NKU Finds Shortcomings in 2020-23 Operation of Mobile COVID Testing Facilities

Bratislava, December 13 (TASR) - The Supreme Audit Authority (NKU) found shortcomings in the way mobile facilities testing for COVID-19 had been financed and operated in 2020-23 and pointed out that the Health Ministry is unable to provide a comprehensive database with reliable data in this regard, TASR learnt from NKU spokesperson Daniela Bolech Dobakova on Friday. Total state budget expenditure on the testing facilities are estimated at €317 million by the NKU analytical unit, with €237 million likely used on the tests alone. "The entire system of testing was chaotic to a significant extent, which benefitted those who wished to make money off the dysfunctional system without any supervision, individuals to whom public interest was a nuisance at best," stated head of NKU Lubomir Andrassy. The most problematic in the view of the analysts was the lack of records on expenditure, discrepancies in the location of the testing sites and considerable differences in the number of tests used by individual facilities as well as differing testing costs. NKU forwarded its findings to law enforcement and the Financial Administration. The analysis doesn't involve across-the-board nationwide testing, seeing as that wasn't carried out by mobile testing facilities or capacity testing sites. mf