SaS: Malanta Guest House Should Not Have Received Farm Subsidy, Contract Not Met

Nitra/Bratislava, 2 February (TASR) – The rural Malanta guest house near Nitra shouldn't have received any subsidy from the Agricultural Payment Agency (PPA), said MP Martina Bajo Holeckova of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party at a press conference in Nitra on Monday, arguing that the basic conditions of the contract for a non-repayable financial contribution were not met. The subsidy for the construction of the Malanta Rural House, which, according to SaS, has links to Norbert Bodor, a businessman close to Smer-SD, was awarded to a company called SL-Stone. "The subsidy for building this guest house was approved a day before the 2016 elections, under the single-party government led by Robert Fico (Smer-SD), when the agriculture minister was Lubomir Jahnatek from Smer, who owns property next to Bodor in Nitrianske Hrnciarovce," Bajo Holeckova pointed out. According to her, SL-Stone received the subsidy for building the guest house on plots that were registered as arable land in 2016. "SL-Stone committed itself to submitting all the required documents, including a building permit, by 30 September 2016. However, the company couldn't have obtained a building permit by that date because the land was classified as arable land until 11 December 2016, when a new zoning plan came into force in the municipality of Nitrianske Hrnciarovce. Therefore, it was impossible for them to submit a building permit by 30 September 2016, even though it was part of the application," she stressed. As a result, SL-Stone failed to comply with the contract conditions, and the funds that it obtained shouldn't have been paid out, said the MP. SaS MP Alojz Hlina added that accommodation isn't available at the Malanta Rural House, just like at the Fafokan guest house. "We tried, but we weren't allowed to stay there. This proves that they never intended to accommodate anyone. The guest house wasn't built to host tourists, pay local taxes, pay VAT, employ cleaning staff or run a kitchen. That was never the purpose, but it was paid for by Slovak and European taxpayers," said Hlina. SaS chairman Branislav Groehling also described subsidies for guest houses spreading mafia-style practices. "We want to fight this. That's why we've come here to Nitra with our declaration and 'Slovaks against the Mafia' petition. An event to collect signatures will take place on Svatopluk Square in Nitra at 5.00 p.m. on Monday. We've submitted a package of measures to Parliament aimed at fighting injustice and helping to combat the mafia. When we've collected 100,000 signatures, we'll bring this package of measures to Parliament. This is one of the ways in which we want to fight mafia practices, which are becoming more and more visible in this country," said Groehling. mf/df