Czech investment broker Patria Finance , part of the ČSOB group, is opening a branch in Bratislava and launching a trading platform and mobile app in Slovak. It will allow clients to trade stocks and cryptocurrencies and invest in ETFs, among other instruments. Eva Jahelka Filipp will head the Slovak branch. Patria has 92,000 clients in the Czech market and €6bn under management. ( finsider.sk )

Fertilizer producer Duslo  Šaľa (Andrej Babiš) expects a net profit of €15m in 2025, up from €10m in 2024, according to outgoing CEO Petr Bláha. He warns that electricity for large consumers in Slovakia is the third most expensive in Europe, as the government provides price subsidies only to households. The company is considering a €140m investment in a granulation line for fertilizer finalization. Preparations also continue for €120m wind and solar power plants with a subseq

The coalition’s weakening of anti‑corruption efforts and its new and higher taxes resulted in less effective tax collection . The central bank NBS reports that VAT intake rose by €900m last year, of which €230m came from rate hikes. The government expected the hikes to generate €750m, with the basic rate rising to 23%. The effective VAT rate fell by two points in a year to 16% in 3Q25. The NBS recommends simplifying the tax code and reducing the basic VAT rate. ( dennikN.sk )

Slovenské elektrárne  expects to receive permission to load fuel into the fourth unit of the Mochovce nuclear power plant in 1Q or 2Q 2026, once the nuclear authority ÚJD completes all inspections. The unit is scheduled to be connected to the grid in 2026, further strengthening Slovakia’s position as a net power exporter. ( hnonline.sk )

Wood&Co (Ľubomír Šoltýs, Jan Sýkora, Vladimír Jaroš) is selling its stake in pharma firm Saneca  in Hlohovec to remaining shareholders led by Ján Sabol and Oszkár Világi. Last year, the plant increased net profit by 31% to €9.9m and sales by 10% to €94.5m. Total revenue reached €110m, with EBITDA at €20m. The 1,000‑employee company produces active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished dosage forms, with exports accounting for 90% of output. ( startitup.sk )

Online fitness clothing and food retailer GymBeam (Dalibor Cicman) is acquiring German food manufacturer Kaja Food and plans to increase its production capacity by nearly half. Kaja Food has long produced food and nutritional supplements for GymBeam, which also operates a plant in Košice. Expanding its own manufacturing base will support further growth in Western Europe. With the same goal, the company is moving its headquarters from Košice to Vienna and recently opened a lo

Slovenské elektrárne  will pay out dividends for the first time since 2006, shareholders’ meeting decided. It agreed with the government to suspend dividends in 2008 when it started the completion of the Mochovce nuclear power plant. It spent €6.6bn instead of the originally planned €2.8bn. The Czech EPH (Daniel Křetínský and Patrik Tkáč) controls 66% of the shares and the state has 34%. Dividends will amount to €500m, of which the state will receive €170m. Last year, SE repo

Mobile operator O2 , majority‑owned by Abu Dhabi‑based e&, acquired TV and internet provider UPC from Liberty Global. The deal value, excluding cash and debt, is €95m. Orange and 4ka were also reportedly interested. UPC’s fiber‑optic and coaxial network covers 650,000 households in 80 cities and serves 150,000 TV and 141,000 internet customers. In 2020-24, it posted a €46.6m loss with flat annual sales  of around €46m. O2 became Slovakia’s largest mobile operator this year w

In the new Civil Code that the Justice Ministry sent for comments, tenants’ rights would be strengthened at the expense of apartment owners . A lease would automatically convert to an indefinite term after five years or three renewals, and terminating it outside the end of the lease term would become difficult. Apartment owners would be required to pay interest on cash deposits, and tenants would gain the right to keep pets in the apartment. Many institutions are protesting t

Ministers approved 16‑year licenses for EV charging stations  on highways. Contracts were awarded to ZSE, OMV, and Ejoin, which will jointly pay the state €1.5m per year plus €0.02/kWh. Ejoin operates 420 charging stations, is active in Czechia and Austria, and has outstanding tax and levy debts. ( openiazoch.sk )