THE BIGGEST risks entrepreneurs face in eastern Slovakia are human resources, infrastructure and regional airports, the Prešov Regional Chamber of Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PRK SOPK) concluded on February 27, the SITA newswire wrote.
Peter Mihók, chairman of the SOPK, said that qualified labour was lacking in the regions with the highest unemployment. Many university graduates have gone abroad and there's no one to replace them, even over the next few years. Employers have also stated that a problem exists among schools that prefer quantity to quality only because of money, he said.
Therefore, Stanislav Čorej, chairman of the PRK SOPK Board of Directors, announced that the general meeting had approved a plan to cooperate with Ukraine.
"What was undesirable in the past is being thought of as unavoidable now," Čorej said.
A pilot programme has been created to allow Ukrainian students to study in Slovak schools in the hope that they will seek employment in Slovakia.
Prešov-based Tomark has shown interest in hiring 10 to 15 Ukrainian mechanical engineers to work in processing, splitting metallurgical materials, and producing weldment constructions and components for the car industry.
And clothing producer Svik, in Svidník, plans to attract tailors this way. In fact, general director Ladislav Koudelka has years of experience with Ukrainian workers and personally informed both the Education Ministry and the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and the Family about his intention.