63% of Slovaks Trust Companies, but One in Five Will Never Forgive Their Past

Companies with a history of corruption scandals or unethical business practices have a chance to regain public trust—but only under certain conditions. This follows from a representative survey by the Business Leaders Forum (BLF) and the Focus agency, titled Public Perception of Responsible Business in Slovakia. The survey has been conducted every two years since 2004, with the latest results collected in June 2025.*

Unethical Past vs. Responsible Business

For the first time, the survey examined under what circumstances the public would consider companies or financial groups with a problematic past to be socially responsible.

More than one-third of respondents (35%) believe that “if the original management involved in scandals has been replaced and the new management operates responsibly, then we can consider the company socially responsible.”

Over one-fifth (22%) would trust a company “if the company or its owners publicly acknowledge past mistakes, apologize for them, and conduct business responsibly.”

According to 15% of respondents, “if the scandals took place years ago and the company now operates responsibly, we can consider it socially responsible.”

“On the other hand, one in five respondents (20%) is convinced that such a company will remain untrustworthy forever, no matter what it does,” concludes Martin Slosiarik, director of the Focus agency. The remaining respondents were unable to express an opinion on the relationship between corruption scandals, unethical business, and social responsibility.

People Trust Companies

“A new element in this year’s survey was the question of how much the Slovak public trusts institutions to address major societal challenges. Alongside local governments, companies received the highest level of trust,” says Ivana Vagaská, executive director of BLF. Nearly two-thirds of people in Slovakia trust these two types of institutions (65% and 63%).

At the same time, the majority of respondents believe that companies should, in addition to generating profit, engage in activities beyond legal obligations such as protecting the environment, caring for employees, supporting local communities, and communicating transparently. This view is held by as many as 91% of Slovaks.

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More than half of respondents (57%) said they care whether the company whose products or services they purchase is socially responsible. “Specifically, 9% actively search for this information, and another 48% do not actively seek it but notice it in companies’ communication and advertising,” adds Martin Slosiarik from Focus.

When selecting from a list of societal issues in which companies should be most engaged, respondents most frequently prioritized:

environmental protection and climate change mitigation (47%)
support for physical and mental health (45%)
combating corruption, ethics, and transparency (44%)
improving the quality of life of socially and medically disadvantaged groups (38%)
support for education (31%)
care for seniors (25%)

The most frequently mentioned responsible companies named spontaneously were Lidl, Kaufland, Tesco, Orange, and Slovak Telekom, all members of the Business Leaders Forum. “Retail and telecommunications companies are most commonly associated with responsible business in Slovakia. These are companies that communicate their philanthropic activities and other aspects of responsible business consistently and are active in educating the public and strengthening individual responsibility,” explains Ivana Vagaská.

What Do We Associate with Responsible Business?

Equally important is what people imagine when they hear that a company does business responsibly. More than half of respondents identified healthy and safe working conditions as the most important factor (60%).

Other key activities included:

honesty in business practices (47%)
clear, honest, and open communication with customers (46%)
work–life balance for employees (43%)
environmental protection (37%)
employee development, education, and retraining (36%)
good relationships with suppliers (32%)
support for science, research, education, and cooperation with schools (22%)
offering ecological products or services for disadvantaged groups (20%)
diversity and inclusion in the workplace (19%)
philanthropy and support for the region where the company operates (19%)
employee volunteering in local communities (19%)

*The representative quantitative survey was conducted among Slovak residents aged 18+ between June 9 and June 16, 2025, on a sample of 1,016 respondents. Full survey results are available exclusively to member companies of the Business Leaders Forum.