Taraba: Slovak Water Management Company Closed Last Year in Positive Territory

Bratislava, January 5 (TASR) - State-run Slovak Water Management Company (SVP) closed last year in the positive territory, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee) has told in an interview for TASR, adding that they replaced experts who failed to keep their eyes on the public interest and got rid of dubious deals. "The company is in black digits for the first time for last year, and will be better and better this year," noted Taraba. He wants SVP to return to what it was designed to, which is to clean canals, rivers and remove sediments. The company also needs to renew its equipment, he added. The minister has the same plan with the state-run Vodohospodarska Vystavba (VV) water management construction company. He wants it to return to its original role of building dams. "VV hasn't been building anything for the past few years, as there was no political will to build something, gradually turning into an energy utility only engaged in operations with electricity generated from hydropower plants," stated Taraba. SVP, which is supposed to protect people from floods, fought for survival. It was making loss for a long time and was underfinanced. ko