The Croatian Parliament is debating the new Law on strategic stockpiles, which are created to ensure the basic supply of the population in times of war or imminent threat, in the event of major natural disasters and ecological disasters.
The law is the opposition MPs met the knife. Secretary of State Ivo Milatić the representatives asked if it is normal for the Directorate for Commodity Supplies to purchase 75,000 tons of corn at a price higher than the market price, and that from a veterinary site that is not “in the business” of trading grains.
According to the media, the stocks estimated the purchase value at HRK 230 million without VAT, so it follows that the state is ready to pay HRK 3.06 for a kilogram of corn, while the average price is HRK 2.40.
State Secretary Milatić rejected the possibility that this procurement is a possible new affair. He repeated several times that the tender for the purchase of corn was made according to the law and that it will be completed as such, and explained how the price was formed.
When the tender was conducted, the market price was “extracted” from the official Market Information System (TISUP), manipulative costs were added to it, and thus the price for the tender was formed, he explained.
“The fact that five or six days after the announcement of the tender, ships from Ukraine were released and all the stock exchanges reacted by falling prices, that’s another pair of plinths,” he said and emphasized that, according to informal information, it was only about Croatian corn and that the opposition representatives asked what will happen if they repeat the tender now, and the price of corn on the stock exchange goes wild and rises.
“The history of commodity stocks is characterized by numerous scandals”
On the eve of the debate on the aforementioned law, the opposition asserted that the history of commodity stocks, that is, its Directorate, is characterized by numerous scandals, from the Đakovo case and the disappearance of grain, to the fact that two years ago, after the Petrin earthquake, there were no blankets, containers, or bags in stock. for sleep.
And we asked the representative of the Workers’ Front those very questions Katarina Peović who told N1 that State Secretary Milatić instructed the deputies in Orwellian language that what is according to the law, even if it is not in favor of the social majority, is considered good.
“And on the other hand, any reaction by the rulers to protect society or stop spending public money in some corrupt models is unnecessary, as long as everything is according to the law. They believe that they have washed their hands of the law and that they do not intend to do anything about it,” says MP Peović.
“The representatives have been warning all morning that a company will make money at an illogical and non-market competitive price, but the ruling party is not too concerned about that. They care that everything is according to the law and that their responsibility ended there,” says Peović.
When asked whether the Law predicted who would control the consumption of goods stocks, considering the earlier scandals, the representative says that the ruling party is not overly concerned about it.
“A crisis is possible from all sides. We had an epidemic, now there is a war, an economic crisis, but the government does not care how they will protect the citizens of Croatia. They are only interested in drafting a law that will follow the letter of European laws. But our laws only resemble European ones, and then we are surprised that in an earthquake situation there is a lack of basic necessities”, says Peović and adds that nothing will change with this new law.
“What good are laws to us if they are not the same for everyone?”
The representative of the Homeland Movement thinks similarly Danijel Spajićone of the three representatives, a member of the Council for Commodities.
Spajić tells N1 that the rulers have started looting again and reminds that the Veterinary Station is purchasing goods.
“The problem in Croatia is not the laws, but the fact that the laws are not enforced at all and that the laws are not the same for everyone,” says Spajić, who recalls that Croatia was robbed by law and that no one has ever been held accountable for anything or returned the money to the budget.
“What good are European laws or any new laws when no one acts according to them, when the law always allows cronies to continue the robbery for which they will never be held accountable,” believes Spajić.
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