RIO country report 2015 : Slovak Republic.
Date: 2016-07-12
Institutions: Institute for Prospective Technological Studies
Subjects: EU research policy, Slovakia, innovation, organisation of research, private investment, public investment, research and development, research policy, research report, scientific cooperation

RIO COUNTRY REPORT 2015: 
Slovak Republic 

Vladimir Balaz 

Jana Zifciakova 

2016

EUR 27860 EN 

This publication is a Science for Policy Report by the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission’s in-house 
science service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policy-making process. This 
publication,  or  any  statements  expressed  therein,  do  not  imply  nor  prejudge  policy  positions  of  the  European 
Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible 
for the use which might be made of this publication. 

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EUR 27860 EN 

PDF 

ISBN 978-92-79-57795-6 

ISSN 1831-9424 

doi:10.2791/751866 

LF-NA-27860-EN-N 

© European Union, 2016 

Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. 

How to cite:, Vladimir Balaz, Jana Zifciakova; RIO Country Report 2015: Slovak Republic; 
EUR 27860 EN; doi:10.2791/751866 

All images © European Union 2016 except for the ERA Dashboard image on the first page by Niels Meyer licensed 
under CC BY 2.0 

Abstract 
The 2015 series of RIO Country Reports analyse and assess the policy and the national research and innovation 
system developments in relation to national policy priorities and the EU policy agenda with special focus on ERA 
and Innovation Union. The executive summaries of these reports put forward the main challenges of the research 
and innovation systems. 

Table of Contents 

Foreword .................................................................................................................... 4 

Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................ 5 

Executive summary ..................................................................................................... 6 

1.

Overview of the R&I system ............................................................................... 12

1.1 

1.2 

Introduction ................................................................................................. 12 

Structure of the national research and innovation system and its governance ....... 13 

1.2.1 

Main features of the R&I system ............................................................... 13 

1.2.2 

Governance ............................................................................................ 14 

1.2.3 

Research performers ............................................................................... 14 

2.

Recent Developments in Research and Innovation Policy and systems ..................... 17

2.1 

2.2 

2.3 

2.4 

National R&I strategy .................................................................................... 17 

R&I policy initiatives ...................................................................................... 19 

European Semester 2014 and 2015 ................................................................. 21 

National and Regional Research and Innovation Strategies on Smart Specialisation21 

2.5  Main policy changes in the last five years ......................................................... 23 

3.

Public and private funding of R&I and expenditure ................................................. 24

3.1 

3.2 

Introduction ................................................................................................. 24 

Smart fiscal consolidation ............................................................................... 25 

3.2.1 

Economic growth, fiscal context and public R&D .......................................... 25 

3.2.2 

Direct funding of R&D activities ................................................................. 26 

3.2.3 

Indirect funding – tax incentives and foregone tax revenues ......................... 28 

3.2.4 

Fiscal consolidation and R&D .................................................................... 29 

3.3 

Funding flows ............................................................................................... 30 

3.3.1 

Research funders .................................................................................... 30 

3.3.2 

Funding sources and funding flows ............................................................ 31 

3.4 

Public funding for public R&I ........................................................................... 36 

3.4.1 

Project vs. institutional allocation of public funding ...................................... 36 

3.4.2 

Institutional funding ................................................................................ 36 

3.4.3 

Project funding ....................................................................................... 37 

3.4.4 

Other allocation mechanism ..................................................................... 38 

3.5 

Public funding for private R&I ......................................................................... 38 

3.5.1 

Direct funding for private R&I ................................................................... 38 

3.5.2 

Public Procurement of Innovative solutions ................................................. 40 

3.5.3 

Indirect financial support for private R&I .................................................... 41 

3.6 

Business R&D ............................................................................................... 42 

3.6.1 

The development in business R&D intensity ................................................ 42 

3.6.2 

The development in business R&D intensity by sector .................................. 43 

3.6.3 

The development in business R&D intensity and value added ........................ 44 

3.7 

Assessment .................................................................................................. 46 

4.

Quality of science base and priorities of the European Research Area....................... 48

2 

4.1  Quality of the science base ............................................................................. 48 

4.2  Optimal transnational co-operation and competition .......................................... 48 

4.2.1 

Joint programming, research agendas and calls .......................................... 48 

4.2.2 

RI roadmaps and ESFRI ........................................................................... 50 

4.3 

4.4 

International cooperation with third countries ................................................... 51 

An open labour market for researchers ............................................................ 51 

4.4.1 

Introduction ........................................................................................... 51 

4.4.2 

Open, transparent and merit-based recruitment of researchers ..................... 52 

4.4.3 

Access to and portability of grants ............................................................. 54 

4.4.4 

Doctoral training ..................................................................................... 54 

4.4.5 

Gender equality and gender mainstreaming in research ............................... 55 

4.5  Optimal circulation and Open Access to scientific knowledge ............................... 55 

4.5.1 

e-Infrastructures and researchers electronic identity ................................... 55 

4.5.2 

Open Access to publications and data ........................................................ 56 

5. 

Framework conditions for R&I and Science-Business cooperation ............................ 57 

5.1  General policy environment for business .......................................................... 57 

5.2 

5.3 

5.4 

5.5 

5.6 

5.7 

Young innovative companies and start-ups ....................................................... 58 

Entrepreneurship skills and STEM policy ........................................................... 59 

Access to finance .......................................................................................... 60 

R&D related FDI ............................................................................................ 62 

Knowledge markets ....................................................................................... 62 

Public-private cooperation and knowledge transfer ............................................ 63 

5.7.1 

Indicators............................................................................................... 63 

5.7.2 

Policy measures ...................................................................................... 68 

5.8 

5.9 

Regulation and innovation .............................................................................. 69 

Assessment of the framework conditions for business R&I .................................. 70 

6. 

Conclusions ...................................................................................................... 72 

References ............................................................................................................... 74 

Abbreviations ............................................................................................................ 77 

List of Figures ........................................................................................................... 79 

List of Tables ............................................................................................................ 80 

Annex 1 – List of the main research performers ............................................................ 81 

Annex 2 – List of the main funding programmes ............................................................ 82 

Annex 3 – Evaluations, consultations, foresight exercises ............................................... 83 

3 

 
 
 
Foreword  

The  report  offers  an  analysis  of  the  R&I  system  in  the  Slovak  Republic  for  2015, 
including  relevant  policies  and  funding,  with  particular  focus  on  topics  critical  for  EU 
policies. The report identifies the main challenges of the Slovak research and innovation 
system  and  assesses  the  policy  response.  It  was  prepared  according  to  a  set  of 
guidelines for collecting and analysing a range of materials, including policy documents, 
statistics, evaluation reports, websites etc. The quantitative data is, whenever possible, 
comparable  across  all  EU  Member  State  reports.  Unless  specifically  referenced  all  data 
used  in  this  report  are  based  on  Eurostat  statistics  available  in  February  2016.  The 
report contents are partly based on the RIO country report, 2014 (Balaz, 2015a).  

4 

 
 
 
 
Acknowledgments 

The  report  has  benefited  from  the  comments  and  suggestions  of  Diana  Demková  and 
Ľubica  Pitlová  from  the  Department  for  National  and  European  Science  and  Technology 
Policy of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, 
as  well  as  of  Zuzana  Nehajová  and  Juraj  Hošťák  from  the  DG  for  Innovation  and 
Business Environment of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic. The comments 
from  DG  RTD  and  from  JRC  IPTS  (Katarzyna  Szkuta  and  Mathieu  Doussineau)  are  also 
gratefully acknowledged.  

Peter  Fako,  Lorenzo  Isella  and  Athina  Karvounaraki  produced  the  statistics  and  the 
analytical assessments for sections 3.2 and 3.6 of the report.  

We  would  like  to  thank  Martine  Troonen  and  Sophie  Bodart  for  their  assistance  in 
preparing this report for publication.  

Authors' affiliation:  

Vladimir Balaz, Slovak Academy of Sciences (Bratislava, Slovak Republic) 

Jana  Zifciakova,  European  Commission,  Directorate-General  Joint  Research  Centre, 
Directorate  J  -  Institute  for  Prospective  Technological  Studies,  Innovation  Systems 
Analysis unit (Brussels, Belgium) 

5 

 
 
 
Executive summary 

Context 

The  Slovak  gross  expenditure  on  research  and  development  (GERD)  was  €669.6m 
(0.89%  of  GDP)  in  2014  (2013:  €610.9  and  0.83%  GDP).  The  2014  National  Reform 
Programme  for  the  Slovak  Republic  set  2020  targets  for  GERD  and  the  business 
expenditure on research and development (BERD) to 1.2% and 0.8% respectively. These 
targets  are  rather  modest,  but  they  seem  realistic.  There  were  some  significant 
increases in business research spending since 2008 (albeit from a lower base). 

The Slovak Republic performed rather modestly in most publication indicators compared 
to  the  EU28  average.  This  may  have  been  triggered  by  insufficient  funding  and 
mechanisms for funding allocation. There is also little connection between the results of 
evaluation  exercises  and  the  allocation  of 
funding.  However,  the 
Accreditation  Commission  has  implemented  several  noteworthy  initiatives  aimed  at 
increasing  excellence  in  science.  Despite  the  considerable  efforts  that  have  been  made 
over the past few years, the Slovak research policies still lack a clear focus on the joint 
research  agendas  addressing  grand  challenges  and  joint  programming.  The  amount  of 
national funding appears to be still insufficient to integrate the Slovak science properly in 
European and international co-operation networks.  

institutional 

The Slovak Government adopted the ‘Concept paper for the support of start-ups and the 
development  of  the  start-up  ecosystem  in  the  Slovak  Republic’  on  10  June  2015  which 
intends to react on the current status and existing challenges, take a comprehensive and 
coordinated  approach  on  the  topic  and  avoid  fragmented  or  ad-hoc  activities.  This  may 
be  potentially  a  promising  initiative  since  the  support  to  the  creation  and  early 
development  phase  of  innovative  enterprises  has  not  been  articulated  before  in  the 
Slovak research and innovation policies. So far, the Slovak law does not recognise ‘start-
up’  and/or  ‘spin-off’  entities  and  the  ‘small  and  medium-sized  enterprise’  (SME)  are 
acknowledged by the Slovak law, but their definition is not included in Slovak law. 

In July 2015, the Slovak Republic adopted a programme to support the return of Slovak 
professionals  from  abroad.  Even  though  the  results  are  not  significant  yet,  it  is  a 
noteworthy initiative which may also support the return of Slovak scientists home. 

The Slovak Republic is progressing well in building clusters and implementing clustering 
policies.  The  European  Commission  performed  a  European-wide  benchmarking  of  the 
cluster  organisations.  The  benchmarking  indicated  that  the  quality  of  some  Slovak 
clusters is comparable to the quality of some clusters in advanced OECD members. The 
IT Valley cluster in the Košice region was the first cluster in the Central Eastern Europe 
to obtain a Golden Certificate of European Excellence.  

Key recent developments include: 

  The new law on Income Tax which includes new tax reliefs for R&D entered into force 

in January 2015. 

  The  Slovak  government  approved  in  June  2015  the  Concept  Paper  for  supporting 
start-ups proposed by the Ministry of Finance.  Its aim is to strengthen the business 
environment and create conditions to encourage the start-ups ecosystem. 

  The  Slovak  Government  renamed  the  Agency  for  the  Structural  Funds  of  the 
European  Union  (ASFEU)  to  the  Research  Agency  (RA).  The  agency  should  create 
conditions for the participation of Slovak research teams in the ERA in general, and in 
the ESFRI, EITI, technology platforms and Horizon 2020 in particular. 

The identified challenges for the Slovak R&I systems are to: 

(1) 
(2) 
(3) 
(4) 

Improve the R&I governance;  
Improve the quality of the science base; 
Increase private innovation outputs and R&D investments; 
Strengthen synergies between science and industry. 

6 

 
 
R&I Challenges 

Challenge 1: Improve the R&I governance 

Description 

The Slovak Republic fares modestly in the international comparison of public governance 
quality  and  effectiveness  of  public  administration  with  a  high  turnover  of  civil  servants 
due  to  government  changes  and  underdeveloped  analytical  capacities  (OECD  2013).  It 
has  also  a  fragmented  R&I  policy  governance  and  there  are  limited  synergies  between 
the ministries and the eight government agencies support R&D and innovation. This may 
lead to a lack of coordination and dispersion of limited financial resources.  

The  institutional  finance  for  R&I  is  provided  by  the  Slovak  Government,  yet  the  Slovak 
Republic  finances  most  of  its  R&I  policy  from  EU  Structural  Funds.  This  may  raise 
questions about the long-term sustainability of this funding model.1 The majority of the 
Structural Funds in 2007-2013 were invested in building research, applied and industry 
research was also supported from Structural Funds, albeit on a smaller scale.  

There  are  no  regional  R&I  policies  as  the  degree  of  regional  institutional  autonomy  is 
low.  All  the  regions  built  their  Regional  Innovation  Strategies  by  2015,  however  their 
impact  is  limited,  since  it  is  not  mandatory  for  the  central  government  to  consider  the 
targets and the objectives set in regional planning documents. 

The institutional and project finance for research is channelled via agencies of the central 
government  (VEGA,  KEGA,  SBA,  SIEA,  SRDA,  Research  Agency).  No  regional  policy 
measures  are  envisaged  in  the  operational  programmes  (except  for  allocations  to  the 
Bratislava  Region).  The  fragmented  and  sub-efficient  RD&I  support  system  may  partly 
explain the low participation of domestic enterprises in R&D activities.  

Policy response 

The  introduction  of  the  Slovak  Government  Council  for  Research,  Development  and 
Innovations  (SGCSTI)  in  2013  provided  a  high-level  structure  bringing  together  main 
ministries  responsible  for  R&I  policy  and  the  main  research  performer  –  the  Slovak 
Academy of Sciences (SAS). The SGCSTI prepared a set of strategic documents, namely 
the newly adopted Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) of 
the Slovak Republic (2013-2014) that paves the way for a more focused and centralised 
governance  and  announces  several  important  reforms,  e.g.  the  creation  of  a  GCSTI 
Standing Committee for the RIS3 strategy.  

The National Reform Programme (NRP) 20152 foresees significant changes, including the 
merger  of  numerous  funding  agencies  into  the  Agency  of  Research  and  the  Agency  of 
Technology,  as  well  as  the  transforming  of  the  Slovak  Academy  of  Sciences  (SAS) 
institutes, budgetary and subordinate organisations into public research institutes (PRI). 
The  initial  draft  of  the  NRP  envisaged  nine  PRI,  but  the  Slovak  Government  did  not 
approve the Law on the PRI by May 2016 and, thus, this concept was not implemented.3  

The  National  Reform  Programme  (NRP)  2016 4 foresees  that  after  the  adoption  of  the 
RIS3, the implementation of individual measures will begin with the aim of establishing 
structural changes in science and research. The measures will be mainly focused on the 
targeted  use  and  the  stabilisation  of  public  funds  and  support  for  the  engagement  of 
private  sector  in  R&D  activities.  Financing  will  be  focused  on  increasing  the  quality  of 
research,  promoting  the  infrastructure  built  from  EU  funds  and  connecting  universities, 
science academies, research institutions and partners from the industry sector. 

1 This refers to project funding only, the institutional funding is provided by the Slovak Government. 
2 http://www.finance.gov.sk/en/Default.aspx?CatID=450.  
3 The transformation of the SAS was foreseen in a law proposal by the MESRS, which was rejected by the government at 
the end of May 2015 mainly because of significant disagreements about the ownership of buildings and land. 
4 http://www.finance.gov.sk/en/Default.aspx?CatID=450.  

7 

 
 
                                           
Assessment 

The adoption of the Action Plan to implement the RIS3 strategy is  still pending and the 
merger of the funding agencies was announced last year, but it is not implemented yet.5  

There  were  no  functional  regional  systems  of  innovation  governance  by  end  of  2015  in 
the  Slovak  Republic  and  there  was  no  progress  in  building  a  regional  system  of 
innovation  governance.  There  were  no  major  changes  in  the  layout  of  competences  in 
R&I policies between the central and regional governments.  

The  RIS3  announced  important  reforms  such  as  the  reform  of  the  higher  education, 
reform  of  the  Slovak  Academy  of  Sciences  and  the  reform  of  the  secondary  education 
(dual  education  aimed  at  vocational  training).  Up  to  now,  the  government  started  only 
the reform of the secondary education, whereas the other reforms were delayed. 

Challenge 2: Improve the quality of the science base 

Description 

The  Slovak  Republic  ranks  among  the  more  modest  research  performers  in  the  EU, 
demonstrated  by  indicators  such  as  the  percentage  of  the  top  10%  most  highly  cited 
publications  for  the  period  2000-2013  (5.73%  compared  with  7.34%  in  the  Czech 
Republic  and  13.1%  in  Germany)  and  the  total  number  of  patent  applications  by  the 
Patent  Cooperation  Treaty  (48  compared  to  168  in  the  Czech  Republic  and  17.577  in 
Germany).  The  Research  Excellence  Composite  Indicator  places  the  Slovak  Republic 
markedly  behind  the  leading  EU  Members  States  in  terms  of  research  excellence; 
however, the country's performance has improved notably since 2007. 

Public-private partnerships have had a limited role in leveraging additional funding. The 
funding  allocation  is  mostly  channelled  to  non-oriented  research  and  general  university 
funds  through  institutional  funding.  The  Slovak  Republic  has  one  of  the  lowest  rates  of 
public spending on higher education in the EU.  

Monitoring  mechanisms  in  place,  based  on  output  indicators  and  international 
benchmarking  try  to  evaluate  the  performance  of  public  research  organisations,  higher 
education  institutions  and  research  programmes  and  projects,  but  they  do  not  assess 
funding efficiency. The funding of the R&I system is not focused on specific themes and 
economic sectors. The country is not sufficiently attractive for foreign researchers. Only 
579  foreign  nationals  worked  in  the  public  sector  in  2014,  i.e.  2.7%  of  the  total. 
Relatively  low  wages,  low  quality  research  infrastructures  and  a  language  barrier  may 
explain the low inward researchers' mobility rates. 

Policy response 

The  Research  and  Innovation  Strategy  for  Smart  Specialisation  of  the  Slovak  Republic 
(RIS3) and the National Reform Programmes (NRP) 2014, 2015 and 2016 set as goals to 
raise the quality of research, promote the use of the infrastructure built from EU funds, 
connect research institutions and industrial partners and commercialise scientific results.  

5 The Slovak Government approved the final version of The Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialisation of 
the Slovak Republic (RIS3) via the Government Resolution no. 665/2013 on 13 November 2013. The RIS3 document will 
be  implemented  by  two  Action  Plans  for  Research  and  Innovation  (for  2015-2016  and  for  2017-2020).  In  2015  the 
Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the  Slovak Republic (MESRS) drafted three versions of the Action 
Plan for the RIS3 document for the period 2015-2016, however its adoption is still pending. The Slovak Government has 
rejected the first two versions of the Action Plan. The major difficulties related to the reform of R&I governance. The final 
draft  of  the  Action  Plan  was  approved  by  the  Slovak  Government  Council  for  the  Science,  Technology  and  Innovation 
(SGCSTI) on 4 September 2015 and sent out to the European Commission for further comments. This draft concentrated 
on legislative measures aimed at the reform  of funding agencies, the transformation of the  SAS, the reform of higher 
and  secondary  education,  the  introduction  of  new  system  of  the  R&I  policy  support  measures,  the  introduction  of 
evaluation framework for the RIS3 and the preparation of the national ESFRI Roadmap. These measures may stimulate 
business R&D expenditure and applied research, as well as increase science excellence. 

8 

 
 
                                           
The NRP 2014 discloses that expenditure from the state budget will be raised  mainly in 
education,  R&D  and  transport  infrastructure.  However,  the  plans  formulated  in  policy 
documents  have  not  been  enforced  yet.  In  June  2015  the  government  agreed  on  an 
increased  budget  for  the  Slovak  Academy  of  Sciences  (SAS)  for  the  following  three 
years. 

The  Slovak  Government's  Phoenix  Strategy  seeks  to  improve  researcher  mobility, 
encourage  collaborative  projects,  attract  foreign  researchers  and  return  migration. 
Mobility  centres,  the  National  Scholarship  Programme  and  the  EC  EURAXESS  portals 
offer  access  to  global  researcher  networks.  In  addition,  the  Slovak  Republic’s  Research 
and Development Agency (SDRA) supports various international co-operation projects.  

Assessment 

The  performance  of  the  research  system  in  the  Slovak  Republic  is  slowed  down  by  the 
lack of consistent long-term planning and of a financing model that stimulates excellence 
and best practice in research management. This may be improved by creating a human 
resources  strategy  for  public  research  organisations  with  a  transparent  selection  of 
people  and  with  regular  assessments  performed  by  peers  and  external  evaluators.  The 
effects  and  the  progress  of  mobility  policy  measures  may  be  monitored  and  reviewed 
more closely.  

The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports (MESRS) and the Accreditation 
Commission  have  implemented  several  initiatives  aimed  at  increasing  excellence  in  the 
Slovak  science.  The  MESRS  has  closed  one  private  HEI  and  has  abolished  two  study 
programmes in another HEI.  The Accreditation Commission has  stopped a high number 
of  study  programmes.  However,  a  comprehensive  reform  of  the  evaluation  criteria  for 
the HEIs is still missing. 

Challenge 3: Increase private innovation outputs and R&D investments 

Description 

One of the most important barriers to develop a strong private R&D sector and promote 
innovation is the dual economy6. In the Slovak Republic multinational companies (MNCs) 
have  high  productivity,  but  lack  in-house  research  activities.  In  spite  of  its  past  FDI 
competitive advantage  and production process sophistication, the  country has  not been 
very  successful  in  increasing  employment  in  R&D  activities  and  in  sectors  related  to 
exports of knowledge-intensive services. Thanks to MNCs the country has an increasing 
share  of  high-tech  exports  (consumer  electronics)  compared  with  its  neighbours  and  a 
high  share  of  medium  high-tech  export  (automotive),  but  there  is  only  a  very  low 
number  of  Slovak  SMEs  innovating  in-house  and  those  that  do  innovate  do  not 
collaborate with others. (Innovation Union Scoreboard 2015) 

Policy response 

Measures  to  support  innovation-oriented  enterprises  and  the  emergence  of  start-ups 
were adopted recently. A law introducing additional tax deductions for private companies 
investing  in  R&D  entered  into  force  in  January  2015.  The  new  tax  deductions  permit 
companies  investing  in  R&D  to  reduce  their  tax  bases  with  an  additional  25%  of  their 
R&D  expenditure,  25%  of  their  wage  for  R&D  employees  and  25  %  of  the  yearly  R&D 
expenditures  increase.  A  Concept  paper  for  supporting  start-ups  was  adopted  in  June 
2015.  The  concept  identifies  the  strategic  objectives  for  the  support  of  start-ups  in  the 
Slovak  Republic:  creating  favourable  conditions  for  entrepreneurship  (a  regulatory 
environment without unnecessary obstacles to the creation and operation of start-ups on 
the  market),  establishing  and  providing  support  services  to  strengthen  the  start-up 

6 Dual  economy  (Boeke,  1953)  refers  to  an  economy  in  which  rich,  capital-intensive  modern  sectors  exist  in  the  same 
model  as  comparatively  poor,  traditional,  labour  intensive  sectors.  Please  see  -  J.H.  Boeke  (1953)  Economics  and 
Economic Policy of Dual Societies, New York: Institute of Pacific Relations. 

9 

 
 
                                           
ecosystem  and financing the so-called 'valley of the death' phase of  business initiatives 
(the point where most start-ups fail). 

The Slovak Republic participates in the JEREMIE initiative, which provides risk capital to 
support  innovations  in  SMEs.  The  2014-2020  Operational  Programme  Research  and 
Innovation (OPRI) envisages grants and other (revolving) schemes to support start-ups 
in  the  knowledge-intensive  sectors,  business  advice  and  networking,  cluster  schemes 
and  small  business  innovation  research  projects.  The  OPRI  will  support  13,000 
enterprises and 1,400 start-ups. 

Several forms of state  aid for foreign investors are in place: discounted prices for land, 
financial  subsidies  for  acquiring  assets,  tax  credits  and  grants  for  the  creation  of  new 
jobs. According to the Act on Investment Aid (2007) investors can obtain assistance for 
investment  or  expansion  projects  of  technology  centres.  The  Act  is  designed  to 
encourage investments into high value-added products and research and development or 
into less-developed regions with high unemployment. 

Assessment 

It is still early to assess the measures related to tax incentives and start-ups. However, 
facilitating the access to funds by simplifying administrative rules may be indispensable. 
The new law on Income Tax stipulates that, in order to obtain the new tax deduction and 
reduce 25% of their social security and health insurance payments for R&D employees, 
companies investing in R&D should hire  employees that are younger than 26 years and 
no  longer  than  2  years  after  graduation.  Only  a  few  young  R&D  employees  can  match 
these criteria, except maybe IT specialists.  

The  complexity  and  the  administrative  burden  associated  with  the  JEREMIE  initiative 
often discourage SMEs to apply for it. Even if the OPRI was adopted already in November 
2014,  its  Action  Plan  has  not  been  approved  yet.  It  is  still  uncertain  whether  the  state 
aid regime now in place is enough attractive for investors to perform in-house research.  

Challenge 4: Strengthen synergies between science and industry 

Description 

A  recurring  theme  in  the  Country  Reports  issued  in  the  framework  of  the  European 
Semester  and  the  subject  of  CSRs  in  2013  and  2014,  is  the  need  to  address  the  weak 
cooperation between science and business. The total research spending (GERD) allocated 
through  business-funded–publicly-performed  R&D  was  5.1%  of  GERD  in  2011,  1.5% 
higher  than  the  EU-28  average  of  3.6%.  Yet,  the  average  percentage  of  academia-
industry co-publications between 2003 and 2013 is 0.9%,  far below the EU-28 average 
of 2.2%.  In 2013 the Slovak Republic had 6.8  public-private co-publications per million 
of  population  compared  with  29  for  the  EU-28  (17.5  for  Czech  Republic,  12.8  for 
Hungary). (Innovation Union Scoreboard 2015) 

Data  on  labour  markets  and  human  resources  show  that  foreign  MNCs  and  local  SMEs 
active in low-medium tech industries are not recruiting highly skilled R&D personnel. The 
latest  available  data  (Eurostat,  2012)  show  that  the  Slovak  Republic  has  a  low  level  of 
PhD holders that find work in the private sector (1.24% in 2012). In 2012, only 17% of 
researchers  were  employed  in  business  and  only  0.19%  of  the  active  workforce  was 
employed in R&D. 

The  recent  evaluations  point  to  several  reasons  for  the  low  level  of  synergies  between 
science and industry. The low absorption capacity from the demand side may result from 
a  large  number  of  SMEs  with  limited  innovation  capacities  and  the  preference  for 
technology  import  both  in  the  case  of  multinationals  and  domestic  companies.  The  low 
interest  from  the  supply  side  may  be  due  to  insufficient  incentives  for  researchers 
involved  in  knowledge  transfer  activities,  little  support  for  business  creation  and 
development  of  spin-off  companies,  a  rather  limited  familiarity  of  R&D  institutions  with 
the  business  sector  cooperation  possibilities  and  a  weak  performance  in  patenting  and 
licencing. 

10 

 
 
Policy response 

Policy  makers  acknowledged  the  need  to  improve  the  framework  conditions  for 
knowledge  transfer  in  the  2014-2020  RIS3  and  towards  the  end  of  the  2007-2013 
operational programmes.  The Annex to the 2014 NRP lists a number of relevant policy 
initiatives  in  the  reform  of  science  and  technology,  such  as  "support  for  building 
technology transfer centres". The 2007-2013 operational programmes implemented two 
national projects promoting knowledge transfer, which allocated €530.5m to businesses 
until December 2014. The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports (MESRS) 
addressed the issue of low engagement of researchers with business while preparing the 
framework for the evaluation of the RIS3.  

Assessment 

It  is  too  early  to  assess  the  policy  measures  introduced  in  2013-2014,  however  they 
focused  mostly  on  building  the  R&I  infrastructure  and  less  on  building  networks  and 
supporting  collaboration.  Upgrading  the  infrastructure  in  certain  technological  domains 
as  well  as  building  clusters  and  implementing  cluster  policies  policy  may  enhance 
cooperation between academia and industry and knowledge and technology transfer. 

The approval of the Action Plan to implement the Operational Programme Research and 
Innovation  (OPRI)  and  the  Action  Plan  to  implement  the  RIS3  are  still  pending.  Their 
endorsement is essential for the implementation and the financing of measures aimed at 
research results commercialisation and the fostering of science-academia collaboration. 

The  'Concept  paper  on  the  support  to  start-ups  and  development  of  the  start-up  eco-
system'  is  an  important  step  in  building  new  tools  to  increase  science-business 
cooperation. Yet, at present, the concept has only a strategic character and a follow-up 
with  concrete  policy  measures  and  action  plans  may  ensure  its  timely  implementation.

