thirsty for information in
slovakia
public shut out of water privatization
plans
friends of the earth
slovakia
Although the Slovakian parliament
has adopted a very progressive Access to
Information Act, the challenge remains for
civil society to enforce the ‘right to
know' in practice. For example, water and
sewage services are by law considered
‘services in the public interest', but
authorities have proven reluctant to
release information related to their
provision
.
In 1998, shortly before the elections in
which it was replaced by a new cabinet, the
Slovakian government decided to privatize
water services in the city of Trencin in
the western part of the country. This was
the first case of public services
privatization in Slovakia , and according
to official statements it was intended to
serve as a “model of water sector
transformation”.
In fact, what happened was that a
municipallyowned company, TVK, took charge
of the water pipes and sewers, while
everything else required for water
services, including buildings, machines and
vehicles, was transferred to TVS, a private
firm that had been established by managers
of the former state water company. The
French multinational Suez Lyonnaise des
Eaux then acquired majority control in TVS.
This division of property between private
and municipal companies forced the
municipal company TVK to sign an
operational contract with TVS in order to
prevent the collapse of water services in
the area.
fishing for
information
Information was later divulged
indicating that the conditions imposed by
TVS were extremely disadvantageous for TVK,
and that the huge profits included for TVS
in the contract could lead to an enormous
increase in water and sewage rates. Friends
of the Earth Slovakia made an official
request for the full text of the
operational contract to the city of Trencin
, a major shareholder in TVK. The
municipality passed the request along to
the director of TVK, who refused to comply
on grounds of commercial secrecy. Friends
of the Earth asked the same of the private
operator TVS, receiving the same negative
response.
In 2000, TVK was awarded a grant from
the European Commission's ISPA program for
the extension of the sewage system and the
construction of a water treatment plant. It
was not until 2002 that the Commission
began to investigate whether or not
Trencin's privatized water operations met
the criteria for the ISPA program, and
particularly whether the risk existed that
the grant could contribute to undue profits
for the private operator. Although the
Commission insisted that TVK and TVS modify
the contract, it ignored requests by
Friends of the Earth Slovakia for its
public release. The Commission in turn
referred Friends of the Earth to the Slovak
Ministry of Environment, which claimed that
TVK declared the contract to be a trade
secret. The Ministry of Environment closed
the circle by recommending that TVK or TVS
be asked for the information, and to date
the contract remains hidden from public
eyes.
The Slovakian Access to Information Act
obliges the responsible authorities to
disclose information related to public
property or public finances, and explicitly
states that revealing such information does
not breach commercial secrecy.
Nevertheless, corporate water services are
very often put above the rights of those
seeking information. The case is not yet
closed, however: in January 2004, Friends
of the Earth Slovakia filed a complaint to
the Slovak Supreme Court. one sustainable
societies
© foe slovakia
