IN 1998 and 1999 the Ministry of Defense bought two apartments with a total surface area of 160.55 square meters in the prestigious Nova Ves Street in Zagreb for HRK 2,202,050.30 from the company Ves gradnja, to then sell them to Damir Krsticevic, until recently the Minister of Defense, for only HRK 136,176.10. Although the two apartments have been turned into one two-story apartment, in Krsticevic's financial disclosure form, after the last amendments this year, it is listed as two apartments – the bigger 111.52 square meter apartment is estimated at HRK 1,600,000, and the smaller 50.11 square meter one at HRK 740,000.

Therefore, these days Krsticevic would not give up the apartments that we as taxpayers paid HRK 2,202,050.30 through the Ministry of Defense, and then sold to him for HRK 136,176.10, for less than HRK 2,340,000.

Here is how the story goes.

Back on June 30, 1998, the Ministry of Defense bought a 111 square meter four-room apartment "number 1" from the company Ves gradnja for HRK 1,516,643.00. The apartment is located on the first floor of a building in Nova Ves. The contract specifies that the apartment is "on the left, with an included 14 m2 parking space number 3, and a 2 m2 storage area.

"It was signed by the acting Assistant Minister of Defense Ljubo Cesic Rojs and the Head of the Department for Construction, Major General Marko Kakarigi on behalf of the Ministry of Defense, and by the director Andrija Beljan on behalf of Ves gradnja.

Low price, big apartment

On September 3 of the same year, the Ministry of Defense sold the apartment to Krstičević for HRK 86,645.24. In the contract, the surface area of the apartment is slightly reduced to 109.52 square meters – in the financial disclosure form and in the land registry, the surface area of 112.52 square meters is listed – and the price is reduced dramatically.

"Gifts" for General Krsticevic do not end there.

On November 26, 1999, at the end of Tudjman's regime, the Ministry of Defense, under the leadership of Pavao Miljavac at the time, bought another apartment from Ves gradnja in the same building, namely for HRK 685,407.30. It is a 50.11 square meter one-bedroom apartment, and it is located below Krsticevic's first apartment. The contract for it was signed by Beljan from Ves gradnja, and by Rojs and Colonel Zvonko Knezevic, "acting Head of the Department for Construction and Environmental Protection" instead of Kakarigi on behalf of the Ministry of Defense.

Annexing the 50 square meters

What happened to those 50.11 square meters? They were annexed to Krsticevic's first apartment. However, considering that it was not intended for the Ministry of Defense to sell two apartments to a victim of war at a preferential price, the second apartment was added to the general's property by an annex to the purchase contract of the first apartment.

The annex was concluded with the Ministry of Defense on January 4, 2000, that is, not even a month and a half after the Ministry of Defense bought those 50 square meters.

It is stated in the annex that it was concluded "on the basis of the buyer's request", i.e., on Krsticevic's request, "to amend the purchase contract" for the above apartment number 1 with four rooms - a kitchen, dining room, pantry, bathroom, toilet, hallway, and balcony - namely for HRK 86,645.24, signed on September 3, 1998, and paid "all at once".

It is subsequently stated: "The Contracting Parties agree that the surface area and structure of the apartment were incorrectly calculated when calculating its price, which resulted in a reduction in the said price." In the next article of the Annex, the following is stated: "The Buyer buys, and the seller sells an apartment located in Zagreb, Nova Ves, namely the two-story apartment number 1, the 160.55 square meter ground floor and the 1st floor, consisting of 5 rooms, 2 kitchens, 2 dining rooms, a pantry, a bathroom, a toilet, 2 hallways, and a balcony."

The annex fakes that Krstičević was sold - or, given the price, gifted - one apartment, not two. That is, the square meters on the ground floor, which the Ministry of Defense bought in the meantime, were attached to the general's home by an annex. The Ministry of Defense increased the price slightly and asked for HRK 136,176.10 from Krstičević for a two-story apartment in Nova Ves. Thus, it turns out that 50.11 square meters on the ground floor cost HRK 49,530.86.

The Ministry of Croatian Veterans has no idea about the apartment

We first contacted the Ministry of Croatian Veterans about the situation, but they responded that Damir Krsticevic "did not exercise the right to housing based on the Act on the Rights of Croatian Defenders from the Homeland War and of Members of Their Families, but based on legal provisions not within the competence of the Ministry of Croatian Veterans."

We then contacted the Ministry of Defense with questions about General Krsticevic's housing. We were interested in the regulations based on which he got two apartments, how it was estimated that he needed precisely 160.55 square meters, and how many family members he had when he bought the apartments. The Ministry of Defense replies:

"Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Damir Krsticevic exercised the right to an apartment, and so did other active military personnel of the Croatian Army and the Ministry of Defense, on the basis of the 1998 Ordinance on Housing and based on the consent of the Minister of Defense. The criteria for housing was: the function that Damir Krsticevic served in the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the status of a Croatian veteran of the Homeland War, his disability as a result of injuries from the Homeland War and the number of members of his household. Damir Krsticevic was granted a two-story apartment, not two apartments (the 160 square meter ground floor and the first floor), which was bought in accordance with the Act on the Sale of Apartments with Occupancy Rights and in accordance with the 1995 Decision of the Government of the Republic of Croatia regarding the sale of state apartments managed by the Ministry of Defense."

Gojko Susak's one-page Ordinance

We have requested and received the said Ordinance. More precisely, we were sent the Ordinance on the Amendments to the Ordinance on the Allocation of Apartments and Housing Loans of July 1, 1997, signed by the Minister of Defense of the time, Gojko Šušak. According to the Ordinance, the Ministry of Defense shall grant a single person the right to an apartment with a surface area of 35 square meters, a two-member family the right to 45 square meters, a three-member family the right to 60 square meters, a four-member family the right to 70, a five-member family the right to 80, and for each additional family member the right to an additional ten square meters.

The general, that is, the admiral, shall have the right to an apartment at least 30 square meters larger than the above surface areas, according to Susak's Ordinance consisting of only two articles.

The Ministry of Defense did not answer how many household members Krsticevic had at the time of housing. It only states that he acquired the right to an additional 50.11 square meters when he had a child. "Major General Damir Krsticevic was Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces at the time, and he also has the status of a Croatian war-invalid from the Homeland War, and on that basis, he is entitled to an apartment," the Ministry of Defense reports.