The current government has shown again that it is serious about fighting corruption as it has charged two employees of the Ministry of Defence for taking bribes in public procurement.
What’s more, defence minister Lubomir Galko feels that there could be many more similar cases and so he plans to uncover as many people as possible, including politicians if it is shown that they had anything to do with the cases.
Galko believes certain chains of power have been established at his ministry, which make it possible for organised groups to deal with the whole public procurement process from start to finish and so do what they want with public funds.
He is even calling on opposition party Smer-SD, which formerly ran the ministry, to explain who allowed such a system to be put in place and why.
The Anti-Corruption Office has accused the two workers from the ministry of abusing the position of public officials and of machinations in public procurement. The accused are said to have manipulated selection proceedings and so determine the winners of tenders in advance, meaning the prices could also be exaggerated.
One of the accused could face a sentence of between 7-12 years, while the other could be put behind bars for 2-8 years.
Imagine my shock!