Since 80 percent of the bus fleet of the state companies SAD is over their operating life and technical conditions of almost 5 thousand buses are considered as catastrophic, the Czech company Karosa Vysoke Myto Ltd is trying to help to solve the situation. The traditional bus supplier to Slovakia imports through Banskobystricka Dopravna Spolocnost (BBDS) 51 Czech buses. The bus fleet of SAD shall grow by 141 pieces. Ninety of them are produced by LIAZ Zvolen. SLOVBUS Ltd Nove Mesto nad Vahom and NOVOP Ltd Lucenec. According to statement of Peter Karasek, Marketing Director of KAROSA, the delivery consists of buses of innovated line 934, consisting of 27 percent of parts produced in Slovakia. Slovak made is for instance the rear axle, headlights and rubber profiles. Mr. Karasek mentioned that KAROSA intensively considers the possibility of using its know-how and the production program of some of the three Slovak bus manufacturers. This will create an opportunity to produce buses by exploitation of experiences of KAROSA. According to Mr. Karasek, good assumption for Czech and Slovak cooperation is that there are 120 Slovak specialists working in KAROSA. The price of one bus, VAT included, is Sk3.7 million, said Peter Matuska, Director of BBDS. The purchase is made in the framework of international clearing and the total price is to be subtracted by state from total Czech debt. The state-owned SAD companies shall pay it down in regular quarterly installments for four years and the interests shall be at discount instead at commercial rate.

Slovak Trade FORUM