GENERAL Prosecutor Jaromír Čižnár ordered criminal authorities to check the dubious purchase of a CT scanner in Piešťany Hospital of Alexander Winter, which was announced shortly after parliament elections in March 2012, the TASR newswire reported on November 4.
The motion is based on a report broadcast by TV Markíza in late October. The whole investigation will be supervised by the regional prosecutor in Trnava and the General Prosecutor’s Office (GPO), GPO’s spokesperson Andrea Predajňová told TASR.
The case cost Health Minister Zuzana Zvolenská and Deputy Speaker of Parliament Renáta Zmajkovičová, who served as chair of the hospital’s supervisory board, their posts. Prime Minister Robert Fico meanwhile indicated that Deputy PM for Investments Ľubomír Vážny might temporarily lead the ministry, the SITA newswire wrote.
Private broadcaster TV Markíza reported on October 30 that in 2012, the hospital in Piešťany wanted to buy a CT Somatom Definition AS produced by Siemens for more than €1 million with VAT but the tender was stopped after the March 2012 parliamentary elections due to the change of top management. The new management announced a new competition and chose a Philips Ingenuity Core 128 CT device for €1.6 million, according to the Sme daily.
This competition was won by Košice-based Medical Group SK, which is connected with current Speaker of Parliament Pavol Paška, TASR wrote.
In her statement, Zvolenská said that she has decided to file a complaint and will contact the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) and Public Procurement Office (ÚVO) which has the power to check the lawfulness of the tender.
“Therefore I can’t currently say whether the chosen approach was correct or not,” Zvolenská said, as quoted by TASR. “What I can say is that Health Ministry nominees in Piešťany and the Hospital board of directors have not properly informed me about approaches in this hospital.”
Meanwhile, Paška issued a statement, claiming he has nothing to do with the firm.
“I stopped my business activities as minority shareholder nearly 13 years ago,” Paška said, as quoted by TASR, specifying that this happened in 2002, before he became an MP. “All that needs to be done is to look correctly into the business register.”
Source: TASR, SITA, Sme
To read more about this story please see: Health Minister Zvolenská ends due to dubious tender
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
