THE BIGGEST obstacles to running a business in Slovakia are still bribery, bad execution of laws, legislative instability and high taxes. General satisfaction with business conditions in the country shifted from slightly above-average in 2006 to below-average over the last four years. Half of businesses and managers in Slovakia assess the situation negatively, even though the majority were content in 2006, the TASR newswire reported.
The findings come from the Report on the State of the Business Environment in Slovakia in 2010, presented by the Slovak Business Alliance (PAS).
The report revealed that 85 percent of respondents identified bribery as the main, or a serious, obstacle preventing the correct functioning of their business. In comparison with the 2006 results, this problem moved from fourth to first place. Managers of businesses gave a similarly bad rating to the ease of achieving justice via courts.
Third and fourth places were occupied by legal instability and uncertainty, and high tax payments. These were crucial for one third of the businesses and a serious obstacle for 50 percent.
Another grave problem from respondents’ point of view was public procurement practices. Three-quarters of respondents believed this to be serious.
In its report, PAS also paid attention to the consolidation of public finances and recommends that government limit the purview of the state's activities and that of other public institutions, and cancel the discretionary but now-traditional Christmas payments made to pensioners.
They also say the situation could be improved by stopping people from receiving an early retirement pension while continuing to work and receive a salary.
