The recent decision of the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption (KPK) to grant the Ljubljana Mayor Zoran Janković permission to participate as a consultant in the organisation of the global event Expo 2027 in Belgrade has raised questions about the adequacy of oversight of official conduct, especially in light of past cases of non-transparent activities. The absence of clear safeguards, the ambiguous demarcation between private and public action and the political context of cooperation with Serbia, where systemic corruption risks have already been detected in relation to the Expo, raise serious doubts about the integrity of the process.
Even before the Commission’s decision, the case of the letter of support addressed by the Mayor of Ljubljana, Zoran Janković, to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić had caused quite a stir in the public. The letter, although allegedly private in nature, was sent from the official e-mail of the Municipality of Ljubljana. The Information Commissioner nevertheless ruled that it was a private matter, which made it possible to avoid public scrutiny of an act that was clearly carried out using municipal infrastructure and symbols.
Such actions create an environment in which control over the use of public funds and powers becomes ineffective – a direct risk of corrupt practices.
Janković claims that he will perform his advisory function for EXPO “pro bono” and outside working hours, meaning that this additional work will not affect his work as Mayor. The Commission for the Prevention of Corruption has followed this line of reasoning and imposed several conditions on the permit: that the work must not take place while the holder is holding public office, that no public funds can be used for it, and that the cooperation must be based solely on personal knowledge.
However, economist Dr Štefan Šumah is highly critical of this approach and has described it vividly with the following metaphor: “A fox comes to a farmer and says: “I would like to protect your chickens. Can you write me a permit to do this job?” Of course, the farmer writes the fox a consent form, which it can show to the neighbouring hunter who is guarding his henhouse, but the farmer puts a whole bunch of conditions on the permit, including that the fox must not eat a single one of his hens. And the fox, with the permission in her snout, heads straight past the hunter and into the henhouse…”
Šumah went on to say that while the Commission’s decision is formally legitimate, it is full of internal contradictions. “In the consent, they have listed a whole bunch of conditions that are impossible to meet – and not even possible for someone like Janković, who describes himself as a 24-hour mayor. Maybe now, as a consultant, he will get up an hour earlier so that this hour is a consultancy hour and the rest are mayoral hours,” he added ironically.
It is a risky, if not corrupt, act
From the point of view of the integrity of institutions, Šumah believes it is a risky, if not corrupt, act – corruption is not only about personal enrichment with money, but also about facilitating undue advantage, influence or position. “And the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption has enabled Janković to obtain some benefit “legally”, because nothing is free with him. If we add to this the fact that the Mayor of the “most beautiful city” is actually unable or unwilling to distinguish between public and private, as is clearly evident from his track record of running the municipality as his own sole proprietorship, this consent, although, I repeat legitimate, is just a piece of paper that is not worth more than the trash. A fairy tale of honesty for little children.”
Political normalisation of cooperation with undemocratic regimes?
An important aspect of the Commission’s decision is the political signal it sends: it is a precedent that can normalise the cooperation of Slovenian officials with “suspicious”, conditionally democratic regimes, and it can also be a good excuse for future cooperation with such regimes, Šumah believes. Expo 2027 is a political project of President Vučić, who is reinforcing authoritarian trends in Serbia, and the project is accompanied by warnings of multi-billion dollar deals bypassing tenders.
Will only Slovenian companies linked to Janković get a chance?
Šumah also pointed out that this is practically a private project of Vučić, financed by taxpayers. “It is likely to be a good deal for some Slovenian companies too, especially and only for those that will be able to pay the Mayor of the capital city back for his “recommendations”.” But there is big money at stake, billions are being talked about, which will apparently be spent freely, without tenders. And there is no way in hell that Jankovič won’t try to get in on this, too – one way or another, Šumah believes.
Sara Kovač
