STA, 4 November 2021 - Centre-left opposition parties have called on Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak to resign after a new recording was published of his conversation with the businessman Bojan Petan dating to 2007, when Vizjak served as the economy minister in the first Janez Janša government.

"Based on the revelations, the Slovenian public today expected Minister Vizjak to resign. If that does not happen, we expect that Prime Minister Janez Janša will do that for him," said Matjaž Nemec, a deputy of the Social Democrats.

Nemec said a snap election was necessary as well, a point also raised by LMŠ president Marjan Šarec, who said that "Slovenia deserves better. Resignation of the government and a snap election is the only solution."

Levica likewise thinks a snap election is the best option, with MP Nataša Sukič arguing that the entire government must step down, and SAB president Alenka Bratušek said a snap election would be an opportunity for the people to say that "they've had it with such conduct".

The parties claim the tapes reveal the modus operandi of the Democrats (SDS), which Bratušek and Šarec described as "white-collar crime".

The officials said New Slovenia (NSi), the junior coalition partner, now faced the choice of acting on its statement when the first tape was released that they would demand Vizjak step aside if the tape turns out to be authentic.

Šarec said the NSi shared responsibility by "silently observing and looking for excuses," whereas Nemec said the NSi had three choices now: either to demand that Vizjak resign, back the forthcoming motion of no confidence, or leave the coalition.

The NSi said today they would discuss the matter within the party and make their position clear before the motion of no confidence is due on the National Assembly's agenda.

The Pensioners' Party (DeSUS), which is formally in the opposition but often supports the coalition in parliamentary votes, said the no-confidence vote would be "a good opportunity to clarify all circumstances," whereas National Party (SNS) president Zmago Jelinčič said he was "not interested" in this scandal.

The head of the group of unaffiliated MPs, Janja Sluga, also said that Vizjak's statements "very clearly show the SDS's modus operandi". She said Vizjak's resignation could not be expected and that only election as soon as possible was a solution.

The reactions come after a new tape featuring Vizjak and Petan was released by POP TV.

The tape appears to confirm that the original allegation against Vizjak - that he advised Petan how to dodge taxes - was indeed misleading like Vizjak claimed, in that statements were taken out of context.

But while Vizjak questioned the authenticity of the first tape, he acknowledged that the latest tape, which features him speaking about how the government would "squeeze a judge's balls" to get its way in the privatisation of spa company Terme Čatež, was authentic.

STA, 4 November 2021 - Environment Minister Andrej Vizjak stepped up his defence of a 2007 conversation with the businessman Bojan Petan after new recordings were published by POP TV. He told the press on Thursday that his goal was to protect the interests of the state in a takeover of the spa company Terme Čatež and he had a clear conscience. 

The original recording, released in mid-October, implied that Vizjak was encouraging Petan to dodge taxes. Vizjak had described it as a "collage" and said today the latest leaked recording proved that was indeed the case as the original leak contained only fragments of the real conversation and those were put in a misleading context.

In the recording released yesterday, Vizjak, then the economy minister, is heard proposing to Petan a "gentleman's agreement" on how to move forward with the privatisation of Terme Čatež, offering a variety of solutions, for example a tie-up with nearby spa Terme Olimia, which was in the process of privatisation at the time.

He also told Petan that the way he was going about the privatisation of Terme Čatež was bound to end up in court, adding that the government would counter his moves with "all cannons" and that they might "squeeze a judge's nuts" to achieve their aims.

Vizjak acknowledged this latest recording was authentic - POP TV had it checked by forensics to prove its authenticity - but said it should be seen in the context of the management of state-owned assets at the time, when the state was still directly the owner of multiple companies, and efforts to protect state interests.

He said he wanted to "prevent actions damaging to the state" and protect state property. "That is my sin," he said, adding that he always had honest intentions.

Vizjak also regretted his statement about "squeezing a judge's nuts," which he said was made in an informal context and was inappropriate, adding: "Whoever is without sin should cast the first stone."

Vizjak also sticks by his original claim that "garbage lobbies" are behind these tapes since actions he is taking now as environment minister are threatening to destroy their exploitation of legal loopholes.

"These collages are designed to discredit me because of the projects we are conducting, in particular the act on the protection of the environment," he said about legislation that the government is expected to adopt shortly.

