PS to Call Special Session of House Committee to Address Istrochem

Bratislava, 24 November (TASR) - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party is initiating an extraordinary session of the House committee for agriculture and the environment to address the issue of environmental damage in Slovakia, including that seen at Bratislava's Istrochem chemicals plant, MP Tamara Stohlova (PS) told a press conference on Monday. The party is drawing up a submission to the Prosecutor-General's Office to address the local authority's decision that relieved a company owned by Andrej Babis - leader of the Czech ANO party, which recently won the general election - of its liability for the environmental damage at Istrochem. According to Stohlova, this is a complete failure on the part of Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee). "He's presented a plan under which the state wants to clean up Babis's plots of land beneath Istrochem. He also wants it to be paid partly from the Environmental Fund, over which he's trying to quickly gain political control. Taraba is going after a blank cheque for €2 billion so that he can pay for the interests of oligarchs with our money," said Stohlova, stating that there is a fairer solution to the Istrochem clean-up. "If he were to push through his own bill, Babis would have to return to the state the amount by which his land increases in value after the clean-up," added Stohlova. Also speaking at the press conference, PS MP Michal Sabo warned that Taraba is jeopardising Slovakia's compliance with the milestones set by the Recovery Plan. He said that the amendment to the Act on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in September was part of a milestone for the sixth payment, but the ministry's draft contains an error that, according to the European Commission, is blocking the development of wind energy. "According to our information, the amendment is insufficient, and the minister will have to fix it urgently during the House session in December, but it's not certain whether he'll manage to do it in time," said Sabo, adding that more than €450 million is at risk. This last-minute fix is proof that Taraba is "pushing through one half-finished piece of legislation after another," said Sabo. jrg/df