The government approved an additional €165m for farmers, including €30m as drought compensation. A further €19.7m will cover rising fertilizer and energy costs, direct payments for 2027 will increase by €77.7m, and farmers will receive €37.5m as an advance on operating costs. The increased 2027 direct payments will be deducted from the 2028-34 budget. Dairy farmers estimate drought damage at €100m, and the pig sector at €20m. (sme.sk, aktuality.sk, teraz.sk) The SPPK chamber

The anti-trust authority PMÚ is reviewing a transaction in which Cyprus-based BDS Sport is acquiring Polish company Marketing Investment. (antimon.gov.sk) BDS Sport operates the Sport Vision and Buzz store chains in Slovakia, where it widened its loss by 5% to €3.3m last year as revenue grew 29% to €33m. Marketing Investment operates the JD Sports and Sizeer chains in Slovakia, where it grew net profit by 29% to €0.6m last year as revenue rose 12% to €7.7m

About 350 experts led by the Slovak Academy of Sciences presented the government with the Vision Slovakia 2040 report, arguing that the country's assembly-plant economic model has run its course and that without reforms, Slovakia faces long-term stagnation or even decline. The vision proposes cutting public debt below 50% of GDP, shifting taxation from labor to property and environmental taxes, boosting R&D investment, and reforming education. PM Robert Fico called on opposit

Opposition party PS accused Dubnica-based ammunition maker ZVS Holding, half-owned by the state and half by Czech group CSG (Michal Strnad), of losing out on €80m in profit last year by selling ammunition to affiliated company MSM Export. ZVS reportedly sells artillery shells for €1,500 to €1,800 apiece, and MSM resells them after assembly for €3,500; the margin on ZVS's own production thus came to just 8%, compared with 27% at VOP Nováky, which is fully owned by CSG. ZVS Hol

Profit margins in the restaurant sector fell last year. Reston (Anton Novotný), which operates eight McDonald’s restaurants, reported an 80% drop in net profit to €0.3m, despite an 8% rise in revenue to €34.5m. Similarly, luuf 026 (Luiz Franca), which runs five McDonald’s restaurants, cut net profit by 48% to €0.4m after an 8% increase in revenue to €18.6m. Restaurant group Medusa posted a net profit margin of just 1.6%, down from 5.6% the year before. The average investment

The state launched a tender for the contractor to build the civilian part of the new hospital in Bratislava's Vajnory district, estimated at €922m. The complex, spanning 206,000 sqm with capacity for 1,200 beds and 4,000 employees, will be one of the largest buildings in Slovakia. Technological equipment worth €200m needs to be added to the price, plus underground "military" floors. These are already under construction, though neither the contractor nor the budget has been di

Slovakia saw 7% fewer new e-shops launched in the first half of this year, according to data from Upgates, a company that provides an e-shop platform. It says market growth is slowing. About half of new e-shops fold within their first year due to high market saturation. Artificial intelligence is significantly lowering barriers to entry into e-commerce. At the same time, it is becoming an increasingly important source of recommendations and customers for e-shops. (hnonline.sk

Aluminum smelter Slovalco, owned by Norsk Hydro (55%) and Penta (45%), is resuming aluminum production after more than three years. The company is investing more than €100m in the restart, and the state will support it with compensation for emissions allowance costs. Today it will start up the first of 226 electrolyzers, and by the end of February a hundred are expected to be running. For now it will operate at only 45% of capacity, producing 75,000 tons of aluminum a year, b

President Peter Pellegrini unusually, though very cautiously, criticized the government, warning it not to underestimate the risk of attacks on manufacturing plants in Slovakia. When police last week foiled an attack on a drone-manufacturing plant run by Ukrainian company Skyeton near Prešov, the government did not react. PM Robert Fico did not convene the Security Council, even though he often does so over much smaller threats. Fico apparently does not want to lose favor wit

Slovakia's largest TV group, Markíza, controlled by Czech PPF, will build a new production complex in Bratislava's Dúbravka district for €44.5m. Once completed in 2030, the 26,000 sqm site will offer six studio stages for 400 people. Markíza's headquarters and newsroom will remain in their current premises in Záhorská Bystrica. (forbes.sk) The TV group posted a 4% drop in net profit to €26.8m last year, after a 7% rise in revenue to €161.8m.