Peter Žiga

Slovak politician

Peter Žiga


Speaker of the National Council
Acting
Assumed office 7 April 2024
President	Zuzana Čaputová
Preceded by	Peter Pellegrini
Succeeded by	TBD
Deputy Speaker of the National Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 25 October 2023 Serving with Ľuboš Blaha, Andrej Danko and Michal Šimečka
Speaker	Peter Pellegrini Himself (acting)
Member of the National Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 March 2020
In office 8 July 2010 – 4 April 2012
Minister of Economy
In office 23 March 2016 – 21 March 2020
Prime Minister	Robert Fico Peter Pellegrini
Preceded by	Vazil Hudák
Succeeded by	Richard Sulík
Minister of Environment
In office 4 April 2012 – 23 March 2016
Prime Minister	Robert Fico
Preceded by	József Nagy
Succeeded by	László Sólymos
Undersecretary of Economy
In office 19 July 2006 – 8 July 2010
Minister	Ľubomír Jahnátek

Personal details
Born	(1972-07-27) 27 July 1972 (age 51) Košice, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia)
Political party	Voice – Social Democracy (since 2020)
Other political affiliations	Direction – Social Democracy (until 2020)
Spouse	Renáta Žigová
Children	2
Education	University of Economics in Bratislava

Peter Žiga (born 27 July 1972 in Košice, Czechoslovakia) is a Slovak politician and businessman, a member of the National Council for Voice – Social Democracy (Hlas-SD), and previously Direction – Social Democracy (SMER-SD). He was formerly Minister of the Environment (2012–2016) and Minister of the Economy (2016–2020) of Slovakia.

Political career

Žiga served as a state secretary for the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic from 2006 to 2010. He was a SMER-SD Member of Parliament from 2010 to 2012, returning in 2012 to be Minister of the Environment. In 2016, he moved to become Minister of Economy.

In June 2020, Žiga left SMER-SD with 10 fellow MPs and former prime minister Peter Pellegrini, to establish a new political party, Voice – Social Democracy (Hlas-SD).

Corruption allegations

Since the beginning of his term as Minister of the Environment, Žiga has been investigated for corruption related to state-owned forests, from which his own private company is alleged to have benefited.^[1]^[2] The current government, elected in 2020, has launched investigations into several cases dating from during Žiga's tenure at the Ministry of the Environment, including alleged theft of public funds and Eurofunds, signing of unfavorable contracts for the export of timber, and channelling of millions in European Union subsidies to companies connected with SMER-SD.^[3]

References

^ "Staronovému ministrovi Žigovi sype jeho biznis s drevom stále viac". Trend.sk. 23 March 2016. Retrieved 4 Jun 2020.
^ "Do vyšetrovania Žigovej firmy sa zapojil Kováčik". Sme.sk. 25 June 2019. Retrieved 4 Jun 2020.
^ "Polícia obvinila z korupcie bývalého manažéra štátnych lesov". Sme.sk. Retrieved 4 Jun 2020.