Prime Minister insists on standard procedure despite warnings that contamination could spread through groundwater. Remediation cost estimates rise to €125 million.
The remediation of the illegal hazardous waste dump in Gospić will not proceed through emergency channels. Prime Minister Andrej Plenković confirmed on Saturday that the project, valued at over €100 million, will be carried out through the standard public procurement process, which could take months, despite the Faculty of Geology's expert assessment warning of the risk of contamination spreading through groundwater.
"That's too much money for someone to directly contract with a single company or in any other way outside the usual procedures for such a large amount. That's not how it's done," Plenković said at the Neretva boat marathon, assuring that the relevant authorities have the situation under control.
According to estimates from the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund, the public procurement tender may not be announced until October 2026. Before that, the Fund must prepare an expert assessment of the best remediation model, which will be decided by the Management Board, followed by another presentation to the interested public in Lika. The final decision, given the high cost, will be made by the Government.
Deputy Director of the Fund, Mirko Budiša, stated that remediation costs could reach €125 million. In Croatia, high-value public procurements rarely take less than six months, mainly due to bidder sensitivity and frequent complaints.
Gospić Mayor Darko Milinović made it clear that after the release of the Faculty of Geology's findings, all political responsibility rests with Plenković. "The Faculty of Geology's report clearly states that further contamination depends on the speed of remediation. From the release of that report onward, the further development of the situation and political responsibility rest solely with the Prime Minister," said Milinović.
He also dismissed accusations from MOST's Zvonimir Troskot regarding the involvement of Gospić's Komunalac company in the hazardous waste business. "The only contract Komunalac signed with the company Tipos Resurs was one for selling paper to the Šinceks, and that contract was signed before my mayoral term. Komunalac never procured any services from that company," Milinović claims. He also announced that if urgent remediation does not begin, he will personally come to Zagreb and call on Gospić residents to protest.
Zvonimir Troskot warns of the seriousness of the situation and demands the declaration of an environmental crisis state of emergency for Lika and the northern coast. "These are chemicals known as 'forever chemicals' because once they enter the ecosystem, they cannot be removed," said Troskot, referring to the high concentration of PFAS chemicals revealed by findings from a Berlin laboratory.
These findings were privately obtained by Dr. Mirjana Vrkljan Radošević with the help of the Lika diaspora in Germany. Troskot sees elements of national treason and a threat to national security in the entire case, citing reports from the Security and Intelligence Agency (SOA) that have warned in recent years of the danger of organized crime in waste management.
Declaring a state of emergency would entail suspending part of the public procurement rules and allowing remediation through direct negotiation, but the Prime Minister currently rejects that option.
In the background of the whole story is the fact that Plenković has not yet proposed a replacement for former Chief State Inspector Andrija Mikulić, who was arrested eight months ago. USKOK's investigation, which also swept up the Šincek couple at the end of last year, is still ongoing, and party insiders speculate that they are waiting for its final scope before appointing a new head of the State Inspectorate.
Troskot has announced filing criminal complaints against Prime Minister Plenković, former Chief State Inspector Mikulić, Environment Minister Marija Vučković, the Environmental Protection Fund, the State Inspectorate, and local authorities, believing they are all responsible for the environmental damage caused.
