Daniel Duchoň, the previous government’s proxy for the preparation of an informal meeting of NATO defence ministers in Slovakia received remuneration even after the meeting in question had been held (in October last year, in Bratislava), Prime Minister Iveta Radičová said on Wednesday, July 21. Duchoň’s post was scrapped following a government decision taken the same day.
Radičová cited information from new Defence Minister Ľubomír Galko. “We’ve tasked him [Galko] with finding out whether he [Duchoň] was on the payroll this year as well,” she said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Radičová said that the former government had created proxy posts in an ad hoc manner, adding that this was costly and led to overlap and duplication of posts. By way of example, she pointed to the also-abolished post of proxy for youth and sport, noting that its agenda fell fully within the scope of the Education Ministry.
However, former defence minister Jaroslav Baška claimed Duchoň was not paid a single euro for doing his job as a proxy. “Ms. Radičová is wrong. She was given incorrectly-compiled documentation from [Defence] Minister [Ľubomír Galko],” said Baška, as quoted by TASR. “She said he was paid ... He did not get a single euro for it.”
Besides being a cabinet proxy, Duchoň was also a state secretary (i.e. deputy minister) at the Defence Ministry under Baška. The former minister emphasised that Duchoň was only paid for his job as a state secretary. “We didn’t scrap that [proxy] post, knowing he wasn’t being paid anything for it,” said Baška.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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