Die Industrie im wirtschaftlichen Transformationsprozeß der Slowakei

Present knowledge with regards to the course of the economic and, in particular, the industrial transformation in Slovakia confirm the exceptional complexity of the entire process of reorganisation and adaptation. Contrary to the first prognoses of development, this process has been extended timewise and its intensity has increased in many ways. The destructive phase of the transformation process was particularly marked by two factors. Firstly, the radical economic reform in Czechoslovakia between the years 1990 and 1992 - characterised by an extreme drop in production. Secondly, accompanied by a less severe drop in production, by the division of Czechoslovakia in two independent states in 1993, which obviously lengthened the destructive phase in Slovakia. Due to Slovakia's strong economic bonds to the former COMECON States (COMECON = Council of Mutual Economic Aid), the consequences of the disintegration of this economic combine were particularly grave for the Slovakian industry. The performance reduction of the national economy (a drop of 34% of the gross domestic product between 1990 and 1993) was accompanied by a strong increase in unemployment (1994: 15%). The latest results in the industrial sector are proof of the start of the stabilising phase of the transformation process. In Slovakian industry, which, with a 50% share, is the largest single contributor to the gross domestic product, extremely extensive changes have occurred in the branch and property structures. The number of employees has been reduced to a fifth of its previous level. With regards to the results of the privatisation, in the second half of 1993, the proportion of private business already amounted to 76,5%, constituting a production share of 60%. A dramatic conversion took place in the armaments industry. Its production volume sank by 90%. With regards to society, it is expected that, in the year 1995, an end of the destructive phase of the process of transformation will come about in all sectors. Some sectors may even already experience compensating elements of development. The industry will also be one of these sectors, marking a slight growth in production