Taraba: Gov't to Bolster State's Right of Refusal to Water Management Firms

Bratislava, July 10 (TASR) - Minister of Environment Tomas Taraba (SNS nominee) can envision the drafting of legislation that would grant either the Finance Ministry or his ministry the right of first refusal to any stocks in water management companies, if local authorities don't want to keep them in their possession anymore or would wish to exchange them for something else. Speaking after a session of the government on Wednesday, Taraba said this would concern mostly local authorities with 0.1 percent of stocks in the water management companies. Taraba underlined that the government is willing and prepared to bolster the state's right to refusal. "The tragedy is that ownership of the water management companies was transferred to towns and villages in the first place; local authorities that have enough problems keeping themselves running. They don't have enough for lighting, not enough for the upkeep of the lawns and trees, and they're supposed to own a water management company? They literally come over to beg for repairs of every single pipe," said Taraba. The Environment Minister finds the water management companies completely underfinanced, "starved" even. Such a model is not sustainable, he emphasised. "Either we'll say that this must be nationalised again or, if the state is supposed to keep sending them money, it must demand a share, too." mf/mcs