Bratislava, February 24, 2020 - The project of savings in heat supply at schools in the Košice region is the largest public project of guaranteed energy service in Slovakia and, according to the SAO SR, an example of bad practice. When checking the period from 2013 to 2018, the auditors identified a EUR 96 mil contract concluded for 18 years was heavily in favour of the supplier, along insufficient provable savings of schools and school facilities, or the region's approval of the correction mechanism not included in the contract.

The project does not guarantee any savings for schools and does not motivate them to save. Neither the schools nor the region could verify the amount of savings achieved, nor how much the supplier had actually invested in their heat management. The region did not have a comprehensive project of energy savings and, for example, did not even consider insulation or replacement of windows as part of the measures. The SAO SR therefore prepared instructions for local governments about the procedure for setting up this type of project.

The full text of the press release about this audit in Slovak language is available here. Use the Google icon in the top bar for automatic translation into the desired language.