The Slovak tax authority has decided to enter into a building rental contract with the company Nitra Invest, despite ongoing accusations of cronyism as the company is owned by coalition party SDKU Nitra regional head Ondrej Scurko.
Scurko’s company was the only company to remain in the repeated tender for the rental of office premises for the Kosice tax office, after the first tender was cancelled a few months ago over accusations that the company had been favoured in the initial tender, which it also won.
Spokeswoman for the tax authority, Gabriela Dianova, said that the General Director Igor Krnáč had examined all aspects of the tax office’s requirements, especially the safety aspect for Kosice tax office employees and the future merger of the tax and customs administrations as part of the Unitas project.
Even though Krnac declares that everything was above board and in line with the law, the SDKU party will definitely come under fire again. When the affair was first disclosed, it led to Prime Minister Iveta Radicova battling with her finance minister Ivan Miklos, who allegedly is a close acquaintance of Scurko, whose firm won both tenders.
In the second tender, launched on 4 July, the tax authority called on NGOs to supervise the whole process, which was deemed highly transparent. Even so, the two main NGOs Transparency International Slovensko and the Fair-Play Alliance recommended the tax authority not to go into the contract with Nitra Invest.
The full saga can be read here