Prime Minister Announces Financial Aid for Local and Regional Authorities

Bratislava, October 3 (TASR) - Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) announced financial aid for local and regional authorities and added that he plans to convene a meeting between chairs of coalition parties and the leadership of the Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS). "We have prepared a certain amount of money, but I won't say anything more at this point until all of us are present. We want to announce this together because some of it is prepared for ZMOS, some is prepared for the regions. It might not be as much as ZMOS expects, but I consider mayors and governors to be the people who work with real money and know what's possible and what isn't," said Fico. Fico added that it's necessary to hear out and respect the voice of local authorities. "We have information, of course, mostly from small villages that they're incapable of carrying out basic tasks expected of local authorities due to their small budgets," he said and promised to address also energy prices. mf/mcs