The number of impressions for Slovak ads on Google jumped 67% last year, according to monitoring by Zircon Tree. Advertising in Slovakia was driven by foreign players (Temu, Allegro, Shein) as well as numerous smaller domestic companies. YouTube ad impressions soared 152%, as the number of advertisers surged from 29,000 to 50,000. Zircon Tree did not attempt to estimate the financial volume of ad spending or its effectiveness. (hnonline.sk, hnonline.sk)

Ireland's Valeo Foods paid Pavol Jakubec a total of €370m for confectionery maker I.D.C. Holding (brands including Horalka and Mila), company financial statements show. Under its new owner, the company early-repaid an €85m loan from SLSP and €28m in bonds, which carried interest rates of 1.2% to 3.9%. These were replaced by a €110m loan from the owner at 6% interest. The company also sold and leased back its production plant in Sereď. The result of this was a €0.5m loss last

The median net wealth of people aged 16-34 in Slovakia was €74,600 last year, three times the eurozone average of €24,000, according to European Central Bank data. Slovakia's figure is the 5th-highest in the eurozone, mainly due to homeownership, which young people often achieved with help from parents or through inheritance. The median for Czechia is €59,900, and for Austria just €13,400. (tnlive.sk)

The Košice-based steel mill owned by Nippon Steel says it is "deeply disappointed" by comments from Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba about its vice president, Miroslav Kiraľvarga. According to Taraba, Kiraľvarga lectures the government, but it is also his fault that the steelmaker failed to draw on €600m offered by the government as a subsidy for decarbonization. Kiraľvarga is president of employers' union RÚZ, which is critical of the government's economic policy. The steel

State-owned M.R. Štefánik Airport is preparing a €50m investment to expand its terminal and aircraft parking areas. The investment must first be approved by the cabinet, after which the airport plans to borrow from commercial banks to fund the project. (aktuality.sk) The airport increased net profit 43% to €3.6m last year, on 8% revenue growth to €39.9m. It was the airport's best financial result in 17 years, a period during which it was in the red most of the time. Passenger

Baguette and sandwich maker Pierre Baguette (Andrej Šmuro and Robert Mego) last year posted a 19% drop in net profit to €13.9m, despite an 11% rise in revenue to €121.9m. Poland accounted for almost half of revenue, with Slovakia contributing €37m and Austria €18m. The profit decline stems from rising food and labor costs. The company is investing in self-service kiosks across Slovakia, including at its production plants. It plans to complete a new €20m production hall this y

Stronger anti‑corruption efforts and more robust compliance with rule‑of‑law standards would raise Slovakia’s GDP by 1.8% over ten years, according to the OECD’s 2026 Country Report. The country needs such a boost, the report says, as economic growth has slowed significantly, Slovak wages remain the lowest in the region, public debt continues to rise despite consolidation, and the government sees ever‑higher taxes as the only solution. “Perceptions of weak judicial independen

Health insurer Dôvera ended its cooperation with Pro Diagnostic Group (PDG) in the area of MRI examinations as of July 1. PDG has dozens of branches across Slovakia and is the largest private provider of imaging diagnostics (MRI, CT). It wants to continue its cooperation with Dôvera. (hnonline.sk)

Slovalco will begin restoring production in August after signing agreements yesterday under which the state committed to compensate the aluminum smelter for 35% of its emission allowance costs, grant a discount on its levy to the National Nuclear Fund, and have state-owned power plant VV supply electricity at production cost for ten years. Shareholders Norway's Hydro Aluminium (55%) and Penta (45%) will invest €130m in restarting production. They say the support is only enoug

Stellantis's plant in Trnava more than doubled revenue to €4.5bn last year, though net profit fell by half to €21m. The plant launched production of the new electric Citroën C3 Aircross and Opel Frontera models last year and has been running at near-full capacity since spring 2025. Headcount rose by 800 to 4,000 last year, while personnel costs increased from €102m to €130m. This year it plans to boost output by 50,000 to 377,000 cars. Production goes almost exclusively to th