Mikulec: Aircraft Acquired in Dubious €13.5-million Purchase Still Grounded (2)

Bratislava, 26 February (TASR) - An aircraft acquired via a luxury-aircraft purchase to calibrate airport systems worth €13.5 million for the state-owned Air Traffic Services (LPS) enterprise still hasn't flown a single hour to this day, stated MP Roman Mikulec ('Slovakia') on Thursday, adding that LPS falls under the Transport Ministry. "And now we learn that LPS is to borrow an engine worth €215,000 for their old 40-year-old L-410 Turbolet aircraft. This is the very aircraft that allegedly needed to be so urgently replaced," said Mikulec. In the former interior minister's (2020-23) view, the question arises as to why the state bought a new aircraft when the old one can still be made operational at a fraction of the cost. He noted that if the state needed to acquire calibration, it could have leased an aircraft. "They could have leased several such aircraft for the 13 million that they threw out of the window," he said. The Transport Ministry has responded to the claim about borrowing the engine. "The statements made at the press conference are misleading. LPS borrowed the engine from the Defence Ministry free of charge, and it's been installed in the old, 40-year-old calibration aircraft. The mentioned sum is the value of the engine, not the rental price. The rental price is zero, which is clearly stated in the contract," Transport Ministry spokesperson Petra Polacikova told TASR. Under the contract between LPS and the Defence Ministry, the engine has been loaned free of charge until 31 December 2026 for the purpose of ensuring that the L-410 UVP-E-LW calibration aircraft is operable. Mikulec also described other LPS contracts as problematic, including the reconstruction of the control tower at M.R. Stefanik Airport in Bratislava, for which, according to him, a company engaged in selling scooters won the contract for engineering and construction oversight. "A company that sells scooters is to provide construction supervision? Are they kidding?" the MP asked. Mikulec underlined that the government is asking the public to save money while it's wasting public funds itself. "You're supposed to save, consolidate, keep quiet - and they are flushing hundreds of thousands of euros of taxpayers' money down the drain," he added. NOTE: This story has been extended to include paragraphs 4-5 mf/df