Slovakia's Foreign Trade with the Countries of the Integration Core of the Eurasian Economic Union

Abstract

In the territorial composition of Slovakia's foreign trade, the European Union countries hold a dominant position. Slovakia has the highest negative trade balance with third countries. This fact has already been considered by the Slovak Strategy for External Economic Relations 2014-2020, which set out a pro-export orientation towards non-European territories. Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan the countries of integration core of the Eurasian Economic Union appertain to the priority interest of Slovakia. We examine the development of their foreign trade relations in terms of trade intensity index and intra-industry index. From the exporter's point of view, Slovakia achieved the highest trade intensity with Russia. Trade intensity with Belarus fluctuated at the same level in recent years and with Kazakhstan, there was a gradual decline. Intra-industry trade was recorded between Slovakia and selected countries within SITC 6 + 8, SITC 2 + 4 and SITC 5.