The former minister is waiting for two years in prison

The Zagreb County Court sentenced former Croatian Regional Development and EU funds to two years in prison today Gabriela Žalac for abuse of position and powers and influence trading. The judgment is part of the agreement with the former minister, who pleaded guilty, said the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).

Žalac was a minister in government Andrei Plenkovic between 2016 and 2019. The indictment against it was filed by the EPPO, which Žalac accused abuse of office and powers and influence trading.

The same criminal offenses were also accused by the former director of the Croatian Central Agency for the Financing and Contract EU programs (SAF) and two entrepreneurs. Criminal proceedings against the Trinity are still ongoing.

According to the indictment in 2017, Žalac launched a public procurement procedure for the information system and entrepreneurs by adapting the requirements of the tender to provide a privileged position. At the same time, she unjustifiably raised the estimated value of the contract and decided to carry out the negotiating procedure without a public tender.

In the end, she decided to buy the system at a significantly higher price than the price of the market at the time for the production of such systems. The ministry then paid € 1.73 million for the system instead of € 265,000, such as the real price on the market.

According to the EPPO, the estimated damage to the European Union budget is at least one million euros, and the estimated damage to the Croatian state budget is almost € 300,000.

Today’s judgment is the result of the agreement, as the former minister has pleaded guilty to the allegations, the EPPO said today. Prior to the signing of the agreement, it paid € 200,000 as partial reimbursement of the damage, which does not exclude the right of the injured parties to claim compensation for remaining damage.