Tuhovcak Becomes New Chairman of TASR's Administrative Board

Bratislava, March 26 (TASR) – Jozef Tuhovcak will serve as the chairman of the Administrative Board of the News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR) for the next five years, while Ladislav Mikus will be its vice-chairman, according to a decision made by members of the newly formed board at their first meeting on Tuesday.

Tuhovcak highlighted the professionalism, effectiveness and above all the credibility that TASR enjoys on the media market. He’s aware that maintaining this current position and the ability to continuously provide a wide portfolio of media services will require attention to the agency’s resources. “Investment is definitely needed in the agency’s material and technical equipment so that it will be suitable for a modern media institution,” he said.

TASR’s five-member administrative board was completely replaced in early 2019. MPs in a secret ballot on February 8 elected Tuhovcak (a law expert), Mikus (an IT expert), Peter Mesticky (an expert in economics) and Arpad Korpas (an expert in journalism) as new members of the administrative board. They replaced Vladimir Masar, Boris Chovanec, Peter Alaksa and Jan Sand, whose tenures have ended.

Domestic desk editor Alena Klepochova was chosen as the fifth member of the administrative board by TASR employees in a secret ballot on February 20. The new board’s term began on February 27.

The Administrative Board monitors whether TASR is fulfilling its tasks stemming from the law, and elects and dismisses the TASR general director. It approves long-term plans and concepts for TASR’s development, its draft budget, annual financial statements, the annual report on TASR’s activities and performance and draft business plans. It also monitors the agency’s performance and how it handles its assets. In addition, the board deals with proposals, motions and complaints concerning how the press agency operates.