SLOVAKIA has to give forests worth approximately Sk1 billion (€30 million) to the Czech arms manufacturer Zbrojovka Vsetín after losing a trial with the company, which has been under bankruptcy proceedings since 1998, reported the daily Hospodárske noviny.
The country will now have to give 2,532 hectares of forests on the territory of Lysá pod Makytou, Červený kameň, Lednice and Zubák to the arms manufacturer.
In the 1950s, a firing range was built in the area. At that time, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were one state. In the early 1990s, a state-run joint stock company was created, Zbrojovka Vsetín, which became the owner of the range.
Several years later Slovakia sued the arms maker. According to the Slovak side, the Czech government transferred land that it did not have under its administration to the arms manufacturer.
