Former mayor charged over shady tender

Former mayor of Košice František Knapík will most probably be brought to trial at the Specialised Criminal Court over allegations concerning his involvement in machinations in public procurements while in office, aktualne.sk website reported on Tuesday. Citing a statement from spokesperson of the Specialised Criminal Court Katarina Kudjáková, the website stated that charges have already been filed against the former mayor, who held the post between 2006-10. As observed by the website, the scandal dates back to 2009, when Kosice city authorities were looking for an advisor for the purchase of buses using EU funds. The main criterion of the tender was the price. The police challenged this, however, because the competition was won by a bidder from Bratislava that didn't come up with the most favourable price bid. In addition, the respective contract with the winning applicant featured an addendum whereby the price of the transaction was increased markedly, going up from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of euro. Kosice City Hall pledged to pay 4 percent of the financial assistance received from EU funds. According to the results of the police investigation, Knapik apparently signed the contract with the disputed addendum even though he was aware of the fact that the authority didn't have enough financial resources at its disposal. Kosice council allegedly lost €433,000. In addition to Knapik, a former head of the Kosice City Hall strategic development department is also facing charges and could end up receiving a 12-year prison sentence. Both former officials have denied all the charges. Knapik was a member of the Christian Democrats (KDH), but he's suspended his membership for the time being.