SaS: URSO Chairman in Serious Conflict of Interests, Gov't Should Dismiss Him-2

Bratislava, 27 April (TASR) - Office for the Regulation of Network Industries (URSO) chairman Jozef Holjencik is in a multiple conflict of interests situation, which threatens the authority's independent decision-making in energy price regulation, representatives of the opposition Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party told a news conference on Monday, calling on the government to approve a proposal to dismiss him as soon as possible. "We're also calling on the president, once he receives this call, to act in the interest of all consumers, not only households but also companies, due to a reasonable suspicion that there's a breach in the independence of the URSO chairman, as well as the fact that he himself is engaged in business and provides services to regulated entities, while people close to him were previously employed by these companies. This is a clear violation of the law on the regulation of network industries, and, unfortunately, we're all paying the price for such dealings," stated MP Karol Galek (SaS), a member of the parliamentary economy affairs committee. He pointed out that Holjencik has already had to leave this post once before, but was reappointed to the post by the current government. According to Galek, his activities and various suspicions are also being examined by the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER). "This is because this is a truly significant and evident conflict of interest," underlined Galek. Galek mentioned three main suspicions. The first one is that Holjencik regulates close to home. Although he had previously declared that he had ceased working as a court expert in the field of energy, his property declaration for 2024 showed that he also had income from this activity. Such expert opinions are used as supporting documents in energy price regulation. The second suspicion, according to Galek, is a "demonstrable family business" involving regulated entities. "Specifically, his wife and son founded an NGO called 'Terezia', which — somewhat remarkably — receives really non-negligible, very generous donations from companies regulated by the authority," explained the MP. He identified the third suspicious circumstance as a link between Holjencik's daughter and gas transmission operator Eustream, for which she previously worked and which is also a regulated entity. "And so I'm asking, how can the chairman of the regulatory authority be objective towards entities he regulates?" asked Galek. NOTE: This story has been extended to include the final three paragraphs. ko/df