Buzek may lose fourth minister following alleged UMTS tender irregularities

After dismissing deputy defense minister Romuald Szeremietiew on Friday, Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek has now placed Telecommunications Minister Tomasz Szyszko on indefinite leave. "The Prime Minister showed me a letter to the prosecutor's office signed by the Supreme Board of Inspection (NIK) deputy president Jacek Uczkiewicz, accusing the Telecommunications Ministry of certain irregularities. As a result of these accusations, the Prime Minister and I decided that I should take a holiday while the issue is resolved," Szyszko told the daily Gazeta Wyborcza. The accusations pertain to corruption and allegations that Jan Luczak, former advisor to the Minister of Telecommunications, exercised incorrect supervision over the UMTS tender. Although the NIK has not implicated anyone directly, they have said that the budget may have lost as much as zl. 17 billion over the UMTS tender. (Puls Biznesu, p. 7, Gazeta Wyborcza, July 14-15, p. 25, Reuters) A.Z.