Prime Minister Iveta Radičová, who is also acting defence minister, has decided that Ľubomír Repčík, the chair of the board of directors of the VOP Nováky military maintenance company, and the members of the state-run firm's supervisory board will be dismissed, the Sme daily reported.
The decision came after controversial loans and mortgages by VOP came to light based on reports published in the Sme daily on January 4. The state-run joint stock company reportedly borrowed €70,000 from the Sitno Holding company, owned by former economy minister Ľudovít Černák from the first government of Mikuláš Dzurinda's (SDKÚ), so that the firm could pay employees’ wages, the daily reported. VOP Nováky also mortgaged a portion of its assets to Černák's firm, Sme wrote. According to the mortgage contract, Sitno Holding is now capable of selling one of the company's four production halls and ammunition warehouses if it does not receive the loan instalments.
"VOP failed to secure the validity of loan contracts and concluded an invalid mortgage contract," the prime minister stated, as quoted by the SITA newswire on January 10.
According to a statement released by the Government Office's press department "the procedure of the management of VOP Nováky has been at odds with laws and statutes of the military company."
The documents submitted by Repčík at the Government Office's request as well as the Central Register of Contracts show that loan contracts concluded by VOP were not published in the central register as required by the law, according to the Government Office’s statement.
"This means that the duty to publish contracts has been violated and that the loan contracts have never come into effect... The mortgage contract was signed without the previous consent of the supervisory board, which contravenes the company' statutes," reads the statement.
Source: Sme, SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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