Sulik: If I Resign as Economy Minister, SPP Chief Prokypcak Will Leave as Well

Sulik: If I Resign as Economy Minister, SPP Chief Prokypcak Will Leave as Well

Bratislava, August 23 (TASR) – If I resign as economy minister, gas utility SPP head Richard Prokypcak will leave his post as well, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party leader Richard Sulik told a news conference on Tuesday.

Sulik explained that Prokypcak has informed him of this. “He simply doesn’t want to work under a new minister. He came with me, and he’ll also leave with me,” he said. However, this shouldn’t affect long-term agreements on discount gas prices. The Government should deal with the steps that need to be taken in this connection at its session on Wednesday (August 24).

Concerning other people at his ministry, including state secretaries, Sulik said that he can’t make them stay in their posts, but he will try to persuade them to stay for at least for a couple of days after his resignation so that the change in the ministry’s management isn’t so abrupt.

Sulik voiced his surprise over the fact that the OLaNO party hasn’t yet announced his possible successor in the post. He pointed to the current energy crisis and the war in Ukraine. He noted that he’s informed his colleagues in the Government about SaS’s procedures in advance and suggested in mid-July that he should be told the name of his successor. He wanted to familiarise this person with issues at the ministry during August, so that it wouldn’t be a “jump into icy water”.

According to Sulik, SaS’s departure from the Government isn’t irreversible. If Igor Matovic (OLaNO) leaves the finance minister post, SaS will stay and continue to do its job. “Everything is in the hands of Igor Matovic,” he stated.

Sulik denied that he’s seeking to avoid responsibility for the current energy crisis by his resignation. At the same time he denied that he would ever want to be premier in any government. He’ll attend the coalition meeting scheduled for Friday (August 26), but he expects it to be a waste of time.

Sulik said that he’s spoken to President Zuzana Caputova about SaS’s steps. He familiarised her with SaS’s demand to its partners and told her to expect resignations from SaS ministers on August 31.