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In this paper, the present state of competitiveness along with other economic issues in a number of EU countries are investigated, with emphasis placed on the economy of Slovakia. Heterogeneous results were produced in terms of the full integration of these economies into the framework of competitiveness stated in the Europe 2020 strategy. In particular, factors were identified which are the results of rating agencies focusing on indicators based on the position of countries in international markets as well as WEF results, which devote more attention to the economic development of countries. The research objective of this paper is to analyse the relations that exist between innovation and competitiveness, taking into account the results of performance assessment models within the selected countries as the object of the research. Using these models, the present authors evaluate the relationship among composite indicators computed with the help of methodologies in order to confirm the cause-and-effect relations between innovation and competitiveness. The research methodology is based on hypothesis verification focused on level of competitiveness in EU countries and especially in Slovakia.

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UBREŽIOVÁ IVETA, STANKOVIČ LÝDIA, MIHALČOVÁ BOHUSLAVA, UBREŽIOVÁ ANDREA:

This paper deals with the state and perspectives of bioenergy development in the context of exploiting the potential of available natural resources. We analyse the economic benefits of transitioning to alternative biofuel within the research task in cooperation with the Vojany black coal power plant. Within the applied methodology, a non-parametric data envelopment analysis method was used to confirm the most economically efficient types of fuels used in the combustion process. The assumption of fuel efficiency was confirmed by testing fuel combustion combinations directly in the power plant. The transition to 100% combustion of solid recovered fuel creates the potential for sustainable production of the analysed power plant and compliance with the current emission values of basic pollutants and new stricter limits, which will be binding in the EU from August 2021. The proposed solutions were analysed by Monte Carlo simulation. An estimate of the economic results achieved by the power plant was simulated, assuming a complete transition to solid recovered fuel. The results of the study support the feasibility of creating a circular waste management market, with the Vojany black coal power plant as the largest user of solid recovered fuel in Slovakia and abroad.