Economy

Matovic: GDP Data for 2Q20 Surprising for Everyone But Us

Bratislava, August 14 (TASR) – Data on the gross domestic product (GDP) in Slovakia in the second quarter of 2020 were surprising perhaps for everyone, except for the governing coalition, said Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO) at a press conference on Friday.

Matovic said that the government achieved its goal to protect businesses and employees from economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Slovakia’s GDP slumped by 12.1 percent year-on-year in 2Q20, a figure praised by Matovic as less catastrophic than expected by many experts. According to the prime minister, this was chiefly due to the fact that Slovakia did well in terms of health. “No company was in quarantine, when foreign demand emerged,” said Matovic, calling Slovakia the “prize winner” in Europe in terms of containing the spread of coronavirus.

While Slovakia was economically the fourth-most affected EU-member country in the first quarter of 2020, it was “somewhere in the middle” in the second quarter, said Matovic. Nevertheless, not all countries have already produced data for 2Q20.

Bratislava Transport Museum Opens Exhibition to Mark 110 Years of Vienna Tramway

The Slovak Technical Museum - the Transport Museum in Bratislava on Thursday opened an exhibition to mark 110 years since the launch of the Vienna Tramway.

Takac: Police Launch Criminal Investigation, Infested Wood Being Extracted Urgently

The police have already launched a criminal investigation regarding the failure to address the bark-beetle infestation in Banska Bystrica region, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Richard Takac, who filed a criminal complaint in this connection in May, told a news conference on Monday.

SPPK: If Farmers Aren't Taken Seriously, They Will Be Seen in Streets More Often

If farmers' demands are not taken seriously, they will be seen in the streets more often, Slovak Agriculture and Food Chamber chairman Emil Macho told a news conference held in front of the Parliament's building on Thursday.

Read next