From 1 April 2026 regional investment aid is granted in three forms, not four. The contribution for newly created jobs dropped out of the list of forms, and with it the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic dropped out of Section 3 as a provider. What remains is a subsidy for eligible costs, income tax relief, and the transfer or lease of immovable property below the value set by expert appraisal (primary source — Slov-lex, Act 57/2018 Coll., version in force from 1. 4. 2026).
This text assembles the mechanism from two instruments that can only be read together: the act says what is granted and within what time limits, the government regulation says where and how much. It does not state specific minimum investment amounts, because those sit in annexes to the regulation that the open version does not render, and it does not list the least developed districts either.
The first filter is the map, not the amount
Government Regulation 195/2018 Coll. defines three regions in which aid is granted: western Slovakia excluding the Bratislava Region, central Slovakia and eastern Slovakia. The Bratislava Region therefore falls out of regional aid as a whole, irrespective of what the investment project is (primary source — Slov-lex, Government Regulation 195/2018 Coll., version in force from 1. 4. 2026).
Within those regions districts are divided into four zones by the share of available jobseekers compared with the average for the Slovak Republic. Zone A is districts with a share of at most 100 % of the average, zone B districts with a share above 100 % and below 135 %, zone C districts with a share of at least 135 %, and zone D districts that were least developed districts on the day the application was filed.
The classification is not calculated from one figure. Two values are compared: the share in the district of the main place of implementation for the preceding calendar year, and the weighted average of that share with the shares in neighbouring districts, where the weight is the number of working-age inhabitants with permanent residence. The district is then placed by the higher of those two values. For this comparison the four city districts of Košice count as neighbouring.
The consequence is practical and rarely stated: two plots in neighbouring districts may have the same transport links and the same labour pool and still carry a different maximum aid intensity. The difference does not arise from the project but from the zone the district of the main place of implementation falls into in the year the application is filed.
What sets the zone and what intensity investment aid reaches
The zone decides the conditions and the maximum intensity. The specific values for industrial production, technology centres and business service centres sit in Annexes 1 to 3 of the regulation, and the maximum intensities in Annex 6. Those annexes are available in the open version only as files to download, which is why no specific minimum is stated in this text.
What can be stated are the ceilings and the scaling, which are in the text of the regulation itself. Intensity may be increased for micro, small and medium enterprises, by 10 percentage points for territory designated for support from the Just Transition Fund and by a further 10 percentage points for an area under a special regulation, and after all increases it may not exceed 75 % of the total eligible costs (primary source — Slov-lex, Government Regulation 195/2018 Coll., Sections 8 and 9, as of 22. 8. 2026).
For large projects aid does not scale linearly but in bands of eligible costs. The table below shows both regimes under Section 9 of the regulation — the base one and the one that applies where aid is subject to the notification duty under Section 20(3) of the act.
| Band of eligible costs | Base regime | Under the notification duty |
|---|---|---|
| up to 50 million euros | full intensity under the annex | 100 % of intensity |
| up to 55 million euros | 100 % of intensity | 50 % of intensity above 50 million |
| from 55 to 110 million euros | 50 % of intensity | 50 % of intensity up to 100 million |
| above 110 million euros | 0 % of intensity | 34 % of intensity above 100 million |
A separate rule concerns where machinery sits. The share of acquired machines, apparatus and equipment placed at supplementary places of implementation may not exceed 20 % of the acquisition price of all machines included in eligible costs. Spreading production across several locations therefore hits a limit long before the subject comes up at final approval.
Who may apply and who may not
The applicant is a natural person carrying on business or a legal person set up for business that files an application with the Ministry of Economy, has its place of business or seat in Slovakia and is entered in the trade or commercial register. Until the decision granting aid is delivered the recipient counts as an applicant, a distinction on which most later time limits rest.
The act sets out twelve grounds that exclude an applicant. Among them are arrears towards the tax or customs office and on insurance contributions, enforcement proceedings under way, breach of the prohibition of illegal employment in the preceding three years, an undertaking in difficulty or in liquidation, an obligation to repay aid on the basis of a European Commission decision, and investment aid drawn earlier and not returned.
