SaS Files Motion with Prosecutor-General's Office Over Errors in Energy Aid

Bratislava, 3 February (TASR) - Errors in the allocation and payment of targeted energy assistance are piling up, and in the case of unauthorised payments, households may have to return the money, the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party pointed out at a press conference on Tuesday. Up to €43 million may have been paid out incorrectly. "We're filing a complaint with the Prosecutor-General's Office. We suspect that a criminal offence has been committed in the form of a breach of obligations in the administration of someone else's property, as well as the suspicion of damage to the financial interests of the European Union, because the [economy] minister [Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD)] is herself speaking of €17 million that has allegedly been used from European sources for administration," said SaS MP Karol Galek. According to SaS, energy vouchers also have been issued, for example, to so-called dead souls, people who have died but still have property registered in their names in the land registry and are therefore the oldest person in the household. Allegedly, such an energy voucher was issued for a demolished house that hadn't been inhabited for 20 years. SaS based its conviction that funds have been incorrectly spent on information that the error rate for energy assistance is 10 percent. However, Economy Minister Sakova cited a different figure on JOJ's discussion programme 'Politika 24' (Politics 24). "Inconsistent data has affected the payment or granting of energy assistance to 1-1.5 percent of households," she claimed. At the same time, most energy assistance isn't paid via energy vouchers - which only apply to heating - but via discounts on invoices from electricity and gas suppliers. am/df