11 

 
 
1.  Overview of the R&I system 

1.1  Introduction 

The Slovak Republic has area of 49,034 square kilometres and population of 5.4 million. 
It accounts for 1.11%  of area and 1.06%  of population of the EU28.  The  Eurostat data 
indicate that the Slovak per capita nominal gross domestic product (GDP) was €14,400, 
about  one  half  of  the  EU  average  in  20157.  The  Slovak  GDP  (in  total  and  also  by  per 
capita)  grew  by,  2.5%  in  2014  and  3.6%  in  2015.  The  Eurostat  estimated  growth  in 
Slovak GDP for 3.2% in 2016. The unemployment rate was 13.2% in 2014, but dropped 
to 11.5% in 2015 (Table 1). The budget deficit increased from 2.7% in 2014 to 3.0% in 
2015.  The  share  of  the  government  debt  in  GDP  peaked  with  55.0%  in  2013,  but 
dropped  to  52.9%  in  2015.  The  improved  economic  outlook  and  the  decrease  in  the 
unemployment  rate  helped  public  finance  recovery.  The  Slovak  Government  approved 
the Government Resolution no 307/2015 on the 'Concept paper for the support of start-
ups and the development of the start-up ecosystem in the Slovak Republic' on 10 June 
2015.  The  policy  measures  aimed  at  start-ups  are  planned  for  2016.  The  Slovak 
Academy of Sciences (SAS), the Ministry of Science, Research and Sports (MESRS) and 
the Ministry of Finance signed the ‘Agreement on Stabilisation of the SAS budget’ in July 
2015. The agreement secures SAS minimal annual income €60 for period 2016-2018.  

The  Slovak  economy  relies  on  the  mid-tech  manufacturing  exports.  The  manufacturing 
generated  about  20%  of  the  total  gross  valued  added  in  2014.  Exports  accounted  for 
almost 100% Slovak GDP in the same year. Two industries (manufacture of car and car 
components  and  consumer  electronics)  accounted  for  over  40%  of  total  Slovak  exports 
of goods in 2014. Slovakia has a dual economy. One sector was dominated by branches 
of the multinational enterprises (MNE), second sector consisted of some 185 thousands 
(domestically-owned)  small  and  medium  companies  (SMEs)  in  2015.  The  Eurostat  data 
indicate that the turnover from innovation generated 19.6%  of total turnover in Slovak 
companies in 2012 (EU28: 11.9%). The 2015 Innovation Union Scoreboard data specify 
that Slovak companies accounted for above-average rates in non-R&D innovations (1.16 
times of the EU28 average). Several of the components of innovation expenditure, such 
as investment in equipment and machinery and the acquisition of patents and licenses, 
measure  the  diffusion  of  new  production  technology  and  ideas 8 .  The  Slovak  R&D 
investments in the business sector accounted only for 29% of the EU28 average. 

The  Slovak  gross  expenditure  on  research  and  development  (GERD)  was  €669.6m 
(0.89%  of  GDP)  in  2014  (2013:  €610.9m  and  0.83%  GDP).  The  2014  National  Reform 
Programme  for  the  Slovak  Republic  set  2020  targets  for  GERD  and  the  business 
expenditure  on  research  and  development  (BERD)  to  1.2%  and  0.8%  respectively.  The 
target  seems  realistic.  There  were  significant  increases  in  business  research  spending 
since  2008  (albeit  from  extremely  low  base).  Most  of  the  increase  likely  related  to  co-
financing  the  Structural  Fund  projects  by  the  Slovak  companies.  The  Slovak  target  in 
GERD  (1.2%  GDP),  however,  is  rather  unambitious  compared  to  those  by  Hungary 
(1.8%) and Slovenia (2.0%). 

The  Slovak  Republic  takes  over  the  Presidency  of  the  Council  of  the  European  Union  in 
July  2016.  Mr.  Robert-  Jan  Smits  –  Director  General  at  the  Directorate-General  for 
Research and Innovation (DG RTD) had meeting with the MESRS representatives in July 
2015.  Mr.  Smits  and  the  MESRS  agreed  on  the  Slovak  thematic  research  priorities  in 
fields  of  start-ups  and  cybersecurity.  Support  to  young  researchers  is  a  horizontal 
research priority for the Slovak Republic. 9 

7 Slovak per capita GDP was 75.2% of the EU28 average in terms of purchasing power parity. Source: Eurostat. 
8 Source: European Commission (2015): Innovation Union Scoreboard 2015. Annex H. Performance per indicator. 
9 MESRS (2015): Robert – Jan Smits: „Slovensko má veľký potenciál“ {Robert – Jan Smith: ‘Slovakia has a significant 
potential’}, the MESRS press release of 14 July 2015. 

12 

 
 
                                           
Table 1: Main R&I indicators 2012-2014 

Indicator 

GDP per capita 

GDP growth rate 

Budget deficit as % of GDP 

Government debt as % of GDP 

2012 

2013 

2014 

EU 
average 

13,400  13,600  13,900 

27,400 

1.6 

1.4 

2.5 

-4.3 

-2.7 

-2.7 

52.4 

55.0 

53.9 

1.4 

-3.0 

86.8 

10.2 

Unemployment rate as percentage of the labour force 

14.0 

14.2 

13.2 

GERD in €m 

GERD as % of the GDP 

GERD (EUR per capita) 

585.2 

610.9 

669.6 

283,009.4 

0.81 

0.83 

0.89 

2.03 

108.3 

112.9 

123.6 

558.4 

Employment 
manufacturing sectors as share of total employment 

in  high-  and  medium-high-technology 

10.2 

9.8 

9.4 

5.7 

Employment  in  knowledge-intensive  service  sectors  as 
share of total employment 

31.9 

32.8 

34.0 

39.8 

Turnover from innovation as % of total turnover 

19.6 

x 

Value  added  of  manufacturing  as  share  of  total  value 
added 

30.0 

32.6 

Value added of high tech manufacturing as share of total 
value added 

2.5 

2.1 

x 

x 

x 

11.9 
(2012) 

26.2 
(2012) 

2.5  

(2012) 

Source: Eurostat 

1.2  Structure of the national research and innovation system and 
its governance 

1.2.1  Main features of the R&I system 

The Slovak Republic accounts for a highly centralised system of research, innovation and 
higher education. The research, higher education and innovation traditionally have been 
considered matters of central government. The 302/2001 Law on Self-Governing Regions 
makes  no  references  to  competences  in  support  to  regional  innovation  and  research 
systems.  The  support  to  human  resources  (secondary  education  in  particular)  is  the 
most  important  competence  Slovak  NUTS  III  regions  have  in  field  of  innovation 
development. 

The  Slovak  R&I  system  is  funded  mainly  from  the  government  and  business  resources. 
The  HEIs,  the  public  research  institutions  and  businesses  are  the  main  research 
performers.  The  non-profit  sector  is  of  minor  importance  for  the  R&I  funding  and 
performance  in  Slovakia.  The  structure  of  research  spending  changed  in  last  six  years. 
Public  sector  (central  government)  was  a  major  provider  of  research  funding  in  2000s. 
Since  2010  business  resources  and  funding  from  abroad  (European  Commission) 
significantly  increased  in  importance.  The  business  and  private-non-profit  research 
bodies funded 34.7%, HEIs 0.3%, government 52.3% and foreign funders 12.3% of the 
total research funding in 2008. The respective shares changed to 32.7%, 2.2%, 41.4% 
and 23.7% by 2014. The Eurostat data on business research spending indicated that the 
foreign owned businesses performed 78% of the total intra-mural research in the Slovak 
Republic  in  2011  (latest  available  data).  Data  on  research  spending  by  the  MNE  are 
scarce  in  the  Slovak  Republic.  The  Eurostat  data  on  the  direct  investment  positions  by 
economic  activity  indicate  a  quite  low  stock  of  the  FDI  in  the  Slovak  Republic  in  2012 
(see chapter 3.3.2 for more details). 

13 

 
 
1.2.2  Governance 

The  Slovak  system  of  research  and  innovation  (R&I)  governance  accounted  for  no 
significant  changes  in  the  last  three  years.  The  national  research  and  development 
policies  are  drafted,  implemented  and  co-ordinated  by  the  Ministry  of  Education, 
Science,  Research  and  Sports  (MESRS).  The  MESRS  co-operates  with  other  ministries 
(Ministries  of  Economy  and  Finance  in  particular),  the  Slovak  Academy  of  Sciences 
(SAS),  HEIs,  and  associations  of  employers,  and  industrial  research  organisations, 
respectively (Figure 1). The most important body for co-ordination of S&T and innovation 
policies  is  the  Slovak  Government  Council  for  Research,  Development  and  Innovations 
(SGCSTI). The SGCSTI also is an advisory body of the Slovak Government in matters of 
science,  research  and  innovation.  The  secretariat  of  the  council is  administrated  by  the 
MESRS.  The  council  is  chaired  by  the  Prime  Minister.  Co-chairs  of  the  SGCSTI  are 
Minister  of  Education,  Science,  Research  and  Sport  of  the  Slovak  Republic,  Minister  of 
Economy,  Minister  of  Finance  and  Chairman  of  the  Slovak  Academy  of  Sciences.  The 
SGCSTI  discusses  and  evaluates  mainly  conceptual,  strategic  and  financial  plans  in 
science,  technology  and  innovations  designed  for  the  Slovak  Government,  European 
Union  bodies  and  international  organisations.  The  Rector  Conference  and  the  SAS  are 
the main advisory bodies for the Slovak Government on R&I. 

The  drafts  of  the  R&I  policies  are  provided  for  public  consultations  by  key  stakeholders 
and broader public. The current key R&I document is the Smart Specialisation Strategy 
for the Slovak Republic for 2014-2020. Multi-annual budgetary framework is provided by 
the Ministry of Finance. The ministry regularly publishes drafts of the state budgets and 
three-year budgetary outlook for public administration. Funding for research and higher 
education  was  quite  unstable,  and  subject  to  intense  negotiations  between  the  Ministry 
of  Finance  on  one  hand,  and  the  HEIs  and  the  SAS  on  the  other  hand  in  2010-2014. 
Predictability  of  the  budgetary  framework  somewhat  improved  in  2015,  when  the 
Ministry of Finance fixed the SAS budget for three years.  

The  MESRS  supports  basic  and  applied  research  via  state  budget  allocations  and 
competitive  grants.  The  grants  are  given  to  a  network  of  organisations  and  agencies 
important for development of science & technology (S&T) and higher education. The SAS 
has  its  own  chapter  in  the  State  Budget  Law.  For  more  details  on  key  research 
performers and funders see chapter 3. 

The  evaluation  culture  is  rather  underdeveloped  in  Slovakia.  The  MESRS  has  published 
the Annual Report on R&D since 2006. The reports list major public funding schemes and 
organisations,  and  provide  details  on  numbers  of  supported  projects  and  amount  of 
support.  The  latest  editions  of  the  report  also  list  some  output  indicators  (publications, 
citations,  patents)  and  provide  for  basic  international  benchmarking.  The  reports, 
however,  do  not  account  for  the  fully-fledged  ante  and  ex-post  evaluation  tools  and 
impact  analyses.  They  contain  no  comparable  information  about  the  quality  and 
efficiency of funding through R&I programmes. The reports seemed to have little impact 
on  improvement  of  the  national  system  of  R&I.  The  Slovak  Research  and  Development 
Agency  (SRDA)  (major  source  of  the  national project  funding)  publishes  annual  reports 
on  its  activities,  but  gives  no  analytical  assessment  on  the  efficiency  of  the  public 
support  to  R&D.  The  accreditations  of  the  Slovak  HEIs  and  the  SAS  also  seem  to  have 
little impact on the performance of the HEIs and the SAS. The Slovak HEIs and the SAS 
underperform  in  the  Scimago  and  Webometrics  rankings  (see  chapter  2.2.1  for  more 
details). The 2015  Innovation Union Scoreboard also ranked the Slovak Republic to the 
poorest  R&I  performers  in  the  EU28.  No  macroeconomic  models  have  been  used  to 
assess the impact of R&I on economic growth in the Slovak Republic. 

1.2.3  Research performers 

The HEIs and the SAS are the key research performers in the Slovak Republic. There are 
36 HEIs, of which 20 public and 16 private ones in Slovakia. The public HEIs provide for 
teaching  and  research.  The  private  HEIs  concentrate  on  teaching  in  social  science  and 
humanities.  There  was  only  one  private  HEI  in  the  Scimago  list  of  major  research 

14 

 
performers  in  2015  in  Slovakia  (Annex  1).  The  SAS  was  the  most  important  research 
performer in terms of research outputs and institutional funding in the same year (Annex 
1). Some sectoral ministries were running their own research and intelligence institutes. 
The Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, for example, managed the Institute for 
Research  in  Labour  and  Family.  The  Ministry  of  Finance  runs  the  Financial  Policy 
Institute. There were some 200 private companies reporting research activities by 2015 
in Slovakia. Information on private research performers, however, was quite scarce. Few 
Slovak  companies  published  information  on  their  research  spending.  The  structure  of 
research  spending  changed  in  last  six  years.  The  business  and  private-non-profit 
research  bodies  performed  43%,  HEIs  24%  and  government  organisations  33%  of  the 
total research in 2008. The respective shares changed to 37%, 23% and 28% by 2014. 

15 

 
Political 
and 
level 
high 
level 
cross cutting 
policy level 

Ministry 
mission 
centred 
coordination 

R&D funding 
allocation 

Research 
performers 

Parliament 

Cabinet 

The Slovak Government 
Council for Science, 
Technology and 
innovation 

Rector 
conference 

Ministry of 
Education, Science, 
Research and Sport 

Ministry  of 
Finance 

Ministry 
Economy 

of 

Other 
ministries 
(defence...) 

Scientific  Grant 
Agency VEGA 

and 

Culture 
Education 
Agency VEGA 

Slovak 
Research & 
Development 
Agency 

Research 
Agency 

Higher 
Education 
Institutions 

Slovak 
Academy of 
Sciences 

Slovak 
Guarantee  & 
Development 
Bank 

Slovak 
Agency 

Business 

Innovation Fund 

Slovak Investment 
& Trade 
Development 
Agency 

Slovak Innovation 
and Energy 
Agency 

Companies 

Figure 1 The organigram of the Slovak national research and innovation system10 

10 SARIO has no budget or any competences for funding allocation for R&D. 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                           
2.  Recent Developments in Research and Innovation Policy 
and systems 

2.1  National R&I strategy 

The  2007  ‘Long-term  Objective  of  the  State  S&T  Policy  up  to  2015’  and  the  2007 
‘Innovation Strategy for 2007-2013’ were the first strategic documents on research and 
innovation  in  Slovakia.  Both  documents  were  superseded  by  the  national  Smart 
Specialisation  Strategy  (RIS3  document).  The  Slovak  Government  passed  the  final 
version  of  the  RIS3  document  via  the  Government  Resolution  no.  665/2013  on  13 
November  2013.  The  document  is  the  national  R&I  strategy  for  2014-2020.  It  covers 
research  and  innovation  in  an  integrated  manner.  The  chapter  2  of  the  document 
presents  international  analysis  of  strength  and  weaknesses  of  the  Slovak  economy  and 
its emerging opportunities.  

The strengths and weaknesses are summarised in chapter 3 of the RIS document. Based 
on  the  analytical  chapter,  the  RIS3  document  sets  goals  and  policy  measures  aimed  at 
research, innovation and education: 

  Goal  1  tackles  challenge  of  the  dual  economy  and  aims  at  increasing 
embeddedness of key industries in Slovakia. The RIS3 document proposes policy 
measures  aimed  at  (i)  increasing  embeddedness  by  the  MNE  in  Slovakia’s 
economy;  (ii)  improving  integration  of  the  Slovak  firms  into  the  global  value 
chains;  and  (iii)  support  to  clusters  and  joint  research  centres  by  public  and 
private sectors. 

  Goal 2 relates to support to economic growth via results of excellent science. The 
goal reflects EU priorities in international co-operation in science technology. The 
goal  aims  at  exploiting  opportunities  for  joint  programming,  cross-border  co-
operation and the leverage effects of EU instruments. The Measure 2.1 ‘Fostering 
excellence  in  research’  aims  at  ‘improving  international  co-operation  and 
excellence’  and  ‘integration  of  Slovak  science  to  the  European  Research  Area’. 
The Measure 2.2 ‘Development of excellent research while ensuring the necessary 
infrastructure  for  research  and  development’  envisages  grants  supporting  ESFRI 
infrastructure  projects.  The  Measure  2.4  ‘Systemic  support  to  and  stimulation  of 
international  co-operation  in  science  and  technology’  aims  at  improving  Slovak 
participation  in  the  Horizon  2020,  ERC  and  ERANET  programmes,  joint 
programming, and cross-border co-operation.  

  Goal 3 ‘Creating dynamic, open and inclusive innovative society as a condition for 
improving  quality  of  life’  contains  three  policy  measures  on  grand  societal 
challenges. Indicative set of the grand societal challenges Slovakia wants to solve 
by  means  of  co-operation  within  the  ERA  includes  population  ageing,  youth 
unemployment, inclusive society, and environmental issues. 

  Goal  4  ‘Improving  quality  of  human  resources  for  innovative  Slovakia’  contains 
policy  measures  aimed  at  improving  system  of  vocational  education  and 
supporting excellent higher education. 

  The  RIS3  document  noted  a  lack  of  thematic  and  sectorial  focus,  and  indicated 
prospective sectors of economic specialisation and related research themes. The RIS3 
document  identifies  four  key  areas  of  economic  specialisation:  (1)  automotive  and 
mechanical  engineering 
industries;  (2)  consumer  electronics  and  electrical 
equipment;  (3)  information  and  communication  technologies  and  services,  and  (4) 
production  and  processing  of  iron  and  steel.  The  document  also  lists  ‘prospective 
areas  of  specialisation’, such as (a) automation, robotics and digital technology; (b) 
processing  and  increasing  the  value  of  light  metals  and  their  alloys;  (c)  production 
and  processing  of  plastics;  (d)  creative  industry,  and  (e)  increasing  the  value  of 
domestic raw material base. 

 The RIS3 document also identifies four areas of specialisation form the point of view of 
available  scientific  and  research  capacities:  Research  of  materials  and  nanotechnology, 
Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Environment and agriculture and Sustainable energy. 

17 

 
The potential impact of the RIS3 document is significant. The key reforms envisaged by 
the  RIS3  document,  however,  have  not  been  implemented  by  end  of  2015.  The  RIS3 
document should be implemented by two Action Plans for Research and Innovation (for 
periods  2015-2016  and  2017-2020).  In  2015  the  MESRS  drafted  three  versions  of  the 
Action Plan for the RIS3 document for period 2015-2016 respectively.  

The Slovak Government rejected two versions of the Action Plan. Major difficulties relate 
to  the  reform  of  the  R&I  governance.  The  final  draft  was  approved  by  the  Slovak 
Government  Council  for  the  Science,  Technology  and  Innovation  (SGCSTI)  on  4 
September 2015 and sent to the European Commission for further comments. The final 
draft  concentrated  on  legislative  measures  aimed  at  (i)  reform  of  funding  agencies,  (ii) 
transformation  of  the  SAS,  (iii)  reform  of  higher  and  secondary  education,  (iv) 
introduction  of  new  system  of  the  R&D&I  policy  support  measures,  (v)  introduction  of 
evaluation framework for the RIS3, and (vi) preparation of the national ESFRI Roadmap. 
These  measures  should  stimulate  business  R&D  expenditure  and  applied  research,  as 
well  as  increase  excellence  of  science.  The  final  draft  of  the  Action  Plan  also  (a) 
suggested  set  of  indicators  for  evaluating  RIS3,  and  (b)  set  time  plan  of  the  RIS3 
evaluations. None of these policy measures were adopted by December 2015 (except for 
the tax reliefs for R&D).   

The  chapter  5.2  of  the  RIS3  document  envisaged  some  important  reforms  of  the  R&I 
governance  system.  Slovakia,  for  example,  accounts  for  low  amount  of  national  R&I 
funding,  but  has  as  much  as  eight  agencies  for  R&I  support.  Five  research  funders 
managed  by  MESRS  should  merge  to  the  ‘Research  Agency’,  while  three  innovation 
support agencies managed by the Ministry of Economy should merge to the ‘Technology 
Agency’.  The  merger  should  (i)  increase  thematic  focus  of  public  support  to  R&I;  (ii) 
remove fragmentation of public support to R&I; (iii) avoid duplications of R&I schemes; 
and  (iv|  create  critical  mass  for  support  to  R&I  in  selected  areas.  The  Slovak 
Government  have  not  implemented  any  reforms  aimed  at  removal  of  fragmentation  of 
public  support  to  R&D  by  end  of  2015.  It  rather  amended  statutes  of  two  incumbent 
funders  (ASFEU  and  SIEA)  and  credited  these  bodies  with  some  tasks  of  the  Research 
Agency and the Technology Agency respectively in 2015. 

Most  policy  goals  and  policy  measures  of  the  RIS3  document  are  financed  via  the 
Operational Programme Research and Innovation (OPRI).  

The Slovak Government approved the OPRI via Resolution no 230/2014 on 14.05.2014. 
The OPRI contains five Priority Axes with significant allocations in period 2014-2020: 

1.  Support to research, development and innovations (€2,945.84m); 
2.  Support  to  research,  development  and  innovations  in  the  Bratislava  Region 

(€299.67m); 

3.  Strengthening competitiveness and growth by the small and medium enterprises 

(€592.53m); 

4.  Strengthening competitiveness and growth by the small and medium enterprises 

in the Bratislava Region (€49.99m); 

5.  Technical assistance (€60.0m). 

In  total  the  OPRI  allocates  €3988.00m,  of  which  €2,226.78m  from  the  EU  resources, 
€272.40m  from  national  public  resources,  and  €1,468.84m  from  national  private 
resources. The societal priorities may be funded via the OPRI as well. 

In  July  2015  the  Ministry  of  Education,  Science,  Research  and  Sports  drafted  an 
indicative  list  of  eight  OPRI  calls  for  2015-2016.  Five  of  these  calls  are  aimed  at 
achieving  the  RIS3  targets:  (1)  Target  1.1.2  ‘Synergic  and  complementary  finance  for 
international  projects  in  area  of  RIS3’,  €25m;  (2)  Target  1.2.1  ‘Support  to  R&D  in 
individual industrial  R&D  centres  in  area  of  RIS3’,  €190m;  (3)  Target  1.2.1  ‘Support  to 
long-term  strategic  research  in  area  of  RIS3’,  €150m;  (4)  Target  1.1.3  ‘Modernisation 
and further development of technology basis in non-business R&D institutions in area of 
RIS3’, €35m; and (5) Target 2.1.1  ‘Mobilising excellent research teams in area  of RIS3 

18 

 
in  the  Bratislava  Region’,  €15m.  Calls  under  targets  1.2.1,  1.1.3  and  2.1.1  included  a 
significant  innovation.  They  were  open  for  research  organisations  from  the  EU  Member 
Countries.  Calls  implemented  under  the  operational  programmes  ‘Research  and 
Development’  and  ‘Competitiveness  and  Economic  Growth’  were  accessible  only  to 
Slovak research organisations and private bodies in period 2007-2013/15. 

2.2  R&I policy initiatives 

The Slovak Republic ranks among the weakest R&I performers in the EU (i.e. the results 
of  the  2015  European  Innovation  Scoreboard).  It  indicates  that  public  action  in  most 
relevant policy areas is not optimally designed/implemented in a strategic, coherent and 
integrated  framework  and  tailored  to  foster  innovation  and  strengthen  the  knowledge 
base  and  fundamental  research.  The  RIS3  document  recognised  the  weaknesses  of  the 
Slovak  R&I  system  and  suggested  a  number  of  policy  initiatives  for  fostering  research 
and innovation. The most important R&I policy initiatives include the RIS3 document in 
2013  (see  chapter  2.1)  and  introduction  of  the  tax  reliefs  (‘super  deductions’)  for  the 
R&D since 2015 (see chapter 3.5.2). 

The tax  reliefs for R&D  may boost R&D  expenditure reported by the Slovak  companies. 
Slovak business expenditure on R&D (BERD) ranks to the lowest in the EU28. The Slovak 
BERD,  however,  is  likely  to  be  underreported.  There  was  no  benefit,  but  lot  of 
administrative  burden  related  to  statistical  reports  on  the  R&D  expenditure  in  Slovakia 
prior to 2015. Tax reliefs for R&D introduced in 2015 may motivate Slovak companies to 
(i) report their R&D expenditure correctly, and (ii) increase actual R&D spending. 

The  innovation  and  education  aspects  traditionally  were  treated  separately  in  Slovakia. 
The  education  and  research  policies  fell  under  aegis  of  the  MESRS.  The  Ministry  of 
Economy  designed  and  implemented  innovation-related  policies.  The  RIS3  document 
presented plans for integrated design and implementation of the research and innovation 
policies. The plans, unfortunately, were not translated to specific policies by end of 2015. 
The Slovak Republic had no strategic policies for investments in research infrastructures 
(see chapter 4.2.2 for more details). 

Evaluations, consultations, foresight exercises 

The Slovak Republic adopted some monitoring and review mechanisms (based on output 
indicators  and  international  benchmarking)  to  evaluate  performance  of  the  public 
research  institutions,  HEIs,  and  research  programmes  and  projects.  These  mechanisms 
provide  relatively  accurate  and  comparable  information  about  the  amount  (but  not 
efficiency)  of  funding  from  public  resources.  The  evaluation  culture,  however,  is 
underdeveloped, in terms of funding efficiency and impacts in particular. 

The  Slovak  Government  and  the  Ministry  of  Education,  Science,  Research  and  Sports 
(MESRS)  have  published  the  Annual  Report  on  Research  and  Development  since  2006. 
The  reports  list  state  expenditure  on  various  R&D  schemes,  and  also  provide  for  some 
basic  international  benchmarking.  The  reports,  however,  do  not  include  the  impact 
evaluation (see chapter 1.2.2).  

The  Ministry  of  Economy  published  annual  reports  on  implementation  of  the  2007 
Innovation  Strategy.  The  strategy  was  superseded  by  the  RIS3  document  in  2013.  No 
evaluation of innovation policies was published in period 2013-2015. 

19 

 
 
The  Structural  Funds  schemes  are  evaluated  on  continuous  and  periodical  basis.  The 
monitoring  reports  (related  to  individual  calls)  and  the  annual  reports  for  particular 
operational programmes tend to be rather formal. They concentrate on stating numbers 
of  applicants,  and  volume  of  support  required  and  awarded.  The  impact  assessment 
procedures  are  underdeveloped,  because  of  the  lack  of  experts  and  techniques.  The 
Slovak Government commissioned the ‘Pilot project– contribution to the EU 2020 targets 
in research and development’. The study found that:  

  The  investments  from  the  Operational  Programmes  ‘Research  and  Development’ 
and  ‘Competitiveness  and  Economic  Growth’  (OPRD  and  OPCEG  respectively) 
significantly boosted revenues and assets in supported enterprises. The effects of 
the  EU  support  on  companies’  own  R&D  spending  remained  unclear,  as  the 
supported enterprises were not obliged to report their own spending; 

  The OPRD and OPCEG coped with limited absorption capacity. The survey with the 
project  beneficiaries  and  interviews  with  the  key  stakeholders  indicated  that 
spending by the OPRD and OPCEG was slowed down by enormous administrative 
burden and problems with public procurement (see chapters 4 and 5 of the Pilot 
for project more details). 

The  main  evaluation  body  for  the  Slovak  HEIs  is  the  Accreditation  Commission  of  the 
MESRS.  The  Accreditation  Commission  classified  HEIs  in  three  categories:  (a) 
‘Universities’,  (b)  ‘Higher  Education  Institutions’,  and  (c)  ‘Professional  Higher  Education 
Institutions’. The commission approved new, more stringent rules in 2013. The rules put 
more  emphasis  on  research  excellence  in  terms  of  scientific  papers  published/cited  in 
journals  listed  in  the  international  scientific  databases  (WOS,  SCOPUS),  research 
monographs published with high-quality publishers and international patents. 

The last evaluation round took place in 2014-2016 and covered period 2008-2013. The 
Accreditation  Commission  evaluated  4891  study  programmes  in  22  Higher  Education 
Institutions  (HEIs)  by  end  of  2015.  Five  HEIs  may  lose  their  ‘University’  status  and  be 
downgraded to simple ‘Higher Education Institutions’. The Accreditation Commission also 
did not approve 1756 study programmes, and abolished some 90 dislocated branches of 
the  HEIs  out  of  the  total  110.  Accreditation  of  the  remaining  14  HEIs  is  scheduled  to 
2016. 

The  Slovak  public  system  of  higher  education  is  heavily  underfunded.  The  rules  for 
funding allocation put considerable weight on numbers of students and encourage mass 
education.  The  results  of  evaluation  have  little  impact  on  improvements  in  research 
performance  of  the  HEIs  (see  chapter  3.4.2  for  more  details) 11 .  The  Accreditation 
Commission12 launched  project  on  ‘Top  Research  teams  in  Slovak  Universities’  in  2014. 
Some 77 teams applied for evaluation. The Accreditation Commission used data provided 
by  the  Web  of  Knowledge  and  identified  37  top  teams  in  2015.  The  Universities  with 
excellent  research  teams  should  be  allowed  to  ask  for  higher  funding  from  public 
resources. 

The  Slovak  Academy  of  Sciences  (SAS)  evaluates  its  institutes  since  1992.  The  last 
round  was  concluded  in  2012.  Results  of  evaluations;  had  little  consequences  for  the 
SAS  funding  (see  the  2014  Country  Report  for  more  details).  The  next  round  of 
evaluation is set for 2016. 

11 No  Slovak  University  was  included  in  the  top  500  World  Universities  by  the  2015  edition  of  the  Webometrics.  The 
Comenius University in Bratislava (no 634), the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (no 675) and the Technical 
University of Košice (no 768) fared best in the ranking. 
12 The  Accreditation  Commission  has  21  members  and  24  Working  Groups  for  particular  fields  of  science.  Almost  all 
members  of  the  commission  and  the  working  groups  are  Slovak  citizens.  Slovak  research  sector  is  quite  small  and 
scientists working within the same research field use to know each other. The Accreditation Commission would no doubt 
benefit from membership by foreign and/or independent experts. 

