Slovenian Prime Minister denies being offered bribes

NBI investigator criticises Slovenian police on TV news

print this

Slovenia’s Prime Minister Janez Janša sharply denies allegations of bribe taking that had been made on the MOT investigative television programme on the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE).
      According to Janša, his government’s deals with the Finnish armaments manufacturer Patria was made “after a public bid for tenders that met all standards”, and that no bribery was involved.
     
“Neither me nor my government has taken bribes, and there were also no attempts to bribe us”, Janša said on Monday in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat in the capital Ljubljana.
      the Prime Minister said that Patria won because its offer was 20 per cent cheaper than the bid made by its competitor, and because the proportion of Slovenian production was greater in Patria’s offer.
      He added that he himself was never contacted by Patria and that no Finns had tried to influence him.
     
“The Americans, on the other hand, tried a few times to get me to come to meetings and discussions. I refused, saying that the decision is in the hands of the Ministry of Defence.”
      “The former US envoy here was also a representative of General Dynamics”, Janša adds.
      The US armaments industry giant General Dynamics owns the Slovenian Sistemska tehnika , under whose nose Patria grabbed the contract for the supply of 135 armoured vehicles.
      Janša says that the process leading to the deal was initiated already during the previous government, and has been a topic of heated debate inside Slovenia.
      “Although Sistemska Tehnika is currently an American company, our Defence Minister was accused of going against the national interest when Patria was chosen.
     
Slovenia is holding Parliamentary elections less than two weeks from now, and the allegations aired in Finland have caused considerable controversy during the campaign.
      “This broadcast and the allegations are a personal nightmare for me, but the greatest problem is that two million Slovenians are interested in only one thing: whether they should believe the claims made in the programme, or me.”
      The Prime Minister suggests imagining if the situation were the other way around, with a programme on Slovenian TV accusing Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen of taking bribes, with no evidence to back up the claims.
      “In Finland people would probably write about ‘Balkans journalism’”
     
Janša wants to correct the impression that the Slovenian government would have sent its diplomatic note to Finland, hoping to pressure the Finnish government to interfere with the activities of YLE.
      “The note was sent because the [MOT] journalist said that the state-owned Patria had evidence [of bribery]. If there is evidence that I received money in this state-owned company, we asked that it be brought forward.”
      “We did not demand that the Finnish government interfere with the activities of the free media. On the other hand, we called on YLE itself to broadcast our reply. Finnish law requires this. I am not sure when this has to happen, but it would be proper to publish it as soon as possible.”
      If this does not happen, Janša feels that there will be only one option left.
     ”Then we will go to a Finnish court. It is very simple.”
     
Janša’s press aides submitted a response to YLE on Friday. On Monday YLE said that it had responded to the message, and said that the company stands behind the MOT story.
      The Prime Minister emphasises that the Patria affair is not causing problems between Finland and Slovenia.
     
“This is an internal matter for the Slovenians. If one looks at the TV programme, it is clear that the most important interviewees are Slovenian representatives of rival political parties.”
      Janša denies claims that have been made in his country that Slovenian police had deliberately encumbered investigations into the matter. The Finnish head of the investigation, Kaj Björkqvist nevertheless criticised the activities of his colleagues on YLE’s TV News.
      Björkqvist says that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has not received the information that it has requested from the Slovenian police, which has leaked information that it received from the Finnish police to the public. A list was made public, containing the names of 20 people whom Finnish police would like to speak with.
      The Slovenians would want further information about the names, but the NBI is unwilling to provide it, in light of the previous information leaks, Björkvist says.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Slovenia threatens to suspend Patria deal (8.9.2008)
  Slovenia sends diplomatic note to Finland over YLE bribery allegations (5.9.2008)
  Slovenian government intends to sue YLE management over Patria bribery claims (4.9.2008)
  Patria CEO resigns amid ongoing NBI probes into bribery allegations (19.8.2008)
  Central Criminal Police arrest four Patria employees suspected of bribery (4.6.2008)

Helsingin Sanomat