STA, 4 May 2020 - The Health Ministry has decided to rescind a EUR 8 million contract with company Geneplanet for the purchase of 220 ventilators Siriusmed R30. This was proposed by Geneplanet after the ventilators came under fire as being unsuitable for Covid-19 patients.

Geneplanet has already delivered 110 of these ventilators to the Commodity Reserves Agency. The ministry decided to keep 90 of them under the condition that additional equipment be delivered, which would make them suitable for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.

Twenty ventilators, which are still at the Commodity Reserves Agency storage will be returned, while the rest, 110, will not be delivered, the ministry has told the STA.

The decision was sent by Health Ministry Tomaž Gantar to the head of the Commodity Reserves Agency Tomi Rumpf upon recommendation of a medical expert group headed by infectious diseases specialist Bojana Beović.

Geneplanet has said it wanted to rescind the contract so as to clear its name following allegation of favourable treatment in the procurement of the ventilators.

Moreover, internal medicine specialist Rihard Knafelj, a member of an expert group tasked with going over the bids to the state for ventilators has told the Tarča current affairs show of public broadcaster TV Slovenija that the expert group assessed the Siriusmed R30 ventilators as the least suitable of those they gave their go-ahead for.

Meanwhile, Tomislav Mirkovič, an UKC Ljubljana doctor, who used to head the hospital's intensive care unit, said at today's government coronavirus briefing that experts were fairly united in the view that the Siriusmed R30 is suitable for use on Covid-19 patients provided a compressor and an air humidifier with heated pipes are supplied additionally.

Geneplanet said today that all of the ventilators delivered to Slovenia already have a built-in compressor and that the company offered to upgrade them with a humidifier and double-heated pipes.

It reiterated that the ventilator is being used in a number of countries, had all the necessary certifications and had been tested in real life. "For most Covid-19 patients the current version of ventilators is appropriate," the company also said.

Geneplanet also said that all of the ventilators delivered had been tested and that many are already in use at hospitals in Ljubljana, Maribor, Celje, Murska Sobota, Ptuj, Nova Gorica, Trbovlje, Slovenj Gradec, Izola and Brežice.

The company underlined that it had acted lawfully, with due diligence and in line with business practices in bidding to deliver the ventilators.

Meanwhile, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek is facing a vote of no confidence following allegations of wrongdoing in the procurement of ventilators.

Ivan Gale, deputy director of the Commodity Reserves Agency, alleged in Tarča a week ago that Počivalšek had instructed the agency to pay a 100% prepayment to Geneplanet in this deal.

Gale also told the newsportal 24ur.com today that Prime Minister Janez Janša's spouse, Urška Bačovnik Janša, who is a medical doctor, has also interfered in the procurement of equipment.

Gale forwarded to the newsportal an email showing that Bačovnik Janša had forwarded to Počivalšek in an email the contact of Miran Blatnik, the husband of Celje Hospital infection ward head Janja Blatnik and the director of Xan-Max, with which the agency signed a EUR 9.8 million contract on 21 March.

Publicly accessible data show that the contract was later rescinded. Bačovnik Janša tweeted in response, saying she believed that thousands of other people did the same. "My conscience and my dedication to the medical profession dictated that I did what I did," she tweeted, adding that only those used to getting commissions can see such motivations in her actions.

All our stories on the PPE scandal are here

STA, 4 May 2020 - The details concerning the purchase of a total of 316 ventilators for coronavirus patients continue to raise dust. Two doctors have stepped forward defending the choice, and the government and some media have questioned the credibility of a member of an expert group that had reservations about the purchase of 220 of these ventilators.

It was two doctors from the Celje general hospital who issued statements on Saturday in defence of the 220 Siriusmed R30 ventilators ordered on 18 March through Geneplanet for EUR 8 million even though an expert commission formed as part of the selection process had reportedly ranked them at the very bottom of the 13 ventilators picked among 92 as appropriate.

While a government report on PPE purchases during the coronavirus crisis is still pending, Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek and PM Janez Janša have defended what TV Slovenia said were the most expensive ventilators on the approved list. They argued lives had been at stake and that the speed of supply had been the decisive factor.

