BRATISLAVA, August 24, (WEBNOVINY) — SDKU-DS party Chairman and Foreign Affairs Minister Mikulas Dzurinda believes that the process that lead to the rent contract for a building for tax offices in Kosice is a story of transparency. Regarding the position of the Finance Ministry, this story is transparent from A to Z, Dzurinda said after the Cabinet’s session on Wednesday. He underscored that though the firm belonging to the head of the Nitra district organization of SDKU Ondrej Scurka rented the building to the Tax Directorate, the topic has nothing in common with the party. “The ministry that has the issue in its jurisdiction decided, said Dzurinda, asking journalists where they see the involvement of his party in the matter.
Dzurinda said that he does not have in-depth information regarding the case but Finance Minister Ivan Miklos (SDKU-DS) has his 100-percent trust. He pinpointed once again that the matter is not in his jurisdiction and thus he did not go through respective documents, but ministers who are authorized to deal with the matter studied the material and turned down what he called „chimeras,“ meaning doubt in the fairness of the competition. Claims that before the competition no other possibilities were analyzed than the rental of a single building for all tax authorities are lies and a witch hunt on his party, according to the SDKU-DS boss. “It suits you to hunt for the SDKU-DS from time to time and some of you do it with great passion and enthusiasms (…) I consider such untrue attacks by some media unacceptable. Unacceptable,“ stated Dzurinda.
He underscored that the stance of two NGOs that criticize the process preceding the rental cannot be considered the only criterion. He thinks that it is all right when they formulate their objections but the department bears responsibility, which has to adopt independent decisions. “Which non-governmental organizations can claim understanding all criteria? Should it be that two people in this country decide on criteria for all public procurements?” he asked. He restated that party affiliation cannot be a discriminatory factor in public procurements.
The Tax Directorate of the Slovak Republic has decided to conclude a long-term rent contract for a building for tax authorities in the city of Kosice with the firm Nitra Invest. According to the Fair-Play Alliance, the Tax Directorate should not sign the contract and cancel the running tender as only one company of Ondrej Scurka could meet the criteria of the announced tender. The alliance thus says that the tender was not fair and did not set equal terms for all potential applicants. Transparency International Slovensko also recommended canceling the current round of tender to select a building for rent and to announce a new tender. Among the reasons behind this are the fact that the criteria of assessment and participation were unnecessarily strict; moreover, they were changed in the course of the two rounds and they were not sufficiently clear. Similarly, the analysis of alternatives to the rental of one large building lacks calculation of long-term costs and benefits, as well as impact on public finances. Sadly, even a tender with such flaws remains the most transparent selection of new spaces for the Tax Directorate in Kosice conducted so far, the NGO said.
The tender in which Scurka’s company was selected was a repeated one when the first competition was canceled. The previous head of the Tax Directorate Miroslav Mikulcik resigned over the matter after Prime Minister Iveta Radicova told her party mate, Finance Minister Ivan Miklos that she is considering her abdication unless Mikulcik does so.
SITA