USK has opened a probe against the mayor of Orasje, Viktor Simunic, and three other suspects over allegations of favouring companies that secured contracts for the 2024 Advent in Orasje. The contracts in question are worth €46,116, and the probe also covers two companies that secured the work.
Alongside Simunic, the suspects include the director of the local tourist board, Maja Šijan, as well as entrepreneurs Roman Rogovic and Tomislav Cak. USK is accusing them of trading in influence, inciting trading in influence, abuse of position and authority, and aiding in the abuse of position and authority. The probe was launched following a special report by the USK.
According to a statement from USK, Simunic, in his capacity as mayor and president of the local tourist board, agreed with two entrepreneurs that their companies would receive contracts related to the 2024 Advent. Investigators allege that he used his position to instruct the director of the tourist board to engage these companies without following the standard procedure for simple procurement.
The company Pagodrom, led by Tomislav Cak, was awarded a contract for the rental of an ice rink valued at €27,500. The company Woodmood Zagorje, linked to Roman Rogovic, was engaged to provide the rental of Advent stalls and festival equipment, for which €18,616 was agreed. According to investigators, Cak submitted a quote for the ice rink rental, which was accepted by Maja Šian on the orders of the mayor and subsequently a contract was signed. Šian only requested quotes from other companies after the contract had been signed, a move that, investigators allege, created the appearance of a standard procurement process.
According to USK, Šian had previously received details of the number and dimensions of the stalls that the tourist board would rent from Rogovic's company. Based on these details, she published public calls for the use of the stalls, although the rental had not yet been formally contracted. Only after the contract with the users of the stalls was signed did she request a quote from Rogovic's company, for which she issued a purchase order for €18,616.
Sim was questioned by USK on Monday, 12 October, after which he dismissed any responsibility. In a statement to Index, he stated that he had never received money for work carried out by private companies in the area of Orasje, and that he considered the move to be a vendetta following his public warnings about the spending of money in sports associations. On the same day, Šian was also questioned. According to unofficial information from the portal Ni Zagorje, Šian told investigators that it was Sim who had ordered her to accept the quote from Rogovic's company. Her lawyer, Vladimir Teres, did not wish to comment on the details of the statement, but stated that his client had told the truth and described how the contracting of the work had taken place.
The police, at the request of USK, searched Sim's home and office on 10 June, as well as the home of the director of the tourist board, seizing documents and electronic devices. The searches followed complaints from a group of local councillors who had warned of possible favouritism towards private companies during the organisation of Advent. Sim, as president of the local tourist board, had signed a document on the supervision of its operations for 2024, in which it was concluded that the activities and decisions of the tourist board were in line with legal requirements. The operations of the tourist board are now the subject of a USK probe.
The launch of the probe means that investigators suspect the commission of criminal offences, but the guilt of the suspects has not yet been established by a final court decision. The Advent in Orasje 2024 was organised by the local authority and the local tourist board, which is headed by Sim.
