Minister of Transport, Construction and Regional Development Roman Brecely. (source: TASR)
Minister of Transport, Construction and Regional Development Roman Brecely of Sieť dismissed Technical Restoration and Protection of Railways (TOOZ) general director and board of directors chair Peter Kunkela from all his posts, the TASR newswire learnt on April 21.
Based on a number of reported suspicions of misgovernance and potential violations of the law, minister Brecely instructed the TOOZ Supervisory Board to carry out an audit of the company. The supervisory group discovered that TOOZ violated the Public Procurement Act in more than one case, despite being legally obliged to make purchases via public tender, the TASR wrote.
“Furthermore, TOOZ paid bonuses in January and February to the general director for the 2015 economic results based on nothing but his own order,” said the ministry press department, as quoted by TASR.
The minister stated that it is unacceptable to have a company under the remit of the Transport Ministry repeatedly violate the Public Procurement Act.
“Similarly, it’s unacceptable to me as a manager to have the decision on granting high financial bonuses for the company director made by the director himself,” said Brecely, as quoted by TASR.
A public selection procedure will be launched to find replacements for the vacated top TOOZ managerial posts. TOOZ represents a joint stock company, 100 percent of which is owned by the state. It specialises in the construction and reconstruction of railway lines and the maintenance of railway and road bridges, according to the ministry.
