Police have raided the offices of Slovakia’s major power producer Slovenske Elektrarne to confiscate documents and evidence concerning privatisation of a 66% stake in the company to Italian power giant Enel in 2006.
Spokeswoman for the Ministry of Economy, Miriam Ziakova, confirmed the news for TASR newswire, who also noted that the police are not referring to it as a raid but as an operation to collect documents from the time of privatisation.
The police simultaneously went to SE offices throughout the country, with the company providing its full collaboration, with the company spokeswoman Jana Burdova noting that they did not know the reason for the investigation. The state still owns the remaining one third in the power giant, while the Italian owners announced recently that they might be putting the stake up for sale.
Prime Minister Robert Fico has always insisted that the deal was sinister, having been executed while former head of the SDKU party Mikulas Dzurinda was prime minister. Fico and others claim that some backhanders were handed out in the deal and that the stake in the company was sold below its value.
Or! maybe, when Enel cut the rope and leave the harbor. Some of the more murkier points of the 2006 deal will bubble to the surface?
I wager this is a scare tactic employed such that they are just relived to leave town!
Whilst possible corruption is always a factor it could just be that someone has finally realised that having a company with no previous experience of running nuclear power stations may in itself be a cause for concern!