Slovenian Water Utility Failed to Report 14 Awards Worth €227,323

A Slovenian public water utility did not report 14 smaller procurement awards worth a combined €227,323 excluding VAT to the public procurement portal, according to the country's Court of Audit.

The finding is recorded on page 27 of the Court's 47-page report *Pravilnost dela poslovanja Javnega komunalnega podjetja Žalec*, numbered 321-1/2025-39 and dated 16 October 2026. The audit examined 2024 operations of the publicly owned utility, Javno komunalno podjetje Žalec. The €227,323 is the combined **contractual value of awards that should have been reported**, not an amount proved stolen, paid improperly or lost.

The audit says the company did not report 14 record-based procurements exceeding the €10,000 excluding-VAT reporting threshold. Some awards placed on behalf of municipalities were tracked manually rather than through the BASS information system, contributing to incomplete portal data. The Court also found that required public procurement procedures were not used for two awards and for one set of similar purchases, and that a new procedure was not conducted after the value of supplies increased by more than 30% in one instance.

Separate problems with water-service accounting

The Court issued a qualified opinion on part of the utility's 2024 operations. It found that the utility supplied public drinking water in a border area of Celje municipality without an appropriate concession or other legal basis.

It also said the utility included a €54,523 negative result from activities unrelated to the drinking-water public service in that service's costs. A separate €15,460 negative difference arose from water supplied for industrial purposes to three businesses under the public service instead of a separately accounted service. These are different findings, not components of the €227,323 in unreported contract values. None of these numbers, by itself, establishes fraud.

The Court also identified weaknesses in water-tariff calculations, indirect cost allocation, procurement documentation and rules for the director's variable remuneration. Local outlet Novi tednik reported on 19 October that auditors had found the concession, accounting and procurement problems.

What the utility says changed

The report records a company explanation that a contracts module was added to its BASS system at the end of 2025, with training and entry of contract data ongoing. The Court did not demand a formal response report because, it said, the utility had taken suitable corrective or preventive measures during the audit where feasible.

That finding matters for timing: the report documents deficiencies in **2024**, not proof that the same reporting gaps persisted in November 2026. The audit did not find criminal guilt by a named official or supplier.

A useful follow-up would verify whether all 14 awards were later entered in the procurement portal, whether procurement and concession arrangements were corrected, and whether the new accounting controls were operating. The records examined here do not establish those subsequent outcomes.

**Primary record:** Slovenia Court of Audit, report 321-1/2025-39, 16 October 2026: https://www.rs-rs.si/fileadmin/user_upload/Datoteke/Revizije/2026/JKPZalec/JKPZalec-revizijsko-porocilo.pdf

**Independent local reporting:** Novi tednik, 19 October 2026: https://novitednik.svet24.si/novice/komunala-zalec-revizija-1934454