Natasha Srdoc on Illicit Financial Outflows From Croatia Between 2001 - 2010

Natasha Srdoc, Chairman of the Adriatic Institute for Public Policy, talks on Croatia's national television HRT 3 about country's illicit outflows between 2001 and 2010. (HRT Dnevnik 3, 26/10/2013) Source: Dnevnik 3 – Hrvatska Radio Televizija

transcript:

HRT:

Our guest tonight is Natasha Srdoč, co-founder of Adriatic Institute for public policy. Good evening.

Natasha Srdoč:
Good evening Siniša to you and to your viewers.

HRT:

Your institute had calculated that from 2001 to 2010 from Croatia was stolen $15 billion dollars. How did you come up with that information?

Nataša Srdoč:

That's right. That is an analysis which was made by the Global Financial Integrity, an organization centered in Washington DC. We now have a strategic partner, GFI, with which we will make an analysis of flows starting from 1991 until today. This is information for the period of 2001 – 2010. That on average had amounted to $1.5 billion dollars a year from Croatia through crime, corruption, and tax evasion, which is actually 25% of GDP measured in 2011. Actually, to put it into a ratio so that the viewers can better understand, these days it is being mentioned that the finance minister Linić will go to United States of America to acquire some one to two billion dollars of debt. That is how much money leaves the country every year. Which means that that same money which we do not need, we are taking on debt on that same amount which is fleeing the country and our taxes are raised on debt which we have no need for.

HRT:

Which affairs have yet to be cleared? Until when are we going to wallow in the mud?

Nataša Srdoč:

Yes. There certainly needs to be resolved the affair of Hypo Alpe Adria Bank. There is a very large number of accounts there which are known to have ended up at Hypo Alpe branch in Liechtenstein. For example, Lichtenstein has changed its laws under the pressure from America, because they saw that Lichtenstein used offshore structures to hide taxes and actually allow U.S. citizens to avoid not only paying taxes but also to delay court orders and creditors. In that sense this kind of pressure was created so that Liechtenstein now had to open the books to other countries, where a country may request the names of their citizens and amounts that are held in accounts in Liechtenstein.

HRT:

Are there any Croatians there?

Nataša Srdoč:

There are for sure. There are for sure, because Hypo Alpe Adria was actually taken over from the prince family.

HRT:

Understood. Apart from this scandal are there other...

Nataša Srdoč:

There are all sorts, Brodosplit which isn't resolved, and then Daimler Chrysler. Daimler Chrysler had paid $195 million dollars fine to the United States of America because of bribing of officials in Eastern Europe. That includes Croatia. So it was concluded that Chrysler had paid a bribe to government officials in Croatia, but we have yet to find out to whom and how much. That money should be returned ...

HRT:
One sentence for the end: how to return back the lost money? Are there any instruments in existence for that?

Nataša Srdoč:

Yes, they exist. What needs to be done is to ask the countries, especially now from Liechtenstein, Austria, and other countries, the names and amounts of money on these accounts of Croatian citizens. There especially needs to be made sure, in all these scandals which we are now following, that the property be seized, meaning that all those politicians and their relatives say, partners, ...

HRT:

Alright, this is done automatically now, USKOK (Croatia's Bureau for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime) sits on the property, blocking it, ...

Nataša Srdoč:

Well actually it is not being done. It is not being done because of what? It is not done because of the search for the evidence of the criminal act, meaning the act of corruption. There should be no need for evidence of act of corruption, but simply pure fact that someone owns property beyond their (economic) capabilities is enough for it to be seized. And if it can't be proven that it was acquired in a legal manner, it can be sold and deposited to Croatian treasury.

HRT:

Thank you very much for coming on our news program.

Nataša Srdoč:

Thank you very much Siniša.