Slovak Central Bank Governor Found Guilty of Corruption

A Slovak court found central bank governor Peter Kazimir guilty of corruption in a ruling delivered on Thursday. Kazimir, who also serves as an ECB policymaker, was ordered to pay a 200,000 euro fine or potentially face a one-year prison term, as announced by Judge Milan Cisarik.

The decision can be appealed, allowing Kazimir to remain in office for the time being. He has maintained his innocence and plans to appeal the verdict to Slovakia's Supreme Court and, if necessary, to the European Court of Justice. The charges stem from an accusation of a 48,000-euro bribe Kazimir allegedly offered in his former role as finance minister from 2012 to 2019.

While the ruling does not inherently impact his current position, operations at the Slovak central bank remain unaffected. Kazimir, who was absent due to a business trip to Hong Kong, expressed his intention to contest the ruling, citing issues with the statute of limitations that should have dismissed the case.

(With inputs from agencies.)