Andrej Ďurkovský (born 5 September 1958) is a Slovak politician and former member of the

Christian Democratic Movement The Christian Democratic Movement ( sk, Kresťanskodemokratické hnutie, KDH) is a Christian-democratic political party in Slovakia that is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and an observer of the Centrist Democrat International. H ...

(KDH). After being elected the

mayor of Bratislava The Mayor of Bratislava ( sk, Primátor Bratislavy) is the highest political representative of the Slovak capital Bratislava. The Mayor's office is located in the Primate's Palace. Since 2018 the office has been held by Matúš Vallo, an architect ...

twice – from 2002 to 2010 – he was elected into the

National Council of the Slovak Republic The National Council of the Slovak Republic ( sk, Národná rada Slovenskej republiky), abbreviated to ''NR SR'', is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameral and consists of 150 members, who are elected by universal suffrage under ...

(NR SR) in the

2010 Slovak parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia on 12 June 2010. The elections were contested by eighteen parties, six of which passed the 5% threshold for sitting in parliament. Despite the incumbent Smer of Prime Minister Robert Fico winning a p ...

. In the Slovak capital, he remains a controversial figure because of construction activities lowering the quality of life in the city, but many of his scandals resonated also on a nationwide level and culminated in Ďurkovský being forced to voluntarily leave his political party KDH in 2011.

Early career

Ďurkovský attended the ''I. Horváth gymnasium'' in

Ružinov Ružinov (, hu, Főrév, german: Rosenheim) is a borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, located in the Bratislava II district. It is the city's second most populated borough, housing over 80,000 inhabitants and its Nivy neighbourhood is ...

and continued his studies at the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the

Slovak University of Technology Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STU) ( sk, Slovenská technická univerzita v Bratislave) is the biggest and oldest university of technology in Slovakia. In the 2012 Academic Ranking of World Universities it was ranked in the fi ...

in 1982, both in Bratislava. In 1988 he took part in the

Candle demonstration in Bratislava The Candle demonstration ( sk, sviečková demonštrácia) on 25 March 1988 in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, was the first mass demonstration since 1969 against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The demonstration was organized by ...

. From 1983 to 1990 he was employed in ''Hydroconsult, š.p. Bratislava'' as the main project leader (''pojektant''). In 1990 he worked as a project manager in ''Project office Vasko'' in

Wien en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Political career

He entered politics after the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

and became a member of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) in 1990. In 1994, he became mayor of the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

and remained there until 2002, when he was elected as the

. He was reelected, having won municipal election in 2006, and served his second term until 2010. Afterwards, he decided to not run for the office the third time.

Controversy

Despite making suspicious political decisions even as the mayor of the Old Town borough of Bratislava (for example the scandal with giving out city flats, where Ďurkovský sold a 4-room flat in the historical city center for 1813 € to the current head of his political party

Ján Figeľ Ján Figeľ (born 20 January 1960 in Čaklov) is a Slovak politician. Figeľ served as European Commissioner from 2004 to 2009, then as Slovak minister of Transports from 2010 to 2012. From 2016 to 2019 he was European Commission special envo ...

among others), it was in his position as the mayor of Bratislava where Ďurkovský generated most controversy. Among his scandals are: ''(source: Trend 48, 2 December 2010)'' * the unanswered question why the city sold land under and next to

Park kultúry a oddychu Park kultúry a oddychu abbreviated PKO ( en, Park of Culture and Relaxation) and in the past commonly referred to as ''Pekáč'' was a complex of buildings in Bratislava, Slovakia on the Bratislava Riverfront by the Danube, built in 1954 and dem ...

for one third of the price of similar land where the

Eurovea M. R. Štefánik Square in Eurovea in Bratislava. Eurovea is a business, retail and residential complex in Bratislava, Slovakia, in the Pribinova Zone at the border of Old Town and the borough or Ružinov, between the Old Bridge and the Apollo B ...

development now stands * numerous parcels of lucrative land in the city sold without public competition * purposefully kept the rules for the development of Bratislava unclear and vague * numerous non-residential estates belonging to the city of Bratislava that ended up in the hands of local "tough boys" and mafia, converted into gambling parlors or pubs In the 2010 Slovak municipal election, his latest scandal concerning the demolishing of

in Bratislava became one of the key points in that election that contributed to the shifting of political power from the right to left (Ďurkovský being a politician leaning towards

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of Liberty, freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convent ...

). In January 2011, the police started investigation in the ''Bratislava water company'' ( sk, Bratislavská vodárenská spoločnosť), which was one of the reasons for Ďurkovský's forced departure from his political party KDH, which he co-founded in 1990. Former Prime minister of Slovakia

Robert Fico Robert Fico (; born 15 September 1964) is a Slovak politician who served as the prime minister of Slovakia from 2006 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2018 (when he resigned). He has been the first leader of the Direction – Social Democracy (SMER-SD) p ...

described Ďurkovský's activities in the company as "robbery of the century".

Other activities and personal life

* Foundation Prameň - Member of the Board of Administrators * Nadácia Bratislava - Director of the Board of Administrators * Slovak University of Technology (''STU''), Faculty of construction - Honorary member of the Science Council *

Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava The Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava ( sk, Vysoká škola múzických umení v Bratislave, abbr. VŠMU) is a university founded on June 9, 1949. The university consists of three faculties: *''Theatre Faculty'' (Acting, Directing, Dramatu ...

(''VŠMU'') - Member of the Board of Administrators * Bratislava High School of Law, Faculty of Masmedia - Member of the Science Council Andrej Ďurkovský is married since 1986 with his wife Františka and has three children - sons Filip and Michal and daughter Mária. His wife is active in NGOs aimed at helping

autistic The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

people, since one of the Ďurkovský children has autism. Ďurkovský speaks fluently English and German. He enjoys bicycling, sport diving and photography.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durkovsky, Andrej 1958 births Living people Christian Democratic Movement politicians Mayors of Bratislava Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava alumni