By: T. B. (Nova24TV.si)
In recent days, Robert Golob has suffered two major, perhaps even decisive, defeats. The first is the personnel reshuffle at the top of the GEN Group, where the previous general director of GEN Energija, Nada Drobne Popovič, and the CEO of GEN‑I, Maks Helbl, were replaced. The second is the notice from the Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office stating that the conditions have been met to begin criminal proceedings against the former prime minister in the Bobnar case.
Political analyst Miran Videtič sees the changes in the GEN Group as necessary, because the company had served Golob and a wider circle for too long. He therefore does not expect cosmetic adjustments or “Golob after Golob,” but a full audit and finally a transparent state‑owned company that will no longer be closed to the public. He believes this is the moment when even the left‑leaning political background has decided that Golob can no longer be the political face of what he calls the “transactional pole.”
Videtič says yesterday’s changes in the GEN Group were “inevitable and necessary.” The company, indeed, the entire group, was “too much in the service of Robert Golob and, of course, also of others.” “We must not be naïve and think that only Robert Golob benefited from this company,” he stresses. Therefore, he expects the new government and new management teams not to make merely cosmetic adjustments “where one group loses and another group gains very high‑quality companies.”
He expects the new leadership to present the company’s actual condition to the public. “Not tomorrow, of course, but once, for example, the eventual audit is completed, which I expect, including audits of subsidiary companies such as GEN‑I, so that they present this to the public, because until now this company has been closed to the public for 10 or 15 years. So, my wish is that we do not get Golob after Golob, but that we get a transparent state‑owned company.”
Not defending Golob anymore, defending the system
He assesses the developments in the Bobnar case just as sharply: “My sources say that even before yesterday, which was essentially a nightmare day for Golob, a decision had already been made within those left‑leaning designer circles in the background that Golob cannot continue his work or remain the political representative of the so‑called “transactional pole”. This suggests they were dissatisfied with Golob, primarily because he failed to form a government. On the other hand, they likely also concluded that his arrogance and narcissism were alienating people. And at this point, it is no longer Robert Golob who is being defended, it is the system. And that is the perspective in which this must be viewed,” he explained.
Videtič describes yesterday as the hardest day of Golob’s career. According to him, Golob has been left without key state‑owned companies, a serious criminal procedure is hanging over him, and people who supported him for years, who ‘held the line’ for him, are abandoning him. Even the media are said to be withdrawing. He therefore calls the day a truly dark day for Robert Golob. “In my assessment, his political career is over, not today or tomorrow, but it is finished. The question is where he may end up, and that depends primarily on what else might come to light, especially regarding his actions during the period when he led the state‑owned company,” he said.
According to Videtič, criminal prosecution “is not innocent.” Videtič believes the prosecution must have “much more” than what Golob’s representative Stojan Zdolšek presented publicly. He does not expect the story to end here, on the contrary, he believes more will surface. He attributes this to Golob’s “arrogance, narcissism, and leadership style, in which people were cast aside and criticism silenced by attacks on livelihoods – even the livelihoods of their relatives.” This style, he says, has now ended, but that does not change the fact that Golob will have to face the consequences.