20 

 
 
                                           
2.3  European Semester 2014 and 2015 

The 2014 National Reform Programme (NRP) for the Slovak Republic listed government’s 
plans for reform of higher education. The 2014 NRP, for example, announced intentions 
to  ‘cancel  scientific-pedagogic  and  artistic-pedagogic  titles  of  assistant  professor  and 
professor,  while  retaining  only  the  relevant  functional  positions’.  This  should  ‘make  the 
academic  career  more  flexible  and  the  system  open  also  for  persons  interested  from 
abroad or from practice’. No specific policy actions toward these targets were taken13.  

The  2015  National  Reform  Programme  confirmed  government’s  intention  to  implement 
the  RIS3  document  via  the  Action  Plan  of  the  Research  and  Innovation  Strategy  for 
Intelligent  Specialisation  of  SR  (RIS3)  for  2015–2016.  The  2015  NRP  mentions  the 
measures  ‘focused  on  the  stabilisation  of  public  funds  and  support  to  private  R&D 
funding.  The  existing  network  of  government  funding  institutions  will  be  reduced. 
Financing  will  be  focused  on  increasing  the  quality  of  research,  promoting  the 
infrastructure  built  from  EU  funds  in  the  second  programming  period  and  connecting 
universities,  science  academies,  research  institutions  and  partners  from  the  area  of 
industry’.  

The  2015  NRP  also  tackles  the  transformation  of  public  research  bodies.  The  Slovak 
Academy of Sciences should be transformed into a new type of public body, the so-called 
‘public  research  organisation’  in  2016.  As  for  the  international  cooperation  in  R&D,  the 
Slovak  Government  would  support  the  ‘involvement  of  Slovak  organizations  in  the 
European  networks  and  programmes  such  as  Horizon  2020,  Danube  Strategy,  ECSEL, 
EIT, and ESFRI’. The Annex 2 to the 2015 NRP (Action Plan) listed two important tasks in 
area  of  R&I  to  be  implemented  by  June  2015:  (1)  reform  of  the  R&D  funding  system; 
and  (2)  Action  plan  for  the  implementation  of  Research  and  Innovation  Strategy  for 
Smart Specialisation of SR (RIS3) 2015 – 2016’. None of these tasks was finished by end 
of 2015. 

The  2015  Country  Specific  Recommendations  (CSR)  for  the  Slovak  Republic  made  no 
specific  observations  on  the  research,  development  and  innovations.  The  CSR  noted 
‘some  progress  in  relation  to  work-based  learning,  with  a  new  Act  on  vocational 
education and training to enter into force in 2015’. The  2015 Slovakia’s Country Report 
(staff working document) noted the halted reform in higher education and no progress in 
‘introducing  more  quality-based  funding  criteria  for  public  higher  education  institutions 
and  encouraging  the  creation  of  profession-oriented  bachelor  programmes  by 
institutions’.  The  Country  Report  also  pointed  to  fact  that  the  ’low  quality  and  lack  of 
industrial  relevance  of  the  science  base  impedes  the  emergence  of  a  well-functioning 
research and innovation ecosystem in Slovakia’. 

The  Country  Report  then  lists  some  long-term  challenges  for  developing  an  efficient 
national  system  of  research  and  innovation  in  Slovakia:  (i)  poor  co-operation  between 
the  academia  and  industry  sectors;  (ii)  delayed  reform  of  public  research  bodies;  and 
(iii) low innovativeness of the Slovak economy (for structural challenges see chapter 6). 

The important action in research and innovation policy was introduction of the tax reliefs 
for the R&D. 

2.4  National and Regional Research and Innovation Strategies 
on Smart Specialisation 

The  RIS3  document  is  a  multi-annual  plan,  but  it  does  not  provide  for  predictable 
budgetary  framework.  The  2.0  draft  version  of  the  RIS3  document  contained  detailed 
indicative financial allocations for particular policy measures.  The government approved 
final  version  of  the  RIS3  document  with  no  financial  allocations.  National  support  to 
science  and  technology  is  determined  by  the  Ministry  of  Finance  and  presented  in  the 

13 The annex of the 2014 NPR contains lists of legislative to draft by end of 2013 and early 2014. Most of these were not 
ready by end of 2015. 

21 

 
                                           
three-year  Proposal  for  Budget  of  Public  Administration.  The  RIS3  document  presents 
plans for (i) changing shares of support to basic and applied research from current ratio 
of 2:1 to 1:2 by 2020; and (ii) introducing ‘mandatory indicator of the state support to 
R&D as percentage of GDP in the State Budget Law’. The proposed 2015-2017 Budget of 
Public Administration contains no actions supporting these plans and foresees decreases 
in national public support to R&I. 

The monitoring and evaluation arrangements are considered in the chapter 8 of the RIS3 
document. The  chapter foresees ‘regular  reporting for needs  of the Slovak  Government 
and  the  European  Commission’.  The  Standing  Committee  of  the  Slovak  Government 
Council  for  the  Science,  Technology  and  Innovation  (SGCSTI)  is  responsible  for 
monitoring  while  the  Analytical  Department  of  the  Government  Office  provides  for 
evaluation of ‘measurable outputs, results and impacts of policy measures implemented 
under  the  RIS3’.  The  chapter  8  also  assumes  corrective  actions  ‘in  case  the 
implementation  of  the  RIS3  policy  measures  does  not  generate  expected  results’.  The 
RIS3  document  has  not  been  implemented  by  specific  policy  actions  by  end  of  2015. 
Efficiency of the RIS3 monitoring mechanism therefore is impossible to asses. 

The  Slovak  self-governing  regions  have  no  competences  in  research  and  higher 
education,  and  fairly  limited  competences  in  field  of  innovation.  If  a  region  wants  to 
support research and innovation, the usual way is to include these items into ‘support to 
regional planning and development’. Support to human resources (secondary  education 
in particular) is the only important competence Slovak regions have in field of innovation 
development. 

The  regional  governments  commissioned  two  generations  of  regional  of  innovation 
strategies (RIS). The  first generation of the RIS3 was drafted in  period 2004/2006 and 
applied till 2013/2014. In 2013-2014 the regional governments used financial assistance 
from the Regional Operational Programme and commissioned second generation (‘smart-
type’)  of  the  RIS.  The  ‘Strategy  for  Development  of  Regional  Research  and  Innovation 
Base  of  the  Bratislava  Region  in  period  2014-2020’  was  the  only  smart-type  RIS 
document  available  by  end  of  2014.  The  first  and  second  generations  of  the  RIS, 
however,  contain  no  mandatory  plans  for  implementation  of  regional  policy  measures. 
Almost  all  measures  supporting  R&D  and  innovation  are  designed,  implemented  and 
evaluated by the central government agencies (SIEA and Research Agency in particular). 
The central government may consider targets and policy tools suggested by the regional 
innovation  documents,  but  is  not  bound  to  adopt  them.  The  regional  innovation 
strategies,  in  fact,  are  more  ‘wish  lists’  than  real  planning  documents  in  Slovakia.  The 
Operational  Programme  Research  and  Innovation  is  major  source  of  funding  for  R&I 
policies mentioned in the regional innovation strategies. 

The  Slovak  Innovation  and  Energy  Agency  presented  a  study  on  impact  of  clusters  on 
economic development of the regions in December 2015. The study mapped activities of 
the  Slovak  cluster  organisations  and  proposed  specific  policy  measures  supporting 
development of clusters in the Slovak regions14. 

14 Balog, M. (2015): Klastrová politika v podmienkach Slovenska {The Cluster Policy in Slovakia}, Bratislava, Slovak 
Innovation and Energy Agency. 

22 

 
 
                                           
2.5  Main policy changes in the last five years 

Main Changes in 2011 
The  Slovak  Government  Council  for  Science,  Technology  and  Innovations  (SGCSTI)  was 
established  by  the  Government  Resolution  No.  620/2011  on  28  September  2011.  The  SGCSTI  is 
top governance body for research and innovations in Slovakia. 
The  Slovak  Government  passed  the  2011  Innovation  Policy  document  via  the  Government 
Resolution No 302/2011 of 11th May 2011. 
The Fenix Strategy: Update of the Long-Term Objective of the State Science and Technology Policy 
up to 2015 was passed via the Government Resolution No. 467/2011 on 06.07.2011 
The  Slovak  Government  Council  for  Science,  Technology  and  Innovations  (SGCSTI)  was 
established  by  the  Government  Resolution  No.  620/2011  on  28  September  2011.  The  SGCSTI  is 
top governance body for research and innovations in Slovakia. 
Main changes in 2012 
The Ministry of  Economy  drafted an amendment  of  the 181/2011 Law on Subsidies as  to include 
innovation, research and development to the list od supported activities. The Slovak Government 
approved the draft via its resolution No. 643/2012 of 28.11.2012 and earmarked some €300,000 
for support to innovation and R&D. 
Main changes in 2013 
The  SGCSTI  met  for  the  first  time  on  9  April  2013  to  discuss  the  first  draft  of  the  Smart 
Specialisation Strategy (RIS3 document).  
The final version of the RIS3 document was passed via the Government Resolution no. 665/2013 
on 13 November 2013. The  Smart Specialisation Strategy is the first policy document integrating 
research and innovation policies in Slovakia. 
Main Changes in 2014 
The Slovak Government approved the Operational Programme Research and Innovation (OPRI) via 
Resolution  no  230/2014  on  14.05.2014.  The  OPRI  contains  five  Priority  Axes  with  significant 
allocations in period 2014-2020. In total the OPRI allocates €3988.00m, of which €2226.78m from 
the EU resources, €272.40m from national public resources, and €1468.84m from national private 
resources. The OPRI is major source of finance for the Slovak R&D system in period 2014-2020 
Main Changes in 2015 
Tax reliefs for R&D entered into force on 1st January 2015 
The  Slovak  Government  renamed  the  Agency  for  the  Structural  Funds  of  the  European  Union 
(ASFEU) to the Research Agency (RA). The RA should, inter alia, ‘create conditions for participation 
by the Slovak research teams in the European Research Area in general, and in the ESFRI, EITI, 
technology platforms and Horizon 2020 in particular’. 
The  Slovak  Government  adopted  the  'Concept  paper  for  the  support  of  start-ups  and  the 
development  of  the  start-up  ecosystem  in  the  Slovak  Republic'  on  10  June  2015.  The  concept 
paper listed government’s intention on support to start-ups: (a) developing legal concept of start-
up  in  Slovakia;  (b)  passing  government  strategy  on  start-ups;  (c)  introducing  new  form  of 
business entity, with basic capital of 1 euro; (d) introducing tax reliefs for start-ups and business 
angels; and (e) introducing start-up visa for the third country nationals in Slovakia. 

23 

 
3.  Public and private funding of R&I and expenditure 

3.1  Introduction 

The  Slovak  national  system  of  R&I  ranks  to  the  poorest  in  terms  of  inputs  (financial 
resources)  and  outputs  (scientific  and  commercial  ones)  in  the  European  Union.  As  for 
the  R&D  expenditure,  Slovakia  significantly lags  behind  EU  average  and its  competitors 
among the Visegrad 4 (V4) Members. Unlike the Czech Republic, Slovakia was unable to 
catch-up with the influx of the foreign direct investment in the R&D sector. Slovakia also 
was  unable  to  increase  its  public  expenditure  on  R&D.  Nevertheless,  there  also  have 
been  some  positive  trends  (Table  2,  Figure  3).  The  Slovak  R&D  expenditure  reached 
bottom  in  period  2004-2009  with  0.45%  of  GDP.  There  was  a  positive  upturn  in  2010. 
The Slovak GERD increased to 0.89% GDP in 2014. 

Table 2: Basic indicators for R&D investments 

Indicator 

2011 

2012 

2013 

2014 

GERD (as % of GDP) 
GERD (Euro per capita) 

0.67 
86.9 

0.81 
108.3 

0.83 
112.9 

0.89 
123.6 

GBAORD (€m) 

323.598  297.706  289.234  295.68 

R&D funded by BES (% of GDP) 
R&D funded by PNP (% of GDP) 
R&D  funded  by  GOV  +  HES  (%  of 
GDP) 
R&D funded from abroad 
R&D performed by HEIs (% of GDP) 
R&D  performed  by  government 
sector (% of GDP) 
R&D  performed  by  business  sector 
(% of GDP) 

0.23 
0.00 

0.34 

0.09 
0.23 

0.18 

0.31 
0.00 

0.35 

0.15 
0.28 

0.20 

0.33 
0.00 

0.34 

0.15 
0.27 

0.17 

0.29 
0.00 

0.39 

0.21 
0.31 

0.25 

0.25 

0.34 

0.38 

0.33 

Source: Eurostat. 

EU average 
(2014) 
2.03 
558.4 
92,828.15 
(Total EU-28) 
1.12 
0.03 

0.68 

0.20 
0.47 

0.25 

1.33 

The gross expenditure on research and development (GERD) has been on the rise in the 
European  Union  in  last  ten  years,  including  a  period  of  economic  turmoil.  The  Slovak 
Republic (and also other V4 countries) accounted for higher growth in GERD compared to 
the  EU28  average.  GERD  levels  in  the  V4  countries,  however,  rose  from  the  relatively 
low  levels.  The  Czech  Republic  accounted  for  the  most  impressive  growth  in  GERD 
among  the  V4  group.  Slovakia,  on  the  other  hand,  resembled  to  the  Malta,  Cyprus, 
Romania  and  Greece,  and  accounted  for  low  growth  in  GERD.  The  low  growth  of  the 
Slovak  GERD  contrasted  with  the  high  growth  of  GERD  in  Slovenia  and  Estonia.  The 
Eurostat  data  on  GERD  gives  details  on  different  sources  of  finance  from  abroad 
(European  Commission).  Data  on  R&D  finance  by  ‘enterprises  within  the  same  group’ 
indicate  that  expenditure  by  branches  of  the  MNE  was  an  important  source  of  business 
R&D  finance in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. The rise in BERD by domestic 
firms was more important than rise in BERD by foreign firms in Slovakia.  

The  public  expenditure  on  R&D  stagnated  in  Slovakia  since  2009.  The  Slovak 
Government  kept  support  to  HEIS  almost  unchanged,  while  support  to  the  Slovak 
Academy  of  Sciences  decreased  in  nominal  terms  since  2010.  Since  2008  foreign 
resources  became  increasingly  important  for  funding  R&D  in  Slovakia.  The  European 
Commission  was  a  prime  foreign  funder  for  the  Slovak  system  of  research  and 
innovation. The Slovak  research bodies  obtained funding €78.0m from the FP7 projects 
in  period  2007-2014.  The  Slovak  Republic  benefited  from  the  Structural  Funds  much 
more  than  from  the  Framework  Programmes.  The  total  indicative  budget  for  four 
operational  programmes  associated  with  R&I  was  €2124.4m  in  period  2007-2013/2015 
(Table 3). The total indicative allocation by the OPRI is €3707m for period 2014-2020 (of 
which  €2268m  is  provided  by  the  European  Commission  and  €1440  is  the  national  co-
financing).  Promotion  of  science  and  innovation  ranks  to  the  main  funding  priorities  of 

24 

 
the  Slovak  Republic  in  period  2014-2020.  The  thematic  objective  1  ‘Strengthening 
research,  technological development  and  innovation’  allocates  €1849m,  some  12.1%  of 
the total allocations by the Partnership Agreement15. 

3.2  Smart fiscal consolidation 
3.2.1  Economic growth, fiscal context16 and public R&D 

The Slovak Republic had a very strong GDP growth before the crisis and it weathered the 
2008-09 economic crisis with a relatively moderate one-off income loss of 5.3% in 2009. 
However,  indirect  losses  occurred  in  form  of  lower  potential  GDP  due  to  weakened 
demand  resulting  in  more  moderate  growth  levels  during  2010-2013.  After  being  at 
1.4% in 2013, and 2.5% in 2014 it accelerated to 3.5% in 2015 driven by a recovery in 
domestic demand, namely in private consumption and investment.  The  EC expects real 
growth  to  remain  strong  throughout  2016-2017  varying  between  3.2-3.4%  driven  by 
domestic demand, both consumption and investment. 

Pre-crisis  public  finances  were  relatively  sound  with  deficit  levels  close  to  the  3% 
reference  value  as  well  as  low  and  decreasing  public  debt  (2005:  33%,  2008:  28%, 
Figure  2,  below).  With  the  onset  of  the  crisis,  the  headline  deficit  peaked  in  2009  at 
7.9% of GDP and public debt increased to 36%, i.e. by almost 8% pa. Fiscal adjustment 
started in 2010, but the most significant consolidation steps were done in 2011 reducing 
the deficit by 3% both nominally and in structural terms and curbing also the increase of 
the debt. By the end of 2015, the headline deficit declined to 2.7%, public debt stood at 
52.3%. The deficit is expected to decrease further in 2016-17 to 2.1% as well as 1.7% 
due  to  broadening  of  corporate  income  tax  base,  improvements  in  VAT  tax  compliance 
and  favourable  macroeconomic  developments.  Public  debt  is  expected  to  slow  down 
further,  reaching  51.2%  by  the  end  of  2017.  On  the  medium  to  long  run  increases  in 
age-related costs affect the sustainability of public finances due especially to healthcare 
expenditures as the pension system is on a more sustainable path. 

Figure 2: Government deficit and public debt 

Data source: Eurostat 

Total GERD in the Slovak Republic was 670 MEUR in 2014. There are three main sources 
of  R&D  funding:  the  business  sector  (216  MEUR),  the  government  (277MEUR),  and 
foreign  funding  (159  MEUR).  Direct  funding  from  the  government  goes  to  R&D  in 
business  enterprises  (9.7  MEUR),  the  government  (111.9  MEUR)  and  the  higher 
education sector (155.4 MEUR). 

15 Source: The European Commission (2014): Summary of the Partnership Agreement for Slovakia, 2014-2020, Brussels, 
20 June 2014. 
16 Sources: DG ECFIN http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/csr2016/cr2016_slovakia_en.pdf 

25 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                           
Table 3: Key Slovak Public R&D Indicators 

GBAORD, % of gov. exp. 
GERD, % of GDP 
out of which GERD to public, % 
of GDP 
Funding from GOV to, % of GDP 
   Business 
   Public (GOV+HES) 
   Total 
EU funding, % of GDP 

2007  2009  2013 
0.57  0.82 
0.45  0.47 

0.96 
0.83 

0.27  0.28 

0.44 

0.02  0.01 
0.23  0.22 
0.24  0.24 
0.01  0.01 

0.02 
0.30 
0.32 
0.10 

Source: Eurostat 

3.2.2  Direct funding of R&D activities17 

Figure  3,  below  shows  the  historical  evolution  of  GERD  financing  in  current  prices  in 
Slovakia. 

Figure 3 Development of government funding of the total GERD 

Data source: Eurostat 

One  observes  a  strong  growing  trend  in  the  total  GERD  starting  from  2009  (Figure  3). 
This is due to the concurrent growth of the GERD funded by the government, the private 
sector and the EC. While until 2013 private resources were the main funding category of 
the GERD, in 2014 the importance of public funding outweighed private ones for the first 
time.  The  EC  plays  an  extremely  important  role  and  its  funding  amounts  to  about  one 
third of the Slovak government GERD (see Table 2). 

3.2.2.1 

Direct public funding from the government 

Figure 4, below shows the time evolution of the total R&D appropriations (GBAORD) and 
the GERD directly funded by the government in units of millions of national currency. 

17 The sources of R&D funding according to the Frascati manual are: Government sector (GOV), Higher education sector 
(HES), Private non-profit sector (PNP) and Abroad (including EC). In this  analysis the public sector as source of funds is 
given  by  the  GOV  part  of  the  total  intramural  R&D  expenditure  (GERD),  whereas  the  public  sector  as  a  sector  of 
performance is the aggregation of GOV and HES. 

26 

 
 
  
 
 
 
 
  
 
                                           
Figure 4 R&D appropriations and government funded GERD in millions of national currency 

Data source: Eurostat 

The total (civil) appropriations grew nearly linearly in the period 2005-2011 stabilising at 
lower  nominal  levels  in  the  following  years.  The  total  GBAORD  increased  considerably 
between 2007 and 2011. This was followed by a decrease from 2011 on, most probably 
as  a  result  of  budgetary  cuts  linked  with  the  macroeconomic  situation  of  the  country. 
The  small  gap  between  the  total  and  the  total  civil  appropriations  reveals  the  marginal 
levels of appropriations devoted to military R&D. 

The  EC  contribution  plays  a  vital  role  in  the  Slovak  Republic  as  can  be  seen  when  it  is 
added  to  the  government  GERD  (blue  line  on  Figure  4).  Indeed,  the  growth  of  the 
government  funded  GERD  slowed  down  significantly  after  2011,  but  it  is  strongly 
supported by the funding from the EC. After a couple of years of stagnation government 
financed GERD increased significantly in 2014.  

Public  expenditure  on  R&D  was  set  to  0.35%  GDP  in  2015  budget.  There  is  a 
commitment  to  pass  the  ‘binding  indicator’  of  public  expenditure  on  R&D  as  a  share  of 
GDP. The indicator sets annual increase in public expenditure on R&D by 0.04% till 2020 
to reach 0.50% of the GDP by that year. 

3.2.2.2 

Direct public funding from abroad 

The EC is the main source of funding from abroad, not just the most important source of 
public  funding  (in  recent  years  if  clearly  overtakes  the  funding  from  the  business).  On 
the  other  hand,  the  higher  education  and  the  other  international  organisations  provide 
negligible funding from abroad. 

Table 4: Public Funding from Abroad to the Slovak R&D (millions of national currency) 

Sources 
Total 
BES 
EC 
GOV 
HES 
Internat
. Org. 
Total as 
% GERD 
EC as 
% 
GOVER
D 

2005 

2006 

2007 

2008 

2009 

2010 

2011 

15.0 
NA 
NA 
NA 
NA 

NA 

6.0 

24.2 
12.0 
9.5 
0.2 
0.1 

2.6 

9.1 

28.9 
17.2 
8.0 
0.1 
0.6 

3.1 

38.9 
25.9 
7.6 
0.1 
0.8 

4.3 

38.7 
25.2 
8.6 
0.5 
0.3 

4.1 

61.1 
28.5 
27.1 
0.7 
0.4 

4.0 

66.3 
14.5 
44.4 
0.5 
0.3 

6.6 

2012 
109.1 
24.2 
76.9 
0.3 
0.2 

2013 
109.7 
28.4 
75.2 
0.1 
0.3 

2014 
158.6 
NA 
NA 
NA 
NA 

7.3 

5.2 

NA 

10.2 

12.3 

12.8 

14.7 

14.2 

18.7 

18.0 

23.7 

NA 

6.4 

5.3 

4.6 

5.6 

13.2 

19.1 

31.6 

31.7 

NA 

27 

 
 
 
 
Distribution of public funding 

Figure  5,  below  shows  how  the  distribution  of  public  funding  to  sectors  of  performance 
evolved over time: 

Figure 5 Government intramural expenditure by sectors of performance. 

Data source: Eurostat 

Not  surprisingly,  the  public  sector  (GOV  +  HES)  is  the  main  recipient  of  government 
funded GERD. It has an overall increasing trend, especially during the post-crisis period. 
On the other hand, the funding to the business sector registers a modest decrease after 
2010. The use  of the 2005 constant prices with respect to the nominal values does not 
substantially  alter  the  observed  behaviour  of  the  funding  from  the  government  to  the 
business and private sectors.  

3.2.3  Indirect funding – tax incentives and foregone tax revenues 

Considering  the  absence  of  harmonisation  of  the  tax  regimes  in  EU  law,  data  come 
directly from national sources, using domestic definitions. Attention should be paid when 
interpreting data from different sources.  

Conditions for granting and using incentives for R&D in Slovakia are stipulated in the Act 
185/2009  on  Research  and  Development  Incentives18.  These  incentives  are  part  of  the 
Slovak state aid programme designated for legal entities – entrepreneurs, and are aimed 
at improving the quality of research and development activities.  

The following areas are supported under the Act 185/2009:  

fundamental research, applied research or experimental development; 
feasibility studies of applied research and experimental research; 
industrial ownership protection;  

 
 
 
  temporary lease of highly qualified research and development staff. 
  Types of investment aid: 
  Subsidies for research and development projects from the state budget; 
  Income  tax  relief  –  at  the  amount  incurred  on  research  and  development  within 

the project for which incentives were approved. 

In  general,  the  eligible  costs  of  research  and  development  projects  that  qualify  for  the 
incentives  depend  on  the  type  of  research  and  development  project.  The  Act  185/2009 
provides  a specific definition of  eligible costs for  some  research and development areas 
with regard to micro, small, and medium-sized entrepreneurs: 

  Direct costs – expenses incurred for activities for which it can be proved that they 

directly relate to the project; 

  Indirect  costs  –  costs  of  activities  relating  to  the  project,  however  not  directly 

assignable to the project activities. 

18 https://www.vedatechnika.sk/SK/VedaATechnikaVSR/Legislatva/185_2009_z_o_investicnych_stimuloch.pdf  

28 

 
 
 
 
 
                                           
The amended of the 595/2003 Law on Income Tax was passed by the Slovak Parliament 
in October 2014 and entered in force on 1 January 2015. The amendment introduced tax 
‘super deductions’ for business R&D performers. Any business R&D performer can claim 
the tax deduction. There is no need for prior approval by the MESRS. The tax deductions 
can be claimed for any thematic areas of research. The R&D performers can deduct from 
their tax bases 125% all R&D costs plus up to 25% labour costs in R&D in current year. 
Moreover  the  R&D  performers  can  deduct  25%  all  R&D  costs  accrued  in  previous  year. 
The Ministry of Finance estimated costs of tax reliefs for €26.4m in 2015 and €28.7m in 
2016.19  

There are a lot of limitations for companies claiming tax reliefs for R&D. This new law on 
Income  Tax  stipulates  that  the  employee  must  be  the  a  citizen  of  a  EU  Member  State, 
younger than 26 years and no longer than 2 years after his/her graduation. Only a few 
young R&D employees can match these criteria, except perhaps IT specialists. Tax reliefs 
are  not  recognised  for  any  R&D  activity.  Companies  claiming  tax  reliefs  must  present 
their ‘R&D projects’ in advance, before the projects starts. The projects are published on 
the  webpage  of  the  Financial  Directorate.  Companies  claiming  tax  reliefs  must  record 
profits  in  the  current  year.  The  Ministry  of  Finance  insisted  on  these  limitations  as  to 
combat potential tax frauds. 

We currently have very little quantitative data to evaluate the impact of these measures 
of indirect funding (according to OECD, the indirect funding to R&D in 2012 amounts to a 
very negligible percentage of the GDP). 

3.2.4  Fiscal consolidation and R&D 

Figure  6,  below  shows  the  scatterplot  of  the  structural  balance  on  the  one  hand  and 
GBAORD as % GDP, first panel as well as GERD as %  GDP, second panel, on the other 
hand20. 

Figure 6 Fiscal consolidation and R&D 

Data source: AMECO, Eurostat, OECD 

In the Slovak Republic post-crisis fiscal consolidation took place between 2010 and 2014 
both nominally and structurally. The GERD funded by the government shows a moderate 
growth when expressed as a percentage of GDP in the years 2010-2014, but the addition 
of  the  EC  contribution  changes  somewhat  this  picture  reflecting  a  stronger  growth  and 
correlation  between  the  GERD  and  the  structural  balance.  We  further  stress  that,  even 
without  the  EC  contribution,  the  government  GERD,  expressed  as  fraction  of  GDP,  is 
preserved during the fiscal consolidation. 

19 
https://www.financnasprava.sk/_img/pfsedit/Dokumenty_PFS/Profesionalna_zona/Dane/Metodicke_pokyny/Priame_dane/2
016/2016.04.19_MP_par30c.pdf.  
20 Structural balance data comes from the AMECO database the other indicators were taken from Eurostat and OECD. 

29 

 
 
 
 
                                           
When we examine the GBAORD vs the structural balance, we notice that, apart from the 
spike  in  2011,  most  likely  due  to  the  budgetary  cuts  linked  with  the  macroeconomic 
situation  of  the  country,  the  levels  in  2013-2014  are  slightly  higher  than  in  2010.  In 
other  words,  based  on  Figure  6  the  share  of  GDP  devoted  to  GBAORD  did  not  suffer 
during  the  fiscal  consolidation.  However,  institutional  funding  in  HEIs  increased  from 
39.43m in 2010 to €106.42m in 2011. The leap in funding between 2010 and 2012 may 
possibly be a statistical artefact and refer to change in accounting rules since most of the 
personnel costs on HEI were reshuffled to the chapter on research. Given that the above 
mentioned increase of 67 MEUR is of the order of 0.1% of GDP, an eventual downward 
adjustment of the 2011-2014 GBAORD/government funded GERD figures by this amount 
may  lead  us  to  assumption  that  public  support  to  R&D  has  decreased  during  the  post-
crisis fiscal consolidation period. 

3.3  Funding flows 

3.3.1  Research funders 

The MESRS is the main funding body for 20 public higher education institutions. The total 
block  grant  for  the  public  HEIs  is  determined  by  the  State  Budget  Law,  but  grants  for 
particular HEIs are distributed via the MESRS. There were 23 public and 13 private HEIs 
in  2015  in  Slovakia.  The  State  Budget  Laws  set  public  support  to  HEIs  to  €442m  in 
2014and  €449m  in  2015  (see  chapter  3.4.1  for  more  details).  Share  of  public 
expenditure  on  the  university  system  in  GDP  was  estimated  to  0.62%  and  0.59% 
respectively for 2014 and 2015.21 

The  Slovak  Academy  of  Sciences  (SAS)  is  a  research  body  providing  bulk  of  basic 
research  in  Slovakia.  The  SAS  has  its  own  chapter  in  the  State  Budget  Law.  Budget 
allocations  are  subject  to  intense  negotiations  between  the  SAS  and  the  Ministry  of 
Finance.  The  2014  and  2015  State  Budget  Laws  set  institutional  budget  of  the  SAS  to 
€59.71m and €58.52m respectively. The SAS also benefited from grants €72m provided 
by  the  Structural  Funds  in  2014.  The  SAS  employed  3144  workers  in  full-time 
equivalent, of which 1938 researchers and 492 PhD students (source: The 2014 Annual 
Report of the SAS). 

