Bratislava – Slovakia is making its sixth payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Plan, totaling 977 million euros. This marks the largest fund request from the European mechanism in history, with Slovakia set to receive a total of 6.4 billion euros. The announcement was made on Monday (June 30) by Deputy Prime Minister for the Recovery Plan and Knowledge Economy, Peter Kmec (Hlas-SD), as reported by TASR.
Kmec highlighted that Slovakia is adhering to the timeline established with the European Commission (EC) and has already sanctioned five payment requests. “The sixth, nearly one billion euros, is forthcoming, and we have three more requests ahead in the total amount of 6.4 billion euros. The seventh will be submitted in the fall of this year, and next year, in the final year of the recovery plan, we will have two more: the eighth and ninth payment requests,” Kmec stated.
In the sixth request, Slovakia aims to secure nearly one billion euros by achieving 31 milestones and targets, including several partial fulfillments that will be definitely confirmed in the final ninth payment request. This request includes initiatives to promote research, development, and innovation, as well as providing scholarships for talented students and reforming preschool education funding. Ongoing projects also encompass the construction and renovation of multiple hospitals and the expansion of social service home capacities.
The European Commission generally has two months to evaluate the request; however, Kmec noted that the summer break will delay the approval of the sixth payment request by several weeks. By the time it is assessed in October, alternative deadlines for some milestones and targets currently “catching up” will likely be met, the Deputy Prime Minister predicts.
“In the fall, we will begin intensive preparations for the seventh payment request, which is expected to be submitted by the end of October,” he announced. He indicated that the challenge will be to conclude the recovery plan next year, as the deadlines are more stringent. Slovakia initially planned to make the final ninth payment request in the latter half of 2026, but the EC expects all milestones and targets to be fulfilled by August 2026. Therefore, stricter monitoring and oversight of ongoing large investment projects will be necessitated. Goals that cannot be achieved by the designated deadline will be included in a revision of the recovery plan, which the EC permits in the latter half of this year. (July 1)
“The sixth, nearly one billion euros, is on the way, and we still have three payment requests ahead of us in the total amount of 6.4 billion euros. We will submit the seventh in the fall of this year, and next year, the final year of the recovery plan, we still have two more, the eighth and ninth payment requests.” Peter Kmec.
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