President Peter Pellegrini will donate any increase in his current salary to the League against Cancer, according to the President's Office's communications department.
"I appreciated the fact that, at a time of public finance consolidation, MPs agreed last year to freeze their salaries for the next two years. However, in the final version of the law, they exempted the President, members of the government, the Prosecutor-general, judges and other state officials from the salary freeze. Therefore, I'll donate any increased amount directly to the League against Cancer," stated Pellegrini.
In this context, the President's Office also noted that, as a result of consolidation measures, the head of state's net salary has decreased by more than €2,000 per month this year. It pointed out that the President isn't currently the highest-earning Slovak politician in terms of net salary as a result.
By law, the President's salary is four times the basic salary of an MP, on top of which he receives a fixed allowance of €1,327 as specified by law. This entire amount is subject to levies and taxes, which have been increased for constitutional officials under the latest austerity package.
“The President's salary is set to increase by approximately €1,100 per month, which is what many people in Slovakia cannot earn in an entire month. The Prime Minister will see an increase of more than €400, and ministers of three hundred,” stated MP Julius Jakab ('Slovakia'- Za ludi). "While people in some regions receive less than a thousand euros in their bank accounts, the President is on around €20,000 per month," he added.
PS leader Michal Šimečka described as "vulgar" the fact that ministers and government members will see their flat-rate allowances rise by several hundred euros per month at a time of consolidation, rising poverty and mass lay-offs.
"Prime Minister Robert Fico is already one of the best-paid prime ministers in the European Union, second only to [Hungarian Prime Minister] Viktor Orban in proportion to the average salary in the given EU country," said Šimečka. He added that the government has brought the economy to its knees over the past two and a half years, with the country facing recession and major investors leaving.
"The budget deficit is slowly becoming bigger than when they took over, meaning that consolidation has been completely wasted. Higher taxes, levies and VAT are hampering economic growth," remarked Šimečka, adding that several government members don't deserve higher pay in view of their level of performance.
Source: TASR
