The “Star Solar” affair is still causing quite a stir in the public. The revelation made late last year that Prime Minister Robert Golob, who used to head the Gen-I energy company, has become the owner of Star Solar, a company that receives most of its money from the state-owned company Borzen, has the potential to grow into one of the biggest scandals in the history of Slovenian politics. And on Thursday, new details about the affair were revealed on the show Tarča (Target).
Namely, the company Star Solar has set up a business unit in Ljubljana, at the same address rented by Robert Golob and his partner Tina Gaber. The show Tarča asked what the point is of setting up a business unit in an apartment where the Prime Minister lives. Could it be that the company Star Solar is paying the rent for their apartment?
The question is even more fundamental than why an address is set up for a specific apartment, and why even set up a business unit for a micro-company with one employee. Business units are set up for different purposes. For example, in the case of a commercial activity, to open new branches, or in the case of a customer-facing activity, for new customer contact outlets. However, Star Solar is not that type of company. It works exclusively with the state. It is irrelevant whether it is based in Nova Gorica or Ljubljana. If a business unit has been set up, the Prime Minister, as a public figure (especially one with a clear conflict of interest), must clarify what was the reason for it.
Questions for the Prime Minister’s Office
We have therefore asked the Prime Minister’s Office for answers to the following questions:
“Why has Star Solar, a company owned by the Prime Minister, set up a business unit in the Prime Minister’s private apartment? Is there any truth to the allegations made on the show Tarča that the company pays rent for the Prime Minister and his partner? If the allegations are not true, what is the point of having an office in Ljubljana at the same address as the Prime Minister’s residence?”
The corruption risk is undeniable
As economist Štefan Šumah pointed out to our portal some time ago, the Prime Minister is doing business with himself, and the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) should at least recognise this as a corruption risk.
“But the fact that he was in fact the hidden owner of the company until now, and that his wife was just a straw owner of a company that was happily doing business with the state, is probably also ripe for investigation by the relevant authorities,” Šumah added.
As we have previously reported, Golob’s ownership of the company Star Solar is evident from the publication of data by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption, where Golob has declared several changes in assets as a result of his amicable divorce from Jana Nemec.
In addition, on the 12th of July last year, his daughter Luna Golob, a 19-year-old high school graduate, was appointed director of the company in question. The electricity generation company Star Solar was established in March 2012, and until the 20th of October last year, the Prime Minister’s ex-wife was its official owner. Golob appears to have been the de facto owner of the company before, which, according to the application for the portrayal of public money spending Erar, has so far received 2.14 million euros, most of it from the state-owned energy company Borzen.
The latter also paid 14,000 euros to Star Solar after Golob’s formal takeover. However, there are even more connections between the two companies, as the director of Borzen, Mojca Kert, is a former employee of the Gen-I energy company, a company that was previously run by Golob. In addition, Kert was even a candidate for the position of Member of Parliament on the list of the Freedom Movement party (Gibanje svoboda), the President of which is Golob.
I. K.
