President Zuzana Čaputová and Prime Minister Eduard Heger on behalf of the government have condemned the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his government after the country invaded Ukraine yesterday. They both expressed their support and solidarity with the Ukrainian people.
What does the invasion mean for Slovakia and its economy?
The Railway Company of Slovakia (ZSSK) announced they are halting the operation of all passenger trains to Ukraine. Bus connections still seem to be working. There are reports of traffic jams at the border crossing from Ukraine to Slovakia at Uzhhorod, as people are waiting more than two hours to flee the country.
Deputy Prime Minister Veronika Remišová said that Slovakia is dangerously dependent on the supply of energy from Russian state companies. The supply of Russian gas passing through Ukraine has not been affected so far though – in fact, the volume of transported gas is increasing.
U. S. Steel Košice said that in the event of supply failure of iron ore from Ukraine and Russia, their stocks should keep the production up for 90 days. They are closely monitoring the situation.
Even though Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of wheat and corn worldwide, the Slovak Agriculture and Food Chamber (SPPK) said Slovakia is not dependent on the two countries for the import of cereals, oilseeds, fruits, or vegetables.
The Czechoslovak split is widening
Almost 30 years after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the two independent nations have a lot in common: they’re members of the EU and NATO, and their economic growth is driven by car production and close cooperation with Germany.
Despite this, the standard of living in the Czech Republic is much higher. While they reach 94% of the EU average, Slovakia is only on 71%. The Czech Republic trumps us in public debt, unemployment rate, and average wages too.
Take a look at the Czechoslovak split in a series of graphs. Between 2011 and 2019, both our GDP rates were outperforming the EU average. Unemployment numbers aren’t so positive: while the average rate in the Czech Republic was only 4.2% between 2012 and 2021, the Slovak unemployment rate was 9.6%.
In the past decade, the Slovak economy has started to lag behind the Czech one. “The domestic economy is still significantly linked to decisions of the central government, which is not highly efficient. It would be much better to give a free hand to businessmen to look for solutions themselves,” said analyst Boris Tomčiak in an interview for TREND.
Energy prices: Slovak households have some of the lowest electricity prices in Europe. The price doesn’t include a contribution to green electricity, which is a standard practice in the Czech Republic. However, the Slovak industry has no concessions like these and therefore struggles to compete with foreign companies. This mainly affects the iron and steel industry, metallurgy, cement production, and woodworking.
Other stories of the week
- The Association of Slovak Hospitals (ANS) is threatening to terminate the contract with the General Health Insurance Company because they consider their finance proposal for 2022 inadequate. The Association of Outpatient Providers (ZAP) has now joined them too.
- The first mobile hydrogen filling station has been launched in Trnava. Minister of Economy Richard Sulík attended the opening ceremony and said the National Hydrogen Strategy has more projects like these in stock.
- Despite congratulating Slovak hockey players on their bronze from Beijing, the government is considering a piece of legislation that would restrict the flow of finances to volunteers in sport. If the state reduces the financial compensation it pays to volunteers, sport will become less attractive for them. This would be another blow after harsh pandemic measures.
- Bratislava is expanding rapidly. In 2011, there were 411,000 people living in the city; in 2021, the number rose to 475,000, and according to the local authority the real number might be even higher. The capital acts like a hoover, sucking out the population of all the other cities, who, aside from Žilina, have all been losing residents. Check out TREND’s interactive map to see how each city fares.
- On the fourth anniversary of the murder of journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová, the spontaneously set up remembrance place in the SNP Square was turned into a permanent memorial. It was created by students and teachers from the Faculty of Architecture and Design at the Slovak University of Technology.
Thank you for reading.
See you next week
