PS Criticises Migal for Unsigned Contracts Related to Science & Research Call

Bratislava, 4 August (TASR) - The opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party has drawn attention to the large number of unsigned subsidy agreements at the Investment, Regional Development and Informatisation Ministry relating to projects funded under the call for proposals for the Science and Research Recovery Plan, with MP Jan Hargas (PS) claiming at a press conference on Tuesday that only 46 contracts have been signed for 74 successful projects. "The order in which the contracts were signed didn't correspond at all to the number of points that each project received in the evaluation," he stated, citing as an example MSA Company, which came second in the rankings. It was due to receive a grant of €1.2 million, but to this day it has no signed contract in the central register of contracts. Conversely, a company that came last among those receiving funding does now have a contract. According to Hargas, some firms have already refused to sign contracts due to a lack of time to implement their projects. Hargas went on to say that Investment Minister Samuel Migal (Independent) is primarily signing for poorer-quality projects that received a lower average score in the evaluations. The 46 signed projects have an average evaluation score of 12.54 points, while the 19 unsigned projects have one of 12.78 points. The signed projects have also received an average grant of more than €630,000, while the unsigned ones are due an average grant of more than €500,000. "In summary, Migal is signing for more expensive and lower-quality projects," he stressed. According to Hargas, the contracts are ready on the minister's desk, and the reason why he hasn't signed them may, in the MP's view, be corruption. "We're receiving information from several sources on the market that the signing process is being influenced by whether or not the companies in question are willing - let me put it this way - to share their subsidy," said Hargas. "If there really are middlemen operating here who are suggesting to companies that they should hand over 10 percent for a contract to be signed, that's a scandal. And the way in which Migal is signing these contracts suggests that this could well be the case," he added. Hargas added that PS will therefore supplement a criminal complaint that it filed in February of this year in connection with the recovery plan. According to PS, Migal is breaching the Recovery Plan Act, under which he is required to send a draft contract to the applicants without delay if they have passed the assessment. "This hasn't happened; we have evidence of this. I also believe that, through his actions, Migal may have committed the offence of abusing the powers of a public official," added the MP. am/df