Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) Chairman Ján Figeľ has appealed to the General Prosecutor’s Office (GPO) to initiate a probe into the government-sponsored restructuring of gas utility Slovenský Plynárenský Priemysel (SPP) after the Czech company Energetický a Prúmyslový Holding (EPH) acquired a minority stake in the company.
The topic has been already discussed in parliament during a session initiated by the opposition at which they were seeking – in vain – to oust Prime Minister Robert Fico. Figeľ now believes that the case may be duly addressed only by the GPO.
“We may be dealing with exceptionally serious criminal acts here,” Figeľ said as quoted by the TASR newswire. “These involve a crime of neglecting one’s duty in administering somebody else’s property and a crime of misusing powers of a public officer.”
After filing the motion, Figeľ also asked the GPO to take all the necessary measures to prevent any damage on the part of the state in the planned SPP-share transfer. He believes that the government plan to acquire the remaining 49-percent stake in SPP from EPH is “obviously disadvantageous for the state and for people”.
The case goes back to recently-surfaced allegations that the official government documentation on the key purchase of the 49-percent stake in gas utility from EPH – co-owned by financial group J&T - was drafted by the financial group itself. As suggested by independent MP Daniel Lipšic, an electronic document on the SPP-share transfer passed by the government on September 4 featured the name of J&T Investment Advisors in its file properties. The opposition claims that this proves that the state isn’t governed by Fico’s administration but rather by various financial groups. It further challenged the entire transaction, as the state will have to take over the gas utility with mounting debts.
(Source: TASR)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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