The parliamentary opposition met again in Parliament House on Wednesday to discuss further activities regarding the Ina gas resale scandal and request reports on gas trading, saying that the National Council for Monitoring the Implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy would discuss Ina.

After the scandal with the resale of gas in Ina broke, members of parliament of 11 parliamentary groups agreed on joint action regarding the scandal, holding regular meetings to ensure that the topic is put on the parliament’s agenda.

Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Pedja Grbin said that the opposition had agreed it would again demand an answer as to how Croatian gas was traded and whether it was true that gas was sold for peanuts while other Croatian companies paid much more for it.

“The ruling coalition does not want to answer this question,” Grbin said, adding that the opposition would officially submit a request for a response. He said that “it is up to Gordan Jandrokovic and Andrej Plenkovic to decide if they will delay a response or whether we will finally clarify this issue.”

Tomorrow, the SDP caucus will submit an amendment to the VAT Act, requesting that VAT on electricity be reduced during the energy crisis because many citizens do not have access to other energy sources for heating. We also have to help citizens in Dalmatia who have been omitted from the government’s measures, Grbin said.

Nikola Grmoja (Most party) said the opposition had agreed on several activities to “warn about the robbery of epic proportions that occurred in Ina and find a way to bring to the public’s attention that corruption is not happening only in that company but in all of our state-owned companies.” That is why the opposition will collect signatures for the Croatian Energy Regulatory Agency (HERA) to submit a report to the parliament and ensure a debate on it, he said.

We agreed that the Anti-Corruption Council will discuss the issue of corruption not only in Ina but in all our public companies and we will invite people who have certain knowledge about INA as well as those who are being accused of the situation in Ina, said Grmoja, adding that he was referring to “former Minister of Economy Tomislav Coric, incumbent Economy Minister Davor Filipovic, as well as Ina’s management and supervisory board members.”

Grmoja announced that his party would propose a tax relief package for citizens, proposing that the income tax rate be reduced from 20% to 15%, that the non-taxable part of the wage be increased to HRK 5,000 and for VAT on electricity to be reduced to 5%.

He underscored that additional subsidies for entrepreneurs and trades due to energy price hikes are needed, as is assistance to pensioners and a uniform child allowance.

Davorko Vidovic (Social Democrats) reiterated that they will use all the mechanisms provided by the Standing Orders to have the issue of corruption, clientelism and the way the country is governed discussed. “Without an anti-corruption revolution, we simply cannot move forward as a country,” he said.

Anka Mrak-Taritas (GLAS party) noted that a session of the parliamentary committee on the economy had been called for Friday, when HERA and the Croatian energy market operator HROTE would submit a report on Ina’s gas operations. “We want to get answers at that session, and we want Ina, the gas problem and everything else to be discussed at the plenary session as well,” she said.