Bžán’s fee disgustingly excessive

Bžán’s fee disgustingly excessive

"I dismissed MH Manažment's supervisory board as of Thursday", said Economy Minister Peter Žiga at a press briefing on the same day. He advocated this decision by claiming that he considers the conduct of the firm's bodies in the arbitration lawsuit over the Gabčíkovo Waterworks to be unprofessional.

"Subsequently, a notary record will be used to amend the company's statutes in order to pave the way for personnel changes to MH Manažment's board of directors," said Žiga.

On October 11, the minister declared that he was not "completely satisfied" with the reduction of the remuneration for the law firm of Radomír Bžán, who represented the state in an arbitration dispute over the Gabčíkovo Hydroelectric Plant, from the original 11 percent to 2.5 percent of the sum under dispute in the arbitration lawsuit on the Gabčíkovo Waterworks. "I expected the sum to be in the neighbourhood of a standard lawyer's settlement; that is, between 1-2 percent, " he said, adding that the agreed fee still was not final and that he would seek Justice Minister Lucia Žitňanská's cooperation in order to find ways of reducing it further.

During Question time in Parliament on Thursday, Prime Minister Robert Fico said that a multi-million legal fee for the law firm was disgustingly excessive. Fico claimed that he appreciated the response by Economy Minister Peter Žiga who chose to oust the management of the state-owned firm MH Manažment, which hired the law firm.

He compared the case of privatising the state electricity producer and the subsequent loan of the Gabčíkovo Hydroelectric Plant to the [privatising] Italian company [Enel] to the trauma of the amnesties from the time of Vladimir Mečiar's government (1994-98). Fico also attacked the current Opposition: "Where were you when the centre-right so shockingly gave away the most precious state asset to the Italians? Now you're all as wise as Solomon's trousers."

Opposition MP Erika Jurinová, who raised the question concerning Bžán's fee, replied to Fico that had the scandal not surfaced, the money would have been paid in full. "It's beautiful that SE is back. But the point remains that the sum is outrageous. And minister Žiga took action only after the scandal broke," she claimed.

Martina Šimkovičová, Photo: TASR

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