Slovakia will have to return EU funds worth up to €55.5 million to the European Union, with the reason for the correction being the public procurement of the Slovak Road Administration for constructing the D1 Mengusovce-Janovce motorway stretch in 2004, Finance Ministry announced on Wednesday.
Until recently, the state was threatened with having to return more than €172 million to Brussels. Slovakia managed to reduce the amount by up to two thirds through negotiations.
"The result of successful negotiations between the Finance Ministry and the European Commission is a reduction in the originally proposed financial correction from 25 to 10 percent. The impact on the state budget will thus be lower by up to two thirds (€116.8 million euros) and at the maximum amount of €55.5 million," said the ministry's press department.
In 2006, the Anti-monopoly Office (PMU) imposed a fine on six construction companies involved in a cartel agreement for a public procurement of the motorway, as well as a five-year ban on participating in public procurement. However, audits by the European Commission showed that cartel participants continued to earn money from government contracts in 2006-2011.
