After speaking with Finance Minister Peter Kažimír, the CEO and board of directors chairman of the state-owned Tipos lottery company Ladislav Kriška has offered his resignation, which was accepted November 12.
“Mr. Kriška assumed personal responsibility for the situation,” Kažimír said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Kriška stepped down in the wake of a story broke by the Sme daily, indicating that during his private shopping at a luxury store in Prague, Kriška paid with a Tipos credit card. Sme wrote that it has a document which proofs that on October 4, 2014, this Smer nominee paid €4,847.70 with a golden Tipos credit card at luxury goods outlet “Baldinini-Široká' in downtown Prague. Kriška also used the company credit card to pay €85.87 at the Prague hotel InterContinental, located a street away from Baldinini.
In his response, Kriška maintained that he did not violate any rules. “It’s important to say that I haven’t violated any regulations by using the credit card,” he claimed. “Of course, I returned the sum that I paid via this card to the Tipos company treasury – in line with the rules.” Sme wrote that he did so more than a month after having used the card, while the internal Tipos rules enable managers to use the company credit cards for private purpose, but with the obligation to return the money within 15 days.
Nonetheless, Kriska added that he was ready to bear full responsibility for the situation. “If the stakeholder decides to take action against me, I’m ready to respect and understand this,” he said.
Kriška quits only three days before municipal elections, Sme wrote, reminding of several serious cases in recent weeks – which also cost the Health Minister her post – that have tainted the image of the ruling Smer party before the November 15 vote.
(Source: TASR, Sme)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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