STA, 19 October 2021 - The Murska Sobota District Court has opened a formal investigation against Justice Minister Marjan Dikaučič over suspicion of tax evasion and document falsification, the web portal of the commercial broadcaster POP TV has reported. The minister has denied all allegations.

The District State Prosecution in Murska Sobota asked the court to open a formal investigation in August 2020, while a criminal complaint against Dikaučič had been filed there by the Financial Administration (FURS) back in August 2017.

The case relates to the time when Dikaučič, who was appointed justice minister in mid-June, was the liable person in the company BGA and the company Prevozi Žižek in receivership, based in Gornja Bistrica, south-east of Murska Sobota.

Preliminary inquiries allegedly established that Prevozi Žižek avoided paying value added tax (VAT) when selling goods to BGA under fictitious contracts, which were allegedly signed by Dikaučič.

The plan was to sell cargo vehicles through two companies in Croatia and Germany to avoid paying EUR 52,000 in VAT, the portal 24ur said on Tuesday.

The district state prosecution confirmed at the beginning of September for the portal it had received the relevant criminal complaint from the FURS in August 2017 over the listed suspicions.

It said that two years later it had sought legal assistance from the Bosnian authorities. Having received a reply in February 2020, the prosecution said it had filed for a formal investigation with the Murska Sobota District Court on 24 August 2020.

At the time, Minister Dikaučič denied the allegations for the portal. "I handed the entire documentation for the alleged act to the police in 2019 and was heard by the court in 2019. Since my signature on the documents was obviously falsified, I proposed to the court for a graphologist to verify the authenticity of the signature," he said.

The minister added that he had "nothing to hide, all the documents are with the relevant authorities, which I trust will do their job correctly".

Allegations against Dikaučič have been circulating in public ever since he was put forward as the candidate for justice minister earlier this year, suggesting he worked with shell companies in his previous job. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Two complaints filed against him in 2015 and 2016 over alleged violation of worker rights were set aside because the prosecution found no reasonable ground suggesting Dikaučič committed the suspected act.

The minister is facing a vote of no confidence in parliament, requested by the centre-left opposition parties over the government's failure to appoint delegated European prosecutors.

LMŠ leader Marjan Šarec said this charge had not been included in the motion but nevertheless proved that the opposition's attempt to oust him was correct.

STA, 19 October 2021 - Andrej Vizjak, environment minister, has denied having urged businessman Bojan Petan to avoid taxes in relation to spa Terme Čatež in 2007. He said on Tuesday the recording aired on Monday by POP TV was "a collage". He labelled it manipulation, which he attributed to businessman Martin Odlazek's "garbage mafia".

"From where I stand, there is reasonable suspicion that the recordings are not authentic. It's my assessment it's a kind of collage with sound-manipulation to discredit me. These are grave accusations which I regret," Vizjak, who served as economy minister in 2004-2008, said on the sidelines of the government's visit to the coast.

The commercial TV station broadcast a 14-year-old recording in which Vizjak is trying to persuade Petan to agree to his terms in the Terme Čatež privatisation story, also by suggesting he should avoid paying taxes and offering him the state and the supervisory board's cooperation.

Vizjak said he suspected the recording was the result of a collaboration of media baron Odlazek and "his business empire, which is also in waste management business".

He said "a collage of several statements" was aired when his ministry sent a bill on environmental protection, which also enjoys the support of NGOs, to the government.

"I cannot explain this to myself other than being an attempt to liquidate me from this post in relation to waste management. The 'garbage mafia' has so far liquidated all ministers when they put forward something that didn't suit them," said Vizjak, adding the bill "means the end to big profits of this garbage mafia".

He also denied ever discussing or negotiating on any interest, cooperation, business or anything else with Petan. "These are really severe accusations. There have also been no results of the acts I'm accused of," he said, adding that he wanted "the truth to come out".

Interior Minister Aleš Hojs said on Twitter he had been notified of the old wiretapped recording a while ago, while at the same time being warned it would be broadcast "at an appropriate time to undermine him and the government".

Hojs said the operation had been managed by Odlazek. "If we read their portals, radio stations and newspapers, everything is clear," he said on Twitter. During the government visit, he added the recording was either a wiretap or a manipulated recording as suggested by Vizjak.

