Kalinak: Construction Costs for Presov Hospital below Market Rates

Bratislava/Presov, 1 June (TASR) - The costs associated with the construction of the hospital in Presov remain below market prices, Vice-premier and Defence Minister Robert Kalinak (Smer-SD) told a press conference on Monday, declaring his readiness to hold regular meetings with journalists and MPs focused on the progress of the work. "We maintain that the tenders that we've announced to date can yield an even better price, but we're now focusing primarily on quality, so that quality is delivered for that price, because the hospital should stand for many years," he stressed. According to him, the opposition wants to halt the construction of the hospital, as evidenced by the announced complaint filed with the Prosecutor-General's Office. Kalinak also rejected allegations made by the extra-parliamentary Democrats party regarding the sale of some of the operational KUB anti-aircraft systems. The defence minister pointed out that the equipment had already been decommissioned from the Slovak Armed Forces. According to him, the transfer into private hands took place based on the terms of a contract concluded by a former minister. According to Kalinak, the air force currently has the same number of operational KUB system batteries as it did when he took up office as defence minister. Democrats pointed to a purchase contract between a Slovak company and a Romanian entity worth approximately €10 million, ex-VAT, the subject of which is reportedly the 2K12 KUB air-defence system. am/df