Another person hiding from justice is Miroslav Výboh, a well-known oligarch and lobbyist. Unlike other oligarchs behind the ruling party Směr-SD, the name of Miroslav Výboh is not so notorious. The arms dealer, lobbyist and honorary consul of the Principality of Monaco keeps a low profile in Slovakia.
He hardly appears in the media and carefully hides his business activities. Officially, he is only on the supervisory board of AMW. Yet, or perhaps because of this, he is considered one of the most influential patrons behind the Direction-SD.
Výboh studied economics with a focus on foreign trade and tourism. After the revolution, he started importing goods from Asia, where he made his first big money and switched to the arms business. His company Willing, which represented the Russian company RSK MiG in Slovakia, won several defence ministry contracts across all governments. It was involved in the repair of MiG-29 fighter jets and the army bought other military equipment from it several times.
The arms business grew close to Výboh’s heart and for a time he was also vice-president of the Defence Industry Association. He had been in this sector for the longest time and at the same time gained contacts with Russian business circles.
Gradually, however, Výboh retreated from the visible positions in the arms industry to the backstage when he sold his stake in Willing in 2012. The less Výboh was seen in the commercial register, the more he did behind the scenes. He became a lobbyist with connections to the most important people in business and politics in Slovakia, without whose blessing no major deal was done. Officially, he only dealt in real estate.
For example, his name has appeared in connection with the ownership of Doprastav. He was also active in the energy sector, where he was a liaison in organizing business activities around the completion of the Mochovce nuclear power plant. Russian companies Rosatom, RAO UES and Atomstrojprojekt, as well as Czech CEZ, were interested for some time. Martin Roman, the then head of ČEZ, was also to meet with Výboh and Fico at the time when the construction of a new unit of the Mochovce nuclear power plant was being discussed.
To make matters worse, Výboh accompanied Fico during his first government on foreign trips to Libya and Moscow. People from his company were also with Fico in Israel, and Výboh himself attended a diplomatic ball at the Foreign Ministry. Výboh is also a member of the Rotary Club of Volen, where Vladimír Maňka, former vice-chairman of the Direction-SD, is also active.
Výboh came to the centre of unwanted attention after his name first officially appeared in connection with Prime Minister Robert Fico. Miroslav Dalík, a Czech lobbyist, testified in court in connection with the Czech corruption case surrounding the purchase of Pandur armoured vehicles that Výboh came accompanied by Robert Fico at an unofficial meeting with then Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, which started the whole case.
According to the indictment, Dalík should have asked the Austrian supplier of the Pandurs, the Steyer company, for a bribe of EUR 18 million to push the contract through to the Czech Prime Minister, for whom he was an aide. Výboh appeared in the case as an intermediary who was directly involved in the negotiations.
In addition to the unwanted media attention, the case had much more unpleasant consequences for Výboh. In Austria, he was investigated on suspicion of corruption. It also had undesirable consequences for Robert Fico. He had to admit his acquaintance with Výboh, whom he had long claimed not to know.
“Mr. Výboh is a friend of mine and they met as friends. I have known this man personally for twenty years and I will not condemn people as some others do,” he said in a surprising response when asked about his relationship with Výboh.
Miroslav Výboh is accused in Slovakia of having brokered a bribe for then-deputy finance minister Peter Pellegrini, the next Slovak president, in connection with the virtual electronic treasury project.
František Imrecze, the prosecuted head of the Slovak Financial Administration, also testified against Výboh in the case. Although there is a warrant for Výboh’s arrest, he has been in Monaco or another dream destination for a long time. It is grotesque that while Slovak authorities claim not to know where he is, the internet has been flooded with photos of Slovak tourists repeatedly bumping into him while on holiday in the United Arab Emirates.
