The oil refinery Slovnaft a.s., Bratislava, expects a loss of 2.83 billion Slovak crowns in 1999 on sales of 32.62 billion crowns, Slovnaft president Slavomír Hatina announced at a press conference on June 23.
One of the biggest factors behind the projected loss is the devaluation of the Slovak crown, which has increased the cost of repaying loans incurred for modernisation projects like the Environmental Fuel Project Apollo, which cost $526 million.
Under the current exchange rate of approximately 44 USD/SKK, Slovnaft must create reserves of 3.58 billion crowns in 1999.
During the first five months of 1999, the company exported products worth 8.18 billion Slovak crowns, i.e. 66.9% of the total sales. The Czech Republic consumed 24% of Slovnaft's exports.
