| Richard Takáč | |
| Office1: | Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development |
| Primeminister1: | Robert Fico |
| Termstart1: | 25 October 2023 |
| Predecessor1: | Jozef Bíreš |
| Office2: | Member of the National Council |
| Termstart2: | 20 March 2020 |
| Termend2: | 25 October 2023 |
| Birth Date: | 10 May 1982 |
| Birth Place: | Prievidza, Czechoslovakia |
| Party: | Direction – Social Democracy |
| Education: | Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra |
| Spouse: | Petra Krištúfková |
Richard Takáč (born 10 May 1982) is a Slovak politician who has served as Minister of Agriculture of Slovakia since 2023.[1] He is also a former deputy of the Trenčín self-governing region and a deputy of the city of Prievidza.[2]
Takáč was born on 10 May 1982 in Prievidza.[3] His father was a miner whilst his mother worked as a saleswoman.[4] He graduated from the Secondary Vocational School of Agriculture in 1996 and 2000, later Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources of the Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra.[5] During the first government of Smer with ĽS-HZDS and SNS from 2006 until 2010, he served as head of the Prievidza branch of Slovak Land Fund and worked there until 2011.[6]
In the 2010 Slovak parliamentary election, Takáč was elected as a city deputy in the fourth electoral district in Prievidza as a nominee of the parties SMER-SD and SNS.[7]
In the 2013 Slovak regional elections, Takáč ran for the SMER-SD party as a deputy of the Trenčín Self-Governing Region (TSK), and was elected with 3,054 votes.[8] He was one of the vice-chairmen of the TSK between 2014 and 2018.[9] Later, Takáč was re-elected as a Priévidz city councilor, winning 774 votes as a SMER-SD candidate.[10]
In the 2017 Slovak regional elections, Takáč was re-elected as a member of the Trenčín VÚC in the elections to the bodies of self-governing regions, receiving 5,625 votes as a candidate of the SMER-SD party.[11]
In the 2018 Slovak local elections, Takáč ran as a candidate of the SMER-SD, SNS, and Green Party coalition for the post of mayor of Prievidza.[12] Takáč finished second place with 3,674 votes (23.7%), only to be re-elected after losing against defending mayor .[13]
In the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election, Takáč finished 34th place of SMER-SD candidate with 2,217 preferential votes.[14] He served as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development for reviewing the decisions of the NBU.[15] At the SMER-SD party congress on 18 July 2020, Takáč was elected vice-chairman of the party.[16]
In the 2022 Slovak regional elections, Takač finished fourth place with 9,189 votes.[17] He later ran for the post of deputy of Prievidza, defending his mandate as a SMERu-SD candidate with a gain of 908 votes.[18] Takač gave up his mandates in the councils of the city of Prievidza and the Trenčín self-governing region after being appointed as a minister in October 2023.[19] [20]
In the 2023 Slovak parliamentary election, Takáč finished fourth place with 68,842 preferential votes and was elected as a member of the National Council of Slovakia, but did not take over the mandate.[21]