Who are the 10 richest Slovaks?

Real estate, IT and energy. These are the most profitable sectors of the Slovak economy, at least based on the list of the 30 richest Slovaks. It features 29 men, only one woman and five new names. These got onto the list thanks to new legislation where they, in order to compete for public orders, have admitted their property and uncovered the ownership structure of their companies. The Slovak edition of Forbes magazine has prepared the list for the sixth time.

The list of the 30 richest Slovaks again features Andrej Babiš, Ivan Chrenko of HB Reavis, Jaroslav Haščák of Penta Investments, Patrik Tkáč and Ivan Jakabovič of the J&T Finance Group as well as Miroslav Trnka and other partners of the Eset security software company.

The new names on the list are Juraj Široký, owner of the Váhostav construction company and alleged sponsor of Robert Fico’s Smer party; Jozef Brhel, former state secretary of the Economy Minister active in energy; Peter Lukeš, who does business in IT, real estate and the entertainment industry; Martin Blaškovič, active in the machine and entertainment industry and Ján Sabol, who does business in agriculture, the food industry and energy.

The only woman on the list is Mária Blašková, who has inherited fortune of about €150 million from her husband Ľubomír Blaško.

Compared to the previous year the aggregate wealth owned by the 30 richest Slovaks increased by more than €0.5 billion to almost €13.5 billion.

Top 10

1. Andrej Babiš

The Czech oligarch of Slovak origin who became a Czech politician, Andrej Babiš, 63, has maintained his lead position with assets of €3.39 billion. His Agrofert holding is comprised of more than 250 companies active in chemistry, the food industry, agriculture and health care. Of these, the chemical company Duslo in Šala, the poultry producer Hyza and the Penam bakeries are the biggest in Slovakia. In his home country he is known for his judicial dispute with the Nation’s Memory Institute (ÚPN), which included him on its list of confidantes for the ŠtB communist secret police.