The  VEGA  is  funding  grant  agency  for  the  MESRS,  and  the  SAS.  The  VEGA  allocated 
€13.82m  to  1934  research  grants  in  2015  (source:  the  VEGA  webpage).  The  MESRS 
manages  the  Slovak  Research  and  Development  Agency  (SRDA).  The  agency  mostly 
provides applied research grants for public and private bodies. The SRDA budget is set in 
the State Budget Law. It increased from €0.15m in 2001 to €26.27m in 2014. The 2015 
SRDA budget is set to €26.16m. 

The  MESRS  also  manages  the  Research  Agency  (the  former  Agency  for  the  Structural 
Funds  of  the  European  Union,  ASFEU).  The  Slovak  Government  amended  the  agency’s 
statute and credited it with some new tasks in 201522. 

 

 

 

 

‘establishing  a  functional  system  for  co-ordinating  research  and  development 
system, and a system of education adapted to needs of economic practice, as to 
achieve targets set by the RIS3’; 
‘supporting  thematic  specialisation,  with  regards  to  the  existing  research 
capacities, for the needs of economic practice and societal challenges’; 
‘supporting  use  and  development  of  science  and  research  infrastructures, 
according to the RIS3 priorities’; 
‘creating  conditions  for  participation  by  the  Slovak  research  teams  in  the 
European Research Area in general, and in the ESFRI, EITI, technology platforms 
and Horizon 2020 in particular’; 

21 Estimates of the GDP volumes provided by the AMECO macroeconomic database (European Commission, Economic and 
Financial  Affairs).  Source  for  budget  data:  Slovak  Ministry  of  Finance  (2014)  Proposal  for  the  2015-2017  Budget  of 
Public Administration. 
22 Tasks explicitly stated by the amended statute of the Research Agency of 01.07.2015. 

30 

 
                                           
 

‘implementing  and  administering  policy  measures  of  the  Operational  Programme 
Research and Innovation, as to achieve RIS3 targets’. 

The  amended  statute  sets  that  the  representatives  of  the  private  sector  organisations 
should  appoint  half  of  the  Research  Agency  board.  The  Research  Agency  implemented 
the  Operational  Programme  ‘Research  and  Development’  (OPRD)  and  ‘Education’  (OPE) 
in  2007-2015.  The  RA  also  implements  selected  policy  measures  funded  by  the 
Operational Programme Research and Innovation (OPRI) in 2015-2020. 

The Ministry of Economy manages the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA). The 
Slovak  Government  amended  the  agency’s  statute  on  30  January  2015.  The  SIEA’s 
mission is ‘conceptual, professional, methodical, co-ordination, information, educational, 
promotional and other  activities in field of technology and innovation, and  energy’. The 
SIEA  inter  alia  ‘implements  the  tasks  of  the  Technology  Agency,  according  to  the  RIS3 
document’.  Among  the  first  outputs  of  this  kind,  the  SIEA  mapped  the  segments  of 
automation,  robotics  and  digital  technologies  providing  thus  a  detailed  picture  of  these 
industry segments and a basis for decision making and support tools design. 

The  SIEA  implemented  the  Operational  Programme  Competitiveness  and  Economic 
Growth  (OPCEG)  in  2007-2015.  The  OPCEG  1.1  and  1.3  policy  measures  were  major 
sources  of  finance  for  innovation  development  in  Slovakia  (Table  5).  The  SIEA  also 
implements  selected  policy  measures  funded  by  the  OPRI  in  2015-2020.On  an  annual 
basis,  the  SIEA  organises  the  Innovative  Deed  of  the  Year  on  behalf  of  the  Ministry  of 
Economy.  In  2015  this  event  which  promotes  the  most  innovative  enterprises  and/or 
products celebrated its 8th anniversary. 

The  private  non-profit  sector  accounted  for  less  than  0.1%  of  total  outlays  on  R&D  in 
2014. There are no important research charities in the Slovak Republic. 

3.3.2  Funding sources and funding flows 

The  total  public  expenditure  on  R&D  (government  +  higher  education)  was  about 
€1,663m in period 2007-2014. The total indicative allocation of the OPRD is €1,422m for 
period 2007-2013/15. Actual spending by the OPRD was €891.6m in period 2007-2014. 
The  OPRD  therefore  provided  about  one  third  of  total  public  support  (national  + 
European)  in  the  abovementioned  period  in  Slovakia.  The  OPRD  has  been  extremely 
significant  for  the  project  funding.  The  Eurostat  states  total  national  project  funding 
€62.27m  in  2012  and  65.65  in  2013  Slovakia.  The  OPRD  indicative  annual  allocations 
were 3-4 times higher  than those by the national public ones. The FP7 funding was far 
less  important  in  Slovakia  (€78.0m)  than  in  other  small  European  economies  (Ireland: 
€634.4m;  Greece:  €1012.3m;  Finland:  €887.4m;  Denmark:  €1084.6m;  Portugal: 
€526.1m;  Czech  Republic:  €289.3m;  Hungary:  €293.7m;  Slovenia:  €171.8m)  in  period 
2007-2014. 

31 

 
 
 
Table 5: Structural Fund schemes supporting research and innovation projects in Slovakia, as of 
31.12.2015 

Operational 
programme 

Policy 
measure 

Total 
budget, 
€m 

Projects 
submitted 

Assistance 
required, 
€m 

Contract
ed 
projects 

Contracted 
assistance
, €m 

Certified 
eligible 
costs, €m 

Certified 
costs as % 
of total 
budget 

OPRD 

OPRD 

OPRD 

OPRD 

OPRD 

OPRD 

OPRD 

OPCEG 

OPCEG 

OPBR 

OPE 

1.1 

2.1 

2.2 

3.1 

4.1 

4.2 

5.1 

1.1 

1.3 

2.1 

1.2 

146.5 

112.2 

371.8 

40.6 

63.2 

212.2 

230.4 

189 

139 

537 

31 

102 

242 

102 

722.1 

339.5 

45 

67 

1168.1 

178 

166.6 

270.1 

581.6 

452.8 

8 

40 

82 

73 

195.5 

157.6 

559.5 

55.7 

93.8 

288.6 

294.1 

470.5 

2,953 

1,522.6 

1001 

509.0 

82.8 

28.8 

113.2 

392 

305 

202 

354.1 

45.3 

214.5 

82 

200 

117 

94.4 

29.0 

137.1 

144.4 

445.0 

46.0 

82.2 

233.0 

266.8 

387.7 

59.8 

93.5 

128.8 

119.7 

114.4 

130.1 

109.8 

115.8 

82.4 

72.3 

30.02 

104.1 

120.7 

75.6 

66.8 

Source:  Central  Co-ordination  Office  of  the  Slovak  Government:  National  Strategic  Reference 
Framework; Funds Allocation and Lists of Projects. Notes: 

OPRD  =  Operational  Programme  Research  &  Development.  Policy  measures:  1.1  Reconstructing 
and building technical infrastructure of R&D; 2.1 Support to networks of centres of excellence; 2.2 
Transfer  of  knowledge  and  technologies  from  R&D  into  practice;  3.1  Reconstructing  and  building 
technical  infrastructure  of  R&D  in  the  Bratislava  Region;  4.1  Support  to  networks  of  centres  of 
excellence  in  the  Bratislava  Region;  4.2  Transfer  of  knowledge  and  technologies  from  R&D  into 
practice in the Bratislava Region; 5.1 Infrastructure of higher education institutions. 

OPIS  =  Operational  Programme  Information  of  Society.  Policy  measures:  1.1  Electronisation  of 
public  administration  and  development  of  electronic  services  on  the  central  level;  1.2 
Electronisation  of  public  administration  and  development  of  electronic  services  on  the  local  and 
regional level; 2.1 Improvement of the system of acquisition, processing and protection of content 
from the resources of repository institutions; 3.1 Development of broadband access infrastructure. 

OPCEG  =  Operational  Programme  Competitiveness  and  Economic  Growth.  Policy  measures:  1.1 
Innovation and technology transfers; 1.3 Support of innovation activities in enterprises. 

OPBR  =  Operational  Programme  Bratislava  Region.  Policy  measures:  2.1  Innovations  and 
Technological Transfers;  

English titles of policy measures as stated in official documents. All budgets include the 
EU and national resources. Information on spending by the JEREMIE initiative (supported 
from the Operational Programme Research and Development) was not available. 

The OPRD coped with significant problems in absorption capacity. First OPRD calls were 
launched  in  2008.  Only  some  45.7%  OPRD  resources  were  spent  by  end  of  2013.  The 
Slovak Republic was allowed to prolong the programme spending till 2015. 

The  Slovak  economy  was  dominated  by  the  multinational  enterprises  (MNE).  The  latest 
available  data  by  the  Eurostat  indicate  the  foreign  controlled  enterprises  generated 
38.2%  of  the  total  value  added  in  Slovakia  in  2011.  The  intra-mural  BERD  in  foreign 
controlled  enterprises  accounted  for  77.9%  of  the  total  intra-mural  BERD  in  the  same 
year in Slovakia. 

Figure 7 displays principal flows on the Slovak R&D system by source of funds and sector 
of performance in 2014. The structure of flows points to isolation of the government and 
higher  education  sectors  on  one  hand  and  business  sector  on  the  other  hand.  Three 
major  flows  (businesses  →  businesses;  government  →  SAS;  and  government  →  HEIs) 
accounted  for  67.5%  of  all  flows  in  2014  (€666.6m).  The  interconnection  between  the 
business sector and the higher education and government sector is quite low. Flows from 
the business to government and business to higher education sectors (€25.5m + €5.6m) 

32 

 
accounted for 3.2% of all flows in 2014. It means that research financed by the business 
sector  primarily  is  performed  in  the  business  sector.  The  Slovak  businesses  rarely 
commission their research in the HEIs and/or the SAS. Research performed by the SAS 
and  HEIs  primarily  was  financed  by  the  government  and  resources  from  abroad  (the 
European Commission in particular). 

A significant increase in the business expenditure on R&D would require schemes aimed 
at  co-operation  between  the  business  and  public  sectors.    The  planned  OPRI  call  under 
Target  2.1.1  ‘Mobilising  excellent  research  teams  in  area  of  RIS3  in  the  Bratislava 
Region’,  for  example,  targets  ‘increasing  R&I  activity  via  revitalisation,  research, 
education, innovation, and business-oriented capacities of the research institutions in the 
Bratislava Region’. Measures supporting R&D co-operation by public and business sector 
are  also  contained  in  Goal  1  of  the  RIS3  document  (see  chapter  2.1).  The  public  R&D 
institutions  depend  on  the  State  Budget  resources.  They  have  limited  own  sources  of 
funds  for  R&D  performance.  Support  to  R&D  by  the  national  public  and  European 
resources  should  multiply  business  expenditure  on  R&D.  It  also  should  provide  for  a 
better use of the large research infrastructures completed by end of 2015. 

33 

 
 
 
Figure 7 Main financial flows in the Slovak R&D system (€m, 2014) 

158,6 

14.7 

52.9 

155.4 

52.6 

51.0 

230.5 

abroad

non-profit

277.1 

111.9 

189.8 

higher education

25.5 

215.7 

184.0 

246.7 

government

businesses

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

source of funds

sector of performance

Sources: Eurostat (2015): Gross Expenditure on Research and Development by Source of Funds 
and Sector of Performance, and authors’ computations. 

The Eurostat data on the direct investment positions indicate that Slovakia accumulated 
€3m of foreign direct investment (FDI) in R&D sector by 2011 and €1m by 2012 (latest 
available  data).  The  stock  of  the  R&D  investment  was  considerably  lower  in  Slovakia 
than that in Hungary (€73m) and the Czech Republic (€47m) in 2012. 

34 

 
 
 
100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

GERD by source of funds (%) 

GERD by R&D activity (%) 

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

3
9
9
1

4
9
9
1

5
9
9
1

6
9
9
1

7
9
9
1

8
9
9
1

9
9
9
1

0
0
0
2

1
0
0
2

2
0
0
2

3
0
0
2

4
0
0
2

5
0
0
2

6
0
0
2

7
0
0
2

8
0
0
2

9
0
0
2

0
1
0
2

1
1
0
2

2
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

business
higher education
abroad

government
private non-profit

4
9
9
1

5
9
9
1

6
9
9
1

7
9
9
1

8
9
9
1

9
9
9
1

0
0
0
2

1
0
0
2

2
0
0
2

3
0
0
2

4
0
0
2

5
0
0
2

6
0
0
2

7
0
0
2

8
0
0
2

9
0
0
2

0
1
0
2

1
1
0
2

2
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

basic

applied

experimental

GBAORD by objective (%) 

GERD by field of science (%) 

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

4
9
9
1

5
9
9
1

6
9
9
1

7
9
9
1

8
9
9
1

9
9
9
1

0
0
0
2

1
0
0
2

2
0
0
2

3
0
0
2

4
0
0
2

5
0
0
2

6
0
0
2

7
0
0
2

8
0
0
2

9
0
0
2

0
1
0
2

1
1
0
2

2
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

Natural sciences

Engin. & technology Medical science

Agric. sciences

Social sciences

Humanities

4
0
0
2

5
0
0
2

6
0
0
2

7
0
0
2

8
0
0
2

9
0
0
2

0
1
0
2

1
1
0
2

2
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

4
1
0
2

Earth

Environment

Space

Transport, telecom

Energy

Health

Agriculture

Industrial

Education

Culture, etc.a

Political and social

GUF

other than GUF

Defence

Shares of GERD and BERD in GDP (%) 

R&D employees in head counts 

4.0

3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0

GERD 

BERD 

60,000

55,000

50,000

45,000

40,000

35,000

30,000

25,000

20,000

15,000

10,000

Total R&D employees 

of which researchers 

9
8
9
1

1
9
9
1

3
9
9
1

5
9
9
1

7
9
9
1

9
9
9
1

1
0
0
2

3
0
0
2

5
0
0
2

7
0
0
2

9
0
0
2

1
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

5
1
0
2

9
8
9
1

1
9
9
1

3
9
9
1

5
9
9
1

7
9
9
1

9
9
9
1

1
0
0
2

3
0
0
2

5
0
0
2

7
0
0
2

9
0
0
2

1
1
0
2

3
1
0
2

Figure 8 RTDI trends in Slovakia. Sources: Eurostat and the Statistical Office of the Slovak 
Republic 

35 

 
      
 
       
 
       
 
 
3.4  Public funding for public R&I 

3.4.1  Project vs. institutional allocation of public funding 

The  Smart  Specialisation  Strategy  for  Slovakia  (RIS3  document)  foresaw  some  far-
reaching legislative  reforms  for  the  Slovak  national  system  of  research  and  innovation: 
reform  of  higher  education,  reform  of  the  research  funders  and  reform  of  the  SAS. 
Reforms of higher education and research funders did not even start. Reform of the SAS 
failed in 2015 (see chapter 2.1 for more details). 

The Eurostat data on GBAORD by funding mode set public finance for project funding to 
€62.72m  in  2012  and  €65.65m  in  2013  (21.3%  and  22.7%  of  total  public  support 
respectively).  These  values  are  somewhat  higher  than  sums  provided  by  the  major 
research funders, R&D tax incentives, sectoral ministries and budget for the international 
co-operation in R&D (Table 6). 

Looking at the Eurostat and national data, the balance between institutional and project 
funding  changed  little  in  the  last  three  years.  The  balance  between  competitively 
(performance  based)  and  non-competitively  (block  funding)  allocated  institutional 
funding also changed little in the last three years. Block grants for the HEIs and the SAS, 
as well as budgets of the national funding agencies remained about the same in period 
2012-2015. 

Table 6: Major national project finance schemes in Slovakia (€m) 

SRDA budget 

VEGA grants 

KEGA grants 

R&D tax incentives 

Int. co-operation in R&D 

sectoral ministries 

total 

Eurostat 

2012 

22.99 

13.34 

2.49 

7.51 

10.85 

3.25 

60.43 

62.72 

2013 

25.96 

13.56 

2.49 

3.92 

11.01 

3.21 

60.16 

65.65 

2014 

24.96 

13.77 

2.50 

2.94 

9.10 

3.14 

56.41 

n.a 

2015 

26.16 

13.82 

2.50 

1.87 

n.a 

n.a 

n.a. 

n.a 

Sources: author’s own computations from data provided by the MESRS 

Competitive  institutional  funding  supports  running  costs  of  public  institutions  and 
excludes  salaries  and/or  capital  expenditure.  The  competitive  institutional  funding  from 
national  resources  is  provided  via  the  Vedecká  grantová  agentúra  (VEGA),  and  the 
Kultúrna a edukačná grantová agentúra (KEGA) grants. The VEGA and KEGA grants help 
paying for the overhead costs of research institutions. The HEIs part of the VEGA funded 
1275 projects (€9.40m) and  the SAS part of the VEGA 659 projects (€4.42m) in 2015. 
The  KEGA  funded  417  projects  in  Slovak  HEIs  (€2.50m)  in  2015.  The  VEGA  and  KEGA 
grant applications are reviewed by three referees, one of whom should be from abroad. 
The  VEGA  and  KEGA  grants  generate  minor  shares  in  the  total  institutional  funding  for 
the  HEIs  and  SAS  (2.7%  and  7.5%  respectively  in  2015).  Budgets  of  the  VEGA  and 
KEGA  agencies  remained  almost  unchanged  in  nominal  terms  in  last  ten  years.  No 
review of the funding efficiency be the abovementioned agencies in available. 

3.4.2  Institutional funding 

The  institutional  funding  is,  in  theory,  allocated  on  institutional  assessment  and  quality 
related criteria. In fact, the institutional funding reflects work entitlements, demands on 
mass  education  and  ability  of  the  HEIs  and  SAS  to  negotiate  their  budgets  with  the 
Ministry of Finance. 

36 

 
 
 
The  total  block  grant  for  the  public  HEIs  is  determined  by  the  State  Budget  Law,  but 
grants  for  particular  HEIs  are  distributed  via  the  Slovak  Ministry  of  Education,  Science, 
Research  and  Sports  (MESRS).  The  2016  annual  block  funding  includes  four  major 
components:  (a)  support  to  accredited  study  programmes  (teaching,  €245.5m);  (b) 
support  to  R&D  and  art  activities  (€148.0m);  (c)  support  to  development  of  HEI 
(€1.5m);  (d)  support  to  students  from  low-income  families  (€56.2m).  Components  (a) 
and (b) are of prime interest by HEIs. Support to development of HEI (component ‘c’) is 
low  and  considered  case  by  case.  The  component  ‘d’  directly  is  given  to  students.  The 
MESRS  uses  complex  formulas  for  allocating  institutional  support  (components  ‘a’  and 
‘b’) to 23 public HEIs23. The setup of the institutional support to HEIs favours HEIs with 
high numbers of students and results of the past evaluation. Three items: (1) Numbers 
of  students;  (2)  R&D  quality  of  a  HEI  (as  established  by  last  accreditation)  and  (3) 
publications generated 83% of the HEIs income in components (a) and (b) in 2015: 

  Component  (a):  The  2016  formula  for  wages  in  HEIs  gives  85%  weight  to  the 
number  of  students  and  a  15%  weight  to  research/arts 24 output  by  particular 
HEIs.  Wages  (€181.1m)  generated  bulk  of  support  to  accredited  study 
programmes in 2016. 

  Component (b): Wages (€135.7m) generate bulk of support to HEIs’ R&D and art 
activities.  The  2016  formula  for  wages  in  ‘R&D  and  art  activities’  gives  a  43% 
weight  to  R&D  quality  of  a  HEI  (as  established  by  last  accreditation),  a  22.5% 
weight to the share of  a HEI in the national research/arts output, a 10% weight 
to  the  share  of  a  HEI  in  the  national  number  of  PhD  students,  a  12%  weight  to 
the  share  of  a  HEI  in  domestic  grants,  a  10%  weight  to  the  share  of  a  HEI  in 
foreign grants and 2.5% is determined by HEIs share in total domestic art output.  

3.4.3  Project funding 

The  national  and  European  resources  provide  project  funding  for  research  in  Slovakia. 
Slovakia  has  no  national  research  programmes.  The  last  State  Research  and 
Development Programmes expired in 2010. 

Vast  majority  of  the  project  finance  is  supported  from  the  Structural  Funds  in  Slovakia 
(see Table 5 for more details). The Eurostat data on the GBAORD by the funding mode 
do  not  state  European  support  to  R&D  in  Slovakia.  Comprehensive  data  on  annual 
disbursements for R&D by the Structural Funds are not published in Slovakia. Differences 
in  spending  rates  by  the  OPRD  in  2014/2013  (62.7%  /  45.7%)  indicate  that  the  OPRD 
spent  about  €241.9m  in  2014.  The  OPRD  spending  was  about  four  times  higher  than 
that by the national project finance. The OPRD unfortunately accounted for no thematic 
focus. It also mentioned no societal challenges. 

The  Structural  Funds  and  the  Cohesion  Fund  provided  43.2%  of  total  public  funds  for 
research  and  development  in  2008-2014  in  the  Slovak  Republic.  Public  resources 
generated  some  60%  of  total  gross  expenditure  on  research  and  development  (GERD), 
and  the  rest  was  provided  by  the  private  sector  in  the  abovementioned  period.  Most 
support  from  the  Structural  and  Cohesion  Funds  targeted  public  sector  in  general  and 
large  research  infrastructures  in  particular.  As  for  the  private  sector,  the  SF  and  CF 
provided  about  one  third  of  total  resources  for  business  expenditure  on  research  and 
development. The rest was provided by the businesses (see 'Contribution to the EU 2020 
– Research and Development' for more details).  

There  is  no  exact  data  on  the  balance  between  the  funding  of  projects  and  individual 
(person bound) grants. The  OPRD, however, focused  on infrastructure building projects 
(R&D  centres,  science  and  technology  parks).  Individual  grants  likely  were  quite  an 
unimportant target of support. 

23 MESRS (2015): Rozpis dotácií zo štátneho rozpočtu verejným vysokým školám na rok 2016 {The state budget grants for 
public higher education institutions in 2016}. 
24 Arts outputs are considered for the HEIs specialised in music, drama and arts. 

37 

 
                                           
The MESRS regularly publishes the Annual Report on R&D. The reports summarise data 
on the state financial support to R&D. They also briefly mention main schemes financed 
from  the  European  resources.  Last  editions  of  the  report  also  include  output  indicators 
for  selected  project  schemes,  in  terms  of  publications,  patents,  and  international 
research exchange. The MESRS and the Ministry of Economy also draft annual reports on 
the OPRD and OPCEG. The reports focus on administrative issues (compliance of project 
beneficiaries  with  formal  rules,  absorption  capacity),  but  provide  little  insights  in 
economic and social impacts by the abovementioned operational programmes.  In 2015 
the  Slovak  Government  commissioned  the  Pilot  Evaluation  of  the  Structural  Funds’ 
contribution to key targets of the Europe 2020 strategy in 2015 (see chapter 2 for more 
details). 

The  RIS3  document  contains  list  of  thematic  priorities  and  (rather  loose)  references  to 
the societal challenges for period 2014-2020. The Operational Programme Research and 
Innovation (OPRI) provides bulk of finance for implementation of the RIS3 goals. 

All  competitive  funding  is  subject  to  peer  review  in  Slovakia.  The  Slovak  Research  and 
Development  Agency  (SRDA)  grants  are  reviewed  by  domestic  and  foreign  peers.  One 
peer  is  a  member  of  the  SRDA  advisory  panel  for  particular  field  of  science,  one  a 
domestic  expert  and  one  a  foreign  researcher.  The  publications  and  citations  in  peer 
reviewed  journals  are  usual  evaluation  criteria.  The  Structural  Fund  projects  allocate 
hundreds  million  euros  (sometimes  €10-20m  per  project,  see  Table  5),  but  have  been 
evaluated by domestic evaluators only in 2017 - 2013/15. 

3.4.4  Other allocation mechanism 

The  State  Budget  supported  six  horizontal  and  three  thematic  State  Research  and 
Development  Programmes  (SRDPs)  in  period  between  2003  and  2010.  Total  state 
budget  provided  €91.36m  and  the  private  sector  €20.94m  to  SRDPs  in  the 
abovementioned  period.  The  State  Research  Orders  (SRO)  for  public  research 
organisation  was  another  allocation  mechanism  used  prior  to  2010.  No  SRDP  and  SRO 
were launched since 2010. 

3.5  Public funding for private R&I 

3.5.1  Direct funding for private R&I 

The  vast  majority  of  direct  funding  for  private  R&I  in  Slovakia  has  been  provided  by 
Structural  Funds.  Bulk  of  funding  has  been  disbursed  via  the  OPRD  and  OPCEG  in  the 
period 2007-2013/15. 

The  OPRD  and  OPCEG  lacked  clear  thematic  priorities  and  addressed  no  societal 
challenges.  Thematic  priorities  and  social  challenges  are  far  better  articulated  in  the 
Smart  Specialisation  Strategy  (RIS3  document)  for  period  2014-2020.  The  Operational 
Programme  Research  and 
for 
implementation of the RIS3 goals. 

is  major  source  of 

innovation  (OPRI) 

finance 

Funding  streams  by  the  OPRD  and  OPCEG  covered  the  entire  R&DI  process  from 
fundamental  research  to  market  innovation.  The  OPRD  2.1/4.1  policy  measures,  for 
example, supported excellent basic and applied research in public research organisations 
and  HEIs  (see  Table  5  for  more  details).  The  OPRD  2.2/4.2  Policy  Measures  aimed  at 
‘Increase  the  level  of  cooperation  of  R&D  institutions  with  the  society  and  economy 
through the transfer of knowledge and technology, thereby facilitating economic growth 
of the regions and of the whole Slovakia’.  

The total indicative budget of the abovementioned policy measures were  €460.96m and 
€271.89m  respectively.  The  policy  measures  intervened  in  two  areas:  (a)  developing 
platforms for co-operation by private and public sectors; and (b) establishing large-scale 
research  infrastructures  for  knowledge  transfer.  The  measures  supported  20  calls  for 
creation of 98 R&D Centres and  eight Competence Centres in 2008-2011. The measure 
also  funded  five  calls  for  University  Science  Parks  in  the  Bratislava  Region  (€224.74m) 

38 

 
and  five  mirror  calls  in  the  non-Bratislava  regions  (€336.46m)  from  June  2012  to 
October 2013. All these projects finished in December 2015.  

The  OPCEG  1.3  Policy  Measure  aimed  at  ‘increasing  the  competitiveness  of  industry 
through supporting innovation activities and the related applied research in businesses, 
i.e.,  through  supporting  the  introduction  of  new  innovations  for  technologies, 
procedures,  or  products’.  The  policy  measure  had  indicative  budget  €106.3m  and 
actually  supported  83  companies  with  €52.1m  by  October  2015.  The  abovementioned 
policy  measures  coped  with  considerable  administrative  burden.  The  burden  favoured 
medium-sized  and  large  companies.  These  companies  could  afford  hiring  specialised 
consulting  agencies  for  paperwork  and  reporting  activities.  There  were  no  support 
schemes  for  start-ups  in  the  OPRD  and  OPCEG.  Support  schemes  for  start-ups  are 
envisaged by the OPRI for period 2014-2020. First calls are expected in 2016. 

The  OPRD  and  OPCEG  annual  reports  provide  for  formal  evaluation  of  the  support 
schemes.  The  evaluation  mostly  concentrates  on  number  of  supported  projects  and 
amount  of  financial  support  disbursed.  The  annual  reports  also  summarise  information 
on selected output indicators (increase in value added, intellectual property rights, jobs 
created, etc.). Funding schemes are never benchmarked against comparable schemes in 
other countries.  

The  Slovak  Government  commissioned  the  ‘Pilot  project–  contribution  to  the  EU  2020 
targets in research and development’. The project, inter alia, compered planned / actual 
values  of  (a)  co-operation  research  projects  with  the  public  and  private  organisations 
(601  /  25);  (b)  work  moves  generated  via  co-operation  by  the  public  (SAS,  HEI)  and 
business sectors (14 /  0); (c) new jobs created (247 / 72), and (d) patent applications 
(60 / 14) by end of 2014. Poor planning, lacking administrative support to private sector 
applicants  and  high  administrative  burden  showed  in  low  absorption  capacity  by  the 
Structural  Funds 25.  Some  82.4%  and  63.0%  of  the  OPRD  and  OPCEG  budgets  were 
spent by October 2015. 

Slovakia has no national target for public procurement of innovative goods and services. 
Most public procurement related to development of the e-government services and was 
financed from the Operational Programme Information Society (OPIS). The OPIS projects 
accounted for mixed success (see the 2014 Country Report for more details). The OPIS 
coped  with  low  absorption  capacity.  Some  74.5%  of  the  programme  budget  was  spent 
by July 2015. The 2013 European Public Sector Innovation Scoreboard gave Slovakia low 
marks  in  most  components  of  the  Public  Innovation  Scoreboard.  The  2014-15  Global 
Competitiveness  Report  of  the  World  Economic  Forum  ranked  Slovakia  no  117  in  the 
‘Government procurement of advanced technology products’ in the World league of 143 
countries. 

Technology  support  to  consistent  use  of  the  public  procurement  is  a  relatively  recent 
phenomenon  in  Slovakia.  The  Electronic  Contract  System  (ECS),  for  example,  was 
introduced as late as in 2015. All public bodies must use the ECS for purchases of goods 
and services over €1000. Introduction of the ECS has been motived by the cost-cutting, 
rather than procurement of innovative technologies. 

