Business

Tougher sanctions for food safety Business in short Locked

THE CABINET approved stricter penalties for food retailers on March 3. If the proposal is passed by parliament sanctions against retailers for violating Slovakia’s Food Code will increase in May and several new requirements for sales of food items will be added as well, the SITA newswire reported. 8 Mar 2010 Compiled by Spectator staff The Slovak Spectator

Statistics Office releases newest data Business in short Locked

SLOVAKIA’S GDP in the last quarter of 2009 reached €16.521 billion, down 2.6 percent year-on-year in constant prices but an increase of 2 percent from the third quarter, according to data released by Slovakia’s Statistics Office in early March. 8 Mar 2010 Compiled by Spectator staff The Slovak Spectator

Electricity exports cut from Ukraine Business in short Locked

ELECTRICITY exports from Ukraine to EU members Hungary, Romania and Slovakia were halted on March 1 for at least a month due to an apparent coal shortage, an energy official for that country said. Ukraine’s Fuel and Energy Ministry spokesman, Fent Di, said the shutoff, which could end by April 1, occurred because no Ukrainian firms put in bids to sell the electricity due to a coal shortage in Ukraine, the SITA newswire reported. 8 Mar 2010 Compiled by Spectator staff The Slovak Spectator

SPP asks Gazprom for compensation Business in short Locked

THE RUSSIAN gas giant Gazprom, which holds a monopoly in export of Russian natural gas, will, according to news reports, try to reach an out-of-court settlement with Slovakia’s gas utility SPP on compensation for damages caused by last year’s gas crisis when gas was halted due to a dispute between Russia and Ukraine. 8 Mar 2010 Compiled by Spectator staff The Slovak Spectator

Tolls return to main roads Locked

MARCH not only has brought back electronic toll charges on Slovakia’s selected first category roads but has also apparently melted the determination of some highway truckers to continue protesting against what they call a poorly-tuned system to collect those tolls. 8 Mar 2010 Beata Balogová The Slovak Spectator

Courtesy of Dexia

Solid business for sale THE FRENCH-Belgian Dexia group is seeking a new majority shareholder for its subsidiary company in Slovakia, Dexia banka Slovensko (DBS), before October 2012 in order to comply with an agreement it reached with the European Commission regarding the reorganisation of the group and the improvement of Dexia Group’s balance sheet. Stefaan Depaepe, CEO of Dexia banka Slovensko, is convinced that the new majority shareholder will acquire a solid banking operation in Slovakia, one with a unique business model. The Slovak Spectator spoke to Depaepe about the developments that led up to the agreement between Dexia Group and the EC leading to the future divestiture of its Slovak banking business. 1 Mar 2010 Adam Valček The Slovak Spectator

Activists protest against oil pipeline Business in short ACTIVISTS grouped within a civil initiative called ‘No to The Oil Pipeline Through Žitný Ostrov’, which opposes the planned construction of an oil pipeline between Slovakia and Austria across Žitný ostrov, have met with Economy Minister Ľubomír Jahnátek to discuss possible alternatives for the project, the TASR newswire reported. Žitný ostrov is an area in south-west Slovakia where important drinking-water reservoirs are located. 1 Mar 2010 Compiled by Spectator staff The Slovak Spectator

Passenger numbers drop at BTS Airport Business in short BRATISLAVA’s M.R. Štefánik Airport (BTS) handled 91,321 passengers in January 2010, a drop of 10 percent year-on-year, BTS spokesperson Dana Madunická told the TASR newswire on February 22. Lower figures were recorded for both international and domestic air transport. The drop in domestic passengers is in line with a long-term trend at the airport, despite an increase in the number of flights and destinations. 1 Mar 2010 Compiled by Spectator staff The Slovak Spectator

Burger King to open in Slovakia Business in short THE BURGER King chain of fast food restaurants based in the US and operating worldwide will open its first facility in Slovakia at the end of March 2010 at the Eurovea complex along the Danube River, the web portal aktualne.sk wrote on February 20. 1 Mar 2010 Compiled by Spectator staff The Slovak Spectator

Spring won't thaw jobless rate JANUARY’S jobless figures have only confirmed that the instincts of those market watchers who advised Slovaks to keep their optimism – somewhat kindled by improving GDP figures – under check were correct as the recent reports on labour market developments were quite dismal. 1 Mar 2010 Beata Balogová The Slovak Spectator

15,300 foreigners worked in Slovakia in 2009 Business in short BY THE end of 2009 there were around 15,300 foreigners working legally in Slovakia, according to the Centre of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, the SITA newswire reported. 22 Feb 2010 Compiled by Spectator staff The Slovak Spectator

Slovakia drew €520 million in EU assistance Business in short SLOVAKIA drew €519.812 million from EU funds in the period from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2009, with the state budget’s co-financing amounting to €93.25 million. The country has therefore used 4.58% of EU sources allocated for all operational programmes in this programming period. This is according to a report on implementation and drawing of resources from the EU’s Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund on the basis of operational programmes in Slovakia's National Strategic Reference Framework in the second half of last year, the SITA newswire reported. 22 Feb 2010 Compiled by Spectator staff The Slovak Spectator

Resurrection of a mammoth? Railway reorganisation alarms antitrust office IT TOOK several years for the previous government to dismantle the onetime railway goliath, Železnice Slovenskej Republiky (ŽSR), into three independent businesses. Now the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico is toying with the idea of reassembling the national railway giant by bringing the current railway network operator and the passenger and cargo transport companies under one roof. The country’s antitrust authority instantly said there were problems with the plan, suggesting that it not only goes against the spirit of liberalisation and discriminates against other competitors in the railway market, but that it also will attract unwanted attention from the European Commission. The Transportation Ministry said that its goal is to interconnect the state-run railway companies under one holding company with three subsidiaries by January 1, 2011 in order to coordinate the management of the railway companies so that state funds are used more effectively. 22 Feb 2010 Beata Balogová The Slovak Spectator

SITA

Quarterly advance in GDP brings hope MANY Slovaks do not need graphs or stats to know that the country’s economy is still frail and that market watchers are talking only about a gradual economic recovery that will not relieve many people of their job anxieties over the near-term. Nevertheless, statistical data on the country’s better economic performance in the last quarter of 2009 did please many economic analysts, especially since Slovakia surpassed its regional cohorts and, to some extent, other countries in the eurozone. 22 Feb 2010 Beata Balogová The Slovak Spectator

Imports of used cars prevail over new Business in short IN JANUARY 2010, over 4,000 individually imported used cars and small utility vehicles of up to 3.5 tons were registered in Slovakia, down 14.55 percent year-on-year. 15 Feb 2010 Compiled by Spectator staff The Slovak Spectator

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