Dissolution of Czechoslovakia
On 1 January 2009 Slovakia adopted the Euro as its currency with the exchange rate of 30.126 SK/€, and the €2 commemorative coin for 2009, Slovakia's first, featured the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in remembrance of the common struggle of the Czechoslovak people for democracy. By a quirk of fate, the welcoming speech on the behalf of the European Union on the occasion of Slovakia's entry to the Eurozone was delivered by Mirek Topolánek, the prime minister of the then-EU presiding country, the Czech Republic, naturally in his native language while other guest speakers used English. The Czech Republic continues to use the Czech koruna, or crown.
UniCredit Bank Slovakia
UniCredit Bank Slovakia was a Slovak bank, formed by the merger of HVB Bank Slovakia and UniBanka in 2007, both owned by Italy-based UniCredit Group. In 2013 it was absorbed by UniCredit Bank Czech Republic, forming UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia.
UniBanka, formerly known as Pol'nobanka, was a Slovak bank headquartered in Bratislava. An additional 51% shares was acquired from Slovenska Poistovna in May 2000 by UniCredit. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development was a minority shareholder of the bank, for 20% stake. Before the acquisition, UniCredit (at that time known as Unicredito Italiano) already owned 5.43% shares, which was previously owned by Unicredito.