The  innovative  public  procurement  has  not  been  actively  used  to  improve  public 
services.  Slovakia  has  neither  national  target  nor  strategic  framework  for  public 
procurement  of  innovative  goods  and  services.  There  also  is  no  national  coordinating 
service  offering  support  to  contracting  authorities  and  raising  awareness  on  innovation 
procurement.  

25 National  Audit  Office  (2012):  Správa  o  výsledku  kontroly  čerpania  prostriedkov  štrukturálnych  fondov  v  rámci 
operačného programu Výskum a vývoj {Report on results of audit of expenditure by the Operational Programme Research 
and Development}. 

39 

 
                                           
Most public procurement related to development of the e-government services and was 
financed from the Operational Programme Information Society (OPIS). The OPIS projects 
coped  with  slow  implementation  and  poor  management.  Many  e-government  services 
failed  (e-health,  and  fiscal  system  in  particular;  see  the  2014  Country  Report  for  more 
details).  The  OPIS  also  coped  with  low  absorption  capacity.  Some  74.5%  of  the 
programme budget was spent by July 2015.  

3.5.2  Public Procurement of Innovative solutions 

The estimate of the total public procurement expenditure in the Slovak Republic in 2014 
was €6.9b, equal to 9,35% of GDP26.27  

Legal Public Procurement framework  

Public procurement in Slovakia is regulated by the act No. 343/2015 Coll., effective as of 
18  April  2016,  which  replaces  the  Act  No.  25/2006,      as  well  as  a  number  of  decrees, 
part of which transpose the relevant European legislation. 

Until 17 April 2016 (during 2015), the standard national threshold for the publication of 
public procurement in Slovakia was set at: 

-  €1,000  for  supply  /service/  building  works  (commonly  available  on  the  market) 
contracts  -  there  is  an  obligation  to  use  electronic  contracting  system  (ECS)  – 
central trading place; 

-  € 20,000 for supply /service (not commonly available on the market) contracts  - 

usage of ECS or Slovak Official Journal; 

-  €30,000  for  supply  building  works  (not  commonly  available  on  the  market) 

contracts - usage of ECS or Slovak Official Journal. 

With the new law, effective as of 18 April 2016, the standard national threshold for the 
publication of public procurement in Slovakia is set at: 

-  €5,000  for  supply  /service/  building  works  contracts  for  commonly  available  on 
the  market  -  there  is  an  obligation  to  use  electronic  contracting  system  (ECS)  – 
central trading place; 

-  €70,000 for building works contracts not commonly available on the market; 

- 

-€20,000 for supply /service contracts not commonly available on the market.  

The  Office  for  Public  Procurement  is  responsible  for  collecting  information  regarding 
public procurement. Since April 2011, the amendment No. 58/2011 to the Act instructs 
that  all  public  procurement  notices  are  sent  to  the  Office  for  Public  Procurement  to  be 
published. According to Article 9(7), introduced by amendment No. 58/2011, contracting 
authorities are obliged to send copies of tender documentation without delay as soon as 
a public contract has been concluded. Since January 2011, the amendment 546/2010 to 
the Civil Code, the Commercial Code and the Act on access to information instructs that 
all public contracts from that date enter into force only after their official publication on 
the web page of the contracting authority itself or the Central Register of Contracts.28 

PCP/PPI landscape 

The  2013  European  Public  Sector  Innovation  Scoreboard  gave  Slovakia  low  marks  in 
most  components  of  the  Public  Innovation  Scoreboard.  The  2014-2015  Global 
Competitiveness  Report  by  the  World  Economic  Forum  ranked  Slovakia  no  117  in  the 
‘Government procurement of advanced technology products’ in the World league of 143 
countries.29 

26 2014, European Commission, DG Internal Market study: 
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/publicprocurement/docs/modernising_rules/20141105-indicators-2012_en.pdf. 
27 https://www.uvo.gov.sk/informacny-servis/koncepcia-rozvoja-verejneho-obstaravania-v-sr-426.html 
28 Central Register of Contracts.: https://www.crz.gov.sk/index.php?ID=114372 
29 Ibid.  

40 

 
                                           
The Slovak Government passed the 546/2010 Law which sets out that all contracts and 
purchases  made  by  departments  and  agencies  of  the  central,  regional  and  local 
governments  must  be  published  on  the  internet  not  later  than  10  days  after  the 
purchase.  However,  contracts  are  treated  differently.  Without  a  publication,  a  contract 
will  never  become  effective.  If  a  contract  is  not  published  within  3  months  it  is 
considered “not concluded”. Information on financial transactions must be also published 
in  a  structured  way  and  enable  an  easy  identification  of  the  relevant  actors  and  the 
expenditures involved. The Central Register of Contracts works well and helps increasing 
the transparency of public procurement in Slovakia. 

The Operational Programme Research and Innovation (OPRI, major source of finance for 
the Slovak research and innovation system in 2014-2020) makes no special provision for 
the  public  procurement  of  innovative  technologies.  The  OPRI  only  briefly  mentions  that 
‘the  state  aid  schemes  would  prioritise  the  procurement  of  top-notch  technologies 
according to the RIS3 goals’. 

The  lack  of  clear  national  policies  and  targets  for  the  public  procurement  of  innovative 
goods  and  services,  and  excessive  reliance  on  the  EU  resources  has  an  impact  on  the 
efficiency  of  innovative  public  procurement  in  the  Slovak  Republic.  However,  a  project 
for  the  support  of  PPIs  and  PCPs  is  currently  being  prepared  and  its  activities  should 
start late in 2016. 

PCP/PPI initiatives 

Examples of innovative public procurement include: 

  The  infrastructure  for  research  and  development:  The  basic  idea  of  the 
measure is that public sector should build an efficient ICT infrastructure for R&D 
in  the  period  2009-2013.  The  infrastructure  should  be  able  to  store  and  provide 
data  for  R&D  workers  with  a  high  degree  of  availability  and  security.  Fast  and 
reliable  broadband  networks,  solutions  for  efficient  information  use  and 
processing,  and  Intranet  and  Internet  solutions  are  also  parts  of  the  ICT 
infrastructure. 

  The Electronic Identity Card project  (eID): The project enabled the issuance 
of ID cards with built-in chips from December 2013. By June 2014 some 281,000 
eID cards were issued. The government guaranteed the low price of the eID card 
(€4.50), and ensured the free distribution of card readers and respective software 
solutions. About one half of the eID card holders opted for the activation of digital 
signature.  The  digital  signature  simplifies  dealings  with  many  public 
administration services. 

  The  e-Health  project:  The  project  was  approved  via  Slovak  Government 
Resolution  No  497/2008  of  16  July  2008.  Deliverance  of  outputs  was  redefined 
into three phases: 

  Phase 1 (2011 – 2012): "Implementation of basic e-Health functionalities 
implementation  of  necessary 
leading  to  operation 
assumptions for setting functionalities bringing benefits for citizens in the 
shortest possible time (‘quick-wins’)".  

financing  and 

  Phase  2  (2012  –  2013):  "Implementation  of  functionalities  bringing 

mainly qualitative benefits for the Slovak citizens". 

  Phase  3  (2014  –  2016):  "Improvement  in  preventive  care  and 
implementation  of  personalized  medicine 
the  newest 
technologies,  helping  citizens  to  take  care  on  their  health  in  more 
efficient and targeted ways".30  

through 

3.5.3  Indirect financial support for private R&I 

The  indirect  support  to  private  R&D  was  introduced  in  two  phases  in  Slovakia.  The 
Slovak  Parliament  passed  the  185/2009  Act  on  R&D  Tax  incentives.  The  tax  incentives 

30 This project has not been implemented yet. 

41 

 
                                           
have been provided via subsidies and the tax  reliefs. Subsidies accounted for 87.9%  of 
total  tax  incentives  (€18.42m)  awarded  to  21  companies  in  period  2011-2013.  The 
MESRS  awarded  six  companies  with  tax incentives  €8.47m  for  period  2014-201631.  The 
tax  incentives  programme  had  two  drawbacks.  All  tax  incentives  were  subject  to 
approval  by  the  MESRS.  The  tax  incentives  were  awarded  for  specific  thematic  areas 
only  (set  by  the  Danube  Strategy).  The  business  community  demanded  flat  and  non-
discriminatory  indirect  support  to  business  research.  The  Slovak  Government  argued 
about risks of tax evasion.  

The  start-up  policies  were  in  embryonic  stage  in  Slovakia.  The  Slovak  Government 
published  first  'Concept  paper  for  the  support  of  start-ups  and  the  development  of  the 
start-up ecosystem' as late as in June 2015. See chapter 5.2 for more details. 

3.6  Business R&D 

3.6.1  The development in business R&D intensity 

BERD  intensity  in  the  Slovak  Republic  is  very  low.  In  2014  it  was  0.33%,  which  is  the 
one  of  the  lowest  among  the  countries  that  joined  the  EU  since  2004.  As  a  general 
tendency,  it  has  been  growing  since  2007,  although  at  a  very  moderate  pace  (overall 
growth  of  0.1%  of  GDP  between  2007  and  2014)  and  with  a  minor  setback  in  2014. 
Manufacturing and services account for more than 95% of the BERD expenditure in the 
period under scrutiny. The aforementioned growth of the total BERD intensity from 2007 
is  the  result  of  their  combined  development  along  that  period.  Since  2007, 
manufacturing has been more BERD intensive than services, but the gap reduced in the 
recent years. 

Figure 9 BERD intensity broken down by most important macro sectors  

(C= manufacture, G_N=services). 

Businesses  are  the  main  funders  of  the  Slovak  BERD.  Funding  coming  from  business 
grew  significantly  in  2011-13.  External  funding  (Abroad)  has  become  somewhat  more 
important since 2011. Government funding was less important in general and it has been 
on  a  decreasing  path  since  2010.  The  Eurostat  data  on  GERD  by  source  of  finance 
indicate that the rise in BERD by domestically-owned firms was more important than the 
rise in BERD by foreign firms in the Slovak Republic. 

31 Details on mode of aid (subsidies versus tax reliefs) were not available. 

42 

 
 
 
 
                                           
Figure 10 BERD by source of funds 

3.6.2  The development in business R&D intensity by sector 

In terms of sectorial distribution, the automotive sector (manufacture of motor vehicles) 
is one of the leading manufacture sectors in the Slovak Republic. On Figure 9, we notice 
a stable growth of its BERD since 2005 and spike in 2013. The other two more important 
sectors  are  manufacture  of  machinery  and  equipment  and  manufacture  of  electrical 
equipment.  While  the  latter  had  a  generally  increasing  but  rather  fluctuating  trend  up 
until 2010 and has been stagnating or slightly decreasing ever since, the former shows a 
steady  growth  since  2009,  practically  doubling  in  2009-13  after  its  stagnation 
beforehand.  

The  multinational  companies  are  highly  important  for  employment,  added  value  and 
exports in Slovakia. R&D intensive FDI is  also  a part  of the Slovak  Investment Aid Act, 
which  provides  a  legal  framework  for  investment  incentives  into  R&D  related,  so  called 
„Technology  Centres“.  Institutions  such  as  the  Slovak  Investment  and  Trade 
Development  Agency  (SARIO)  also  acknowledge  the  importance  and  socio-economic 
aspect  of  R&D  intensive  FDI  and  provide  more  detailed  services  to  such  investors.  The 
automotive  industry,  consumer  electronics,  financial  services  and  information  and 
communication  services  were  prime  targets  for  the  FDI  in  Slovakia.  SARIO's  webpage 
promotes several advantages of the R&D intensive FDI (the R&D Tax incentives Act, tax 
deductions). It also mentions several ‘success stories’ and lists multinational companies 
investing  in  the  Slovak  Republic  (Johnson  Controls,  ON  Semiconductor,  Leoni,  BSH, 
ThermoSolar,  Sauer  Danfoss,  Krauss  Maffei,  Ness,  Siemens,  Alcatel-Lucent,  Mühlbauer, 
Continental  Automotive  Systems  etc.).  On  demand,  it  can  also  provide  selected 
information regarding R&D intensive FDI in the country. 

Data  on  private  research  funding  in  the  Slovak  Republic  are  quite  scarce.  No  Slovak 
company was included in the 2011, 2012 2013 and 2014 EU Industrial R&D  Investment 
Scoreboard. 32 Annual  reports  of  several  companies  provide  limited  and  uncategorised 
data  on  R&D  spending  –  Continental  Matador  Rubber  (automotive  parts):  €21.452m 
(2013),  US  Steel:  €3.1m  (2014),  Biotika  (pharma)  €2.456m  (2014),  Slovak  Power: 
€2.0m (2014) and Slovnaft (oil processing): €0.488m (2014). 

32 http://iri.jrc.ec.europa.eu/scoreboard14.html  

43 

 
 
 
 
                                           
(C27=manufacture of electrical equipment; C28= manufacture of machinery and equipment 
C29=manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers) 

Figure 11 top sectors in manufacturing 

In  the  services  sector  the  main  contributors  to  business  R&D  are  professional  and 
scientific  services,  information  and  communication  services  as  well  as  financial  and 
insurance services (Figure  12). Business R&D  expenditures in the first category  faced a 
steady  decline  hitting  its  bottom  of  €35m  in  2011.  After  this  it  grew  moderately  by  5 
MEUR  in  the  following  two  years.  Trends  are  opposite  in  the  other  two  categories 
(information  and  communication  and  financial  services  BERD).  They  were  practically 
non-existent  until  2009  when  a  strong  growth  followed  in  both  cases  reaching  the 
nowadays (2012/13) level of€35m.  

(J=information and communication, K= Financial and insurance activities, M=professional, 
scientific and technical activities) 

Figure 12 top service sectors  

3.6.3  The development in business R&D intensity and value added 

When  looking  at  the  contribution  of  the  various  sectors  to  the  total  gross  value  added 
(GVA),  we  notice  that  manufacturing,  and  services  in  wholesale  and  retail  trade  play  a 
leading  role.  Construction,  real  estate  activities  and  public  administration  are  also 
somewhat important sectors in terms of GVA (Figure 13). 

Comparing  Figure  12  and  Figure  13,  we  observe  that  services  sectors  that  tend  to 
receive  more  BERD  are  contributing  to  somewhat  less  extent  to  the  GVA.  One 
explanation  could  be  that  these  are  typically  smaller  sectors  within  the  country's 
economy.  

44 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 13 economic sectors as percentage of the total GVA. 

Top 6 sectors in decreasing order: 1) manufacture, 2) wholesale and retail trade, 3) construction, 
4) real estate activities, 5) Public administration and defence, 6) transportation and storage 

According to Figure 14, below, the automotive industry (manufacture of motor vehicles, 
trailers and semitrailers) appears to be the leading manufacture sector in terms of GVA. 
This  is  consistent  with  its  importance  in  the  manufacturing  sector  BERD.  Although 
tending  to  become  more  important  in  terms  of  BERD,  the  share  in  GVA  of  electrical 
equipment  as  well  as  of  machinery  and  equipment  manufacturing  has  a  lower  share  in 
GVA than manufacturing. 

Figure 14 GVA in manufacturing.  

Top 6 manufacturing sectors: 1) motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, 2) fabricated metal 
products except machinery and equipment, 3) food products, beverage and tobacco products, 4) 
machinery and equipment, 5) rubber and plastic products, 6)basic metals 

Figure  15  shows  the  GVA  contribution  of  the  most  BERD  intensive  service  and 
manufacture sectors. We observe that the professional, scientific and technical activities 
sector  was  the  main  contributor  to  VA  throughout  2005-2012.  This  is  followed  by 
medium  technology  sectors  managing  to  attain  rapid  growth  levels.  These  are:  the 
automotive  industry  (C29),  information  communication  services  (J),  as  well  as  financial 
services  (K).  Machinery  and  equipment  (C28)  as  well  as  electrical  equipment  (C27) 
sectors  have  not  managed  to  increase  their  share  in  VA  at  factor  costs  throughout  the 
analysed period.  

45 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 15 Gross value added (GVA) top sectors 

3.7  Assessment 

The  major  challenges  relevant  for  the  efficient  and  effective  functioning  of  the  funding 
allocation  system  include  (a)  the  lack  of  a  stable  and  predictable  budgetary  framework 
for R&D; (b) an underdeveloped evaluation culture, and (c) no clear relation between the 
results of evaluations and the amount of funding (see chapters 1.2.2 and 2.2.1 for more 
details). 

The institutional support to the HEIs and the SAS remained about the same in nominal 
terms  and  decreased  in  real  ones  (share  of  GBAORD  in  GDP  dropped  from  0.46%  to 
0.39%  in  period  2011-2014).  Low  institutional  funding  was  reflected  in  sub/optimal 
performance of public research bodies. Top Slovak public research performers (SAS, the 
Comenius University in Bratislava and the Slovak University of Technology) significantly 
lagged  behind  their  counterparts  in  the  Czech  Republic  and  Hungary.  As  for  the  2014 
SCIMAGO institutional ranking indicators, Slovak research bodies achieved ranks several 
hundred places lower than the top HEIS and academies of science in the Czech Republic 
and  Hungary.  The  top  Slovak  HEIs  and  the  SAS  also  have  been  sliding  down  in  the 
Webometrics and Scimago rankings since 2009. 

The  block  funding  criteria  in  the  HEIs  provide  perverse  incentives  for  suboptimal 
research  performance.  The  criteria  promote  mass  education,  and  production  of 
substandard research outputs. Any HEI, under current criteria, makes little profit from a 
paper in good international journal. A better strategy is to concentrate on high numbers 
of low-quality publications. The SAS budget has never been related to excellent research 
outputs.  It  rather  reflected  ability  of  the  SAS  to  mobilise  public  opinion  and  negotiate 
with the Ministry of Finance. 

Budgets of the national funding agencies (VEGA, KEGA, SRDA) changed little in nominal 
terms and decreased in real ones in last ten years. Since 2010 Slovakia had no national 
research  programmes.  The  Slovak  Government  pointed  to  abundance  of  resources 
provided  by  the  Structural  Funds.  The  OPRD  provided  significant  resources  for  building 
research  infrastructures.  The  OPRD  projects  accounted  for  high  success  rates,  but 
generated  significant  administrative  burden  for  the  project  beneficiaries.  Most  public 
research  institutions  and  HEIs  concentrated  on  the  OPRD  projects  and  skipped  FP7 
applications.  Consequently,  Slovakia  ranked  to  the  poorest  FP7  performers.  The  Slovak 
Republic obtained 0.3% of the total EU contribution in FP6, 0.2% in the FP7 and 0.1% in 
the H2020 programme  by 2015.  The  OPRD resources had a negative  effect on demand 
for excellence-based funding.  

Direct support to R&I performers is main type of finance in the Slovak R&I system.  Tax 
incentives were introduced as late as in 2015. It is too early to assess their contribution 
to R&I system. 

46 

 
 
 
Reforms  of  the  higher  education,  SAS  and  research  funders  (laid  down  by  the  RIS3) 
have been slow.  

The Slovak Government prepared three drafts of the Action Plan for the RIS3 Strategy in 
2014-2020. No Action Plan was approved by end of 2015. 

The  RIS3  document  envisaged  merging  eight  funding  agencies  to  two.  The  Slovak 
Government  did  not  merge  agencies  for  R&I  funding  in  2015.  The  government  rather 
renamed  incumbent  agencies  and  credit  them  with  some  new  tasks.  Total  number  of 
funders did not change in the last three years. 

The  first  calls  from  the  OPRI  started  in  2016.  Some  calls  are  designed  for  Slovak 
participants  only.  Some  calls  are  open  for  research  institutions  based  in  other  EU 
Member Countries. This is a noel and positive development compared to the 
programming period 2014-2020.

47 

 
4.  Quality of science base and priorities of the European 
Research Area 

4.1  Quality of the science base 

The  Slovak  Republic  underperformed  in  most  publication  indicators  compared  to  the 
EU28 average in 2013 (Table 7):  

  Slovakia  produced  1.13  publications  per  thousand  population  (EU28:  1.43,  CZ: 

 

1.73, HU: 0.92); 
International  co-publications  accounted  for  37.4%  of  all  publications  in  Slovakia 
(EU28: 36.4%; CZ: 37.6%; HU: 47.1%); 

  Slovakia  had  5.73%  of  its  total  publications  among  the  top  10%  most  cited 

publications (EU28: 11.29%; CZ: 7.34%; HU: 7.83%); 

  Public-private  co-publications  accounted  for  0.7%  of  all  publications  in  Slovakia 

(EU28: 1.8%; CZ: 1.0%; HU: 1.3%). 

The  2014  Innovation  Union  Scoreboard  indicated  that  Slovakia  produced  just  15.7 
public-private co-publications per million population in 2011 (EU28: 52.8; CZ: 33.7; HU: 
31.2). Low numbers of public-private co-publications refer to low co-operation by public 
and private research sectors in Slovakia (see chapter 3.3.2 for more details). 

There also were some positive developments in publication activity in Slovakia. Share of 
publications  among  the  top  10%  most  cited  publications  rose  from  3.61%  in  2000  to 
7.51% in 2010. 

Table 7: Main publication indicators 

Indicator 

Number of publications per thousand of population 

Share of international co-publications 

Slovakia 

EU average 

(2013) 

(2013) 

1.13 

1.43 

37.4% 

36.4% 

Number of international publications per thousand of population 

0.42 

0.52 

Percentage of publications in the top 10% most cited publications 

Share of public-private co-publications 

5.73 (a) 

11.29 (a) 

0.7% (b) 

1.8% b 

Notes: (a) Average for 2000-2013; (b) average for 2011-2013 

4.2  Optimal transnational co-operation and competition   

4.2.1  Joint programming, research agendas and calls 

The  Eurostat  data  on  the  national  public  funding  to  transnationally  co-ordinated  R&D 
indicate  Slovakia  spent  €6.6m  for  the  joint  research  agendas  in  2014  (the  Czech 
Republic €38.3m, Hungary €7.8m in the same year). The amount of funding is scarce to 
integrate the Slovak science into European and international co-operation networks. 

The Slovak research policies lacked clear focus on the joint research agendas addressing 
grand  challenges  and  joint  programming.  The  Smart  Specialisation  Strategy  (RIS3 
document,  chapter  2.5.5)  notes 
joint  programming,  and 
Competitiveness  and  Innovation  Framework  Programme’.  Slovakia  participated  in  nine 
out of 31 ERA-NET projects, 18 out of 36 European Technology Platforms and three out 
of  11  joint  programming  initiatives.  Slovakia  also  has  had  no  thematic  and/or  sectoral 
priorities  set  for  the  jointly  funded  research,  but  the  RIS3  document  sets  thematic 
priorities  for  the  whole  Slovak  system  of  science  and  technology  (see  chapter  2  of  this 
report for more details).  

‘low  participation 

in 

The  RIS3  document  (Measure  2.4  ‘Systemic  support  to  and  stimulation  of  international 
co-operation in science and technology’) envisages ‘systemic changes in co-ordination of 

48 

 
 
national  policies  for  Horizon  2020,  ERC  and  ERANET’  and  support  to  Slovak  scientists 
participating  in  international  technology  platforms.  Slovakia’s  participation  in  joint 
research agendas, joint calls, and joint programmes developed on the ad hoc basis. The 
MESRS,  for  example,  supported  call  in  the  Joint  Programme  in  Neurodegenerative 
Disease  Research  in  2013.  No  thematic  priorities  are  stated  for  international  co-
operation. 

The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic (MESRS) 
performs  different  activities  in  relation  to  Slovakia's  participation  in  European  and 
international R&D initiatives, such as JU ECSEL, JU ENIAC, Eurostars, EUREKA, etc. 

The 2014 Annual Report on R&D summarises Slovakia’s participation in several European 
initiatives:  

 

 

Initiatives  under  Article  187  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European 
Union  (TFEU).  The  Slovak  Republic  allocates  €0.679m  to  the  ECSEL  initiative 
(Electronic  Components  and  Systems  for  European  Leadership)  in  2014.  The 
Slovak University  of Technology joined the Bio-based  Industry Joint Undertaking 
(BBI  JU).  Slovakia  has  no  participation  in  the  IMI2  (Innovative  Medicines 
Initiative 2), FCH2 (Fuel Cells and Hydrogen2), Clean Sky 2, and SHIFT2RAIL. 
Initiatives  under  Article  185  of  the  TFEU.  Slovakia  participated  in  five  Eurostars 
projects. The MESRS supported the projects with the €0.22m in 2014. The Slovak 
Institute of Metrology should join the EMPIR (European Metrology Programme for 
Innovation and Research jointly undertaken by several Member States) in 2015. 

So  far  the  system  of  bilateral  exchange  and  multilateral  -operation  schemes  in  science 
and technology has been the most important tool for the transnational co-operation. The 
system  is  financed  by  the  MESRS  and  managed  by  the  SRDA.  The  mobility  schemes 
covered  costs  of  travel,  accommodation  and  subsistence.  There  were  15  multilateral 
schemes supporting joint research agendas both with the ERA countries and outside the 
ERA. The most important agreements outside the ERA referred to Slovakia’s participation 
in  the  Joint  Institute  for  Nuclear  Research  in  Dubna  (Russia).  The  Information  on 
International  Co-operation  in  Science  and  Technology  in  2014  (MESRS  2015) 
summarises  bilateral  and  multilateral  schemes  in  S&T  co-operation  managed  by  the 
SRDA: 

  The 13 multilateral schemes supported joint research agendas both with the ERA 
countries  and  outside  the  ERA.  The  most  important  initiatives  related  to  the 
European  Organization  for  Nuclear  Research  (CERN,  €4.51m)  and  the  European 
X-Ray Laser Project (XFEL, €2.0m). The most important agreements  outside the 
ERA referred to Slovakia’s participation in the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research 
in Dubna (Russia, €2.43m). Total cost of multilateral co-operation was €10.33m, 
of  which  membership  fees  €9.12m  and  project  costs  €1.21m  in  2014  (2013: 
€9.12m  and  €1.47m).  The  MESRS  published  short  evaluation  of  the  project 
results  in  fields  of  (i)  knowledge  enhancement,  (ii)  support  to  economic  growth, 
and (iii) popularising science and technology. Joint publications and joint project 
proposals were main outputs in field (i). Construction of prototypes and supply of 
high-tech  technologies  by  Slovak  firms  were  main  outputs  in  field  (ii).  Lectures 
and media presentations were main outputs in field (iii). 

  Six  bilateral  schemes  supported  95  projects  (€0.248m)  with  five  ERA  countries 
(the  Czech  Republic,  Poland,  Romania,  Portugal,  Greece  and  Bulgaria)  and  12 
projects with China in 2014. Bilateral schemes mostly supported mobility projects 
and  covered  costs  of  travel,  accommodation  and  subsistence.  The  mobility 
schemes, unfortunately, were not aimed at specific joint research agendas.  

The latest editions of the Annual Reports on R&D and  the Annual Reports of the Slovak 
Research  and  Development  Agency  use  to  provide  short  information  on  main  results  of 
the  bilateral  and  multilateral  projects.  Joint  publications,  joint  use  of  research 
infrastructure and data exchange, were most frequently quoted results. 

49 

 
The  Joint  Research  Centre  of  the  European  Commission  and  the  Slovak  Academy  of 
Sciences signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 5 June 2015. The aim of the 
memorandum is to establish the basis and the overall framework for future collaboration 
in  the  fields  of  mutual  interest,  including  energy,  transport,  nanotechnology,  reference 
(standard)  materials,  health  and  environment,  innovation  and  growth  as  a  start. 
Slovakia is also an important partner of the JRC's "Scientific support to Danube Strategy" 
initiative. 

Slovakia  joined  the  European  Space  Agency  in  2015.  The  estimated  costs  of  the 
participation  were  set  at  €2m  in  2015.  Slovakia  is  a  full  member  of  the  European 
Association  of  leading  national innovation  agencies  (TAFTIE)  via  the  SIEA.  Its  Members 
make  a  major  contribution  to  strengthening  Europe’s  economic  performance  by 
supporting  product,  process  and  services  innovation  by  implementing  their  countries’ 
national  and  international  Research,  Development  and  Innovation  Programmes.  No 
policy document on the European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs) was in force by 2015 in 
Slovakia.  Membership  in  the  EIP  happened  on  the  ad  hoc  basis.  Information  on 
Slovakia’s activities in the EIPs is scarce. The Slovak Republic is a member in the EIPs on 
‘Active  and  Healthy  Ageing’,  'Agricultural  Productivity  and  Sustainability',  ‘Water’  and 
‘Raw  Materials’.  Most  Slovak  activities  concentrate  in  the  ‘Active  and  Healthy  Ageing’ 
partnership.  Slovakia,  for  example,  participates  in  the  ‘Visually  Impaired  Seniors  Active 
Learning’ initiative, ‘Patient Medication Adherence’ programmes and the ‘Knowing Effects 
on Healthy Life Years’ project.  

The Slovak Government also planned support to activities developed under the European 
Union Strategy for the Danube Region. Slovakia created no special financing scheme for 
the  Danube  Strategy.  Financial  support  for  the  abovementioned  projects  should  be 
provided by the Danube Research and Innovation Fund, and the OPRI (source: the 2014 
Annual Report on R&D). 

The Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland formed regional partnership ‘Visegrad 
Four’  (V4).  The  Visegrad  Fund  foundation  distributes  small  grants  (up  to  €6000)  on 
culture, science and research, education, youth exchanges and cross-border cooperation. 
The  foundation  also  supports  graduate  and  doctoral  students  from  Associated  EU 
Member Countries and Third Countries, who wish to study in the V4 countries. 

