A Slovak court ruled today that central bank governor and European Central Bank policymaker Peter Kazimir is guilty of corruption, a judge said.
The Specialised Criminal Court ruled Kazimir must pay a €200,000 fine or face a one-year prison sentence, Judge Milan Cisarik said.
The verdict can be appealed and therefore does not automatically take effect or force him out of office.
Kazimir, who maintains his innocence, said he would appeal to Slovakia's Supreme Court, and "if need be to the European Court of Justice".
The judge ruled that while Kazimir was finance minister in 2012-2019, he had handed a €48,000 bribe to the then head of the national tax administration for expediting tax returns to several companies.
"He provided a bribe to a public official with the aim of gaining unfair advantage," the judge said.
Kazimir, who is a member of the ECB's rate-setting governing council, did not attend the ruling while on a business trip to Hong Kong.
He said in a pre-recorded message played by Slovak TA3 television before the ruling that he had never paid any bribe to his subordinate.
Kazimir said his alleged crime should also have been dismissed based on the statute of limitations. He said a new legal qualification the judge used to bypass the statute was invalid as it did not apply in 2017-2018 when the actions under scrutiny are meant to have taken place.
The case dates back to Kazimir's previous position as finance minister for the SMER-SSD party - which is now back in power - before he became the central bank governor in 2019.
Kazimir's current six-year term ends on June 1, but he is expected to stay on, in line with the law, until a decision on whether he will be granted another term or replaced.
Slovak central bank governors are nominated by the government, approved by parliament and appointed by the president. The government has not yet made any nomination.
The central bank said it took note of the verdict.
"The bank continues to operate without any limitations and performs its duties to the full extent," a spokesman said.