Accusations about alleged political ties and personal interests have meanwhile continued flying across the board, starting with reports hinting at potential ties between Geneplanet and the ruling Democrats (SDS).

While it has been confirmed that none of the three hospitals supplied with the Siriusmeds had used them on Covid-19 patients and that the head of the Celje hospital had served as state secretary under Počivalšek, the spotlight has shifted in recent days to internal medicine specialist Rihard Knafelj, one of the three members of an informal medical group that had evaluated offers for ventilators.

It was Knafelj who insisted for one of the two editions of TV Slovenija's Tarča current affairs shows - which featured Commodities Reserves Agency whistleblower Ivan Gale - that the Siriusmed ventilators were dangerous for use on Covid-19 patients.

While the UKC Ljubljana doctor, who specialises in artificial ventilation, initially came under fire for alleged ties to the Marjan Šarec Party (LMŠ), he was later attacked heavily for several Facebook posts, including a reference to PM Janša as Adolf Janša and a joke that those trusting God do not need ventilators.

The Medical Chamber said today its ethics committee would examine the statements, for which Knafelj has already apologised. It also condemned death threats that he received.

Another prominent accusation against him is that he pushed for the purchase of other ventilators - a day after the deal with Geneplanet, Slovenia also ordered 46 Bellavista ventilators through Gorenje and 50 Nihon Kohden ventilators through Ram2, Dnevnik reported. These three had also been on the expert group's list of 13, along with Avea and Mindray ventilators, but at least the Mindrays were no longer available at that point, the paper added.

Publishing an email sent to officials by Knafelj on 19 March, the Siol.net new portal reported on Sunday that Knafelj had pushed for the purchase of several ventilators by other makers, including the Bellavista ventilators even though they had been designated as potentially lethal by US, Canadian as well as Slovenian authorities last November.

"We did not push for any of the 13. The three mentioned in Siol's article (Avea, Bellavista and Mindray) had been offered as being available for purchase immediately, and this is what gave rise to the question of why they had not been purchased given that they had been assessed positively," Knafelj told the STA on Sunday.

As for the Bellavistas, he said certain serial numbers had been recalled in November, but that their producer Vyaire Medical had committed to upgrading the device's software by the end of the 2019 and that its recommendations for use on Covid-19 patients were in line with the recommendations by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.

Meanwhile, Tomislav Mirkovič, another UKC Ljubljana doctor, who used to head the hospital's intensive care unit, said at today's government coronavirus briefing that experts were fairly united in the view that the Siriusmed R30 is suitable for use on Covid-19 patients provided a compressor and an air humidifier with heated pipes are supplied additionally.

This requirement had also been stated in its opinion by the expert commission, which Mirkovič said had done a good job. He added that according to his knowledge, the Celje hospital has this additional equipment.

Mirkovič moreover argued that the start of the epidemic had been a confusing time filled with panic there would not be enough ventilators. He explained the UKC Ljubljana hospital had also ordered 104 new ventilators on its own, 50 of them very good and 54 perhaps of a little lower quality.

Data published by UKC Ljubljana show that a deal was signed on 12 March on the purchase of 50 Hamilton C6 ventilators through Framed and two days later a deal on 54 Sternmed Vento 62 ventilators through Geneplanet. Three more Lowenstein Elisa ventilators were ordered through Ram2 in mid March.

By 24 April, 13 Sternmed Vento 62 ventilators and three Lowenstein Elisa ventilators had been delivered.

Four opposition parties file motion of no confidence in economy minister

STA, 4 May 2020 - The opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), Social Democrats (SD), Left and Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB)filed a motion of no confidence in Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek on Monday over his responsibility for what they see as opaque procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE).

The move, which the LMŠ announced on 23 April, comes after a wave of accusations was levelled at Počivalšek and the government about purchasing procedures and the quality of equipment as well as about attempts to influence the Agency for Commodity Reserves to choose certain suppliers.

More than a week ago, Ivan Gale, the deputy head of the agency, came forward with accusations of strong political pressure and other potential irregularities in the procurement. The whistleblower also told the Tarča current affairs show that Počivalšek had personally intervened in favour of a ventilator contract with the company Geneplanet worth EUR 8 million.

