Upper Nitra to bid farewell to mining

The Government wants Upper Nitra region to disconnect itself gradually from an excessive concentration on the mining industry and to develop other industries, said Deputy Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD) on Monday. Representatives of the European Commission, the Slovak Government and the Trenčín self-governing region agreed to develop an action plan for the transformation process whose first phase is building road infrastructure. The Slovak government has pushed energy consumers to send the Hornonitrianske bane mining company about €95 million yearly in subsidies, arguing that it is a major local employer and it reduces the country's dependence on imported coal. The company directly employs 3,500 people including some Romanian and Polish miners. The unemployment level in the region has, however, decreased lately to 5 percent.