Each country has its drawbacks and disadvantages. Slovakia is no exception. In this article we will talk about the disadvantages of Slovakia through the eyes of an emigrant from the CIS countries. These disadvantages are only our subjective opinion, someone may not pay attention to them at all, someone will find even more flaws. We tried to pick up the most obvious disadvantages and shortcomings of Slovakia, so that each person would understand the realities of the Slovak Republic before emigrating to this country. And so, the biggest disadvantages of Slovakia are:
● A small number of qualified specialized doctors. In addition to the fact that in Slovakia, you can get to specialized doctors only through your general practitioner, or by appointment to a private clinic, sometimes it can happen that a patient needs to wait several days or even weeks to get to a specialized doctor for an appointment. Most likely this is due to the fact that the profession of a doctor is quite strongly appreciated both in Slovakia and in other EU countries. But in Slovakia itself, the salary of doctors is clearly lower than, for example, in neighboring Austria. Therefore, having received a medical degree, Slovak doctors seek to find work in other EU countries, where the salary can be several times higher. In general, medicine in Slovakia is at a good level, insurance works, hospitals are provided with everything necessary, but the lack of personnel is a fact.
● Lots of inappropriate graffiti throughout the city. The drawings on the walls of residential and municipal buildings sometimes spoil the overall look. Sometimes it becomes just a pity for the building itself, because people built it, other people live or work in it, and someone with a stroke of his hand held a spray on the wall, ruined the whole landscape. Most of the graffiti can be compared with the drawings of a two-year-old child, who himself does not yet understand what he wants to draw and is just learning.
● Old Soviet Railway Station in Bratislava. Many urban facilities such as bridges, auto station are already new, beautiful, comfortable. But to the station in the capital have not yet reached. It looks like a gray, inconspicuous building, where there is also the spirit of the USSR with the corresponding mosaic in the style of communism. The station performs all its functions: it has places for rest, luggage storage, neat toilets, a waiting room, a café, and “hot drinks”. The city has plans to build a completely new railway station in a couple of years. We can only wait for now.
● Some aspects of the work of kindergartens. In general, kindergartens in Slovakia are very good, they are fully equipped, children are well fed, there are classes in English, physical preparation and so on. But our people are not used to some features. Children need to pick up from kindergarten before 16-00. This is not always consistent with the work schedule of the parents. Also in the kindergartens do not focus on preparing for the holidays, as we have. Probably – this is even a plus than a minus. In Slovakia, educators do not strain their parents in the search for costumes, the organization of preparation for the holiday, and especially the collection of money for it. Maximum – nursery teachers are learning songs and poems that children declare before their parents without musical accompaniment.
● Shops in Slovakia do not work during the holidays. On ordinary days, grocery stores can work until 22-00, on weekends until 18-00, and on holidays, everything is closed. The work schedule may vary, depending on the area, but without exception, the shops are closed on national holidays of Slovakia. You need to get used to it, get yourself a calendar of public holidays, of which there are quite a lot, and be purchased in advance before the holidays. But if you still forget about the upcoming holiday for the whole country, but you can buy bread or water in mini markets at gas stations, the benefit of which are working around the clock and seven days a week.
Slowness Slovaks. We used to live in constant haste, doing a million things in a day. For often the same rhythm we are expecting from other people, especially if they are interested in you, as client. In Slovakia, even customer-oriented companies or individuals do not rush to do everything now and immediately. Sometimes it starts to piss us off because we used to always run. Slovaks live a measured life, and not in a hurry. If you urgently need to rent an apartment, then the Slovak apartment owner also needs this, but not urgently. He will study the contract for several days and will sign it within a week. In fact, this is a good quality, and we need to learn from them. Making decisions in a hurry, as a rule, does not end with anything good. It is better to calmly think things through, and do conscious actions, like Slovaks. You need to be prepared for such a rhythm if you are going to do business in Slovakia.
● Free fishing is prohibited. Fishing is possible only under a special license, which costs about 180 euros for the first year, and a bit cheaper for all the following. There are local, regional and national licenses. If you do not want to bother with a license, then you can visit the ranch, where there is a lake, equipped places for fishing. On the territory you can rent everything you need for fishing from fishing rods, finishing with a net for catch. It is not expensive, there is a lot of big fish in the lake, it is a small probability that you catch nothing.
● Live fish is not sold in stores. It is difficult to say why this is so, but it is a fact. On the Internet you can find sites of fish farms that make the delivery of live fish. In their online store, you can choose the type of fish and its weight. On the day indicated in the schedule, you will be brought live fish straight to the house.
● It is prohibited to make a fire, put barbecues and fry kebabs where you want. You can grill only in designated areas in parks, on the shores of lakes. In such places everything is equipped, there are gazebos, a place for fire and trash cans.
● It is not accepted to make noise in apartments after 21-00. Since the Slovaks get up very early, they go to bed early in the evening. And make noise after nine in the evening is prohibited. If guests come to you and stay a little longer, you need to control yourself and guests, otherwise the police can also catch up.
● In Bratislava there are unreasonably high prices for real estate. You can buy 2 bedroom apartment in the capital from 100,000 euros and above. But only 20-30 km from Bratislava in the cities of satellites, real estate may already be 2 times cheaper. The same trend with rental properties.
● Lack of black tea in stores. This will seem trivial to many, but lovers of custard tea will have to look for it in Slovakia. Fortunately, in Bratislava there is a Russian shop on Obchodna Street, where you can buy everything you can miss: leaf tea, herring, sweets, dumplings, preservation, sprats, salted seeds and much more. But since this is all imported to Slovakia, and the prices are appropriate.
● It is difficult to find a parking place. In Slovakia, there are rules of the road, including those that regulate parking places. Very often there are situations in the city when you need to come to some office, but you cannot park near the building, you need to park in the paid parking lot or drive another 2-3 blocks to park the car. Cars, parked on the sidewalks or near the bus stops, immediately takes the tow truck. A penalty is an average of 130 euros + idle for each day, if not picked up immediately.
● Slovak TV is not interesting to watch. The country is quite small, and the production of expensive television programs is inappropriate. Slovaks have to be content with morning and evening news, and low-budget TV shows and programs. On the other hand, it is good that people are not trying to lure to the box, and the inhabitants of the country have time for themselves, for family, playing sports, meeting friends.
● In Slovak cinemas, films are not duplicated into the Slovak language. The exceptions are cartoons for children. As a rule, films are shown in the original in English, German, French with subtitles in the Slovak language.
● Travel packages in Slovakia are more expensive than in Ukraine or Russia. If you compare the same vouchers to Egypt or Turkey, then buying a voucher in Slovakia, it will cost about 30% -50% more expensive. If you can, then fly to the well-known resorts better from home.
There are quite a few small and big minuses of Slovakia, if you look through the eyes of a person from post-Soviet countries. Many cons are just differences in mentality and preferences. And of course, all these disadvantages are not deadly and not dangerous, you can get used to them and not pay attention to them over time. Slovakia is a wonderful country, and it is worthy to give up some of the benefits to which we are accustomed in our homeland. Having moved to any other country, you need to respect its values and traditions, because this is the second homeland.
We offer for viewing our video about the minuses in Slovakia, where Vladimir and Tatiana tell in detail what disadvantages can be encountered in Slovakia:
