New Japanese owner Nippon Steel submitted to authorities a decarbonization plan worth hundreds of millions for the Košice steel mill, under which it intends to build a new electric arc furnace by end‑2030 with an annual production capacity of 1.5–2.1m tons. The previous owner had planned to replace coal with electricity in two of three blast furnaces and invest over €1.5bn. The new furnace could cover nearly half of the current 4.5m‑ton capacity (last year’s output was around

Volkswagen launched pre-series production of the Audi Q9 model at its Bratislava plant, HN sources said. Mass production of combustion-engine vehicles for customers is due to start later this year. The plant will also end production of the VW Touareg model next year. Mainly due to the launch of the electric Porsche Cayenne model, it is hiring 1,200 workers and increasing headcount toward 13,000. The wider VW group meanwhile plans to reduce production capacity by a tenth in co

The nuclear regulator ÚJD issued a permit for commissioning the fourth unit of the Mochovce nuclear power plant. Various appeals and objections are possible. Slovenské elektrárne wants to launch the 471 MW unit by the end of this year. The government then wants to negotiate the purchase of a 17% stake in SE to secure a majority in the company. (tvnoviny.sk, dennikN.sk)

CSG (Michal Strnad) and South Africa's Reunert will establish a joint venture in Slovakia to produce electronic fuses for large-caliber ammunition. CSG will hold a 49% stake in the firm, named Fuchs Electronics Europe. The electronic fuses enable better control of munition detonation. The technological partner is South Africa's Fuchs, part of the Reunert group. Production will be located at the ZVS Dubnica nad Váhom facility, where CSG manufactures large-caliber ammunition. C

The Proxenta group (Pavol Kožík) is refusing to disclose the full extent of its financial difficulties. Media estimates put the Slovak liabilities of Proxenta and its subsidiaries at €150–250m, plus nearly €50m from failed investments in Cuba. This is a mix of bonds, promissory notes, and loans from both retail investors and banks. The group stopped servicing its debts in March. Bonds totaling €20m are due for repayment this year. (sme.sk)

Living paycheck to paycheck are 36% of employees, while 54% manage to get by with some money to spare, a survey by staffing agency Grafton found. Some 79% of companies raised wages this year. More than half of firms offer some form of benefits, most commonly up to €20 per month. Employees value benefits most when they are leisure-related and have monetary value. At least one day of remote work per week is used by 63% of employees. This option is offered by 60% of companies, w

The European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the abuse of EU funds in Slovakia and expressing deep concern over the rule of law and the media landscape. It called on the European Commission to take action, citing systemic deficiencies that threaten the protection of EU financial interests. This is already the second such call by the EP, putting Slovakia at risk of having EU funds frozen. The calls are non‑binding, however, and the European Commission may disregard t

Eset, an IT security solutions provider, is investing €40m in developing artificial intelligence models for cybersecurity and is expanding its research and development team to 1,000 engineers. The company is opening new offices in India, France, and the Netherlands to address the growing threat posed by AI agents, framing the investment as part of a strategy to strengthen European cybersecurity sovereignty. (forbes.sk)

Preparations for a new nuclear power plant in Jaslovské Bohunice are reportedly a source of friction between coalition partners Smer and Hlas. The Economy Ministry publicly questioned whether it is prudent to spend €189m to buy out ČEZ's stake in Jess, the company preparing the project, during a period of fiscal consolidation. PM Robert Fico (Smer) responded by submitting a cabinet proposal to transfer oversight of energy company Javys, Jess's parent, from the Ministry to the

Slovenské elektrárne, the dominant electricity producer in Slovakia under the EPH group's control, increased its consolidated net profit by 22% to a record €968m last year. The growth is driven by high electricity prices and last year's €3.6bn bank loan refinancing, which lowered financial costs. EBITDA dropped by 4% to €1.7bn due to lower hydropower production. Overall production rose by 1% to 21 TWh and was entirely CO2-free. The company spent €222m on subsidized electricit