- Inconsistent data affected the energy assistance of 1 to 1.5% of households.
- Minister Sakova calls on the disabled to file an objection to non-payment.
- Refusal of assistance is also related to reporting the permanent residence of several persons in the apartment.
- The Slovak Republic signed an agreement with the USA on the preparation of an analysis of a new nuclear source.
- The government prefers US mid-range technology and plans to comply with the legislation.
Inconsistent population data in state databases may have affected the payment of energy assistance for about 1% to 1.5% of households and not for 10%, as some media claim. She stated this on Sunday in the discussion show Politika 24 on Joj 24 television Minister of Economy Denisa Saková (Hlas-SD).
“Inconsistent data affected the payment or grant of energy assistance from 1% to 1.5% of households. The one percent or 1.5% of households who think they are entitled to energy assistance, and to whom energy assistance was not granted, have the opportunity to visit the client’s workplace or call the call center. They can file an objection. If it is found that the data was inconsistent due to someone else’s fault, we can send energy assistance backwards,” added Sakova.
“However, if someone who complains is found to have 16 permanent residences in their three-room apartment, because they had tenants in it and did not deregister them from permanent residence, then, unfortunately, yes, all the income of the individual tenants was included in the given energy household,” the minister explained the example of non-payment of energy aid.
According to her, the degree of inconsistency in the databases was also increased by the current opposition, which, when it was in government, allowed entrepreneurs to use the energy assistance. “Why did they allow 55,000 entrepreneurs to sign up for household tariffs in the years 2022 and 2023 during gas and electricity consumption? That’s how these entrepreneurs financed, for example, their pensions, operations or other business activities,” pointed out Saková.
In connection with her trip to the American Washington with Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) last week, she recalled that the Slovak Republic signed an intergovernmental agreement with the USA, on the basis of which, according to her, the so-called steering committee and various working groups. “We want to start with an analysis that will give us a result after a few months, whether we are able to handle this issue (a new nuclear source, note TASR) as the Slovak Republic in terms of licensing, finances and technology. After the analysis, when all technological aspects have been considered, we will start selecting a supplier.” explained the Minister of Economy.
She specified that there are about five countries in the world whose companies could build a nuclear block in Slovakia. “We have the Russian Federation, which is out of the question geopolitically. South Korea is subject to license agreements with the American company Westinghouse. Then we are left with Westinghouse itself and France,” she said.
“At the moment, the technology that the French have, with a robust reactor power of 1700 megawatts (MW), is structurally excellent. However, according to the analyzes done by nuclear experts, we do not need such a large reactor power. We prefer a reactor power of 1000 or 1200 MW for our existing power system. So it is moving towards American technology.” she added.
She assured that the government will certainly comply with all the rules of Slovak and European legislation during the construction of the reactor. “We also want to use the experience of Poland and Bulgaria, which, in compliance with European legislation, received permission from the European Commission to sign contracts directly with Westinghouse for part of the construction of a new nuclear power plant and ‘tender’ the rest of the construction of the nuclear power plant. The same process awaits us as well,” added the Minister of Economy.
