Court of Audit

Court of Audit President Ioannis Sarmas was sworn in as prime minister of a caretaker government that will lead Greece to a repeat round of elections on June 25, shortly after 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Sarmas was sworn in at the Presidential Mansion in the presence of President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou appointed Ioannis Sarmas, a senior judicial official who is president of the Court of Audit, as caretaker prime minister on Wednesday to form a government that will lead the country to a repeat election on June 25, after last weekend's inconclusive vote.

Ioannis Sarmas, the president of the Court of Audit, will be appointed as the caretaker prime minister by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou after party leaders were unable to reach an agreement on forming a coalition government Wednesday.

Sarmas is expected to visit the Presidential Mansion at 1 p.m., where discussions will be held regarding the selection of interim ministers.

Greece's privatization agency (HRADF) has signaled an intent to prepare and push forward with international tenders for a handful of state-owned and managed assets, even over the summer season, including for the Attiki Odos tollway in the greater Athens urban area and the sell-off of another 30 percent of the Athens International Airport.

Ljubljana – Jana Ahčin, a former director of the Financial Administration (FURS), was appointed Court of Audit president in a secret vote in the National Assembly on Friday in which she received 60 votes. She will take over for nine years as the court’s first woman president, replacing Tomaž Vesel, whose term expired at the end of May.

Ljubljana – President Borut Pahor has nominated Jana Ahčin for Court of Audit president and Milan M. Cvikl for a vice-governor of the central bank after completing consultations with parliamentary groups’ heads last week and establishing both candidates enjoy the necessary support. The candidates will need at least 46 votes to get elected in a secret ballot.

Koper – Primorske Novice finds it unusual that the Robert Golob government has decided to review all appointments, reassignments and promotions in the state administration since 1 January 2020 to see whether some staff got the job through political connections. The newspaper believes this will do little to solve the problem.

Ljubljana – The Court of Audit has examined drug procurement practices in three public pharmacy chains to find that medicine procurement in the country is still in disarray and public pharmacies keep flouting public procurement rules.

The court issued an adverse opinion to Pomurske Lekarne, Lekarna Velenje and Lekarna Sevnica after examining their drug purchasing practices in 2020.

Ljubljana – President Borut Pahor has announced he plans to call the general election for 24 April, the earliest possible date for a scheduled election. The presidential decree to that effect will be signed in February, the president’s office said on Friday.

Ljubljana – A delegation of the European Parliament’s committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs (LIBE) visiting Slovenia on a fact-finding mission has expressed concern mainly at the tone of public debate, while also calling for the issues of STA funding and European delegated prosecutor appointments to be addressed urgently.