MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Sunday, 24 August 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Saturday, 2š August): BRATISLAVA - MP and former health minister (2020-21) Marek Krajci ('Slovakia'-For the People-KU) has warned that Slovakia may lose further millions of euros from the Recovery and Resilience Plan due to alleged missteps by private hospitals, whereas both the Agel group and the Penta Hospitals network have rejected the claims. Krajci referred to findings by the Public Procurement Authority (UVO). „Unfortunately, we have learned that the Slovak Republic may lose additional millions of euros from the Recovery Plan — this time with respect to the company Agel. Agel Hospital in Levice violated the Public Procurement Act by artificially splitting a single contract into two, thereby lowering the estimated value and bypassing the obligation to conduct an above-threshold procurement,” Krajci said. According to him, UVO pointed out that the hospital deliberately divided the contract into two smaller parts and contacted only three pre-selected companies. Krajci stated that the Health Ministry is obliged by law to report the identified violation to the National Implementation and Coordination Authority, which must then inform the European Commission and the European Anti-Fraud Office. „The upshot will be that European funds cannot be used this way. The Health Ministry will not be able to have these funds reimbursed by the European Commission from the Recovery Plan, meaning that millions of euros will be forfeited,” Krajci added. TEPLICKA NAD VAHOM - Carmaker Kia Slovakia has officially launched production of the EV4 electric vehicle at its plant in Teplicka nad Vahom (Zilina region), company spokesperson Tomas Potocek told TASR earlier this week, adding that the EV4 is Kia's first fully electric vehicle to be produced in Europe. The company started preparations for the project last year as part of a €108-million investment for upgrading the production lines, installing a new conveyor belt for battery assembly and adapting technology in the pressing, welding and painting shops, including in particular the assembly hall. "We've been thoroughly preparing for the launch of the EV4 for a long time. Combining advanced production technologies with the dedication of our skilled employees, we've managed to launch serial production successfully," said Potocek, adding that the EV4 will be rolling out from the same production lines as the existing Sportage and XCeed models. The annual production volume of electric vehicles is hard to predict at the moment, but with the current launch of the EV4, plus the EV2 model starting at the beginning of next year, it might increase to tens of percent from the current 25 percent share of the total output of hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions, he said. Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) noted that the upgrade of the carmaker's production lines was supported by the government with €30 million in tax relief. She said that as the headcount in Slovakia's automotive industry is some 280,000 employees, "supporting all investment activities and the development of the automotive industry in Slovakia is in the full interests of this government." BANSKA BYSTRICA - NGOs involved in nature conservation welcome the monitoring of brown bears, which is currently being launched by the State Nature Protection (SOP), while pointing, however, to the need for quality research and sample collection, and also noting that headcounts should be carried out regularly to track population trends. Last but not least, they noted that Slovakia doesn't have a problem with the total number of bears, but with problem individuals that approach human settlements. "Any monitoring of wild animals is beneficial to find out their number, behaviour, migration and distribution in the country. The DNA analysis method is currently the most accurate way to obtain real data and reduce the room for speculation. However, it will be crucial for the collection of samples and data to be methodologically correct, rigorous and transparent so that the results don't give rise to doubts," Ursia association chairman Jozef Martinsky has told TASR. LIPTOVSKY MIKULAS - The Mara Air Show brought aerobatics to Liptov area in Zilina region on Friday (22 August), with teams coming from all over Europe. Spectators on the town beach in Liptovsky Mikulas watched aerial speed, precision and elegance in the sky above the water surface of the Liptovska Mara dam. "Aerobatic events above water are rare and exceptional, they are held in America, Australia or Dubai. Now we've been able to experience it in our country, in the heart of Liptov. It was only a non-competitive exhibition, but it didn't take away a drop of the emotion," said town mayor Jan Blchac. Mara Air Show visitors had the opportunity to watch the elite Baltic Bees aerobatic squadron, which flew their fighters from Latvia, the Viper Sky Box team that flew ultralight aircraft made by a Slovak manufacturer, and the winner of the first year of the Air Race Jasna Ingemars Budkievics from Latvia. am