Slovakia has seven billionaires this year, Forbes magazine found. It changed its valuation of the assets held by J&T owners compared with last year. The richest Slovaks: Jozef Tkáč €3.57bn Ivan Jakabovič €3.30bn Patrik Tkáč €2.92bn Jaroslav Haščák €2.30bn Tomáš Chrenek €2.10bn Ivan Chrenko €1.81bn Peter Korbačka €1.20bn (forbes.sk)

Eight of Slovakia's 10 largest shared service centers cut staff last year, by a combined 1,415 people. The biggest cuts came at the centers of IBM (-12% to 2,326), AT&T (-14% to 1,963), Deutsche Telekom SS (-11% to 2,147) and Dell (-9% to 2,270). IBM employed 4,639 people in 2020 and AT&T 3,235. Only Henkel (+2% to 2,050) and Mondelez (+1% to 440) added staff. (sme.sk)

Yields on 10-year Slovak government bonds rose to 4.5%, the highest since 2011, from 3.5% at the start of the year. US 10-year yields topped 5%, the highest in 24 years. The Middle East war, which is driving up oil prices and inflation, is pushing them higher, along with high government debt, rising defense spending and competition from corporate bonds issued to finance artificial intelligence. Both the ECB and the US Fed raised interest rates in September. (dennikN.sk)

Kaufland (Germany’s Schwarz Group) plans to invest €300m in Slovakia over the next five years, three-quarters of it in new stores. It will increase its store count from 88 to 90 this year, with a long-term target of 120–130. The company has revenue of almost €2bn and a net profit margin of 3.3%. CEO Michal Dendeš warned that a special tax on retail chains, which the ruling coalition is considering, could derail these plans. (trend.sk)

Parliament passed a new Civil Code that will replace the current one, in force for over 60 years, from July 2027. It unifies civil and commercial contracts, so there will be, for example, a single purchase contract for everyone. It gives people more freedom over inheritance. New features include an inheritance contract and a private fund for family businesses; the forced heirship share of adult children will fall from half to a quarter of the estate. It changes rental rules:

Wia Slovakia, a unit of Korea's Hyundai Wia, launched production in its new plant in Martin, and the cabinet approved €8.9m in investment aid for it as an income tax break. The firm will invest €26.8m in production and €4.6m in a technology center by 2029 and create 255 jobs by 2032; it is set to employ 600 people by 2035, up from 115 now. It will make drive shafts and cooling modules for EVs. It promises production workers wages of €2,800 a month. The plant sits on the premi

The share of net financial assets held by the richest 10% of Slovaks fell by 6 points over 20 years to 44.5%, the 3rd-largest drop in the world after Cambodia and Portugal, Allianz's Global Wealth Report showed. The global average is 61%. With net financial assets of €11,390 per capita, however, Slovakia ranks lowly 24th of 25 countries in Europe, ahead of Romania. Slovaks hold the vast majority of their assets in real estate. (dennikN.sk)

The Finance Ministry and central bank NBS updated their forecasts. While the ministry slightly raised its GDP growth estimate for 2027-28, NBS left its projections unchanged. Finance Ministry / NBS forecasts for GDP change, inflation, real wage change and unemployment in %: 2026 2027 2028 GDP 0.8 / 0.8 1.8 / 1.9 1.6 / 2.7 inflation 3.7 / 3.6 2.9 / 3.3 4.4 / 3.7 wages 0.8 / 1.0 1.4 / 1.1 0.0 / 1.1 unemp. 5.8 / 5.8 5.8 / 6.0 5.7 / 6.0 (NBS, MF) The household savings rate fell

US maker of air conditioning and backup power for data centers Vertiv will expand its Nové Mesto nad Váhom plant by 22,000 sqm, creating hundreds of jobs in 2027-29. Demand for AI infrastructure drives the move. Vertiv Slovakia (formerly Emerson) posted net profit of €11.8m last year as revenue rose 19% to €318.1m. With 1,400 employees, the plant is the group's largest production center in Europe. (forbes.sk)

Volkswagen, through its battery unit PowerCo, will acquire a 49% stake in the future battery cell plant in Šurany, while China's Gotion keeps a 51% majority. The deal also covers cooperation at battery plants in Spain and Morocco. VW will invest a combined €470m in the Šurany and Morocco projects by 2030, while Gotion will invest €1.1bn for a 49% stake in VW's Spanish plant. The first 8 GWh phase of the Šurany plant is due to start serial production by end-2027. The partners