John Goodish, head of steel maker US Steel Košice, was closeted with Economy Minister Ľubomír Harach for 90 minutes yesterday to discuss the recent murky sale of 21 per cent shares in steel firm VSŽ. The VSŽ shares, in which US Steel had declared an interest but had been unable to come to terms on with the Economy Ministry, were sold on the Bratislava bourse an hour before trading ended on the last business day of 2001 to three investment firms – Penta Group, J & T and Istrokapitál – arousing suspicions the deal had been arranged long before. Said Goodish: “This is a country and a government which has committed itself to transparency, but this was a transaction that according to the world was not transparent.”
Compiled by Tom Nicholson from press reports.
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