Zagreb - Croatia's efforts to deal with corruption in prisons suffered a hard blow Wednesday after a local daily published a price list of "services" provided in jails.

Croatian daily Slobodna Dalmacija reported, quoting "prison sources" that for a certain price, prisoners in Croatian jails can move to a minimal security prison, or get a better cell or job.

The price list ranges from 2,000 to 50,000 euros (2,800 to 70,450 dollars) depending on what one's needs. The "services" are arranged through lawyers and not upon arrival in prison, a source said.

"Nothing is settled inside the prison. Its all arranged outside, through a lawyer who knows whom to ask about the service ... these services depend on the financial status of the prisoner," a source told daily.

For smaller services such as better job or a cell, a visit or a weekend off, prisoners pay between 2,500 and 3,000 euros, while transfer in a better part of the prison is 10,000 euros (14,000 dollars).

A transfer from closed prison to a half open facility is 20,000 euros, but can go even higher if a prisoner is a well known mafia boss, politician or a banker.

A well known Croatian banker, sentenced to years in prison over financial abuses, paid 50,000 euros to serve his sentence in a minimal security prison. He left the minimal security prison two and a half years before the end of his sentence, sources said.

In an effort to stop the corruption, Justice Minister Ivan Simonovic recently ordered the transfer of all prison managers to other prisons where their work will be assessed and reported.

Slobodna Dalmacija source said this measure will have no effect since lawyers, judges and prison managers are all connected. (dpa)