SDP county councilor Jure Zubčić claims that the director of Čistoća Zadar, John Ivan Krstičević, has not responded to a request for access to information about contracts with two companies, even though legal deadlines have long passed.
SDP county councilor in Zadar County, Jure Zubčić, issued a statement on Monday accusing the director of Čistoća Zadar, John Ivan Krstičević, of ignoring his request for access to information for three months. The request concerns contracts that the utility company signed with Metali reciklaža d.o.o. and Solution d.o.o.
The request was submitted on May 16, 2026, and according to Zubčić, the director has neither issued a decision nor responded to an email. "The legal deadline for a response is 15 days, or a maximum of 30 days," Zubčić stated in the press release, as reported by Zadarski list.
Zubčić particularly highlights the discrepancy between political promises and the actual conduct of Čistoća. "The deadline set by Mayor Erlić is 48 hours, and Deputy Mayor Ćurković also clearly stated at the City Council session that every requested piece of information is provided in the shortest possible time," Zubčić quoted.
Instead, as he notes, Director Krstičević stated at the City Council session that he still needs to determine the public interest and that he has opinions suggesting the contracts should not be made public. Zubčić considers this "a sign of complete ignorance of what constitutes the public interest."
The councilor reminds that Čistoća is a company entirely owned by the public and that the broad protection of trade secrets applicable to private companies does not apply to it. "Public companies providing utility services are not private entities to which the trade secret provision broadly applies. All citizens pay a high price for utility services, and the company must provide all information to the citizens," Zubčić emphasized.
He also referred to an earlier case of hiring foreign workers, for which he claims Čistoća violated the law by "forgetting" to publish a contract concluded through direct negotiation in a timely manner.
Zubčić announces concrete steps. "First of all, given that an official request has been submitted, we are moving towards an appeal to the Information Commissioner because the public interest is undeniable," he stated.
He also reminds that in "much more trivial cases," they have already proven to previous officials what constitutes the public interest, successfully before the High Administrative Court. "And we will do it again; it's the least of our problems, and then we will also show who is hiding information of exceptional public interest. Very clearly and transparently," Zubčić concluded.
At the time of publication, Čistoća Zadar had no comment on Zubčić's allegations.
