Deputy Prime Minister Peter Kmec for the recovery plan. (source: TASR)
By summer next year, the recovery plan must be completed. However, it is already clear that Slovakia will not be able to complete some of the planned investments.
This means that for the time being, U.S. Steel will continue to pollute the air, psychologists will have to make do with outdated tests, and firefighters will not get new stations.
This does not mean that these projects will never be completed, only that Slovakia has missed the opportunity to use European money for their implementation. At best, this will cause a delay by several years.
Of €6.3 billion in total, Slovakia has so far received a little more than half. The European Commission is sending the money in instalments. It recently approved the fifth out of nine.
The positive thing is that, at least for the time being, Slovakia will not lose money for goals that it will not be able to meet. The Office of Deputy Prime Minister Peter Kmec, who is responsible for the recovery plan, sent the European Commission a proposal in January for a revision worth €414 million.
He proposes increasing the sums for other projects by the sum for unused investments. The money should mainly be used for the construction and reconstruction of schools, dormitories, hospitals and social service homes. The only new investments are the purchase of a high-capacity train and planting of trees. The European Commission will comment on the proposal by the summer of 2025 at the latest.
At the same time, it is true that Slovakia will complete dozens of reforms and investments, even if some may only be rather formal. The Sme daily has compiled a list of projects that Slovakia will definitely not meet.
No electric furnace
It should have been the largest investment in the recovery plan. U. S. Steel was to receive a subsidy of almost €300 million as part of the process to decarbonise the industry.
The money was intended to purchase electric arc furnaces, which were to replace the current coke-based blast furnaces.
Although the company joined a call, it did not sign a contract with the Environment Ministry. The reason is that U. S. Steel is currently changing ownership. The potential buyer is the Japanese steel giant Nippon Steel.
However, the sale is being delayed due to resistance on the part of the US government and the company unable to commit to such a large investment in such a short time, as it would have to pay at least €1 billion from its own resources.
