February: The year in business

Duslo gets state aid and more.

The modernised Slovak-Hungarian section of the crude oil pipeline Adria was opened.The modernised Slovak-Hungarian section of the crude oil pipeline Adria was opened. (Source: SITA)

FEBRUARY

The electronic marketplace, which is part of the Electronic Contracting System (ECS), went into full service from February 1. 

Duslo gets state aid. The EC cleared state aid to the Šaľa-based Duslo chemical plant. The Agrofert company of the Slovak-born Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babiš is going to invest €310 million into building a plant for ammoniac production while the state plans to support it with tax relief of €58 million. Duslo Šaľa promised the Slovak government not to cut the number of employees under 1,800 for the next 10 years.

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Czech private passenger carrier RegioJet launched a long-distance bus line between Banská Bystrica and Bratislava via Nitra on February 2. It received the licence in mid-January from the Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region, after the representatives of Bratislava and Nitra Regions had initially refused its request.

Rail commuters received a 50 percent discount off their travel after Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government passed the second major discount for rail travel within a few months. The move comes after students and pensioners began travelling for free in mid-November 2014 with commuters eligible for savings starting February 1. Both measures are part of the €250 million package of 15 financial, economic and social measures of the Fico cabinet. 

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Several companies active in Slovakia unveiled plans to launch shared service centres in Slovakia. First the Dutch ING Bank announced in February that it plans to open a shared service centre in Slovakia responsible for all 40 countries in which ING operates. In April Osram Slovakia unveiled its plans to launch its shared service centre in Nitra and create about 200 jobs within three years. Within six months before ING Bank, the Swiss Re re-insurance company, Deutsche Telekom and Swiss Holcim companies announced similar plans to open shared service centres in Slovakia. 

The modernised Slovak-Hungarian section of the crude oil pipeline Adria connecting the Slovak section of the Druzhba Pipeline with the Croatian port of Omisalj was opened on February 10. If necessary, Slovakia will be able to import crude oil through it from ports on the Adriatic Sea. The reconstruction of the 128-kilometer pipeline section cost €70 million euros. The Hungarian company MOL, that controls the Slovak refinery Slovnaft and the Slovak oil carrier Transpetrol were jointly in charge of the modernization project. 

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