Sasko: Government to Use State Budget Funds for Completion of Hospitals

Bratislava, 15 April (TASR) - The current government will seek funds from the state budget or use a combination of resources to finance the completion of new hospitals, Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) told journalists on Wednesday following an inquorate session of the House health committee convened by the opposition Christian Democrats (KDH). "I am saying that a relatively significant package, somewhere between tens to hundreds of millions of euros as early as next year, will be covered by the next year's budget. For the remainder, we'll need to find additional sources of funding," stated Sasko. "It will likely be a combination of resources, as we have the 'Slovakia Programme' and other financial instruments. I don't expect any issues here. As long as Voice-SD and the current government stay in power, we'll complete the funding in 2028 and 2029; it's simple as that," he added. Sasko described the political commitment to continue the construction of hospitals as vital, adding that the absence of coalition MPs from the committee session was their own decision. Committee chair Vladimir Balaz (Smer-SD) said he had consulted the ministers of health, defence and finance on the issue of funding. "They want to communicate these matters themselves so that the figures they present are realistic and prepared in a way that anyone who wants to audit them in the future can do so," said Balaz. He added that the absence of coalition MPs should be viewed as some kind of political obstruction, but the question of how these hospitals will be financed cannot be avoided. In his opinion, the completion of hospitals will be funded by the state budget and European funds. The extraordinary committee session was requested by the opposition KDH due to uncertainty over hospital financing. KDH MPs intended to ask Sasko whether funds have been secured to complete building work on the hospitals and get them up and running. However, the session was inquorate, prompting the opposition members of the committee to criticise coalition MPs for their absence. According to the opposition, this has confirmed suspicions that the government has no idea how completing work on the hospitals is to be funded. jrg