Secret service wiretapped political parties
The headquarters of political parties were wiretapped by the secret service. This was the information the head of the information service Jozef Magala gave the Parliamentary Committee for SIS Control last week.
"He referred to this very generally, and added that immediately on coming into office he took measures for the termination of the bugging," said a deputy who wished not to be named. Magala was not specific as to when and where the bugging equipment was installed, nor the means and reasons for the wiretapping. On a question as to whether he knew about this, Magala's predecessor in the office of SIS head, Ladislav Pittner, replied tersely: "Allow me to laugh. Thank you".
The head of the governing party ĽS-HZDS, Vladimír Mečiar, has already approached the General Prosecutor on the matter to begin proceedings on the breaking of the law. If it is shown that no law was broken, he "should proceed against the person who gave the information. And that is the present SIS director."
The General Prosecutor, as well as the Military Prosecution, has already taken up the affair of the alleged wiretapping of political party headquarters. As HN was informed, the complaint was lodged by ĽS-HZDS leader Mečiar. New SIS Director Jozef Magala first spoke about the wiretapping last week to deputies on the Parliamentary Committee for SIS Control.
Committee Chair Pavol Prokopovič (SDKÚ-DS) maintains that Magala referred to the possible wiretapping only in passing. August 7 - 9
Slovakia regains Transpetrol
Shares in Transpetrol, which was privatized four years ago by the Russian Jukos company, will in all likelihood finish up in the ownership of Slovakia. The Minister of the Economy took advantage of the veto right which Slovakia has by contract until April, 2007. "The Slovak Government did not allow any other possibility than the repurchase of the shares into the state's hands. We have immediately halted other alternatives," stated Minister Jahnátek.
The Transpetrol repurchase was also confirmed by the Head of the Parliamentary Committee for the Economy, Maroš Kondrót, following negotiations with Jukos Finance. "Jukos is helping us out of a tight place, and accepts that we want the shares. I don't see any problems," he said.
Slovakia should be paying from 100 to 120 million dollars (2,9 to 3,5 billion Sk) for a 49 % share in the strategic oil transporter. The issue of price also "makes up 5 % of the problems which have to be sorted out," said Prime Minister Robert Fico. Where the Government, which has pledged to keep to the criteria for Euro acceptance, will find the necessary funds is not yet known. According to Fico however there exist a number of variants which would not burden the state budget. Slovnaft for example recently offered help
in the shares buy-back. August 10
Operator tender brings forth doubts
The Commission which decided on the victory of the strong Spanish group Telefónica O2 in the tender for the licence as third mobile phone operator is facing suspicions of conflict of interest. These refer to two private sector representatives on the commission.
One of the members of the commission is Patrik Krauspe, head of the registrar of internet domains, SK-NIC, the Board of which company is identical with that of the operator, DanubiaTel. "If in the future DanubiaTel concludes any business with Telefónica, it will cast a shadow on the course of the tender," is the opinion of Ivan Laščák of the competition company GTS Nextra, which has turned to the Telecommunications Board with a complaint related to this.
"Information is coming to us from a number of sources which indicates that the means of choice was not run transparently. So in conjunction with this we are analyzing the situation and considering legal steps," said another critic, spokesperson for the Penta group Martin Danko. Penta, which in a consortium with the Czech Radiocommunications, was unsuccessful in the tender.
The identity of the Commission members was revealed by the Telecommunications Board yesterday. "We had no connections with the participants in the selection proceedings nor with existing mobile operators," said Board spokesperson Roman Vavro. At the time of going to press, the reactions of either the Telefónica company or of the two mentioned Commission members were unknown. August 9
More expensive energy again boosting inflation
Over preceding years we have become accustomed to the fact that autumn is the time for rising energy costs, and this year will be no exception. The Slovak Gas Industry has already submitted a proposal for an increase of 15% in natural gas prices to the Board for the Regulation of Network Branches (ÚRSO). Cost rises also apply to heat, electric and, in light of the world oil markets, to more expensive petrol and diesel. Along with their primary impact on family finances, these factors will also impact on the prices of other goods and services. Even without the planned increases in energy prices, consumer prices are already rising more rapidly than was expected. August 4
English translation by Kevin Slavin