• Slovnaft operates the largest Slovak chain of Fresh Corner cafés
• another 13 cafés and in the next year 48 cafés will be added to the current 167 operations at 253 service stations this year
• over 20,000 cups of coffee are sold each day in the Fresh Corner chain

BRATISLAVA, 19 October 2018 - Slovnaft is the largest Slovak chain of cafés operating in service stations under the name Fresh Corner. Currently more than 20,000 cups of coffee are sold in 167 operations a day, and another 61 cafés will be added in December and next year. At Fresh Corner, Slovaks have been particularly fond of the quality coffee prepared from over 50 tons of coffee bean every year. The most popular drink is espresso.

Slovnaft opened the first Fresh Corner service stations in July 2015 in Záhorská Bystrica, Lučenec and Vyšný Kubín. Besides fresh coffee, Fresh Corner offers sweet and delicious pastries and snacks. Selected service stations also offer fresh vegetable, fruit salads and healthy drinks – smoothies. At the end of last year, this gastronomic concept grew with the Fresh Corner Restaurant.

Slovnaft invested more than 80 million euros in 2015 in its retail network, including modernization and rebuilding.  This year, for example, the highway service stations in Zeleneč and Dolná Streda were fully reconstructed.   Next year, Slovnaft plans to invest almost €27 million in the retail network.

“Fresh Corner currently represents the brand of the largest café chain in Slovakia. In the Czech Republic and Hungary, we also opened Fresh Corner cafés outside of the service stations and we are also thinking about it in our country,” said Timea Reicher, head of the Slovnaft retail network.

A recent Slovnaft survey focused on the drinking habits of Slovaks showed that coffee is an important part of the lives of up to 90% of respondents, who enjoy it at least once a day. Most people have their coffee right after waking up in the comfort of home. Up to seven out of ten people, when choosing a place to buy coffee, focus on its quality and then on the atmosphere and the price/quality ratio.

• Slovnaft has installed at its service station on Prístavná street in Bratislava the first electric charging station under the NEXT-E project in Slovakia
• by the end of 2018 four more electric vehicle chargers will be added at Slovnaft filling stations
• under the NEXT-E project will to build up 18 electric vehicle charging stations and 7 ultrafast electric vehicle charging stations, many of them at Slovnaft filling stations in Slovakia

BRATISLAVA, 4 September 2018 – The customers of the state-of-the-art service station in the Slovnaft network on Prístavná street in Bratislava can use a new service. Slovnaft has installed here the first electric vehicle charger under the NEXT-E project in Slovakia. Four more electric vehicle stations are to be added in Slovakia´s biggest network of filling stations by the end  of the year. The NEXT-E project supported by the European Union foresees the development of a charging station network for electric vehicles across six Central and Eastern European countries.

The customers can charge their electric vehicles at Slovnaft charging station on Prístavná street using AC connector Type 2  as well as CHAdeMO and CCS DC connectors. Motorists can charge here two cars at the same time, combining electric current with a power of 50 kW and alternating current with a power 22 kW. The charging comfort is provided by the reserved parking spaces marked out by a specific green colour featuring a charging station icon. The estimated charging time per electric vehicle is approximately 30 minutes to charge the battery to 80 %. The service is currently free.

”Our objective under the Strategy 2030 is to provide people on roads with the best and most in-demand  services which currently already include the e-mobility support as well. We intend to transform also this way our retail activities in order to become customers´ first choice,” said SLOVNAFT, a.s., Retail Director Timea Reicher.

The European Commission has selected the NEXT-E project for co-funding via the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) under which 222 fast charging stations and 30 ultrafast charging stations are to be installed in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania and Slovakia. The NEXT-E consortium has been awarded an 18.84 million € grant to develop e-mobility and car owners will be allowed to travel across selected countries by the electric vehicles thanks to this integrated charging station network. The consortium members include the E.ON Group companies (Západoslovenská energetika in Slovakia, the Czech E.ON Czech Republic, the Hungarian E.ON Hungary, the Romanian E.ON Romania), the MOL Group companies (represented by the branches in all the six countries involved), Hrvatska elektroprivreda in Croatia, PETROL (in Slovenia and Croatia), as well as Nissan and BMW.

The NEXT-E project is currently Europe´s one of the largest e-mobility development project and has been awarded one of the highest grants in this area. Totally 18 fast electric and 7 ultrafast electric vehicle charging stations will be build up under the NEXT-E project in Slovakia. The instalment of all the electric charging stations in the six countries will be undertaken by the end of 2020.

• residents and visitors of Bratislava can use the service of shared city bicycles Slovnaft Bajk since today
• 550 smart bikes will be available at 73 docking stations in four capital city districts - Staré Mesto, Nové Mesto, Ružinov and Petržalka
• an unlimited riding program with a duration of up to 30 minutes costs 1 euro

BRATISLAVA, September 7, 2018 - The service of shared bicycles Slovnaft BAjk started today in Bratislava. A new form of public transport will bring faster and cheaper transportation within the capital. The joint project of the capital and Slovnaft was ceremonially launched by the mayor of Bratislava Ivo Nesrovnal and the CEO of Slovnaft Gabriel Szabó.

"After Paris, Vienna or Barcelona, also Bratislava has its bikesharing. Our city will get into the line within other more than 30 countries where this alternative, ecological and fast form of urban transport is provided. I am glad that our effort has brought an effective and modern bicycle rental system that Bratislava residents as well as the city visitors will use in the next years, " said Bratislava Mayor Ivo Nesrovnal.

