Fico: Cabinet Will Hold Sessions in Regions on Regular Basis

Bratislava, October 31 (TASR) - The cabinet should return to away-from-home sessions in the upcoming months, with such events being held once every six to eight weeks, said Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) after installing Richard Rasi (Voice-SD) in the post of Investment Minister on Tuesday morning.
        If the Government Manifesto is approved by mid-November as declared, the first away-from-home session might take place as early as this year.
        "We want to help small projects for which small municipalities usually don't have enough money, and at the same time do our best to kick-start big investments in individual regions," said Fico, not specifying what region will be the first to host a cabinet session. He welcomed the fact that former spokesman of the Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS) Michal Kalinak has become an Investment Ministry state secretary.
        Fico has agreed with the new minister on the redistribution of EU fund-related powers. In addition to the Investment Ministry, these have so far belonged to the Government Office and Vice-premier Petar Kmec (Voice-SD). "We agreed that we'll do our utmost to ensure that by the end of the year there will be no 'double-tracking' and that the ministry will primarily deal with EU funds, with Vice-premier Kmec in charge of the recovery plan," said Fico.