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Only Four of Eight Social Enterprises Survive
Friday 18 June 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, June 18 (TASR) - The original eight pilot social enterprises have been reduced to only four, TASR was informed by spokesman of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Michal Stuska on Friday.
This is because the Labour Ministry cancelled contracts with the one called Arvik (in Bardejov, Presov region), that established in Revuca (Banska Bystrica region), and that covering Spis and Gemer areas. The social enterprise in Krompachy (Kosice region) was stopped by the municipality itself, because recent floods virtually destroyed the facility.
The future of the remaining four social enterprises, currently being inspected by the European Commission due to allegedly having been granted unpermitted state aid flowing from the European Social Fund (ESF), is unclear.
"The ministry is seeking ways to resolve the issues regarding the ambiguous rules on social businesses set by the European Union," said Stuska. The objective is to ensure that their activities can be self-sustaining, implying that the ministry is considering cutting the social enterprises out of ESF finance schemes. Stuska noted that this shouldn't be seen as having to do with the troubled issue of state aid cited by Brussels inspectors in their preliminary report.
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