Non-governmental, non-profit, and similar organisations will get a new register. It will replace existing smaller and scattered registers and function similarly to the Business Register, providing information about the statutory bodies, members, seats and scope of activities of organisations.
“The public, as well as representatives of individual non-governmental organisations, will have much more information about the who, what and where of the public sector at their disposal,” Marcel Zajac, chairperson of the Chamber of Non-profit Organisations, told The Slovak Spectator. “The state needs this information, in particular, for supervision, but I expect that the collected information would lead to various organisations carrying out their activities in better synergy.”
For the Interior Ministry, an added benefit of the new register is that NGOs will not have to submit documents and data to third parties in any legal situation.
“Data they submit during the registration of the organisation will be further used as a credible source,” the Interior Ministry wrote to The Slovak Spectator. “Thus, non-profit organisations will get rid of this bureaucratic burden.”
The Pontis Foundation, one of the biggest foundations in Slovakia, considers the creation of the register, which involved the input of non-profit and non-governmental organisations, a good step.
“It is also our goal that the data of various organisations is up-to-date and searchable,” said Michal Kišša, programme director of the Pontis Foundation. “We provide more than 1,000 grants annually, so it is a positive feature to have a reliable source of information.”
The Interior Ministry will make the register, which will be divided into public and non-public parts, accessible on January 1, 2021. Its preparation and creation will cost €4.56 million and will be covered by the state budget and EU funds.
