Corruption Investigation Finds Overpayment of €500m for TEŠ6 Power Station

By , 30 May 2018, 10:17 AM Politics
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STA, 28 May 2018 - A police investigation in the suspected corruption surrounding the EUR 1.4bn upgrade of the Šoštanj coal-fired power station (TEŠ) has revealed that the generator no. 6 was overpaid by as much as half a billion euro, commercial broadcaster POP TV reported. Unofficially, this information will be used to reinforce the case against those responsible. 

POP TV reported on Monday that the investigation unofficially confirmed that the generator was built too large given the amount of coal left in the Velenje coal mine, which supplies the power station.

Additionally, the confiscated documents indicate that those responsible, including former TEŠ boss Uroš Rotnik, deceived when they claimed that a smaller and cheaper generator could not be built and tailored data to suit their needs.

Comparing price-tags for similar generators around the world, the investigation revealed that the same constructor, France's Alstom, had built them for less money than in Slovenia.

Moreover, data from Switzerland confirmed that Alstom had allocated EUR 3m for kick-backs in Slovenia, of which at least EUR 870,000 went to Rotnik.

According to POP TV, the police will use new data to update the criminal complaint it had filed several years ago against former top executives at TEŠ and their accomplices. Unofficially, they will use the obtained data to reinforce the case against them.

The sixth generator, which was completed in 2014, had an initial price tag of EUR 654m, but costs gradually ballooned to over EUR 1.4m.

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