THE FINANCE Ministry will soon file a criminal motion against an unknown offender in regard to advertising contracts signed with IRB bank in the 1990s, news wire TASR reported.
The contracts resulted in advertising magnate Fedor Flašík demanding Sk104 million (€2.53 million) from the state.
Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš said the "problem originated in 1996 when IRB signed an advertising contract with the VOSS company". The contract was later changed by IRB to grant exclusive advertising rights to VOSS until the end of 1998, with possible sanctions for IRB at Sk50 million (€1.22 million) if the contract was broken.
Flašík, who represented VOSS, had close ties to the HZDS coalition at the time, according to Mikloš. The Finance Minister added that the contract was signed despite the warnings of the bank's legal department.
IRB, controlled at that time by the group surrounding the late Alexander Rezeš, allegedly breached the contract with VOSS in 1997 by signing another contract with the Roko advertising agency for activities that were covered in the contract with VOSS.
VOSS filed a motion in 2000 and the Supreme Court decided IRB had to pay Sk104 million (€2.53 million).
In the meantime, IRB was restructured and privatised, with the state taking over the risk of expenses for possible lost lawsuits, Mikloš said. He added that the taxpayers would pay the Sk104 million.
Compiled by Beata Balogová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
19. Nov 2003 at 10:51
