Yesterday, part of the opposition pompously expressed its dissatisfaction with the draft for the second anti-corona legislative package aimed at resolving the problem of liquidity of companies. Among those who were not satisfied, is the Social Democrats party, which is heavily associated with state-owned businesses – this is also the main reason for them to wish to maintain a monopoly on the exhaustion of the companies, and their fear of losing the businesses is immeasurable.
The most well-known “breeding ground” for SD employees and business connections with private companies is surely the largest state-owned company, Petrol, which generated a record 5.4 billion revenue in 2018, and more than 100 million euros in net profit in 2018. Because of this, Petrol attracts many political predators, who have made huge amounts of money during this time, through political control.
The biggest transition profiteer is undoubtedly Matjaž Han, the leader of the SD deputy group
Matjaž Han is considered one of the main faces of the Social Democrats party. What Electa was for Zoran Janković, is for Han, his family-owned company M&M International, Ltd., Radeče, run by his wife, Ljudmila Han, in which Han is registered as a partner. In 2018, Han’s company signed as much as 275 thousand euros worth of contracts with Petrol, which represents almost half of the revenue for the richest MP’s company. In addition to Petrol, his wealth was also accumulated through lucrative contracts with Pivovarna Laško, on which we have previously already reported.
The family-run company of the richest MP from the SD party, Matjaž Han, also works with the Radeče papir nova company, which is run by Radeče mayor Tomaž Režun and Leopold Povše – both members of the SD – and is facing numerous allegations of irregularities and breaches of the law. However, well-informed sources know that in addition to the well-known company M&M International, Han also has about five hidden companies, through which he conducts business with state entities. Matjaž Han is a longtime member of the Social Democrats. He has been a member of Parliament since 2004. He also served as mayor of Radeče in 2006-2011. He is considered to be the richest MP in the National Assembly.
The octopus of numerous connections of SD with Petrol
We have previously written about the fact that behind the scenes, there has been talk about the covert financing of the SD party through Han’s family business, and the new information confirms this. The question is, who really runs Petrol? All signs point to the SD party, as its members are literally all over the company. One of them is the member of the Social Democrats, Matjaž Šifkovič, who is the director of Petrol’s organization and point-of-sale management, and he is also connected with Han’s company, which does business with Petrol as a “contracting authority.”
Alen Miheličič, another member of the SD, also holds the position of director in Petrol, namely, the director of sales and management of petroleum products, and he even signs contracts, such as the one that was signed with the Velenje Coal Mine (Premogovnik Velenje) in May last year. He also holds a position on the Supervisory Board as the employee representative. The position of Petrol’s sales specialist is occupied by the president of SD’s Črnomelj section and State Councilor Samer Khalil.
Family members of SD members hold high positions in Petrol
Matjaž Šifkovič made sure his sister Špela Šifkovič Soklič got a position at Petrol as well. She is also a member of the SD party, as she was running for the position of an MP in Kranj, as a member of the Social Democrats. Šifkovič also got a position for his son Janez Šifkovič, who is in the Petrol biomass department. Tanja Bolte, the former Director-General of the Directorate for the environment at the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, who is also a member of the SD party, got a job for her husband Simon Bolte at Petrol. He works as a sales specialist and was elected to the council of the local community of Jagnjenica in Radeče. Tanja Bole also provided a job for her sister, Petra Kajič, who is Petrol’s product manager.
Darko Zevnik, who is also a member of the Social Democrats and a mayor of Metlika, made sure his entire family got jobs at Petrol. His wife Mojca Stopar Zevnik runs Petrol’s wholesale support, and their daughter Pia Zevnik works at the Petrol energy center.
Influential members of the SD party are now exhausting the impoverished Velenje Coal Mine
In light of controlling the state’s financial flows, we must also remember the corrupt act that caused quite a stir a few years ago. In 2017, some of the Social Democrats’ most prominent members – Tone Rop, Milan M. Cvikl, Patrick Vlačič, Uroš Jauševec and Rado Bohinc Jr. (the latter claims that he was never a member of the SD party) founded the Institute for Contemporary Sustainable Development, with which they intended to “advise” the impoverished state-owned company Velenje Coal Mine on the retirement of its workers for as much as 35,000 euros. We should all be thankful that the project was publicly revealed, so they were not able to “cash in” on the entirety of the agreed-upon sum of money, as they withdrew from the contract because of public pressure, but still managed to earn 18 thousand euros.
Rok Krajnc