The new ammonia production plant at Duslo Šaľa (source: TASR )
1. Companies asking for state investment stimuli will no longer have to create new jobs in production, stemming from the law on regional investment aid adopted by parliament.
2. Slovakia’s government approved the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The agreement facilitates the trading of goods and services by removing custom duties and trade barriers.
3. The favourable pro-growth sentiment among foreign investors in Slovakia persists. Almost half of them plan to expand and look for new employees while the biggest obstacles hampering their businesses in Slovakia remain the shortage of qualified labour and corruption, as stems from the regular business survey carried out by foreign chambers of commerce.
4. Developer HB Reavis kicked off the reconstruction of Bratislava’s main bus station on Mlynské Nivy Street, with a cost estimated at €345 million.
5. US real estate investment fund Heitman sold the Aupark Tower office building in Bratislava to the real estate fund of the investment bank Wood & Company. The consultancy company CBRE, which mediated the deal, described the transaction as the biggest on the Slovak office real-estate market in seven years.
6. One Fashion Outlet 1 near the village of Voderady (Trnava Region), the biggest outlet centre in Slovakia, filed for bankruptcy following several financial problems.
7. Duslo Šaľa officially launched a new ammonia production plant, with the investment in the factory, called Ammonia 4, amounting to €310 million. The company received a €58 million tax incentive.
8. The construction of a gas pipeline link between Slovakia and Poland was ceremonially launched at the gas transport hub in Veľké Kapušany (Košice Region). Built by Slovakia’s Eustream and Poland’s Gaz-System, the 160-kilometre-long gas interconnection, 103 kilometres of which will be in Slovakia, will cost €142 million.
9. Slovakia worsened its position in the Global Competitiveness Report 2018 published by the World Economic Forum. It ranked 41st of 140 countries.
10. Carmaker Jaguar Land Rover officially opened its Nitra-based plant.
