THE OUTGOING cabinet of Iveta Radičová changed the rules for granting investment incentives, hinging them mainly on the unemployment rate in a given region as well as the sector investors intend to put money into. Investors planning to invest in sectors with a high added value in areas with low levels of economic activity and high unemployment are likely to see the maximum possible amount of investment stimuli. The new regulations were approved on December 7, the SITA newswire reported.
Local and foreign companies will mostly receive investment stimuli from the state in the form of tax relief. Only in special cases will the state provide subsidies for procurement of tangible and intangible assets for projects that meet the criteria defined by law as being of strategic importance. The regulation divides Slovakia into five zones based on the average rates of unemployment.
“Investment stimuli in the form of state subsidies for tangible and intangible assets and funding for jobs created will not be provided for investment projects in the industrial production and tourism sectors in municipalities with a registered jobless rate under the national average in Slovakia,” said the Economy Ministry.
The regulation was elaborated by the Economy Ministry based on a revision to the law on investment stimuli. Parliament passed the most recent revision to the investment stimuli legislation last June.
