BRATISLAVA, August 23, (WEBNOVINY) — The only way to restore respect in her person and the office of prime minister is for Iveta Radicova is to dismiss Finance Minister Ivan Miklos, announced leader of the strongest opposition party SMER-SD Robert Fico at Tuesday’s news conference. According to him, SMER-SD has been waiting for Radicova to offer an assessment of this “textbook example of party cronyism.” “It appears that the prime minister is trying to sweep her statement under the carpet as she keeps silent and thinks that by not responding to questions, the whole case will rot away and after some time no one will ask about it, no one will be interested,” he said. According to the opposition leader, all this means that the prime minister is taking full responsibility for the case.
The Tax Directorate of the Slovak Republic decided to conclude a long-term rental contract for a building for tax authorities in the city of Kosice with the firm Nitra Invest, s.r.o., owned by head of SDKU-DS regional structure Ondrej Scurka. „I decided to proceed to signing the contract based on the process in which the law was fully respected, while the selection was not contested by any participant of the tender, and was evaluated as the most transparent procedure in looking for a building for tax authorities in Kosice,” explained Igor Krnac, director general of the tax authority.
The non-governmental organization Fair-Play Alliance stated prior to the Tax Directorate’s decision that the Tax Directorate should not sign the contract or cancel the tender. Transparency International Slovensko also recommended announcing a new tender. Among the reasons behind this was the fact that the criteria of assessment and participation were unnecessarily strict; moreover, they were changed in the course of the two rounds and they were not sufficiently clear.
The tender in question was already the second, as the Tax Directorate canceled the first one. Prime Minister Iveta Radicova then called on the Tax Directorate head at that time, Miroslav Mikulcik, to accept political responsibility. Finance Minister Ivan Miklos, however, backed Mikulcik, who gave up his post after the prime minister said she was considering resigning from her post if he does not resign as Tax Directorate chief.
SITA