Former mayor of the Croatian town of Županja, Davor Miličević, has been arrested on suspicion of misusing public funds to purchase large quantities of sausages.
According to the investigation, during his tenure as mayor, Miličević allegedly spent up to 600,000 kuna per year on sausages, particularly kulen—a traditional Slavonian cured pork sausage with spices. In total, he is believed to have bought around 1.5 tons of sausage, which was then distributed as “gifts” to various ministries and government institutions.
Miličević was reportedly in collusion with Ilija Jelović, the director of the local meat processing company Mesnica As, and is rumored to have had a financial stake in the business. Additionally, his brother and daughter were employed at the company.
Investigators also discovered that during his tenure, the election headquarters of his party, HDZ, was regularly located inside the Mesnica As butcher shop during local, parliamentary, and presidential elections.
Miličević served as mayor of Županja from 2009 until the local elections in 2021. The case is being investigated by Croatian police and the National Bureau for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (USKOK).
