Sabelova: Audit to Begin on Innovation Calls, All Options Remain Open

Bratislava, 14 November (TASR) – An audit will be launched regarding the calls for innovation projects, and all future scenarios remain open, Deputy Minister for the Recovery Plan and a Knowledge-based Economy Alena Sabelova announced at a meeting with journalists on Friday. The meeting was also attended by representatives of companies successful in the innovation calls. Sabelova confirmed that contracts with the companies have been suspended, and she repeatedly rejected criticism of a lack of transparency. "We now face an audit. We'll need to see whether all 57 companies are indeed in order. Based on the results of this audit, several scenarios are possible, meaning that the call may simply be cancelled. I don't think that we made any fundamental errors; if the [audited] sample contains any companies that were not evaluated as they should have been, we'll withdraw their subsidies and support only the companies that passed without any doubts. The outcome may also be that we'll support all the companies that received notification of subsidy awards," she stated. Sabelova recalled that 37 robotics projects and 20 so-called biotech companies were supported. "In robotics we evaluated 262 companies and in biotech 82," she specified. Leader of the Voice-SD party and Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok stated on social media on Thursday (13 November) that he's instructed Deputy Prime Minister for the Recovery Plan and a Knowledge-based Economy Peter Kmec to suspend the innovation calls, around which doubts have arisen regarding the transparency of the allocation of funds. Several opposition MPs have pointed to an evaluation of the calls. mf/df