BRATISLAVA, July 28, (WEBNOVINY) — Slovakia is spending huge amounts of money on arbitration proceedings initiated by stockholders of private health insurance companies over the restricted use of generated profits. The sum Slovakia has paid to its lawyers to date took away the breath of Finance Minister Ivan Miklos (SDKU-DS), as he informed SITA. However, the minister did not elaborate on the sum requested in arbitration from Slovakia by the stockholders of Dovera and Union health insurers or the remuneration of the lawyers acting on behalf of Slovakia. Mr. Miklos pointed to the plans of the new government to change the provisions in the law which dragged Slovakia to the arbitration. Pursuant to the government’s program theses, health insurance companies will be allowed to use the profit they generate but only under exactly stipulated conditions.
The head of the Finance Ministry met with Slovakia’s legal representatives on Tuesday, but the ministry’s communication department refused to comment on the outcome of the meeting. The ministry will analyze the obtained information and inform the public after its evaluation.
Slovakia is facing international arbitration initiated by stockholders of the private health insurer Dovera and Union over the revised law on health insurance companies that limits the use of profit generated by the health insurers. The revision, pushed through by the government of Robert Fico, took effect in early 2008. Former Prime Minister Fico has declared several times that he was looking forward to the arbitration and that he believed Slovakia would win the dispute.
SITA