Martin Filko (source: TASR)
New teams of analysts at the ministries, the Government Office and the Supreme Audit Office will work towards preventing overpriced purchases and the extension of senseless regulations, the Sme daily reported on April 14.
The analysts will start by analysing the existing relations in the health-care and education sectors, along with information technologies that the state has already procured. This stems from the government Manifesto, which was approved by the cabinet a day earlier.
The idea comes from an initiative called 'The Best of All Possible Worlds - Value for Money in Slovak Public Policies', which was drawn up by economists Martin Filko, Štefan Kiss and Ľudovít Odor. The document involves restricting purely subjective decision-making by politicians and influential civil servants, who will have to explain their decisions vis-a-vis analyses and facts.
One of the initiative’s authors, Financial Policy Institute (IFP) director Martin Filko, disappeared on March 28 when his kayak capsized on the Danube River in Bratislava. Rescuers found his dead body in the river on April 13.
Filko served as an advisor to former finance minister Ján Počiatek between the years 2008-2010. At the time, he prepared a reform of calculating the prices of medications, based on which the prices began to be compared with those in other countries. He also became healthcare advisor to ex-prime minister Iveta Radičová (2010-2012). Following Robert Fico's return to power in 2012, Filko returned to the Finance Ministry and became director of the Institute for Financial Policy.
