(source: SITA/AP)
Research was also carried out in other countries around the world where German companies are present. Compared to the rest of the world, German companies in Slovakia are specifically worried about legal uncertainty and the lack of skilled workers. Conversely, German investors in Slovakia aren't worried about fluctuations in currency rates and financing as much as in the rest of the world.
More than half of the companies in Slovakia are worried mainly about developments in the economic and political situation, as well as about future demand.
Problems with law enforcement were confirmed by Juraj Vodička, SNOPK managing director and a member of its board.
“In the economic area, they’re usually legal disputes under the Commercial Code mostly about not paying the bills, non-fulfilment of supplies or taking them too long,” Juraj Vodička, SNOPK managing director and a member of its board said, as quoted by TASR. “The party that is in the right couldn’t get to enforce the law.”
Labour law is another area of disputes, where almost 95 percent of disputes are won by the employee, regardless of the dispute’s background. It’s very hard for employers to assert their rights, according to Vodička.
As much as 54 percent of these companies were satisfied with their own economic situation and only 2 percent considered it to be bad. Throughout the 19-member eurozone 7 percent considered themselves to be faring badly, compared to 9 percent worldwide. In 2016, however, investors in Slovakia anticipate worse development than their colleagues abroad. Better results in 2016 are expected by 39 percent of companies, the same results by 49 percent and worse by 12 percent.
More than half of German investors in Slovakia expect that their investment costs will not change in the next 12 months, 27 percent expect them to increase and 20 percent expect them to drop.
Around 37 percent of SNOPK members predict an increase in employee numbers, almost half think the number will remain unchanged and 12 percent expect the number of employees to fall.
