The European Commission confirmed on Tuesday that it finished the notice board tender issue with Slovakia to that effect that Brussels won't reimburse the costs of the tender to Slovakia, Nicholas Martyn from the Commission's Directorate General for Regional Policy (DG Regio)announced following a meeting with Slovak Construction and Regional Development Minister Igor Stefanov in Brussels on the same day.

The Commission sees the problem in the way how the tender was executed and said that Slovakia had violated the EU regulations pertaining to tenders.

Martyn said that the Commission appreciates that Slovak authorities decided to take a pragmatic approach to the issue and won't demand the reimbursement at the European Court of Justice.

The tender winner was paid approximately €11 million from the EU funds before the tender was cancelled, but Brussels won't reimburse this money to Slovakia.

Martyn also said that Slovakia will loose €38.3 million from the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) as, during audits between 2005-2008, the Commission found flaws in tender proceedings within the programme period 2004-2006. Money from these funds for this period could be used until the end of June 2009.

Prime Minister Robert Fico's claim that Slovakia will loose between €97.8 million-€117.8 million wasn't confirmed by Martyn, who said that the sum €38.3 million relates only to flaws in tenders within ERDF. He said that the sum mentioned by Fico may have ensued from Slovakia's estimates and includes flawed proceedings in the Cohesion Fund.

Martyn added that other EU member countries also have problems with tender proceedings. It's a complicated issue and the countries had to adjust to new legislation in this sphere after they entered the EU, said Martyn.

(TASR, SLOVAKIA TODAY / Illustration photo)