Počivalšek denies any wrongdoing, describing the media reports on the topic as an orchestrated head hunt. He acknowledged things could have been done better, but said the situation at the start of the epidemic had been unprecedented.

He said that neither he nor his colleagues had lobbied or politically influenced decisions in any way, adding that the goal of the communication had been to speed up procedures and secure protective equipment for frontline staff at a time when it was needed the most.

Prime Minister Janez Janša said on Saturday that Počivalšek still enjoyed his trust and that a government report on the procurement would be sent to parliament this week.

Presenting the motion to the press, representatives of all four parties said the responsibility for the controversial procurement of protective equipment lied with the entire government, especially since the PM expressed support for Počivalšek, and that more measures were to follow.

LMŠ MP Robert Pavšič said a parliamentary inquiry into the procurement procedures would be launched in a few days.

He said the minister had been violating the law, which applied also in times of crisis, in conducting procurement procedures, which should have been conducted by the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices any way. "It's about a whole range of direct and indirect breaches of the law, but mostly avoidance and misleading, and apparent cronyism and corruption," he said.

LMŠ head Marjan Šarec added on the sidelines on today's meeting of the National Security Council that there was also no clear information on what the needs for protective equipment had actually been.

Some equipment was available at the start of the epidemic, including ventilators, and the UKC Ljubljana hospital for example had EUR 30 million available for purchasing more of it, he said. Other health institutes also had permission to purchase equipment, he added.

Šarec also said the Chinese ambassador had offered assistance. The state only needed a company to import the equipment, and this could have been the Agency for Commodity Reserves or state-owned companies, for example pharma company Krka, Šarec said.

Šarec said the goal was to get to the bottom of this. The economy minister is not the only one responsible, as orders were coming from the top, he said, noting that some e-mails had apparently been written by Janša's wife.

Deputy head of the SD deputy group, Bojana Muršič, said "this government, this coalition has created a parallel world for itself, and only dishonest practices are coming out of it". She said the SD condemned cronyism in the procurement of protective equipment, noting the procedures must be investigated.

"Every time Janez Janša is in power millions in provisions are paid out," said MP of the Left Miha Kordiš, pointing to the 1990s defence scandal and the 2008 Patria scandal.

Maša Kociper of the SAB warned that determining political responsibility in the parliamentary inquiry or the no confidence vote would not bring back the millions that were possibly lost in the deals.

The SAB had demanded parliamentary oversight of all public procurement during the epidemic and a special fund, which would be used to finance all epidemic-related costs, but its proposals were rejected, she noted.

In the motion of confidence the parties allege that Počivalšek is politically responsible for financial profiteering of individuals and companies in procurement of PPE and other medical supplies and for uneconomical spending of public funds.

Blaming him for "unethical, crony and corrupt collusion in favouring companies and individuals" to buy PPE from, they say that due to his "lying and misleading of the public and media" the minister has lost trust in his integrity and work.

They note conflicting and inconsistent statements by Minister Počivalšek and Defence Minister Matej Tonin and shifting of the responsibility for PPE procurement from one body to another.

They allege that by misleading the public that the state could only buy through Slovenian intermediaries, the Economy Ministry squandered favourable bids by the Chinese state company Sinofarm and the online giant Alibaba.

They cite data showing that the Agency for Commodity Reserves paid some suppliers up to 100% of the order's value in advance, even though Počivalšek ruled out any money being paid up front.

To vote out the minister, at least 46 out of 90 deputies of the National Assembly would need to vote in favour of the motion. The four opposition parties have 37 deputies between them, while Zmago Jelinčič, the leader of another opposition party, has announced the three deputies of his National Party (SNS) will not support the motion, which he said was "without any juice and completely void".

STA, 2 May 2020 - Following a series of accusations about alleged dodgy procedures in the procurement of personal protective equipment and ventilators, company Geneplanet, Slovenia's key provider of ventilators during the coronavirus epidemic, proposed to the government on Saturday to mutually agree to terminate the relevant contracts.

