DEPUTY Agriculture Minister Marián Radošovský from the ruling Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) announced that he is resigning from his post. He will leave the ministry after it turned out that his company Farm received agricultural subsidies worth Sk7.5 million (€1.9 million) from the ministry between 2002 and 2004.
The ruling KDH also voted to stop the membership of Rača mayor Pavol Bielik, who is charged with accepting a Sk5 million (€128,000) bribe and has also asked the KDH Bratislava branch to withdraw him from the list of candidates in the upcoming regional elections to the higher territorial units VÚCs, the SME daily reported.
However, Agriculture Minister Zsolt Simon, a member of the ruling Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK), whose company Agrotrade Padarovce also received agricultural subsidies in 2002, remains in his post. Simon sold his company in 2004. Radošovský did not want to let go of Farm.
"The society must create rules so that people as me can enter politics … and not face condemnation for behaving normally, correctly, and openly," said Radošovský. He will remain KDH’s specialist in the agriculture.
KDH chairman Pavol Hrušovský would not say whether he thought Simon should follow Radošovský’s example. Simon’s spokeswoman Katarína Czajliková said that the minister considered the agricultural subsidies case to be closed and would not comment on Radošovský’s resignation.
Compiled by Martina Jurinová from press reports
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