BRATISLAVA, February 4, (WEBNOVINY) — Finance Minister Ivan Miklos considers golden parachute payments paid to managers in some companies with capital participation of the state exorbitant. The minister opines that compensations paid to managers of the heating company Teplaren Kosice may have been unlawful. The Cabinet intends to deal with the situation and Miklos assumes that solving the situation via the government privatization agency the FNM would be the fastest solution. “FNM executive board is currently working on the legal procedure to revise or cancel existing principles of the remuneration system in companies where the FNM holds a majority stake and it is ready to challenge managers to sign supplements to valid contracts, which would annul inappropriate bonuses,“ said Miklos at a news conference on Friday adding that if the appeal is overlooked, personnel consequences would be drawn.
The Ministry of Economy is currently working on a complex solution for golden parachutes for managers in state-controlled companies. “The reward system should be systematic and long-term and clear rules for rewarding managers in state companies need to be defined,” assumed the minister.
The Economy Minister will propose halting unreasonable spending on golden parachute payments in companies with capital participation of the state in the prepared material on the reward system for state nominees in companies where the state holds a stake. The material will suggest standardization and increased transparency in the reward system for state nominees. Minister Juraj Miskov will also suggest the Cabinet to oblige other ministries and institutions, which administrate state’s equity stakes, to apply their shareholders’ rights and revise their statutes so that unreasonable bonuses to nominees of the state cannot be paid.
Miklos also said that the new leadership of the FNM had turned down companies’ proposals for increasing rewards for managers. The minister informed that the fund had already asked supervisory boards of individual state companies to inspect reward systems for managers.
Miklos said that the Ministry of Finance is convinced that FNM should take advantage of available legal tools and claim unjustified benefits from people who accepted exorbitant rewards. The law assumes that managers in state companies should not prefer their own interest. “I think it is obvious that if someone accepts reward of EUR 90,000 for a several-week service, he preferred his own interests and acted at odds with shareholders’ interest,” underscored Miklos.
Speaker of Parliament Richard Sulik (SaS) said on Wednesday that he felt shame that a SaS nominee received golden parachute payment of EUR 90,000 after serving as director of the Kosice heating plant only for a short time. “I nearly fell off my chair,“ said Sulik in parliament. He finds taking EUR 90,000 for a few weeks of work appaling. “We will take steps in this matter and we will try to prevent it,“ said the Speaker of Parliament. He continued that the level of severance pay was incorporated in a collective agreement, which was signed by the previous management of the Kosice heating plant lead by Ladislav Lazar (SMER-SD).
The Kosice heating plant, which is controlled by the National Property Fund, now has the fourth chief since the June parliamentary election. The Korzar daily reported that a native of Kosice, Jan Podhradsky (SDKU-DS nominee) and Bratislava native Ivan Zich (SaS nominee) received a golden parachute payment of over EUR 90,000 in addition to their monthly salary ranging between EUR 6,160 and 13,660 for 40-day and four-month service. Jan Podhorsky lead Teplaren Kosice between August 2010 and September 2010 ad Ivan Zich was in the post of director since the end of September until January 31 of this year.
SITA