“As a subsidiary of MET Group, we bring Swiss know-how – advanced risk management methods and sophisticated trading products – enabling our industrial clients to actively manage their energy costs,” says György Kovács, CEO of MET Slovakia, which celebrates its 15th anniversary.
MET Slovakia does have a reason to celebrate: the company has become the second strongest player on the Slovak B2B (business-to-business) market. The past 15 years have brought a fundamental transformation – from a local gas trader, MET Group’s subsidiary has grown into a key player with a comprehensive offering that includes electricity and energy efficiency services, with clients ranging from the largest national companies to small local businesses.
“Thanks to the Group, we have achieved real energy diversification. We have access to LNG terminals, and we can bring physical gas supplies to Slovakia from the south and west. This has increased the energy security for our customers, even during the energy crisis,” stresses György Kovács.
Belonging to the Swiss-based MET Group is a key factor in MET Slovakia's success. “It allows us to strategically connect Slovakia with Western energy markets,” explains the CEO.
The 15-year-old MET Slovakia’s annual revenues are in the hundreds of millions of euros. The financial strength of the Group provides the Slovak subsidiary with the necessary financial security and resilience when purchasing on energy exchanges – and this is key to the stability of supplies for industrial clients.
What also profoundly changed the company was the series of crises, especially the Covid pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine. “We had to transform ourselves into crisis managers overnight. Covid-19 brought a shock to demand, which required the immediate digitization of operations, a transition to remote work, and the need for daily flexibility in sales,” recalls György Kovács.
Due to astronomical prices, liquidity management became a daily routine for the Finance team. Risk management grew into the number one priority with stricter client approval. Management adopted agility and quick decision-making, which gave MET Slovakia an advantage over inflexible incumbent giants.
Looking ahead, the CEO is convinced that in 15 years’ time the Slovak subsidiary will no longer be primarily perceived as a gas trader, but as an integrated energy company with a focus on flexibility management. “We will be a more digital company, directly offering green electricity through PPAs (power purchase agreements), guaranteeing the security of carbon-neutral supplies for heavy industry.”