Related: New Details in Slovenia’s Coronavirus Equipment Scandal

The company wants to protect its reputation, according to its director Marko Bitenc, who suggested the termination of the cooperation in a letter addressed to Toni Rumpf, the acting director of the Agency for Commodity Reserves.

Bitenc explained that the company's "appearance in this negative context without any reasonable grounds is harmful to its international reputation and good repute", adding that the company had been operating in line with law and regulations.

Geneplanet proposes terminating a part of the contract that pertains to ventilators and protective masks which have not yet been delivered, as well as repurchasing ventilators that have already been supplied at the delivery price.

The company has so far delivered 110 of the 220 ordered ventilators from a Chinese supplier and must deliver the remainder by 15 May according to the contract signed with the agency.

The Tarča current affairs show, which broke the story of alleged political pressure in the procurement procedures more than a week ago, said on Thursday the contract had been botched since the ventilators were unsuitable for Covid-19 patients.

One of the three members of an informal medical group that had evaluated offers for ventilators, internal medicine specialist Rihard Knafelj, told Tarča that his group had assessed 90 offers and the one offered by Geneplanet had been assessed as the least appropriate of the 13 that were deemed acceptable. The government was acquainted with the assessment.

Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek, who was recorded prodding the agency into signing the contract with Geneplanet as soon as possible, denied accusations, adding that the government received another expert opinion and stressing that the ventilators supplied by Geneplanet were one of the few available at the time.

Bitenc also told Tarča that the ventilators were adequate for treating Covid-19 patients and denied that the company was in any way prioritised in the procedures of selecting providers.

The deputy head of the agency Ivan Gale claims that Počivalšek has personally intervened in favour of the ventilator contract with Geneplanet worth EUR 8 million.

The company was one of only two providers to receive 100% advance payment. It was also the only ventilator provider with a bank guarantee covering only 50% of the transaction, said Tarča reporters, adding that Geneplanet ventilators were also the most expensive.

On Monday, Geneplanet will present all the paper trail regarding its contracts with the agency and clarify any open issues relating to the quality and suitability of its ventilators, added the company today.

Responding to the company's proposal, Počivalšek said that the Health Ministry had been urged to issue an opinion on whether Slovenia needs the ventilators. He also described the accusations as public lynching.

Even though the minister's response implies that the government will deliberate over the option of terminating the contract, the agency told public broadcaster TV Slovenija that Geneplanet's argument for the termination did not warrant such a step. The agency thus still expects the remainder of the ventilators to be delivered by 15 May.

STA, 2 May 2020 - Prime Minister Janez Janša said on Saturday that Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek was still enjoying his trust in the wake of accusations of political pressure in the purchasing of personal protective equipment and ventilators. Janša added that a government report on the procurement would be sent to parliament next week.

"Everything that could be received as soon as possible and that met at least basic standards was purchased. I'm not aware of a single EU country which would act differently. Many are still doing that. The delivery time and supply security are No. 1 factor. With every delivery, a huge weight has been lifted off of our chests," wrote the prime minister on Twitter today.

Related: New Details in Slovenia’s Coronavirus Equipment Scandal

The report on the PPE purchasing was requested by Janša after a wave of accusations was levelled at the government about dodgy procedures and faulty equipment as well as about attempts to influence the Agency for Commodity Reserves to choose certain suppliers.

More than a week ago, Ivan Gale, the deputy head of the agency, came forward with accusations of strong political pressure and other potential irregularities in the procurement. The whistleblower also told the Tarča current affairs show that Počivalšek had personally intervened in favour of a ventilator contract with the company Geneplanet worth EUR 8 million.

Pointing out that the report will be presented in parliament next week, Janša said that Počivalšek and Defence Minister Matej Tonin had wanted to present the report's key findings already during the latest Tarča show on Thursday, but "a yapping presenter did not allow them to do that".

The prime minister also highlighted that the previous government paid EUR 49,154 for the only ordered ventilator prior to 13 March, while the average price for ventilators stood at EUR 33,880 after the current government took over.

"The difference between these two price tags explains the motive of first-class suppliers and their media as well as PR branches for attacks on Počivalšek," said Janša.

