Opposition calls for special session on Interblue case

PARTIES united within the People’s Platform along with some independent MPs have submitted a proposal for calling for a special session over the emission case, a scandal dating from Prime Minister Robert Fico’s first government that involves a 2008 carbon dioxide emissions deal brokered by the garage-based company, Interblue Group.

PARTIES united within the People’s Platform along with some independent MPs have submitted a proposal for calling for a special session over the emission case, a scandal dating from Prime Minister Robert Fico’s first government that involves a 2008 carbon dioxide emissions deal brokered by the garage-based company, Interblue Group.

As the MPs collected 30 signatures and already submitted the proposal, Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška has to summon the session within seven days.

The aim of the platform, composed of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) and Most-Híd, is to hear about the results of the investigation and ask the government to publish a list of individuals and companies that allegedly benefited from the dodgy sale of emissions that was provided by the Swiss police, the TASR newswire reported on January 30.

“If Prime Minister Robert Fico is not able to provide this list, he has no right to run for president,” said Pavol Frešo, chair of the SDKÚ, as quoted by TASR, adding that “this is because he stands on the side of people who are on the list – that is, those who lined their pockets”.

KDH chair Ján Figeľ added that instead of stopping the business, Fico dismissed then minister of the Slovak National Party (SNS) who himself wanted to halt it. At the same time he welcomed the initiative of General Prosecutor Jaromír Čižnár who wants to assess the investigation process from this 2008 incident involving an international outfit called Interblue Group, TASR wrote.

Fico responded that he does not understand why the opposition believes he should possess any such list.

“I do not dabble into investigation files and already said that anything with a clearance to publish should be made public,” Fico told TASR. “I have absolutely no problem with that. I have not seen any list ... it could also be some kind of bluff.”

He has also accused the opposition of hypocrisy, saying that when they were in the government between 2010 and 2012, none of them asked for the file.

The case began in 2008 when the state sold its excess CO2 emissions quotas to a small, unknown firm called Interblue Group, then operating out of a US garage, at €5.05 per ton, a price significantly lower than the market value. The police estimated the damages suffered by the state at about €66 million.

The deal resulted in the dismissal of at least two ministers nominated by the Slovak National Party (SNS), as well as the SNS eventually losing political control of the ministry. The firm was subsequently dissolved and was reported to have been re-established as Interblue Group Europe, registered in Switzerland.

Source: TASR

For more information about this story please see: Police won't reveal Interblue data, yet

Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports

The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.

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