Slovak and Czech Finance Ministers Discuss Housing, Taxes and Closer Ties

Bratislava, 30 January (TASR) – Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD) held talks on Friday with Czech Finance Minister Alena Schillerova on Slovakia's experience and challenges related to state-supported rental housing, which has drawn the interest of the new Czech government led by Andrej Babis. The finance ministers also discussed cash registers, which the Czech Republic plans to reintroduce, and they exchanged views on VAT. "I want relations with the Czech Republic, which have always been above standard, to firm up completely," said Kamenicky. Both countries are interested in closer cooperation within the Visegrad Four (V4). "I'm convinced that we'll move relations between the Czech Republic and Slovakia to a completely different level," he added. The Czech side is interested in state-supported rental housing in Slovakia, which benefits from reduced VAT. "It interests us because we'd like to use this area for certain employees, such as nurses. But it could also include members of the armed services," said Schillerova. She invited Kamenicky to visit Prague, where they'll continue talks on other issues. She said that they had discussed preparations for a joint meeting of the Czech and Slovak governments on 31 March at a location in the Moravian-Silesian Region yet to be determined. "We were fine-tuning joint texts for a memorandum that will be adopted on the basis of this meeting at the level of all ministries," said the Czech finance minister. Regarding the announced boosting of relations and cooperation between the Czech Republic and Slovakia following the formation of the new government in Prague, Schillerova said that this will take place at all levels, not only ministerial. "Over the past four years it hasn't worked as was customary when I was finance minister in the previous government of Andrej Babis," she said. Schillerova also spoke in favour of cooperation at the level of the European Union; for example, aimed against the abolition of the right of veto for member states, which she said is important in tax and budgetary matters as well. The two sides also share the same view about the EU's multi-annual financial framework. The two sides exchanged experiences in combating the grey economy. The Czech Republic plans to introduce electronic sales reporting. "The government of Petr Fiala abolished it; we want to reintroduce it because it is a crucial, basic and complementary tool in combating the grey economy," said Schillerova. According to her, they also discussed the struggle against undeclared work. mf/df