Antonino Vadala (source: TASR)
An international investigative team is continuing the work of the murdered journalist Ján Kuciak. The Aktuality.sk website, the Sme, Denník N, Nový Čas, and Hospodárske Noviny dailies, the Postoj website, the Aliancia Fair-play watchdog, the Trend weekly, TV broadcasters Markíza and JOJ, the Czech Radio, Swiss Blick, Polish Onet and German Die Welt continue. The story on Igor Sidor was brought forth by Trend.
The Italian businessman Antonino Vadala who has links to the Calabria-based ’Ndrangheta gang, has further contacts with ruling parties than previously recognised. Two years ago, Vadala, along with Igor Sidor the former parliamentary deputy for the Most-Híd party, launched a company in Croatia. They were both operating within the Hvar Sport Resort company by March 2017. Today, Sidor is the sole owner.
The Czech Centre for Investigative Journalism, which cooperated with Kuciak on his last article about the links between ‘Ndrangheta and businessmen active in eastern Slovakia, provided Trend with documents from Croatian registers.
Sidor is today the chairman of a regional political association Šport do Košíc. He has so far claimed that he had nothing in common with Vadala except for one contact when Vadala was interested in the acquisition of his office building.
When asked about his business with Vadala, Sidor claimed that they launched the company in 2016 with the plan for a new project into which each should have invested money. But this plan allegedly failed because Vadala did not deliver any money.
“The company to date has no turnover nor any business activities in Croatia or Slovakia,” said Sidor, as cited by the Sme daily.
The Hvar Sport Resort company should originally have been engaged in tourism, related services and water transport. Its business activities were to include the uploading and unloading of goods and warehouses.
Sidor owns a tourist resort of the same name on Hvar island but according to him, Vadala has nothing in to do with this enterprise.
