'Slovakia' and 'For the People' Criticise Police Campaigns as Non-transparent(2)

Bratislava, March 14 (TASR) - The 'Slovakia' and 'For the People' parties urge Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok (Voice-SD) to immediately publish contracts related to 2024 police image and recruitment campaigns, signed with a company called Good Rutt's and worth a total of €222,000, and in addition, the parties will file a complaint with the Public Procurement Authority (UVO) and the Supreme Audit Authority (NKU), MPs Veronika Remisova and Michal Sipos (both 'Slovakia'-For the People-KU alliance) declared at a press conference on Friday. According to Remisova, the commission for the recruitment campaign was a textbook case of non-transparency. "When we tried to check the new contract and learn what they're going to do and how, we found that such a contract has never been submitted to the central registry," she claimed. Remisova added that the Interior Ministry has also failed to publish the contract on the image campaign from July 2024. It is not clear how many firms the ministry reached out to, how many bidders applied and with what bids. "We urge the Interior Minister to release contracts concluded with the winning bidder without delay. The ministry needs to go public with how many bidders there were and what were the bids because the fact the contracts have never been published or maybe don't even exist raise serious suspicions of a non-transparent or perhaps even illegal course of action in this case," she said. In early March, the Interior Ministry reported that the 'Become a Police Officer' recruitment campaign was to be conducted by Good Rutt's, which had submitted the lowest bid worth €139,000 VAT-free. A total of three bidders applied in the February 2025 tender. The campaign is set to be conducted mostly on social media and radio. In July, the ministry also put in an order with Good Rutt's for an image campaign worth €82,920, VAT included. mf