Damir Polančec (born 25 June 1967) is a Croatian politician who served as Minister of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship from 2008 to 2009, and as Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia from 2005 to 2009, in the cabinets of two prime ministers,

Ivo Sanader Ivo Sanader (; born 8 June 1953) is a Croatian former politician who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2003 to 2009. He is currently serving a 18-year prison sentence for corruption in Lipovica penitentiary. Sanader is to date the second ...

and

Jadranka Kosor Jadranka Kosor (; born 1 July 1953) is a Croatian politician and former journalist who served as Prime Minister of Croatia from 2009 to 2011, having taken office following the sudden resignation of her predecessor Ivo Sanader. Kosor was the List ...

. On 30 October 2009, Polančec resigned citing a need to avoid damaging the Government and the party due to accusations leveled at him for his involvement in the mismanagement of Podravka. On 30 March 2010, Polančec was apprehended by the police and questioned by

USKOK The Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (), better known as USKOK, is a body of the Croatian criminal justice system, attached to the State's Attorney Office and specializing in investigations related to corruption and ...

, regarding his involvement in certain financial transactions between Podravka,

MOL Group MOL Plc. (), also known as MOL Group, is a Hungarian Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. Members of MOL Group include among others the Croatian and Slovak former ...

and

OTP Bank OTP Bank Group is the largest commercial bank of Hungary and one of the largest independent financial service providers in Central and Eastern Europe, with banking services for private individuals and corporate clients. The OTP Group comprises su ...

. The County Court in Zagreb authorized a longer detention for Polančec and also blocked his estates, at the request of USKOK. On 15 October 2010, Polančec was sentenced to 15 months in prison for a separate instance of abuse of power, where he approved a fictional expense to a Vukovar-based attorney in return for his clients dropping lawsuits against the government.

References

1967 births Croatian Democratic Union politicians Living people People from Koprivnica Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb alumni Economy ministers of Croatia Economy of Koprivnica Croatian politicians convicted of corruption Deputy prime ministers of Croatia {{Croatia-politician-stub