San Francisco Frontiers - 'Overpriced Dubai skyscraper': Slovaks outraged by ministry's $61-mn HQ

Known popularly as the "corn" because of its resemblance to the summer barbecue staple, the towering former communist-era barracks' facelift is already under scrutiny for potential misuse of the central European country's public funds.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" beamed the minister, Robert Kalinak, one of Prime Minister Robert Fico's closest allies, as he opened the building in the capital Bratislava to the public on Thursday.

Many disagreed. "An overpriced Dubai skyscraper" was among the many critical comments on social media, while lawmaker Gabor Grendel of the opposition Slovensko party called it "the most expensive corn in the world".

The prosecutor's office is already investigating a criminal complaint regarding the 958,000-euro renovation of the tower's surrounding 700-metre wall, for which workers were painting a brick-effect concrete facade instead of laying brick cladding. Kalinak has denied any wrongdoing.

Visitors to Thursday's public unveiling were treated to price tags on display throughout the building, listing both market prices and what the ministry said it claimed it had paid instead.

- Eye of Sauron memes -

According to the ministry, a sofa originally listed at 4,500 euros cost taxpayers around 2,000 euros, while a coat rack was reduced from 620 euros to 330 euros. A small kitchenette installed on each floor cost nearly 8,000 euros, excluding appliances.

In the meantime, the tower's 400,000-euro outdoor LED screen has been turned off for months after online memes re-imagined it as the baleful eye of Sauron's fortress of Barad-dur from "The Lord of the Rings".

Opposition lawmaker Veronika Remisova said the lavish spending on the minister's new office was inappropriate at a time when the government is tightening the public finances, accusing Kalinak of living a "sheikh's lifestyle".

Kalinak defended the outlay, describing the furnishings as being of "mid-range standard" from durable materials and claiming they would last 30 to 50 years.

Slovakia, which joined the EU and NATO in 2004, has spent two percent of its GDP on defence since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in line with historic NATO guidelines.

But the central bank expects that to fall below the target this year, with many blaming austerity and rifts within Fico's ruling coalition over defence spending and aid to Ukraine.

Y.Gomez--SFF