Government to usher in large scale reform legislation

The Government is gearing up to pass major reform legislation including a proposal to extend aid to less developed Slovak regions. Five to eight of the regions are expected to qualify for Government support, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Wednesday. "This material has two important documents. The first document is the amendment itself, which envisages aid for regions with an unemployment rate exceeding 1.9 fold of the Slovak average that currently sits in the neighbourhood of 20 percent", said Fico adding that with the new omnibus legislation, the Cabinet seeks to support investments worth above €100,000 via state aid. "This state aid could equal 45-55 percent, with the condition being that the investment must create at least 10 jobs. We want to reduce regional disparities", Fico added. The Government also wants to bolster its subsidies allocated for the construction of apartment buildings and has drafted a number of infrastructure and social projects. Also in the works are water management projects. "We'd like to give starting businesses scope to take off, for instance, by providing better conditions for agricultural land leases by the Slovak Land Fund for start-up agricultural entrepreneurs", said Fico, adding that new start-ups are bound to receive state financial resources for the purchases of technologies. The amendment is to be submitted for debate to the Smer-controlled Parliament. "I don't oppose proposals to improve it, but we'll hardly accept politicking about this issue", Robert Fico stressed.