Tomas Spurny, the director general of the second largest bank in Slovakia VUB maintains that the Slovak banking sector is one of the most stable banking sectors worldwide. From the viewpoint of capitalization, it is two times stronger than the Austrian or German banking sector. This results from re-capitalization and the ensuing privatization of Slovak banks. According to Mr. Spurny, this positive contribution of bank privatization in Slovakia has not yet been communicated to the public very much. For the time being, this also means greater resistance of banks to possible effects of the military conflict in Iraq.

Mr. Spurny said at a press conference in Kosice that the second strong point of the banking system is the expected entry of Slovakia into the European Union. Entry should bring an increase in foreign investments and afterwards more available income of citizens. This gives banks room for intensive financing of citizens‘ needs by credit products. The VUB director general maintained that penetration of the market by loan products in Slovakia is 50 percent lower than in the European Union. For the banking sector this is a great challenge. But he said that businessmen would have to work on increasing their credibility in banks‘ eyes since many of them are keeping their companies with a minimum of profit reduce income taxes. Afterwards they are surprised when banks do not want to give them a credit because according to their accounting books, their businesses is not effective enough.

The VUB director general sees problems with law enforcement in Slovakia as a weak point in the country’s banking sector. Legislation is on an excellent level, but the executive power is lagging behind. „Courts are unable to act fast enough. This slows down economic progress in Slovakia,“ concluded Mr. Spurny.