Chairman of opposition party Smer-SD, Robert Fico, has said that he has a recording that shows how foreign affairs minister Mikulas Dzurinda (SDKU) was involved in fixing a deal in 1998-1999 for the supply of boiler systems for the Bratislava incinerator.
Fico informed that the recording had been delivered to his party headquarters in an envelope on Saturday 6 November, but that he did not know who had brought it. The timing is perfect as it came within hours of Dzurinda being re-elected as the SDKU party chairman.
Fico claims that the voices in the conversations belong to Peter Kresanek (Bratislava Mayor at the time), Mikulas Dzurinda (then Prime Minister), and businessman Vladimir Miskovsky. At a press conference on the affair, Fico publicly demanded that all three men explain what their conversations meant exactly.
“The story is simple. Mr. Miskovsky is organizing a big deal for the supply of boilers in Bratislava via the company Siemens. He needs this to be cleared by Bratislava mayor, Mr. Kresanek. SDK MP Vavrik then steps in, who Mr. Miskovsky says is asking for a bribe for the deal, while the whole affair is overseen by Mr. Dzurinda, who confirms that he would deal with it,” Fico told the press.
Mikulas Dzurinda says that the recordings are authentic but that it is nothing corrupt. He also claimed that Fico had been promising to disclose the recordings much earlier. Basically, another episode on the ongoing saga of mud-throwing between the two main parties in the country, both of which have been targeted for corrupt party financing and crony practices.