Scania Rejects Claims Regarding Chassis for Fire Engines

Bratislava, 16 January (TASR) - Commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania has rejected claims by several politicians regarding supplied chassis for fire engines and their technical specifications, calling them untrue and misleading, TASR was told by the company's public relations manager Jan Kuhn on Friday. "We strongly disagree with and are dismayed by statements that damage the reputation of our company and indirectly suggest unethical or even illegal conduct, which we absolutely reject," stated Kuhn. The company insists that it's delivered new and unused chassis to the Interior Ministry in accordance with the contract. Kuhn added that the numerical value in the designations P460 and P500 mentioned by politicians refers to engine power, while 'P' denotes the type of cabin. "Chassis labelled P500 are still part of Scania's current product portfolio. Claims that these are vehicles that are no longer manufactured or are obsolete are not true," stated Kuhn, adding that the delivery of new and unused chassis can be demonstrated by complete and standard documentation. Scania also objected to claims regarding vehicle identification numbers (VIN), as some politicians have claimed that the tenth digit in the VIN number represents the year of manufacture. According to Kuhn, the '0' in tenth position means that the model year is not specified in the VIN number, which legislation allows. Kuhn added that Scania Slovakia will only respond to technical and factual questions regarding the delivered chassis. Deliveries are proceeding in accordance with contractual terms and applicable legislation, and the company provides full professional assistance to all relevant institutions. On Thursday (15 January), representatives of the opposition 'Slovakia' and Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) parties criticised B.1 category fire engines, in particular as regards their origin and technical parameters. They stated that, after verifying the VIN, they found out that the vehicles could be older than advertised. 'Slovakia' also asked why not all of the vehicles have been delivered as expected. SaS announced that a parliamentary inquiry at the Interior Ministry will be initiated. After the press conference of the 'Slovakia' party, president of the Fire and Rescue Corps (HaZZ) Adrian Mifkovic explained the circumstances of the purchase to journalists, stating that the vehicles meet the specifications as stated in the order. According to him, the vehicles are being delivered gradually, and training is already underway. Mifkovic gave assurances that all 80 vehicles will be delivered and said that the contract is valid until the end of June. The opposition has been pointing to problems with the purchase of fire engines since September 2024, but the Interior Ministry has rejected the criticism, stressing that the winner of the tender met all requirements and that the Public Procurement Office confirmed compliance with the law. jrg/df