European prosecutor investigates suspected solar tender fraud in Slovenia

<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The European Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating an unnamed solar company after it breached conditions of a public tender for the co-financing of small solar plants. The office says house searches were carried out this week by Slovenian police, leading to the seizure of documents, electronic data and devices.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana is leading an investigation into attempted fraud involving EU public funds for solar power plants.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to a statement published by EPPO, the investigation surrounds irregularities in a public tender for the co-financing of small solar power plants, financed by the European Cohesion Fund.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The office explains that during checks of a payment request amounting to €215,265.37 ($247,728.46) it was established that, in breach of the tender conditions, an unnamed applicant company allegedly placed binding orders for equipment before submitting its application. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">“As additional documents raised doubts as to their authenticity, no funds were disbursed in this case,” the statement continues.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The same company submitted five applications under the same tender for installations across different supermarket rooftops between September 2022 and January 2023. The company received payments totalling €955,275.90 based on four of these applications.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“According to the investigation, the company falsely declared that the solar panels would be supplied by a third-party company, while in reality the equipment was provided by the applicant itself,” the EPPO says. “This constitutes a further breach of the tender rules, which required that equipment be supplied and installed by independent third parties under market conditions.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">EPPO confirms that house searches were carried out this week by the Slovenian police department in the city of Celje, leading to the seizure of documents, electronic data and devices. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">The office’s statement concludes that all persons concerned are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the Slovenian court of law.</span></p>
<p>In January 2025, EPPO investigated a fraudulent scheme involving <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/01/14/european-prosecutor-probing-fraudulent-solar-scheme-in-slovenia/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">two Slovenian companies</a> accused of misrepresenting a solar project to obtain EU funds. A final outcome into the investigation is yet to be made public.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/region/slovenia/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Slovenia</a> installed <a href="https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/02/17/slovenia-adds-146-5-mw-of-solar-in-2025/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">146.5 MW</a> of solar last year, taking cumulative solar capacity to 1.57 GW.</p>