Jože Lenart, a member of parliament from the LMŠ party, made sure that the business partner, which employs his wife, acquired a deal worth more than 76 thousand euros.
LMŠ MP Jože Lenart made sure that the business partner, which employs his wife, acquired a deal worth more than 76 thousand euros. Namely, in December 2018, the Oncology Institute (OI) in Ljubljana hired an IT consultant without a public tender and paid him the stated amount for consulting services. This IT consultant was an independent entrepreneur Sandi Ogrizek. He was recommended to the Oncology Institute by MP Lenart from Šarec’s party.
Prior to concluding the contract, the Oncology Institute was visited by Franc Trček, a member of the Left (now SD), and Jože Lenart, a member of the LMŠ. Lenart then said at the OI that his wife, a doctor at the Slovenj Gradec hospital, had worked well with Ogrizek and that his services could also benefit the OI. It later turned out that before signing the contract with OI, Ogrizek cooperated with only two public health institutions – the hospital where Lenart’s wife is employed and the Health Center in (Šarec’s) Kamnik.
We therefore asked the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (CCP) whether they were aware of this and whether they had taken any action. They replied that »with the allegedly controversial intervention of LMŠ MP Jože Lenart in concluding the consulting contract with OI, they were informed on the basis of media announcements«. On their own initiative, they initiated proceedings on February 4th, 2020 on suspicion of violating the ethics and integrity of the public sector. In the proceedings, however, »on the basis of the examination of the case, they did not find out that any of those present at the OI would perceive the deputy’s visit as unethical or illegal pressure«. They confirmed, however, that Lenart had made a recommendation. But the CCP “could not confirm” the suspicion of unethical or illegal influence on the proceedings. They added that in the specific case, Lenart did not violate the legal provisions on the duty to avoid conflicts of interest – »so he did not participate in the selection process or make a decision to hire an external contractor«, they wrote.
The CCP’s findings are, to put it mildly, strange and arouse doubt on the commission’s impartiality. Let us recall how some other deputies are treated, who do not come from the circles of the so-called first-class political parties or the elected representatives of the deep state. Examples are MPs Alenka Jeraj and Jelka Godec (current state secretary). They are guilty because they only »forwarded an e-mail for the supply of protective medical equipment«. More than obvious, there are double standards on the CCP as well.