The  Operational  Programme  Research  and  Innovation  enabled  participation  of  the 
research  organisations  from  the  EU  Member  Countries  in  several  calls  in  2016.  Foreign 
bodies were not allowed to tap the Structural Funds in Slovakia in period 2007-2013/15. 
The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports also launched a call for foreign 
evaluators  of  the  Slovak  ESIF  initiatives.  All  multimillion  schemes  supported  from  the 
Structural Funds were evaluated solely by Slovak experts in period 2007-2013/15. 

The  public  research  bodies  (HEIs  and  the  SAS)  implement  standard  ex-post  evaluation 
procedures  (mostly  based  on  the  scientometric  criteria  and  peer  review).  The 
procedures,  however,  have  little  impact  on  research  funding  by  well-performing 
institutions. 

4.2.2  RI roadmaps and ESFRI 

The first draft of the National Research Infrastructures Roadmap (NRIR) was prepared by 
the  MESRS  in  2010.  The  NRIR  should  ‘define  funds  and  areas  of  specialisation  for 
national research infrastructure’. The roadmap also should contain targets, priorities and 
funds  up  to  2013,  and  includes  qualitative  and  quantitative  evaluation  indicators  and 
‘targets  for  underdeveloped  regions’.  The  NRIR  draft  was  not  approved  by  the  Slovak 
Government. 

The  RIS3  document  contained  policy  measures  aimed  at  strengthening  Slovakia’s 
membership in the ESFRI project. The policy measures should be detailed in the Action 
Plan for the RIS3. The MESRS prepared new NRIR draft in 2014. The new draft was part 
of the first draft of the Action Plan for the RIS3 Strategy in 2014-2020. The final version 
of  the  Action  Plan  for  the  RIS3,  however,  did  not  contain  the  ESFRI  Roadmap,  and 
shifted the roadmap to 2016. The National Research Infrastructures Roadmap is likely to 

50 

 
enter  into  force  in  2016  (source:  personal  communication  with  the  MESRS  staff).  The 
MESRS  continued  support  to  Slovak  organisations  participating  in  various  ESFRI 
initiatives on ad hoc basis.  

The  2014  Annual  Report  on  R&D  summarises  Slovakia’s  participation  in  the  ESFRI 
projects.  The  Slovak  Republic  was  a  member  /  associated  member  in  the  European 
XFEL;  ESRF;  ILL  20/20;  ESS  –  ERIC;  and  PRACE  projects.  Slovakia  was  an  observer  in 
the CESSDA – ERIC, EPOS, LIFEWATCH, EuroBioImaging, INSTRUCT and FAIR projects. 
Cost of participation in the abovementioned projects was €0.16m in 2014. 

There  is  no  policy  document  on  transnational  access  to  research  infrastructures  is 
Slovakia. Foreign researchers can access the Slovak research infrastructure via bilateral 
and multilateral projects on international co-operation in science and technology. 

The Cyclotron Centre was the largest national research infrastructure project in Slovakia 
dating back to early 1990s. By 2015 the total sunk costs of the Centre were estimated 
€166m.  The  Slovak  HEIs  and  public  research  institutions  said  they  were  unable  to  run 
any research projects in the Centre. The Slovak Government acknowledged failure of the 
project. 

4.3  International cooperation with third countries 

The  Slovak  Republic  has  no  national  strategy  for  internationalisation  to  foster  coherent 
and  sustainable  cooperation  with  key  third  countries.  Co-operation  with  the  third 
countries  happens  on  the  ad  hoc  basic  and  is  based  on  the  intergovernmental 
agreements on co-operation in science and technology. Most co-operation with the third 
countries takes form of the bilateral exchange basis and supports mobility schemes (see 
chapter  4.2.1  for  more  details).  Co-operation  with  the  Joint  Institute  for  Nuclear 
Research  in  Dubna  (Russia)  is  exceptional  for  its  amount  of  support  and  long-term 
history (dating back to 1950s). Other important third countries include the USA, China, 
Japan  and  Turkey.  In  the  second  half  of  2015,  the  Ministry  of  Economy  of  the  Slovak 
Republic  has  chaired  the  mutual  cooperation  of  SIEA  and  the  Israeli  MATIMOP  and 
consequently prepared a Call for Proposals for Joint R&D Projects between Slovakia and 
Israel. The funding for the first project funding is expected for the third quarter of 2016.                   

4.4  An open labour market for researchers 

4.4.1  Introduction 

The  2013  ERA  Communication  Synthesis  report  (p  41)  recognises  group  of  countries 
(including  Slovakia)  with  the  ‘centrally  regulated  systems  in  motion’  in  Central  and 
Eastern  Europe.  The  Slovak  HEIs  and  the  SAS  enjoy  significant  academic  freedoms  in 
terms  of  staffing  and  setting  research/teaching  programmes.  Budgets  of  the  HEIs  and 
SAS,  however,  are  strictly  set  by  the  MESRS.  The  HEIs  are  regularly  evaluated  by  the 
Accreditation  Commission.  The  commission  has  right  to  cancel  poor-quality  study 
programmes. The HEIs, however, use to re-appeal to courts. The MESR has right to stop 
establishment  of  new  (private)  HEI  in  case,  the  application  is  considered  poor.  The 
applicants  used  to  re-appeal  to  court  and  win  such  cases  in  the  past.  The  MESRS 
interventions  mostly  are  significant  for  public  HEIs,  which  derive  their  finance  from  the 
state  budget.  Trends  in  student  markets  (demographic  change  in  particular)  are  the 
most significant factor for development of private HEIs in Slovakia. 

The  Eurostat  data  indicate  there  were  14,742  researchers  in  the  full  time  equivalent in 
2014  in  Slovakia.  The  share  of  researchers  in  total  population  was  0.27%  in  Slovakia, 
0.26%  in  Hungary  and  0.34%  in  the  Czech  Republic  in  the  same  year.  Numbers  of 
researchers  dropped  by  2.9%  in  Slovakia,  but  increased  by  22.8%  in  Hungary  and 
23.3%  in  the  Czech  Republic  between  2010  and  2014.  While  the  public  support  to 
research is stagnating, the numbers of researchers is not stagnating, but is decreasing in 

51 

 
Slovakia. The wages in research sector are rather low compared to other sectors of the 
economy and appear to be unattractive for young and talented researchers.33  

There were changes in sectoral structure of researcher employment in last 10 years. The 
HEIs  and  the  business  sector  accounted  for  major  increases  in  researcher  numbers, 
while  the  number  of  researchers  in  the  government  sector  (SAS)  stagnated  in  the 
abovementioned period (Eurostat). 

4.4.2  Open, transparent and merit-based recruitment of researchers 

The  HEIs  and  the  SAS  follow  both  general  and  sector-specific  regulations  on  labour 
markets for researchers. 

The  most  important  general  regulations  include  the  Labour  Code  and  the  Law  on  Civil 
Service.  The  SAS  researchers  and  the  HEI  teachers  are  considered  civil  servants. 
Employment  conditions  are  set  by  the  552/2003  Law  on  Civil  Service.  Article  3  of  the 
Law  sets  requirements  for  civil  servants  (impeccability,  qualification,  health  conditions, 
etc.). Tenders are required for the managerial positions only (Article 5), but most public 
bodies advertise posts for all types of employees. If a current managerial contract in civil 
service expires, managing authority may appoint a provisional manager for a maximum 
of  six  months.  Then  a  tender  for  the  post  must  be  advertised.  Any  tender  must  be 
advertised  at  least  three  weeks  ahead.  Advertisements  usually  include  criteria  for  a 
successful  candidate  (qualifications  –  certified  by  relevant  documents,  experience, 
language requirements). The decision is taken by a selection panel. Panel must have at 
least three members and one member must represent current employees of public body. 
The section panel includes internal members of the tenderer. There is no requirement for 
international members. 

The  results  of  the  tender  must  be  communicated  to  applicants  in  10  days  from  the 
official end of the tender. There is a right of appeal and obtain financial compensation in 
case of discrimination based on applicant’s gender, race, ethnicity, family issues, political 
opinions, membership in trade unions, etc. 

Any employer can hire a worker for two consecutive years on a temporary contract. After 
two  years  the  temporary  contract  turns  to  permanent  one.  Workers  on  temporary 
contracts have the same rights and duties as workers on permanent contracts. 

There  is  no  relevant  measure  supporting  merit-based  recruitment  of  researchers  in 
Slovakia.  Civil  servant  status  determines  salary  levels  for  all  senior  academic  and 
administrative staff. There, however, are sector-specific mechanisms in place to support 
merit-based  career  advancement  in  HEIs  and  public  researcher  organisations.  Indent  6 
of  the  131/2002  Law  on  Higher  Education  sets  competences  of  the  Slovak  HEIs  in 
awarding academic titles and staffing academic posts. The criteria include set of research 
outputs  (publications,  citations,  research  grants)  and  teaching  achievements  (length  of 
service, numbers of Master and PhD students). Research criteria, however, vastly differ 
between  Slovak  HEIs.  The  SAS  recognises  job  posts  of  researcher  (‘grade  IIb’),  senior 
researcher (‘grade IIa’, equivalent of assistant professor) and leading researcher (‘grade 
I’, equivalent of research professor). Research outputs (numbers of papers and citations 
in  the  SCI/SSCI  journals)  are  main  criterion  of  the  career  advancement.  The  Slovak 
Commission  for  the  Academic  Titles  works  with  the  MESRS.  It  uses  the  stringiest 
research  criteria  (publications  and  citations)  and  awards  the  highest  academic  title  in 
Slovakia ‘The Doctor of Science’ (DrSc.). The tittle is a matter of pure prestige and has 
no direct relation to work conditions and/or remuneration. 

33 The 2014 Annual Report of the SAS, for example, states the average monthly gross wage €935. 

52 

 
                                           
The ‘centrally regulated systems’ in Central and Eastern Europe (including Slovakia) use 
to require the habilitation34 title to pursue an Academic career. Recognition of the foreign 
academic  degrees  and  titles  is  regulated  by  the  293/2007  Law  on  Recognition  of  the 
Professional  Qualifications  in  the  Slovak  Republic.  The  law  recognises  regulated  and 
unregulated professions. Posts  of university professor and assistant professor (‘docent’) 
are  regulated.  Any  EU  and/or  Third  Country  national  has  to  ask  the  Slovak  Ministry  of 
Education,  Science,  Research  and  Sports  (MESRS) 
for  recognition  of  his/her 
qualifications  (including  titles  of  professor  and  docent).  Recognition  of  qualification  is 
awarded  solely  for  purpose  of  job  execution.  The  title  is  not  stated  in  the  permanent 
residence  card  given  to  foreign  professionals.  Slovak  citizens  have  their  academic  titles 
stated  in  their  identity  card.  Post  of  rector  or  director  of  research  institution  are 
considered unregulated professions within the public administration. Fluency in Slovak is 
required for the state administration jobs. The language barrier is a considerable barrier 
for employment. Foreigners applying for public administration jobs do not need to prove 
officially  they  are  fluent  in  Slovak,  but  in  practice  a  good  knowledge  of  Slovak  is 
important for dealing with authorities. No public research organisation has a director of 
foreign  origin  and  the  University  in  Ruzomberok  was  the  only  Slovak  HEI  to  have 
foreign-origin rector.35 

There are two initiatives aimed at access to Slovak labour markets by the highly-skilled 
citizens  of  third  Countries.  The  404/2011  Law  on  Residence  by  Aliens  implemented  the 
‘Blue  Card’  directive  and  enabled  for  easier  access  by  highly  skilled  third-country 
nationals to Slovak labour market. The Slovak Government published Concept Paper on 
the  start-ups  and  considered  introduction  of  the  start-up  visas  for  the  third  country 
nationals. 

There is no comprehensive information on inward versus outward flow of researchers in 
Slovakia.  The  Eurostat  data  indicate  some  525  foreign  nationals,  some  2.5%  of  total 
researchers  working  in  the  Slovak  HEIs  and  public  research  organisations  (in  head 
counts) in 2013. The share changed little in the last 10 years.  

Mobility  by  researchers  to/from  is  assisted  by  several  EU  programmes.  The  Slovak 
branch of the EURAXESS agency has operated since 2004. The EURAXESS has its offices 
in Bratislava and five other regional capitals (Banská Bystrica, Košice, Prešov, Nitra, and 
Žilina).The  EURAXESS  information  is  important  for  Slovak  researchers  seeking  better 
work  conditions  abroad.  The  EURAXESS  services  also  include  rich  information  on 
potential  jobs  for  Slovak  researchers  abroad.  The  2014  Country  Factsheet  for  Slovakia 
on the FP7-PEOPLE Marie Curie Actions states that some 65 Slovak institutions obtained 
€11m  for  training  81  researchers  coming  to  Slovakia  in  2007-2015.  Ukraine,  Russia, 
USA, the Czech Republic and Slovenia generated most inflows of researchers to Slovakia. 
Some 191 Slovak fellows of the Maria Curie grants mostly headed for the USA and Czech 
Republic, Ukraine, Russia, Austria and the UK. 

The  Slovak  Government  introduced  several  policy  measures  supporting  the  attraction 
and reintegration of foreign based nationals: 

  The  Slovak  Government  passed  the  210/2014  Resolution  on  the  ‘Strengthening 
analytical capacities in public administration’ on 7 May 2014. The scheme creates 
jobs in central government bodies for Slovak graduates from foreign Universities. 
The  Universities  had  to  rank  up  to  200  in  the  Shanghai  list,  Times  Higher 
Education, and/or Repec list of top World Universities. The scheme launched three 

34 Applicants for higher academic posts must past two procedures in Slovak HEIs. Applicants for the assistant professor 
title  (‘docent’)  have  to  defend  their  ‘habilitation’  works.  Applicants  for  the  (full)  professor  title  have  to  present  their 
‘inauguration’ work and lecture. Posts of docent and professor are subject to acquisition of the abovementioned academic 
titles. 
35 The  University,  unfortunately,  was  infamous  for  high  numbers  of  assistant  professor  titles  awarded  to  the  Polish 
citizens.  The  Polish  Ministry  of  Education,  for  example,  officially  complained  with  the  MESRS.  It  identified  18  cases  of 
substandard habilitation procedures. Slovak media published many  negative accounts on diploma selling and fast-track 
habilitation procedures in the University. 

53 

 
                                           
calls. The 2014 call received 29 applications and supported 15 applicants in three 
public  institutions  with  €83,00036.The  2015  call  received  19  and  supported  four 
applicants. 

  The  Slovak  Government  passed  the  368/2015  Resolution  on  the  ‘Support  to 
Return by Slovak Professionals from abroad’ on 8 July 2015\. The first call for this 
scheme  was  launched  in  April  2016.  The  call  supported  two  types  of  Slovak 
returnees: (i) young professionals (up to age of  40) who graduated from foreign 
Universities, and (ii) experts (‘highly qualified employees’) working over 10 years 
abroad.  The  MESRS  established  a  committee  for  selection  and  allocation  of 
returnees  to  particular  public  institutions,  the  Slovak  Academy  of  Sciences  and 
the  National  Bank  of  Slovakia.  Each  public institution  may  apply  for  a  maximum 
grant €0.15m. 

  The  SAS  launched  the  SASPRO  project  in  2015.  The  project  finances  research 
stays  by  foreign  nationals  and  reintegration  of  Slovak  nationals  in  Slovakia. 
Foreign and Slovak nationals may apply for grants for 12-36 month stay with the 
SAS.  The  SAS  covers  60%  of  the  total  costs.  The  Marie  Curie  scheme  COFUND 
provides  for  the  rest  of  the  SASPRO  budget.  The  SASPRO  should  support  54 
grants (source: The 2014 Annual Report of the SAS). 

4.4.3  Access to and portability of grants 

Access  to  and  portability  of  grants  is  quite  limited  in  the  Slovak  Republic.  Foreign 
researchers and/or Slovak nationals working abroad are not allowed to apply for grants 
funded  from  the  Slovak  State  Budget,  except  for  schemes  on  bilateral  and  multilateral 
co-operation  in  science  and  technology.  Support  from  the  Slovak  funding  bodies  and 
awarded  to  a  Slovak  individual  or  organisation  can  be  spent  both  on  national  territory 
and  abroad  (in  case  the  project  terms  envisage  research  abroad,  membership  fees  in 
foreign  and  international  organisations,  etc.).  The  172/2005  Law  on  Organisation  of 
State  Support  to  R&D  in  theory  enables  participation  by  foreign  researchers  in  Slovak 
research programmes, but there is little experience with this issue, given limited interest 
by foreign researchers in working in Slovakia. No plans for portability of national grants 
were scheduled in key R&I policies in Slovakia. 

4.4.4  Doctoral training 

The  Law  131/2002  on  Higher  Education  sets  the  HEIs  may  create  their  own  fields  of 
study in tertiary education. The HEIs have to consult the Accreditation Commission first 
and then apply to the MESRS for approval of study programme. 

Two  types  of  PhD  courses  are  provided.  ‘Internal’  PhD  students  get  fellowships  paid  by 
the  state,  and  distributed  via  HEIs  and  accredited  training  places  (including  Slovak 
Academy  of  Sciences).  Fellowships  are  awarded  for  three  years.  Typical  fellowship  was 
€550 per month in 2015. The fellowship was exempted from tax. Internal PhD students 
also  were  exempted  from  health  insurance  contributions  up  to  age  of  30.  Internal  PhD 
students are expected to participate in teaching and research. Internal PhD students pay 
no fees  for their studies within regular period of studies.  External PhD programmes are 
designed  for  people  employed  outside  the  research  and  HEI  sectors  and  do  not  involve 
any  direct  financial  support.  External  PhD  students  are  expected  to  defend  their  theses 
within  five  years  since  commencement  of  their  studies.  External  PhD  studies  pay  fees. 
Fees vary by faculties and study fields. Typical rates were €400-1,500 per academic year 
in  2015/2016.  Some  postgraduate  programmes  are  taught  in  English.  Postgraduate 
students can submit their PhD thesis in several languages, including English. 

Numbers  of  the  PhD  students  increased  from  3,875  in  academic  year  1988/1989  to 
12,182  in  2010/2011,  but  fell  to  8,219in  2015/2016.  Birth  numbers  declined 
considerably after 1989. The Slovak Universities coped with decreasing enrolment rates 
in early 2010s. 

36 Source: MESRS (2016): Grantový program pre posilnenie analytických kapacít vo verejnej správe {Grant programme for 
supporting analytical capacities in public administration} 

54 

 
                                           
There  is  no  explicit  support  measure  aimed  at  the  innovative  doctoral  training  in  the 
Slovak  Republic.  The  closest  measures  include  (i)  The  Support  to  Human  Potential 
Programme  by  the  Slovak  Research  and  Development  Agency  (see  chapter  3.2.2),  (ii) 
National  Scholarship  Programme  and  (iii)  European  initiatives,  including  Marie  Curie 
Actions. The SRDA operated the ‘Support to Human Potential’ programme in 2006-2012. 
The programme supported, inter alia, international contests in mathematics and physics 
for  undergraduate  and  postgraduate  students,  etc.).  The  SRDA  drafted  similar 
programme  (‘Support  to  Building  Personal  Infrastructure  in  All  R&D  Sectors’)  and 
submitted it to the Slovak Government in 2014-2020. The Slovak Government have not 
approved the new programme by end of 201537. 

4.4.5  Gender equality and gender mainstreaming in research 

Gender equality is set in the general laws (Slovak Constitution, Labour Code Law and the 
365/2004  Antidiscrimination  Law.  Slovak  law  makes  no  special  provisions  on  removing 
legal  and  other  barriers  to  the  recruitment,  retention  and  career  progression  of  female 
researchers.  All  women  in  Slovakia  are  entitled  up  to  the  three  years  maternity  leave. 
Women  on  maternity  leave  need  not  fear  loss  of  job  and/or  position.  The  Labour  Code 
(Law  No.  311/2001)  guarantees  return  to  the  same  type  of  work  after  that  leave.  The 
only exception from this rule is the fixed-term contract, which does not guarantee right 
for returning to the same type of work after the maternity leave. 

Female  researchers  (in  FTE)  accounted  for  41.3%  of  the  total  researchers  in  2004  and 
41.7% in 2013 in Slovakia. The Eurostat data on share of female researchers by sectors 
of  performance  indicate  that  females  accounted  for  almost  one  half  of  the  total 
researchers in higher education and the SAS, but less than 20% in the business sector. 
Females also were underrepresented in top managerial positions and boards of research 
bodies. There, for example, were seven female rectors on 36 Slovak HEIs by December 
2015.  The  gender  balance  slowly  improved  over  time.  For  example,  there  were  only 
three female rectors on 33 Slovak HEIs in 2008. There were four female members of the 
Presidium of the SAS (out of the 15 total) in 2015. As for research funders, there were 
two  females  among  13  members  of  the  Presidium  of  the  Research  and  Development 
Agency,  one  female  among  six  members  of  Presidium  of  the  VEGA  Grant  Agency,  and 
two  females among nine members  of the Presidium of the KEGA  Grant Agency in 2015 
(source:  webpages  of  the  respective  agencies).  There  were  no  specific  measures 
addressing gender imbalances in decision making processes in Slovak science sector. 

4.5  Optimal circulation and Open Access to scientific knowledge  

4.5.1  e-Infrastructures and researchers electronic identity 

Measures  supporting  researchers'  access  to  digital  research  services  and  electronic 
identity  are  provided  by  the  Slovak  Academic  Network  (SANET).  The  SANET  was 
established in  1991  and  operates  as  an  independent  civil  association  (non-profit  body). 
The  SANET  members  agreed  to  provide  each  other  with  Internet  services.  The  SANET 
had  322  members  (including  all  Slovak  HEIs,  institutes  of  the  SAS,  scientific  libraries, 
170  primary  and  secondary  schools  and  several  state  institutions  and  municipalities)  in 
201538. The SANET has no private sector members.  

37 The  Slovak  Government  passed  Resolution  no  69/2016  the  ‘SRDA  Programmes  in  period  2016-2019’.  The  three 
programmes  include  (1)  Support  to  Building  Personal  Infrastructure  in  all  sectors  of  R&D  (€17.7m);  (2)  Support  to 
business R&D and co-operation of businesses with research organisations (€58.3m); (3) Support to the H2020 projects 
(€16.0m).  The  programme  (1)  supports,  jobs  for  post-docs,  reintegration  grants  for  the  Slovak  scientists,  grants  for 
foreign scientists, and projects for ‘young and excellent research teams’. Projects on post-docs jobs and young excellent 
research teams have combined budget €14.1m. The project on reintegration grants and grans for the foreign scientists 
has budget €3.6m. The programme (2) supports projects in areas of the RIS3 specialisation. The total state support to the 
programmes (1), (2) and (3) was set to €92m. The private sector is expected to provide €17.2m. 
38 All information on the SANET activities is contained on the SANET webpage www.sanet.sk.  

55 

 
                                           
The  SANET  is  self-managed,  but  its  running  costs  are  paid  from  the  Education  and 
Research Infrastructure chapter of the MESRS. The MESRS subsidised SANET services for 
high schools and universities with €1.98m in 2015. Amount of support did not change in 
last  three  years.  The  MESRS  subsidy  covers  about  90%  of  the  SANET  budget.  The  rest 
comes  from  users  and  the  EU-resources.  The  MESRS  grant  covers  running  costs  of  the 
network,  costs of connection to the GEANT network, and membership fees in the RIPE-
NCC, TERENA and CEENET organisations. 

The SANET implemented four important projects in 2015: 

a. 

‘SANET  for  Schools’  project  aimed  at  extending  infrastructure  of  the  e-services 
from  higher  education  and  academic  institutions  to  public  authorities  and 
secondary schools in 77 Slovak cities. 

b.  ‘SANET2’ project aimed at building high-speed (100 gigabyte) network for Slovak 
academic  community.  The  network  should  be  connected  to  the  GEANT  trans-
European network and the Internet. 

c.  Implementing  the  Eduroam  services.  The  Eduroam  (education  roaming)  is  the 
secure,  world-wide  roaming  access  service  developed  for  the  international 
research  and  education  community.  Eduroam  allows  students,  researchers  and 
staff from participating institutions to obtain Internet connectivity across campus, 
and when visiting other participating institutions by simply opening their laptop. 
d.  Issuing TERENA Certificate Service (TCS). The SANET represented Slovakia in the 
TERENA network. In 2011 the SANET joined the TERENA Certificate Service (TCS) 
and  started  provision  of  server  certificates  issued  by  Comodo  CA  Limited.  The 
SANET is offering TLS/SSL server certificates via SANET TCS. 

The  SANET  also  worked  on  changeover  to  dark  fibre  infrastructures  and  enhancing 
backbone capacities to 100 Gbps. The new infrastructure should be ready by 2015-2016. 

4.5.2  Open Access to publications and data 

There  is  no  national  policy  on  the  open  access  to  publications  and  data  in  the  Slovak 
Republic.  Slovak  HEIs  and  public  research  institutions  are  allowed  to  set  their  own 
standards  on  open  access.  Individual  researchers  have  voluntarily  supplemented  green 
access to the publisher’s version by self-archiving their own final drafts free for all on the 
web. 

National  data  on  the  share  of  Open  Access  (OA)  publications  in  the  whole  scientific 
production  are  not  available  in  the  Slovak  Republic.  The  2014  European  Commission’s 
report on the ‘Proportion of Open Access Papers Published in Peer-Reviewed Journals at 
the  European  and  World  Levels—1996–2013’  indicated  some  6.6%  scientific  papers 
accounted  for  the  Green  OA,  10.1%  for  Gold  OA,  33.6%  for  other  OA  and  48.7%  for 
Total OA in Slovakia in period 2008-2013. Respective numbers for the EU28 were 9.4%, 
8.6%,  51.3%  and  58.8%.  Golden  Access  papers  by  the  Slovak  researchers  was  found 
mainly  in  journals  on  ICT  (26%),  mathematics  &  statistics  (16%),  general  science  and 
technology (69%), and psychology & cognitive science (51%) in the same period. 

The Slovak Government used available resources from Structural Funds and enabled the 
subscription  to  a  wide  range  of  scientific  journals  and  databases.  The  electronic 
information  resources  (EIS)  include  some  16  databases  (Web  of  Knowledge,  Scopus, 
ProQuest,  Science  Direct,  Wiley,  SpringerLink,  Knovel,  etc.)  by  five  major  providers 
(Association  for  Computing  Machinery,  Albertina  icome,  EBSCO  Information  Services, 
SUWECO  CZ,  Thomson  Reuters).  Users  can  access  these  resources  directly  or  via  new 
search  engine  Scientia.sk.  Total  cost  of  the  access  (€28.8  m  in  period  2008-2015, 
including licence fees and ICT infrastructure) was paid by the Operational Programme 
Research and Development.

56 

 
Framework conditions for R&I and Science-Business 

5. 
cooperation 

5.1  General policy environment for business 

The  2015  Country  Specific  Recommendation  for  the  Slovak  Republic  (indent  11)  noted 
that  ‘the  poor  quality  of  Slovakia’s  business  environment  reduces  the  attractiveness  of 
the  country  for  both  foreign  and  domestic  investment.  The  inadequate  efficiency  and 
quality of the public administration and of the justice system are particularly detrimental 
to  the  business  environment.  The  civil  service  suffers  from  high  staff  turnover  and 
inefficient  management  of  human  resources.  Efforts  to  tackle  corruption  have,  to  date, 
been limited’. 

In  the  World  league  tables,  the  Slovak  Republic  accounted  for  the  medium-good 
business  environment.  It  ranked  29  out  of  189  countries  included  in  the  2016  Doing 
Business  ranking  (source:  World  Bank).  The  Slovak  Republic  fared  slightly  better  than 
the  Czech  Republic  (rank  36),  Hungary  (rank  42)  and  the  same  as  Slovenia  (rank  29). 
Among the V4 countries, only Poland (rank 25) achieved a higher position than Slovakia.  

  The  relative  strengths  of  the  Slovak  business  environment  included:  trading 
across  borders  (rank  1),  ease  of  registering  property  (rank  5),  procedures  for 
resolving  insolvency  (rank  33) 39 ,  ease  of  getting  credit  (rank  42),  and  getting 
electricity (rank 48); 
  The weakest points of the Slovak business environment included protection of the 
minority investors (rank 88), tax burden and administrative hassle related to paying 
taxes (rank 73). 

Tax burden (tax + social & health insurance costs), actually was lower in Slovakia (and 
also  in  the  Czech  Republic  and  Hungary)  than  that  in  EU15.  Filling  tax  statements, 
however,  was  quite  time  demanding  in  Slovakia.  It  took  207  hours  per  annum  for  a 
small company to fill all statements required by the tax & insurance authorities in 2015 
(CZ: 413 hours, HU: 277 hours; SI: 279 hours; LU: 55 hours; source: World Bank: the 
2015  Doing  Business  database).  Development  of  the  e-government  services  may 
decrease amount of the administrative burden.  

Many e-government projects, however, failed in Slovakia (see the 2014 Country Report 
for more details) . The e-Health project, for example, coped with significant delays. The 
e-Health  project  was  approved  in  2008  with  budget  of  €250m.  The  e-Health  originally 
should  operate  by  2010.  The  deadline  latter  was  postponed  to  2013.  The  project, 
however,  was  not  ready  by  the  end  of  2015.  The  new  deadline  is  January  2017.  Some 
commercial health insurance companies resigned on the state-led project and introduced 
their own e-Health systems40. 

