PS: Agricultural Payment Agency at Risk of Losing Its Accreditation

Bratislava, 21 April (TASR) - The Agricultural Payment Agency (PPA) is at risk of losing its accreditation, opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) vice-chair Ivan Stefunko and party's agriculture expert Peter Horny told a briefing on Tuesday, referring to the year-end audit at PPA. According to Stefunko, PS will initiate a special meeting of the parliamentary agriculture and environment committee, while also urging Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) to attend it. "An audit took place at the Agricultural Payment Agency at the end of last year, with the results being very poor. I received some information while the audit was still being carried out. And even though the agency tried to adopt corrective measures, with some managers leaving, it was clearly not enough for the auditors. So, in their report, they are proposing a temporary suspension of the Agricultural Payment Agency's accreditation," explained PS's agriculture expert. According to him, there are several reasons why PPA is at risk of losing its accreditation, such as "human resources standards or debt management, meaning effective and proper recovery of wrongly paid subsidies". "This outcome was also due to a legislative amendment adopted in October last year, allowing subsidies to be paid to accused or even convicted individuals," he added. A potential loss of accreditation would translate into suspended subsidies for farmers, thereby impairing their cash flow, he said. "In the current difficult economic situation, this could be fatal for many. People would feel the consequences through reduced availability of Slovak food and higher prices. Of course, the government may decide to continue paying subsidies, but that would mean 100-percent coverage from the state budget, which is already under significant strain," stated Horny, adding that Agriculture Minister Takac should publish the information from the audit and present measures to be adopted in order to prevent the loss of accreditation. "In light of this information, Progressive Slovakia has decided to initiate a special session of the agriculture and environment committee, for which we'll request Minister Takac's presence. We'll want to know whether he can confirm the reported information about payments being blocked. And we will also want to know what alternative plan he has for Slovak farmers," concluded Stefunko. jrg