Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir presented the Knesset last night with a long list of proposals to tighten control over government owned corporations, three of which are presently under official investigation for alleged mismanagement. Sapir promised that the full power of the law would be applied if any of the allegations are substantiated.
But he denounced what he called sensational reporting of alleged financial irregularities in the affairs of the bankrupt Autocar Co., the Vered water resources development company, and Netivei Neft, the government-owned firm drilling for oil in the Sinai. Some high ranking government and public figures have been mentioned in connection with each of the cases. Sapir told the Knesset that a campaign of “cheap smears and slanders” was being waged against the Cabinet and against himself personally.
The proposed controls which have Cabinet approval include; promulgation of a government corporations law to govern the activities of firms that are wholly or partly owned by the government; a special committee composed of civil servants and public figures would be formed to supplement the present Government Companies Authority. Sapir said that all forms of government assistance to the companies under investigation had been allocated in a completely objective manner.
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