39 Regulations on resolving insolvency enable debtors to enter liquidation and reorganisation proceedings and creditors to 
get  their  capital  back  in  reasonable  time.  Proper  regulations  on  resolving  insolvency  support  process  of  ‘creative 
destruction’. The term ‘creative destruction’ was coined by Joseph Schumpeter to denote a "process of industrial mutation 
that  incessantly  revolutionizes  the  economic  structure  from  within,  incessantly  destroying  the  old  one,  incessantly 
creating a new one." Schumpeter (1942): Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, New York: Harper & Row. 
40 Beňová,  Z.  (2015):  Meškajúci  projekt  eHealth  otestujú  v  štyroch  nemocniciach  {The  lagging  behind  e-Health  will  be 
tested in four hospitals}, Pravda Daily, 29 June 2015. 

57 

 
 
                                           
5.2  Young innovative companies and start-ups 

Support  to  the  creation  and  early  development  phase  of  innovative  enterprises  has  not 
been  articulated  well  in  the  Slovak  research  and  innovation  policies41.  The  Slovak  law 
does  not  recognise  ‘start-up’  and/or  ‘spin-off’  entities.  The  ‘small  and  medium-sized 
enterprise’ (SME) is not defined in the Slovak law42. 

The Slovak Government published three packages of ‘pro-growth and pro-social policies’ 
in 2014 and 2015. The packages, inter alia, contained a plan to provide tax reliefs and 
legislative  support  for  start-ups  established  by  ‘young  and  talented  entrepreneurs’.  The 
Slovak  Government  passed  the  ‘Concept  paper  for  the  support  of  start-ups  and  the 
development of the start-up ecosystem in the Slovak Republic’ on 10 June 2015. 43 The 
paper listed government’s intention on support to start-ups: (a) developing legal concept 
of  start-up  in  Slovakia;  (b)  passing  government  strategy  on  start-ups;  (c)  introducing 
new form  of business  entity, with basic capital of 1  euro; (d) introducing  tax reliefs for 
start-ups  and  business  angels;  and  (e)  introducing  start-up  visa  for  the  third  country 
nationals in Slovakia. 

The  introductory  part  of  the  Concept  paper  for  the  support  of  start-ups  and  the 
development  of  the  start-up  ecosystem  in  the  Slovak  Republic  intends  to  react  on  the 
current status and existing challenges, take a comprehensive and coordinated approach 
on  the  topic  and  avoid  fragmented  or  ad-hoc  activities.  The  priority  is  that  the 
implementation  of  state  support  is  financed  to  a  great  extent  from  European  structural 
and investment funds, in line with the Operational Programme Research and Innovation. 
The paper further discussed the (1) current status; (2) strategic objectives; (3) overview 
of  the  proposed  solutions;  (4)  basic  assumptions  for  the  implementation  of  supporting 
measures  for  start-up;,  and  (5)  proposed  measures  for  the  support  of  start-ups  in  the 
Slovak Republic. 

Most  discussions  related  to  legal  concept  of  start-ups.  Financial  support  should  not  be 
disbursed to all new companies, but only to innovative ones. The white paper suggested, 
start-ups should be examined and selected for support by a special start-up commission. 
The  commission  should  include  representative  of  the  abovementioned  ministries  and 
members  by  the  business  sector.  No  financial  details  of  support  were  specified  in  the 
white paper. 

The  third  country  nationals  are  allowed  to  stay  up  to  90  days  in  Slovakia.  The  longer 
stay is subject to visa permit. The concept paper suggested a special visa regime for the 
‘innovative  persons  -  third  country  nationals’.  The  applicant  for  the  start-up  visa  must 
submit his/her proposal to the Slovak start-up commission. Successful applicants will be 
allowed  to  come  and  stay  in  Slovakia  for  12  months.  The  best  start-up  owners  will  be 
further allowed to apply for the temporary residence permit. 

Start-ups,  digital  single  market  and  cybersecurity  rank  to  key  research  priorities 
promoted by the Slovak Republic in the upcoming Slovak Presidency of the EU Council in 
the second half of 2016. 

Cluster initiatives have  been absent in the Slovak research and innovation policies until 
the  year  2011  and  they  started  emerging  only  relatively  recently.  A  comprehensive 
system  of  cluster  support  policies  had  been  envisaged  in  the  2011-2013  Innovation 
Policy, but was not implemented. The  cluster policies were developed  and implemented 

41 The SRDA implemented the ‘Support to R&D in SMEs’ scheme in 2007-2011. The scheme targeted micro-enterprises, 
spin-offs and start-ups, and supported feasibility studies, technology transfer and R&D project finance. Some 94 projects 
received  support  €7.77m  in  2010  and  110  projects  €5.05m  in  2010  (sources:  The  2010  and  2011  Annual  Reports  on 
R&D). The scheme expired in 2011 and has not been renewed so far. 
42 The Slovak State authorities approximate ‘SME’ via turnover and/or number of employees when launching calls 
financed from the Structural Funds based on the EU recommendation 2003/361 on definition of micro, small and 
medium-sized enterprises.. 
43 http://www.rokovanie.sk/File.aspx/ViewDocumentHtml/Uznesenie-14906?prefixFile=u_ 

58 

 
                                           
by  the  Ministry  of  Economy  (Balog  2015:  37).44 The  pilot  cluster  scheme  was  launched 
as  late  as  in  2013  and  received  modest  €0.2m  from  the  state  budget.  The  second  call 
(de  minimis  scheme)  supported  seven  applicants  with  €0.18m  in  2014.  In  2015,  the 
third call supported 7 applicants with €130,000.  

Support  to  clusters  is  envisaged  in  the  RIS3  document.  The  document  proposes  policy 
measures aimed at (i) increasing embeddedness by the MNE in the Slovakia’s economy; 
(ii)  improving  integration  of  the  Slovak  firms  into  the  global  value  chains;  and  (iii) 
support  to  clusters  and  joint  research  centres  by  public  and  private  sectors.  The 
Operational  Programme  Research  and  Innovation  provides  bulk  of  finance  for  the 
abovementioned initiatives in period 2014-2020. 

The Ministry of Economy provides the Innovation Voucher scheme since June 2013. The 
de minimis scheme allocated €100,000 in total and the value of each voucher was set to 
€3,500. In 2014 the value of each voucher increased to €5,000 and the total budget of 
the scheme to €235,000. In 2015, total budget was raised to €370,000. Most applicants 
came from the fields of machinery and robotics, food industry and chemical industry. The 
call supported 66 applicants (+2 big companies) with € 347 703,95 in 2015. 

The  SIEA  launched  the  Pilot  Innovation  Voucher  scheme  in  June  2013.  The  de  minimis 
scheme allocated €100,000 in total and the value of each voucher was set to €3,500. In 
2014 the value of each voucher increased to €5,000 and the total budget of the scheme 
to €235,000. Most applicants came from the machinery and robotics, food industry and 
chemical industry (source: the 2014 Annual Report on R&D). The third call supported 70 
applicants with €365,000 in 2015 (source: the SIEA webpage). 

The Slovak Government and the Slovak President launched several activities to increase 
public  awareness  on  start-ups  and  innovative  companies.  The  Slovak  President  Andrej 
Kiska also supported development of the start-ups.  He visited the Silicon Valley and the 
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in September 2014. He was joined by a group of 
young  Slovak  entrepreneurs,  innovators,  and  academics.  The  President  opened  the 
Growth  Company  Forum  conference  in  October  2015  in  Berlin.  He  also  did  a  start-up 
visit  to  Bulgaria  (Opening  of  the  Sofia  Tech  Park)  and  respectively  Finland.  He  also 
discussed the concept of the Industry 4.0 with the German Federal Ministry of Economy 
and Energy and presented his intention to promote the significant potential of the Slovak 
Republic in research and innovation.45 

5.3  Entrepreneurship skills and STEM policy 

The  Slovak  Parliament  passed  the  61/2015  Law  on  Professional  Education  in  March 
2015.  The  law  learned  from  the  German,  Swiss  and  Austrian  experience  and  targets 
vocational  training.  The  Slovak  employees  may  co-operate  with  the  public  and  private 
secondary  schools  and  design  the  curricula  according  to  the  needs  of  regional 
economies. 

thinking,  problem  solving,  creativity  and 

Education and training curricula in the Slovak HEIs focus more on memorising facts than 
on  developing  critical 
teamwork. 
Entrepreneurship education also is poorly developed in Slovak HEIs. The vast majority of 
tertiary students take just one field of study. Combination of fields (such economics and 
physics,  engineering  and  law,  etc.)  is  rare  and  subject  to  fees  in  Slovakia.  The  2015 
white  paper  on  ‘Support  to  Start-ups  and  Development  of  the  Start-up  Eco-System’  on 
10  June  2015  recognised  the  problem  and  suggested  solutions  aimed  at  overhaul  of 
entrepreneurship education. The MESRS got task to develop and implement pro-business 
culture in higher education. The MESRS should draft scheme supporting establishment of 
spin-offs  and  start-ups  by  tertiary  students  ‘with  innovative  ideas’.  The  HEIs  should 

44 Balog, M. (2015): Klastrová politika v podmienkach Slovenska {The Cluster Policy in Slovakia}, Bratislava, Slovak 
Innovation and Energy Agency. 
45 Source: Kiska, A. (2015): Kiska v Berlíne: Startupy patria do centra našej pozornosti {Kiska in Berlin: Start-ups in the 
middle of our attention} 

59 

 
                                           
amend  their  study  programmes  and  ‘encourage  natural  interest  in  business  by  young 
people’. New programmes on financial literacy should be introduced and the Slovak HEIs 
should join international programmes on co-operation by industry and academia sectors. 

5.4  Access to finance 

The  Slovak  capital  market  is  underdeveloped.  The  Bratislava  Stock  Exchange  was 
established  in  1991,  but  the  stock  market  was  essentially  dead  in  2010s.  Slovakia  is  a 
‘banking economy’. The vast majority of businesses rely on bank finance. 

The Slovak Republic provides good tax environment for the venture capital investment 46. 
It makes no distinction between regular income and capital gains. No municipal or local 
tax  is  levied.  No  participation  exemption  may  be  applied.  Slovakia  also  does  not  levy 
withholding  taxes  on  dividends.  It  does  levy  health  insurance  payments  on  dividend 
income,  but  there  is  ceiling  €49,440  for  the  tax  base.  Use  of  the  risk  capital  finance, 
however,  is  limited.  The  2014  edition  of  the  Statistics  on  Fundraising,  Investments  & 
Divestment by the European Venture Capital Association (EVCA) does not state data for 
Slovakia47.  The  2013  Central  and  Eastern  Europe  Statistics  Report  on  venture  capital 
states that the total private equity investment was €97.8m in 2012 and €2.0m in 2013 
(0.138% and 0.012% of GDP respectively). The venture capital shares of GDP were well-
below  the  European  averages  (0.262%  and  0.253%  respectively;  source:  European 
Venture Capital Association). 

The  first  venture  capital  fund  (‘Fund  of  Funds’)  was  established  with  help  of  the  EU-
PHARE programme in 1997 in Slovakia. The fund was managed by  the former NADSME 
agency.  It  supported  business  angel  networks  and  several  venture  capital  funds.  After 
period of mismanagement the NADSME was transformed to the Slovak Business Agency 
and  the  Fund  of  Funds  was  rebranded  to  the  National  Holding  Fund  (NHF)  in  2014.  By 
2015 the NHF managed three venture capital funds: (1) Slovak Growth Capital Fund; (2) 
Fund  for  Innovations  and  Technology,  and  (3)  Slovak  Development  Fund.  The  Fund  for 
Innovations and Technology provided business advice and risk capital investments (from 
€0.02m  to  €1.50m)  for  a  period  of  4-6  years.  By  2015  the  fund  supported  only  one 
company (€0.5m). 

Slovak businesses noted lack of legal and financial support to private R&I and opted for 
self-help.  The  Slovak  Venture  Capital  and  Private  Equity  Association  (SLOVCA)  was 
established  in  1995.  The  SLOVCA  aims  at  ‘increasing  awareness  of  the  public  to  the 
availability  of  private  equity  and  venture  capital  to  entrepreneurs,  as  well  as  to  other 
investment  and  banking  institutions,  and  economic,  political  and  regulatory  bodies  in 
Slovakia’.  The  SLOVCA  associated  five  members,  three  associate  members  and  25 
partners  in  2015.  The  young  Slovak  entrepreneurs  established  their  own  association  in 
2011  and  the  Business  Angel  network  in  2014.  The  network  had  25  investors  in  2015. 
The  Association  of  the  Slovak  Young  Entrepreneurs  joined  the  Young  Entrepreneurs’ 
Organization  of  the  European  Union  in  2014.  The  SLOVCA  and  the  Association  of  the 
Young  Slovak  Entrepreneurs  launched  an  innovation  prize  competition  ‘The  Business 
Idea  of  the  Year’.  The  competition  became 
increasingly  popular  with  young 
entrepreneurs. Number of participants increased from 274 in 2012 to 245 in 2014. Most 
ideas are coming from the IT sector. 

In 2008 the Slovak Government decided to implement the JEREMIE initiative. There was 
little  experience  with  managing  financial  engineering  schemes.  It  took  four  years  to 
overcome  the  administrative  complexity  and  create  implementation  structures  for  the 
JEREMIE. The European Investment Fund (EIP) implemented the JEREMIE programme in 
Slovakia via a network of financial intermediaries until the 31 December 2015 when the 
management was transferred to SZRB Asset Management who is also responsible for the 
implementation  of  financial  instruments  in  the  2014-2020  programming  period.  Total 

46 For international comparison see the EVCA (2013): Tax benchmark study 2012. 
47 The 2014 Statistics Compendium by the European Trade Association for Businesses Angels, Seeds Funds and Other 
Early Stage Market Players also contains no data on Slovakia. 

60 

 
                                           
allocation  for  the  JEREMIE  programme  is  approximately  €130m.  The  JEREMIE  has  two 
capital  relief  instruments:  a  first  loss  portfolio  guarantee  and  a  portfolio  risk  sharing 
loan. In addition it also has three venture capital instruments: a €7.3m seed fund which 
invests in early stage start-ups up to €0.2m, a €17.5m venture capital fund investing up 
to  €1.5m  in  growth  stage  start-ups,  and  a  €12m  venture  capital  co-investment 
instrument that invests in start-ups up to €2.75m. Most of the funds are expected to be 
invested before the deadline 31 October 2016 despite the time  shortages. The JEREMIE 
initiative  seems  to  cope  with  administrative  complexity.  The  JEREMIE  is  financed  from 
three  Operational  Programmes  and  managed  by  three  different  ministries  of  central 
government. The MESR launched last JEREMIE call as late as in July 2015.  

61 

5.5  R&D related FDI 

There  is  no  official  available  data  on  the  R&D  related  FDI  in  the  Slovak  Republic. 
However,  the  country  has  enjoyed  a  significant  influx  of  the  foreign  direct  investment 
(FDI) over the past few years. The automotive industries, consumer electronics, financial 
services and information and communication services were prime targets for the FDI in 
Slovakia.  The  MNE  are  highly  important  for  employment,  value  added  and  exports  in 
Slovakia (see chapter 3.3.2 for more details).  

The automotive industry was the backbone of the Slovak economy. It employed 60,828 
people,  generated  turnover  €11b  and  value  added  €2.8b  in  2012.  Total  employment 
induced  by  the  automotive  industry  accounted  for  201,820  people  (Balog  et  al  2012: 
45)48. 

5.6  Knowledge markets 

Slovakia  adopted  standard  European  legislative  framework  for  support  to  the  IPR.  The 
IPRs are governed by the 435/2001 Law on Patents and Trade Marks. Last amendment 
of  the  law  was  in  2009.  The  law  defined  main  types  of  intellectual  property  rights 
(patents,  trademarks,  licenses)  and  sets  procedures  for  patent  applications  and 
protection  of  the  intellectual  property  rights.  The  law  also  implemented  the  European 
Patent  Convention  in  Slovakia.  The  506/2009  amendment  of  the  law  implemented  the 
Council  Directive  2008/95/EC  on  trademarks.  The  Industrial  Property  Office  offered  a 
life-long  learning  programme  on  the  IPR  for  entrepreneurs  in  2013  and  2014.  The 
programme modules included (a) basics of the IPR law; (b) marketing, management and 
economics of creative processes; (c) information on IPR, and (d) advanced IPR law. 

The  2014  Annual  Report  on  R&D  noted  that  ‘Slovakia  has  been  lagging  behind  in 
patenting  activity  for  long  time.  Slovak  science  is  significantly  closed  and  international 
co-operation  in  science  is  limited.  Slovakia  accounts  for  low  numbers  of  patents  per 
million  population’.  The  report  summarises  patent  statistics  by  the  Industrial  Property 
Office. By end  of 2014  there were  some 15,015 patents in Slovakia, of which 2,358 by 
national  and  12,657  European  applicants.  Most  European  patents  were  awarded  in 
1990s, 2000s and early 2010s. Some 94 patents were awarded on Slovakia in 2014. 

Information  on  the  knowledge  market  is  scarce  in  Slovakia.  The  Eurostat  data  indicate 
that  Slovakia  significantly  lagged  behind  the  EU  average  and  also  its  regional 
competitors in registering intellectual property rights (IPR): 

  Slovakia  registered  0.83  EPO  patent  applications  per  billion  gross  domestic 

product (GDP) in 2012 (EU28: 4.40, CZ: 1.46, Hungary: 2.37); 

  Slovakia registered 3.87 EPO Community trade mark applications per billion GDP 

in 2013 (EU28: 6.13, CZ: 5.73, Hungary: 4.83); 

  Slovakia registered 3.87 EPO Community trade mark applications per billion GDP 

in 2013 (EU28: 6.13, CZ: 5.73, Hungary: 4.83); 

  Slovakia  registered  0.89  EPO  Community  design  applications  per  billion  GDP  in 

2013 (EU28: 1.18, CZ: 1.59, Hungary: 0.59). 

The abovementioned data indicated that system for protecting IPR was rather inefficient. 
It  also  was  not  affordable  compared  with  international  benchmarks.  The  standard 
European  legislative  framework  probably  was  not  enough  for  developing  modern  IPR 
markets. The MNE use to apply for high numbers of EPO patent applications, in the ICT 
and pharmaceutical industries in particular. No MNE, unfortunately, had its headquarters 
in Slovakia.  

The  Slovak  policies  on  the  IPR  recognised  weakness  of  the  knowledge  markets  and  set 
unambitious targets for the IPR development. The Operational Programme Research and 
Innovation (major source for the RIS3 policies), for example, envisages grants and risk 

48 Balog, et al (2015): Automobilový priemysel na Slovensku a globálne hodnotové reťazce {The Automotive Industry in 
Slovakia and Global Value Chains} Bratislava: The Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency 

62 

 
                                           
capital  schemes  to  support  some  30  patents,  industrial  designs  and  trade  marks  in  the 
Bratislava  Region,  and  390  intellectual  property  rights  in  the  non-Bratislava  regions  in 
period 2014-2020. 

5.7  Public-private cooperation and knowledge transfer 

5.7.1  Indicators  

Funding  

Figure 16 BES-funded public R&D in the SLOVAK REPUBLIC as % of GERD (in €MLN) and % of 
GDP 

The  level  of  the  Slovak  business  enterprise  (BES)-funded  public  R&D  expenditure  as  a 
percentage  of  GERD  was  generally  increasing  with  fluctuations  between  2007  (6.44%, 
€16.2m) and 2014 (4.64%, €31m). The Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)49 which 
sets the trend for the period 2007 to 2014 is 9.71%. The significant drop in 2013 may be 
mainly due to an increase of R&D spending of domestic firms whose share appears to be 
more  significant  than  the  one  of  foreign  firms.  As  a  percentage  of  GDP,  it  follows  a 
similar trend with the highest value recorded in 2014.  

Figure 17 BES-funded public R&D as % of GERD and as % of GDP in 2013 in Member States50 

49 CAGR = (FV/PV)1/n–1, where FV is the future value, PV is the present value and n is the number of years. 
50 2013 was chosen as the latest data series providing a full comparison within EU-28.  

63 

0%2%4%6%8%10%12%14%LTROLVNLDEHRELBEESHUBGEU28SKSIPLUKEEFIFRATSECZITDKPTLUIEMTCYPublic R&D financed by business enterprise sector as % of GERD in 20130.000%0.020%0.040%0.060%0.080%0.100%0.120%DELTNLBEFISIEU28ATLVSEHUESFRROEEUKHRDKELCZSKPLBGITPTLUIEMTCYPublic R&D financed by business enterprise sector as % of GDP in 2013 
 
 
 
  
 
 
                                           
The  two  charts  in  Figure  16  show  the  values  of  BES-funded  public  R&D  in  all  EU-28  as 
percentages  of  GERD  and  GDP  respectively.  In  the  Slovak  Republic,  the  level  of  public 
R&D financed by the BES expressed as % of GERD is exactly below the EU-28 average. 
When expressed as % of GDP, the level is below the one of best performers and of the 
EU-28 average, which indicates a modest level of science-business collaboration. 

On the demand side, the Slovak economy is characterised by a dominance of SMEs, with 
a dominant representation of micro-enterprises (entrepreneurs and firms employing less 
than 10 employees with a turnover lower than €2m per year constitute 96 % of all the 
enterprises in the Slovak Republic) and the SMEs investment to the R&D is hindered by 
the  lack  of  human  and  financial  resources.  Another  reason  is  the  low  level  of  R&D 
activities  of  large  companies  owned  by  international  corporations  who  have  little 
ambitions to establish research centres and reallocate their R&D activities to the Slovak 
Republic.51  

On  the  supply  side,  the  framework  conditions  to  incentivise  and  reward  academics 
engaged  in  cooperation  with  industry  have  been  missing  so  far.  Researchers  are 
evaluated  according  to  their  publication,  citation  rate  and  teaching  achievements, 
whereas the collaboration with industry plays little role in career advancement by public 
sector researchers. 

Structural funds devoted to knowledge transfer 

Figure  18 Structural Funds for core R&D activities 2000-2006, 2007-2013 and 2014-202052. We 
use the categories: 182 (2000-2006), 03 and 04 (2007-2013) and 062 (2014-2020) as proxies for 
KT activities. 

51 Data  on  private  research  funding  are  quite  scarce.  Annual  reports  of  several  companies  provide  limited  and 
uncategorised data on R&D spending: Continental Matador Rubber (automotive parts): €21.452m (2013), US Steel: €3.1m 
(2014), Biotika (pharma) €2.456m (2014), Slovak Power: €2.0m (2014) and Slovnaft: (oil processing) €0.488m (2014). 
52 Figure 18 provides the Structural Funds allocated to the Slovak Republic for each of the above R&D categories. The red 
bars show the categories used as proxies for KT. Please note that the figures refer to EU funds and they do not include 
the part co-funded by the Member State. The categories for 2000-2006 include: 18. Research, technological development 
and  innovation  (RTDI);  181.  Research  projects  based  in  universities  and  research  institutes;  182.  Innovation  and 
technology transfers, establishment of networks and partnerships between business and/or research institutes; 183. RTDI 
infrastructures; 184. Training for researchers. 
The  categories  for  2007-2013  include:  01.  R&TD activities  in  research  centres;  02.  R&TD infrastructure  and  centres  of 
competence in specific technology; 03. Technology transfer and improvement of cooperation networks; 04. Assistance to 
R&TD particular in SMEs; 74. Developing human potential in the field of research and innovation. 
The categories for 2014-2020 include: 002. Research and Innovation processes in large enterprises; 056. Investment in 
infrastructure, capacities and equipment in SMEs directly linked to Research and Innovation activities; 057. Investment in 
infrastructure,  capacities  and  equipment  in  large  companies  directly  linked  to  Research  and  Innovation  activities;  058. 
Research  and  Innovation  infrastructure  (public);  059.  Research  and  Innovation  infrastructure  (private,  including  science 
parks);  060.  Research  and  Innovation  activities  in  public  research  centres  and  centres  of  competence  including 

64 

 
 
                                           
The  Slovak  Republic  allocated  only  9.3%  of  its  structural  funds  for  technology  transfer 
and university-enterprise cooperation in the 2014-2020 programming period (compared 
to 30% in the 2000-2006 programming period and 63% in the 2007-2013 programming 
period).  It  is  lower  than  the  EU  average  of  15.7%  (it  was  equal  to  the  EU  average  of 
30%  in  the  2007-2013  programming  period  and  much  higher  in  the  2000-2006 
programming period where the EU average was 26%).53  

Cooperation 

Figure 19 CIS survey 2012 – share of enterprises cooperating with academia 

The Figure 19 illustrates the level of cooperation activities of innovative companies in the 
EU-28,  according  to  the  CIS  2012.  In  the  Slovak  Republic,  50.1%  of  innovative 
companies  engage  in  any  type  of  cooperation  (above  the  EU  average  of  31.3%).  Yet, 
only  half  of  them  (25.4%)  cooperate  with  universities  and  higher  education  institutions 
and only 19.4% cooperate with government or public or private research institutes. The 
Slovak  Republic  has  quite  an  impressive  result,  comparable  to  the  cooperation  rate  of 
Finland  –  one  of  the  innovation  leaders  (26%  of  innovative  companies  that  work  with 
higher  education  institutions  and  23%  with  government  or  public  or  private  research 
institutes).  However,  these  results  do  not  transpose  in  an  effective  knowledge  transfer 
between  academia  and  business  measured  by  outputs  such  as  patents  or  number  of 
spin-offs.  The  Slovak  Republic  is  ranked  as  "moderate  innovator" 54 by  the  Innovation 
Union Scoreboard.  

networking;  061.  Research  and  Innovation  activities  in  private  research  centres  including  networking;  062.  Technology 
transfer  and  university-enterprise  cooperation  primarily  benefiting  SMEs;  063.  Cluster  support  and  business  networks 
primarily benefiting SMEs; 064. Research and Innovation processes in SMEs (including voucher schemes, process, design, 
service  and  social  innovation);  065.  Research  and  Innovation  infrastructure,  processes,  technology  transfer  and 
cooperation of enterprises focusing on the low carbon economy and on resilience to climate change. 
53 This allocation is not very precise, since the category 'Research and Innovation in SMEs' also comprises SMEs including 
voucher schemes, which may be used for contract research, whereas the funds allocated to infrastructure are the highest. 
54 The latest Innovation Union Scoreboard 2015 ranks the Slovak Republic as moderate innovator.  

65 

 
 
 
                                                                                                                                   
Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs), incubators and technological parks 

According  to  the  Knowledge  Transfer  Study  2010-2012,  the  circumstances  for 
technology  transfer  within  universities  are  not  satisfactory  in  the  Slovak  Republic  and, 
apart  from  the  large  projects  funded  from  Structural  Funds,  little  activity  is  in  place. 
Some  minor  funding  projects  have  been  set  up  to  allow  universities  to  build  their  own 
technology  transfer  offices  and  start  technology  transfer  activities.  However,  these 
projects are now at the end and although some progress has been made in the funding 
of technology transfer offices in universities, they are in the early stages of development.  

Technology  transfer  received  substantial  support  from  the  European  resources  in 
Slovakia.  Over  the  period  2013-2015,  the  Operational  Programme  Research  and 
Development  (OPRD)  supported  the  creation  of  seven  University  Science  Parks  (USP) 
and  five  Research  Centres  (RC),  out  of  which  four  in  Bratislava 55 .  The  OPRD  also 
supported  creation  of  the  eight  Competence  Centres  with  €50.8m  in  the  same  period. 
The  Operational  Programme  Research  and  Innovation  (OPRI)  launched  call  for  the 
second  phase  of  the  USP  and  RCP  building  in  January  2016.  The  call  allocated  €17.7m 
for  the  non-Bratislava  Region  and  €5.9m  for  the  Bratislava  Region.  The  OPRI  also 
launched  a  call  for  Industry  Research  Centres  in  areas  of  the  RIS3  specialisation 
(€200m)  and  Support  to  Innovation  and  Technology  Transfer  scheme  (€75m)  in 
February 2016. 

The  business  and  technology  incubators  prevail.  They  provide  businesses  a  number  of 
advantages  such  as  reduced  expenses,  technical  assistance,  and  access  to  internal  or 
external network through collaboration with potential customers, partners and scientists 
from universities.  In fact, the interest in incubators is diminishing. The Slovak Business 
Agency  did  a  survey  on  incubator  activities  in  2011.  The  survey  found  13  incubators 
hosting  88  firms  and  generating  602  jobs.  The  incubators  seem  to  have  had  quite  low 
impact on development of business environment. 

The business and technology incubators struggled in 2010s in Slovakia. The EU schemes 
supported  less-developed  Slovak  regions.  Most  incubators  were  established  outside 
Bratislava.  The  technology  and/or  research-based  spin-offs  preferred  locations  close  to 
universities  and/or  large  businesses  in  Bratislava.  Some  incubators  claiming technology 
status found it difficult to find real technology firms, and had to accept any firms. 

The  webpage  of  the  Slovak  Business  Agency  listed  18  business  and  technology 
incubators,  of  which  three  terminated  their  activities  by  2015.  There  were  15  active 
incubators, of which seven claimed ‘technology’ status by 2015. There is no information 
on numbers and turnover of supported firms, support provided by the public authorities, 
technology profiles, etc.56 

According  to  a  report  published  by  the  bank  Slovenska  Sporitelna 57 ,  the  nationwide 
incubators  network  of  the  Slovak  Republic  has  a  capacity  of  17.500  m2.  The  report 
mentions  that  €20m  was  spent  on  the  functioning  of  the  incubators  (from  the  National 
Agency  for  Development  of  SMEs)  and  less  than  €1m  for  co-financing  operating  costs 
(from the programme Support for SMEs via a network of incubators). 

