MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, 5 July 2025 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, 4 July): BRATISLAVA - At Friday's meeting with representatives of the Slovak automotive industry, the government plans to assess what is bothering the sector the most and offer it a number of solutions, said Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) before the special cabinet meeting on Friday, adding that the government expects the other side to offer its ideas as well. "We're going to offer a number of solutions which we've been discussing for a long time, and we're waiting for their input regarding how we can help them even more to maintain the competitiveness and production of our automotive industry here in Slovakia. There are many of these suggestions, and we're expecting opinions from the automotive industry [representatives] in order to decide which specific projects we should support," said the minister. According to Sakova, the competitiveness of Slovakia and the whole EU is threatened most by high energy prices at the moment. Therefore, Slovak representatives regularly discuss this issue with representatives of the European Commission (EC), she said. "We need the European Union to present us not only with medium- and long-term solutions, but also with short-term ones that we can implement immediately,“ the minister stressed, adding that her ministry is preparing targeted energy aid for next year, which must ultimately be decided by the government. Before the meeting, Slovak Automotive Industry Association (ZAP) president Alexander Matusek pointed to several problems that the Slovak Economy is currently facing. "We have to do something about our competitiveness and orientation. We've published data several times this year on where investments in Slovakia are coming from, and, unfortunately, it's not from the countries that our government, our prime minister [Robert Fico from Smer-SD party] visit. So we have to think about this somewhat," stated Matusek. In this context, Sakova stressed that the current government is aiming to pursue foreign policy oriented in all four cardinal directions. "We've identified markets that are growing rapidly, in which we want to be active, and this is also related to the issues that we'll be addressing today; that is, the Indo-Pacific area, as well as the countries of the Global South, where there's a huge amount of room for engagement. But, of course, we have to primarily focus on our relationship with the European Union, as 80 percent of our trade is conducted via EU countries, and our main tie is with the Federal Republic of Germany, where the level of trade is enormous and mainly linked to car production - the sector which is most threatened [in Slovakia]," stated Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD). BRATISLAVA - Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) has deprived Slovak farmers of more than one billion euros that could have been used by farmers, food producers and foresters for proper rural development, said opposition MP Marian Caucik (Christian Democratic Movement/KDH) at a press conference on Friday, adding that Takac should stop blaming previous governments for problems and examine his own failures at the ministry. According to Caucik, Takac failed to take action against foot-and-mouth disease in Slovakia. When compared to the other V4 countries, Slovakia was the worst affected country right after Hungary, he said, adding that no measures had been implemented to actually prevent the disease. He went on to criticise the high costs of combating this disease, which amounted to over €100 million, while the Czech Republic spent only €3 million. Another issue mentioned was the drought that has affected vast parts of Slovakia this year and will have a further impact on silage and haylage for livestock. According to the opposition MP, the minister has taken no action in this area and has announced zero calls to deal with the consequences of the drought, resulting in Slovakia losing €50 million. Caucik stated that the ministry has long had problems related to the Common Agricultural Policy, and he highlighted that Minister Takac announced calls totalling to only 4.03 percent of available funds from October 2023 to the end of June of this year. According to the opposition MP, the minister is also unable to account for the use of funds for the new period of 2023-2027. "The allocated available resources for 2023 exceeded €260 million. And how many calls have been announced? None at all," added Caucik, stating that the minister owes Slovak farmers more than €700 million. In total, all these items amount to over €1 billion, he said. BRATISLAVA - Automakers operating in Slovakia are already feeling the negative impact of the new US import tariffs on cars, with a decline in orders for the third quarter of the year, Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) said on Friday following a special session of the government. According to her, specific figures are not yet available and may be considered to be trade secrets. The export shortfall to the USA is affecting two major car manufacturers in Slovakia in particular – Volkswagen and Jaguar Land Rover. "Our latest information indicates that there is already a decline in orders for these two companies in the third production quarter, and the effects are starting to show,” said Sakova. She added that the government is working to open up new markets where these companies could redirect their products. Talks between the European Union and the United States are ongoing, led by European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic. However, Sakova noted that no progress has been made so far. Current tariffs on car imports to the US stand at 27.5 percent, consisting of a long-standing 2.5 percent base rate and an additional 25 percent imposed by the new US administration under Donald Trump. If no agreement is reached, the EU has prepared retaliatory measures targeting US exports, said the minister. Addressing concerns over a possible relocation of car production to the USA, Sakova stressed that such a move is neither simple nor rapidly carried out. "Relocating these investments is a medium- to long-term process. It's unrealistic to think that car production could shift in just one or two years,” she said, adding that based on experience in Slovakia, such a process could take four to six years. Sakova also cited data from the Slovak central bank (NBS), which estimates that the new US tariff policy could impact Slovakia’s economy by approximately 2.9 percent of its GDP, with two-thirds of that directly affecting the automotive sector. The United States is the second-most important market for Slovak carmakers, accounting for over 10 percent of their exports. When it comes to the two most affected companies, exports to the US represent 20 to 25 percent of their total production. BRATISLAVA - Opposition MP Richard Dubovicky (Progressive Slovakia/PS) has filed a complaint with the Supreme Audit Authority (NKU), calling for an investigation into the financial management of the state-funded organization Slovakia Travel, TASR learnt on Friday. Dubovicky cited serious concerns regarding the effectiveness, purposefulness, and cost-efficiency of how public funds are being used by the agency, which plays a key role in promoting inbound tourism to Slovakia. According to the lawmaker, the most pressing issue is the complete lack of a publicly available strategy or vision, which hampers systematic planning and oversight of expenditures. „Without a clear concept, it is very difficult to speak of efficient financial management,” he stated. He also raised alarm over the sharp decline in foreign tourists visiting Slovakia in 2024, despite the organization spending millions to support inbound tourism. At the same time, Slovakia Travel reportedly invested heavily in campaigns aimed at domestic tourism — an area that, Dubovicky emphasized, falls outside its primary mandate. „The contract registry shows repeated deals with the same consultants and marketing service providers, with questionable benefits. Furthermore, there is no clear evaluation of the return on investment from Slovakia’s participation in the Expo exhibition in Japan,” Dubovicky added. As a result, he is urging the NKU to carry out a comprehensive audit of Slovakia Travel’s budget planning, marketing expenditures, contractual relationships, and overall alignment of its activities with its core mission — promoting Slovakia abroad. He stressed that the review should focus strictly on efficiency and cost-effectiveness, not on the legality of public procurement, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Public Procurement Office. mf