Vacation, or bribery? Sejm asks questions about mystery trip to South Africa

Directors of health funds and senior bureaucrats who very quietly left for a trip to the Republic of South Africa at the invitation of a German fund will have to explain themselves to health minister Mariusz Lapinski. Deputy healt h minister Aleksander Nauman promised yesterday in parliament that he will q uestion them when they return. Deputies remarked "Who financed this holiday" and labeled the affair as a "scandalous sponsored trip". Deputies suspect th at the trip was sponsored by a pharmaceutical company, as no one really know s who exactly paid for it. Nauman added that the marketing budget of pharmac eutical companies is around $123 million. The former president of the Suprem e Board of Inspection (NIK) Janusz Wojciechowski, who is currently a sejm sp eaker, said that he is considering filing for NIK to investigate the matter. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 8; Rzeczpospolita, p. A1) A.Z.