55 Source: Centre for the Scientific and Technology Information (2016): Projekty vedeckých parkov a centier na Slovensku 
{Projects of the Science Parks and Centres in Slovakia}. 
56 The  EU  pre-accession  assistance  helped  establishing  incubators,  but  did  not  provide  finance  for  operating  costs  of 
incubators and firms. Some incubators used to be financed from municipal resources and found it hard to get funding. 
The  incubators  also  were  unable  to  provide  complex  services  to  incubated  firms  (law  services,  business  planning, 
technology counselling) 
57 http://www.slpk.sk/eldo/2012/zborniky/025-12/21.pdf 

66 

 
 
                                           
Share of public-private co-publications 

Figure 20 Co-publications by field 2003-2013 in the Slovak Republic. Scopus database 

The  Figure  20  shows  the  2003-2013  average  percentage  of  academia-industry  co-
publications  by  field  in  the  Slovak  Republic  compared  to  the  European  average.  The 
percentage  of  co-publications  almost  did  not  change  over  the  past  ten  years  (2003-
2013),  with  0.6%  of  academia-business  publications  in  2013.  In  2013  the  Slovak 
Republic  had  only  6.8  public-private  co-publications  per  million  of  population  compared 
to 29 for the  EU-28 (and 17.5  for the  Czech  Republic, 12.8  for  Hungary). The domains 
with  the  highest  percentage  of  co-publications  (excluding  multidisciplinary  publications) 
are  health  professions,  medicine,  energy  and  biochemistry,  genetics  and  molecular 
biology. 

Patenting  activity  of  public  research  organisations  and  universities  together 
with licensing income 

The Eurostat data on the numbers patent applications to the European Patent Office (per 
million inhabitants) indicate an increase from 3.84 in 2004 to 12.82 In 2013. The overall 
level  of  patenting  activity,  however,  was  quite  low in  Slovakia.  There  were  113.27  EPO 
patent  applications  in  the  EU  28  in  2013  (CZ:  23.16;  HU:  25.3;  PL:  12.67;  AT: 
223.96).As  for  the  sector  of  performance,  the  Slovak  Universities  produced  0.031  and 
the  public  research  institutions  0.058  EPO  patent  applications  in  2012  (latest  available 
year),  The  EU28’s  Universities  and  public  research  institutions  generated  0.919  and 
1.335 EPO patent applications respectively in the same year. 

There  is  no  consistent  national  data  on  co-operation  by  public  and  private  sector, 
researchers’ mobility or joint collaborative research. However, some scarce evidence on 
such  activities  can  be  found.  In  2014  the  Slovak  Academy  of  Sciences  (SAS)  was 
awarded seven patents, including two patents granted in the US, while the institutes of 
SAS  signed  21  patents,  eight  of  which  are  filed  as  PCT.  In  2013  SAS  applied  for  15 
patents  and  obtained  four  patents,  signed  52  business  research  contracts  and 
participated  in  23  collaborative  workplaces  with  the  businesses,  whereas  the  total 
revenue from these activities was €972.000.58  

58 Annual Report of the Slovak Academy of Science 2013 and Annual Report of the Slovak Academy of Science 2014. 

67 

 
 
 
 
                                           
5.7.2  Policy measures 

Knowledge  transfer  schemes  have  been  supported  from  the  Operational  Programme 
Research  and  Development  (OPRD)  and  the  Operational  Programme  Competitiveness 
and Economic Growth (OPCEG).  

The  OPCEG  has  been  the  largest  source  of  support  to  the  Slovak  SMEs.  Its  measure 
Innovation  and  technology  transfers  allocated  €530.5m  to  over  1181  businesses  by 
December 2014, supporting the purchase of new technologies by SMEs in manufacturing 
industries.59  

The OPRD has implemented two national knowledge transfer promotion projects focused 
on  transfer  of  knowledge  and  technology  from  R&D  into  practice  and  on  national 
infrastructure  supporting  technology  transfer.  The  project  Transfer  of  knowledge  and 
technology from research and development into practice invested €226.9m in the period 
2008-2013/15 and supported building university science parks and research centres with 
Slovak  HEIs  and  the  Slovak  Academy  of  Sciences,  applied  research  projects,  and  R&D 
co-operation projects. The project National infrastructure supporting technology transfer 
in  the  Slovak  Republic  invested  €8.2m  in  the  period  2010-2015  and  supported 
establishing  technology  transfer  centres  in  Slovak  Universities  and  public  research 
organisations.  The  main  activities  of  the  technology  transfer  centres  were  conferences 
and  seminars  on  technology  transfer,  protection  of  IPR  and  commercialisation  of 
results.60  

Currently  there  are  no  major  knowledge  transfer  schemes  in  place.  The  Action  Plan  of 
the  Operational  Programme  Research  and  Innovation  (OPRI),  intented  to  be  the  major 
source  of  research  finance  in  the  period  2014-2020  in  the  Slovak  Republic,  was  not 
approved yet.  

A  pilot  cluster  scheme  was  launched  in  2013,  receiving  about  €0.2m  from  the  state 
budget.  The  second  call  for  clusters  (de  minimis  scheme)  supported  seven  applicants 
with about €0.18m in 2014. Support to clusters is also envisaged in the RIS3 document. 
This  document  proposes  measures  to  increase  the  embeddedness  of  multinational 
companies in the Slovak economy, improve the integration of the Slovak firms in global 
value chains and support clusters and joint research centres. 61 

The Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA) launched the Pilot Innovation Voucher 
scheme  in  June  2013.  This  scheme  allocated  €100,000  in  total  and  the  value  of  each 
voucher was set to €3,500. In 2014 the value of each voucher increased to €5,000 and 
the total budget of the  scheme to €235,000.  Most applicants came from the machinery 
and robotics, food industry and chemical industry. The third call supported 70 applicants 
with €365,000 in 2015. 

Conclusions 

The  Slovak  Republic  is  characterised  by  a  modest  level  of  public-private  cooperation  in 
R&D,  as  evidenced  by  the  low  level  of  private  investments  in  publicly-performed  R&D. 
The  country  has  implemented  a  number  of  policy  measures  to  stimulate  knowledge 
transfer but they are mainly focused on building KT infrastructure while the majority of 
funding  comes  from  external  sources  (mostly  Structural  Funds)  rather  than  domestic 
private or public sources, which raises serious questions of sustainability. 

59 These knowledge transfer projects targeted public research institutions and firms. No incentives and programmes for 
individual public researchers involved in cooperation with industry are available. 
60 For example, the Slovak Academy of Sciences, established the Office for Technology and Knowledge Transfer and the 
Protection of Intellectual Property.  
61 The  Operational  Programme  Research  and  Innovation  provides  bulk  of  finance  for  the  abovementioned  initiatives  in 
period 2014-2020. 

68 

 
                                           
The  recent  evaluations  point  to  several  reasons  for  the  low  level  of  knowledge  transfer 
activities. The low absorption capacity from the demand side results mainly from a very 
large number of SMEs with only very limited innovation capacities and the preference for 
technology import both in case of multinationals and domestic companies. The very low 
interest  from  the  supply  side  is  mainly  due  to  insufficient  incentives  for  researchers 
involved  in  knowledge  transfer  activities,  very  low  support  for  business  creation  and 
development  of  spin-off  companies,  a  lack  of  preparation  of  R&D  institutions  for  the 
cooperation  with  the  business  sector  and  a  very  weak  performance  in  patenting  and 
licencing. 

The approval of the Action Plan to implement the OPRI and the Action Plan to implement 
the RIS3 is still pending. Their endorsement is vital to allow the application and financing 
of measures aimed at fostering science-academia collaboration and knowledge transfer. 

The  recently  approved  Concept  paper  on  the  support  to  start-ups  and  development  of 
the start-up eco-system is an important instrument to foster knowledge transfer. Yet, at 
this  stage,  it  is  only  a  strategic  document  which  needs  to  be  followed-up  by  concrete 
policy measures to ensure its implementation.  

5.8  Regulation and innovation 

The  impacts  of  proposed  regulations  on  innovation  are  assessed  in  section  3.5 
“Innovation”  of  the  Business  Impact  Analysis  (BIA),  which  is  an  important  part  of  the 
Regulatory  Impact  Assessment  (RIA)  process  in  Slovakia.  This  process  is  based  on  the 
Unified Methodology on Assessment of Selected Impacts. This document, effective since 
October  1,  2015  (with  minor  changes  effective  since  April  1,  2016)  provides  detailed 
instructions  on  how  to  evaluate  possible  impacts  of  the  proposed  material,  e.g.  social, 
environmental or impacts on business environment. 

The  aforementioned  section  of  BIA  focused  on  innovation  includes  the  assessment  of 
impacts  on  support  of  innovations,  introduction  of  new  production  methods  and 
technologies,  launch  of  new  products,  intellectual  property  rights,  effectiveness  of 
production  and  resource  utilisation,  as  well  as  on  creation  of  new  jobs  in  research  and 
development.  RIA  is  given  a  high  priority  by  the  Ministry  of  Economy  of  the  Slovak 
Republic,  which  is  a  coordinator  of  impact  assessment  process  in  Slovakia.  In  the  near 
future, the Ministry plans to focus also on the future proof regulation concept, which will 
have the potential to facilitate the creation and implementation of innovations in Slovak 
economy. 

The evaluation culture in Slovakia is rather a recent phenomenon, but it has shown signs 
of  progress.  The  assessment  of  the  impact  of  regulation  on  innovation  is  not  very 
frequent: 

  The  2007  Innovation  Strategy  for  period  2007-2013  was  implemented  via  the 
2008  and  2011  Innovation  Policy  documents.  The  Ministry  of  Economy  used  to 
publish  evaluation  reports  on  implementation  of  the  2008  and  2011  Innovation 
Policies.  The  reports  summarised  major  policy  measures  aimed  at  support  to 
innovation from the European and national resources. 

  The  Smart  Specialisation  Strategy  (the  RIS3  document)  superseded  the  2007 
Innovation  Strategy  in  2014.  The  chapter  2.3  of  the  RIS  described  innovation 
environment  in  Slovakia  and  analysed  tools  for  financial  support,  innovation 
performance  and  innovation  governance.  The  chapter  noted  (a)  fragmented 
national system of innovation governance; (b) poor co-operation by the ministries 
of  economy  and  education  in  field  of  innovation;  (c)  lack  of  regional  system  of 
innovation  governance.  The  SWOT  analysis  (chapter  3.1)  of  the  RIS3  document 
explicitly  points  to  ‘dysfunctional  national  system  of  innovation’  and  ‘lack  of 
comprehensive strategy for  research and innovation’. Chapter 5 presented some 
far-reaching  plans  for  reform  of  innovation  governance  in  Slovakia,  including 
merger  of  three  innovation  funding  agencies  to  one  (‘Technology  Agency’)  and 
introduction of the indirect funding for innovative enterprises. Introduction of tax 

69 

 
deductions  for  R&D  activities  has  been  the  only  reform  implemented  by  end  of 
2015. 

No analyses/reports on reducing the negative impacts of regulations on innovation were 
available in Slovakia. 

5.9  Assessment of the framework conditions for business R&I 

The Doing Business data indicate that the Slovak Republic accounts for relatively friendly 
business  environment  (with  some  notable  caveats  in  construction  permits  and 
administrative  hassle  related  to  tax  payments).  From  2015  to  2016,  Slovakia  improved 
its ranking in Paying Taxes (27th rank) and Construction Permits (26 rank) indicators. 

framework  conditions 

While  general 
for  business  are  rather  business-friendly, 
development  of  innovation-friendly  environment  lags  behind  expectations.  The  2015 
edition of the Innovation Union Scoreboard (IUS) ranked Slovakia 26 out of 34 countries. 
The absolute value of the Summary Innovation Index (SII) improved to some degree in 
period  2007-2014  (0.295  versus  0.360).  The  gap  against  the  EU-28  SII  value  (0.517 
versus 0.550) slightly decreased. Slovakia’s position against its main competitors in the 
region  (the  Czech  Republic,  Hungary  and  Poland)  somewhat  improved  in  the  above-
mentioned period. 

The  2015  IUS  report  found  that  ‘Slovakia  performs  below  the  EU  average  for  all 
dimensions,  except  Human  resources,  and  also  for  most  indicators’.  Major  strengths 
related to the (i) sales share of new innovations, (ii) new doctorate graduates, and (iii) 
shares  of medium- and high tech exports in total exports. Major weaknesses  related to 
the (i) IPR variables (license and patent revenues from abroad, PCT patent applications 
in societal challenges and PCT patent applications), and (ii) non-EU doctorate students. 
The  IUS  data  should  be  observed  with  care.  High  supply  of  secondary  and  tertiary 
graduates  points  to  mass  rather  than  high-quality  education.  Moreover,  about  15%  of 
the total tertiary students studied abroad. Many of them had no intention to return back 
(see chapter 4.4.2). The shares of medium- and high tech exports in total exports refer 
to  Slovakia’s  dependency  on  two  key  industries  (automotive  and  consumer  electronic). 
These  key  industries  were  introduced  by  the  MNE,  rather  than  country’s  own  effort  to 
develop high-value added production. 

The basic policy mix has not  changed much in programming periods  2006-2008, 2007-
2013/15  and  2014-2020.  It  has  relied  on  means  provided  by  the  Structural  Funds  (in 
2007-2013/15)  and  ESIF  (in  2014-2020).  The  mix  supports  policy  measures  aimed  at 
infrastructure  building,  creating  linkages  between  the  academia  and  industry  sectors, 
technology  transfers,  and  venture  capital  schemes.  The  technology  transfer  schemes 
(supported  from  the  European  resources)  generated  high  numbers  of  applications  and 
accounted  for  good  absorption  capacity.  In  the  same  time,  the  technology  transfers 
tended  to  distort  the  market  competition  and  contributed  little  to  building  national 
research capacities. Research infrastructures accounted for the highest allocations by the 
OPRD. Resources coming from Structural Funds supported a high number of the Centres 
of  Excellence,  University  Science  Parks  and  Research  Centres  and  concentrated  on  the 
infrastructure building. However, the  EU investment was not complemented by national 
investments in human resources and project finance.62  

The industry-academia co-operation projects seemed to have low impact on increase in 
BERD  so  far  (see  chapter  3.5.1).  Basic  supply  and  demand-side  policies  have  been 
stated  in  main  R&I  policies  (the  2007  innovation  policies,  the  RIS3  document),  but 
synergies between the supply and demand-side policies are rather weak. On the demand 
side, the Slovak economy is characterised by a dominance of SMEs whose investment in 
R&D  is  hindered  by  a  lack  of  human  and  financial  resources,  while  the  Slovak  Republic 
fails  to  attract  R&D  intensive  FDI  and  large  international  corporations  operating  in  the 

62 The Structural Funds provided money for buildings and equipment. The Slovak Government provided limited 
complementary resources for operating costs, salaried and research projects. 

70 

 
                                           
country  tend  to  perform  their  R&D  in  their  headquarters.  On  the  supply  side,  better 
framework conditions to incentivise and reward academics engaged in co-operation with 
industry are still missing’. 

The most  recent  innovation policies indicate a  positive shift towards  more  sophisticated 
innovation  policies  in  the  near  future  in  terms  of  new  agendas  (support  to  clusters), 
target groups (MNEs), and modes of funding (innovation vouchers, tax reliefs). The lack 
of  co-ordination  between  key  ministries,  fragmentation  of  support  to  R&I  performers, 
and lack of good quality evaluation procedures, unfortunately, remained key weaknesses 
of the Slovak R&I policies.

71 

6.  Conclusions 

Meeting Structural Challenges 

The  main  challenges  faced  by  the  national  R&I  system  are  listed  in  the  Executive 
summary of this report. A summary table with structural challenges is presented below. 

Table 8: Structural challenges of the national R&I system 

Challenges 

Policy measures/actions 
addressing the challenge 

1. Weak R&D 
system restricts 
co-operation 
between 
academia and 
industry sectors. 

by 

provided 

The  Slovak  government  used 
the 
means 
Structural  Funds  and  applied 
targeting 
policy  measures 
building  R&D 
infrastructure, 
building  linkages  between  the 
academia  and  industry  sectors 
and 
technology 
transfer. 

support 

to 

2. Unfledged 
system of 
innovation 
governance. 

The Slovak Government Council 
for  Science,  Technology  and 
Innovation  (SGCSTI)  started  its 
operation in April 2013. After 2-
year  hiatus,  Slovakia  had  top 
body for RDI governance. 

3. Low private 
innovation 
outputs by 
domestic firms 
and limited 
cooperation with 
multinational 
companies. 

The  RIS3  document  proposes 
policy  measures  aimed  at  (i) 
increasing  embeddedness  by 
MNCs  in  the  Slovak  economy; 
(ii) improving integration  of the 
Slovak  firms  into  the  global 
value  chains;  and  (iii)  support 
to  clusters  and  joint  research 
centres  by  public  and  private 
sectors. 

72 

Assessment in terms of 
appropriateness, efficiency and 
effectiveness 

(±)  Positive  trends  in  research  spending. 
Nominal  amount  of  GERD  and  BERD 
doubled  in  2008-2014.  The  share  of  GERD 
and BERD in GDP remains low compared to 
the EU28 average. 
(+)  High  number  of  research infrastructure 
projects (67 Centres of Excellence, 93 R&D 
Centres, 8 Competence Centres, 11 Science 
Parks). 
(+)  R&D  Centres  and  national  projects  on 
R&D infrastructure perform well. 
(-) The Centres of Excellence are numerous 
and face sustainability problems. 
(+)  Several  Science  Parks  were  still  under 
construction  in  2015.  It  is  too  early  to 
assess their efficiency. 
(+)  The  MESRS  and  the  Accreditation 
Commission implemented several initiatives 
aimed at increasing science excellence. 
(+)  The  SGCSTI  is  chaired  by  the  Prime 
Minister and involves all major stakeholders 
of the Slovak national system of innovation. 
The  council  was  very  active  and  helped  to 
draft four versions of the RIS3 document in 
2013. 
(-) The Action Plan for R&I was not adopted 
by the end of 2015. 
(-)  Reform  of  the  Slovak  Academy  of 
Sciences stalled in 2015. 
(-)  No  National  Roadmap  for  Research 
Infrastructure was developed by 2015. 
(-)  No  reform  of  research  funders  was 
started in 2015. 
(-)  Regional  innovation  governance  bodies 
were missing by the end of 2015. 
(±)  Shares  of 
innovative  companies 
increase  over  time,  but  remain  well-below 
the  EU28  average.  The  OPCEG  policy 
measures  have  impressive  budgets,  but 
rather ambiguous results. 
(±)  The  technology  transfer  schemes  are 
inexpensive,  simply-to-implement  and  very 
popular with users. They helped create jobs 
and increase turnovers and exports. In the 
same time the technology transfer schemes 
for  market  distortion, 
have  potential 
corruption  and 
inefficient  allocation  of 
resources. 
(+)  The  Slovak  Government  published  the 
Concept Paper on Start-ups. 
(+)The OPRI calls are launched in 2016 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Two  policy  measures  were 
financed  from  the  Operational 
Programme 
Competitiveness 
and Economic Growth (OPCEG). 

(+) The Slovak Government and the Slovak 
President  launched  several  activities  to 
increase public awareness on start-ups and 
innovative companies. 
(+) The  Slovak thematic research priorities 
the  2016  Presidency  of  the  Council  of  the 
European Union in include the single digital 
market, cybersecurity and start-ups. 

4. Insufficient 
national funding 
for R&I. 

The R&I policy measures almost 
completely  rely  on  assistance 
provided  by  the  Operational 
Programme 
Competitiveness 
and  Economic  Growth.  National 
innovation spending is 20 times 
lower  than  those  supported  by 
the OPCEG. 

(-)  The  national  funding  for  R&I  remains 
low. 
(+) The new tax incentive for R&D activities 
was introduced in 2015. 
(+)  The  third  draft  of  the  Action  Plan  for 
R&I  proposed  the 
introduction  of  the 
commitment  to  increase  the  R&D  state 
budget expenditure to 0.50% GDP by 2020. 

Source: authors' summary 

73 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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dotácií zo štátneho rozpočtu verejným vysokým školám na rok 2016 {The state budget 
grants for public higher education institutions in 2016}. 

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škola Goethe Uni Bratislava na Slovensku zaniká {The Goethe Uni HEI closed in 
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Slovak Government Resolution no. 264/2014 of 4 June 2014. 

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vedecko-výskumnej činnosti zo zahraničných zdrojov na vybraných vysokých školách 
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2015. 

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štrukturálnych fondov v rámci operačného programu Výskum a vývoj {Report on results 
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Programme Research & Development}, available at: 

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76 

 
Abbreviations 

BERD 

CERN 

ERA 

COST 

Business Expenditures for Research and Development 

European Organisation for Nuclear Research 

European Research Area 

European Cooperation in Science and Technology 

ERA-NET 

European Research Area Network 

ESA 

ESIF 

ESFRI 

FP 

EU 

European Space Agency 

European Structural and Investment Funds 

European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures 

European Framework Programme for Research and Technology Development 

European Union 

EU-27 

European Union including 27 Member States 

FDI 

FP 

FP7 

Foreign Direct Investments 

Framework Programme 

7th Framework Programme 

GBAORD 

Government Budget Appropriations or Outlays on R&D 

GDP 

GERD 

Gross Domestic Product 

Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D 

GOVERD 

Government Intramural Expenditure on R&D 

GUF 

HEI 

HERD 

HEIs 

HES 

IP 

KEGA 

General University Funds 

Higher education institutions 

Higher Education Expenditure on R&D 

Higher education institutions 

Higher education sector 

Intellectual Property 

KEGA Grant Agency (Grantová agentúra KEGA) 

NADSME 

National Agency for Small and  Medium  Enterprises  (Národná agentúra pre malé a 
stredné podniky) 

MESRS 

MNE 

NRIR 

PRO 

OECD 

OPCEG 

OPE 

OPRD 

OPRI 

R&D 

Ministry  of  Education,  Science,  Research  and  Sports  (Ministerstvo  školstva,  vedy, 
výskumu a športu) 

Multinational Enterprise 

National Research Infrastructures Roadmap 

Public Research Organisations 

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 

Operational  Programme  ‘Competitiveness  and  Economic  Growth’  (Operačný 
program Konkurencieschopnosť a hospodársky rast) 

Operational Programme ‘Education’ (Operačný program Vzdelávanie) 

Operational  Programme  ‘Research  and  Development’  (Operačný  program  Výskum 
a vývoj) 

Operational  Programme  Research  and  Innovation  Operačný  program  Výskum 
a inovácie) 

Research and development 

77 

R&I 

RI 

RIS3 

RNP 

RTDI 

SAS 

SBA 

SF 

SIEA 

SME 

Research and innovation 

Research Infrastructures 

Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation 

Research Networking Programmes 

Research Technological Development and Innovation 

Slovak Academy of Sciences (Slovenská akadémia vied)  

Slovak Business Agency 

Structural Funds 

Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (Slovenská inovačná a energetická agentúra) 

Small and Medium Sized Enterprise 

SRGBST 

Slovak Republic Government Board Council for Science, Technology and Innovation 
(Rada vlády SR pre vedu, techniku a inovácie) 

SRDA 

SRDP 

S&T 

VEGA 

VC 

Slovak Research and Development Agency (Agentúra pre výskum a vývoj) 

State  Research  and  Development  Programmes  (Štátne  programy  výskumu  a 
vývoja) 

Science and technology 

VEGA grant agency (Grantová agentúra VEGA) 

Venture Capital 

78 

List of Figures 

Figure 1 The organigram of the Slovak national research and innovation system ....... 16 

Figure 2: Government deficit and public debt ........................................................ 25 

Figure 3 Development of government funding of the total GERD .............................. 26 

Figure  4  R&D  appropriations  and  government  funded  GERD  in  millions  of  national 
currency ............................................................................................................ 27 

Figure 5 Government intramural expenditure by sectors of performance. .................. 28 

Figure 6 Fiscal consolidation and R&D ................................................................... 29 

Figure 7 Main financial flows in the Slovak R&D system (€m, 2014) ......................... 34 

Figure  8  RTDI  trends  in  Slovakia.  Sources:  Eurostat  and  the  Statistical  Office  of  the 
Slovak Republic .................................................................................................. 35 

Figure 9 BERD intensity broken down by most important macro sectors ................... 42 

Figure 10 BERD by source of funds ...................................................................... 43 

Figure 11 top sectors in manufacturing ................................................................. 44 

Figure 12 top service sectors............................................................................... 44 

Figure 13 economic sectors as percentage of the total GVA. .................................... 45 

Figure 14 GVA in manufacturing. ......................................................................... 45 

Figure 15 Gross value added (GVA) top sectors ..................................................... 46 

Figure  16  BES-funded  public  R&D  in  the  SLOVAK  REPUBLIC  as  %  of  GERD  (in  €MLN) 
and % of GDP ..................................................................................................... 63 

Figure  17 BES-funded public R&D as % of GERD and as % of GDP in 2013 in Member 
States ................................................................................................................ 63 

Figure  18  Structural  Funds  for  core  R&D  activities  2000-2006,  2007-2013  and  2014-
2020. We use the categories: 182 (2000-2006), 03 and 04 (2007-2013) and 062 (2014-
2020) as proxies for KT activities. ......................................................................... 64 

Figure 19 CIS survey 2012 – share of enterprises cooperating with academia ........... 65 

Figure  20 Co-publications by field 2003-2013 in the Slovak Republic. Scopus database
......................................................................................................................... 67 

79 

List of Tables 

Table 1: Main R&I indicators 2012-2014................................................................ 13 

Table 2: Basic indicators for R&D investments ....................................................... 24 

Table 3: Key Slovak Public R&D Indicators ............................................................ 26 

Table  4: Public  Funding from Abroad to the Slovak R&D (millions of national currency)
......................................................................................................................... 27 

Table  5:  Structural  Fund  schemes  supporting  research  and  innovation  projects  in 
Slovakia, as of 31.12.2015 ................................................................................... 32 

Table 6: Major national project finance schemes in Slovakia (€m) ............................ 36 

Table 7: Main publication indicators ...................................................................... 48 

Table 8: Structural challenges of the national R&I system ....................................... 72 

80 

Annex 1 – List of the main research performers 

Table:  Top  10  R&D  performers  in  Slovakia,  by  2015  Scimago  research  output  indicator 
and amount of institutional R&D funding. 

Rank  Institution 

Output 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

Slovak Academy of Sciences 

Comenius University in Bratislava 

Slovak University of Technology 

Technical University of Kosice 

Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice 

University of Zilina 
Slovak Medical University in Bratislava {a) 
Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra 

Technical University in Zvolen 
Constantine  the  Philosopher  University  in 
Nitra 

3.42 

2.20 

1.56 

0.88 

0.75 

0.47 

0.22 

0.20 

0.18 

0.17 

Institutional R&D 
funding (€m) 
58.52 

32.01 

22.58 

13.54 

10.50 

10.54 

n.a. 

5.86 

3.16 

4.82 

Sources:  Scimago  institutional  ranking;  the  2015  State  Budget  Law;  and  MESRS  (2015):  List  of 
subsidies  for  public  HEIs  in  2015.  Notes:  Output:  Total  number  of  documents  published  in 
scholarly journals indexed in Scopus. Output indicator values for regional competitors of Slovakia: 
Czech  Republic:  Academy  of  Sciences  of  the  Czech  Republic  (9.46),  Charles  University  (8.01), 
Czech  Technical  University  in  Prague  (2.86).  Hungary:  Hungarian  Academy  of  Sciences  (5.50), 
Budapest University of Technology and Economics (2.58), Semmelweis University (2.27). Funding 
figures by the MESRS cover public HEIs only. (a) The Slovak Medical University in Bratislava is a 
private HEI; all other HEIs in the list are public. 

Data  on  private  research  funding  are  quite  scarce  in  Slovakia.  No  Slovak  company  has 
been  included  in  the  EU  Industrial  R&D  Investment  Scoreboard  since  2005.  Annual 
reports of several Slovak companies provide limited data on R&D spending63: 

 Continental Matador Rubber (automotive parts): €21.452m (2013),
 US Steel: €3.1m (2014);
 Biotika (pharma) €2.456m (2014).
 Slovak Power: €2.0m (2014);
 Slovnaft: (oil processing) €0.488m (2014);
 Zeleziarne Podbrezová (manufacture of metals): €0.360m (2013).

63 Sources: author’s survey of the annual reports by the respective companies. 

81 

Annex 2 – List of the main funding programmes64 

The  Slovak  Republic  has  had  no  national  research  programmes  since  2010.  The  Slovak 
Research  and  Development  Agencies  funded  various  projects  under  (i)  general  calls 
and/or  (ii)  specialised  schemes  (bilateral  exchange,  multilateral  co-operation  in  R&D, 
etc.). Budgets for particular schemes were not available. 

Name of the funding 
programme 
Programmes of the SRDA 

The Operational Programme 
research and Development 
The Operational Programme 
Competitiveness and Economic 
Growth 
The Operational Programme 
Bratislava Region 

Source: The 2015 State Budget Law 

Timeline 

Budget 

Target group 

Annual 
budgets 

€26.16m 
(2015) 

Call-based 
funding 
Call-based 
funding 

€1,354.5m 
(2008-2015) 
€447.5m 
(2008-2015) 

Public and private research 
bodies, individual 
researchers. 
Public and private research 
bodies 
Public and private research 
bodies 

Call-based 
funding 

€30.2m 
(2008-2015) 

Public and private research 
bodies 

Notes: Budgets for the Operational Programmes refer to the certified spending by the support 
measures relevant for R&I, as of 31.12.2015. The abovementioned programmes launched their 
first calls in 2008. 

64 This list is not exhaustive and does not include the programmes financed from Structural Funds. 

82 

Annex 3 – Evaluations, consultations, foresight exercises 

The Slovak Government (2015): The Pilot project– contribution to the EU 2020 targets in 
research and development 

The  Ministry  of  Education,  Science,  Research  and  Sports  (2015):  The  2014  Annual 
Report on Research and Development 

83 

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