Errors could cost Interior Ministry CZK 2bn in grants

Prague, Feb 22 (CTK) - The Interior Ministry really faces long-standing problems with the European operational programme, Czech Interior Minister Jan Kubice (unaffiliated) said yesterday.

The problems originated in the past years and the ministry is now trying to minimise the damage, said Kubice, who was appointed to the post in April 2011.

A check has disclosed problems with drawing EU subsidies by the Czech Interior Ministry, daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) writes yesterday.

On account of the wrongly defined procurement and projects, the Interior Ministry may lose up to two billion crowns, HN writes, referring to an assessment report of the Local Development Ministry that was assigned to check the drawing of EU subsidies at all ministries.

Kubice said the government did not deal with the issue yesterday, but was likely to do so next week.

Kubice said the information on the poor if any drawing of EU subsidies had been submitted to the government in March 2011 already.

"Nevertheless, we are solving the problem and this is now our priority," Kubice said.

The employees of the Interior Ministry wrote down up to 40 percent of requests for the European money wrongly, they do not observe the defined deadlines to submit projects and some of them even ignore the process of drawing, HN writes.

"There is a big risk that the Interior Ministry will not draw up to two billion crowns," Local Development Minister Kamil Jankovsky (Public Affairs, VV) has told the paper.

HN writes that on Friday Jankovsky met Deputy Interior Minister Radek Smerda who is in charge of the EU agenda.

They discussed the alternatives with which to save the European billions for the Interior Ministry, it adds.

According to the check, the problems arose when the post of interior minister was held by Ivan Langer (Civic Democratic Party, ODS, 2006-2009), but survived until the tenure of Radek John (VV, 2010-2011).

The problems mostly related to digitation programmes and links between civil service data bases.

Problems with drawing EU subsidies are not faced only by the Interior Ministry. The same goes for the transport, education and industry and trade ministries, HN writes.

In all of them, the state may lose roughly 25 billion crowns, it adds.

($1 = 18.845 crowns)