Page 46 - CE Outlook Regions 2024

The 30% tax would drop by 5% until 2027 while the overall effective tax rate on banks next year would be 45%.
3.4.3 Industry
Industrial output fluctuated throughout 2023, but by October it registered a growth of 4.3% y/y after a 0.6% slump in September. The production in the country’s key automobile sector (+12.1% in October) secured the industry’s return to growth despite the decline in machinery, as well as the manufacture of coke and petroleum products.
In August, the manufacture of transport equipment grew by 27% y/y, capitalising on a more stable supply chain environment.
Still, the industrial production dropped by 0.5% y/y between January and October as export-dependent Slovakia may face challenges before key European markets, led by Germany, return to more robust growth.
3.4.4 Energy & power
The third block at the Mochovce Nuclear Power Plant completed the final test trial in October and was fully operational by the year’s end, marking the first addition of a new nuclear unit in Slovakia for 20 years.
The new unit will also cover 13% of total electricity consumption in the country, turning Slovakia into a self-sufficient energy producer. Mochovce’s operator, Slovenske elektrarne (SE) expects the fourth unit to go operational in 2024.
Approximately 70% of all electricity in Slovakia comes from SE, the country's main electricity distributor, and the state signed an implementation contract to an earlier agreement with SE to deliver electricity to households at a price of €61.2 per megawatt hour. It is an unchanged price from 2023 and the commencing of the third unit at Mochovce was part of the agreement.
The country is switching from its reliance on Russian nuclear fuel and signed an agreement with American Westinghouse and a memorandum with French Framatome. The first deliveries to Slovak nuclear power plants from Westinghouse could arrive in the summer of 2024 pending test approvals.
Although Slovakia is the first V4 country to abandon coal, it is poised to encounter challenges when diversifying from gas in order to carry out a successful and sustainable energy transformation.
In December, EU member states approved an extension of the exemption for the Bratislava-based oil refinery Slovnaft, which is controlled by Hungarian MOL, from EU-imposed sanctions on exports of Russian oil products. Slovnaft’s main export market is Czechia and Slovakia already has an exemption on imports of Russian oil products due to its high dependency on it. The extension of Slovnaft will last until December 5, 2024.
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