Gov't and Slovalco Hold First Talks on Aluminum Production Restart

Bratislava, 2 March (TASR) - The first coordination meeting between the owners of Slovalco and government representatives on restarting primary aluminium production in Ziar nad Hronom (Banska Bystrica region) took place on Monday at the Government Office, following up on an agreement reached during the signing of a memorandum on Friday (27 February), the Government Office reported in its social media post on Monday. "At today's meeting, participants discussed the procedure for submitting an amendment to the state aid scheme for energy-intensive industries to the European Commission, as well as the preparation of other necessary documents. The aim is for partial restoration of production to begin as early as 2026, and in full capacity in 2027," the Government Office stated. The coordination meeting with representatives of Slovalco was attended by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD), Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenicky (Smer-SD), Economy Minister Denisa Sakova (Voice-SD) and Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (nominee of the Slovak National Party). As Fico stated on Friday after signing the memorandum of understanding in Ziar nad Hronom, the government has a strong interest in seeing production at the Slovalco aluminium plant restored in 2027. According to him, the memorandum contains proposals for specific steps intended to help restart the Ziar nad Hronom smelter. These include changes to the compensation scheme for energy-intensive enterprises and the long-term supply of electricity to the plant in Ziar nad Hronom at commercial prices. mf