MORNING NEWS HIGHLIGHTS - Tuesday, 10 March 2026 - 9 a.m.

TASR brings a quick morning overview of the most important events seen in Slovakia on the previous day (Monday, 9 March): BRATISLAVA - The Office for the Regulation of Network Industries (URSO) is immediately launching a legislative procedure to amend a decree aimed at reducing energy prices for Slovak industry, TASR reported on Monday. Following strategic talks with the Economy Ministry and key industrial unions, URSO announced it will first focus on amending the electricity price decree, which is slated to come into force as early as 1 July this year. In an effort to safeguard Slovak industry, the participants adopted a joint package of demands addressed to the European Commission, calling for a fundamental reform of the single market and a review of discriminatory energy exchange rules. Slovakia should also be allowed to subsidise commodity prices. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Economy Ministry, the Industrial Unions and Transport Association (APZD), the Metallurgy and Mining Association, the Association of Employers' Unions (AZZZ) and the Republican Union of Employers (RUZ). BRATISLAVA - In connection with the situation in the Middle East, chairman of the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party Michal Simecka has called on Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) to explain how he'll ensure that Slovak drivers won't pay more for petrol than Czechs or Poles, for example. "This is what Fico promised, because drivers are no longer interested in excuses, conflicts, and threats against Ukraine that he will block its loan or admission into the European Union," the PS leader told a press conference on Monday. "They're interested in what he'll do so that we won't pay more for petrol. And he doesn't know," said the PS chair, adding that there are several options. "There are things that they should have done two and a half years ago. That means diversifying supplies. He can pressure Slovnaft to reduce its margins," suggested Simecka, pointing out that Fico's acquaintance Miroslav Lajcak sits on the supervisory board of this company. PEZINOK - Marian K. [name abbreviated due to legal reasons], who is facing charges of ordering the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak, as well as the planned murders of prosecutors, stated at his main trial at the Specialised Criminal Court (STS) in Pezinok (Bratislava region) on Monday that he's never ordered a murder. "I've never ordered a murder. I've never tasked anyone with carrying out such an act. I've never used violence in my life," claimed Marian K. According to him, none of the accusations in the indictment are true. "I never gave Alena Zs. or anyone else money to carry out these acts. It isn't true," he stressed. According to the defendant, communications from the Threema application shouldn't be used to fill gaps in evidence, and the law-enforcement authorities have adopted a biased approach when interpreting the content. Prosecutor of the Prosecutor-General's Office Peter Kysel has declined to evaluate Monday's interrogation in detail. "The defendant denied committing these acts from the beginning, so the testimony is in that spirit," said Kysel. He didn't want to comment on the defence's tactics, either. "That's not my role; I can only evaluate that in my closing arguments," he said. BRATISLAVA - Patients last year rated the National Institute of Children's Diseases (NUDCH) in Bratislava as the best faculty and university hospital, while the highest rating for general hospitals went to the Bratislava-based University Hospital — St Michael's Hospital (UN-NsM), according to a hospital ranking based on evaluations by policyholders of private health-insurer Dovera. Dovera's chief executive Martin Kultan presented the results at a press conference on Monday. The highest-ranked institution among specialised medical facilities was St. Elizabeth's Oncology Institute in Bratislava. In the category of other health-care facilities, patients gave the best rating to the National Institute of Children's Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases in Dolny Smokovec. The Specialist Psychiatric Treatment Institute in Predna Hora ranked top among psychiatric hospitals. BRATISLAVA - Slovakia's construction output amounted to €444.7 million in January 2026, down by almost 2 percent year-on-year (y-o-y) in fixed prices, the Statistics Office reported on Monday, adding that the domestic construction output posted slight y-o-y growth of 1 percent despite the winter season. Seasonally adjusted, construction output fell by 5.4 percent from December 2025. The overall result was positively influenced by a 2.3-percent y-o-y increase in the dominant domestic new construction. Meanwhile, repairs and maintenance construction work fell by 5 percent, dampening domestic construction output. The total output was positively influenced by other construction work, although it remained relatively insignificant in terms of its share. BRATISLAVA - The proposals for zoning the Tatra National Park (TANAP), the Low Tatra National Park (NAPANT), the Mala Fatra National Park and the Poloniny National Park put Slovakia's natural resources in danger, opposition MP Tamara Stohlova (Progressive Slovakia/PS) told a press conference on Monday, adding that none of the proposals meet the quality requirements set out in the recovery plan. "All the zoning proposals submitted are so sloppy and poorly prepared that they threaten the very essence of the existence of Slovak national parks. High winds and natural disasters are nothing compared to [Environment Minister] Tomas Taraba [a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee] and his fellow developers," stated Stohlova. The opposition MP described the proposal to move valuable national park areas into zone D, which is the least strictly protected zone, as the most audacious step. She stated that areas with this protection level are used for built-up areas and areas marked by human activity. "The important thing is that the transfer to zone D will allow these state-owned lands to be sold to private individuals. We can prepare for another wave of privatisation, like what we saw in the 1990s," she said. ko