Asked whether he will report it, Hojs said he will after "something happens" with his report against the health minister from 2012. "I've been minister for a year and a half and I have no information what they did with that report."

The opposition Social Democrats (SD) and Left responded to Hojs's tweet, saying it proved Hojs had known about the recording but had not reported it to protect his SDS. Based on the tweet, the opposition will thus supplement the ouster motion against Hojs that it announced last week and is to file it tomorrow.

The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) meanwhile has no powers to investigate the conversation between Vizjak and Petan because it took so many years ago. However, it believes the government, which has adopted a code of ethics for public office holders, should discuss it.

"If the recordings are authentic, then such action by a public office holder is absolutely unacceptable," KPK said, regretting that persons who possess such recordings or data suggesting breach of law do not hand them to law enforcement or the public immediately or within a period when relevant institutions could still deal with them.

The leaders of the Democrats' (SDS) junior coalition partners meanwhile expect Vizjak to provide "explanations" before deciding how to proceed.

SMC leader Zdravko Počivalšek, economy minister, said that judging by his own experience, "not everything that is broadcast on TV is necessarily true". "I'm used to media murders of one kind or another, so let's wait," he said on the sidelines of the government visit.

Similarly, NSi leader Matej Tonin, defence minister, said the NSi was awaiting "clear and detailed" explanations on the basis of which it will take concrete decisions. "As a citizen I'm obliged to pay taxes, which I do. I'll tell my and the NSi's opinion once we've got the minister's explanations," he said.

STA, 5 October 2021 - Slovenia has failed to satisfactorily implement or address any of the 15 recommendations the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) made in its 2018 evaluation report. The country has partly implemented only one recommendation, the Council of Europe's (CoE) anti-corruption body says in its latest compliance report on Slovenia.

The recommendations from the fifth-round evaluation report, released 8 March 2018, concerned the prevention of corruption and encouragement of integrity in top government officials and law enforcement agencies.

GRECO now says that Slovenia has made very limited progress concerning top government officials as it has only made some efforts to raise awareness about integrity, while not introducing any internal mechanism to encourage awareness-raising.

The country has meanwhile failed to address a number of other issues - increasing staff and funds, improving a procedure of the national Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK), tightening lobbying and employment rules for when an official's employment terminates, expanding the need to declare assets to include family members, adopting an umbrella integrity plan for the public administration or organisational strategies to address the conflict of interests.

It has neither made any progress in the timely publication of declared assets of ministers and state secretaries, substantive checking of these assets, or violations regarding assets declaration.

The country's efforts in the field of the police have also been rather limited, says the report Greco adopted at the end of October 2020 but only released on Tuesday.

Despite introducing some legal changes to police organisation and work to better manage corruption risks, no tangible results have been achieved.

There has also been no progress in ensuring that promotion and dismissal procedures in the police are fair, merit-based and transparent.

GRECO, however, noticed some positive steps towards encouraging women to join the police force and employing them in it.

The evaluation report thus concludes that progress is needed for Slovenia to show an acceptable level of compliance with the recommendations in the coming 18 months, and urges Slovenia to draft a second report on the situation to include the potential progress by 30 April 2022.

Transparency International (TI) Slovenia is not surprised by the findings, arguing that fighting corruption is not a priority of decision-makers, which the report only corroborates.

"Although these findings are almost a year old, and there has been some progress later on, which the report does not cover, the general impression from the past few years is that the fight against corruption is at the bottom of the list of priorities of decision-makers," the NGO wrote in a response for the STA.

TI would like to see not only a more comprehensive reform of legislation but also more preventive activities to strengthen oversight institutions and the civil society, where the trend is negative, "since the society's ability to fight against corruption is decreasing with the attacks on journalists, NGOs and media".

The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption said it expected that the authorities would take a more active approach in implementing the recommendations.

Despite the numerous examples of best practice in this field implemented by individuals bodies and organisations within the public sector, there has been (almost) no progress in implementing these recommendations, it added.

"This progress is even more important in the current circumstances, when new corruption risks related to the anti-epidemic measures taken by the government are being detected, and when the trust of public in the most senior public office holders attaining ethical standards is low."

