Developer Penta RE , together with Irish developer Ballymore, will build two projects with 680 apartments in London for €800m. Completion is scheduled for 2029. This is Penta’s first project in London, with both partners holding equal stakes in the joint venture. In the future, it also wants to build offices, hotels, and student housing in London. ( forbes.sk )

Parliament passed an amendment to the VAT Act  requiring VAT payers to issue electronic invoices from January 2027. The tax authority FS will have real‑time access to these invoices and will be able to combat tax evasion more effectively. The VAT control statement will be abolished on July 1, 2030. For certain transactions, FS will have the authority to order VAT payments to its bank account. The amendment originally proposed increasing VAT for social enterprises  to 19% from

Slovakia is the worst economic performer  among 36 OECD members this year, writes The Economist, based on GDP, inflation, and labor‑market data. Despite US tariffs, global GDP is set to grow around 3% this year, the same as last. Unemployment remains low almost everywhere, including Slovakia, and inflation is just above central banks’ 2% targets. Stock markets have logged another year of solid gains. The top performer is Portugal, with Czechia 6th, Poland 10th, Hungary 26th,

Public broadcaster STVR  plans to launch its own streaming service in 2027. Next year, it will more than double spending on its online section to €2.2m and will launch a new news website. The STVR Council approved the 2026 budget yesterday with revenues and expenditures of €201m. The state will provide €178m, with the rest coming mainly from ads. ( aktuality.sk ) Last year, the largest commercial TV group, Markíza, increased its net profit by 14% to €27.9m thanks to a 15% inc

The decline in alcohol sales in Slovak stores stopped this year. Sales fell 2% in 2022, 6% in 2023, and 3% last year, according to Jiří Štetina, head of Jägermeister CZ/SK. This year, sales are at last year’s level. Store sales (80% of consumption) have fallen 10% in four years, while sales in restaurants and pubs have fallen 15%. While overall sales are declining, premium drinks show growing demand. Young people are drinking less, and overall consumer demand is weak. ( aktua

ZVS Holding , jointly owned by the state and CSG (Michal Strnad), signed a massive €58bn seven‑year framework contract with the Defense Ministry to supply large‑ and medium‑caliber ammunition. It hopes other EU countries will join the contract. Slovakia wants to use it through the EU loan program SAFE, under which the government allocated €40m for ammunition. The company explains that the €58bn figure represents the potential production volume at full capacity. Last year, th

EU countries spent 2.2% of GDP on R&D  last year, up 0.1 point from 2013, Eurostat reported. Sweden (3.6%), Belgium (3.4%), and Austria (3.3%) had the highest shares, while Romania and Malta (0.5%) and Cyprus (0.7%) had the lowest. Slovakia ranked 6th lowest. R&D spending as a share of GDP:   2024 2013 Austria 3.3% 3.0% Czechia 1.8% 1.9% Poland 1.4% 0.9% Hungary 1.3% 1.4% Slovakia 1.0% 0.8% ( Eurostat )

The 2002 privatization contract for the Istrochem Bratislava chemical plant only marginally addressed soil contamination and ecological investments. It was published by the N news site. Andrej Babiš committed to paying the purchase price and investing €24m in company development or environmental measures. Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba said Babiš fulfilled this obligation, meaning the state must now take responsibility for cleaning up the land. Costs could reach €700m. The

Real wages slowed annual growth to 1.3% in 3Q, with the average wage at €1,569 , ŠÚ reported. Unemployment rose 0.1 points to 5.4%. Employment fell 0.5%. Analysts expect gradual cooling of the labor market, with slow economic growth bringing a slight rise in unemployment and weaker wage growth. ( stvr.sk , sita.sk )

Fitness online store GymBeam  (Dalibor Cicman) cut its workforce by 64 to 638 in the first half of this year while increasing sales by €30m. Cicman explained this by warehouse robotization and AI models, which boosted employee productivity. He said artificial intelligence is already having a dramatic impact on customer support in eCommerce, automating routine work and helping in marketing by generating videos and photos. Junior positions are disappearing in particular. ( forb