Krajci: Government Playing Dirty Game with Ambulance Services Tender

Bratislava, 13 November (TASR) – The government, and in particular the Voice-SD party, its Health Minister Kamil Sasko and Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD), are playing a "dirty game" with the public over the ambulance service tender, opposition MP and former health minister (2020-21) Marek Krajci ('Slovakia') declared on Wednesday. Krajci pointed to complaints filed by the prosecutor-general, which he said clearly demonstrate that the minister acted unlawfully when cancelling the tender. The opposition party also accused Fico of protecting Sasko and once again called for the minister's resignation. "The prosecutor-general has unravelled this entire case because he obtained access to the files and confirmed what we all suspected — that this is most likely a dirty deal, possibly involving Prime Minister Robert Fico himself. Fico eventually told Health Minister Kamil Sasko to end the tender, but Sasko slyly waited until it was no longer legally possible to cancel it and then 'pretended' to do so. That 'pretend' cancellation was illegal, however; it was done in a way not permitted by law. As a result, the prosecutor-general has now issued 33 complaints highlighting this unlawful procedure by the Health Ministry," said Krajci. According to Krajci, the minister is either an incompetent manager or a fraud who deliberately cancelled the tender in such a way that all successful bidders would be able to sue the state for lost profits later. "It's clearly written in those complaints. Therefore, if Robert Fico wants to clear his name, he should immediately remove Kamil Sasko from the ministry. Otherwise, his excuses will be meaningless. It isn't true that everything happened in the way he wanted. Either Sasko deceived him, or Robert Fico also bears his share of responsibility for this massive racket and fraud," said Krajci. He also reiterated criticism that companies close to Voice-SD were among the successful tender participants. Prosecutor-General Maros Zilinka stated last week (4 November) that the Health Ministry acted in violation of the law in the procedure for granting permits to operate ambulance services. He objected to the steps taken with respect to the cancellation of the tender and therefore filed formal complaints. The ministry maintains that its handling of the ambulance tender was lawful, substantively justified, and carried out in the interests of protecting public health. It intends to review the prosecutor-general's objections and clarify the legal discrepancies in joint meetings. The ministry added that only a court can determine whether public authorities acted unlawfully. Other opposition parties have also called for Sasko's resignation. Prime Minister Fico responded by saying that he wasn't losing any sleep over the prosecutor-general's legal opinion, adding that, from his perspective, political accountability has already been addressed, as he ordered the tender to be cancelled. mf/df