When it comes to BTL in Slovakia, one city seems to have a major advantage...

According to Petra Gajdosikova Managing director of Slovakia Investment Property, Buyers looking to invest in Slovakia should look to the capital city Bratislava. Mr Gajdosikova explained: “For the most part Slovakians own their property rather than renting it, but the capital being the exception to this rule.

"For there to be a rental market you need a lot of expat companies and students and so on, so Bratislava has always had the best rental market. Some investors are still tempted by property elsewhere in the country because of its lower price, but western buyers of rental property in central and eastern Europe were often surprised by just how high a rent they were able to charge.

In a recent interview, EC Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquín Almunia praised Slovakia’s economic convergence, as well as the changeover process in Malta. He commented, “Slovakia has achieved a high degree of sustainable economic convergence and is ready to adopt the euro on 1 January, 2009.

“However, to ensure that the adoption of the euro is a success, Slovakia must pursue its efforts to maintain a low-inflation environment, be more ambitious with regard to budgetary consolidation and strengthen its competitiveness position. It must also now speed up its practical preparations to ensure that the changeover takes place smoothly, as it did in Cyprus and Malta in January 2008."