PARLIAMENT Speaker Pavol Paška did not end his activities in Medical Group SK in 2002, as he had originally said, NOVA chairman Daniel Lipšic claims, according to Nový Čas daily.
Some opposition representatives consider Paška to be connected with the case of the purchase of an overpriced CT scanner for the Piešťany Hospital. Paška was earlier active in the Medical Group SK, which had won the tender to supply the expensive device.
According to Lipšic, Paška started to sell his shares in the firm only in 2008. Lipšic further said that the shares were acquired by Dušan Mach, Paška’s neighbour and his nominee to the post of chair of the supervisory board of oil pipeline operator Transpetrol. Mach allegedly sold the shares to the company Agel, which then allegedly sold it back to him several times and the last transfer ended in so-called “mailbox” companies in Belize, Lipšic claimed, as reported by Nový Čas.
Paška said on November 6 that he has never engaged in activities in so-called tax havens and has never secretly owned companies in them or received profits from them.
“All of my business activities, which I began to develop in 1990 after the regime change and phased out when increasing my public involvement, are duly recorded in documents with the Commercial Register and are publicly available.” Paška responded, as quoted by TASR.
Paška specifically mentioned a company called Pharmedia, which used to operate a pharmacy in Košice and in which had Paška as one of five partners with a 14 percent stake until 2008.
“I decided to sell my share of it in February 2008,” Paška said, as quoted by TASR. “Pharmedia never owned a stake in Medical Group, both according to the Commercial Register and reality. Whoever claims the contrary is a liar and a psychiatric examination is in order for them.”
Source: TASR, Nový Čas
Compiled by Roman Cuprik from press reports
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