Slovakia's car-scrapping bonus was very popular. (source: SITA)
Entrepreneurs of the year recognised – Michal Štencl, the founder and chairman of the board of directors of Sygic, was awarded the 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year title on February 18. Juraj Hudý, founder of XRAY, was named the 2009 Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year. The award for the 2009 Start-Up Entrepreneur of the Year went to Tatiana Kyseľová from pelicantravel.com.
Brussels questioned loan for Cargo Slovakia – The European Commission began an in-depth investigation into whether a €166 million state loan for the Slovak freight railway company Cargo Slovakia (ZSSK Cargo) violated EU rules on state aid. The EC believed the loan – which the Slovak rail freight company planned to use to finance costs linked to the company’s operations – might constitute improper state aid incompatible with the internal market and EU legislation, giving Cargo Slovakia an unjustified advantage over its competitors.
State gained €19 million in car scrapping – Slovakia's state treasury ‘earned’ €19.068 million from the two rounds of its old-car scrapping scheme which provided a state subsidy upon disposal of an old car and subsequent purchase of a new car. Value added taxes paid on new cars brought the government €68.900 million while the subsidies paid by the state for purchase of the cars cost €49.832 million. The government originally planned to support the purchase of 44,200 new cars with €55.294 million but the subsidy was claimed for only 39,270 cars. The most successful car brand in the scheme was Renault, followed by Škoda and Kia Motors. The best selling model was the Renault Thalia, with the Škoda Fabia 2 placing second, and the Kia cee’d coming in third.
Slovak gets a top nuclear position – At the regular general conference of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) in Delhi in early February, Ignác Pňaček was elected the chairman of the WANO Moscow centre, the first time that a Slovak became the chairman of one of WANO’s organisational units. Pňaček is a member of the board of directors of Slovenské Elektrárne and the director of the production division of the power producer, a member of the Enel Group.
