Dinkić denies links with passport tender winner

Economy Minister Mladjan Dinkic has denied reports in certain media linking him to the German firm Muehlbauer which is involved in the printing of new passports. "I've nothing to do with the passports, nor did I know who was making them or how , nor do I know what this is all about. That's why the Prosecutor has ordered an investigation," Dinkic told a news conference, when asked whether he was in any way linked to the German company that won the tender for making the new biometric passports. Dinkic denies links with passport tender winner "In this country, it needs to be confirmed once and for all if a minister is corrupt, and if he is, then he should go to prison. But if a newspaper publishes lies, then those responsible should also face the corresponding sanctions,” said the minister. Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said that his Ministry would be carrying out an investigation and looking into all the activities involving these passports. “The Interior Ministry is not accountable in this case, “ Dacic said, adding that all criticisms pertained to the Institute for Manufacturing Banknotes and Coins, which had its own funds for the new passports and which had called a tender in keeping with its legal mandate. “That business of collecting all the bids and concluding contracts came up against a problem between the various companies taking part, which were German Muehlbauer, Slovenian Miraz, and the Institute for Manufacturing Banknotes and Coins,” he explained. The interior minister said that the 430,000 Serbian citizens that had thus far filed applications for the new biometric passports had no need to worry about their technical characteristics and that there would be no problems when it came to travel. Mladjan Dinkic (FoNet, archive)

Dinkić denies links with passport tender winner

"In this country, it needs to be confirmed once and for all if a minister is corrupt, and if he is, then he should go to prison. But if a newspaper publishes lies, then those responsible should also face the corresponding sanctions,” said the minister.

Interior Minister Ivica Dačić said that his Ministry would be carrying out an investigation and looking into all the activities involving these passports.

“The Interior Ministry is not accountable in this case, “ Dačić said, adding that all criticisms pertained to the Institute for Manufacturing Banknotes and Coins, which had its own funds for the new passports and which had called a tender in keeping with its legal mandate.

“That business of collecting all the bids and concluding contracts came up against a problem between the various companies taking part, which were German Muehlbauer, Slovenian Miraž, and the Institute for Manufacturing Banknotes and Coins,” he explained.

The interior minister said that the 430,000 Serbian citizens that had thus far filed applications for the new biometric passports had no need to worry about their technical characteristics and that there would be no problems when it came to travel.