Complaint of conflict of interests

From press reports

Local watchdog organisation Fair Play Alliance (AFP) has complained that Finance Ministry spokesman Peter Papánek was listed as general director of the Donath-Burson-Marsteller SK marketing agency while also working as spokesman for the ministry.

"We consider it unethical because a ministry spokesman comes across information that could give a competitive advantage to participants of public tenders," the AFP stated in an open letter to Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš.

The APFP said that among Donath-Burson-Marsteller SK's clients were several that had won various state tenders in the past and now supply state agencies with their products or services, such as IBM, PosAm, and Datalan.

For his part, Papánek said that the information was not correct, as he no longer worked for the agency. He admitted, however, that he had worked for Donath-Burson-Marsteller SK until the end of last year. At that time, he already worked at the Finance Ministry.

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