A PDF of the full report, in English

STA, 23 July 2021 - Following a report that PM Janez Janša has been holidaying in Mauritius with representatives of the largest healthcare suppliers in Slovenia for years, part of the opposition has demanded a debate in parliament. On the other hand, the prime minister's office noted that Janša had never been on the island when he served as prime minister.

It was reported by the web portal Necenzurirano on Friday that Janša has been holidaying on the exotic island east of Madagascar for almost 20 years, playing golf and socialising with lobbyist Božo Dimnik and entrepreneur Andrej Marčič.

Marčič is the owner and director of the IT company Marand, which together with affiliated companies has generated in the last 20 years more than EUR 100 million in turnover with budget users alone.

Janša's son Žan was reportedly employed in one of his companies for several years, according to Necenzurirano.

Tu je fotografija, ki dokazuje, da predsednik @vladaRS in @strankaSDS Janez Janša že od leta 2003 z največjimi dobavitelji slovenskega zdravstva dopustuje v mondenih letoviščih na otoku Mavricij v Indijskem oceanu.https://t.co/57CzJnqCIU

— necenzurirano.si (@necenzurirano_) July 23, 2021

Dimnik is also an entrepreneur and lobbyist. The company Medias International, which is owned by his daughter Diana, and which sells medical equipment and material, has generated EUR 200 million in turnover with health institutions in Slovenia.

The prime minister's office reacted to the report by telling the STA Janša had played golf in Mauritius several times, "which is publicly known and has been published many times. He was never in Mauritius during the time when he was prime minister."

Necenzurirano noted that the ruling Democrats (SDS), which is headed by Janša, had been publicly warning about systemic corruption in healthcare and forming parliamentary inquiry commissions regarding purchase of medical equipment.

This is what opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) deputy Jerca Korče also noted in her statement to the press, adding that the "SDS has been selling us for all those years the story about tentacles and corruption and cronyism in healthcare."

It is more than obvious that they have only been diverting attention from the fact that they themselves are the core of the deep state," she added.

The LMŠ will thus call a session of the parliamentary Public Finance Oversight Commission, which according to Korče should look into the deals made at the peak of the Covid-19 epidemic with "one of the golf friends of Prime Minister Janša".

The commission should also establish how the contract with the Secretariat-General of the Government had been concluded, and what impact Janša's holidaying with the supplier had on the conclusion of this contract.

According to Korče, the matter should be also examined by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption and the Court of Audit.

The LMŠ deputy said that for someone who has been holding public offices for many years it was "important who are you spending your holidays with and what are the consequences of such holidays".

Korče added that the story featured too many connected facts that one could say that it was only a coincidence.

Violeta Tomić of the Left also announced a strong reaction from the opposition. She said that "always when Janša is in power, public money pours into the pockets of friends and people with the party membership", while at the same time they are establishing inquiry commissions and talking about zero tolerance to corruption in healthcare.

The opposition Social Democrats (SD) meanwhile said on Twitter that it now depended only on New Slovenia (NSi) and Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) "how long the National Assembly will tolerate severe corruption risks".

"Janez Janša making a mockery of the state may be ended either by elections or vote of no confidence. We can only hope that interference in the police has not hampered prosecution of corruption," the party added.

STA, 15 June 2021 - More than half of Slovenian respondents believe that corruption increased in Slovenia last year, shows Global Corruption Barometer for the EU 2021, a survey released by Transparency International (TI). Responses by Slovenian participants suggest the second worst deterioration of the situation in the EU.

Almost a third of European citizens think that 2020 saw a rise in corruption. Meanwhile, only respondents from Cyprus gave a worse assessment of the situation than those in Slovenia as 65% of them think that corruption flourished during the pandemic year of 2020. In Slovenia, the relevant rate is 51%.

Almost two-thirds (66%) of the Slovenian respondents said that citizens feared retaliatory measures upon reporting instances of corruption, which is the third highest rate in this category in the EU, behind Cyprus (76%) and Croatia (72%). This is cause for concern, said the head of TI Slovenija Alma Sedlar.

Almost 84% of the respondents in Slovenia said that corruption within the government was a big or a very big problem. What stands out is an increase in those who think that the Slovenian prime minister or members of his office are involved in corruptive practices (38.6%).

