THE SALARIES of engineers, chefs and doctors rose faster in Slovakia's provincial regions in 2005 than in the Bratislava region. According to statistics, in the first nine months of 2006, all seven of the country's provincial regions were able to outdo Bratislava and its surrounding area in terms of pay rises, the Pravda daily reported on January 19.
"The long-term trend, with companies in the Bratislava region paying their employees a few thousand crowns more per month than in the other seven regions and the gap widening ... has been halted," claims analyst Martina Kršáková. She expects that statistics for the whole of 2006 will confirm the new trend.
Mária Schwartzová from the Statistics Office believes that the arrival of car manufacturers in the Trnava (PSA Peugeot-Citreon) and Žilina (Kia) regions and their suppliers in the Nitra and Košice regions is the reason for the pay increases there.
The highest increases in salary were seen in the Trnava and Žilina regions, along with the neighbouring Trenčín region, from where people can easily travel to work elsewhere.
Average nominal salary increases in Slovakia's regions year-on-year up to the third quarter of 2006 were as follows: Trnava - 9.3 percent, Žilina - 8.7 percent, Trenčín - 8.5 percent, Nitra - 7.7 percent, Banská Bystrica - 7.7 percent, Košice - 7.3 percent, Prešov - 6.9 percent, and Bratislava - 6.8 percent.
