SNS Urges Kuffa to Take Immediate Action over Environment Ministry Bonuses

Bratislava, 10 October (TASR) - The junior coalition Slovak National Party (SNS) has called on Environment Ministry State Secretary Filip Kuffa to take immediate action regarding what it claims to be unduly paid bonuses at the ministry, TASR has learnt from SNS spokesperson Zuzana Skopcova. SNS rejects claims that the bonuses were paid from EU funds and wants the money returned so it can be "fairly" distributed among ministry employees rather than selected individuals. The coalition party also criticised former environment minister and now Independent MP Tomas Taraba for handing out almost all funds earmarked for employee bonuses before leaving office. "He spent the entire budget chapter. It's unthinkable that salary costs for three chosen associates of the environment minister would be €450,000 over nine months," stressed Skopcova. SNS is convinced that these funds should also be reviewed in terms of the economical use of state assets. If the funds are not returned, all legal steps must be taken to ensure that the ministry recovers them, stated SNS, which also demands their fair redistribution. SNS also denies that Filip Kuffa ever received such bonuses. Taraba defended the payment of the bonuses in his most recent video on social media, claiming that they were paid to those in charge of ensuring the drawdown of EU funds. He also recalled a staff reduction at the ministry, as well as the completion of several challenging projects which "some people go around boasting about". He argued that people who had spent years in key positions on these and other projects deserved a bonus for their results, as they "hadn't taken a single cent in bonuses or salary". On Thursday (8 October), the Environment Ministry announced that an ongoing audit had uncovered its first serious findings, according to which two employees who worked in close proximity to Taraba received individual bonuses totalling more than €100,000 each during 2026. The audit also revealed that more than €2 million in employee bonuses had been paid across the ministry during the first nine months of 2026. Taraba said Kuffa had also received bonuses in the past. Kuffa will seek the recovery of bonuses while also ordering a review of whether the money was spent economically. He also rejected claims that he had ever received such bonuses. According to him, the ministry will try to recover the funds and hold the former environment minister accountable. SNS leader Andrej Danko also criticised the bonuses paid at the Environment Ministry, while the opposition 'Slovakia' party announced that it would file a criminal complaint in this regard. jrg