Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic

The SAO SR audited the management of five State-owned enterprises (Agroinstitute, Agrokomplex, Národný Žrebčín Topoľčianky, Breeding Services and Závodisko) and their founder - the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic. Based on the audit results by SAO SR, it was stated that the process of approving annual business development concepts is significantly delayed.

These were not approved before the beginning of the accounting year, but only during it. Another problem is the lack of connection to the strategic documents of the Ministry for at least five years. The SAO SR also found that the strategic management and targeted control of companies by the Ministry shows signs of formality. Related to this is the identified inefficient spending of funds, for example, for unfinished investment projects related to the reconstruction of the Agrokomplex pavilions, as well as the modernisation of the Bratislava racecourse complex. For several years now, the Ministry of Agriculture has not provided State-owned enterprises with any funds for the maintenance and modernisation of buildings, which has also caused the alarming condition in several buildings.

Long-term profit is reported by only two State-owned enterprises (Breeding Services and Agrokomplex), the development of the economic result in individual State-owned enterprises is documented in the following graph.

Following the audit results by the SAO SR, the attention is drawn to the question of whether the Ministry should not consider changing the legal form to a model that will enable greater efficiency and economy. It recommends to the Slovak Republic Government that a procedure and rules for the transparent selection of directors and members of supervisory boards be incorporated directly into the Act on State Enterprises. Frequent changes in the management of State-owned enterprises have a significant impact on management and strategic development and on their financial stability.

In connection with a possible illegal procedure during the purchase or planned repair of the Malanta Manor administered the Agrokomplex, the SAO SR passed the findings to the organs active in criminal proceedings.

The full text of the press release about this audit in Slovak language is available here. Use the Google icon in the top bar for automatic translation into the desired language.