Last week, President Andrej Kiska implied that the police and the Prosecutor's Office might be abusing their powers regarding the case of his KTAG company, which was re-opened last week. According to the president, the head of the Smer-SD party and former Prime Minister Robert Fico is the one who might be taking advantage of them as revenge for the fact that he will not appoint Fico as chairman of the Constitutional Court.
In his defence, Kiska referred to his personal communication with Béla Bugár, chair of junior governing Most-Híd party. "It surprised me, when Mr. Bugár called me and told me with a mildly appalled voice that Fico had left me a message saying that either I name him as the chair of the Constitutional Court or the fight against me will continue," said Kiska.
Bugár confirmed that he has had several phone calls with Kiska. However, he refused to say publicly what was their subject, as he considers them to be confidential. He added that Kiska and Fico are grown men who should be able to solve their conflicts in a civilized manner on their own.
Fico rejected Kiska's accusations. In its statement the police denied any external influence on the investigation. Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (also of Smer-SD) said that President Andrej Kiska should not doubt the work of the police and the Prosecutor's Office. According to Pellegrini if the police is trusted regarding other tax frauds, why should it not investigate the president as well when there is a suspicion.
The KTAG company has been the object of investigation several times in the past. The police stopped an investigation in this particular case in February 2017. The conclusion was that the company additionally paid the taxes and fine. Subsequently the National Criminal Agency took the case over. Kiska served as the company's official in the past, but he is immune from prosecution while in office as president.
The executive manager of the KTAG company, Eduard K., faces charges of illegitimate VAT refunds worth €155,633, which the company applied for from the state. The company bankrolled Kiska's 2014 presidential campaign and later listed the sum among expenditures in the books, which the Tax Authority refused to acknowledge.
In the past, Kiska defended himself by saying that the company had profits from his personal activities such as lectures and the sale of his book. Thus he thought that expenditures linked to the propagation of his name could be seen as expenses for the company which earns income from his name. Based on this thinking, the company applied for tax refunds of the expenses from Kiska's presidential campaign. Later, Kiska stated that he would never do it again.
