By: Nova24tv.si
The Golob government has repeatedly warned us that there are no reserves in the budget and that we will have to tighten our belts. Of course, not the state like in Argentina, but private individuals. We have often found that there is more than enough funds when it comes to paying the leftist street or when politicians and their companions finance themselves. There was enough for 13,000 laptops without any specific owner. There was enough for a micro-flight from Ljubljana to Vienna for the President of the National Assembly. There was enough for the director of the indebted University Medical Centre (UKC) in Ljubljana to choose a specific colour for the new prestigious electric SUV which he will drive.
Recently, on the portal preverjeno.si, they reported on the extravagance of ministers in Golob’s inflated government. The most “spendthrift” is the Minister for Digital Transformation, Emilija Stojmenova Duh, who, with her official card, spent more than 10 thousand euros in less than ten months – roughly 1000 euros per month – which means that an average employer would have to pay 1600 gross for an employee to be able to pay such an amount.
The ministry stated for the portal that the spending on official cards is “tied to official expenses, mainly for the payment of expenses on official trips, such as accommodation and transportation”. This is certainly an unusual formulation, as travel expenses (accommodation, transportation) are most often paid in advance from the funds of the respective department, not from the ministers’ official cards, as confirmed by sources from the portal, stating that she “focuses on her image, but the content suffers, and Minister Sanja Ajanović Hovnik is said to be an amateur compared to her” (recall that Hovnik gained fame for her trip with friends to New York). Taxpayers covered, among other things, her travel and accommodation expenses for a trip to China in the amount of 4100 euros.
The other “big spenders”
Similar to the Minister for Digitalisation, fallen Health Minister Danijel Bešič Loredan is said to be just as extravagant, having spent 10,349.28 euros. However, he is the only one who did not justify his spending solely on “official trips”, as he also justified the expenses with the “costs of entertaining foreign delegations and professional meetings”.
Among the more extravagant, ironically, was also the Minister of Finance Klemen Boštjančič, who, in 18 months of using official cards, along with his cabinet, spent a total of 25,446.25 euros, although it was unclear who in the cabinet actually used the card. The Ministry of Finance also justified themselves, stating “that these are expenses related to payments for official trips, such as accommodation payments, tourist taxes, transportation…,” which is again a bit tricky, as, as mentioned, expenses are mostly paid in advance.
There are also big spenders in the Levica department, the Ministry of Labour. Minister Luka Mesec spent 6,330.10 euros with the card, and the cabinet together spent 9,144.98 euros. As an excuse for extravagance, they once again mention the payment of expenses related to official trips.
Infrastructure Minister Alenka Bratušek has so far spent around 5 thousand euros with her card, along with State Secretary Andrej Rajh, despite taking office only in January.
Justice Minister Dominika Švarc Pipan, along with colleagues, has also spent around 5 thousand euros, similar to Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon.
In Janša’s government, “left-wing ministers” were the most spendthrift
An interesting parallel, not explicitly linked in the revelations, is the fact that in the previous government, the declared “left-wing” ministers – Simona Kustec and Boštjan Koritnik – were the most spendthrift, while in the previous right-wing government, Senko Pličanič held that position, whereas Aleš Hojs, Matej Tonin, Anže Logar, and Zvonko Černač did not use the cards at all.