Troskot: State-owned energy companies used as "golden cows" for years

Parliamentary representative Zvonimir Troskot said on Monday that state-owned energy companies have been used as golden cows for years to extract money through various donations and marketing activities, and said that such a practice must stop.

“The Croatian Electric Company, HEP, must deal with energy. State-owned companies must invest in energy production and energy system security, and not in projects that have nothing to do with their core business,” the representative said at a press conference.

He stressed that all marketing activities in state-owned companies such as HEP and JANAF should be abolished, explaining that through such activities public money ends up in private interests, including the real estate of directors and former presidents of HEP's board.

According to him, this happens either directly, as in the case of former HEP president Frane Barbarić, or indirectly through various intermediaries and financial arrangements, such as those connected to debt collection agencies, among which he mentioned the example of EOS Matrix.

“HEP controls around 92 percent of the market. In such a situation, there is no justification for public money to go into marketing, donations or political campaigns. That money must be directed towards energy,” said Zvonimir Troskot.

He claims that through the system of donations and marketing activities, money has been extracted from state-owned companies for years for projects that are not related to their core business. “The question arises as to who decides who to finance, in what way and according to what criteria. When state-owned companies have significant funds at their disposal through donations, the public must have clear answers to these questions,” he stressed.

As an example of the consequences of such management of funds, he cited the situation at the Senj hydroelectric power plant, where a turbine failure resulted in a loss of electricity production for months. The money that ended up in donations should have ended up in energy projects, at the Senj hydroelectric power plant or in the construction of new production capacities. Instead, around 80 million euros in the last eight years ended up in donations,” said MP Troskot.

Source: HRT