Brown coal region halts mining, but funds for transformation are delayed

The tradition of lignite (brown coal) mining in Prievidza and its vicinity, the Upper Nitra valley, will end this year after more than 110 years, but the future of the mining towns there does not look very bright at present.

More than 2,000 miners will have to find new jobs, and the region will have to switch to other energy sources to produce electricity and heat.

Thanks to the EU, Upper Nitra can claim more than half of €450 million allocated for the transformation of heavily industrialised Slovak regions.

The problem lies within the interim Slovak government, The Slovak Spectator’s sister publication Index magazine writes. Though financial aid schemes for lignite towns are ready, other problems have arisen.