinovic said after the cabinet meeting when asked by reporters about Fortenova.

“On the basis of all indications, which can be reported and open sources, the prosecution can start certain activities. This would not be the first time for that. It would not be a precedent to initiate certain actions on the basis of what can be read and heard in the public,” Bozinovic said, but did not want to comment on what DORH or any other institution should do.

He also pointed out that at the stage when the Council for the Implementation of Sanctions is in session and they are collecting all the necessary information, no information can be disclosed.

Regarding a statement by Deputy Prime Minister Tomo Medved that circumstances have arisen for the DORH to act ex officio, Minister Bozinovic said that he had probably spoken based on the facts and practice that existed in Croatia in numerous other cases, when certain actions should be initiated based on newspaper articles.

“Based on what they know, the police addressed the DORH in a way, and they may have responded; I don’t know,” Bozinovic replied to reporters, explaining that the police and DORH coordinate activities in most cases in such a way that DORH can issue orders to the police even in the investigation phase.

“I don’t know what the police told DORH. I think this is a topic around which all competent institutions should sit down and see what and how,” he pointed out.

Bozinovic added that, as far as he knows, the police were guided by what other Croatian institutions knew when the issue became public.

When asked whether the Arab investor to whom Sberbank sold its share in Fortenova is coming to Croatia and whether there will be meetings in the government, Bozinovic repeated that he did not know and that there were many things that needed to be investigated and clarified.

When asked if the government had received the Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) report on Fortenova, he said that the SOA regularly reports to top state officials and institutions about what it is responsible for, about everything they have come up with.

When reporters insisted on whether he had received information from the SOA, he answered that he had, but added that he could not reveal anything.