POLITICS & CRIME

POLITICS & CRIME The telegram reveals: Vrdoljak must return HRK 625,000 to HEP for the General. They are not happy with how he advertised them The Commercial Court in Zagreb issued a non-final verdict Ana Raić Knežević ANA RAIĆ KNEŽEVIĆ 16:45 277 RECOMMENDATIONS 1 COMMENT LAST CHANGE: SEP 16, 2020 The Commercial Court in Zagreb has issued a non-final verdict according to which the company AMV produkcija , owned by the son of Antun Vrdoljak, must return to HEP 625 thousand kunas with which the state company sponsored the film "General". This is the epilogue of HEP's tensions with the producers of "General" who did not comply with the sponsorship agreement. Vrdoljak, ie the company AMV producija run by his son Marko , was supposed to advertise HEP on the promotional materials of the film and series about General Ante Gotovina . Quite precisely, HEP was supposed to be mentioned in 80 announcements as the company that made it possible to watch the series, and they were also supposed to get 10 tickets for the premiere of the film. However, the sponsorship agreement was not realized within the deadline, so HEP sued Vrdoljak's production company, demanding a refund. So, in addition to not doing very well with the audience, "General" is now facing a serious financial problem. WHEN DID VRDOLJAK GET THE MONEY? According to that contract, HEP paid the money to Vrdoljak in two installments - in October 2017. It was about the amount of half a million kuna with VAT. It was agreed that the producers would inform HEP about the realization of the contract, and the report was to be submitted by 31 December 2018, together with evidence that everything had been contracted and realized. However, instead of a report, Vrdoljak sent a request to HEP on January 3, 2019 to extend the deadline. HEP approves it a few days later. The new deadline is February 1, 2019, and after that, announced by HEP, they will ask for the return of sponsorship. As Vrdoljak did not meet this new deadline in the end, HEP did seek a refund of HRK 625,000 in court. THE FILMING OF THE GENERAL DRAGGED ON The company AMV produkcija explained in court that the filming of "General" was an extremely large and demanding project, of great importance for the Republic of Croatia. "We encountered a number of difficulties, so we failed to meet all the obligations under the contract," they said. They offered HEP new terms of promotion, assuring that the fulfillment of the conditions for sponsorship was not in question. They claimed that neither the film nor the series were completed at that time, and that the screening was not expected until July 13 last year, at the opening of the Pula Film Festival. They even promised to realize more promotions for HEP for the same amount than agreed. HEP persisted in claiming that they had not complied with the contract, so it was terminated and they had to return the money. COURT: NO RESPECTFUL SPEECH FOR GENERAL In December last year, the series "General" began to be shown, and from the announcement and cancellation rush hour it was evident that it was sponsored by HEP. Among the financiers are, as it announced portal Net.hr were and HRT with 9.6 million, Croatian Audiovisual Center, with 4.2 million, the City of Zagreb with about 1.8 million so. However, representatives of HEP at court hearing in June this year, they reiterated that the film's producers had not provided them with any evidence that they had fulfilled any of the previously agreed. The Commercial Court in Zagreb ultimately concluded that AMV Production must return the money to HEP, because they really did not respect the sponsorship agreement. The court finds that, at the time they signed it and took the money, they could have known what problems they would encounter during filming and how much time they would need to make the film and series, and show them.