ABSTRACT
After the installation of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1948, Slovakia was confronted with several environmental problems. In the Slovak socialist industrialization process, heavy industry was clearly preferred. Industrial agencies, focused on the processing of raw material with substantive ecological burdens, were located in Slovakia. The Slovak administration had no decision-making competency and, therefore, no impact on the process of industrialization. On the other hand, it had to respond to a series of ecological problems, accidents, and long-term negative environmental effects. The federalization of Czechoslovakia in 1969 brought at least partial changes. The federation consisted of Czech and Slovak republics with separate, national ministries responsible for the protection of the environment. In the following years, Slovak governmental bodies started to develop systematic environmental policies. However, this process was hampered by the strategic economic concerns of the state and problems of the status of the Slovak republic in the Czechoslovak federation. The radical reduction of energy and material inputs, characteristic of Western countries, came to Czechoslovakia with delay. Therefore, the growth of emissions and other forms of the ecological impact could only be slowed, but not stopped or reduced.
