Stop Corruption Foundation
Stop Corruption Foundation () is a non-profit organization based in Bratislava, Slovakia. It was founded in 2014. Its nonprofit purpose is to take action against corruption in Slovakia. Its main focus is raising awareness of corruption and possible solutions, to engage the general public in questions of public interest, to help whistleblowers. It supports investigative journalism and promotes systematic measures necessary for an effective fight against corruption. History. The organization was founded] by Slovak entrepreneurs and , with the aim of reducing corruption] and its destructive effects on quality of life in Slovakia. A small team is made  up of investigative journalists, a lawyer providing support for whistleblowers and young managers of the Stop Corruption community who work to engage and motivate young people in Slovakia to take an interest in public events. Within the scope of the activity they collaborate with law firms and lawyers who assist them in bringing cases to the Office for Public Procurement, the Supreme Audit Office, and represent whistleblowers who turn to them for help. Funding. The non-profit organization functions mainly with the financial support of Miroslav Trnka, 2% tax donations from the public and part of the finances comes from  donations by individuals and companies who wish to contribute to the fight against corruption in Slovakia. All costs and income are disclosed each year in an annual report. In 2018, income of the Foundation amounted to €286,132.02, while Trnka's financial donations represented nearly 84% of the organisation’s annual budget. Staff. Founders. Miroslav Trnka (born in 1961) is Slovak businessman and philanthropist. He graduated the Slovak University of Technology in Trnava (Slovakia) in Automated management systems. In 1987, together with Peter Paško discovered one of the world’s first computer viruses and developed an antivirus code for its  detection. After the fall of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia, they established a cybersecurity firm Eset, which is now operating in more than 200 countries and territories. Michal Bláha (born in 1964) is also Slovak businessman and former member of the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly. He graduated from the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (Slovakia) in Architecture. In the final year of the studies, he got involved in the revolutionary political anti-communist movement Public Against Violence, which he later, after the 1990 Czech legislative election, represented in the Federal Assembly. After the disintegration of Czechoslovakia and loss of his  mandate in the Assembly, Blaha founded an advertising company MARK BBDO in Bratislava. Directors. Zuzana Petková is director of Stop Corruption Foundation. She is also former investigative journalist and reporter, who worked in a number of Slovak broadsheet newspapers, including "SME", "Trend and "Hospodárske noviny", and has been the Managing director of Stop Corruption Foundation since August 2018. She holds a degree in Journalism from Comenius University in Bratislava. In her career as a journalist she uncovered several corruption scandals, and three times was awarded the National Journalism Award. In 2019, she received the US Embassy's "Woman of Courage  Award, for her “unflinching resolve to inform the Slovak public about corruption and take steps to combat”. Pavel Sibyla is a former director of the Stop Corruption Foundation. He is a former journalist and writer, who had worked in several broadsheet newspapers before becoming a managing director of the Foundation. As a reporter for a weekly business magazine TREND", Sybila alongside his co-worker wrote a winning article of the national round of the European Annual Journalist Award 2010. In 2013, he founded a non-governmental journalist platform, which focuses on covering interesting and resonating topics in a society. In  the period from 2014 to 2015, he was the head of the Internal Affairs section in the Office of the former President of the Slovak republic Andrej Kiska. In 2018 he entered politics. Activities. The foundation also launched its own investigative online programme, which monitors cases where laws are violated and power is abused. Another activity is the foundation's website that monitors how EU Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund are spent in Slovakia.