Matovic: Kalinak Scrapped Documents from 277 Tenders to Cover Tracks

Bratislava, May 16 (TASR) – MP Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) chose to shred documents related to 277 tenders, dated between 2007-10, as ex-interior minister back in 2016 in order to protect himself from potential criminal prosecution, leader of the Opposition Ordinary People (OLaNO) party Igor Matovic stated on Wednesday.

“He [Kalinak] left nothing to chance. He knows that if he wants to stay out of jail after all that fraud he’s committed at the Interior Ministry, he must do everything to cover his tracks,” said Matovic.

According to the OLaNO leader, the documents were shredded the day after August 11, 2016, when prosecutor Vasil Spirko was taken off a corruption case by his superiors. “Spirko was going after Robert Kalinak and his sidekick [ex-transport minister] Jan Pociatek,” claimed Matovic.

Matovic maintains that once Kalinak learnt exactly what Spirko was investigating, he ordered the shredding of documents related to more than 200 tenders with the assistance of incumbent Interior Minister and then-ministry service office director Denisa Sakova (Smer-SD).

Aktuality.sk news website first reported that Kalinak had documents for 277 tenders shredded, including tenders on network components and IT services worth €15 million and the purchase of laptops worth €19.5 million.

Kalinak has called Matovic’s claims pure fabrications. “Everything he’s said at [press] conferences so far have been fabrications,” he said, adding that the ministry under his leadership never had any problems with overpriced tenders. “That’s because we always strove to make very efficient purchases at good prices.”