The state secretary (deputy minister) of Slovakia’s Economy Ministry, Martin Chren from Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, will resign his post on February 17, TV news channel TA3 reported, saying that Chren would then return to parliament as a member. The TASR newswire stated his resignation is not connected to an agreement reached on February 16 between the SaS and its Ordinary People faction. Chren is expected to announce his reasons for resigning at a press conference at 16:00 on Thursday, February 17.
Last year Chren had to explain details of a deal between the state and Hayek Consulting company, which Chren was a minority owner of. Hayek Consulting allegedly benefited from a tender written by the Finance Ministry, then lead by Ján Počiatek, a Smer nominee.
The allegations were investigated by Slovakia’s Supreme Audit Office and after the results were published, Prime Minister Iveta Radičová did not ask Chren to resign. The other government official involved, Ivan Švejna (Most-Híd) resigned from his post as state secretary at the Transport Ministry.
Source: TA3, TASR
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Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
