STA, 3 September 2019 - The parliamentary Commission for Oversight of Intelligence and Security Services has discussed foreign intelligence services' setting up businesses in Slovenia, establishing that security mechanisms to prevent such companies from operating in the country are not working.
The commission discussed evidence gathered by two investigative journalists about a business model of foreign intelligence services which set up companies for their countries to avoid embargoes and to secure the necessary funds for their own networks, chair Matej Tonin told the press after Tuesday's closed-door session.
He highlighted a number of companies of the Azarov family of former Ukrainian PM Mykola Azarov, who had close ties with Russia, which did business here between 2007 and 2016.
While they were under embargo in other parts of Europe, the companies were not banned in Slovenia, nor were their assets frozen, said Tonin.
He explained they had done business in the country freely until they left in 2016 out of their own accord.
"It is worrying that safety mechanisms are not working in such cases," said Tonin, noting "this is not the first such case".
The commission took several measures to address the issue, but Tonin would not disclose them to the public.
