Daily News
Politics
Plot Thickens in Patria Deal
05.08.2008
New developments in the Finnish investigation of the 2006 defence deal between Finnish defence contractor Patria and Slovenia are getting increasingly complex. The revelation that the investigation into alleged bribery in the deal has led to a successful Slovenian-born businessman leaves the media wondering what he is suspected of.
There are different theories as to connections between Walter Wolf, who claims to have citizenship of five countries, and Wolfgang Riedl, a former representative for the Swiss subsidiary of Austrian defence contractor Steyr-Daimler-Puch.
The District Court in Helsinki issued arrest warrants against the pair in mid-July, on suspicion of bribery between 2004 and 2007. The court confirmed that Riedl was also suspected of industrial espionage.
Wolf, who is currently holidaying on his ranch in Canada, denied any connection to the case, while he confirmed that he knew Riedl.
"I introduced him to officials in the Slovenian steelworks in the early 1990s when Slovenia was looking for armoured vehicles. Riedl was then a senior official at Steyr," Wolf said.
Wolf and Riedl worked together in the early 1990s on a deal in which Slovenia bought a licence for the production of six-wheeled armoured personnel caries (APCs) from Steyr-Daimler Puch.
These were produced in Slovenia by Sistemska tehnika, the company that was once part of the Slovenian steel conglomerate, and bought in 1998 by the Slovenian Defence Ministry.
However, the company failed in the tender to supply eight-wheeled APCs in 2006 after the ministry opted for Patria in a EUR 278m worth deal.
Sistemska tehnika is owned in part by Austrian Steyr-Daimler Puch Spezialfahrzeug, an Austrian heavy duty vehicles maker and defence contractor.
Riedl later fell out with Steyr-Daimler Puch, started his own company and worked with Patria in the sale of 135 APCs to the Slovenian Armed Forces. The reports also suggests that Wolf helped him in the deal.
Reports say that their connection at the Defence Ministry was Marjan Senica, a former boss of Sistemska tehnika who had to leave the company on suspicion of receiving commissions in deals with the Israelis.
The businessman would not give any other details for the paper, but he did say that he would be back to Europe in late August, while he would be in communicating with the Finnish authorities through his lawyer.
Defence Minister Karl Erjavec said that the whole thing was becoming a "soap opera".
He said that his ministry had no contract with Wolf, while he also categorically denied his ministry having anything to do with the arrests in Finland. He added that "the case is obviously related to industrial espionage between Patria and Steyr".
Erjavec also downplayed suggestions that the Finnish investigators had provided their Slovenian counterparts with a long list of people suspected of bribery. The list reportedly includes several Slovenians.
Erjavec attributes little significance to the list, saying Slovenian citizens could have been involved in espionage for Patria, adding that the Finnish investigators would have interrogated him by now had the Defence Ministry been involved in any way.