Pursuant to Act No. 315/2016 Coll. on the Register of Public Sector Partners and on Amendments to Certain Acts (hereinafter referred to as the “Act on the Public Sector Partners Register”), the Public Sector Partners Register shall include, among other things, information regarding whether the ultimate beneficial owner of the public sector partner or any other person in the ownership or management structure of the public sector partner is a public official performing a public function in the Slovak Republic.
Under this provision, a public-sector partner is required to inform the authorized person whether the aforementioned individuals hold public office or not. Since only public functions performed in the Slovak Republic are entered in the register of public sector partners, a public function performed by a person abroad (e.g., in the Czech Republic) is not relevant for entry into the register of public sector partners.
Under current legislation, a public official is a person whose position is exhaustively defined in Article 2(1) of Constitutional Act No. 357/2004 Coll. on the protection of the public interest in the performance of the functions of public officials, and therefore the registration requirement applies to the following positions:
a) the President of the Slovak Republic,
b) members of the National Council of the Slovak Republic,
c) members of the Government of the Slovak Republic,
d) heads of central state administration bodies who are not members of the Government of the Slovak Republic,
e) judges of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic,
f) the President and Vice President of the Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic,
g) members of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic,
h) the Prosecutor General of the Slovak Republic and the Special Prosecutor,
i) the Public Defender of Rights, the Commissioner for Children, and the Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities,
j) the President and Vice-Presidents of the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic,
k) State Secretaries,
l) the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic,
m) the Director of the Slovak Information Service,
n) members of the Bank Council of the National Bank of Slovakia,
o) mayors of municipalities,
p) mayors of cities,
q) members of city councils and members of district councils in Bratislava and Košice,
r) chairpersons of higher territorial units,
s) members of higher territorial unit councils,
t) rectors of public universities,
u) the chairperson and vice-chairperson of the Office for Personal Data Protection,
v) the Director General of Slovak Radio and Television and members of the Council of Slovak Radio and Television,
w) the Director General of the Social Insurance Agency and members of the Supervisory Board of the Social Insurance Agency,
x) the statutory body or members of the statutory body of the General Health Insurance Company and members of the Supervisory Board of the General Health Insurance Company,
y) the Director General of the Press Agency of the Slovak Republic and members of the Board of Directors of the Press Agency of the Slovak Republic,
z) members of the Council for Broadcasting and Retransmission and the director of its office,
za) the Chair and Vice-Chairs of the Regulatory Office for Network Industries and members of the Regulatory Council,
zb) the Chair and Vice-Chairs of the Office for the Regulation of Electronic Communications and Postal Services, and the Chair and Vice-Chairs of the Transport Authority,
zc) the statutory body or members of the statutory body, members of the management body and members of the supervisory body or supervisory board of legal entities whose appointment is directly or indirectly proposed or made by the state or a legal entity wholly owned by the state,
zd) the director of a state-owned enterprise and members of the supervisory board of a state-owned enterprise appointed by the state, and, in the event of the liquidation of a state-owned enterprise, the liquidator,
ze) the Director General and Deputy Director General of the Slovak Land Fund and members of the Board of the Slovak Land Fund,
zf) the President of the Financial Directorate of the Slovak Republic,
zg) the chairperson and members of the board of the Institute of National Memory,
(zh) the Director General of the Slovak Railways,
zi) members of the statutory body of the Export-Import Bank of the Slovak Republic,
zj) the Chair and members of the Supervisory Board of the Health Care Supervision Office,
zk) the Chair and members of the Council for Budgetary Responsibility,
zl) the President and Vice Presidents of the Police Force of the Slovak Republic,
zm) the Director of Military Intelligence,
zn) the Head of the Office of the President of the Slovak Republic, the Head of the Office of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, the Head of the Office of the Public Defender of Rights, the Head of the Office of the Judicial Council of the Slovak Republic, the Head of the Office of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic,
(zo) the Secretaries-General of the administrative offices of central state administration bodies,
(zp) public officials not listed in subparagraphs (a) through (zo), if so provided by law.
(https://www.slov-lex.sk/pravne-predpisy/SK/ZZ/2004/357/20200101.html)
Since Article 2(1) of Constitutional Act No. 357/2004 Coll. on the protection of the public interest in the performance of public functions was amended with effect from January 1, 2020, to include several public functions (such as mayor), we ask our public sector partners to thoroughly assess whether the obligation to register the performance of a public function by the persons concerned as public officials in the Slovak Republic applies in light of the above.
