Are foreigners allowed to invest by directly purchasing a commercial real estate asset?
The opportunities for foreigners to acquire real estate in the Slovak Republic used to be severely limited. Since the Slovak Republic joined the European Union (1 May 2004), these restrictions have been significantly liberalized. Foreigners can now acquire ownership of real estate located in Slovakia including agricultural land and forest.
The Foreign Exchange Act defines a 'foreigner' (cudzozemec) as a non-resident individual or legal entity.
However, there are some exceptions relating to the ownership of real estate whereby acquisition by foreigners is restricted by virtue of specific legislation (reciprocity principle). For example, legislation provides that the ownership of the agricultural land may not be acquired by a country, a citizen of a country, a natural person with residence or a legal entity with its registered seat in a country, whose legislation does not allow citizens of the Slovak Republic, natural persons with residence in the Slovak Republic or legal entities with their registered seats in the Slovak Republic to acquire ownership of agricultural land. This does not apply to inheritance and to the states of the European Union, the European Economic Area, Switzerland, or the states for which it follows from the international agreement by which the Slovak Republic is bound.
Act No. 497/2022 Coll. on Screening of Foreign Direct Investments entered into force as of 1 March 2023 which stipulates new mechanism for transactions from abroad to Slovak critical infrastructure entities (targets). The FDI Act applies to foreign investments, ie investments planned or implemented by a foreign investor that will enable the foreign investor to directly or indirectly acquire ownership right to use or dispose of the substantial assets of the target.