Act No. 497/2022 Coll. on the Screening of Foreign Investments and on amendments to certain acts, adopted by the National Council of the Slovak Republic on 29 November 2022 and promulgated in the Zbierka zákonov on 23 December 2022, established Slovakia's first horizontal ex-ante foreign-direct-investment screening regime. The Act took effect on 1 March 2023, transposing EU Regulation 2019/452 into Slovak law and replacing the prior sector-specific approach under Act No. 45 on critical infrastructure. Screening is administered by the Ministry of the Economy of the Slovak Republic across three procedures (mandatory, voluntary, and ex officio) and covers transactions in defence, dual-use, critical infrastructure, critical raw materials, biotechnology, AI, semiconductors and other emerging technologies. The Ministry can prohibit, condition or unwind non-compliant transactions and impose administrative penalties.

Analyst notesShow

Mechanism

Act No. 497/2022 Coll. is Slovakia's first horizontal statutory FDI-screening regime. Prior to 1 March 2023 there was no general FDI control law; protective review was confined to specific sectoral statutes (notably Act No. 45/2011 on critical infrastructure, which covered only a narrow set of designated critical-infrastructure entities and did not apply to acquisitions of ownership stakes more broadly).

The Act establishes three screening tracks:

1. Mandatory screening for "critical foreign investments" — transactions in highly sensitive sectors (defence, dual-use items, designated critical infrastructure, media of significance, certain AI / biotech / quantum / space / nuclear / semiconductor activities) where the foreign investor acquires a qualifying stake or material influence. 2. Voluntary notification for transactions that fall outside the mandatory category but in sensitive sectors (e.g., critical raw materials, energy, cybersecurity, financial-system utilities) — used to obtain legal certainty. 3. Ex officio screening for any foreign investment when there is a reasonable presumption it may threaten or disrupt security or public order, exercisable up to two years after closing (five years in the case of evaded mandatory notification).

The Ministry of the Economy of the Slovak Republic ("MH SR") is the lead authority; reviews are conducted in coordination with the Slovak Information Service (SIS), Military Intelligence, Police, and other line ministries via an interagency consultation procedure. The Ministry can clear, attach conditions, prohibit, or order divestment of completed transactions. Civil penalties for gun-jumping or non-compliance run up to 2% of the foreign investor's worldwide annual turnover (or up to EUR 100,000 for less serious breaches).

The Act simultaneously amends Act No. 45/2011 on critical infrastructure and the Trade Licensing Act to align with the new screening architecture and to embed cooperation with the EU FDI cooperation mechanism under Regulation 2019/452.

Downstream implications

Slovakia hosts substantial foreign automotive FDI (Volkswagen Bratislava,

Kia Žilina, Stellantis Trnava, Jaguar Land Rover Nitra). The Act's defence + dual-use + critical-infrastructure scope will primarily affect cross-border deals in EV-supply-chain components, semiconductor packaging, and battery-cell facilities where third-country (esp. Chinese) acquirers are now subject to mandatory notification.

Closes a long-standing EU-coordination gap: Slovakia was one of the last

CEE EU member states without horizontal FDI screening, joining Czechia (Act 34/2021), Hungary (LVIII/2020), Poland (Act of 24 July 2015 as amended), Romania (OUG 46/2022 / Law 164/2023) in implementing Regulation 2019/452.

Mid-2024 the Ministry of the Economy issued its first annual application

report (period 1 March – 31 December 2023): average procedural time 58.8 calendar days; average in-depth screening 94.75 days. Throughput is meaningful — the Act is operational, not a paper regime.