The Arcus Case: A Contribution to the Political and Economic History of War-Ravaged Slavonia

Sa？etak This paper analyses the issue of foreign investments in Croatia in the period from 1990 to 1995 using the example of the Arcus project that took place in Valpovo in the territory of Slavonia. The Arcus project started in 1990 with the objective of improving the economy of this part of Croatia. However, in 1991 Croatia was affected by the destruction of the war, from which the Valpovo area was also not spared. The main investor and executer of the Arcus project was Franz Weissenberger, a returnee from Germany. The first part of the Arcus project involved the building of the trade centre, the restoration of the Prandau-Normann Castle and residential buildings in Valpovo. The second part of the project comprised the restructuring of agriculture in the Valpovo area, in Donji Miholjac and in Na？ice. It concerned the launching of organized fruit and vegetable production, turkey breeding and the development of the infrastructure for their sale. The project would have provided five thousand new jobs and an annual foreign exchange revenue of DEM 237 million. Weissenberger’s policy and his ties to the political establishment were crucial for the implementation of the project. This was clearly reflected in the mayoral election when Weissenberger was elected new mayor of Valpovo after the resignation of former mayor Stjepan ？amagajevac. At a certain moment, this situation resulted in a conflict of interest because Weissenberger was at the same time owner of Arcus and the mayor of Valopovo, hence there was a potential for abuse of office. This entire situation was complicated by conflicts within HDZ (Croatian Democratic Union) in which the key players included Branimir Glava？, Vladimir ？eks and Stjepan Mesi？. One of the reasons behind the conflict was the Arcus project. Mesi？ was head of the faction advocating the project, whereas Glava？ and ？eks strongly disapproved of it. An indication of a solution to the crisis was provided by Slavko Bari？, the new mayor of Valpovo. In September 1993 the first legal procedures were initiated; the main objective was to determine whether there had been any irregularities in Arcus and the town. The Arcus case was finally resolved on November 26, 1995. The signatories of the agreement were Tomislav Ivi？, the Mayor of Valpovo, Frano Gagro and Ivan Petrovi？, the representatives of Arcus, Petar ？ukan, a representative of the government and Sre？ko Lovrin？evi？, the representative of the Osijek-Baranya County. With this agreement the government was obliged to clear Valpovo’s debt to Arcus in the amount of DEM 1,500,000, which is