Transport Minister Ján Figeľ on February 16 reduced the ceiling for severance payments provided to managers of state-owned companies that come under the remit of his ministry while also introducing more stringent eligibility conditions, Ľubomír Tuchscher, the director of the ministry's PR department told the TASR newswire on February 21.
Only managers who have served for at least six months in their posts in state-owned companies will be entitled to severance payments according to the new rules. These managers will be given a severance payment equal to three times the monthly remuneration for serving as a member of the board of directors.
"Severance payments at many state-owned companies have been excessively high and unjustified. The changes unify the rules and significantly reduce the level [of severance payments]. I view it as a display of responsible policy ... The recent negative cases mustn't be repeated," said Figeľ.
He also decided to reduce the number of members of the boards of directors of state-owned passenger rail operator ZSSK Slovensko and rail-freight company Cargo from six to three. This step is viewed as part of the recovery process for these indebted companies. Due to the changes in the rules for severance payments, board members of these companies will not be entitled to any extra money when their term of office expires.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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