Deputy Prime Minister Sergej Kozlík said he was not afraid of the impact of the financial crisis in Russia on the Slovak economy. "The share of Slovak exports to Russia represents 2% of total exports, which limits the ability of the Russian financial crisis to influence the Slovak economy," he said. Kozlík also saw cause for calm in the fact that exports of Slovakia's biggest trading partners - Germany and the Czech Republic - to the Russian Federation do not exceed 4%, which also minimises the indirect influence of the Russian crisis on the situation in Slovakia. When asked by reporters whether the government, in connection with the strong economic crisis in Russia, does not intend to re-evaluate its "desperate attempts to increase exports to eastern markets," Kozlík said that "we are trying, in all ways possible, to increase the volume of exports to wherever possible."
21. Sep 1998 at 0:00 | From press reports of TASR and SITA