The Administrative Unit Has No Record of Minister Jevšek’s Request to Change the Intended Use of His ‘Garage’
Meta Gantar
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Following Oštro’s revelation that Minister Aleksander Jevšek’s ‘garage’ does not comply with the issued building permit, as it is a Pannonian house, the minister has told other media outlets that “the process of changing the intended use of this allegedly controversial building has been underway since the beginning of last year”. However, the Murska Sobota Administrative Unit this week informed Oštro that they have no record of a request for a change of use in this specific case.
Photo: POP TV (screen capture)
As we reported, the Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development, Aleksander Jevšek, built a structure next to his vacation home in Prekmurje that is too large by half compared to the garage specified in the building permit. Rather, it resembles a two-storey Pannonian house. Next to the three permitted plots it also stands on a fourth one, agricultural land for which the Murska Sobota Administrative Unit did not receive a building permit application.*
Despite the numerous questions in our inquiry about the situation, Mr. Jevšek was initially brief: “To my knowledge, all buildings in Filovski Gaj were constructed legally. I have been informed about the inspection procedure and am actively participating in it. I will provide all explanations within the framework of this procedure.”
After the publication of our story, however, Mr. Jevšek became more talkative in his statements to other media outlets. For example, he told the Sobotainfo.com portal that the procedure for changing the intended use of the allegedly controversial building has been ongoing since the beginning of last year. He repeated the statement that he had “already submitted an application for a change of use of the building” in a 24ur news segment, where he said that the procedure could not proceed precisely because of the agricultural fourth plot, and that he would have to submit a proposal to change the municipal spatial plan.
“If a building does not comply with the issued building permit, or was built without a building permit, it is illegal.”
Illustration: Istvan David
In media appearances, he claimed that Oštro’s publication contained “many unverified untruths and inaccurate information” and that, as a result, “this story has had a negative impact on the Slovenian public”. He didn’t explain which of our data was inaccurate.
We checked the minister’s statements about the application to change the intended use of the ‘garage’ at the administrative unit in Murska Sobota. As they explained to Oštro this week, the investor has not yet submitted a request to change the intended use of the building, so the administrative authority could not initiate the procedure for changing the intended use.
“If a building does not comply with the issued building permit, or was built without a building permit, it is illegal,” they explained. They added that in order for a decision on the legalization of a building to be issued, the conditions set out in the applicable building law and municipal spatial plan must be met.
We checked the minister’s statements about the application for a change in the intended use of the ‘garage’ at the administrative unit in Murska Sobota. They have no record of such an application.
As we have already reported, the Murska Sobota Administrative Unit has also not received an application for a building permit for the fourth land plot the building extends onto. Meanwhile, proceedings have been underway at the District Court in Lendava since July 21 this year, according to which the Jevšek couple would become the sole owners of the plot, taking over the current one-eighth ownership of a third party who was supposed to agree to the work on this land at the start of construction in 2021.
Minister Jevšek did not respond to our additional questions.
*The article in Slovene was published on July 31, 2025.