By: G. B.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the recent traffic accident in which President Nataša Pirc Musar was injured is taking on new dimensions. The accident remains shrouded in mystery, because unlike accidents involving ordinary citizens, which police directorates describe in detail in their daily incident bulletins, we have learned practically nothing about this one.
On Saturday, 1 August, the Koper Police Directorate announced the following:
“Yesterday at 16:57 we were informed of a traffic accident on the motorway in the direction of Ljubljana, involving two official police vehicles driving in a convoy escorting a protected person. According to the information gathered so far, two people were injured in the accident, one sustained minor injuries, the other in the vehicle sustained serious bodily injuries. Both were transported by ambulance to the General Hospital Izola. Due to urgent intervention activities and inspection of the accident site, the Kastelec tunnel was temporarily closed to all traffic. It was reopened at 20:19. The investigation is still ongoing. The competent department of the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Slovenia has been informed.”
On the same day that the Koper Police Directorate published the notice (of course without mentioning the president, only that vehicles in an escort were involved?!), the Office of the President also announced that Nataša Pirc Musar had been injured in the accident while returning from holiday in Croatia to an event in Komenda. Without further explanation.
Our journalist Vida Kocjan sent questions to the Office, asking why the notification came only on Saturday, whether the president left Croatia on time (given the hour of the accident) so that the escort did not have to “urgently” speed and chase timing, whether there is video footage of the accident (given the tunnel), which would show the necessity of the drive, the speed of the vehicles, and whether the escort vehicles followed tunnel‑driving rules during a possibly (non‑)priority drive, and also who the other person was who was seriously injured in the accident. The Office replied as follows:
“The Office of the President informed the public about the traffic accident involving the President as soon as the key circumstances of the event were known. As the public has already been appropriately informed, the President and a passenger in the vehicle, who is not a public figure, were injured in the accident.
The President departed for her official trip on time, in accordance with the estimated travel time to Komenda and with an additional 20‑minute buffer, namely at 16:10 for the scheduled arrival at the event at 18:30.
The police investigation is still ongoing; therefore, we currently have no other details beyond those already provided to the public. We are also not competent for the investigation; this is exclusively within the jurisdiction of the police.”
Based on available information, it is clear that the person in the vehicle with the President was not her husband Aleš Musar, who is considered a public figure. Instead, it was someone whose identity is being protected. If this person is not a public figure, why were they being transported in the presidential vehicle, with an escort, and at taxpayers’ expense? This is a very interesting and legitimate question.
Shortly after the accident, information appeared online that the person accompanying Pirc Musar was her confidante, Russian citizen Victoria Krivolutskaya, also her bowling partner. We can also read that Krivolutskaya caused a fatal traffic accident in 2007, fled the scene, and tried to shift the blame onto her passenger. She is professionally connected with Pirc Musar, especially in relation to companies linked to the “Russian Dacha” in Gameljne.
According to the portal Moja Dolenjska, Gvin.com shows that Krivolutskaya was a representative of the company Info hiša, owned by Pirc Musar and now in liquidation; a representative of DK Plus; a representative (procurator) of “Russian Dacha”; and co‑founder of NET PRO SHOP. All companies are connected to the Pirc Musar family.
The Office of the President has so far neither confirmed nor denied that the mentioned person was indeed in the car. As noted, they are protecting the identity.
It will now be interesting to see whether any surveillance‑camera footage from the Kastelec tunnel appears. Or whether the footage will simply “disappear,” something we have “grown used to” in some very notorious cases – from the tragic death of Saša Baričevič to the murder of Janko Jamnik. We will certainly send journalistic inquiries to the police and, if necessary, to the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Public Administration.