No millions of EUR will be paid to Radomír Bžán's law office; the CEO of MH Manažment, Branislav Bačík, stated this on Friday at a press conference. He was referring to the attorney's provision regarding the arbitrary court Slovakia had to face due to the Gabčíkovo water plant.
In June of this year, Slovakia won the VEG dispute with a company called Enel, the Italian co-owner of the Slovenske elektrarne energy utility. The latter was demanding compensation of some tens of millions of euros for the premature annulment of the contract for operating the Gabcikovo power plant. However, the state-run joint-stock company MH Manažment in this regard is now to pay off tens of millions of euros to the private law company of Radomír Bžán as remuneration for the firm's legal services in the dispute.
The contract with the law company was signed by current MH Manažment chief Branislav Bačík in 2015. According to the contract, in addition to legal services, Bžán's company is to receive bonuses making up a share of the winning disputes. As far as the Gabčíkovo power plant case is concerned, the remuneration could amount to some €64 million. However, MH Manažment claims that this sum is incorrect and that the final remuneration for the legal firm is unknown at the moment, as the international arbitrage tribunal in Vienna is only now deciding on the amount of the costs for the proceedings.
Economy Minister Peter Žiga (Smer-SD) on Wednesday stated that no money had so far been paid off to the law firm and that he called on MH Manazment's leadership to hold talks with Bžán's firm on reducing the amount of the remuneration. In this context, the Opposition has asked Žiga to dismiss Bačík from his post, since he is responsible for "this terrible waste of money". Otherwise, the Opposition is ready to initiate a no-confidence motion in Žiga in Parliament.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Robert Fico stated that it was vital to negotiate the amount of bonuses that the state is to pay Radomír Bžán's law firm for its legal services in the dispute over the Gabčíkovo Hydroelectric Power Plant (VEG). "However, I'd like to remind you that regarding the Gabčíkovo power plant, it was a fight for life and death... and we won the case. Following the crazy privatisation, Slovakia is now fully in charge of VEG. The value of the dispute amounted to more than €800 million. Moreover, the state is likely to win even more legal actions, as these include a number of unauthorised property benefits in relation to a firm that rented VEG," said Fico, adding that he agreed with the fact that serious negotiations on reducing the remuneration for the law firm concerned should take place.
Radomír Bžán has stated that his law office is ready to negotiate a reduction in the amount in order to reach an acceptable compromise.
