In recent months, the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) of the Slovak Republic has been reviewing the activities and management of subsidy funds for promoting culture, arts and creative industries under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture. Over the entire existence of the funds, they have received EUR 386 million from the state budget, while in the audited years 2021 to 2023 the state contribution amounted to almost EUR 159 million. In deciding on the allocation of money from the funds for culture, the auditors found no severe breaches of decision-making procedures. The processes for launching calls and receiving applications were transparent, and the criteria for assessing calls had clear rules.

As the audit showed, the rules were broken, particularly in the payment of remuneration and compensation to members of expert committees in the Fund for the Promotion of the Arts and the Audiovisual Fund, as these were financed from the funds dedicated to support activities. 

The national authority for external audit has identified several areas that indicate significant risks in the financial management of the Audiovisual Fund. "The Fund may struggle to meet its obligations on time in the future if the rate of growth in liabilities continues without an adequate increase in financial resources, for example from the State. It may also face challenges in maintaining its ability to support new projects actively or to provide funding for existing projects that have gone through the approval and evaluation process," Mr Ivančo said.

The audit also highlighted the risk that the Ministry, despite declared changes in the functioning of the subsidy funds, did not make use of the proper legislative process, which includes an inter-ministerial comment procedure. Thus, most amendments to laws were hastily implemented through parliamentary proposals, not through the Ministry.

Read the full text of the press release about this issue in Slovak language.