Slovakia is participating in pilot testing of the digital euro , the central bank NBS announced. It will be used by NBS employees and selected retailers. The digital euro is not intended to replace cash but to offer a new form of cashless payment independent of non-European card companies. For retailers, it will mean lower fees compared to cards. Citizens will be able to hold several thousand euros in digital wallets, outside bank accounts. If the rollout proceeds as planned,

Aj Slovensko sa zapája do pilotného testovania digitálneho eura , oznámila centrálna banka NBS. Využívať ho budú napr. zamestnanci NBS a vybraní obchodníci. Cieľom digitálneho eura nie je nahradiť hotovosť, ale ponúknuť novú formu bezhotovostných platieb nezávislú od ne-európskych kartových spoločností. Pre obchodníkov prinesie nižšie poplatky v porovnaní s kartami. Občania budú môcť niekoľko tisíc euro držať vo svojich digitálnych peňaženkách, mimo bankových účtov. Ak pôjde

Canada’s Military Metals Corp , through its Slovak subsidiary Slovak Antimony Corp, began geological drilling in the Pezinská Baba area. It is exploring for antimony, a critical raw material for chips, weapons, batteries, and space research. The town of Pezinok and the Environment Ministry oppose the project and accuse each other of inaction. The Economy Ministry has drafted an amendment to the Mining Act to simplify the permitting process. ( dennikN.sk )

JandL was the largest advertising agency  in Slovakia last year with gross income (revenue from main activities adjusted for re-invoicing) of €4m, according to the latest ranking by local industry group KRAS. MullenLowe GGK (€3m), Made by Vaculík (€2.8m), Istropolitana (€2.8m), and MUW Saatchi&Saatchi (€2.6m) followed. ( hnonline.sk )

JandL bola vlani najväčšou reklamnou agentúrou  na Slovensku s gross income (tržby z hlavnej činnosti očistené o refakturáciu) 4 mil. €, ukazuje najnovší rebríček Klubu reklamných agentúr Slovenska. Nasledujú MullenLowe GGK (3 mil. €), Made by Vaculík (2,8 mil. €), Istropolitana (2,8 mil. €) a MUW Saatchi&Saatchi (2,6 mil. €). ( hnonline.sk )

Kanadská Military Metals Corp , resp. jej slovenská dcéra Slovak Antimony Corp, začala s geologickými vrtmi v oblasti Pezinskej Baby. Hľadá ložiská antimónu, dôležitej suroviny na výrobu čipov, zbraní, batérií a vesmírny výskum. Mesto Pezinok aj Ministerstvo životného prostredia s ťažbou nesúhlasia a obviňujú sa z nečinnosti. Ministerstvo hospodárstva pripravilo novelu Banského zákona, ktorá by povoľovanie ťažby zjednodušila. ( dennikN.sk )

The government has recently launched construction of a €1.2bn hospital with 950 beds in Bratislava’s Vajnory district and plans to complete it in 2030. Health Minister Kamil Šaško also intends to locate a new children’s hospital and a center for pediatric cancer treatment at the site. The Netherlands is expected to provide a loan for the project. Once the Vajnory hospital is completed, he plans to close the hospitals in Kramáre and the Old Town. Discussions are still pending

Vláda nedávno spustila výstavbu 1,2 mld € nemocnice s 950 lôžkami v bratislavských Vajnoroch. Dokončiť ju chce v roku 2030. Minister zdravotníctva Kamil Šaško tam chce umiestniť aj novú detskú nemocnicu  a centrum na liečbu onkologicky chorých detí. Na projekt má poskytnúť úver Holandsko. Po dokončení nemocnice vo Vajnoroch chce zatvoriť nemocnice na Kramároch a v Starom meste. O osude nemocnice Podunajské Biskupice sa majú ešte viesť diskusie. ( hnonline.sk )

Czech group Agrofert (Andrej Babiš) opened a new dairy farm in Horné Obdokovce near Topoľčany, investing €12m. PM Robert Fico attended the opening ceremony. The farm includes stables for 744 dairy cows, with technology supplied by Farmtec, part of the Agrofert group. Agrofert is investing €40.3m in four similar projects in Slovakia with 2,200 dairy cows, 13% of which is covered by EU funds. ( forbes.sk )

Private capital in healthcare is using increasingly sophisticated forms of lobbying , represented by analysts Martin Smatana and Michal Štofko, says Renáta Bláhová, former head of the ÚDZS regulator. Their company, Msquare, with annual sales of €800,000, is pushing for an increase in the profit limit for private health insurers. They were also involved in distributing subsidies from EU funds for hospitals. Another example is Henrieta Tulejová and her Advanced HM Institute, wh