MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Saturday, April 20, 2024 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Friday, April 19): BRATISLAVA - The government intends to deal with road bridges that have fallen into disrepair via public-private partnership (PPP) projects, Premier Robert Fico said on Friday, adding that investors could receive an offer to repair some 500 bridges, which would be maintained by them for a certain period of time after repair, while the state would gradually repay the investment. Another project, which could be carried out by private investors and the state would repay it, is the addition of a second track to the railway from Bratislava to Komarno. The prime minister stressed that this is the most frequented railway in Slovakia, and it's no longer possible to deploy additional trains on the line. "That is why there is a plan to build a second track on the Bratislava - Komarno railway..." Fico noted, adding that he plans to present the offer to investors during his planned visit to China in late June. The prime minister reiterated that Slovakia needs to urgently obtain new resources for other projects that the Transport Ministry can implement. An option is to make use of private deposits and capital, including pension savings, he said. BRATISLAVA - Bypasses of some towns and cities, including Bratislava, Nitra, Zilina, Poprad [Presov region], Kosice and Presov, could be exempted from motorway tolls, with the aim being to relieve traffic, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said on Friday following a meeting with Transport Minister Jozef Raz (a Smer-SD nominee). "The transport minister will propose to the government to exempt the so-called bypasses of towns and cities from motorway stickers. Some sections, as far as cities and towns are concerned, are already exempted. But I can say that this will concern the entire bypasses of Bratislava, Nitra, Zilina, Poprad, Kosice and Presov," said the premier. The exemption of bypasses from motorway tolls is to apply only to passenger vehicles. Raz announced that this could happen as of September this year. According to the transport minister, the revenue shortfall will be minimal. BRATISLAVA - The state is supposed to create prerequisites and conditions for culture, not to control it politically, said President Zuzana Caputova, who on Friday received representatives of the cultural community to discuss with them the coalition's proposals for legislative amendments that will significantly affect the field of culture and art. "Culture belongs to all of us and any attempts to control it are a manifestation of lack of culture," the Head of State emphasised, also in view of the concerns expressed by former culture minister Marek Madaric, rector of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (VSVU) Bohunka Koklesova, rector of the Academy of Performing Arts (VSMU) Martin Smatlak and member of the National Theatre Drama Martin Huba in the case of the political proposals being submitted to her. The head of state also stressed that any fundamental changes must be made in cooperation with those who are directly affected by them. BRATISLAVA - I support the 'Ammunition for Ukraine' civic collection, President Zuzana Caputova posted on a social network on Friday, adding that she's also proud that many in Slovakia care about the fate of neighbouring Ukraine. "I support this initiative because it's the right thing to do. Our contributions to this initiative are an expression of solidarity and assistance to the victims of unprovoked aggression," wrote the head of state. The civic collection responds to the initiative of the Czech Republic to purchase artillery rounds for Ukraine and its army. So far, the collection has raised more than €2.14 million. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Thursday (April 18) that the Czech government had found a way to use the funds from the civic collection in Slovakia for the benefit of the initiative. BRATISLAVA - The transition to a low-carbon economy should be implemented at a pace and scale that doesn't compromise the competitiveness of the economy and doesn't favour countries that don't protect the environment, Environment Minister Tomas Taraba (an SNS nominee) said on Thursday at the American Chamber of Commerce's (AmCham) Beyond Green conference on ESG reporting. "We're aware of the importance of impacts of climate change, but at the same time we're also aware of the fact that the green transformation must be done in a meaningful and effective manner and, above all, it mustn't be implemented at a pace and on a scale that would destroy our competitiveness, put jobs at risk and give an advantage to countries that benefit from not protecting the environment," said Taraba. Taraba noted in this vein that it's important to promote modern, environment-friendly technologies that will also improve the business environment and competitiveness. BRATISLAVA - Year-on-year growth of Slovakia's GDP in 2023 reached 1.6 percent in fixed prices after revision, the Statistics Office has reported. Originally, slower GDP growth of 1.1 percent was reported in early March. Meanwhile, the same revision showed that yearly growth of GDP in 2022 reached 1.9 percent, with the previous report establishing it at 1.8 percent. The first revision of data this year also refined both quarterly and annual indicators of GDP and its components for 2020-2023. Previously valid values of the yearly growth and decline of real GDP in fixed prices for individual quarters have been adjusted from -0.3 percentage points to 0.9 p.p. The performance of the Slovak economy in the last two quarters of 2023 either reached or exceeded 2-percent yearly growth rate. Previously released data mentioned slower growth. am