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Angyal: If There's Any Possibility to Head Up UVO Office, I Will
Thursday 18 February 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, February 18 (TASR) - The incumbent Public Procurement Office (UVO) Chairman Bela Angyal said at a press conference on Thursday that if he receives an offer to take up his post in the next term, he will accept. "I haven't received any official offer yet, only held consultations with experts on what is allowed by law and what not," said Angyal.
The UVO Chairman emphasised that it's neither the Opposition nor Coalition politics but abidance with the law that matters in managing UVO. "My results are good," claimed Angyal, who the Opposition claims has changed his stripes while in office.
His five-year term expires on March 10, with UVO Vice-chair Rudolf Kulman staying in office until March 16. If the Government won't appoint a new UVO Chairman by that time, "there's a risk of utter anarchy", Angyal suggests.
According to the Act on Public Procurement, no person can be deputised to temporarily head up UVO, as decisions made by such a stand-in could be challenged in court. Angyal has no information that the Government would intent to submit an amendment on the Act in fast-tracked procedure to allow temporary deputising.
Angyal refuted the statements made by SDKU-DS Chairman Mikulas Dzurinda indicating that the UVO Chairman "collaborates" with the Government and helps to cover up the shady tenders. Angyal pointed out that he was appointed to his post by former premier Mikulas Dzurinda. "I was a nominee of (ethnic-Hungarian) SMK party, but I've never regarded my post as a political one," said Angyal.
In response to Dzurinda's objections regarding his stance on the electronic toll tender, Angyal pointed out that the case is still before the court and could be the subject of a European Commission inquiry. "Why Mr. Dzurinda thinks I've failed remains a mystery to me. Two days ago, we've ruled out that the Interior Ministry's tender needs to be cancelled. Back then, we were pro-Opposition and now we're all of sudden pro-Coalition?" asked Angyal.
As far as the tender on ambulances goes, Angyal said that a protocol covering the issue hasn't been drawn up yet. "In the protocol, we will observe a violation of the law on part of the provider. However, the firm based in Tvrdosin, the one that Mr. Dzurinda supports so much, was excluded from the tender rightfully, as it failed to produce any bank guarantee," said Angyal. On Thursday, Dzurinda took potshots at UVO for not intervening in the tender, won by a Czech company with a lower bid than one offered by a Slovak bidder. Angyal said in response that situations like these are rarely "black-and-white", and UVO is permanently critised by unsuccessful bidders.
"My post has become subject to political games. But UVO stands as an independent office, with its chairman appointed for a five-year term, and being apolitical," said Angyal. He also added that Dzurinda's criticism damages the reputation of Slovakia, as the European Commission along with other institutions expect UVO to be objective and unbiased.
Opposition parties SDKU-DS, Christian Democrats (KDH) and the ethnic-Hungarian SMK have written a letter to Prime Minister Robert Fico urging him to respect their right to nominate a candidate for the post of UVO Chairman.
"I want to believe that he (Fico) meant business when he said that the post belongs to the Opposition," said Dzurinda.
He noted that when Government-run tenders set off opposition criticism of overpricing, Fico responded in a "rather cynical manner" and kept pointing out that Angyal is an opposition nominee.
According to Dzurinda, however, Angyal has failed in his post. This can be observed, for instance, in his evaluation of reservations regarding the electronic road-toll system.
"I have no idea as to why Mr. Angyal began to collaborate with the Government, why he's obfuscating such scandalous tenders as the toll tender. I have no idea what happened. Far be it from me to speculate on whether trafficking was involved. Something did happen, though," said Dzurinda.
If the premier does respect the Opposition's right to nominate the UVO head, added Dzurinda, SDKU already has a candidate up its sleeve, and this person is capable of running UVO in a better fashion than Angyal.
"We aren't insisting that it must be a SDKU-DS nominee, though," he said, adding that the three opposition parties will reach an agreement on a joint candidate without delay.
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