BRATISLAVA, July 20, (WEBNOVINY) — Finance Minister Ivan Miklos (SDKU-DS) rushed to react to a news conference given by the opposition leader Robert Fico earlier on Wednesday on the Tax Directorate’s rent case in Kosice. He accused the SMER-SD leader of manipulating figures and misleading the public. “That whole process really proves only one thing: if the case of the building for tax offices in Kosice is a scandal, then it is a scandal of Robert Fico,” said Miklos. He added that the whole process of selecting the company to rent its premises is open to the public and he invited any organizations that want to check the selection procedure to do so. Miklos said that the definitive decision on picking the building to shelter the tax authorities in the eastern Slovak metropolis is in the hands of the head of the Tax Directorate. “It is his competence,” stated the minister.
The scandal around the rental by the Tax Directorate of a building that should house all tax offices in Kosice almost brought down the government in Slovakia this spring. The scandal erupted after it came to light that the company Nitra Invest of SDKU-DS district head in Nitra Ondrej Scurka rented a building to the Kosice Regional Tax Office for about EUR 6.6 million over five years. Media however reported that Nitra Invest offered a higher price than its rival. The tender was eventually cancelled and a new one was announced. In the new contest, Scurka is the sole bidder. The Tax Directorate argues that in the first tender, they were unable to evaluate objectively which bid is more advantageous, as Nitra Invest offered a lease and CTR’s offer was a sublease.
Fico however insists that the previous bid of Nitra Invest was EUR 230,000 higher that the rival’s offer. He insists that the Tax Directorate canceled the original competition since if it had continued Nitra Invest would not have been able to win.
Minister Miklos opposes Fico in this. He said he understands the Tax Directorate’s decision in the previous competition. According to him it was impossible to unambiguously and unquestionably decide on the winner of the contest. Miklos said that the information provided by Fico on the allegedly lower bid of Nitra Invest in the original contest is untrue. In the case that it would rent their building to the Tax Directorate, Nitra Invest would have had to return some EUR 1.5 million to the state during five years in VAT refunds it received.
SITA