(Bloomberg) -- Croatian Construction Minister Darko Horvat was arrested Saturday as part of a corruption investigation, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said.

Horvat was taken into custody in relation to events surrounding subsidies to businesses in 2018, and will be dismissed from the cabinet, Plenkovic told reporters in Zagreb. 

Plenkovic criticized state prosecutors for the circumstances of Horvat’s arrest, saying the timing looked political. 

“Obviously, state prosecutors and the judiciary work independently and must have a reason for haste,” Plenkovic said. “To me the timing of the arrest doesn’t look neutral, in the context that the government earlier this week brought an aid package to assist citizens and the economy. I’d like to ask the state prosecutor to explain the haste, since this is about a minister on duty.”

Plenkovic, a 51-year-old former diplomat, won a second term for his center-right Croatian Democratic Union in 2020. 

His victory came despite allegations of graft; seven ministers left Plenkovic’s government amid allegations of fraud or conflict of interest during his first term. 

Croatia’s global ranking in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index has slipped 63 for the past three years from 50 as recently as 2015.

Plenkovic said the government still has the support of its coalition partners and that Horvat situation won’t lead to an early election.     

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