‘We were 34 in our class, only four stayed’: What happens to Slovakia’s eastern towns when young people leave?

Finding skilled staff, rising costs and increasing taxes are making life harder in a region already struggling with depopulation.

When you cross the bridge over the Bodrog River in Viničky, you find yourself in another world. Twenty years ago, the Medzibodrožie region was hailed as one of the best places to live in; now, it now goes for months without rain, young people leave, and tradition is running up against economic reality. Local entrepreneur Július Bányácski, however, decided to stay and try to do things properly – in Bologna he learned how to make proper gelato, and after years of bad coffee, started roasting his own. He runs a small restaurant in the centre of Kráľovský Chlmec, and in a vineyard tries to save the forgotten Polyhos grape variety.

In this interview, he speaks openly about why gastronomy in the Slovak countryside is still full of fried cheese, how running a business collides with the tax burden, and what lies ahead for a region that, in his view, the state stopped paying attention to a long time ago. What will remain of a town where only four people from an entire class are still around?

What is it like running a business in the food industry these days?

Difficult, and it is not going to get any easier. If you really want to do it in a way that allows you to make a living, earn something and still pay everything you owe, you have to think it through very carefully. That is the first problem, especially here. There is demand for food, and I think there will continue to be. People eat out more often or order food for delivery, so no problem there. It is more that people's eating habits are a bit limited.