Reports SLOVAKIA
and Ireland and it was estimated that between 220,000 and 240,000 Slovaks worked abroad up until the end of 2008.
However the economic crisis has seen a huge return of workers to Slovakia. In the month of September 2009 a total of 800 Slovaks who had been working in other EU countries returned. The Slovak Statistical Office reckoned some 124,600 Slovaks were working abroad in the second quarter of 2009 accounting for 5.2 per cent of the total Slovak workforce.
This number had dropped by around 24.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2008. Almost half of those returning had jobs in construction and manufacturing and again more than half returned from the Czech Republic followed by those from the UK.
The average monthly nominal wage in
Slovakia is around €710 whilst the highest monthly wage is in the IT and communications sectors at €1,523.
Meanwhile despite the economic decline the retail sector in Slovakia is showing one of the fastest growth rates of retail sales in Europe despite much of this activity concentrated in Bratislava.
Much of this has to do with the end of communism and the entry into the EU which sparked a huge invasion from many of Western Europe’s supermarket chains. Up until this point small independent retailers dominated the market.
An International Survey back in 2007 ranked the city fourth after Moscow, St Petersburg and Prague in terms of attractiveness for international retail companies.
The country is
already reeling from its changeover in
January last year after the
introduction of the
Euro currencywhich replaced the Slovak koruna at a fixed rate of€1 for SKK30.1260.
The top retailers are Tesco, Schwarz Group and Rewe which hold a 60 per cent share of the grocery retail market whilst Lidl, Hypernova and Metro are also present. By now there are around 300 large hyper/supermarkets and discount stores in Slovakia.
The first private retail project in Bratislava was created by the sale of the Prior chain to US investor Kmart and in 1994 Tesco arrived which has been the largest and fastest expanding retailer in Slovakia.
The market however is dominated by Slovak co-operative Jednota Slovensko (Coop Euro) which has around 2,300 small supermarket and cash and carry outlets. Food retail sales reached €8.6m in 2008.
Today there are around 100 hypermarkets in Slovakia compared to just 10 back in
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