Slovakia’s business environment deteriorated further in the second quarter of 2013, affected negatively mainly by entrepreneurs’ concerns about weak law enforcement, a survey by the Business Alliance of Slovakia (PAS) showed. The Business Environment Index, calculated by PAS, fell by 2.6 points from Q1 to 70.1 points in Q2, reaching a new record low level since its launch in 2001.

The unsatisfactory functioning of the Slovak judiciary, which has been one of the most criticized topics for a long time, recorded a drop of 9.12% q/q to an index level of 10.6 points. The insufficient application of equality before the law recorded a decline of 7.74% q/q to 20.2 points). Businessmen have warned that poorly functioning judiciary has a big negative impact on the business environment and want new legislation that will guarantee better protection for law-abiding businesses against fraudsters.

Another major driver for the deterioration in the overall business environment was the perceived low efficiency of the state's management of investment stimuli, a category which recorded a drop of 7.47% q/q to 17.4 points as businessmen consider the rules for access to state aid as non-transparent and selective.

On the other hand, only four categories recorded slight improvement in Q2 - environmental awareness among companies (+1.09% q/q), openness of companies regarding the provision of information (+0.79% q/q), the stability and predictability of euro exchange rates (+0.47% q/q), and human resources management (+0.06% q/q).