The Slovenian Special Prosecutor’s Office has concluded its investigation into the cooperation between companies owned by Martin Berishaj, Kosovo’s ambassador to Croatia, and the Serbian company GEN-I Belgrade. This collaboration took place during the period when current Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob was leading the GEN-I group.
After completing the preliminary phase, the prosecutor’s office found a well-founded suspicion of the criminal offense of abuse of position or trust in economic activity. However, it has decided to hand over the case to Serbian authorities. This decision was made because the suspected individual is a Serbian citizen and the alleged crime is believed to have been committed on Serbian territory, as reported by Slovenian Radiotelevizija.
Extradition Laws and Investigative Details
During the procedure, it was determined that all relevant evidence is located in Serbia, and the Republic of Serbia does not extradite its citizens. For this reason, Slovenian authorities have transferred the case to the competent prosecutor’s office in Serbia with a request for criminal prosecution. The Slovenian prosecution has not provided further details, citing the interest of protecting the investigation and personal data.
The GEN-I Scandal: Payments and Political Connections
The scandal erupted three days before Slovenia’s last parliamentary elections, when documents from a foreign anti-money laundering agency were published. These documents mentioned payments from GEN-I Belgrade to two of Berishaj’s companies, registered in Kosovo and Montenegro, under the same name – MB Consulting.
According to the data, GEN-I Belgrade transferred over two million euros in several installments to Berishaj’s companies, while he allegedly withdrew almost 1.8 million euros in cash. This raised public questions about the nature of the services provided by Berishaj, a political scientist by profession, and the reasons for withdrawing such a large sum in cash.
The contract with Berishaj was signed by Borislav Antović, a financial advisor at GEN-I Belgrade, who stated he could not comment without his employer’s permission. Meanwhile, the then-head of GEN-I Belgrade, Igor Koprivnikar, suggested directing questions to GEN-I’s public relations office, which also claimed to have no information on the procedure.
Berishaj’s Defense and Ongoing Investigations
Maks Helbl, chairman of the board of GEN-I Slovenia, publicly stated in February 2023 that payments to Berishaj represented 0.5% of the value of contracts for electricity supply in Kosovo, Albania, and Montenegro. He claimed Berishaj had assisted by providing information on the energy system’s status and market risks.
Berishaj himself, testifying before a parliamentary investigative commission in Kosovo, emphasized that he provided political advice on company strategies and had no direct role in energy sales. “I advised them on how the company should act politically. I had nothing to do with energy sales, but I gave them a political perspective on the strategies a state has in a given situation,” he said in November 2022.
Regarding suspicions of money laundering, tax evasion, and false asset declarations, Berishaj was re-interviewed by the Special Prosecutor’s Office of Kosovo on June 26 of this year, after an initial interview in March of last year. Investigations against Martin Berishaj also began concerning the alleged abuse of the process for transporting votes from Kosovar citizens living abroad.
