Cabinet decides to publish highway deal

The government Thursday unanimously backed the move to publish the contents of the Horgos – Pozega highway contract. The initiative came from Infrastructure Minister Velimir Ilic, and called for publication of the contract signed with Alpina FCC in its entirety, including annexes. Cabinet decides to publish highway deal The document is now expected to be posted on the government's website. "The contract will be published on the government's site shortly after the technical preparations for this are completed," Education Minister Zoran Loncar told reporters after the cabinet session, Tanjug said. Loncar explained that this decision was adopted to convince the public that the contract is "fully in the interest of Serbia and its citizens". The decision also means that Ilic will get to keep his job. Namely, the minister announced earlier he would resign from his post unless the deal was made public, using the opportunity to slam his critics, branding them "traitors" who conspired in a campaign to cancel the deal. He told the state television RTS Wednesday that the concession contract for building and maintaining the Horgos-Pozega highway was "impeccable." "The campaign is being led by traitors who sadly exist in Serbia and who the law can do nothing about, people like Kostres and others who systematically do everything they can to destroy everything good in Serbia." "They also include Mrs. Barac, and Misa Barac for that matter, journalists who are veterans of their profession, agronomists, and all those who have something to say about the concessions," added Ilic. He went on to say that he was afraid that the concessionaire would pull out of the deal because of the campaign. "The concessionaire doesn’t want the financial part of the contract made public, while the legal part already has been published. The question is whether the concessionaire wishes to go ahead with the project. They warned me they were a powerful company and this campaign was doing them a lot of damage," Ilic stated. "I will insist on all parts of the contract being made public, even if it costs me my job. If it is not made public, I will resign," he added. President of the Vojvodina Assembly, Bojan Kostres, told B92 that as far as the concession contract was concerned, the public "should not believe a word Ilic says". In his opinion, experts should decide whether or not the contract is "impeccable". Kostres said that Ilic was using the rhetoric of Slobodan Milosevic. "In Serbia, certain people, whenever they want to draw attention away from a subject, start branding their political opponents traitors, and come up with various lies. I ask the question once again: why can’t we see the contract?" President of the Anti-Corruption Council Verica Barac feels that the fact the infrastructure minister is defending the contract so fiercely is proof that he is in fact defending his own narrow party interests. "His reaction says it all – it’s all about his own party interests. That’s why he said he would leave the government and bring it down, if the deal were brought into doubt," said Barac. She added that she did not know "where the Belgrade- Pozega is going". "It [the highway] is only going to western Serbia, Velja Ilic’s political heartland, " she concluded. Job safe: Velimir Ilic during the government session Thursday (FoNet)

Cabinet decides to publish highway deal

The document is now expected to be posted on the government's website.

"The contract will be published on the government's site shortly after the technical preparations for this are completed," Education Minister Zoran Lončar told reporters after the cabinet session, Tanjug said.

Lončar explained that this decision was adopted to convince the public that the contract is "fully in the interest of Serbia and its citizens".

The decision also means that Ilić will get to keep his job.

Namely, the minister announced earlier he would resign from his post unless the deal was made public, using the opportunity to slam his critics, branding them "traitors" who conspired in a campaign to cancel the deal.

He told the state television RTS Wednesday that the concession contract for building and maintaining the Horgoš-Požega highway was "impeccable."

"The campaign is being led by traitors who sadly exist in Serbia and who the law can do nothing about, people like Kostreš and others who systematically do everything they can to destroy everything good in Serbia."

"They also include Mrs. Barać, and Miša Barać for that matter, journalists who are veterans of their profession, agronomists, and all those who have something to say about the concessions," added Ilić.

He went on to say that he was afraid that the concessionaire would pull out of the deal because of the campaign.

"The concessionaire doesn’t want the financial part of the contract made public, while the legal part already has been published. The question is whether the concessionaire wishes to go ahead with the project. They warned me they were a powerful company and this campaign was doing them a lot of damage," Ilić stated.

"I will insist on all parts of the contract being made public, even if it costs me my job. If it is not made public, I will resign," he added.

President of the Vojvodina Assembly, Bojan Kostreš, told B92 that as far as the concession contract was concerned, the public "should not believe a word Ilić says".

In his opinion, experts should decide whether or not the contract is "impeccable".

Kostreš said that Ilić was using the rhetoric of Slobodan Milošević.

"In Serbia, certain people, whenever they want to draw attention away from a subject, start branding their political opponents traitors, and come up with various lies. I ask the question once again: why can’t we see the contract?"

President of the Anti-Corruption Council Verica Barać feels that the fact the infrastructure minister is defending the contract so fiercely is proof that he is in fact defending his own narrow party interests.

"His reaction says it all – it’s all about his own party interests. That’s why he said he would leave the government and bring it down, if the deal were brought into doubt," said Barać.

She added that she did not know "where the Belgrade- Požega is going".

"It [the highway] is only going to western Serbia, Velja Ilić’s political heartland, " she concluded.