Valasek Criticises Defence Minister Over Tatra Truck Purchases

Bratislava, 6 February (TASR) – MP and vice-chair of the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party Tomas Valasek has criticised Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) over the purchase of Tatra vehicles from a Czech supplier, TASR learnt on Friday. Valasek spoke of suspicions that the ministry is buying flatbed trucks via an intermediary with a mark-up of around 8-9 percent. "Czech journalists revealed yesterday that the difference between the price at which these vehicles are sold by their manufacturer, Tatra, and the price at which we buy them from an intermediary company is at the level of 8-9 percent," he warned, adding that the unit prices in the contracts are classified. "If an 8-9-percent mark-up is also fixed in them, we're talking about roughly €150 million that we may be overpaying for the Tatras," he added. According to Valasek, the current contract contains a binding order for 250 vehicles. "At the same time, the minister signed two framework agreements for the possible purchase of additional vehicles totalling €1.7 billion," he said. In the MP's view, Slovak taxpayers may not care if Slovakia and the Czech Republic carry out a purchase under the same conditions, but that's not the issue. "What interests us here in Slovakia is whether Slovak taxpayers have got maximum value for their money. The answer is demonstrably no," he underlined. The Defence Ministry joined the purchase of Tatra trucks, which had originally been carried out independently by the Czech Republic, in December 2024. mf/df