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Miklos: Former Interblue Group Project Manager Bilas is Merely Frontman
Thursday 25 March 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, March 25 (TASR) - Former Interblue Group project manager Rastislav Bilas, who held a press conference in Bratislava on Wednesday, is nothing more than a frontman, said opposition SDKU-DS vice-chair Ivan Miklos at a press conference on Thursday.
"I think he's only a wedged-in person, whose role is to cover up the real organisers and initiators if the (carbon-dioxide) emission quotas sale scandal," said Miklos, adding that he is optimistic about revealing the real culprits behind the unprofitable sale of the quotas to the Interblue Group, as the matter is being dealt with not only by the Slovak authorities, but also by those from the United States and Switzerland.
The carbon-dioxide emission quotas sold by Slovakia to the Interblue Group have ended up in the possession of four Japanese companies. According to Bilas, the purchased quotas were re-sold at approximately €8 per tonne, almost €3 per tonne more than the price at which they were bought from Slovakia.
Bilas regards the trading between Slovakia and Interblue Group as "strictly normal", saying that no law has been broken and his assertion can be proven. Bilas rejects suspicions that the company he worked for is affiliated with any political party, although he conceded that he has known Slovak National Party (SNS) Chairman Jan Slota for a long time.
In 2008, Slovakia sold 15 million tonnes of emission quotas to the Interblue Group at €5.05 per tonne. According to the contract, the company has first refusal on an additional 35 million tonnes. The deal has been criticised by the Opposition for terms unfavourable to Slovakia and the fact that the company was based in garage, a claim that Bilas rejects as untrue. The emission quotas scandal was the main reason behind Premier Robert Fico's decision to strip SNS of the Environment Ministry, originally guaranteed to the party by the Coalition Agreement.
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