STA, 14 December 2021 - Crime investigators visited the National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food (NLZOH) on Tuesday to interview director Tjaša Žohar Čretnik over verification of rapid antigen tests bought by the state late last year, according to the news portal Necenzurirano.
The portal obtained confirmation about the police visiting the premises from the NLZOH promotion and marketing department, which could not provide further information as the investigation is ongoing.
The portal says it is not clear whether any other NLZOH official except for Žohar Čretnik has been interviewed by the police.
The newspaper Finance quotes unofficial sources in reporting online that crime investigators have also visited Majbert Pharm, the company picked in December last year to supply test kits used for voluntary mass testing.
The tests were verified by the NLZOH but amid allegations of their not being up to standard the procurement has also been scrutinised by the opposition-led parliamentary inquiry looking into the government's handling of coronavirus outbreak.
In her testimony before the inquiry, Žohar Čretnik said the verification of the tests was based on WHO standards and she denied the allegation the lab sacked a senior microbiologist for speaking out about the tests and the verification being inadequate.
The microbiologist, Metka Paragi, told the inquiry the tests did not meet technical requirements but still did the NLZOH confirm their suitability and recommend for the government to use them.
Similarly, Viktorija Tomič, the head of the Health Ministry's task force for rapid tests, told the parliamentary inquiry the tests did not meet technical criteria to be used for screening.
The NLZOH told the STA it was actively cooperating in the investigation launched by the National Bureau of Investigation today.
All the requested documentation will be handed over to the investigators voluntarily, in line with a court's order, the national laboratory said, adding that it would keep cooperating with all competent authorities if need be. The NLZOH cannot comment on the content of the investigation at the moment, it noted.
The chair of the parliamentary inquiry, Robert Pavšič from the opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), welcomed the investigation, saying that the system was working.
He is pleased "that things have moved on, that it will finally be established what is true, what is not true, what is criminal and what is permissible", noting that the inquiry can investigate only political responsibility in the matter, so other institutions should do the rest.
