Minister Naď lodges criminal compliant with Prosecutor-General’s Office over reconstruction of Granit Hotel in Nová Polianka

Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď lodged a criminal compliant against an unknown perpetrator with the Prosecutor-General’s Office on suspicion of several crimes. The document, which was today handed over to the Prosecutor-General’s Office at 09:32, contains suspicious findings and lists the suspected criminal offences that might have been committed in the process of reconstructing the Granit Hotel in Nová Polianka under MOD-owned Horezza organisation.

Speaking at a press conference at the MOD today, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “Joint stock company HOREZZA has, in the long term, been targeted with different negative media coverage and one must say quite rightly. On taking to office, I called on respective elements of the MOD to immediately start work on concrete comprehensive documentation and provide further information. The first pieces of information I received as early as April 2020 confirmed that several directors of the company had committed, so to say, acts of insanity against the Defence estate with complete impunity.”

The MOD’s comprehensive internal audit report has revealed 23 specific deficiencies at Horezza, of which 8 are deemed as highly risky, including breaching the law of the Slovak Republic. The criminal complaint is directly related to refurbishment works to the national cultural heritage site – the former highly specialised Institute for Pulmonary Diseases in Nová Polianka, the building of which has recently been redesigned as the Granit Hotel in Nová Polianka.

The overall costs of the reconstruction project gradually swelled over the budget up to €6 million. Most of the money went on the construction works. The contractor, joint stock company HASTRA, was selected in a market research and was originally awarded a contract worth €3,535,143.02. Later on, the company signed an amendment to the contract in order to add further costs of €689,000 to the existing bill. It is estimated that overbilling may be as high as €912,849.

Acting on the above evidence, the head of the MOD filed a criminal compliant over suspicion of several criminal offences: estate mismanagement, embezzlement, unlawful representation, unauthorised business activities, theft and corruption.

Also today, the Minister provided an update on the sell-off of several Defence land holdings in the High Tatras, which was widely reported on by the media. According to the audit, 34,811m² of Defence land was sold off, with the selling price varying from €18 to €44 per square metre. Several external auditors are still checking the accounting books of Horrezza, which are seen as problematic.

“That’s precisely the way we are going to deal with every single stumbling block we come across in Defence. I am not going to turn a blind eye to how money was stolen from the citizens of this country,” he concluded.