Financial Administration President Jiri Zezulka declared that opposition Smer-SD chair Robert Fico’s claims of Zezulka demanding any bribes from a company called Allexis, owned by Michal S. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons] who is testifying against former officials nominated by Smer-SD in corruption cases, are not true, TASR learnt on Monday.
Zezulka underlined that he had never demanded bribes from any representative of Allexis. “I have never done so directly nor via any intermediary. On September 15, I familiarised myself with the content of an anonymous blog and, as a member of the Financial Administration, reported it to the inspection and internal affairs department without delay to have all the suspicions investigated,” he told TASR, adding that he asked his colleagues to initiate cooperation with law enforcement. In addition, Zezulka filed a criminal complaint against the blog’s author for slander.
Zezulka pointed out that problems with due dates of supplier invoices go back a few months before he assumed his post at the helm of the Financial Administration. “In 2020, payments worth €1.2 million from the period of May-November fell into arrears due to several reasons: the insufficient 2020 financial coverage, the loss of security clearance on the part of the supplier as well as the dubious manner in which invoices were delivered,” he claimed.
Currently, a legal battle between the Financial Administration and the supplier over the late payment interest is still ongoing. “The Financial Administration settled its commitments in November 2020 and December 2020,” said Zezulka and added that currently the Financial Administration is making all payments to Allexis on time, paying €108,200 monthly over the operation of a single e-register system.
According to Zezulka, the Financial Administration has already withdrawn from three out of four contracts with Allexis.
Source: Tasr