February 15 (SeeNews) - The receiver of Croatia's Agrokor, Ante Ramljak, said on Thursday he had made mistakes when hiring consultants to advise on the restructuring of the indebted concern but stressed they can be justified by the urgency of the situation.
Speaking before the parliament's economic committee in a session aired live by HRT broadcaster, Ramljak said that he is ready to face the consequences if lawmakers and the government decide that he has behaved outside the powers entrusted to him under the procedure for emergency administration of Agrokor.
On Thursday, the parliamentary committee questioned the hiring of advisors in the restructuring process in Agrokor after it was revealed that the concern, via its earlier appointed advisor AlixPartners, had hired Texo Management, a former employer of Ramljak, as subcontractor and was paying the company 250,000 ($41,700/33,600 euro) kuna a week for its services.
"Yes, if I were you, I would think that I did this to my own benefit. You sent me to a nuclear power plant that was just about to explode and said "Saint Ante, save us!". But now you ask me how much water I spent on cooling it and how," Ramljak told the committee.
Ramljak stressed that due to the urgency of the situation he had done the best he could at the time. He explained that had everything been done according to the law on public procurement, Agrokor would have been without advisors to this day.
"The procedure wasn't perfect, I admit that. At that moment I made a million mistakes, I admit that too. But why didn't anyone ask me why I did it on April 12, when it was made public that my former colleague was made a consultant?", Ramljak asked.
On April 12 last year the receiver made public a list of advisors and individuals hired in his team of consultants. Agrokor hired AlixPartners under a call for consultants in April.
Earlier this month, Croatia's government said it will probe in detail the documents related to the hiring of advisors in the restructuring of Agrokor concern.
(1 euro=7.43618 kuna)