The Croatian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee unanimously decided on Wednesday to meet every four months to discuss the sanctions regime against Russia and Belarus.

“Both the members from the ruling coalition and the opposition members unanimously agreed to report every four months on new details and measures undertaken regarding the enforcement of sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus,” Committee Chairman Gari Cappelli told the press after the meeting.

The meeting discussed reports by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the Ministry of Finance on the sanctions regime against Russia and Belarus.

Asked whether the acquisition of shares in the Fortenova retail group by Sheikh Saif Alketbi from the United Arab Emirates was a breach of sanctions, Frano Matusic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, said: “We definitely consider that transaction illegal because it was not carried out as required by the regulation, namely that member states themselves lay down conditions under which assets can be sold.”

“In this case, the assets of (Russian bank) Sberbank could be sold only subject to conditions provided for in the approvals which Croatia gave for that transaction. Since the transaction was not conducted in accordance with the approvals, we consider it illegal and we have notified our EU partners and the competent authorities in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom accordingly,” Matusic said, adding that further steps will depend on what is agreed with other member states.

“There are indications that this is a front, but this matter is being dealt with by some other institutions and I don’t have a mandate to discuss it. I can only say that the transaction did not involve any payments being made from the United Arab Emirates to Russia, but was entirely completed in Moscow, with a loan from Gazprombank, which is also under sanctions,” he said.

Matusic said that the process will continue with Fortenova’s partners in the Netherlands, the UK and the US, which granted loans to the company that was later bought by the sheikh. The acquisition transaction was carried out after 31 October, which is against the Regulation, and the buyer did not have permission for the transfer of ownership, he added.

Matusic said that the change of ownership can be prevented in cooperation with the partners abroad, primarily those in the Netherlands and the UK.

Without naming any names, he said that anyone who is in any way involved in the obstruction of the enforcement of sanctions will be sanctioned.

Matusic said that in preparing future measures account will be taken of how they will affect the Croatian economy “because the aim is not to harm the EU economies but to weaken the economic and military power of the Russian regime and Putin’s associates.”

Sandra Bencic from the Green-Left Bloc, which initiated parliamentary oversight of the enforcement of sanctions against Russia, said they are pleased with the information provided by the state secretaries of the foreign and finance ministries.

She expressed hope the transfer of ownership in Fortenova would not be effected.

“It is certainly not in Croatia’s interest for Russian influence in Fortenova to continue. We hope that with everything the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs has done, including towards the Netherlands, neither the transaction nor the transfer of ownership will be confirmed,” Bencic said.