Jozef Kiss to Be New Chief of Agricultural Payment Agency

Jozef Kiss to Be New Chief of Agricultural Payment Agency

Bratislava, June 30 (TASR) – Jozef Kiss will be the new general director of the Agricultural Payment Agency (PPA) as of July 1, Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan (an OLaNO nominee) announced during the Cabinet session on Wednesday.

At the same time, the agriculture minister dismissed the present PPA chief Jaroslav Janos from the post. Janos has led the institution since November 2020.

“I would like to inform you that I’ve dismissed Mr. Janos from the post of PPA general director and appointed Jozef Kiss to the post,” said Vlcan. He expects that the new PPA management will accelerate processes and in particular ensure that the conditions for granting permanent PPA accreditation are met.

“The situation in PPA is critical. There’s a real risk that PPA will lose accreditation in mid-October if we fail to meet the set conditions. We can certainly not let such a scenario happen. And we cannot afford the smallest hesitation, either. As we don’t have too much time left, I decided to appoint an experienced crisis manager to the post of PPA general director after assessing the development up to now. I believe that the new director will speed up the process of the PPA’s recovery and chiefly ensure that the conditions for granting a permanent accreditation are met within the set deadline,” said Vlcan.

The PPA has been operating since 2004. It has paid almost €12 billion in total during its existence up to now, with €800 million being paid out solely last year.