The opposition SDKÚ party expressed appreciation for the top-level management reshuffle recently introduced in the state-run forestry company Lesy SR but its deputy chairman and former Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš is concerned that this may have been simply a gesture, which would not necessarily change the negative situation in the company, the SITA newswire wrote.
“The management reshuffle was a necessary step, but it may not be enough,” Mikloš told a press conference on July 29. He announced that his party has prepared draft measures to improve the situation in the company such as establishing a permanent commission to oversee the company's activities and examine its economic performance. The former finance minister calculated the sum the state lost [in this company] during the three-year rule of the current government to be €132.8 million, according to SITA.
Another MP for SDKÚ, Ján Golian, added that the loss generated in the sale of some real estate owned by Lesy SR and unfavourable purchases of goods and services amounted to roughly €5 million annually.
Agriculture Minister Stanislav Becík recalled Jozef Minďáš from the post of the company's general director on July 10. This followed a massive protest of the company's employees who complained of top-level mismanagement. For a temporary period of time, the state-run company will be led by Ján Beňa, the director of the company's Odštepný Závod Lesov unit based in Trenčín. The minister announced that a competition for this post will be announced within ninety days. SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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