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Madaric: Joint Complex Project for State-Owned Media Put on Hold
Friday 11 December 2009 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, December 11 (TASR) - The project to build a joint complex for Slovak Television (STV) and Slovak Radio (SRo) has come to a halt at the moment, Culture Minister Marek Madaric told TASR on Friday.
Originally, the ministry should have begun procurement processes for construction, technical equipment and running the complex by the end of 2009 . However, because a legislative amendment concerning state-owned STV and SRo wasn't passed on December 4 due to opposition from the coalition LS-HZDS party, Madaric asked Premier Robert Fico to postpone the initiative until after the parliamentary elections in 2010. "I believe that political will can be found after the elections," said Madaric, adding that the issue is quite complicated.
The minister is convinced that the problem of unsuitable premises that plagues both state-owned media can be resolved only via a new joint complex. According to him, such a solution would come at a cheaper cost than reconstructing the existing separate headquarters.
"I don't believe that a new start for STV could happen without changing the entire work environment," said Madaric, adding that STV's building in the Mlynska Dolina area of Bratislava has high operating costs. "The building was originally designed to accommodate 5,000 employees, but only 1,000 people work there at the moment. At any rate, it's an acute problem and STV today is a kind of haunted castle."
The idea of building a new complex has been opposed for a long time by HZDS, which claims that a new location wouldn't be big enough to accommodate the written, image and audio archives, transmitting equipment, costume stores, furniture and props. HZDS views reconstructing STV's existing building as a significantly cheaper alternative.
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