Andrej Hrnčiar (source: TASR)
Martin – lying in the Žilina Region – mayor Andrej Hrnčiar said this at a news conference on July 13. He added that steps taken by PK Faktoring’s distrainment bailiff who only a few days ago delivered a distrainment order to carry out property seizures in the form of the sale of selected real estate owned by the city, contradict the law.
“We filed an objection against the distrainment proceedings at Martin District Court,” Hrnčiar sai, aas quoted by the TASR newswire. “Until the Constitutional Court issues its verdict, we propose that the entire sum of the claim should be deposited in notarial custody and that the one who wins the case should get it. If we pay out the claim at issue now and win the case, it's highly unlikely that we'll get this money back. It [PK Faktoring] is a company with limited liability, and the money would already be somewhere else at that time.” He added that the city decided not to take out a loan that has been approved for it yet.
The city of Martin still doesn't recognise the existence of the claim, which is the result of a long-term dispute involving Martinské Hole Ski Resort, according to Hrnčiar. He said that PK Faktoring’s bailiff is putting psychological pressure on the city's management and city councillors via his steps.
”He’s openly violated the law,” Martin mayor said. “We’re going to turn to the justice minister [Lucia Žitňanská] over this as well. The current law doesn’t allow the sale of land and buildings that have been included in the distrainment order, such as the Turčianska Gallery.”
The Constitutional Court has accepted Martin’s complaint in the case – which is good news according to its mayor. "The CC obviously sees reasons, showing that our constitutional rights were violated, and thus we have a chance to success in this dispute,” Hrnčiar summed up, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
The city of Martin was put under forced administration due to this claim in late March. The case concerns an alleged violation of certain legal commitments dating back to the mid-1990s, with the city supposedly failing to meet contractual obligations to register property under Martinské Hole Ski Resort on behalf of the actual property holder.
