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While the Parliamentary Committee Meets in Gospić, Dnevno.hr Reveals How the Dodić Couple Logistically and Politically Connected the Šinceks with the Top of the State Inspectorate.
While the Parliamentary Committee Meets in Gospić, Dnevno.hr Reveals How the Dodić Couple Logistically and Politically Connected the Šinceks with the Top of the State Inspectorate.
The environmental and corruption scandal in Gospić, which became a major national topic after the publication of the Geotechnical Faculty's expert findings, has gained a new dimension. While the 32nd session of the Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Nature Protection is being held in the city today, an analysis by Dnevno.hr points to a surname that has been almost entirely absent from discussions so far: Dodić.
At the heart of the story about the illegal disposal of hazardous waste have so far been former Chief State Inspector Andrija Mikulić and the married couple Josip and Monika Šincek, who imported waste from Italy and Slovenia through their company Tipos Resurs. However, it was precisely the married couple Paško and Franciska Dodić who played a crucial role in connecting the operators with the top of the State Inspectorate.
Paško Dodić, a well-known Zagreb goldsmith, owns land in a quarry near Benkovac. At that location, without any waste management permits, part of the shredded hazardous industrial and medical material was disposed of. According to information from the investigation, it was he who introduced Šincek to Mikulić, thereby opening the doors to an inspection that for years tolerated thousands of truckloads of waste.
USKOK already accuses Franciska Dodić of closely cooperating with Mrs. Šincek in coordinating workers and truck transport of hazardous waste from Europe. She participated in a circular system of issuing invoices through related companies, creating a false impression of lawful operations. It is suspected that she personally earned around €120,000 from these administrative machinations.
While the Šinceks worked with excavators and waste-shredding machines, the Dodić couple built a network of infrastructure, securing connections, plots of land, and the paperwork to legitimize the business. It remains to be seen how USKOK will assess their involvement in light of the latest findings.
The expert report by the Geotechnical Faculty, published by USKOK in over 350 pages, confirmed that the location of the industrial complex in Bilajska Street in Gospić has turned into an environmental time bomb. In the groundwater downstream from the landfill, PFAS compounds were detected at a concentration of 200.5 nanograms per liter, which is twice the permissible level for drinking water.
At a depth of about three meters, the waste is so mixed with the soil that it can no longer be mechanically separated. The site contains 37,000 tons of hazardous waste. Representatives of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund offered two remediation options: temporary encapsulation at a cost of €2 to €3 million, or complete removal of the contaminated material, which would cost up to €125 million.
Today, the 32nd session of the Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Nature Protection is being held in Gospić, starting at 4 PM at the Cultural and Information Center Gospić. The meeting was initially scheduled for August 14 but was postponed.
Before the session, Most will hold a press conference, and at 3:30 PM, a joint statement by the opposition is announced in front of the Cultural and Information Center.
Among the key figures in the political debate are the Committee's chairwoman Dušica Radojčić from the Možemo party, her party colleague Sandra Benčić, SDP president Siniša Hajdaš Dončić with former minister Mihael Zmajlović, Most's MP Zvonimir Troskot, and Gospić's mayor Darko Milinović.
Dnevno.hr emphasizes that Chief State Attorney Ivan Turudić, not the opposition, is responsible for bringing the case to light, and that the DORH under his leadership uncovered the affair. The head of USKOK is Sven Mišković. The analysis also notes that Mikulić was Prime Minister Andrej Plenković's personal choice to lead the State Inspectorate, which places some responsibility on the Prime Minister.
Environment Minister Marija Vučković had to publicly admit that there is no quick solution and that institutions cannot act immediately. The cost of cleanup, estimated at €125 million, will ultimately have to be borne by the state, as the private companies that buried the waste do not have the funds.
