More than 205 000 Ukrainian refugees have crossed the border to Slovakia in the past three weeks. For Slovakia, a country where politicians traditionally advocate for anti-immigration policies, it is a drastic turn.
For every 1,000 Slovaks, there are 38 Ukrainian refugees. The ratio is higher only in Poland, where most refugees head, and the small country of Moldova. Prime Minister Eduard Heger said that currently between 10,000 and 13,000 refugees are registered at the Slovak border every day, but we must prepare for up to 20,000.
On Tuesday, the Parliament passed a law regarding additional measures connected to the situation in Ukraine. Part of it outlines the sum that people receive for providing accommodation to the refugees. Based on the number of rooms provided, people can receive between 500 and 1,250 euros a month.
Many refugees coming to Slovakia are proficient in English and have higher level qualifications. According to the portal Profesia.sk, more than half of Ukrainian speakers applying for jobs have a university education. Most applicants are women, who came to the country with their children while their husbands had to stay behind.
However, the infamous Slovak bureaucracy can hinder their employment. Getting proof of professional competence, university degree, or relevant experience can prove difficult and needs to be addressed within Lex Ukraine.
Embassy in Ukraine: Ministry of Foreign Affairs has moved the Slovak embassy from Kyiv to Uzhhorod, Ukraine. With this move, Slovakia wants to show it remains present in Ukraine.
Conflict in healthcare may impact its quality
Small and medium hospitals have still not agreed on a deal with insurance companies concerning the financing of healthcare in 2022. Hospitals are asking for more money from insurance companies due to higher energy prices and inflation. A spokesperson of the insurance company Union said there will be 282m euros missing in the public health insurance system.
The hospitals are considering withdrawing from the contracts with the General Health Insurance Company, meaning people insured there would only be treated in urgent cases. Unless hospital resources increase, dozens of hospitals might cancel their contract with all health insurance companies.
The Slovak Medical Chamber believes that health insurance companies ought to convert the increased financing for the healthcare sector into higher payments for medical services. Otherwise, the quality and availability of these services might be reduced.
Minister of Finance Igor Matovič said he’ll be allocating additional 365m euros to the healthcare sector compared with the previous year. However, Union has criticised this plan and claims that the sector will gain only 100m euros in reality.
Slovakia struggles with the digital world
The current state of the IT system is identical to the one the government inherited from their predecessors. The problems are rooted in a lack of people, weak communication, and cumbersome bureaucracy.
IT and cybersecurity are indispensable for companies as well as the state. However, the prices for IT professionals are rising as the demand for them is greater than their numbers. This is reflected in the disparities between the state and private IT sector, which differ in their offered salaries by almost 1,000 euros.
There are differences in cybersecurity in the private sector too. While Slovak finance companies and banks have excellent, world-class security, medium and small businesses are often vulnerable to cyberattacks, most of which come from Russian IP addresses.
Other stories of the week
- In the latest report on the state of democracy from the US non-governmental organisation Freedom House, Slovakia got 90 points out of 100, putting us ahead of the US and just behind the Czech Republic with 91 points.
- However, the Intrum Financial Wellbeing Barometer placed Slovakia on the bottom of EU countries.
- Stop Corruption Foundation said the government has not fulfilled even a third of their anti-corruption promises. Two years ago, the organisation put together a list of 24 most important promises of the incumbent cabinet, only seven of which they deem fulfilled.
- National Bank of Slovakia has launched a calculator that tells their clients the actual price of their loan – the annual percentage rate of charge (APR) – which serves for comparing the lucrativeness of different loans.
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