Page 15 - bne_newspaper_January_18_2019

Central Europe
January 18, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 15
in Poland – so PiS or the more or less left-liberal opposition – blamed each other for fostering brutalisation of public life that culminated in the fatal attack on Adamowicz.
The attack has also prompted questions on the level of security at the event, which gathered thousands in Gdansk. The prosecution is probing if the organiser – a local NGO – and the hired security company met standards to ensure the event was safe.
The attacker was charged with murder and
may face life imprisonment, although how law enforcement will handle the case could change in the light of reports that the man had been treated psychiatrically in the past and was under medical
Newly created agency blocks contract with cronies of Hungary's Fidesz-led government
bne IntelliNews
A state-run agency overseeing state-funded infrastructural investments (BMSK) has blocked a public procurement won by cronies of the Fidesz- led government to build a new hospital, local media reported on January 15.
Companies owned by the sons of Lorinc Mesza- ros, who many see as the proxy of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, won a HUF18.2bn (€56.7mn) con- tract to build a hospital in Szekeshervar, 50km south of Budapest, but the BMSK torpedoed the project “in view of the rising costs of the invest- ment”. It was the first such decision by the agen- cy, which began its operation on January 1.
supervision while in jail, PAP reported. The police were reportedly warned about his release from prison, which took place in late December. He did not plead guilty.
In the aftermath of the assassination, Jerzy Owsiak, the head of the WOSP foundation, has resigned. The WOSP events have been held each January since 1993. Their main part is tens of thousands of volunteers – mostly kids – raising money in the streets to buy hospital equipment. Each fundraiser effort ends with hundreds of live events, such as the fateful one in Gdansk, countrywide.
This year's edition of the WOSP raised over PLN92mn (€21.4mn) but the count is not final yet.
Russia sets up a nation wide rubbish management and recycling company
The government approved a spate of decrees just days before the end of the year, which have not received much media scrutiny. One of the key decisions taken at the last cabinet meeting of the year was the creation of agencies to oversee state investments to rein in surging costs and ensure that investments are completed in time and within budget.
Orban has reportedly become wary of seeing large projects overshoot cost targets by a mile and he wants to curb overpriced procurements, seen as the prime source of corruption.