Former J&T man leads Interior Ministry’s economic department

INTERIOR Minister Robert Kaliňák has chosen Róbert Hančák as head of the ministry’s economic directorate. Hančák previously worked for J&T, one of the biggest financial groups in Slovakia. For 10 years he worked as J&T Global’s administration and trade director and was also engaged in real estate trading, SME wrote. Kaliňák selected Hančák despite the fact that PM Robert Fico, who is also the head of Smer party, frequently makes negative comments about financial groups. Most recently, Fico was speaking about the alleged pressure executed by financial groups in the nomination for the head of the State Material Reserves Authority. “All the financial groups wanted to see their man there,” said Fico. Shortly after the elections, Fico also said, for instance, that “financial groups and international corporations literally ran the Mikuláš Dzurinda government”. Hančák passed a proper job tender at the ministry, yet according to Sme, he applied to the tender only after a recommendation from minister Kaliňák himself. According to ministry spokesman Erik Tomáš, however, Hančák is an “expert in the economic area” and the economy section will thus “finally be run by an expert with years of experience”.