Acting Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlčan resigned on Thursday after his company received an EU funds grant worth €1.4 million – money he insists on keeping.
While Vlčan refused to step down on Wednesday as he saw no problem with it, he quickly backpedalled and announced his resignation Thursday after criticism from several opposition parties and two junior coalition parties – Za ľudí (For the People) and Sme Rodina (We are the Family).
The EU funds granted to Vlčan’s company Reko Recycling for the revitalisation of a landfill came from the Environment Ministry, which claims it did not know who the company belonged to.
Vlčan claims he only found out about receiving the subsidy after it became public, claiming he was not interested in the firm and its operations.
Exactly when Vlčan will leave the ministerial chair depends on President Zuzana Čaputová.
Čaputová wants to meet with Prime Minister Eduard Heger and Parliament Chief Boris Kollar and announce the next steps at the start of next week.
Vlčan’s successor can only be chosen from among government members, as Heger’s government did not survive parliament’s no-confidence vote in December. After the vote, Čaputová said she was ready to appoint a caretaker government in the case of “serious failure” of Heger’s provisional government.
Prime Minister Heger said that he respects Vlčanov’s decision to leave.
“In the next few days I will negotiate with the president, and together we will look for a solution to save Slovakia from chaos and bring the country to early elections in a stable way,” the prime minister said.
(Michal Hudec | EURACTIV.sk)
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