BRATISLAVA, November 2, (WEBNOVINY) — The government will cover the loss that Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) suffered for exemptions based on which a part of the population and other entities did not need to pay concessionaire fees. After the so-called socket law came into effect, some corporate and private individuals have been exempt from their payment. “The Cabinet has confirmed today that RTVS will be allocated 24 million euros, which will protect this public-service institution from distraint proceedings and legal disputes,” informed Culture Minister Daniel Krajcer (SaS). According to the minister, the proposal was based on saving measures prepared by RTVS management that gradually identified debts ad prepared a project for the RTVS recovery. Krajcer said that the RTVS management guarantees that as of next year RTVS‘ budget will be balanced. He called it historic news following many years of spiraling debt.
The accumulated debt of RTVS for Slovak Television for 2007-2010 was almost EUR 43 million. According to a material of the Culture Ministry that the Cabinet discussed on Wednesday, the government is considering only a partial settlement of RTVS debt that should cover the shortfall of payments for services to the public provided by Slovak Television and Slovak Radio. Recovery measures are gradually squeezing the RTVS loss and the minister expects that RTVS in the television part will make a profit of EUR 500,000 at the end of the year. What is more, it is expected that RTVS will save almost 26 million euros in the course of this year, underscored Krajcer.
SITA