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7.1 State policy of foreign investments support


The Slovak Republic has a finished system of the foreign investments support. The investment stimuli are allocated on the basis of two criteria which are combined together.
The first criterion is the investment location in a certain region. Slovakia is divided into three zones based on the unemployment rate :

  • Green zone: regions with the unemployment rate higher than 15 %
  • Yellow zone: regions with the unemployment rate from 10 % to 15 %
  • Red zone: regions with the unemployment rate up to 10 %


    • Source : SARIO, Rules for state aid provision

    The second criterion is an investment type. There were 3 types of investments defined that can apply for support. These types are :

  • Type A : processing industry and distribution and logistics centres
  • Type B : strategic investments in high-tech sectors and centres of strategic services (centres of shared services, customer centres and technical assistance centres, call centres)
  • Type C : research and development centres, technological centres, centres of technological development
  • A higher percentage of support is granted to economic sectors with high added value – development and IT software centres, etc. Conversely, the support for sectors which are less attractive in terms of the creation of added value is limited (assembly, distribution centres, etc.).


    • On the basis of the mentioned combination of these two factors, there are conditions which an enterpriser has to meet to obtain a certain amount of the investment stimuli. Those conditions are :

  • Minimal amount of investment costs; e.g. in the green or the yellow zone and the project type C, it is SKK 30 million
  • Employees’ structure ; e.g. in the project type B it is 50 % of secondary school educated employees and 35 % employees with higher than secondary school education
  • Investment costs structure; in the red zone the liability is to invest 45 % of costs in modern technologies


    • If the investor in the red zone wants to apply for a tax relief, he has to fulfil the following criteria (there are half amounts applicable in the green and in the yellow zone)

  • Investment costs of a minimal amount of 400 million SKK
  • Minimal amount of the investment costs from the company equity capital is 200 million SKK


    • The state aid may be provided in a direct or indirect form. The indirect support is provided in the form of a tax relief, transfer of a real estate title from the public possession into the private possession of the investor at a price lower than the market value. The direct form of support constitutes a financial grant provision for the type C projects, allowance for newly created jobs and training allowance.

    Percentage expression of the maximal limits of the state aid and of the investment stimuli for Slovak regions from the investment :
    Regions of SR (except BA)
    Project type A
    Project type B
    Project type C
    Maximal percentage limit of total aid
    Maximal percentage limit of total aid
    Maximal percentage limit of total aid
    Green zone
    40
    45
    50
    Yellow zone
    35
    40
    50
    Red zone
    0
    35
    40
    Source : SARIO, Rules for state aid provision

    The allowance provision for newly created jobs is possible to obtain for each working place up to 5 years after the start of the project realization. The investor is obliged to maintain the newly created jobs for a period of at least 5 years from the moment of their creation. The assistance will be provided to a maximum of 30 % of the labour costs per year for every created job.

    Examples of providing subsidies

  • Green and yellow zone, type A and B projects, a minimum of 30 % of the employees will be appointed from the registered job applicants – the maximal amount for one job is 125 thousand SKK.
  • Green zone, projects A and B, a minimum of 30 % of the employees will be appointed from the registered job applicants – the maximal amount for one job is 200 thousand SKK.
  • Type C projects – the allowance for one job is 200 thousand SKK.


    • Percentage expression of the maximal limits of the tax relief for Slovak regions :

    Regions of SR (except BA)
    Project type A
    Project type B
    Project type C
    Maximal percentage limit of total aid
    Maximal percentage limit of total aid
    Maximal percentage limit of total aid
    Green zone
    44
    49.5
    50
    Yellow zone
    38.5
    44
    50
    Red zone
    0
    33
    44
    Source : SARIO, Rules for state aid provision

    The concrete maximum amount of aid is dependent on the concrete types of investment costs (buildings, technologies) and on the sector in which the enterpriser wants to work in Slovakia. This amount of aid, called intensity, expresses 100 % of the total aid allowed by the course of the European Commission directives.

    Maximal limits of allowances for the general education of the employees in SKK per one employee

    General education : the assistance can reach up to 60 % of the eligible employer costs and 70 % in case of a disadvantaged job applicant but maximally the amount of :

      Project type A Project type B Project type C
    Green and yellow zonea SKK 30,000 SKK 40,000 SKK 40,000
    Red zone 0 SKK 30,000 SKK 30,000
    Source : SARIO, Rules for state aid provision

    Maximal limits of allowances for the specific education of the employees in SKK per one employee

    Specific education : the assistance can reach up to 35 % of the eligible employer costs and 40 % in case of a disadvantaged job applicant but maximally the amount of :

      Project type A Project type B Project type C
    Green and yellow zone SKK 50,000 SKK 80,000 SKK 100,000
    Red zone 0 SKK 50,000 SKK 100,000
    Source : SARIO, Rules for state aid provision
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