Political and Social Connections
Political and social connections in the BIOMASAKER case
In light of the BIOMASAKER campaign, it is interesting to note the people occupying the highest positions on the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic. The minister, Mr. Peter Žiga, had a livelihood as a trader with wood before his entry into politics, and while serving as the state secretary of the Ministry of the Economy of the SR in 2010, he ceremoniously cut the tape during the opening of BIOENERGY Bardejov s.r.o.. The companies BIOENERGY Bardejov and BIOENERGY Topolčany share the same owners. Both of these 2 companies receive an annual state subsidy of ca 10 mil. EUR for the burning of wood biomass..
The photograph captures events on Wednesday, the 24 March 2010 in Bardejov: Otto Zechmeister, representative of the Austrian investor and distributor, Jozef Medveď, then Slovak minister for the environment, and after him Peter Žiga, then state secretary od the Ministry of the Economy of the Slovak Republic. The others are Boris Hanuščak, the mayor of Bardejov, and Igor Gula, who represented the Slovak investor – Bardenergy spol. s. r. o. (electric energy and heating energy seller from cogeneration production). Source: Internet
The current Slovak environmental minister Peter Žiga had in the past been a member of the board of trustees in the company Liptovská drevárska fabrika, a.s. (Liptov wood-processing factory). Another member of the board of trustees was Mr. Helmut Rettenmeier, the co-onwer of the German company Rettenmeier Holding AG, which co-owns the Slovak company Rettenmeier Tatra Timber, s.r.o.. The Rettenmeier Tatra Timber, s.r.o. company receives an annual subsidy from the state of ca 1,8 mil. EUR for the burning of wood biomass.
The state secretary for the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic, Mr. Ján Ilavský, has focused on the utilisation of wood biomass as a research worker since at least 1985.
The logging of wood matter often connected with state enterprises focused on water management care also have interesting connections. By the end of 2013, the state enterprise Vodohospodárska výstavba announced their intention to fell more than 100 000 trees in the area of the planned water reservoir Slatinka, despite the fact that the construction of the WR Slatinka will most probably not take place, due to the decision of the European Commission to not support construction of big reservoir dams from EU funds during the years 2014 – 2020. After a detailed survey on the relationships behind the aforementioned company, it is possible to find the reason behind this seemingly nonsensical felling of trees. The director general of the state enterprise Vodohospodárska výstavba, Ing. Ladislav Lazár, had previously been the head of the board of directors of Teplárne Košice, a.s., for many years. In that same time, Pavol Liba and Ing. Vladimír Dolný had also been employed at the company’s board of directors and its board of trustees. Both of the aforementioned men were subsequently members of the company bodies of the Košická energetická spoločnosť a.s. company, which owns a 4 MW biomass-fired powerplant in Košice, with an estimated consumption of 40 000 t of biomass a year. Ing. Ladislav Lazár is also an unsuccessful candidate for the mayor of Košice under the party SMER – Social democracy. Košická energetická spoločnosť a.s. receives an annual state subsidy of ca 590 000 EUR, for the burning of wood biomass.
Lazar, Fico, Paška, Žiga. Source: Internet
Energy Snina – Since 2012, the heating plant in Snina has been a part of the portfolio of the company Grafobal Group Energy (GGE), which is connected to the well-known businessman Ivan Kmotrík. GGE had bought the heating plant from Slavia Capital. The heating plant in Snina receives an annual state subsidy for wood biomass burning, amounting to ca 500 000 EUR.