The Croatian Health Ministry said on Sunday that it was not involved in any way in the procurement of COVID-19 tests whose authenticity is being disputed and that it has not done business with the Buryen company since 1 January 2016.

“We condemn any criminal activity and underline that the Ministry was not involved in any way in the procurement of the tests whose authenticity has been disputed,” the ministry said.

It noted that according to its records, since 1 January 2016 it had not done businesses with the said company, owned by Filip Mihalić, who according to unofficial reports is under investigation on the suspicion of counterfeiting COVID-19 tests.

The ministry also notes that according to pharmaceuticals inspection records, a decision was issued in 2022 banning the Buryen d.o.o. company from importing a shipment of the in vitro diagnostic medical product “Rapid SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Test Card” produced by the Chinese company Xiamen Boson Biotech Co., Ltd., as it could not be proven that during its transport adequate storage conditions as required by the producer were provided.

It also notes that with regard to test validity checks, the Croatian Public Health Institute performs checks in all bigger cases of procurement conducted by the state.

National police director Nikola Milina confirmed to Croatian Radio and Television on Saturday that an investigation had been under way for some time into suspected counterfeiting of COVID-19 tests and that Interpol was involved in it.

According to unofficial reports, the investigation targets Filip Mihalić, former HDZ MP Anđelko Mihalić’s son previously convicted for currency counterfeiting.

The investigation should help determine if some of the counterfeit tests, imported from Turkey, have ended up in commodity stockpiles.