Rail transport plays an important role in ensuring fast, high-capacity, efficient and environmentally friendly transport. As of the end of 2024, the Railways of the Slovak Republic managed 3,629 km of railway lines, of which 1,582 km were electrified.
“As of mid-November last year, i.e. at the end of the audit, €235 million excluding VAT had been spent on selected railway infrastructure projects, representing approximately half of the total allocated expenditure for the development of Slovakia’s railway infrastructure. As the funds from the Recovery and Resilience Plan must be fully utilised by the end of June this year, there remains a real risk that they will not be fully absorbed and thus not used to improve railway lines or stations,” warned Jaroslav Ivančo, Vice-President of the national audit authority.

The project to increase the capacity of the Bratislava Rača – Leopoldov line, which had the second-highest allocation among the audited projects (more than €43 million), had recorded zero expenditure as of November, and no payment request had been submitted. In the case of five projects – Levice station, Nižná Myšľa – Ruskov, Bratislava Rača – Leopoldov, Nové Mesto Bratislava ÚNS, and Fiľakovo – Holiša – construction only started in 2025, i.e. in the penultimate year before the end of the eligibility period.

Among the selected projects, the electrification and comprehensive modernisation of the Bánovce nad Ondavou – Humenné line had the highest level of expenditure at the time of the audit. By November last year, nearly 80% of the allocated funds had already been invested. In the case of the excluded Veľký Horeš – Streda nad Bodrogom project, for which €40.6 million had been allocated, it remained unclear at the end of the audit which project would replace it, or whether Slovakia would be able to effectively use these funds at all. At the same time, the projects in question do not significantly improve the quality of railway infrastructure along the core European TEN-T corridors.

“The national external audit authority has long pointed out that Slovakia lacks a cross-sector pipeline of investment projects prepared to a stage suitable for implementation and financing. This shortcoming has also had a negative impact on the implementation of railway infrastructure projects, and during the cross-sectional audit the Ministry failed to demonstrate the criteria used for selecting projects included for implementation and funding under the Recovery Plan,” added the Vice-President of the Slovak audit authority. The Office therefore positively notes that, based also on audit findings, the Government has decided to develop a methodology for assessing proposals for priority investment projects and their cross-sector prioritisation. The SAO also welcomes the fact that the document Priorities in the Renewal and Development of Railway Infrastructure envisages the preparation of strategic and planning documents that may significantly influence the nature and ranking of investment priorities at the national level. The Ministry of Transport considers such documents to include the Public Transport Service Plan for Rail and the National Transport Model prepared in cooperation with the Value for Money Unit at the Ministry of Finance. However, strategic preparation, including monitoring of project readiness, still remains largely at the level of intentions.

The Recovery and Resilience Plan Information and Monitoring System (ISPO) was partially launched in July 2022. However, the full production version was not deployed until October 2025, representing a delay of two years compared to the original plan. During the implementation period of the audited projects, the system lacked tools for comprehensive management and oversight, which the SAO considers a risk in terms of transparency and independent control of projects funded under the RRP. As a result, beneficiaries had to submit payment requests outside the system. By agreement, a physical cover letter together with an electronic storage medium (CD/DVD) had to be delivered to the registry office of the Ministry of Transport, while also being submitted electronically via the Fabasoft system through the eDesk of the Central Public Administration Portal. The full operation of the RRP information and monitoring system may contribute to greater transparency and auditability of projects financed from EU funds.