Slovak Post (Slovenská Pošta) launched the newest mobile operator called Štvorka or 4ka (number four in English). (source: TASR)
OCTOBER
After 20 years on the Slovak market, the Austrian DIY Baumax retail chain was taken over by the German chain Obi. Baumax operated 14 stores throughout Slovakia and their price may be below €1 million. They closed down by October 31.
State-owned Slovak Post (Slovenská Pošta) launched the newest mobile operator called Štvorka or 4ka (number four in English). The fourth mobile operator in Slovakia began its operation by offering prepaid services only, but it is available at each of the 1,500 post offices across the country.
Transport Minister Ján Počiatek opened a nine kilometre stretch of the D1 highway between Spišský Štvrtok and Levoča (Prešov Region). Earlier in 2015 Počiatek opened the 16.5 km Dubná Skala-Turany stretch. In total, about 50 km of highways and dual carriageways were put in operation in 2015. Ribbon-cutting ceremonies and the opening of new highways has been an unambiguous signal that parliamentary elections are near. Nevertheless, the complete D1 backbone, a 450-km highway connecting Bratislava and Košice remains far off.
Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air launched a new link between Košice and Bristol in the UK. It became the eighth regular connection from Košice Airport. Wizz Air already offers three destinations from its Slovak base in the eastern-Slovak city: Košice – London Luton, Milan Bergamo (Italy) and Doncaster Sheffield (UK).
The cabinet increased the minimum monthly wage by €25 to €405 as of 2016.
After the successful introduction of the British Slovak Business Centre in Bratislava in 2014, the British Chamber of Commerce opened a new office in Košice. The official opening was held at Hotel Yasmin with attendance by the British Ambassador to Slovakia, Andrew Garth, and other guests who will help establish a permanent presence of the British Chamber of Commerce in the east of Slovakia.
The five-day TechMatch Slovakia 2015 conference with the main aim to help start-ups, made media headlines due to its allegedly inflated costs. The conference cost the head of the semi-state Slovak Business Agency (SBA), Branislav Šafárik, his post.
With the switch from summer time to winter time, the flight schedule of the M. R. Štefánik Airport in Bratislava is changing, too. From October 25, the new schedule brought a new regular daily connection by Ryanair to and from Berlin.
The management of the Coca-Cola plant in the village of Lúka near Piešťany announced that the factory is to be closed as of March 31, 2016. More than 110 local employees will become unemployed. All production lines will be dismantled by late March and moved to Austria.
