Slovenian PM and Ljubljana mayor suspected of conflict of interest

Slovenia's anti-corruption commission on Tuesday released a report on the assets of parliamentary parties' presidents since mid-2010 which raises suspicion that Prime Minister Janez Jansa and opposition leader and Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Jankovic were in conflict of interest while in office and that they did not report changes in their assets.

Regarding PM Jansa, who is also the president of the Slovenian Democratic Party, the report says that his assets "disproportionately and inexplicably" grew "by at least 210,000 euros" in more than two years.

The anti-corruption commission found that in the period in question, Jansa co-financed the purchase of a private company's property and made about EUR 100,000 at the company's expense. The commission said the transaction carried a corruption risk and raised suspicion of abuse of office.

Regarding Jankovic, president of the Positive Slovenia party, the report says he systematically failed to report his actual assets and that since mid-2010 the amount in his bank accounts rose to EUR 2.4 million, including EUR 208,000 deposited in 2010 by a company that did business with Ljubljana Municipality.

The anti-corruption commission found that the said amount was not only not reported, but that the transaction carried risks of corruption, unlawful lobbying, conflict of interest and abuse of office.

(Hina)