Ivan Zidar
Ljubljana, Slovenia — A court in Slovenia capital Ljubljana has sentenced seven people to up to two and a half years in prison each, for giving and taking bribes during a 2007 public bidding for construction of the air control tower at the airport.
The trial was the biggest ever corruption cases and was closely watched in Slovenia.
Construction magnate Ivan Zidar, one of the most powerful personalities in the country was sentenced to 17 months in jail.
Zidar is the sole shareholder of SCT Holdings. Through SCT Holdings, Zidar controls the Murska Sobota-based manufacturer of construction machinery Tovarna kovinske opreme (TKO), which generates the bulk of its revenues from exports.
SCT Holding also owns 51% of SCT-Porr, a joint venture company with an Austrian partner to bid for tenders for the construction of railways.
SCT has maintained influence since the communist-run Yugoslav era. During the Yugoslav era SCT participated, in construction of underground bunkers for Iraq’s Saddam Hussein.
