U.S. Steel is satisfied in Košice, and it is considering further investment there, said Vice-premier for Investment and Informatisation Richard Raši (Smer-SD) following his meeting with U.S. Steel's top management in Pittsburgh on Wednesday. He added that the company is the biggest employer in Košice and one of the biggest employers in the whole of Slovakia. Raši commented that it's a stable partner and is not thinking of leaving Košice at the moment.
U.S. Steel Košice employs almost 12,000 people. Rumours about its plan to leave eastern Slovakia appeared in early 2013. The company's increased energy costs and the EU's environmental legislation was supposedly behind it. Then-Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) agreed in U.S. Steel's headquarters in Pittsburgh on the particular terms of a memorandum for U.S. steelworks to stay in Košice. He said at the time that U.S. Steel Košice will operate in eastern Slovakia at least for five more years. Another endangering moment came when US President Donald Trump imposed tariffs for imported steel (25 percent) and aluminium (10 percent) in March 2018. However, Maroš Stano, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Economy stated already at the time that the overall impact on Slovakia shouldn't be too dramatic. According to Slovak Government analysts, steel and iron worth €5 million in total were exported to the United States in 2016, equalling less than 0.2 percent of Slovakia's overall exports of these commodities.
During the meeting in Pittsburgh, Raši expressed his pleasure over the fact that U.S. Steel is doing well in Slovakia and that the company is considering further investments and maybe also an expansion of its capacities in the country. They also touched on the company's problems. "These chiefly concerned emissions, but we also talked about the cost of labour and energies. The Slovak Government will do its best to help such a big employer as U.S. Steel within the legal possibilities available," stated Raši.
