Slovenské elektrárne, a.s., the largest electricity producer in Slovakia, has successfully entered the European green bond market. The first publicly tradable international issue for €750 million attracted extraordinary interest from investors – initial demand exceeded €4.8 billion, which is a clear sign of the market’s confidence in the company’s stability, transparency and sustainable heading.
The company thus borrowed funds from investors for seven years with an interest rate of 3.875%. The bonds came to market on 21 November 2025, the bonds are listed on the Euronext Dublin exchange and have a BBB rating from S&P and Fitch.
“Slovenské elektrárne’s debt was refinanced at the beginning of 2025 and our company enjoys the confidence of financial markets. This is our first foray into the green bond market on the international level. It will enable us to reduce the financing cost of increasing our competitiveness while giving due consideration to nature and the low carbon footprint of our powerplants,”
Branislav Strýček, Chairman and CEO of Slovenské elektrárne, a.s.
Around 300 investors placed orders and the strong interest enabled the electricity producer to reduce its borrowing costs.
By geographical origin, the largest group of investors was from the United Kingdom and from Ireland (42%), followed by Germany, Austria and Switzerland (18%), the rest of Europe (11%), the BeNeLux countries (11%), southern Europe (8%), the rest of the World (6%) and France (5%).
“Initial price guidance was set at 180 basis points but demand kept building and the spread was ultimately tightened to 140 basis points over mid swap*, with demand at €4.2 billion. It was the second largest investor interest in a corporate bond issue in Central Europe.”
Lukáš Maršálek, first vice chairman of the board of directors and Chief Director of Procurement, Services and International Relations at Slovenské elektrárne, a.s.
* Mid swap – the midpoint between the ask and bid prices for interest rate swaps. A spread of MS+140 basis points means that the interest rate of the bond is 1.4% higher than the current mid-swap for bonds with a maturity of 7 years.
In terms of investor type, a majority were investment funds (79%), followed by banks and private banks (7%), insurance corporations and pension funds (7%), hedge funds (6%) and other (1%).
The net proceeds will be allocated to finance or refinance eligible green projects in line with Green Finance Framework.
The S&P Global Ratings agency rated the company as “medium green” in the Green Finance Framework, which confirms that it is aligned with the international principles of green bonds and the European taxonomy. Furthermore, an independent report will be prepared each year detailing how the funds were used.
