By: Nova24tv.si
It has long been known that Slovenian left-leaning non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have created a true fiefdom within public administration, where millions routinely flow into their coffers – often through vaguely defined and pre-agreed “projects” with officials. However, it was only in the case of Sanja Ajanović Hovnik that the public truly grasped the debauchery in this sphere. This understanding was facilitated by the media, which, due to unrelated interests, began fulfilling their duty and reporting on tenders involving NGOs. The public was genuinely outraged for the first time about where their hard-earned money was going. Consequently, the government started a firefighting operation, removed the minister, and ad hoc annulled the tender that NGOs were already anticipating with dreamy amounts. Apparently, NGOs are now displeased that they lost funding solely due to public outrage over the procedures of public tenders for funds.
Recall that Minister of Public Administration Franc Props recently cancelled the tender to strengthen civil rights and NGOs, which was one of the reasons for the resignation of his predecessor Sanja Ajanović Hovnik. Initially, he wanted to wait for an internal audit, but it was reported to be ongoing. Unused funds will continue to be allocated to support the development of NGOs, but a repeat of the same tender proposed by Ajanović Hovnik is not planned.
The results of the internal audit will be shared with the public when available, according to the Ministry of Public Administration. The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption and the police are also investigating the events. Among the selected recipients of the tender was the Institute for the Study of Gender Equality (IPES), led by Kaja Primorac, a close friend of the minister, with whom she also founded the company Smart Centre. At the beginning of her mandate, Ajanović Hovnik transferred her share to her mother. The issue was not only that the institute, closely connected to the minister, received funding but also that the minister’s mother provided advice for money to applicants in the tender, indicating clear signs of corruption.
Now, other non-governmental profiteers have started complaining because they missed out solely because the minister was too bold and obvious with the funding of public money into private pockets. The infamous Legal Network, a group of NGOs that, among other things, drafted a (probably unconstitutional) law on RTV Slovenia, criticised even by “their” Nataša Pirc Musar, is outraged.
“Instead of the Ministry of Public Administration concluding contracts for the implementation of projects with selected applicants (who already received selection decisions in August last year), it annulled the entire tender, although the audit is not yet completed. Until we succeed against the arbitrariness of the authorities with legal remedies, you can support the operation of the Legal Network at pravna-mreza.si/doniraj/ or with an SMS message PMVD5 to 1919,” they wrote on the social network X. The same request was also addressed by Barbara Ragelj, whose esoteric NGO (operating within the Legal Network) was also a recipient of staggering public funds.
The non-governmental organisations Open Institute and Legal Centre for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment (PIC) were among the selected recipients of the tender. PIC was expecting as much as 300,000 euros. Similarly, funds from the failed tender would have been received by the Association Pride Parade, whose president was Rajgelj.
Rajgelj has already become accustomed to the fact that state millions are automatic
What kind of figures are we talking about outside of the failed tender? PIC, where Rajgelj is employed, received a total of 2,525,715.27 euros from 2003 until the minister’s fall. Of this, they received 37,809.96 euros in public funds in September 2023. The Ministry of the Interior is considered one of their biggest financiers, having so far transferred a total of 1,170,195.02 euros to them! Among the payers, you can also find: the District Court in Ljubljana, the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology (Slovenian Consumer Protection Office), the Eco Fund, and the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning.
Here we cannot overlook the Institute for the Culture of Diversity Open, whose director and co-founder, in addition to Nina Hudej (also co-owner of the company NORMALA, gastronomy, Ltd.), Monika Weiss, and Nina Kodrič, is also Rajgelj. Although the pure sales revenues are by no means comparable to the operating income of Lokal Pritličje, which, according to Ebonitet data, amounted to 6,400 euros, it makes sense to look at how much public funds flow into the operation of the institute, which, according to data available on their official website, promotes the idea of “anti-discrimination, respect for human rights, and diversity”. The institute, based at Maistrova 8 in Ljubljana, which carries out “research and promotional projects in the field of human rights, culture, social security, and the economic system” (among the projects carried out was the Empowerment of LGBT Families), according to the Erar data, received a total of 144,058.04 euros in public funds from 2010 to the present.
Socialist Rajgelj is also a businesswoman
This is not all. The most equal of all equal Slovenian NGOs also receives income from her professorship at the Faculty of Law in Ljubljana, where she teaches courses on the fundamentals of law, labour and social law, and European corporate law.
Even more importantly, her business activities are noteworthy. Although Rajgelj passionately protests against capitalism, in practice, it seems she does not shy away from its fruits, as someone might think. Rajgelj is, in fact, a co-owner of the Pritličje bar in a prestigious location – just a few steps from Ljubljana’s City Hall. The bar is considered a popular meeting point for left-wing activists, as numerous discussions and other cultural events take place there. It is not short of entertainment, and, for instance, on May 26th, 2023, they organised a party to celebrate the “victory” when constitutional judges lifted the temporary suspension of parts of the new RTVS law.
Almost a million euros in turnover annually
If we look at the business operations of the company NORMALA, gostinstvo, Ltd., of which Rajgelj is a co-owner, on Ebonitets, we can see that the bar generated a whopping 945,157 euros in net sales last year. During the coronavirus times, when bars also had to close their doors for some time, the net sales naturally decreased, as in 2020, they amounted to 414,710 euros, and in 2021, 518,414 euros. The sales were higher in the years before, with net sales totalling 693,019 euros in 2018 and amounting to 734,227 euros in 2019.
Data on the Erar application, which displays public spending, reveals that the company NORMALA, gostinstvo, Ltd. has received a total of 97,778.13 euros in public funds from 2015 to the present. Most of the funds came from the Employment Service of the Republic of Slovenia, totalling 47,366.09 euros. They also received a total of 32,303.00 euros from the Ministry of Finance (FURS). Among the payers, there are institutions such as the High School for Design and Photography Ljubljana, which allocated a total of 4,126.08 euros, the Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia, the Public Institute Mladi zmaji – Centre for Quality Free Time of Young People, the creative Centre Rog, the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana. Smaller amounts were also allocated by some faculties, such as the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, and even the Šentvid High School Ljubljana.
Wealthy NGOs have become accustomed to the automation of millions in distribution
In the case of the publicly funded “wealthy” Rajgelj, we see that NGOs that received funds from the Ministry of Public Administration’s ridiculous public tender are so angry simply because they are accustomed to the automatic receipt of funds. For them, this was a guaranteed income. Together with their “friends”, officials in the ministries wrote and edited applications to meet certain minimums, which could then justify the plunder of taxpayer money by “their” Court of Audit.
Due to Sanja Ajanović Hovnik, who apparently believed that “her” NGOs in the modern left-leaning media landscape and the complete hegemony of the left can afford anything – even blatant nepotism – the public has realised how their money is being wasted (while government representatives claim there is no money!). The public, of course, became outraged, and the government – because it does not know anything else – initiated a firefighting action to annul the entire tender. Instead of overhauling the conditions under which such (obviously prearranged) tenders take place or considering their abolition.
It is important to emphasise that the Ministry of Public Administration (MJU) truly has no legal options to annul the tender – NGOs are correct in saying that this is an ad hoc decision with a government decree. The tender could be annulled when irregularities are discovered. However, the hijacked institutions will never find such irregularities. So, the question is whether it is true, as some sources say, that there is a silent agreement between the ministry (or the government) and NGOs that, after the public show, funds will still be paid out (with interest). The infamous Institute for the Study of Gender Equality (IPES), led by Minister’s friend Kaja Primorac, is set to receive them as well.