BRATISLAVA, May 12, (WEBNOVINY) — On Thursday, Transport Minister Jan Figel (KDH) dismissed Director General of the National Highway Company (NDS) Alan Sitar from his post. The reason behind this step are dubious contracts which the NDS ordered shortly before new public procurement rules took effect. According to Figel, he strongly objects to the purposes and efficiency of the respective contracts and differs in opinion on the issue with Sitar.
Figel added that Sitar has been dismissed as of Thursday. He will select an acting head of the company from among current members of the board of directors, who will manage the company until a public competition for a new director is successful.
Prime Minister Iveta Radicova appreciates the difficult but correct decision of first Deputy Prime Minister Jan Figel to dismiss Alan Sitar from the post of NDS director. „Politics and management of state institutions requires not only lawfulness, but also an ethical dimension. In a situation when we are overcoming the impacts of the crisis and vast cuts in public spending, it is not possible to handle public finances in the way the National Highway Company did,“ Radicova’s statement provided to SITA news agency reads.
Earlier on Thursday, the National Highway Company (NDS) announced it was canceling several recent orders and contracts except for those directly related to highway construction approved before the Public Procurement Act revision took effect as of April 1. This decision by company director Alan Sitar was based on instructions that Transport Minister Jan Figel delivered at their two meetings. Sitar announced at a special briefing Thursday that the contracts relate particularly to educational programs and coaching of NDS management employees, PR consulting services and consulting for the prepared merger of the NDS and the Slovak Road Administration.
An anonymous letter by NDS employees drew attention to these somewhat dubious contracts. It pointed to wasteful spending on various nonessential services. The transport minister ordered cancellation of some contests and contracts for services and was not satisfied by Sitar’s clarifications regarding the funding of these contracts. Prime Minister Iveta Radicova said on Thursday that the Cabinet Office would audit the NDS because inspections are carried out automatically in similar cases.
SITA