One ground carries its own time limit and is worth noting when planning the filing. Where the applicant is a person obliged to register in the register of public sector partners, it must be entered within 45 working days of filing the application; otherwise the ground is activated. Registration therefore need not precede the application, but it cannot be postponed indefinitely.
The time limits that run after filing
The procedure has several fixed points, all in working days. The Ministry of Economy assesses the regional contribution of the project within 25 working days of delivery of the application. Where the recipient agrees with the offer of investment aid, it submits an acceptance within 20 working days of its delivery (primary source — Slov-lex, Act 57/2018 Coll., Section 15, Section 18, Section 22 and Section 24, as of 22. 8. 2026).
After the decision is issued the centre of gravity shifts to performance. The time limit for starting the acquisition of long-term assets may not exceed 12 months from delivery of the decision granting aid. Where the project expands the capacity of an existing establishment, the recipient must secure growth in production or services of at least 15 % compared with the average of the last three accounting periods.
Where a shortcoming is found, the Ministry of Economy sets a period for remedy of at most 90 working days, and on written request may extend it once by 45 working days. If the remedy is not carried out, it issues a decision cancelling the aid and the aid granted must be returned with interest within 15 working days of delivery of that decision.
Where the limits of this text lie
The act and the regulation are read in the time versions that apply from 1 April 2026 to 31 December 2026. Both instruments have further versions in Slov-lex with effect from 1 January 2027 and one more from 31 December 2030, so the construction described above has a defined end of validity.
The change of 1 April 2026 was brought by two instruments: Act 30/2026 Coll., whose Article XIII deleted the contribution for newly created jobs from the forms of aid and the Ministry of Labour from the list of providers, and Government Regulation 48/2026 Coll., which carried the same change into the regulation and at the same time inserted Section 10b (primary source — Slov-lex, Act 30/2026 Coll., promulgated 27. 2. 2026).
The new Section 10b is the one place where the geography turns around. Extraordinary investment aid for securing sufficient production capacity in clean technology sectors divides districts into zone M1, made up of the districts of the regions under Section 1, and zone M2, made up of the districts of the Bratislava Region. The Bratislava Region is therefore excluded from regional aid, yet in this single instrument it has a zone of its own (primary source — Slov-lex, Government Regulation 48/2026 Coll., promulgated 31. 3. 2026).
What to watch
Three things can be watched without any estimate, and each has a specific place where it will appear. The first is the version in force from 1 January 2027: both instruments already have a further version prepared in Slov-lex, and that is where it will show whether the construction of the forms of aid changes again.
The second is the annexes to the regulation. The minimum values for investment and for the number of jobs sit in Annexes 1 to 3 and the maximum intensities in Annex 6; changing them does not change the text of the regulation but changes the whole calculation. Anyone planning to file needs the version of the annex valid in the year of filing, not the one seen earlier.
The third is the classification of a district into a zone. The share of available jobseekers is compared for the calendar year preceding the year the application is delivered, so the same plot may belong to a different zone depending on the year in which the application is filed. On a project with long preparation that is a variable which moves without any action by the investor.
Zdroje a dáta
Primary sources: Slov-lex — Act 57/2018 Coll. on regional investment aid in two time versions, in force from 1 January 2025 to 31 March 2026 and from 1 April 2026 to 31 December 2026, and Government Regulation 195/2018 Coll. in force from 1 April 2026. Comparing the two versions serves solely to establish which forms of aid and which providers dropped out.
Further, Slov-lex — Act 30/2026 Coll., promulgated on 27 February 2026, whose Article XIII amends the act on regional investment aid, and Government Regulation 48/2026 Coll., promulgated on 31 March 2026. Both were read in their promulgated versions. No advisory or media analysis was consulted.
Annexes 1 to 3 and Annex 6 of the regulation appear in the open version only as files to download, which is why this text states no minimum investment amount, no minimum number of jobs and no specific maximum intensity by region. The list of least developed districts was not verified, so zone D is described only through the definition in the regulation. The page of the Ministry of Economy devoted to investment aid was not available at the addresses checked, so the whole description of the procedure rests on the text of the act.
This material is a general analysis of published rules. It is not legal, tax, immigration or financial advice.