Anti-monopoly office clears Foreign Affairs Ministry after investigation

The Anti-monopoly Office (PMU) has no evidence at its disposal to indicate that the behaviour of any firms which were approached by the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry seeking audiovisual services to mark Slovakia's Council of the EU Presidency in the latter half of 2016 was in violation of the law, TASR was told on Wednesday. The PMU made the announcement after concluding an investigation into the matter on January 10. "The office has thoroughly perused all relevant documents and information acquired during the investigation. It's come to the conclusion that there is no evidence proving any violations of the Protection of Economic Competition Act," said PMU spokesperson Adriana Oľšavská. The PMU also took a gentle swipe at the press, for printing news stories based on hints and allegations, stating that it feels the need to "draw attention to the negative influence of extensive media coverage regarding hints of potential evidence".