RegioJet bus (source: TASR)
Both the police and prosecutor have turned down the criminal complaint against Nitra Mayor Jozef Dvonč submitted by private carrier RegioJet. It opposed the mayor’s decision not to issue a licence for operating bus services in the city.
RegioJet disliked the way the prosecutor dealt with the case and in the end the prosecutor dismissed it, explaining it was submitted late, spokesperson of the regional prosecutor’s office Jaroslav Maček said, as reported by the TASR newswire.
The fact that neither the police nor the prosecutor launched criminal proceeding against Dvonč reflects the current state of judiciary in Slovakia rather than the mayor’s innocence, said owner of RegioJet Radim Jančura.
The latest decision changes nothing on the fact that Dvonč acted against the interest of people and caused losses amounting to hundreds of thousands of euros to the carrier. Moreover, such an attitude caused RegioJet to receive a licence from Bratislava Region 22 months after it asked for it, rather than the usual two months, Jančura continued, as reported by TASR.
RegioJet accused Dvonč of abusing his powers. The company also pointed to the alleged violation of the law, caused by the refusal to issue the licence for the Bratislava – Nitra – Banská Bystrica bus line, as well as corrupt behaviour of the mayor and the inflicted damage. With his behaviour, Dvonč tried to prevent competition in the city, Jančura claimed.
RegioJet launched the bus service only in February 2016, based on the licence issued by the Banská Bystrica Region
Dvonč described the criminal motion useless and legally unfounded.
“As neither the city nor I as mayor decide on issuing licences, I could not cause a financial loss to the carrier,” he said, as quoted by TASR, adding that the behaviour of RegioJet is nonsensical.
