Minister of Justice and Administration Ivan Malenica said on Monday that the State Attorney's Office (DORH) has commissioned an expert report, worth HRK 11 million, on the former Agrokor conglomerate from a Polish company, while the court will decide whether this is legal and the cost justified.

“The court in this case decides whether the expert opinion is legal or illegal, justified or unjustified and whether its cost is justified. At the moment there is some speculation in the public about that while in fact it is the court that will give the final decision on the expert opinion, ” Malenica said ahead of a closing conference on the “Land Registry Management” project.

Reporters asked him whether he considered it to be controversial that HRK 11 million was paid from the state budget to the Polish KPMG company to prepare a bookkeeping and audit expert report in the now-defunct Agrokor conglomerate.

Malenica said that this was a question for DORH as a party to the proceedings, which actually requested the expert opinion, while the ministry did not participate in that procedure, but only provided funds at the request of DORH.

He added that it would be inappropriate of him to comment on the expert report because it is solely for the court handling this case to analyse the expert report and the relevant details such as, who prepared the expert report, how and on what basis.

The Večernji List daily reported on Saturday that it is in possession of documents from DORH unequivocally showing that leading DORH officials had illegally spent HRK 11 million of budget money to indict Agrokor’s former owner Ivica Todoric.

The daily reported that on 2 August 2018 the Zagreb County Attorney’s Office issued a request to the Polish company for an expert report. DORH wanted to obtain relevant information about the complicated business deals of the failing conglomerate as proof that Todoric and the other defendants in the case committed an economic crime of breach of trust.

The contract between DORH and KPMG was worth HRK 11 million, including all costs, and the amount was paid from the state budget.

Todorić and 14 co-defendants are suspected of causing about HRK 1.2 billion in damage to Agrokor.