President Will Donate Any Rise in His Current Salary to League against Cancer

Bratislava, 17 March (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini will donate any increase in his current salary to the League against Cancer, TASR was told by the President's Office's communications department on Tuesday. "I appreciated the fact that, at a time of public finance consolidation, MPs agreed last year to freeze their salaries for the next two years. However, in the final version of the law, they exempted the president, members of the government, the prosecutor-general, judges and other state officials from the salary freeze. Therefore, I'll donate any increased amount directly to the League against Cancer," stated Pellegrini. In this context, the President's Office also noted that, as a result of consolidation measures, the head of state's net salary has decreased by more than €2,000 per month this year. It pointed out that the president isn't currently the highest-earning Slovak politician in terms of net salary as a result. By law, the president's salary is four times the basic salary of an MP, on top of which he receives a fixed allowance of €1,327 as specified by law. This entire amount is subject to levies and taxes, which have been increased for constitutional officials under the latest austerity package. am/df