Ljubljana - Parts of the criminal complaint filed against former Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek over purchases of ventilators at the start of the Covid-19 epidemic have been revealed in the media. Investigators are said to have found proof of deals for the payment of kickbacks and of notification of suspects about upcoming house searches.

Parts of the criminal complaint sent by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to the Specialised State Prosecution on 25 May were presented in the Tarča current affairs show, aired on Thursday on the public broadcaster TV Slovenija.

According to Tarča journalists, documents from the police investigation show that there was an agreement between the Economy Ministry, the company Geneplanet and the communication agency Pristop regarding Geneplanet supplying ventilators to the state.

The suspects are Zdravko Počivalšek, who served as the economy minister at the time of the purchases, his aide at the ministry Andreja Potočnik and Marko Bitenc, the director of Geneplanet, which was renamed MD-DX in March 2021.

Investigators have reportedly found evidence of suppliers agreeing on the payments of kickbacks, including a message on Bitenc's night stand reading: "I have all the information on how many euros and where the commission will be transferred and to whom."

A contract on the purchase of ventilators concluded on 16 March 2020 was also found as part of the investigation, under which Geneplanet paid EUR 21,000 for one ventilator and sold it to the state for almost EUR 40,000.

It was planned to sell 220 ventilators to the state for EUR 8.8 million, while their purchase price was EUR 4.4 million, and Bitenc was hiding the purchase price of the ventilators all the time, show the documents.

Tarča reported that Geneplanet's privileged status is evident from the fact that it received an EUR 8 million advance, while the state allegedly demanded only a 50% guarantee, whereas all the other providers had to provide 100% guarantee.

The police officers have also collected findings from hospitals regarding the quality of ventilators. For example, UKC Maribor said that ventilators from Geneplanet were not suitable for patients with Covid-19 due to serious malfunctions.

These ventilators are said to have stopped working without any warning, and investigators are convinced by the collected evidence that the ministry had known that Geneplanet ventilators had not been approved, but nevertheless signed the contract.

According to Tarča, Matej Skočir, currently a state secretary at the Environment Ministry, was one of the key people at the Economy Ministry for the procurement of ventilators.

Skočir said in writing that he "did not have a major or decisive role". The STA has already turned to the Environment Ministry for some clarifications, including whether Skočir enjoys the trust of Minister Uroš Brežan.

The persons involved had reportedly been informed in advance about house searches conduced by the police, as evident from a piece of paper found in the pocket of a jacket found in the bedroom closet at Počivalšek's home.

The instructions written on it read: "No comments on the content, clean up your phone and electronic devices, no hiding of documents and keep calm."

Bitenc was also reportedly informed about house searches. In June 2020, a few hours before the arrival of the police, he deleted his communication about deals with ventilators as part of a group chat on a web app.

The group also featured Pristop director Primož Pusar and a representative of a Slovenian-Chinese association who was looking for ventilators in China.

According to the criminal investigators, Pristop arranged the supply of protective equipment for the Economy Ministry, while also working for Geneplanet. Pusar lobbied with the director of the Sparkasse bank to release funds for a performance guarantee for Geneplanet.

It has also been established that after the successful supply of ventilators, Geneplanet concluded deals with intermediaries, including Pristop, which led the investigators to suspect that these were payments of kickbacks.

Geneplanet transferred EUR 152,500 to Pristop on 29 May 2020, EUR 91,500 on 30 September and EUR 30,500 on 13 October.

The Celje general hospital was the first to purchase Geneplanet ventilators. Margareta Guček Zakošek, the then hospital director, allegedly persuaded Počivalšek that the state should also buy them. Both were members of the SMC party, Tarča noted.

It was revealed in the same show two years ago that Počivalšek intervened with the Agency for Commodity Reserves in March 2020 to sign a EUR 8 million contract with Geneplanet for the supply of ventilators before the company provided the bank guarantee.

A recording of the conversation between Počivalšek and the then director of the agency, Anton Zakrajšek, which was played during the show, is said to be one of the key pieces of evidence on which the criminal complaint is based.

Počivalšek, who has been constantly rejecting all allegations, did not want to speak for Tarča, and neither did Skočir and Potočnik, while Guček Zakošek said over the phone several times that "she only wanted to help". Pusar said in writing that he had no role in the deal between Geneplanet and the agency.