At the initial start-up phase, 550 smart bikes will be available at 73 docking stations. The number of bicycles and docking stations will gradually increase in the coming weeks. During a first year of its pilot operation, a total of 750 bicycles and 90 stations should be in the streets in our four city districts – Staré Mesto, Nové Mesto, Ružinov and Petržalka. The locations of the stations were selected in such a way that it is possible to connect the users to cycling routes and transitions in the use of Bratislava public transport as easily as possible. Docking stations are located at a distance of approximately 300 to 500 meters. Locations may vary continuously depending on users' interest in this service.

Bicycles for Slovnaft BAjk were produced in the European Union according to the requirements of both project partners. Each bike contains a GPS in addition to a built-in computer to constantly keep track of it. A special aluminum frame ensures a lower weight of the bicycle and thus a more comfortable ride. Enhanced tires are more resistant to defect, and even in the event of damage, the user can take a few hundred meters to bring the bike back to one of the stations. Each bicycle was tested before it was put into operation.

The price for the use of the Bratislava bikesharing will be one euro in the first months. For this symbolic sum, each user will receive an unlimited number of rides of up to 30 minutes and a credit of 1 euro to cover the payment for the trip over the free minutes. After spending of free minutes, the bicycle is charged with 12 cents for the each completed 6-minute drive.

Using bicycles is simple and user-friendly. Before renting a bicycle you need to register at www.slovnaftbajk.sk and pay 1 euro. Subsequently, the interested party will receive by SMS the 8-digit PIN code for the unlocking of the bicycle. With this code you can then borrow a free bike and return it to any Slovnaft BAjk docking station.

"By launching Slovnaft BAjk, we are entering a new business segment and thus fulfill our company's strategy to offer our customers also other, innovative services. I would like to ask all people - cyclists, pedestrians and drivers to be eye-catching and behaving with respect for the sake of maximum safety on the road," said CEO of SLOVNAFT, a.s. Gabriel Szabó.

After the termination of the yearly pilot operation, both partners will evaluate the project and will consider the extension of the bicycle sharing service to other parts of Bratislava. Slovnaft has invested 1.5 million euros into the bikesharing, the capital city investments were approximately 500,000 euros.

• Collection containers are currently available at 162 Slovnaft petrol stations and at three additional locations
• Most of the oil was collected by residents in Bratislava
• The petrol station which collected a record amount of oil is located in Pezinok

BRATISLAVA, August 20, 2018 - The popularity of recycling in Slovakia is increasing, as evidenced by almost doubling year-to-year the collected quantity of used cooking oil as part of the project “Every drop of oil counts”. Through this project Slovnaft collected used cooking oil at 162 petrol stations and three other collection points. This oil is then transferred to the company Meroco, where after cleaning it is used to produce a biofuel component for diesel fuel. In the first half of 2018, the Slovaks handed over 29,000 kilograms of used cooking oil at Slovnaft's collection points.

Compared to the same period last year, the volume of collected used oil has increased to almost double the volume. While in the first half of 2017 the volume of collected oil in the containers marked with the logo “Every drop of oil counts” was 14,900 kilograms of oil, this year it was more than 29,000 kilograms. Used cooking oil can be delivered to 162 Slovnaft petrol stations all over Slovakia, as well as to three other collection points located in Vlčie hrdlo in Bratislava, the Old Market in the centre of the capital and the refinery terminal in Kľačany. Thus, for each individual collection point, there is almost 180 kilograms of oil.

Most of the oil was collected in Bratislava, where Slovnaft has been providing the service for the longest period of time. The citizens of Bratislava are allowed to hand over their oil at 24 petrol stations. In the first half of 2018, these stations collected more than 6.3 tons, which is more than a fifth of all the oil collected. The petrol station with the record amount of oil in the first half of the year is located in Pezinok on Myslenická Street, which has offered an oil collection service since the autumn of 2015. People from Pezinok brought here more than 1.3 tons of oil over the first six months of the year.

The possibility to dispose of used cooking oil from households is currently offered by almost three quarters of all Slovnaft petrol stations. “We are trying to get this service as close as possible to people, so we are assessing every single petrol station and whether it meets the requirements for storing used cooking oil. In cooperation with our partner company Meroco, we will also be able to expand our network of collection points within petrol stations to cities and municipalities where oil is not yet collected” says Anton Molnár, Director of Business and Marketing Communication at SLOVNAFT, a.s.

The used cooking oil is further processed. After cleaning, it is used to produce a biofuel component for diesel fuel. From one litre of cooking oil we are able to produce up to 0.9 litres of biofuel component. Any vegetable oil with the exception of coconut, which solidifies at room temperature, is suitable for collection. It is important to collect such oil in a clean and dry plastic bottle or the original packaging without any food residue, to pour it through a sieve and hand the bottle to the assistant at the petrol station. For every decilitre of delivered oil, Slovnaft's customers will earn one point for the loyalty BONUS Club.

The environmentally orientated project “Every drop of oil counts” was launched by Slovnaft in 2011. Since then this service has expanded from the initial 10 petrol stations to the current 162. Over the course of seven years, more than 94 tonnes of oil have been collected and recycled. Matej Sabol, CEO of Envien Group which Meroco is a part of, adds: “As a biofuel producer, we feel social responsibility and we are interested in solving problems that can cause the inappropriate disposal of used cooking oil. Instead of the oil being put down the kitchen sink and thus burdening the environment or causing problems with pipes and other problems in waste water treatment plants, it will be recycled and used for biofuel production. This is added to diesel fuel, which significantly reduces the amount of CO2 in the exhaust gasses. CO2 has a major and negative impact on climate change, which is a hot topic of global concern for us all. Simply put - from problematic waste in the form of used cooking oil, we can produce a useful product in the form of an ecological fuel.”