Patria suspected of bribery in Slovenia

According to the investigative television program MOT, aired by Finnish public broadcaster YLE, the company paid a total of €21 (zł.70.7) million in bribes in order to secure orders for the Slovenian army.

Authorities have known about the case for a couple of months now and investigations have been launched in both Finland and Slovenia. Parliamentary and police investigations in the latter country, however, have already ended.

These allegations have dredged up memories of a similar situation in Poland. In 2003, Patria won a tender for the delivery of an armored modular vehicle for the Polish military. The company offered the lowest bid, but according to a number of Polish media and military experts its offer did not meet the requirements that had been included in the tender specifications.

The case was included in the 2007 report on the verification of Poland's liquidated Military Intelligence Services (WSI). The authors of the report accused Patria of unfair lobbying and suspicious connections with WSI officers. These accusations, which drew protests from the Finnish ambassador in Poland, have not resulted in any formal charges.

Patria-constructed vehicles, called Rosomak in Poland, are used, among others, by the Polish mission in Afghanistan.