Honeywell starts construction. Honeywell, a US-based company, chooses eastern Slovakia for a new factory that will manufacture turbochargers for passenger cars and trucks on a five-hectare plot in the IPZ Prešov-Záborské industrial park. Honeywell’s investment is €38.3 million and the plant will employ nearly 450 people in its first phase.
Amazon.com opens sales support centre. More than 200 new jobs will come to Bratislava by the end of 2012 as Amazon.com opens a new centre to train salespeople.
Volkswagen expands. The Bratislava Volkswagen plant starts serial production of the automaker’s new Up! model, a project with an investment of over €300 million. Volkswagen’s factory in Bratislava is the only plant in the world producing five car brands under one roof – Volkswagen, Škoda and SEAT (New Small Family), plus Audi and Porsche SUVs. Volkswagen, celebrating 20 years in Slovakia, also unveils further investment plans worth about €1.5 billion over the next five years.
Korea’s Hansol leaves Slovakia. Hansol, a Korean-based producer of components for television sets, terminates production of backlights and LCM panels at its plant in Voderady, near Trnava, and lays off more than 1,400 employees.
Mobile operators get licence extensions. The two biggest mobile operators in Slovakia receive extensions of their licences for another 10 years, along with bills of €41 million for Orange Slovensko and €48 million for Slovak Telekom, operating under the T-Mobile brand. Both companies challenge their licence extension fees, as set by the Telecommunications Office, the regulatory authority.
