The growing interest of Slovak industrialists in cooperation with the Republic of Kazakhstan

BANSKA BISTRICA, July 15, 2020 - Slovak industrial enterprises are showing a growing interest in cooperation with Kazakhstan. Such conclusion was made following a working visit of the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Slovakia Roman Vassilenko to the central part of the country and meetings with local business representatives. At the meeting with the Chairman of the board of directors and CEO of Zeleziarne Podbrezová Vladimir Sotak, the prospects of cooperation with the Kazakhstan in the field of pipe production were discussed. Zeleziarne Podbrezová is an integrated manufacturer of steel and seamless steel pipes. The company's annual production is 160,000 tons of seamless steel pipes, what makes it one of the leading steel pipe manufacturers in Europe. About 4,000 people work in the company’s factories in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Spain and other European countries; the company has a consolidated annual turnover of nearly 350 million euros, making it one of the 20 largest businesses in Slovakia.

Since V. Sotak is the founder and chairman of the Club 500, an association of large Slovak enterprises with more than 500 employees, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the Slovak economy and promising areas of industry cooperation with Kazakhstan were also discussed.

At a meeting with the management of the company Zielezničné opravovne a strojárne Zvolen a.s. (ŽOS Zvolen), the largest company specializing in the repair and modernization of locomotives and self-propelled railway wagons in Slovakia, the prospects of cooperation in this sphere were discussed. The company has existed in one form or another since 1872, currently has sales of 24 million euros annually, and in the recent past  has been modernizing  locomotives for Azerbaijan and producing locomotives for Ukraine.

During the trip the Ambassador R.Vassilenko also visited the Museum of the Slovak National Uprising in Banska Bystrica, detailing the large-scale heroic uprising against the Nazi occupiers in the autumn of 1944, which was crucial for the national identity of modern Slovakia. During a conversation with the general director of the museum, Stanislav Michev, the historical aspects of Kazakh soldiers participation in the liberation of Slovakia as part of the Red Army in 1944-45, as well as the possibility of establishing cooperation with Kazakh history research organizations were discussed.