Prosecutor's Office Files Three Protests against Rulings on Istrochem Clean-up

Bratislava, 2 April (TASR) - The Regional Prosecutor's Office in Bratislava has filed three protests against district office decisions halting proceedings aimed at identifying the entity responsible for the environmental damage at the former Istrochem chemicals plant in Bratislava, TASR has learnt from Gabriela Kovacova, a spokesperson for the Regional Prosecutor's Office. According to the prosecutor's office, the decisions are premature, as it hasn't yet been proven that the legal conditions have been met for the state - or a ministry designated by the government - to take responsibility for the clean-up. Kovacova added that the prosecutor's protests have also been submitted to Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee). The district office's decisions regarding the state's liability for the clean-up at Istrochem have also been challenged by the extra-parliamentary Democrats and the opposition Progressive Slovakia party. Democrats are demanding that Taraba should refrain from submitting a proposal for the government's final decision to designate a ministry liable for the clean-up until the prosecutor's protest is resolved. They maintain that the work should be paid for by the owner and not the state, thereby leaving more public funds available for removing other environmental damage across Slovakia. The former chemicals plant now known as Istrochem was purchased in 2022 by a holding which, at that time, belonged to incumbent Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis. Its current owner is a company known as Istrochem Reality. The cost of clearing up the environmental damage at Istrochem is estimated at €350-500 million. jrg/df