ZAGREB (Croatia), October 17 (SeeNews) – Croatia's central bank, HNB, and financial regulator, HANFA, are responsible for the crisis in the country's ailing concern Agrokor, according to state property minister Goran Maric.
"Here we see the institutional failure of the two regulatory bodies which had to find ways and instruments to prevent a threat to the financial system of Croatia," Maric said during a news programme aired by public broadcaster HRT late on Monday.
"It is the responsibility of both of these institutions when a few dozen or twenty-something billion kuna of bills of exchange show up without coverage in the financial system," Maric said.
He concluded that it is evident HANFA and HNB have not been doing their job properly.
On Monday, Croatia's interior ministry said that criminal charges will be filed against 12 people detained by police as part of a probe of suspected abuse of trust in business operations, forging of official documents and failure to keep business records in Agrokor.
Croatian news agency Hina reported early on Tuesday that the first group of suspects in Agrokor case are being questioned.
Media have been speculating that the arrested persons may turn on Agrokor's owner Ivica Todoric and his two sons, who avoided arrests on Monday. The interior ministry said that the three of them 'are unavailable', following reports that they are in London.