One of the largest suppliers of new escalators and elevators, Schindler, is fostering its production in Slovakia. The construction works slated to begin in autumn. “Indeed, an important investor is heading here, with some 250 jobs in the game,” Mayor of the village of Kostolne Kracany Ladislav Godany confirmed for the HN business daily.
Another foreign company is heading towards eastern Slovakia. The Italian company Travaglini SK decided to come here because of the engineering company Honeywell, which has been building a plant that will produce turbochargers and create 450 jobs. Except Italian firm five other companies have announced their intention to invest in the industrial park IPZ Zaborske near Presov.
Source: SARIO
Successive govts have concentrated investment in the west of the country rather than “spreading the wealth” and this has now come back to bite them. Wages here in the east are 25 -60% lower than in BA which makes it attractive to established companies and new developments. My wife works for a well known bank and gets paid a third of what a colleague in BA, doing the same job, gets paid and has to work longer hours, hence her company is expanding its offices here in the east and moving out of BA. I know other companies that have or are planning to do the same. The rail system out here seems to work quite well, it’s slow but hopefully will improve. The road infrastructure is presently a joke but plans have been tabled to extend the “motorway” on the northern route and the more direct BA – Kosice road is starting to be built. With cheap land, EU and Govt. sweetners and low employment costs, the east is becomong more attractive to industry. The good times for the west are on the wane and about time too!
EXPAT – Expansion of the Danube – Rhine water corridor would be a logical move as I understand that quite large volumes of cargo are moved this way already. I don’t know what the navigation issues are downstream to the Black Sea ports are and it would be interesting to know current cargo volumes on this route.
On the issue of pay, as mentioned above, BnM should show his true socialist colours when imposing levies on companies and demand they pay comparable wages across the country, even if that means pay cuts for BA staff.
Slovakias’ political scene does not help matters, with govts changing with the weather and spending more time reversing their opponents plans than implementing new ones, there is very little prospect of any strategic future planning ever being undertaken in this country, thats why the infrastructure is in such a run down state.
Infrastructure is the key, and not having the highway connecting the East of Slovakia to the rest of Europe is horrible for business. There is no direct shot from Bratislava to Kosice and the roads between Poland and Hungary are in desperate need of repair due to all the heavy traffic on the back roads. It would be great to see the Danube used for transportation and have a true port in BA to then distribute to the rest of Slovakia and vise versa! The Highways around BA are horrible as well with too many vehicles and absloutely horrible road planning! Jobs from manufacturers is good for the locals, but when it comes to the amount they will pay for these workers is another sad story.
Any job is a blessing, and yes the East has been getting the proverbial short end of the stick.
However, until the highway is finally completed from BA to Presov companies will always second guess placing a factory in the east. Transportation links are vital in todays just in time manufacturing world.
The fact more people drive from BA to Kosice through Hungary than on the D1 shows how dismal the highway is.
Some good news for the east, at last! 700 new jobs won’t make much of a dent in unemployment in this region but it’s a start. It’s a shame that there are so many bright young people with little or no chance of obtaining a “real job” and that so many only see their future prospects improving by moving abroad.
Schindler’s Lift saves 250 : )