'Let's Stop Corruption' Flags Possible Irregularities in EU Funds Call (2)

Bratislava, 16 March (TASR) - The Let's Stop Corruption Foundation on Monday warned of possible irregularities in the allocation of EU funds from the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Ministry's SocInoLab call, pointing out that several non-governmental organisations with personnel links to the governing Voice-SD party — of which Labour Minister Erik Tomas is also a member — succeeded in the call. Meanwhile, the ministry has rejected any conflict of interest and underlined that projects are assessed by external independent evaluators selected randomly from a database. According to the foundation, hundreds of thousands of euros were awarded to civil association Institute for Regional Development, founded by the district chair of the Voice-SD party in Turcianske Teplice. The ministry stressed that the institute was part of a three-member consortium whose project received the required number of points from external independent evaluators. For the organisation, this was to amount to about one third of the total sum of €900,000. However, the foundation noted that one of the project's evaluators stated that the applicant hadn't demonstrated experience in implementing the planned activities. Viliam Michalovic, director of the EU programmes management section at the ministry, later said at a press conference that the evaluator had therefore awarded fewer points for that criterion. In other criteria, however, the project was of sufficient quality, which was enough for it to receive support. Following questions from the Let's Stop Corruption foundation, the institute announced it would give up the subsidy. The ministry said that the consortium had withdrawn from the contract, arguing that it didn't want the issue to be politically misused. "The problem isn't only the political affiliation of the organisation's statutory representatives. Serious doubts were raised mainly by the fact that these are organisations without demonstrable experience in the field of social innovation, yet they succeeded in a million-euro EU funding call," said Eva Mihockova of the Let's Stop Corruption Foundation. The foundation also pointed to support for civil association Women for Slovakia, led by a former member of the Voice-SD party. According to the ministry, the association is only one of seven members of the consortium and is expected to receive around €284,000 from the €2-million grant. The consortium also includes other organisations, including the Slovak Medical University and the Chamber of Caregivers of Slovakia, said the ministry. The Let's Stop Corruption Foundation plans to file a complaint with the Supreme Audit Authority (NKU) and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) to examine the evaluation process for the projects and whether the conditions of the call were met. In response, 'Women for Slovakia' chair Ivana Antosova stated that the consortium of organisations involved in the project 'Innovate Femina — on the Path to Equality' strongly rejects claims suggesting political links between the project or its implementers and the political party Voice-SD. Antosova pointed out that the project is being implemented by seven organisations, including the Slovak Medical University in Bratislava and the Chamber of Caregivers of Slovakia. "Each partner brings specific professional capacities and many years of experience working with target groups such as women, seniors, communities and professional staff in social services," Antosova said. The consortium emphasised that the initiative is a professionally prepared social innovation project created through cooperation among expert organisations and has no political connections or political objectives. "Any attempts to interpret this project as a political initiative are unfounded and damage the reputation of people and organisations that have long been engaged in work for the public good," the consortium added. NOTE: This story has been extended to include the final four paragraphs mf