On a positive note, the share of those who believe that citizens could contribute to the fight against corruption has significantly increased, to 66.1%.

For the first time since the start of such polling, the survey focused on various types of personal experience of corruption. In Slovenia, 18% used personal connections to gain access to public services in 2020, the second lowest rate in the survey, which compares to the EU average of 33%. 4.1% of the Slovenian respondents bribed their way to public services.

Sedlar warned that even though Slovenia was a country where bribery was a rare occurrence, the increase in this category did not bode well for the situation, noting that the amount of those with experience of bribery in healthcare more than doubled to 4.6% compared to 2016.

Some 6% of the Slovenian respondents said that they or their acquaintances were asked to do sexual favours in exchange for access to some public services in the past five years, which is slightly below the EU average of 7%.

TI Slovenija pointed out in a press release that "it seems that there is no discussion on reforms to ensure a more effective prevention of corruption in Slovenia". The NGO said that its appeals to provide a more effective protection of whistleblowers, step up efforts to ensure transparency and come up with preventive measures in relation to the recovery plan had been ignored.

The survey was conducted between October and December 2020 among more than 40,000 adults across the EU. In Slovenia, the survey was carried out between 13 October and 19 November 2020 among 1,003 respondents.

Get a PDF of the full report here

STA, 20 May 2021 - After a decade-long investigation, corruption trial will start in the case of a EUR 1.4 billion generator project at the Šoštanj coal-fired power station TEŠ. Twelve individuals and two legal entities face charges on multiple counts. The arraignment is scheduled for Friday.

The defendants in the case face 24 counts in the indictment for irregularities in the construction of unit six at the TEŠ plant, known as TEŠ6. The alleged wrongdoings include abuse of office or breach of trust in business, money laundering and aiding and abetting.

On Friday, the first pre-trial hearing will be held in the Celje District Court, whereas the second is expected on 15 June.

Investigators started their inquiries in the case in 2010 with first house searches conducted in June 2012. A criminal complaint was filed in October 2014.

A month later, the prosecution filed a motion with the Celje District Court to launch an investigation against ten suspects, including Uroš Rotnik, who served as TEŠ director between 2003 and 2010, a period when the decision to build the new, 600-megawatt generator was made.

It then took years for a decision to open the investigation to be issued. Moreover, the decision only became final in 2018 when the appeals of the accused were rejected.

The investigators unearthed an alleged bribery scheme that caused damages exceeding EUR 250 million. The price tag of the TEŠ6 project had escalated to EUR 1.41 billion allegedly due to poor management, even though the initial estimate was EUR 650 million.

The indictment is one of the longest in Slovenia's history, numbering 1,332 pages and 43,000 attachments. The defendants face a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

The indictment was served on all the accused in the case last year after months of delays and attempts to deliver the document to all of them, twelve Slovenian and foreign individuals, a Slovenian legal entity and a foreign legal entity.

The prosecutors brought the indictment against Rotnik, the key suspect, as well as Bojan Brešar, the former head of the TEŠ6 project, lobbyist Peter Kotar and his consulting firm Sol Intercontinental, Boštjan Kotar, director of CEE, the company that drew up the TEŠ6 main call to tender, and TEŠ employees Jože Dermol, Darko Weiss and Miran Leban.

Among those charged are also Frank Lehmann, former power plant sales manager at the Alstom Power group, Josef Reisel, former Alstom Austria executive director, financial expert Bogdan Pušnik, who allegedly helped Rotnik hide the origin of his assets, tax adviser Darko Končan and French multinational Alstom Power that is now part of the US corporation General Electric.

Rotnik allegedly made sure that Alstom bagged unlawful financial gains worth more than EUR 284 million. According to unofficial information, the former TEŠ chief executive had EUR 14 million in assets in 2013, which he had to account for with the Financial Administration. He is also said to have received EUR 870,000 in commissions at the minimum.

Rotnik was arrested in November 2014 together with Pušnik, the former head of the Medvešek Pušnik brokerage, on suspicion of a money laundering scheme as the pair allegedly made bogus loan contracts. Contrary to Pušnik, he was detained, but left the detention in December 2014 when the Supreme Court ruled that the decision on detention was unlawful.