Meanwhile, the opposition plans to file a no-confidence motion against Počivalšek as well as request a parliamentary inquiry. The coalition New Slovenia (NSi), led by Tonin, has said that it would back the investigation.

Počivalšek denies any wrongdoing, having said that the story was an orchestrated "hunt on my head".

STA, 1 May 2020 - A week after a whistleblower at the Commodities Reserves Agency came out with accusations of political pressure in the purchasing of personal protective equipment, new questions have been raised about the procurement, most notably of the suitability of purchased ventilators.

The Tarča current affairs show, which broke the story with the deputy head of the Commodities Reserves Agency Ivan Gale last week, said on Thursday a major contract involving ventilators had been botched since the ventilators are unsuitable for Covid-19 patients.

The company that supplied the ventilators, Geneplanet, had been in the spotlight before as one of only two providers to receive 100% advance payment. It offered the most expensive ventilators and only had a bank guarantee covering 50% of the transaction, while several other providers had 100% bank guarantees, Tarča reporters said.

Geneplanet has so far delivered 110 of the 220 ordered ventilators from a Chinese supplier and must deliver the remainder by 15 May according to the contract signed with the Commodities Reserves Agency.

One of the three members of an informal medical group that had evaluated offers for ventilators, internal medicine specialist Rihard Knafelj, told Tarča his group had assessed 90 offers and the one offered by Geneplanet had been assessed as the least appropriate of the 13 that were deemed acceptable. The government was acquainted with the assessment.

Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek, who was recorded prodding the agency into signing the contract with Geneplanet as soon as possible, said the ventilators had previously been bought by UKC Ljubljana and had also been used by the Celje hospital. UKC Ljubljana denied having bought the exactly same type of ventilator.

Acknowledging that the ordered ventilators might be "Golfs, not Mercedeses," Počivalšek also showed a second medical opinion showing the ventilators are suitable, noting that "a single doctor does not constitute the medical profession".

Počivalšek also noted that Knafelj had been an advisor to the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) prior to the 2018 election. Knafelj denied any political motives to him speaking up.

Geneplanet director Marko Bitenc likewise argued the ventilators were suitable for Covid-19 patients and said they had been supplied to other countries. In response to Knafelj's argument that they needed additional components to be suitable for Covid-19 patients, Bitenc said this could be arranged, though it would raise the price slightly.

The report also claimed the ventilators ordered by Geneplanet had been the most expensive devices of the ventilators on offer, but Počivalšek repeatedly stressed that some others were not available and some had longer delivery times.

He also reiterated that the situation at the time was chaotic and changing by the hour, while the government was faced with the urgent task of securing emergency equipment so as to save doctors from having to ration ventilator treatment.

Once again denying having preferred particular suppliers, he said it was necessary to accelerate things at the agency, which is used to working in a "peacetime pace" that if not sped up would mean ventilators would not be delivered before Christmas.

Jelka Godec, a state secretary at the prime minister's office who was involved in helping the Commodities Reserves Agency secure the equipment, defended the government's decision to get the equipment through intermediaries.

She said China had centralised procurement on 16 March and no single official had been able to directly arrange the purchase of protective masks.

Tarča further reported being contacted with multiple suppliers of protective masks who sent offers at lower prices than those offered by selected providers. Some never even heard back.

Defence Minister Matej Tonin said the government task force that reviewed these offers had gone through 80 offers per day, anything more than that was not physically possible. Quizzed about the assessment criteria, he said bids with the shortest delivery times were prioritised.

Tonin also challenged Gale the whistleblower to say whether he or his mother had intervened in any way for the selection of Acron, a company in which Tonin mother works and which won several contracts for the supply of masks. Gale said there had been no pressure from them.

Gale has become a tentpole of anti-government sentiment since he came out with his accusations last week and he told Tarča yesterday he stood by his decision to go public and with his claim that certain providers had been favoured.

Počivalšek however wondered by Gale, standing in for director Anton Zakrajšek, had signed all those contracts if he thought they were not alright. Gale retorted that all contracts had been equipped with the ministry's approval and most had anyway been signed by Zakrajšek.

