Overview

• A Special Criminal Court in Pezinok found governor Peter Kažimír guilty of paying a €48,000 bribe to Slovakia’s tax office head in 2017-18
• Judge Milan Cisarik imposed a €200,000 fine after linking the payment to a tax audit of companies owned by a Bratislava luxury villa seller
• Kažimír, a former finance minister under Prime Minister Robert Fico and member of the ECB’s Governing Council, pleaded not guilty but will contest the ruling
• His six-year tenure at the helm of Slovakia’s central bank ends this Sunday, putting his role in key euro-area monetary decisions in doubt
• The conviction follows contested 2024 penal code reforms by Fico’s coalition that reduced corruption penalties and triggered widespread protests