The head of Kosice state-owned heating company TEKO will receive EUR 90,000 in severance pay even though he worked in the company for just four months. The same golden handshake was given to his predecessor for just forty days work!
Ivan Zich was nominated to the post by the SaS party, which is now expressing its regret over the nomination and over the huge payout. Head of the SaS party, Richard Sulik, said he almost fell off his chair when he found out about the amount of severance pay and that he saw it as sheear greed if Zich were to accept the money. Sulik will try to find a way to stop the money from being paid out.
Zich said he had not yet received any money, but that he would not discuss what he was going to do about the situation.
His predecessor, Jan Podhorsky, also received the generous handshake after just forty days in the job. He was nominated by ruling coalition party SDKU. On an average wage, it would take someone about twelve years just to earn that amount.
To date there have been numerous cases of such large payouts to managers leaving state-run companies, so it is hardly surprising that with these benefits the country has such a large ‘black hole’ public finance deficit.