Salitros: MIRRI Developments Call Was Set in Similar Way to Other Calls

Bratislava, 13 August (TASR) - A MIRRI Developments call concerning rental housing, which the opposition has described as a 'notice-board tender', was set up in a similar way to other calls and ended with the assumption that the allocated budget would be withdrawn, said Investment, Regional Development and Informatisation Ministry (MIRRI) State Secretary Radomir Salitros via a press release on Thursday, adding that if this assumption isn't confirmed, the call may be reopened. A meeting of the parliamentary public administration and regional development committee was held on the same day, but representatives of the ministry didn't attend. "The rules clearly stated from day one, as with many other calls, that the call would be concluded when the number of bids submitted was such that the available budget could be withdrawn, even with a reserve in the submitted applications. That's exactly what happened. The call was published on 24 July and closed at 6.40 a.m. on 30 July, when the volume of applications received highly exceeded the threshold at which it was possible to assume that the available budget would be withdrawn," said Salitros. According to him, 12 bids were received, the volume of which significantly exceeded the available funding. However, MIRRI Developments hasn't selected a winner and hasn't signed any contract yet. "If some of the bids are ultimately not accepted, the call may be reopened, as stated in its terms," said ​​the state secretary. He stressed that projects won't be evaluated based on the time when they were received, but based on a previously published 100-point evaluation system, and a bid must achieve at least 75 points to succeed. The ministry also rejected the opposition's criticism that information about the call wasn't published sufficiently in advance. It pointed to paid advertising on relevant websites, a press release sent to the media, and a TV appearance by Investment Minister Samuel Migal (Independent). MP Jan Hargas (Progressive Sloakia/PS) doesn't accept this argument. "If the call had been open for longer, or if it had been properly and adequately publicised in advance, there would definitely have been more bids. If Migal and Salitros wanted to divide the €30 million among their friends, this is exactly how they would do it: in the middle of the summer, during the holidays, for just four working days, with restrictive terms," he stated following the committee meeting, which wasn't quorate as coalition MPs didn't attend it. According to him, this call cannot be compared with the alleged similar ones cited by MIRRI. Opposition MPs also view it as questionable why Migal's ministry is dealing with the issue of rental housing at all. MP Jan Ledecky (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) pointed out that the Transport Ministry has a long-running and successful project for constructing rental housing in cooperation with municipalities. Hargas also criticised how the company MIRRI Developments operates as such. "They've poured €30 million into it, hired all sorts of consultants and ordered legal services for €700,000. The company is headed by the head of Salitros's office, a man who has been associated with real-estate fraud. And then they come up with a noticeboard-style call like this," he said. ko/df