NKU to Examine Social Enterprises Based on Remisova's Motion

Bratislava, 6 October (TASR) - The Supreme Audit Office (NKU) plans to examine the way in which social enterprises function in Slovakia, opposition MP Veronika Remisova ('Slovakia' party - For the People) told a news conference on Monday, adding that it will do so based on a motion that she filed with NKU due to suspicious social enterprise schemes at the Labour, Social Affairs and Family Ministry. "I appreciate the fact that, based on our motion, social enterprises have been included in NKU's inspection plan, as there's a need to look not only at these cases, but also at the functioning of the whole social enterprise scheme: how statuses are assigned, how this status is misused, and whether directly assigned contracts for social enterprises are systematically overpriced," stated Remisova. Remisova noted that her motion concerned a particular case in which the Labour Ministry signed a contract for €900,000 without holding a tender. Based on an exception to the law, this contract was assigned directly to a social enterprise called CHFBLife, which, according to Remisova, gained its status suspiciously quickly, just three weeks after it was set up. The contract was also overpriced, she stressed. According to Remisova, Labour Minister Erik Tomas (Voice-SD) used the same scheme a few days ago when announcing changes to the way in which social enterprises function. On October 1, he concluded a contract worth nearly €720,000 with a social enterprise called ALAVAN, which had sales of less than €20,000 last year. The order was again assigned directly, without a tender, and some items are twice as expensive than those of a company that underwent a proper tender in 2024, added Remisova. In reaction, Tomas rejected the opposition's suspicions and accused Remisova of lying. "As is already known, the Labour Ministry under its current leadership has presented a significant tightening of the rules for the way in which social enterprises function. The current system has been in operation since 2018, with the vast majority of social enterprises being established between 2020 and 2023, i.e. during previous governments that did not intervene in any way," said Tomas. According to Tomas, Remisova and her opposition colleagues "blatantly lied" about the aforementioned ALAVAN social enterprise, with which the ministry concluded a contract for minor construction work. He pointed out that this social enterprise was set up after a standard five-month procedure that began during the term of the previous government in October 2023. Tomas said that the information concerning a direct order is also a lie, as the bid submitted by this social enterprise was selected as the cheapest one among five. ko/df