The rescue tender is also being investigated by the Bratislava regional prosecutor’s office based on its own findings. In doing so, he cooperates with the police, who started a criminal investigation last week in connection with the canceled tender.
In addition, the Administrative Court in Bratislava is preparing all the documents to be able to schedule a hearing in the matter of 32 lawsuits filed by the Prosecutor General in connection with the rescue tender to the Ministry of Health Maroš Žilinka.
The rescue tender was announced last year by the Department of Health under the leadership of the Minister Kamila Šaška (Voice) through the Operation Center of the Rescue Service, which organized it. It was the largest public procurement of the Ministry of Health during the fourth Fico government. Its value was two billion euros.
33 bidders participated in the public tender for the occupation of 344 land and seven helicopter stations for the next six years, the value of which was two billion euros. The competition was accompanied by ambiguities.
The ministry initially refused to publish the names of the members of the selection committee. After the newspaper SME obtained the list of names, it became clear that several members of the commission had a conflict of interest.
According to the leaked results, the Agel group was very successful in the tender, which had ambulances manufactured in Poland for this purpose. Emergency Medical Solutions (EMS) from Bratislava was also very successful, with ties to the Hlas party showing.
The minister canceled the tender in the first half of August last year, although he had no support for it in the law. Subsequently, the Prosecutor General Žilinka declared that it was illegal. He sent 33 protests to the Ministry of Health. When they were not satisfied, he filed 32 lawsuits against the department at the Administrative Court in Bratislava.
Prosecutor’s Office: We have our own findings
In the rescue tender case, “it takes place mainly on the basis of the prosecutor’s office’s own knowledge,” says Gabriela Kováčová, spokeswoman for the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Bratislava.
According to her, the Bratislava prosecutor’s office also draws on other information in its investigation than that brought to the criminal proceedings by the criminal report of a member of parliament for KDH František Majerský. However, Kováčová did not specify this information in more detail.
She only stated that during the investigation of the rescue tender case, the Bratislava regional prosecutor’s office, through the supervising prosecutor, closely cooperates with the anti-corruption unit of the Office for Combating Organized Crime (ÚBOK).