Overall, Gale said his motivation to go public was not to put anyone in jail, it was to "put an end to this kind of politics".

Related: Slovenian Govt Engulfed in PPE Procurement Scandal

The covers and editorials from leading weeklies of the Left and Right for the work-week ending Friday, 24 March 2020. All our stories about coronavirus and Slovenia are here

Mladina: Počivalšek in dire situation over mask purchases

STA, 24 April 2020 – The left-wing weekly Mladina says in its latest commentary that Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek is in a dire position over the blunders with purchases of protective equipment. Not only has he fallen out of favour with PM Janez Janša, he also faces the possibility of the MPs of the party he presides turning their backs on him.

Grega Repovž, the editor-in-chief of the left-leaning weekly, says that considering the developments, it is becoming obvious that the "story about the effective and self-sacrificing campaign to buy masks and other protective equipment will end really badly."

And the person for whom it is to end badly is not just anybody, it is Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek, the president of the coalition Modern Centre Party (SMC), who is obviously "not aware yet how large a snowball is descending upon him".

Repovž notes that the minister is not aware that the snowball is not being rolled only by the media, which are the least of a problem, or criminal police officers who investigate the purchases, or the opposition.

"The snowball is now being rolled by the coalition partner Janez Janša. And it is likely that Počivalšek's SMC party, which does not want to go down with him, will join Janša. This is what Počivalšek is actually facing."

The latest discoveries about the purchases have prompted criminal police officers to visit the Agency for Commodity Reserves, with Počivalšek reacting by quickly dismissing its director Anton Zakrajšek, a member of Janša's Democratic Party (SDS).

Zakrajšek, who was on sick leave, said the following day that he was keeping tabs on Počivalšek's dealings, that he knew everything, and that he would talk about this, Repovž adds in the commentary headlined Počivalšek in Dire Straits.

Počivalšek has only small chances of surviving this politically, as protective masks are too sensitive of a matter, and if he is to face a motion of no confidence, it will be really difficult to defend him, even for his own MPs.

"At a certain point, they will realise that they can't defend him. And why would they? Počivalšek himself let everybody know that this is now a party of pure pragmatism. If they have changed political colours and coalition, why would't they replace Počivalšek too?".

Demokracija: Deep left-right differences in response to pandemic

STA, 23 April 2020 – The right-wing Demokracija magazine argues in Thursday's commentary that the left and the right have reacted to the coronavirus crisis in fundamentally different ways, the left "showing yet again how two-faced they are".

When some governments adopted fairly strict measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, leftists started demanding a free market economy with all the attendant liberties. Together with the mainstream media, they are indignant at people being unable to travel freely, at some shops being closed and suddenly they feel pity for private businesses, the paper says in Chronicles of the Primitive Mind.

"In fact, the virus misfortune has laid painfully bare the difference between the left and right perception of the world. While the left would control and restrict in peacetime and create (anarchistic) chaos in times of crisis, jeopardising human lives, the right resorts to restrictions of human rights and fundamental liberties exclusively in 'wartime' (which a pandemic is) while letting people freely act, work and live in normal circumstances."

What is worst for the left is that people tend to look up to the leaders of nation states in times such as the coronavirus era, rather than expecting salvation from supranational organisations, Demokracija says, noting that leftists see strong nation states, even if their strict measures prove effective, as "a step towards dictatorship".

"This can easily be called a globalist reflex, a primitive mind assuming that a greater number of infected and dead persons is preferable to the right gaining trust among the public. This is why efforts by the coalition need to be cancelled, measures boycotted. Whatever happens, Janša's centre-right government will be blamed anyway.

"This kind of thinking is more primitive than the thinking of an average crook. Whereas the crook allows for the possibility that he may be to blame in certain circumstances (because he did not abide by the rules), leftist crooks (regardless of the circumstances and actions) always claim that somebody else is to blame," the paper concludes.

All our posts in this series are here

STA, 24 April 2020 - A report by public broadcaster TV Slovenija on Thursday showed extensive political interference in the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE), with a senior employee of the Commodities and Reserves Agency pointing a finger at Economy Minister Zdravko Počivalšek, his aides and former executives. Počivalšek denies any wrongdoing.

