President Ivan Gašparovič on August 18 accepted the resignation of Environment Minister Jaroslav Izák (a Slovak National Party nominee) and dismissed Agriculture Minister Zdenka Kramplova (HZDS) at the request of Prime Minister Robert Fico. At the same time, he appointed Ján Chrbet (SNS) as the new head of the Environment Ministry and Stanislav Becík (HZDS) to the post of Agriculture Minister.
Izák's removal was requested by Fico after it was revealed that the head of Slovakia's State Forests Jozef Mindáš (a HZDS nominee) and SNS MP Jozef Ďuračka were allocated subsidies from the Environmental Fund for installing ecological equipment in their own houses. Kramplová's dismissal was requested last week by her party boss Vladimír Mečiar following alleged shady public procurements at the ministry and controversial donations to HZDS. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
