President in Presov Region Points to Need to Transfer Powers to Local Government

Presov, November 22 (TASR) - After 32 years of the Slovak Republic's existence, it's necessary to raise the question of what powers the state could transfer to the regions, President Peter Pellegrini said following a meeting with Presov region governor Milan Majersky and Presov mayor Frantisek Olha as part of a working trip to Presov region on Friday, adding that these are areas where they can help with certain problems much better than when they are managed directly from the centre. "In addition to the fact that we're going to have a big discussion next year about changing the financing of the Slovak local government so that it isn't only dependent on personal income taxes, but also has a share in value added tax, corporate income tax and so on, we'll also have to talk about decentralisation," said Pellegrini. According to the head of state, Presov region is the poorest region in economic terms compared to other regions and in relation to the gross domestic product (GDP). "We have certain defects in the financing of this region, which were caused in the past by the need to remedy the shortfall in the revenue of Bratislava region when the motor vehicle tax was transferred from the regions to the state. Today, we're experiencing that of all the money that is supposed to flow to Presov region, 94 percent of it ends up going to Presov region and six percent goes to Bratislava as part of the redistribution," he stated, adding that this needs to be changed in the future. Pellegrini also discussed with representatives of the region and the city the completion of the R4 expressway and marginalised Roma communities. As he said, up to 41 percent of marginalised Roma communities from all over Slovakia live in Presov region. "It is, of course, a huge challenge for the region and a huge burden to work with such a large number of people," stressed the president. am/mcs