Ivan Gale, who stood in for the agency's director Anton Zakrajšek after he contracted the coronavirus, told the Tarča current affairs show that Počivalšek had personally intervened in favour of a ventilator contract with the company Geneplanet worth EUR 8 million.

A recording of a phone call between Počivalšek and a representative of the agency was played in which Počivalšek provides guidance on how the contract should be handled.

Počivalšek also "sent his envoy Andreja Potočnik to the agency and she pressured us, the director, screamed at the head of finance to transfer the money to the company," Gale said.

The agency had also been pressured into signing a contract with Geneplanet for a million FFP2-type masks for frontline staff by Potočnik,a member of a government task force for the purchase of PPE, and another member of the task force, Mitja Terče, according to Gale.

Gale said he had talked to Počivalšek several times and had been told to "be cooperative, listen to Terče". The minister himself, however, "avoided being held to account". "You will not find any consent or signature by the minister or the secretary on any contract, the gentlemen decided to shift this to others."

Gale also believes that Zakrajšek, who has recently been replaced as agency director, was pressured into resigning.

Počivalšek responded today, saying that the story was an orchestrated "hunt on my head". He acknowledged things could have been done better, but he said the situation at the start of the epidemic had been unprecedented.

"Neither me nor my colleagues have lobbied or politically influenced decisions in any way," Počivalšek said, adding that the goal had been to speed up procedures and secure protective equipment for the frontline at a time when it was needed the most.

"If employees at the agency had worked at the same pace ... as they had been used to in peacetime, we would still not have emergency equipment to this day," Počivalšek said.

He sees no need to resign over the accusations. "I don't see a scandal in the equipment purchasing, I see work well done," he said.

Terče issued a written statement to TV Slovenija saying he had acted transparently and in the interest of the country. He denied pressuring anyone.

Gale mentioned several other current and former officials as exerting pressure, including former MEP and prime minister Lojze Peterle, who intervened with the agency for the supply of masks from Germany, offering a small company owned by his daughter as a go-between.

Damijan Jaklin, state secretary at the Defence Ministry, the head of an interdepartmental task force reviewing offers for the supply of equipment, pushed for a contract with Inovatio, a Maribor-based company. "For this provider in particular the pressure was unusual," Gale said.

Marjan Podobnik, the president of the non-parliamentary People's Party (SLS), pressured the agency's director to conclude a deal with Dobnik Trade, a small company from Slovenska Bistrica. Gale said he had threatened the director that he would lose his job.

Another company that the agency was pressured into signing a contract with is Acron, which has been in the spotlight in recent weeks because the mother of Defence Minister Matej Tonin is a senior employee there.

Acron has signed several contracts with the agency worth roughly EUR 30 million, with Gale saying that Acron had turned out to be a reliable supplier but had "always been a privileged supplier".

Tonin has repeatedly denied intervening on behalf of Acron and has asked the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption to look into the deals.

Yesterday, before the report aired, the opposition Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ) said it would file a no-confidence motion against Počivalšek, however, the only other party to support this was the opposition Left.

This has meanwhile changed, as the opposition Social Democrats (SD) and the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB) have also backed the plan. The LMŠ said today that a constructive no-confidence vote against the entire government was also possible but would be hard to pull off.

The LMŠ called on Tonin to resign as well, while the defence minister said this morning that many of the issues raised in the report had been news to him.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Janša tweeted that the government had ordered reports from all bodies involved in PPE procurement, which will also show how much PPE Slovenia had when his government had taken over from the team led by Marjan Šarec just over a month ago.

Janša said the reports would be sent to the National Assembly, while Tonin, is a statement for commercial broadcaster Kanal A, said that the reports would also be sent to investigative authorities. Once it is established what had happened, accountability will be demanded, Tonin added.

Today, reports suggested that Gale had been assigned police protection but this has been denied by the police. It prompted, however, Transparency International Slovenija to call on the authorities not only to examine the contentious procedures, but also to protect whistleblowers.