The biggest case from the tenure of the first government of Mikuláš Dzurinda (1998-2002) is heading to court after a nine-year investigation. The investigator recommended that the prosecutor charge six people with establishing an organised crime group, which reportedly robbed the state of 260 million Slovak crowns (8.6 million euro) during the construction of the Branisko tunnel between 2001 and 2002.
Three former high-ranking state officials, then top representatives of the Slovak Road Administration Dušan Matonok, Roman Veselka and Valerian Horváth were allegedly involved in the organised crime group. The case involves bribes estimated at approximately €2.5 million deriving from the tender to construct the Branisko tunnel. The Prime Minister Robert Fico spoke of bribery and corruption concerns on the project in 2006 and suggested money had been siphoned through invoices for non-existent work to Swiss bank accounts. At a press conference on Tuesday the Prime Minister made it clear that his government would cooperate fully with the criminal investigations in the case.
