Economy

TIS: Social Enterprise in Nizny Hrabovec Only One to Get Subsidy from Premier

Bratislava, March 22 (TASR) – Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) provided a subsidy amounting to €15,000 to a pasta and pastry producer based in Nizny Hrabovec (Presov region) in November 2020, NGO Transparency International Slovakia (TIS) said on Monday, pointing to the fact it’s the only one from among some 300 municipal social enterprises operating in Slovakia to get such a subsidy.

TIS also said that the mayor of the village is Marcela Pcolinska, mother of former Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) boss and MP Peter Pcolinsky (We Are Family).

“It’s not clear why the prime minister has helped precisely this social enterprise,” stated the NGO. It noted that provision of subsidies from the Government’s reserve isn’t governed by clear rules or criteria. TIS claims that this tool was misused under the previous governments, as these subsidies were excessively provided to municipalities with mayors for the governing coalition.

TIS calls for scrapping of this subsidy system. It claims that there are standard competitive subsidy schemes with professional evaluators to support both urgent and common projects, which significantly reduces the potential for political clientelism or spending money on inefficient projects.

ZSSK: New Train Service between Bratislava and Kiev Launched on Sunday

A rail connection between Slovakia and Ukraine is improving, with a new train service from Bratislava to Kiev being launched on Sunday, ZSSK passenger carrier spokesman Dominik Drevicky has informed TASR.

Bratislava Transport Museum Opens Exhibition to Mark 110 Years of Vienna Tramway

The Slovak Technical Museum - the Transport Museum in Bratislava on Thursday opened an exhibition to mark 110 years since the launch of the Vienna Tramway.

Takac: Police Launch Criminal Investigation, Infested Wood Being Extracted Urgently

The police have already launched a criminal investigation regarding the failure to address the bark-beetle infestation in Banska Bystrica region, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Richard Takac, who filed a criminal complaint in this connection in May, told a news conference on Monday.

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