Slovakia
Franchise Association:
Ekonomicka univerzita
Dolnozemska cesta 1/a
852 35 Bratislava
Slovenska republika
tel: 0905 556 972
+421 2 67 291 589
e-mail:
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web: www.slovak-franchise.sk
Geography:
Area: 48,845 sq. km. (about twice the size of New Hampshire).
Land boundaries (total): 1,524 km. Austria 91 km.; Czech Republic 215 km.; Hungary 677 km.; Poland 444 km.; Ukraine 97 km.
Cities: Capital--Bratislava.
People:
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Slovak(s).
Population (May 2001 census*): 5,379,455. Bratislava (428,672), Kosice (236,093), ?ilina (156,361), Nitra (163,540), Presov (161,782), Banska Bystrica (111,984).
Annual population growth rate (2001 est.): 0.13%.
Ethnic groups (2001): Slovaks 85.8%, Hungarians 9.7%, Roma 1.7%, Czechs 0.8%, Ruthenians 0.4%, Ukranians 0.2%, other 1.4%. Unofficial estimates place the Roma population between 6%-10%.
Religions (2001): Roman Catholic 69%, Protestant 9%, Greek Catholic 4%, Orthodox 0.9%, other 0.6%, unknown 3.5%, 13% report no affiliation.
Languages: Slovak (official), Hungarian, Ruthenian, Romany, and Ukrainian.
Education: Literacy--99%.
Health: Life expectancy (2001)--78 yrs. females; 70 yrs. males.
Work force (2.1 million in 2001): Industry, construction, commerce--61%; financial, commercial, health services--18%; government and education--15%; agriculture--6%.
Government:
Type: Parliamentary democracy.
Independence: The Slovak Republic was established January 1, 1993 (former Czechoslovak Republic established 1918).
Constitution: Signed September 3, 1992.
Branches: Executive--president (head of state), prime minister (head of government), cabinet. Legislative--National Council of the Slovak Republic (150 seats). Judicial--Supreme Court, Constitutional Court.
Political parties: Distribution of the 150 parliamentary seats is SMER (Direction) 50 seats; Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) 28 seats; Slovak National Party (SNS) 19 seats; Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) 20 seats; Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) 15 seats; Christian-Democratic Movement (KDH) 9 seats, Slovak Conservative Democrats (KDS) 4 seats; Unaffiliated 5 seats. Other parties include Alliance of New Citizens; Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS); Freedom Forum (SF); People's Union (LU).
Suffrage: Universal at 18 years.
Administrative divisions: Eight administrative regions, 79 districts.
Economy:
GDP (2007): $92.6 billion.
GDP growth rate (2007): 10.4%.
Nominal GDP per capita (2007): $17,110 (International Monetary Fund).
Unemployment (May 2007): 7.6%.
Natural resources: Antimony, mercury, iron, copper, lead, zinc, magnesite, limestone, lignite, uranium (not yet in production).
Agriculture: Products--grains, potatoes, poultry, cattle, hogs, sugar, beets, hops, fruit, forest products.
Industry: Types--iron and steel, chemicals, automobiles, light industry, food processing, back-office support, engineering, building materials.
Trade (2007): Exports--$71.1 billion: vehicles, iron and steel, machinery and energy equipment, plastics, fiber optics. Imports (2007)--$72.1 billion: mineral fuels and oils, machinery, audio/video equipment, vehicles. Partners (2006)--Germany 23.7%, Czech Republic 14.1%, Italy 6.5%, Poland 6.2%, Austria 6%, Hungary 5.8%, France 4.3%, Netherlands 4.2%.
Foreign investment (1989-2006, OECD data): Cumulative--$17.3 billion, FDI inflow $4.2 billion in 2006 (highest-ever FDI inflows). Sources of direct foreign investment--Netherlands 19.5%, Germany 18.2%, Austria14.8%, Italy 12.4%, Hungary 6.1%, U.K. 5.3%, Czech Republic 4.1%, Republic of Korea 3.6%, U.S. 3.3% (9th largest investor)**, Cyprus 2.7%. Sectors of direct foreign investment--industrial production, financial services, energy production and distribution, wholesale and retail trade, transportation and telecommunications.
*Figures are based on immediate city's (not region) permanent resident population.
**Government of Slovakia official statistic. A recent U.S. Embassy survey found that, taking into account investments of U.S. subsidiaries in Europe, U.S. investment is more than 15% of the total.
Slovakia has made significant economic reforms since its separation from the Czech Republic in 1993. Reforms to the taxation, healthcare, pension, and social welfare systems helped Slovakia to consolidate its budget and get on track to join the EU in 2004 and to adopt the euro in January 2009. Major privatizations are nearly complete, the banking sector is almost entirely in foreign hands, and the government has helped facilitate a foreign investment boom with business friendly policies such as labor market liberalization and a 19% flat tax. Foreign investment in the automotive and electronic sectors has been strong. Slovakia's economic growth exceeded expectations in 2001-08 despite the general European slowdown. Unemployment, at an unacceptable 18% in 2003-04, dropped to 7.4% in 2008 but remains the economy's Achilles heel. Despite its 2006 pre-election promises to loosen fiscal policy and reverse the previous DZURINDA government's pro-market reforms, FICO's cabinet has thus far been careful to keep a lid on spending in order to meet euro adoption criteria and has focused on regulating energy and food prices instead. The OECD expects Slovakia's GDP growth to be positive in 2009.
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NewsThe worldwide chain of McDonald's fast food restaurants plans to invest around US $1 bn into developing its franchises in Europe next year, the Reuters newswire reported. At the same time, they will pay greater attention to developing countries. "The potential for growth in Central and Eastern Europe is huge. We have only opened 350 restaurants in Ukraine, Poland and Romania, which have a combined population of more than 100 million and flourishing economies", says Executive Director Ralf Alvarez. There are 63 McDonald's restaurants in Ukraine in 19 cities. The total amount of investments since they began operating in Ukraine (since 1997) exceeded US $100 mn. McDonald's Ukraine has around 5,000 employees across the country. Reuters Sep 2008
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