MPs Mirela Ahmetovic (SDP) and Ursa Raukar-Gamulin (Mozemo) from the Parliamentary Committee on Information, Computerisation and the Media called for a thematic session on Thursday to discuss the contract between Croatian Radiotelevision (HRT) and the government, which they believe is illegal.

The two MPs said the session should be held to obtain an explanation from HRT director Robert Sveb about “the cheating on the contract”

Raukar-Gamulin warned that in its report to the government on the operation of HRT in 2022, the HRT Supervisory Board had presented a table showing a loss, in violation of the HRT Act, adding that the report had been doctored on its way from the Supervisory Board to the government.

Raukar-Gamulin: HRT’s contract with the government is illegal

“Someone has changed the contract for the operation of HRT in 2022, which was approved by the Supervisory Board. Considering that according to the HRT statute, losses cannot be shown in financial plans and projections, HRT’s contract with the government is illegal,” she said.

Regarding the part of the report that refers to the audit of the operation of the company Ro.Ba.Go, in which Sveb was involved before he was appointed HRT General Director, as well as HRT’s business cooperation with the company Croatel, Ahmetovic said that HRT did not spend the funds in accordance with the Public Procurement Act.

“An audit has shown that the funds were not spent in accordance with the Public Procurement Act. The HRT Supervisory Board is obliged to monitor HRT’s operations and compliance with the law, which did not happen in this case,” she said, wondering why the Supervisory Board did not use its powers and initiate the procedure to replace Sveb.

Ahmetovic: The Supervisory Board did not fulfil its task

Ahmetovic also referred to a report on an audit of HRT’s business relations with Croatel in a contract worth around 1 million euros, for which no proper public procurement procedure had been carried out.

“What else does the Supervisory Board need to start its work and initiate the procedure for replacing the director in accordance with the HRT Act?” Ahmetovic said, adding that the HRT Supervisory Board was not doing its job.

The two MPs concluded that not only Sveb, but also the HRT Supervisory Board should be replaced.