BRATISLAVA, May 11, (SITA) — Slovakia could lose EUR 120 million if the government insists on canceling the National Agency for Development of Small and Medium-Size Enterprise (NADSME). At the Cabinet’s meeting on Wednesday, Economy Minister Juraj Miskov (SaS) informed that Slovakia could lose that money if the state scraps or transforms the agency without partners’ consent. Based on the carried-out legal analysis, it is necessary to say that without an agreement of the association of entrepreneurs and the association of tradesmen would, the agency’s cancellation would result in the state losing its title to the remainder from NADSME’s liquidation,“ said the minister. The lost liquidation remainder involving the assets of the Fund of Funds would represent about EUR 70 million while an additional 50 million may be lost over the duty of returning EU funds deposited in the Fund of Funds.
The minister has introduced several alternatives of the NADSME’s further work to the founding members of the agency, the Entrepreneurs‘ Association of Slovakia and the Slovak Association of Sole Traders, while he prefers the establishment of a new, „super-agency.“ The new super-agency“ should also take over tasks of the Slovak Agency for Investment and Trade Development (SARIO) and some duties of the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency SIEA). In the course of this transformation, administration of the Fund of Funds, respectively of its entire assets should be transformed into the hands of an independent renowned administrator while first negotiations with a representative of the European Investment Bank has been already held at the ministry.
The minister underscored in his information that representatives of entrepreneurs have principally disagreed with all proposed alternatives. Their associations demand their jurisdictions be preserved at the current scope including at least partial preservation of their co-owner share also in the new, transformed agency. Given the principal disagreement of representatives of both associations with the proposed solutions the management of the ministry has decided to delay the material and to not submit it to the Cabinet,” said the minister.
Minister Miskov thinks that to resolve the future of the NADSME needs time for further negotiations and seeking solutions. “Due to the pending danger of not negligible losses for Slovakia in the event of hasty action in liquidation or transformation of NADSME without a bilateral agreement with associations of entrepreneurs, the ministry’s efforts will be aimed at coming to an agreement in the event of any change of the NADSME’s legal form before the Cabinet’s final decision. It is a time consuming process that has nor been closed yet and on which intensive work is underway. The aim is to accept a solution, which would incur no losses to the state,” underlined the minister.
“In this regard, entrepreneurs said that given the unconfirmed fraud suspicions regarding NADSME funds, any intervention in the agency’s activity appears as a political, not fact-based and violent gesture, which is destroying 18 years of irreplaceable work of this institution for the sake of the development of small and medium-size businesses in Slovakia, said the minister.
The current government made decision on termination of activities of NADSME at the end of September 2010 following the warning of the current and previous leadership of the Ministry of Economy about improper allocation of financial sources in the agency. The Ministry of Economy underscored that there was a suspicion that NADSME unlawfully earmarked EUR 13.5 million for friendly companies. The ministry stated that the state had lost control over about EUR 30 million, which it allocated to the agency for the development of business activities.
Due to suspected unlawful distribution of funds, Prime Minister Iveta Radicova requested the agency’s immediate dissolution in the fall of 2010. Eventually she and Economy Minister Juraj Miskov agreed that with regard to complexity of the situation, NADSME would continue operation until the end of the year, which was later extended until late January 2011. The Cabinet has not yet debated a shutdown of the agency or its future operation.
SITA