Services

Services belong among the most commonly used measures of economic development of a state. In Slovakia services share to a significant measure in employment (employing nearly 1.5 million people) and the creation of GDP (nearly 60%). In the first order, however, they provide the daily needs of the population and reflect its overall standard of living. Since they are closely linked with the tourism industry, emphasis is continually placed on increasing of their quality. From the viewpoint of the future of the country the level of education, science, research and health care, that is services provided by the state, is very important.

We have preferentially focused on the education system and tourism industry in the previous chapters. Now we will look closer at selected areas of Slovak social infrastructure (healthcare, social care, banking, insurance, dining, accommodation services, business) and technological infrastructure (telecommunications).

Healthcare is provided from the healthcare insurance of patients, which is mandatory for each citizen of the Slovak Republic and taken out of wages. For children, invalids and women on maternity leave, the state pays their insurance.

Health insurance guarantees citizens the provision of primary access to health care and payment of provided care. A patient pays for above-standard healthcare (selection of an operator or various plastic surgery operations) and, for example, dental care independently.

Health insurance can be concluded in three insurance companies – one state insurer (Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa) and two private insurers (Dôvera and Union). They may differ, however, in the number of contracted physicians or in waiting periods.

There are a variety of healthcare facilities – hospitals, polyclinics and medical centres – spread over the whole territory of Slovakia. Emergency services function in selected hospitals on working days and in the afternoon hours. Emergency medical services are provided 24 hours a day and are available at the telephone numbers 155 and 112.

Highly specialized hospitals are found, for example, in Bratislava (University Hospital), Martin (Martin Faculty Hospital), Banská Bystrica (Children’s Faculty Hospital with Polyclinic) and Košice (L. Pasteur University Hospital).

Banking in Slovakia is on two levels. The first level is made up of Národná banka Slovenska (National Bank of Slovakia), which manages currency circulation and cares for the secure functioning and development of the banking system. A key milestone in the history of Národná banka Slovenska was entry of the Slovak Republic to the European Union. After entry of Slovakia to the Euro Area on 1 January 2009, the bank’s role in securing stability of the domestic financial sector was highlighted.

The second level of the banking system consists of commercial banks, which provide financial services (bank transfers, the provision of loans, mortgages, savings products) and non-financial services (keeping accounts, the provision of bank cards, insurance). Among the oldest and largest commercial banks are Slovenská sporiteľňa and Všeobecná úverová banka; others are Tatra banka, OTP banka, Poštová banka and others. Banks are open on work days and in shopping centres even during the weekend.

With the purchase of goods and services it is possible to pay in cash or without cash, that is through payment cards (MasterCard, Visa, Maestro, American Express, Diners Club International). Cash-free payments can be made through debit cards with a PIN code or contact-free (without a PIN code) or through mobile banking services.

In the scope of financial services it is possible to request various types of loans, for example, specific or mortgage loans (according to the type of banking operation), foreign and domestic, business or consumer and short-term or long-term. Mortgage loans are historically at their lowest, and with new loans the average interest rate offered is 1.89%. Consumer loans in 2016 were provided with an average interest rate of 11.81% with five-year loans.

Several types of insurance exist in Slovakia: health insurance (mentioned above), social insurance and life and non-life insurance.

Social insurance includes all types of social insurance, that is illness insurance, retirement insurance – old age and invalid – accident insurance, guarantee insurance and unemployment insurance. Social insurance is taken by an employer for an employee in the form of deductions. Life insurance companies (for example, AEGON, MetLife, AXA, Groupama) conclude insurance contracts for the case of death or endowment, insurance resources for raising children or pensioner insurance. Non-life insurers (for example, Genertel, QBE Insurance) compensate for damage which is possible to express in the form of financial losses (for example, accident insurance, collision insurance, property insurance). Universal insurers (for example, Allianz, Komunálna poisťovňa, Kooperativa or UNIQA) sell both life and non-life insurance policies. At present the law prohibits the establishment of an insurance company with both types of insurance.

Accommodation services are provided to the public in accommodation facilities for payment for short-term stays. They are built together with dining facilities (hotel, motel), or as independent facilities (hostels, cottages, camping). Accommodation facilities are divided according to their furnishings, level and type of services provided into classes, which are labelled with a certain number of stars.

Hotels are the most common form of accommodating tourists – in 2015 more than a million guests stayed in hotels in Slovakia. A current trend is the building of hotels which offer high comfort and a spectrum of services (wellness zone, weight-rooms, tennis courts). Pensions are accommodation facilities established in smaller towns or recreational centres with a smaller number of beds and services provided. In terms of number of visitors they are in second place, and in 2015 more than 20,000 guests stayed in these types of facilities. Camps are areas set aside in which you can set up your own tent or mobile home. They are located in every recreational centre, usually near a water surface.

Several types of dining facilities operate in Slovakia, and they differ in types of cuisine, services provided and price. At present the trend toward fast food and their healthy variants is predominate. A restaurant that is devoted to traditional Slovak cuisine is known as a koliba and a salaš. However, facilities with international cuisine (pizzerias, Chinese or Indian restaurants) now predominate in Slovakia. A contemporary trend is the specialized restaurant of a particular type of nourishment, for example raw foods (focused on serving uncooked meals) or vegetarian or vegan cuisine. New in the area of gastronomy is the development of coffeehouse culture and private breweries. Customer service is at a high level, with highly trained and English-speaking personnel, and quality of the products on offer decide in a period of high competitiveness on the success and popularity of an operation.

Retail services in Slovakia are currently undergoing a period of blossoming. The reason is mainly the change of consumer behaviour, increased interest in quality, domestic foods and lower demand for imported foods. Dynamic growth of revenues were recorded in 2015 not only in specialized food sales (by 21.8%), but also with sellers of information communications technologies (by 46.5%). In the scope of wholesaling in 2015 the most successful companies were OMV Slovensko, Unipetrol Slovensko, Phoenix Zdravotnícke zásobovanie and IKEA Components.

The main export items of Slovakia in foreign trade are motor vehicles, parts and accessories to motor vehicles, electronics, pharmaceuticals and optical products. Major import items are machines and mechanical equipment, electronics, vehicles or mineral fuels. The most significant export partners for Slovakia are Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Austria and France. In 2015 there was a surplus of foreign trade (the difference in revenues and expenditures from export and import) actively in a volume of 3,302.9 mil. euro.

In the past providers of telecommunications services concentrated their commercial activities exclusively on voice communication (through fixed lines); at present, however, the services of telecommunications and Internet service providers are merging. Together with fixed-line equipment various advantageous programmes are on offer, for example, in combination with Internet or television services. The largest provider of fixed-line services is Slovak Telekom; another is, for example, UPC.

Currently there are four mobile phone operators in Slovakia (Orange Slovensko, Telekom, 02 Slovensko and 4ka). A customer has the opportunity to choose whether he/she wants to phone via a fixed-tariff rate or prepaid or chargeable cards.

Slovak Post represents the state established universal postal service; that is it serves for the needs of all users of postal services within Slovakia. Most post offices are open during the work week and on Saturday. Post offices are closed on Sundays. Citizens may also use the activities of private postal subjects, who offer delivery and courier services, for example, Aramex CZ, s.r.o., o.z., Cromwell, a.s., DHL Express (Slovakia), spol. s r.o., Geis SK s.r.o. and GLS Slovakia, a.s.