Politics, / By STA

Examining the assets of parliamentary party leaders, the Corruption Prevention Commission has found that the heads of two biggest parliamentary parties, Janez Janša of the ruling Democrats (SDS) and Zoran Janković of the opposition Positive Slovenia (PS), have violated anti-corruption legislation.



(Photo: Luka Cjuha)

anša failed to report EUR 210,000, while Janković's assets inexplicably increased by EUR 2.4m, the commission says in its final report.

The anti-graft body says that Janković, who is also Ljubljana mayor, repeatedly failed to report his assets as determined by law. The systematic violation of the law referred to his dealings in cash, securities and the increases of funds on his bank accounts in the total amount of EUR 2.4m.

A part of the transactions which landed on Janković's account in the period of four months in 2011 (totalling EUR 208,000) were chain transactions that were started by Grep, a company doing business with the Ljubljana City Municipality.

Grep was the main contractor in the construction the Stožice complex. Janković as well as several other officials are currently under investigation over the multi-million project.

"These funds have not only not been reported to the commission, but they are also heavily burdened by corruption risks, risks of unlawful lobbying, a conflict of interest in the broadest sense and the suspicion of abuse of office," the report reads.

The commission pointed out that it could not check whether Janković had any assets abroad due to legal restrictions.

In Janša's case, the commission also found multiple violations of the legal duty of public office holder to report his assets as regards to dealings in cash, ownership of real estate, ownership of movables and standing surety.

Based on official data, the assets of Janša, who is also the prime minister, increased inexplicably by at least EUR 210,000 in the period that was examined by the commission.

According to the anti-graft body, Janša's purchase of a real estate in 2005 was cofinanced by private company Imos in a deal that brought the prime minister EUR 100,000 in gain. The deal included clear corruption risks in connection to businesses owned by one of Janša's family members, the report says.

Janša responded on Twitter, asserting that all his assets were fully in accordance with his earnings over the past 30 years, while the SDS tweeted that the commission's report "has shown how deep the communist insinuations go".

The commission interviewed Janša in early September 2012, and Janković three months earlier. It scrutinised Janković's dealings from the time when he became a public office holder in 2006 until May 2012, and Janša's deals between 2004 and April 2012.

The commission's head Goran Klemenčič said in a statement today that neither Janša nor Janković provided an explanation for the inconsistencies found even though they had been given many opportunities to do so.

In the coming days, attempts will surely be made to discredit the report, the procedure and probably also individual if not all members of the commission, Klemenčič said, adding that they had already faced such problems during the oversight procedure.

He said that as the head of the commission he was proud of his colleagues but as a citizen he was sad at the findings.

No irregularities were found with other parliamentary party leaders, including incumbent President Borut Pahor, who was investigated in his previous capacity as the head of the opposition Social Democrats (SD).

The commission has decided to conduct the review after the assets of top politicians became one of the main topics ahead of the last general election.