PS: More Suspicions of Overpriced Kukurica Reconstruction Have Come to Light

Bratislava, 20 February (TASR) - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party claims that a deeper analysis of contracts has revealed additional serious suspicions of overpricing in the reconstruction of the future Defence Ministry's headquarters in the building of a former student dormitory in Bratislava known as Kukurica [The Corn on the Cob — due to the building's shape], TASR reported on Friday. PS MP Tomas Valasek called on Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) "to immediately make available the complete project documentation and contracts in electronic form". According to him, the contracts include items such as single internal doors costing nearly €3,300 each, interior metal wall panels at over €500 per square metre, windows priced at €60,000 per unit, urinals for €600, and six-metre LED strips costing more than €700 each. There's also a section of the facade which deserves a special mention for being significantly overpriced, said Valasek. "According to our calculations, triple-glazed windows are billed at over €3,000 per square metre, while the prices for this type of building are typically in the hundreds of euros," added Valasek. Another PS MP, Dana Kleinert, said that 44 windows in a specific section of the facade are worth more than €2 million in total. "If one window is overpriced three to four times, we're talking about hundreds of thousands to millions of euros going down the drain," she remarked. PS further claimed that the ministry is purchasing over 200 doors for nearly €800,000. Furthermore, 178 square metres of unspecified metal wall panels will cost €100,000, while LED strips are priced at more than €110 per metre for a total of half a million euros. "Currently, only scans are available in the Central Register of Contracts. If everything's in order, let the minister transparently explain these inexplicably expensive prices and say whether or not the reconstruction of Kukurica has been significantly overpriced," added Kleinert. jrg/df