New Head of energy market regulator (URSO) met with criticism

Opposition parties Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and OĽaNO have criticised the government's decision to appoint Ľubomír Jahnátek as the new Office for Regulation of Network Industries (URSO) Head on Monday. A former Economy Minister in Robert Fico’s first government between 2006 and 2010 and an Agriculture Minister between 2012 and 2016, and currently a Smer MP, he was nominated by the Economy Ministry and appointed to the post under new rules. Previously, the government's decision had to be vetted by the president. Jahnátek takes up his post on Tuesday, July 25th. Liberals reacted by saying they recognise the "courage" of Ľubomír Jahnátek to run for the post "without meeting the required criteria under the law" as the selection committee shouldn't even consider him due to his unequivocal political affiliations. The party is also surprised by the stance of the remaining two coalition partners, who have managed to come to terms with Ľubomír Jahnátek heading the most important post in energy. According to the opposition the direct consequence of having URSO run by political nominee Jahnátek is that energy charges "will be stable, but stably high". The party pointed out that energy charges already make up 15-20 percent of average Slovak household expenditures; the highest figure in the EU.
The opposition party OĽaNO claimed that no one in Slovakia believes that URSO will be run in an independent fashion under the leadership of a long-term Smer-SD politician, pointing to the fact that the government hasn't even published his CV. Prime Minister Robert Fico, whose party Smer is the largest in the ruling coalition, as well as and Economy Minister Peter Žiga (Smer-SD) have rejected the criticism from the Opposition, stating that Jahnátek is an expert approved by the Economy Ministry's selection committee as the best candidate.