Holjencik Steps Down as URSO Head

Bratislava, February 2 (TASR) – Chairman of the Office for the Regulation of Network Industries (URSO) Jozef Holjencik is stepping down from his post, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said after meeting Holjencik on Thursday.

“I’m able to announce that [Mr Holjencik] has notified me as prime minister that he’s resigning from the office of URSO chairman. The procedure is determined by law in that, in order to step down, the URSO chairman is required to send a letter to this effect to Mr President,” said the premier, adding that he’s taken Holjencik’s resignation on board.

“I regard the fact that I’ve been notified of his [Holjencik’s] decision as the right thing to do, because it’s the Government that proposes the candidate for URSO chairman to the president,” said Fico.

URSO will continue to perform its duties, said Fico, as the powers will now be transferred to URSO vice-chairman Miroslav Celinsky.

Fico also said that his meeting with Holjencik also revolved around the state of play concerning energy prices, especially electricity. “I made myself very clear that this is what I’m most concerned about,” said the premier.

He wouldn’t shed light on the timeline for the Cabinet to deal with a proposal for Holjencik’s replacement. “To my mind, it was right of Mr Holjencik to come to the Government Office today, because it’s the Government that decides on personnel issues. I’ll wait for Mr Holjencik’s resignation to be made official, I mean the formal side of things and the date that it will happen,” said Fico.

He added that the decision on who’s to make the nomination for URSO chairman rests with the Cabinet, stressing that he wouldn’t comment on this for now. He spoke in the wake of comments made by coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) leader Andrej Danko, who admitted that the coalition might face its first crisis over the situation surrounding URSO and the recent scandal concerning an increase in energy prices.