Croatian public broadcasting company hit by scandal

Croatian broadcaster HRT (Hrvatska Radiotelevizija) hit the headlines this week as it  was discovered that CEO Goran R. failed to report the ownership of a  hotel on the Bohin Lake in Slovenia, Zagreb daily Jutarnji List reported, July 5.

Goran R. declined to resign his position and accused “politicians, interest groups and journalists of conspiracy against the public service,” Jutarnji reported.

Some of the journalists walked out of  the  press conference during Goran R.’s statement.

“Today is the day when we say enough is enough,”Goran R. said  and added that “he earned his property in an honorable way.”

The Conflict of Interest Committee concluded that Goran R. was obliged to report all assets, including the Slovenian property . It was found that he broke the law for not bringing in his property card in due time, as prescribed by the Croatian tax office. The suspect allegedly filed his property card at a later time, but it did not include his Slovenian property.

Goran R.’s Slovenian company bought the hotel in 2003 for EUR 650 000 from the current governing Social-Democratic party of Croatia (SDP) led by current Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic, which inherited the real estate from the former Croatian Communist Union  (CCU) after the breakup of Yugoslavia, according to Croatian media.

Goran R. is the owner of Nauta, a company whose clients market themselves on HRT. He is also a member of the supervisory board of the Croatian subsidiary of Austrian Hypo Alpe Adria bank.