Former prime minister rejects corruption allegations

BELGRADE Former Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic has said that he does not fear the arrest because he knows he is not guilty. He told Belgrade-based weekly NIN in an interview that he was "not the Serbian version of (Ivo) Sanader - the disgraced former Croatian prime minister put on trial on corruption charges. Former prime minister rejects corruption allegations “I do not think I am the Serbian Sanader but if they are after blood, anything is possible. They are talking about millions of euros and I am not a wealthy man. I once bought up a state-owned apartment for DEM 2,000 or 3,000, a 40-square-meter apartment my parents gave me and my mother lives there now and I have a family house where I live with my wife. That is all I have,” Cvetkovic noted. Even though he has hired a lawyer, the former PM said he still had not been questioned about any case and that he did not fear the arrest because he knew he was not guilty. When asked if he expected to be arrested, he said that he did not, “if there is the rule of law in Serbia”. “But you never know. If you look at all the affairs they pinned on me, it is obvious I am the target. They mention me as a culprit for (Smederevo-based steel mill) Sartid that was not even sold by the Privatization Agency, then for Jugoremedija that was privatized in 2002 and I came to the helm of the agency in 2003. This means that they are not investigating the case and finding a perpetrator, they are investigating an individual and they are trying to frame them,” Cvetkovic was quoted as saying. He underscored that he had been officially relieved of all his duties in CES Mecon consulting company two or three years before he came to the Agency and that CES Mecon owner Zvonimir Nikezic's son Dusan Nikezic was one of the best young economists. The former PM also said that only three of four contracts worth much less than EUR 5mn had been signed with CES Mecon while he was running the Privatization Agency. When asked how many of 24 controversial privatizations had been done while he was in charge of the Agency, Cvetkovic said it was not easy to explain because it was not the sale that was always problematic. According to him, the majority of the controversial privatizations referred to failure to fulfill contractual obligations. “I can only be suspected of the sale itself. When you look at the controversial privatizations, six or seven of them refer to transactions and I think there is not a single one in which I was involved,” he said. The former PM said there was realistic danger of combat against corruption turning into a fight against political opponents. “Is there anyone who is accused that is not from the Democratic Party (DS),” he wondered and added that it was not true that the former government had been deaf to corruption “bearing in mind that the biggest number of the proceedings, including cases of Agrobanka and drug lord Darko Saric were launched during mandate of the previous government”. “I think it will be very ugly for the state if it turns out that (former Environment and Spatial Planning Minister) Oliver Dulic is not guilty and he was indicted and there is also a question what will happen with (former Agriculture Minister) Sasa Dragin, their lives have been ruined,” he said. Dragin and Zvonimir Nikezic were arrested for abuse of office and illegal sale of mineral fertilizers. The former prime minister, however, said that he could not guarantee that the ministers in his government were not guilty but that he could not accuse anyone in advance either. He stressed that he had not known about current PM Ivica Dacic’s contacts with member of Saric’s gang Rodoljub Radulovic while he was the prime minister and that he had learnt about it in the media. According to Cvetkovic, such information was not mentioned at meetings of the Council for National Security. He assessed that Dacic was in a “very uncomfortable” position and that he would “freeze” his mandate for two or three months until the investigation was completed and appoint someone else from the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) to perform the duties of the prime minister because “an unbiased investigation against someone who is still a prime minister is not possible”. Mirko Cvetkovic (Tanjug, file) NIN Tanjug

Former prime minister rejects corruption allegations

“I do not think I am the Serbian Sanader but if they are after blood, anything is possible. They are talking about millions of euros and I am not a wealthy man. I once bought up a state-owned apartment for DEM 2,000 or 3,000, a 40-square-meter apartment my parents gave me and my mother lives there now and I have a family house where I live with my wife. That is all I have,” Cvetković noted.

Even though he has hired a lawyer, the former PM said he still had not been questioned about any case and that he did not fear the arrest because he knew he was not guilty.

When asked if he expected to be arrested, he said that he did not, “if there is the rule of law in Serbia”.

“But you never know. If you look at all the affairs they pinned on me, it is obvious I am the target. They mention me as a culprit for (Smederevo-based steel mill) Sartid that was not even sold by the Privatization Agency, then for Jugoremedija that was privatized in 2002 and I came to the helm of the agency in 2003. This means that they are not investigating the case and finding a perpetrator, they are investigating an individual and they are trying to frame them,” Cvetković was quoted as saying.

He underscored that he had been officially relieved of all his duties in CES Mecon consulting company two or three years before he came to the Agency and that CES Mecon owner Zvonimir Nikezić's son Dušan Nikezić was one of the best young economists.

The former PM also said that only three of four contracts worth much less than EUR 5mn had been signed with CES Mecon while he was running the Privatization Agency.

When asked how many of 24 controversial privatizations had been done while he was in charge of the Agency, Cvetković said it was not easy to explain because it was not the sale that was always problematic. According to him, the majority of the controversial privatizations referred to failure to fulfill contractual obligations.

“I can only be suspected of the sale itself. When you look at the controversial privatizations, six or seven of them refer to transactions and I think there is not a single one in which I was involved,” he said.

The former PM said there was realistic danger of combat against corruption turning into a fight against political opponents.

“Is there anyone who is accused that is not from the Democratic Party (DS),” he wondered and added that it was not true that the former government had been deaf to corruption “bearing in mind that the biggest number of the proceedings, including cases of Agrobanka and drug lord Darko Šarić were launched during mandate of the previous government”.

“I think it will be very ugly for the state if it turns out that (former Environment and Spatial Planning Minister) Oliver Dulić is not guilty and he was indicted and there is also a question what will happen with (former Agriculture Minister) Saša Dragin, their lives have been ruined,” he said.

Dragin and Zvonimir Nikezić were arrested for abuse of office and illegal sale of mineral fertilizers.

The former prime minister, however, said that he could not guarantee that the ministers in his government were not guilty but that he could not accuse anyone in advance either.

He stressed that he had not known about current PM Ivica Dačić’s contacts with member of Šarić’s gang Rodoljub Radulović while he was the prime minister and that he had learnt about it in the media.

According to Cvetković, such information was not mentioned at meetings of the Council for National Security.

He assessed that Dačić was in a “very uncomfortable” position and that he would “freeze” his mandate for two or three months until the investigation was completed and appoint someone else from the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) to perform the duties of the prime minister because “an unbiased investigation against someone who is still a prime minister is not possible”.