Commercial Bulletin

What it means

The Commercial Bulletin is the official electronic publication issued by the Slovak Ministry of Justice. It carries notices whose publication is required by law: court filings in bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings, announcements by commercial companies, calls to creditors, auctions and certain court decisions.

Unlike the commercial register, which shows a company's current state, the bulletin records events over time. It tells you, for example, that a company has entered liquidation, that a court has declared bankruptcy or that the general meeting has decided to reduce share capital and is calling on creditors to lodge their claims.

Publication in the bulletin has legal effect. Deadlines start running from the date of publication, for example for filing claims in bankruptcy or asserting claims against a company in liquidation. Nobody can therefore argue that they did not know about the notice. The bulletin is public and searching it is free.

How it works in practice

For a business the bulletin has two sides. The first is an obligation: on liquidation, merger, amalgamation, division or reduction of share capital, the company must publish certain notices, usually through a notary or an electronic filing. A fee is charged for publication, and without it the registry court may not register the change.

The second side is checking business partners. Before long-term cooperation or granting extended payment terms, it is worth checking that the partner is not in bankruptcy, restructuring or liquidation. Many companies set up automatic monitoring through commercial services that alert them to any new notice.

If a partner enters bankruptcy, the deadline for filing a claim runs from publication of the court resolution in the bulletin. Missing it can mean the creditor gets nothing from the bankruptcy estate. With overdue receivables we therefore recommend watching the bulletin regularly, not only once the debtor stops communicating.

What to watch out for

The Commercial Bulletin is often confused with the collection of deeds. The collection holds documents such as financial statements or articles of association, whereas the bulletin is for notices that trigger deadlines. Both obligations can arise from the same event, and neither should be forgotten.

Beware of fraudulent invoices imitating a fee for publication in the bulletin or for entry into various private registers. The publication fee is paid to the state following the instructions given when filing, not on the basis of an unknown invoice that arrives by post after a change is entered in the commercial register.