THE RULES that Slovakia will use when providing investment assistance to firms will change based on an amendment to the Act on Investment Assistance signed by President Ivan Gašparovič on July 18.
The conditions and limits for receiving investment assistance from the state will vary among Slovakia’s eight regions so that the state assistance supports more job creation in regions with high unemployment and focuses more on investments with higher added value, the TASR newswire reported.
Economy Minister Juraj Miškov, who proposed the changes, said that assistance will be aimed particularly at eastern Slovakia and to the Žilina and the Banská Bystrica Regions, stating that, “an investor will have no chance of getting investment assistance in Bratislava,” as quoted by TASR.
The amendment also reduces by half the minimum level of investment required to seek state financial support. The ministry believes this will broaden the range of firms that are eligible.
The state’s investment support will typically be provided only in the form of tax relief.
“We don’t want to give investors money,” Miškov said. “After all, we don’t have much of it in the budget.”
The maximum period for receiving assistance was also increased from five years to ten years.
