The various ‘deals’ concluded by former labour minister from Smer-SD Viera Tomanova seem without end as yet another questionable contract has popped up.
Daily Hospodarske Noviny published a report today in which it points to a contract worth EUR 35,000 that Tomanova endorsed for preparing an economic analysis of companies that no longer even existed. The analysis examined the so-called social companies, which proved costly for the Slovak Republic as it had to return funding to the EU as the expenditures of the companies were dubious.
The contract was put under the microscope of the Supreme Audit Office (NKU), which came to the conclusion that the information in the analysis was irrelevant as it had been ordered after some of the companies had already been dissolved. The NKU also states that the analysis could have been prepared by the Ministry itself.
Like most of the funding surrounding the social companies, the finances came from the EU. Tomanova has become quite adept at defending the various curious decisions she made as minister, and the latest revelation is no exception.
Tomanova says the analysis was necessary in order to show the European Commission that the Ministry was not interfering with economic competition by giving money to the social companies.
Current labour minister Jozef Mihal referred to the analysis as useless, though, and then awarded a contract worth EUR 30,000 to have a new one prepared by law office White&Case, in the hope of getting back around EUR 11 million from Tomanova’s social companies. He wants to put four companies that still exist up for auction.
Among other things, Tomanova has previously been accused of tunneling EU money out through the social companies, of overpriced mutual consulting between her and her acquaintance, of initiating a EUR 5 million tender a few days before the elections, and of giving dubious financing to Volkswagen in Slovakia.