Dirk Sterckx, a Belgian member of the European Parliament, held a press conference to accuse Slovakia of stealing money from the EU’s Phare funding programme, citing the experience of the Belgian firm Bander in 1993.
According to Sterckz, Bander, founded in 1993 by Hendrik Soenen, was stripped of its assets in 2000 by its Slovak director, Zdeněk Karaščák, who sold off its equipment for minute sums to the Atrium firm, which belonged to Karaščák’s wife. Atrium then continued production, later drawing Sk9 million in Phare money, Sterckz alleged.
Soenen has laid changes, and the case is now before a district court in east Slovakia’s Humenné.
Compiled by Tom Nicholson from press reports.
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
