J. Naď: I believe we will take Defence forward and the first fruits of our half-year′s work will be appreciated mainly by citizens and service members
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- Date: 21.09.2020
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The first six months have passed today since the new leadership took over the Ministry of Defence. Ever since taking to office, Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď has highlighted the necessity to make Defence more transparent and open so as to repair the MOD′s reputation after previous leaderships and to contribute to the many-sided development of Defence in areas which remained neglected for long years.
Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “We took over the Ministry of Defence in a difficult situation and our priority task was to do the maximum we could to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 6,300 service members were involved in the first wave of coronavirus, they transported 2,000 tonnes of material and took almost 11,000 swab samples. My sincere thanks go out to all those who participated in containing the whole situation, as well as continuing to conscientiously perform their everyday primary duties.”
He continued: “As an opposition politician I would hear about the problems that existed in Defence. This was so not just because I pointed to all unfair practices and cases of incompetence, but also because I received letters from regular soldiers asking me for help. I knew if I were to get a chance, one of my challenges would be to take things forward and do things better. I would continue to promote the principles of responsibility and transparency across all areas of MOD management in order to benefit SVK citizens and members of the SVK Armed Forces.”
Reflecting on the achievements over the first six months, the head of the MOD pointed out that the new MOD leadership was successful in declassifying some documents which had been classified for years, for example, the contracts to supply 14 F-16 fighter jets and UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, the Comprehensive Defence Review (CDR) of the Slovak Republic, and the Service Inquiry Report into the Hejce Air Disaster. The new leaders also addressed the much-debated topic of obsolete and inoperable military hardware and infrastructure, the state of which was more than alarming.
“We put a stop to the non-transparent purchases of military equipment and reinvested the money into restoring the infrastructure which had been left to go to rack and ruin before the soldiers′ eyes. We also got the management of our MOD-owned companies back in order – wherever doubts arose over cases of Defence estate mismanagement compromising the principles of effectiveness and purposefulness,” he added, noting that the MOD saved considerable resources by such expenditure-optimising measures. On procurement, we delivered savings of over €2m. Additionally, work has still been underway on a new public procurement directive in order to simplify and streamline the public procurement processes.
The MOD was also committed to translating the ideas of a “greener ministry” into practice. To illustrate this point, the first bike shelter as well as beehives were placed within the grounds of the MOD. In the first half of 2020, the MOD successfully carried out 5 projects to remediate environmental burdens in Piešťany, Martin, Michalovce, Sliač and Jamník, with €9m of funding secured from the EU Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF).
Also in the first six months, the MOD began work on the SVK Defence Strategy and the Action Plan For Fight Against Hybrid Threats, as well as launching close cooperation with the NGO sector and a real debate on the SVK defence industry′s involvement in the modernisation projects of the SVK Armed Forces.
For more information on the MOD′s activities and projects over the past six months, you can download the enclosed PDF file.
Defence Minister Jaroslav Naď said: “We took over the Ministry of Defence in a difficult situation and our priority task was to do the maximum we could to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 6,300 service members were involved in the first wave of coronavirus, they transported 2,000 tonnes of material and took almost 11,000 swab samples. My sincere thanks go out to all those who participated in containing the whole situation, as well as continuing to conscientiously perform their everyday primary duties.”
He continued: “As an opposition politician I would hear about the problems that existed in Defence. This was so not just because I pointed to all unfair practices and cases of incompetence, but also because I received letters from regular soldiers asking me for help. I knew if I were to get a chance, one of my challenges would be to take things forward and do things better. I would continue to promote the principles of responsibility and transparency across all areas of MOD management in order to benefit SVK citizens and members of the SVK Armed Forces.”
Reflecting on the achievements over the first six months, the head of the MOD pointed out that the new MOD leadership was successful in declassifying some documents which had been classified for years, for example, the contracts to supply 14 F-16 fighter jets and UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, the Comprehensive Defence Review (CDR) of the Slovak Republic, and the Service Inquiry Report into the Hejce Air Disaster. The new leaders also addressed the much-debated topic of obsolete and inoperable military hardware and infrastructure, the state of which was more than alarming.
“We put a stop to the non-transparent purchases of military equipment and reinvested the money into restoring the infrastructure which had been left to go to rack and ruin before the soldiers′ eyes. We also got the management of our MOD-owned companies back in order – wherever doubts arose over cases of Defence estate mismanagement compromising the principles of effectiveness and purposefulness,” he added, noting that the MOD saved considerable resources by such expenditure-optimising measures. On procurement, we delivered savings of over €2m. Additionally, work has still been underway on a new public procurement directive in order to simplify and streamline the public procurement processes.
The MOD was also committed to translating the ideas of a “greener ministry” into practice. To illustrate this point, the first bike shelter as well as beehives were placed within the grounds of the MOD. In the first half of 2020, the MOD successfully carried out 5 projects to remediate environmental burdens in Piešťany, Martin, Michalovce, Sliač and Jamník, with €9m of funding secured from the EU Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF).
Also in the first six months, the MOD began work on the SVK Defence Strategy and the Action Plan For Fight Against Hybrid Threats, as well as launching close cooperation with the NGO sector and a real debate on the SVK defence industry′s involvement in the modernisation projects of the SVK Armed Forces.
For more information on the MOD′s activities and projects over the past six months, you can download the enclosed PDF file.
