Sulík's statements on Russian sanctions cost him an advisor

Ivan Mikloš will no longer serve as an advisor to Economy Minister Richard Sulík (SaS). He decided to leave after the latter’s comments on Ukraine, Crimea and sanctions against Russia.

“In the end, a small comment on Sulík: I told him last Wednesday that I’m leaving my post in the crisis council of the economy minister,” Mikloš wrote in his January 24 piece for the Sme daily.

Mikloš served as the finance minister in the years 2002-06 and 2010-12. His ministry adopted several crucial reforms, including ones on taxation, and contributed to Slovakia’s accession to the OECD, NATO and the EU. He co-founded the MESA 10 think tank.

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In 2014, he became a member of the International Advisory Board of the National Reform Council of Ukraine and the platform VoxUkraine. In the years 2015-2016, he served as a chief advisor to the Ukrainian finance minister and as an advisor to the Ukrainian minister of economic development and trade.

Between 2016 and 2019, Miklos served as the chief economic advisor to the Ukrainian prime minister, and after the change of governments, he worked as an economic advisor to the new Ukrainian prime minister between 2019 and 2020.

At the same time, he chaired the Strategic Advisory Group for Support of Ukrainian Reforms (SAGSUR) in the years 2016-20 and co-founded the Ukrainian economic think tank Centre for Economic Strategy.

Mikloš became one of Sulík’s advisors after the 2020 general election in Slovakia.

Controversial statements

Sulík described the sanctions that the EU has imposed on Russia as “unfortunate.”