A few hours after the leaders of the four ruling coalition parties expressed their confidence in him on Monday, Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák explained publicly the financial transactions linking him to businessman Ladislav Bašternák. According to Slovak media and opposition MPs, Bašternák's connection with the Interior Minister had marred an investigation into how he benefited from alleged excesive VAT returns.
In 2013 I was offered to buy a stake in the B.A. Haus company from outgoing shareholder Ladislav Bašternák. The company owns two flats in the building where I'm living, and it seemed like a good opportunity for me to gain control of flats in the neighbourhood. As the company didn't have any business with the state, it appeared to me as a legitimate deal.
Said Kaliňák, adding that he took a half a million euro loan from Tatra Banka for this purpose. Allegedly, he eventually spent more than €430,000 for the stake. The B.A.Haus company has three stakeholders, one of them being former finance and transport minister Ján Počiatek. Commenting on the Interior Minister's explanation, Richard Sulík the head of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity party said: "We learnt that the Interior Minister was a business partner of Ladislav Bašternák. He confirmed a connection he has been denying until now,". If Prime Minister Robert Fico will not dismiss Kaliňák, the opposition plans a protest and another no-confidence vote against the Interior Minister. The previous one held last week failed, as coalition MPs holding the majority in Parliament backed the Minister.
Earlier on Monday Special Prosecutor Dušan Kovačik ordered the National Crime Agency (NAKA) to take necessary steps vis-a-vis a suspicion of crimes allegedly committed by Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák and former finance and transport minister Ján Počiatek as reported in the media. Last week the police charged Filip Rybanič, a bank employee and an assistant to an MP for the liberal opposition party Freedom and Solidarity with breaching banking secrecy. He accessed the bank accounts of Robert Kaliňák, as well as Ján Počiatek, revealing that the Interior Minister received a few thousand euro from the company B.A. Haus set up by businessman Ladislav Bašternák. Kaliňák has said that the payments were linked to the commercial activity of this company whose shareholder he became
