- Official languages: Slovak.
- Geographical location: it is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest.
- Capital: Bratislava.
- Governance: the politics of Slovakia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, with a multi-party system.
- Population: 5.42 million.
- Currency: Euro.
- GDP: $87.26 billion.
- Time zone: GMT +1, GMT +2.
- Telephone code: +421.
- Barcode: 858.
Economy
Industry
The basis of the Slovak industry is the production of passenger cars. Volkswagen, KIA Motors, PSA Group (Peugeot — Citroën) and Jaguar Land Rover assembly plants operate in the country.
Large industrial enterprises are also plants "U.S. Steel Košice" (metallurgy), "Slovnaft" (oil refining), factories "Samsung Electronics", "Sony" and "Whirlpool" (production of consumer electronics and appliances). .
Agricultural industry
The area of arable land in Slovakia is more than 2 million hectares. The main cultivated crops are cereals (more than 60% of all sown areas), oilseeds and fodder crops. The production of vegetables and fruits characteristic of this climatic zone, as well as animal husbandry, is widespread. There are 6 viticultural areas, the total area of which is about 27 thousand hectares.
Service sector
The service sector in Slovakia employs more than 60% of the able-bodied population. Special attention is paid to tourism.
Transport and logistics
Slovakia is at the crossroads of important transit routes. Pan-European transport corridors V (Trieste-Kiev), VI (Gdansk-Zilina) and VII (Danube) pass through the country. Slovakia is also a member of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). The main gas and oil pipelines supplying hydrocarbon raw materials from Russia to the EU countries pass through the territory of Slovakia. One of the main rivers of Europe, the Danube, flows through the territory of Slovakia. The total length of the shipping lanes is more than 220 km.
The priority for the Slovak Republic is to create transport arteries connecting the main economic centers in the west and east of the country — Bratislava and Kosice, as well as other regions with an emphasis on ensuring the smooth functioning of the transport system and its integration into European transport structures while reducing the negative impact of transport on the environment.
There are large logistics terminals operating in the country. The total volume of multimodal transportation through the territory of Slovakia is more than 10 million tons per year.
NATURAL CONDITIONS AND RESOURCES
The country has large reserves of non-metallic materials: magnesite, dolomite, limestone, rock salt, brown coal. There are deposits of uranium, coal and shale gas, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, oil, silver and gold.
Slovakia also has significant reserves of wood raw materials (forests cover more than 40% of the entire territory of the country).
SLOVAKIA'S COOPERATION WITH THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS
Political Dialogue
Diplomatic relations between Belarus and Slovakia were established in January 1993. In 2000, the Consulate General of Slovakia in Minsk was transformed into the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in the Republic of Belarus. In 2002, the Consulate General of Belarus in Bratislava was transformed into the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Slovak Republic.
In September 2009, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia M. Lajcak visited Belarus. In May 2015 and in September 2016 Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus V.Makei visited Slovakia.
In November 2016, Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic, R. Fico, paid an official visit to the Republic of Belarus. In April 2017 — the official visit of Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus A.Kobyakov to the Slovak Republic.
In October 2019, the 14th meeting of the Belarusian-Slovak Joint Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation was held in Minsk.
Inter-parliamentary dialogue is being carried out, interdepartmental contacts have been established, and cultural ties are maintained.
Honorary consuls have offices in both countries.
The legal framework of the Belarusian-Slovak cooperation consists of 11 intergovernmental and 12 interdepartmental agreements, as well as more than 15 other agreements, including on cooperation between regions and cities of Belarus and Slovakia.
Succession to the Agreement between the USSR and the Czechoslovak Republic on Legal Assistance in Civil, Family and Criminal matters has been formalized at the interstate level, agreements have been concluded in the field of economic cooperation, promotion and protection of investments, avoidance of double taxation, on international road transport, on cooperation in customs matters, in the fight against organized crime, on visa-free travel to diplomatic and service passports.
There are interdepartmental agreements on cooperation in the field of sports and tourism, education, forestry and agriculture, environmental protection, culture and art and other fields.
Trade and economic cooperation between Belarus and Slovakia
Dynamics of bilateral trade in goods in 2019 — 2021 (millions of US dollars)
|
Year |
Turnover |
Exports |
Imports |
Surplus |
|
2019 |
226.0 |
114.0 |
112.0 |
2.0 |
|
2020 |
177.4 |
75.1 |
102.3 |
-27.2 |
|
2021 |
162.3 |
72.1 |
90.2 |
-18.1 |
Major export commodities:
- specific goods;
- tractors and agricultural machinery;
- ferrous and non-alloy steel wire;
- insulated wires;
- metalware;
- articles of plant fibers;
- textile and nonwoven materials;
- synthetic threads;
- articles of plastics;
- furniture and parts thereof;
- joinery;
- timber, lumber, plywood, fiberboard, fuel wood;
- mattress bases;
- soft roofing materials.
Main imported goods:
- automobiles, automobile parts and accessories;
- reciprocating internal combustion engines;
- electrical equipment audible or visual signaling;
- tires;
- heat treatment equipment;
- central heating boilers;
- flat-rolled unalloyed steel;
- corn;
- hygiene products.
Dynamics of bilateral trade in services in 2019 — 2021 (millions of US dollars)
|
Year |
Turnover |
Exports |
Imports |
Surplus |
|
2019 |
23.7 |
17.8 |
5.9 |
11.9 |
|
2020 |
26.7 |
21.0 |
5.7 |
15.3 |
|
2021 |
29.4 |
21.9 |
7.5 |
14.4 |
Since joining the EU on May 1, 2004, Slovakia has been guided in its foreign trade activities by the legislation of the European Union. Slovakia adheres to the general principles of the EU trade policy when changing customs duties and concluding trade agreements, coordinates export policy and measures to protect the internal market (anti-dumping measures, subventions) with EU standards.
In relation to non-EU countries, Slovakia's trade policy is built in accordance with WTO rules and combines methods of a liberal approach with the use of elements of state regulation, which, in turn, include licensing and quota mechanisms.
According to the current legal norms, foreign entities may conduct business activities on the territory of the Slovak Republic under the same conditions and to the same extent as Slovak citizens. A prerequisite for conducting business in Slovakia is the registration of a foreign entity in the national Trade register.
Since joining the EU on 1 May 2004, Slovakia has been guided by European Union legislation in its foreign trade activities. Slovakia observes general principles of EU trade policy when changing customs duties and concluding trade agreements, coordinates export policy and measures for internal market protection (anti-dumping measures, subsidies) with EU norms.
With regard to non-EU countries Slovakia's trade policy is built in accordance with WTO rules and combines methods of liberal approach with application of state regulation elements, which, in turn, include licensing and quota mechanisms.
According to the current legal regulations, foreign entities can conduct business in the territory of the Slovak Republic under the same conditions and to the same extent as Slovak nationals. A condition for conducting business in the territory of Slovakia is registration of a foreign entity in the national Commercial Register.
This article has been prepared on the basis of information provided by the National Centre for Marketing and Price Study of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Slovak Republic, and taken from public sources. The information presented herein is for informative purposes only. In this regard, it may be useful for the companies, which have been working in Slovakia for a long time, as well as for those, which are going to enter this market. Any questions, feedbacks and comments concerning this article are welcome. All of them will be fully considered and taken into account, if possible. If you have any information that may be interesting and useful for the visitors of this page, please write to us.
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