DEFENCE Minister Juraj Liška has sued the head of the ministry's communication department, Marián Bednár, one of the closest allies of his predecessor, Ivan Šimko, in association with the tender for the tactical-operational communication system TOKOS, the daily SME reported.
Bednár is the husband of Slovak Democratic and Christian Union deputy chairwoman Zuzana Martináková. Liška claims that Bednár was indirectly trying to press him to sign the TOKOS tender.
Shortly after taking his post, Liška cancelled the Sk10 billion (€244.68 million) tender for TOKOS.
However, Liška's arguments for cancelling the tender have been contradictory. On November 24, he claimed that the tender was transparent and fair, but the army was changing its concept; the next day, he questioned the transparency of the tender. Liška maintains that the ministry does not need TOKOS yet.
Several deputies disapproved of the minister's decision to cancel the tender approved by Šimko.