In June 2015 Rotnik was again interrogated by the court on alleged wrongdoings not merely in the construction of TEŠ6 but also regarding units 4 and 5.

In 2016, he was also subjected to a parliamentary inquiry that sought to establish the political responsibility for the TE6Š fiasco. He told the inquiry that the project was transparent and had the green light of relevant decision makers in the country.

State Prosecutor General Drago Šketa said in May 2020 that the indictment comprised three parts. The first alleges irregularities in terms of the technological equipment of unit 6 worth EUR 250 million, the second deals with allegations about reconstructing the unit five boiler and the third focuses on the systemic equipment for units 4 and 5 worth EUR 280,000.

Šketa said that the prosecution completed the indictment a year after the investigation was finished. The investigation had been beset with delays as the pace of the proceedings at the Celje District Court had been too slow, he noted.

Former Justice Minister Goran Klemenčič had ordered the Celje Higher Court to compile a report due to the delays in the case. The findings blamed the district court rather than the police or the prosecution for the situation.

As key reasons for the delays the report cites absences of investigating judges due to sick leave, hearings of "questionable applicability", the fact that judges were overloaded with other less pressing cases, failure to ask for international legal aid and delays in response to appeals for urgency.

The TEŠ case, one of the longest-running criminal cases in Slovenia, becomes statute-barred in 2030.

STA, 12 May 2021 - The newspaper Dnevnik reports that the Ljubljana District Court has resorted to hiring a detective to try to deliver court mail to Prime Minister Janez Janša, who is not picking up mail related to the Trenta case.

The case involves a piece of land in the Trenta Valley that Janša bought in 1992 and sold in 2005 for nearly nine times the price he paid, and for which an indictment against him and another two defendants was filed last autumn over abuse of office.

Related: Janša Formally Indicted for Abuse of Office in Property Deals

Until Janša receives the mail, the court cannot continue to decide on the defence's request to exclude members of the judging panel.

The documents the court would like to deliver to Janša are related to the request for exclusion of the judges.

Following its first request, Janša's defence counsel filed another two requests, so the court must successfully deliver all three replies before proceeding.

The Specialised Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment against Janša over abuse of office last October, after five years of investigation.

Also indicted are Branko Kastelic, a former chairman of Imos company, and Klemen Gantar, a former director of Eurogradnje.

According to the unofficial information obtained by Dnevnik, the court had no problems delivering the mail to Kastelic and Gantar.

STA, 15 March 2021 - As part of its preliminary procedure, the corruption watchdog has established there were no corruption risks or breaches of the integrity law when Interior Minister Aleš Hojs bought a piece of land on the Slovenian coast in July 2020.

The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption said in Monday's statement that based on the preliminary procedure, the case will not be further processed.

The commission launched the procedure late last year after receiving a report of suspicion of irregularities in the Koper municipality's sale of a piece of land.

It then obtained explanations and documents from the municipality and the Slovenian Institute of Auditors, checked the sale procedure and talked with the appraiser of the land, only to conclude that no breaches within its purview could be established.

It did however detect "certain risks", so it recommended to the municipality to ask appraisers to clearly state in their reports whether the price as appraised includes VAT or not.

Hojs's purchase was problematised last September by Mladina weekly, which alleged he had bought it cheaply because Mayor of Koper Boris Popović was his acquaintance.

It said the city of Koper had decided to sell a building plot which could not be even accessed by road, arguing that had it serviced it before selling it, it could have asked more than EUR 300 per square metre for it rather than just EUR 67.5.

At the April 2017 auction, the land was bought by Rjeckon, a company owned by Russian citizen Marat Idrisov, as the only bidder at the asking price of EUR 262,920 (VAT excluded).

Soon afterwards, the city started serving it with a road and a sewage system, while Idrisov divided it into smaller pieces and sold it on to four buyers, two of whom were Hojs and Popovič.

Hojs bought his 882 square metre piece of land for EUR 75,910 (EUR 86 per square metre), while the price could have been almost 3.5 times higher, said Mladina.

At the time, Hojs told the left-leaning magazine he had reported the purchase to the corruption watchdog. He also denied Popovič had helped him get hold of the land.