Archive of articles - July 1996, page 4

Slovenské Elektrárne corrals $150 million syndicate loan

Answers to temporary office needs

It must have been easier in the "olden days" when all anyone needed to set up an office was a desk, a pen, and a few sheets of paper. In today's world of computer links, fax machines, and telephone networks, it's not so easy - especially in Slovakia. There are a few places around, however, that can help by renting either office equipment or fully-equipped office space. One caveat: most of the "leasing" companies in Slovakia don't actually rent equipment, be it a car or a computer. Instead, they are financiers, providing loans to customers to purchase a specific item - sort of like a third-party installment plan. According to B.O.F. Leasing of Bratislava, interest rates are determined on a case-by-case basis, depending on the item to be purchased, the length of the lease, and so on.

Bystrica's view can't be beat

It means more opportunities

o have our own team at the Olympics is a grand occasion. It is not easy to describe the feeling, but to get this chance, to see the sportsmen and women from our little country marching with all those from the nations of the world in the Olympic stadium is fantastic. All my life I hoped there would be a team carrying our independent flag, and I am happy to have lived to see it. I probably do not fully appreciate it yet. Sports help to create a country's image. The very presentation of those young people marching.... I think those people present at the stadium and the millions in front of TV sets will see that somewhere in central Europe, under the Tatra mountains, there is a country that has adept, young people who have been able to make it.

Slovakofarma is stable, though pricey

After a correctional period, activity on the Slovak capital market increased, culminating on July 11 when the SAX index reached a year's high of 221.5 as a result of gains in Slovnaft, VSŽ and VÚB. Slovnaft again reached par value of 1,000 Sk, stabilizing slightly below this. The recently announced syndicated loan and other loans from the London branch of ING Barings and Merril Lynch should stimulate investors' interest in the refinery. The share should remain above 1,000 Sk in the long term. VSŽ firmed up at 700 Sk. But do not expect this price to rise considerably in the near future since investors currently are not paying much more than 700 Sk per share.

NBS wisely ups repo rate to avoid inflation jump

At the end of last month, the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) tightened its monetary policy, increasing the repo rate - a short-term loan rate for commercial banks - by a total of 0.7 percentage points in two stages and adding over 1 percentage point to the return rates for its treasury bills. While the increases may seem small, they signal that the Bank wants to keep inflation in check. The NBS is worried that as commercial bank business picks up, the "M2" money supply has been growing too fast. The Bank wants to limit the annual growth rate to around 11 percent, but the amount of M2 money in circulation grew at an annual rate of 21.2 percent in April; by May, it jumped to 22.8 percent. "The NBS decided to raise the rates based on unwanted developments in the M2," said NBS spokesman Ján Onda. "The M2 is doing poorly and is much higher than we had expected."

Alleged coalition supporter gets last radio license

Hague tribunal issues warrants for Karadzic, Mladic

Bratislava International Cuisine

Franchising fever sweeps the nation

It was less than two months ago that McDonald's, the 40-year-old restaurant chain with 12,000 partners around the world, announced it was starting to look for its first Slovak franchisees. About the same time, two Slovak restaurants debuted, Chick 'n' Chips in Žilina and Twisteak House in Bratislava. They promptly announced that they too intend to shop around for individual owners. That's not to say the apprentice has caught up with the master, but it is a sign that some Slovak entrepreneurs are taking the concept of franchising and applying it to their business. Franchising is so new to this country that the Slovak Association of Franchisers, founded two years ago, has only eight members.

Spielberg's "Peacemaker" films in capital

Mafiosi, fast driving, exploding cars and intrigue. It sounds like just another day in Slovakia. Only this time it's all happening in front of the cameras as part of filming for "The Peacemaker," the first film from Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks company scheduled to be released in September 1997. Described by the film's publicity manager Bob Werden as a "high adventure, dramatic film about nuclear weapons smuggling," the feature-length movie stars George Clooney (an actor on the hit U.S. TV drama "ER") as Colonel Thomas Devoe of U.S. Army Special Forces and Nicole Kidman as Dr. Julia Kelly, a nuclear physicist and head of the White House Nuclear Smuggling Group.

Community Grapevine

In sports, borders are meaningless

Most of our history in the world's most prestigious sporting event has been as part of Czechoslovakia, in its various pre-war, people's democratic and socialist incarnations. Now, however, we are on our own. The games of the XXVIth summer Olympiad will see the Czech Republic and Slovakia compete as independent countries for the first time after 75 years of our common history. There are a plethora of opinions on the merits and drawbacks of the separation, but most sportsmen and sportswomen from both sides of the Morava River regret the split - it was in sports that the endeavours of the two republics were most closely intertwined and where the border was meaningless. The star of Czech athletics, Jan Železny from Mladá Boleslav, a clear favorite for gold in the javelin at Atlanta, spent his early sporting years in Banská Bystrica, his wife's birthplace.

Japanese investors waiting and watching Sony

When Sony announced in April that it would invest 420 million Sk ($14 million) over two years into a new factory in the western Slovak city of Trnava, it signalled a potentially bright future for investments from the land of the rising sun. But Slovakia has hardly been aggressive in following up on the breakthrough deal, continuing to let the country sell itself on the basis of a few pat attributes, its positive macroeconomic indicators, and select success stories that are cited ad nausea. Such a laissez-faire approach to persuasion is not enough for potential investors who expect not just royal pampering, but also substantive incentives.

Kežmarok shines in the shadow of the High Tatras

Kežmarok is probably the only town in Slovakia with a castle that just didn't belong. It seems strange, but when the Zápoľský family built the ring of stone on flat ground in the center of the town back in 1463, Kežmarok's inhabitants looked at it suspiciously, curious what the lords of the manor were up to. They were right to wonder, for the residents of the little fortress - which looks like it wouldn't last long in the face of a hostile invasion - tried to take over control of the free royal town. But the citizens of Kežmarok resisted, ignoring the new aristocracy that ensconced itself between the squat painted houses of the old market street and the artisans guilds. The town and the castle warred for 250 years, the story claims, fighting a battle of street fights and riots.

Finance Ministry slaps PSIS again after company votes to liquidate itself

The Ministry of Finance and the PSIS investment company are at each other's throats again. Three weeks after PSIS's shareholders agreed to liquidate the company, they received a notice from Deputy Finance Minister Jozef Magula informing them that the Ministry had seized the firm's license to operate. This is the second time Magula has decided PSIS was breaking the rules. The first time the Ministry removed PSIS's license on the grounds that the company was misleading its shareholders by its offer to buy their coupon booklets from the then-second wave of coupon privatization. PSIS representatives filed a complaint with the Supreme Court and won.

Minister of Economy favors electricity price increase now

State arms workers protest in front of Mečiar's office

Kováč: failure to get into EU, NATO lies with Mečiar