BRATISLAVA, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Environment Minister Tomas Taraba on Tuesday signed two contracts with a Japanese steelmaker for projects aimed at reducing carbon emissions from steel production.
According to the News Agency of the Slovak Republic (TASR), one contract with U.S. Steel-Nippon Steel Slovakia covers the installation of an electric arc furnace, while the other involves the construction of an air separation facility.
Total investment in the two projects will exceed 743 million euros (858.1 million U.S. dollars), with the Environment Ministry channeling almost 350 million euros (404.04 million dollars) from the country's Modernisation Fund.
The projects are expected to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by approximately 2.96 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year. According to the Government Office, this reduction is comparable to taking approximately one million cars off the road in Slovakia for a whole year.
"It is vitally important for Slovakia, the most industrialised EU member state per capita, to maintain and further develop its industrial base," Taraba said, stressing the importance of developing the steel industry in eastern Slovakia. ■
