BRATISLAVA, May 31, (WEBNOVINY) – Slovak Telekom believes that the special levy that the Cabinet of Robert Fico wants to introduce for businesses in regulated industries already this year is a non-systemic step that would have negative effect on the firm’s economic indicators. If the government introduces a levy at the proposed 4.7 percent Slovak Telekom would contribute f EUR 4.7 million to state coffers from its last year’s profit.
The special levy that will be on the Cabinet’s table later on Thursday should hit only the companies whose profit exceeded EUR 3 million. Slovanet finance director Marta Rostekova says that the measure might endanger medium-size businesses. “In the telecommunications branch it is necessary to invest a pretty portion of profit in technological development in order to preserve competitiveness, and therefore the set limit might threaten medium-size businesses,” she said. Rostekova thinks that the levy of this kind would make sense if it selectively hits only monopolies or oligopolies.
Telefonica Slovakia that provides mobile telephony services under the O2 brand does not want to comment on the proposal as it is currently analyzing it. Its spokeswoman Martina Jamrichova says that it definitively does not consider passing the increased costs into end prices for clients. If the levy had come into effect last year Telefonica would have paid it from its last year’s profit of EUR 1.7 million. GTS Slovakia and Orange Slovensko refused to comment on the measure either. If the measure had taken effect last year the companies would pay together a levy of EUR 7.2 million.
Prime Minister Robert Fico has already announced that collected revenue from this levy should be put into a fund aimed at pro-growth measures. „The draft bill provides that the revenue from the proposed special levy will be used to finance priority projects to kick-start economic growth and employment,“ the Finance Ministry writes in the prepared material.
According to the assumptions of the Ministry of Finance, the introduction of the levy will not increase the prices of services and goods supplied to final consumers. „This levy will not be considered an eligible expense that can be calculated into regulated prices and the law directly prohibits increasing regulated prices for this reason,“ says the ministry.
The Ministry of Finance is proposing that the special levy burdened companies that are authorized to do business in energy, insurance and reinsurance, public health insurance, electronic communications, pharmacy, postal services, transport by rail, sewerage and air transport and public water utilities. The draft bill also sets the condition that revenues from regulated business activity for the accounting period in which the business received authorization to do business achieved at least 50 percent of its total revenue for this accounting period.
SITA
