Critical Infrastructure in the Spotlight: AKI Meeting with the Administration of State Material Reserves of the Slovak Republic

We welcomed the opportunity to negotiate directly with the Chairman of SŠHR, Mr. Slavomír Šoffa, and to open a discussion on the topic of increasing critical infrastructure resilience and mutual cooperation in this area.

The Administration of State Material Reserves of the Slovak Republic is, according to Act No. 367/2024 Coll. on critical infrastructure and on amendments to certain laws as amended by later regulations, the central state administration body for the Energy sector, Oil and petroleum products subsector, and for ensuring the basic service of emergency oil and petroleum product reserves management, which is crucial for the smooth functioning of vital economic activities in the Slovak Republic.

The discussion took place in an atmosphere of mutual understanding and interest in cooperation. AKI President Tibor Straka presented to the SŠHR Chairman and his team AKI's scope of activity in the area of consultations with critical entities, in the area of threat, hazard and vulnerability analyses, and in the area of audits of the existing state of basic service provision and ensuring the resilience of critical entities, as well as the development of implementation projects for implementing measures to ensure the provision of basic services and resilience of critical entities. He emphasized the importance of systematic cooperation between the public and private sectors in the critical infrastructure sector with the aim of creating a broad platform for professional discussion and solving challenges related to increasing critical infrastructure resilience and ensuring basic services.

Special attention was also paid to cybersecurity issues. AKI Supervisory Board Chairman Matej Michalko and AKI Vice President Michal Boďo pointed out specific cyber incidents and economic damages that affected entities must face. Both sides agreed on the necessity of active prevention of cyber attacks, which brings with it higher financial costs. AKI President Tibor Straka stated that AKI is negotiating an appropriate model for financing critical entity resilience, emphasizing that the burden of costs should not be solely on critical entities, but that the state should also help finance critical infrastructure resilience, for example through European funds, and support negotiations with banks on preparing advantageous loans for critical entities. 

SŠHR Chairman Slavomír Šoffa welcomed the proposal to establish cooperation between SŠHR and AKI, which will help contribute to creating a solid foundation for long-term, systematic and effective solutions in the critical infrastructure area. Launching negotiations with SŠHR represents another significant step for AKI in supporting critical entities across all strategic critical infrastructure sectors.