PS Requests House Committee Session over Ambulance Tender Transparency... (2)

Bratislava, 14 July (TASR) - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party is requesting an extraordinary session of the House health committee regarding the selection procedure for operating emergency medical service (ZZS) ambulances due to concerns about a lack of transparency in the process. Committee vice-chair Oskar Dvorak (PS) wants Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD), ZZS Operations Centre head Marian Povolny and the selection commission head to explain how the competition will be evaluated and to explain to the public how €1.2 billion of taxpayers' money will be distributed. "I'm currently coordinating with my partners from the opposition, we're collecting signatures. We'll submit them in the next few days, and, according to preliminary information, the committee is expected to meet towards the end of this week," said Dvorak . The opposition MP noted that candidates were able to apply until the end of June, but the public still has no information about the selection process. Dvorak believes that the licences will be given to pre-selected applicants. "It seems that Kamil Sasko has succumbed to strong financial interests behind the scenes. According to my information, the biggest winner will be the Agel group. It's expected to receive up to 25 percent of the emergency medical service points. The remaining points, in addition to those allocated to the state, will be given to other pre-selected candidates with minimal levels of experience. And the helicopter emergency medical service competition will probably be won by the current contractor, Air-Transport Europe, as the criteria appear to discriminate against new applicants," added Dvorak. The tender conditions have also been criticised by the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party. Agel SK has told TASR that it won't comment on the matter for the time being. The Health Ministry responded to the claims made by the PS party. According to the ministry, questioning of the selection process is a deliberate manipulation of public opinion and an attempt to score cheap political points on a sensitive topic. The ministry declared that the names of the commission members will be announced in the near future. „This will happen after the selection procedure is completed to ensure the fairness of the process and to protect commission members from the potential risk of being influenced. (...) It should also be clearly understood that each commission member will be held accountable for their decisions,“ the ministry added. NOTE: This story has been extended. lin