MP Krupa Plans to Forward Findings on Vehicle Purchases to Law Enforcement

Bratislava, 11 March (TASR) - Opposition MP Juraj Krupa (SaS) wants to forward findings on the supply of controversial fire engines to the law-enforcement authorities, as he believes that LRK Trading, the supplier of 80 fire engines — 71 of which will be reimbursed by the European Union — is behaving suspiciously, TASR learnt on Wednesday. Krupa has repeatedly pointed to the price, which he says is higher than for the purchase of the same vehicles in the Czech Republic. He made the statement on Wednesday after a parliamentary probe at the Firefighter and Emergency Service. "The question is why one unit costs €400,000 in the Czech Republic, while in Slovakia, with a framework contract for 80 vehicles, each one costs €588,000. These are things I consider to be suspicious. I certainly won't accuse firefighters of this. Firefighters are the recipients of the vehicles; they are interested in the specifications. The body overseeing and paying for this is the Interior Ministry," said Krupa. According to Krupa, LRK Trading hasn't manufactured any vehicles in the past and is only mediating the purchase. He also views the money flows for the ordered vehicles as suspect. "LRK Trading is asking the Interior Ministry for the payments to be reimbursed to a factoring company. At best, this means LRK Trading had to borrow money for this business deal with the Interior Ministry and the firefighters, as it probably didn't have sufficient funds of its own. That is the better scenario. The worse scenario could be that when some irregularities are uncovered, the money will already be gone," said Krupa. The opposition has been pointing to problems with the purchase of the fire engines since September 2024. In addition to suspicions about financing, it's also criticised the allegedly low quality of the vehicles. The Interior Ministry rejects the criticism, stating that the winning company met all requirements. In April 2025, the ministry also said that the Public Procurement Office had confirmed that the of fire engine purchase complied with the law. mf/df