Archive of articles - November 1996

Around Slovakia

Rabies outbreak infects villageBorder police nab car smugglersSynagogue reportedly damaged by skinheadsNew drug addiction treatment center opensBears run rampant in search for food

Daily gutted after clash with owner

A simmering dispute between a head-strong editor-in-chief trying to establish an independent newspaper and VSŽ, Slovakia's largest company which had acquired 100 percent ownership in the publishing venture, came to a boil one time too many on November 14. The board of directors of NOFRA, the publishers of the financial newspaper Národná Obroda, fired Tatiana Repková as the daily's chief editor and chairwoman of NOFRA's board.The board also removed Peter Mačinga as Národná Obroda's marketing director. Ivo Nittman, formerly Národná Obroda's assistant editor, succeeded Repková as editor-in-chief, while the new head of NOFRA's board will be Nina Rašiová, until now director of Lúč, a regional daily paper whose majority owner is the east Slovak steel works VSŽ.

Ex-Minister Hudek brings VÚB clout, controversy

Slovak and foreign financial analysts in Slovakia have nothing positive to say about former Interior Minister Ľudovít Hudek's appointment two months ago to the Board of Directors of Všeobecna Úverova Banka (VÚB), the country's most powerful bank."There is only one way to speak of this matter," said a Slovak analyst working for a Western investment firm in Bratislava. "I'm sure the outcome will be completely negative."VÚB's appointment of Hudek - a member of the leading government party Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) who left his ministerial post under fire in September for failing to adequately supervise the police - strengthens the bank's ties with the government, analysts said, but it weakens its reputation with Slovak citizens and its peers in the industry.

Letter to the Editor: Slovak Telecom for the record

Czech half of CSAEF sold off to private entity

"Living room real estate agencies"proliferate, but few are real pros

Following the 1989 fall of Communism, real estate agencies sprouted up all over Slovakia. Some blossomed into professional deal-brokers, others wilted due to lack of resources. The preponderance of agencies is largely due to the fact that anyone who has a general trade license can sell or lease real estate. They do not need to be specifically licensed as a real estate agent. Illustrating this point are the nearly 300 real estate agencies listed in Bratislava business registries. The biggest agencies are united in the Association of Realty Offices of Slovakia (ARKS), which has 20 members, and the Union of Real Estate Offices of the Slovak Republic (ZRKSR), which has 42 members. Membership in ARKS, whose members are mostly in Bratislava, is more expensive than membership in ZRKSR, whose members are more geographically dispersed.

Bratislava Slovak Cuisine

Airlines cancel Slovak routes

German concern builds plant in Nové Mesto nad Váhom

Residential 5 rooms selling for 5.5 million Sk

Bratislava is suffering from a lack of high quality property in all areas of real estate, but the rate and price at which two housing developments have been able to sell space indicate the demand is most desperate in the case of residential property.By committing up to 5.5 million Sk ($180,000) for 5-room apartments still under construction, Slovaks have demonstrated both a willingness and an ability to pay premium prices for scarce premium property."Right now, the demand is highest for apartments," said Adriana Litomerická, president of the Slovak branch of FIABCI, the International Federation of Real Estate Professionals. "Last year, office space was number one. Bratislava does not have enough office space, but it needs flats even more."

A stop at Grácia is one to be grateful for

Many people avoid hotel restaurants because they worry that they will be tourist traps or overpriced. This is definitely not so with the Botel Grácia, located on the Danube River on the road by the river leading west out of Bratislava. It has also been a long time since we have seen such an imaginative and tempting menu.It appears that the excellent dining room at the Botel Grácia is a well-kept secret as there were only two other parties the evening we were there. The restaurant seats 50, and the pretty dťcor and pleasant table settings are done in blue and violet hues accented by romantic lighting.

Rally blasts coalition's policies

An estimated 20,000 people angered at Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar's government policies, converged on Bratislava's central square on November 14 to commemorate the anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution that toppled Communism in former Czechoslovakia. Seven years after crowds had protested against Communist rule, the rally protested against the current ruling coalition for "throwing away the ideals the people at the square back then had fought for,'' said Rudolf Sikora, a painter and a professor at the University of Fine Arts.Slovakia's artistic community, infuriated by the government's dictating how state-financed cultural institutions should be run, teamed up with church representatives, trade union officials, and all Parliamentary opposition parties except the Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ) to stage the rally, called "Let's Save Slovakia."

Letter to the Editor: "Bratislava, you're no Paris!"

Community Grapevine

Scenic Spiš is Slovakia's land of superlatives

In Spiš, just about everything surprises and impresses with its size. he dominant protector of this region, Spiš Castle, is not only the largest castle in Slovakia, but also among the largest in all of central Europe. pišská Nová Ves, the most obvious starting point for exploring the region, prides itself on a lentil-shaped central square which is country's largest.Spišská Nová Ves is also home to the country's tallest church spire - 87 meters atop the 13th century Roman Catholic church. The church itself is worth a visit for its unique combination of pink and gray pillars as well as the lotus-like ceiling formation above the main altar. Its yellows, blues and reds contribute to a friendly atmosphere.

Mečiar: No plans yet to complete Mochovce

The Slovak government has not decided whether to complete the remaining two reactor units of the nuclear power plant in Mochovce, Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar said at the end of the Central European Initiative (CEI) summit held in Graz on November 9.Austrian Chancellor Franz Vranitzky quoted Mečiar as having told him at a meeting the week before in the west Slovak town of Piešťany that completion of units 3 and 4 at the nuclear power plant was not planned. The Slovak government has only assigned experts from the German company Siemens to work out a survey on the possible extension of the Mochovce project, Vranitzky quoted Mečiar as saying.

SE succeeds in restructuring its loans

Suburban shopping center attracts interest

Bratislava will have its first Western-style suburban shopping center late in 1997, if all continues as planned by an Austrian developer and his Slovak partner.The Soravia Centrum, a 9,000-square-meter complex of three buildings named after its 36-year-old mastermind, Austrian developer Hanno Soravia, is based on the same concept as Shopping Center Süd in Vienna's southern suburbs, according to project manager Thomas Seikmann. Seikmann conceded that at 7 kilometers from downtown Bratislava, the Soravia Centrum is far from the city center, but that it will attract shoppers driving both out from the city and in from surrounding towns and villages.

Lack of interest turns market bearish

A bearish mood predominated on the Bratislava Stock Exchange (BSE) floor in the last two weeks due to a lack of investor interest in Slovak shares. The SAX index fell to 189, its lowest level since mid-April. Slovnaft's price slumped even more to Sk800, its lowest level since January. VSŽ traded at Sk589 and Nafta below Sk1,900.Total October turnover on both Slovak stock exchanges was Sk13.2bn ($426m), the second highest turnover this year. OTC deals played a major role as they made up more than 90% of the turnover. Among the most traded shares were traditionally the most liquid companies, such as VSŽ (Sk930m), Nafta (Sk750m), VÚB Kupón (Sk607M) and the Creditanstalt Slovak Investment Fund (Sk850m due to a 26% stake sell-off).