Archive of articles - December 1996, page 2

Leoni Slowakia built a plant in TrenŹianská Teplá

State budget puts heavy emphasis on public works

After considering 200 amendments that lasted until 4:15 in the morning on December 7, the Slovak Parliament approved the 1997 budget by a vote of 95 to 15. The government's fiscal plan - which includes expenditures of 208 billion Sk, revenues of 171.1 billion Sk and a deficit of 36.9 billion Sk - heavily emphasizes public works projects such as highway, housing and water works construction. "I'm completely satisfied. It's a good budget," Finance Minister Sergej Kozlík said after the marathon votes.The government plans to spend 14 billion Sk to raise its highways network to European Union levels, and allot another 5 billion Sk for new housing, Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar said before Parliament took up the budget.

An expat's guide to the capital

Foreign residents in Slovakia, especially those in the capitol, will applaud Sally Williams's guide to expatriate life in Bratislava, which tackles the mechanics of "getting started" from an insider's hard-won perspective while suggesting the city's many unique qualities, along with sympathetic, commonsensical tips to newcomers beset by "expat blues." wo years after Williams, a consultant with the U.S.-funded business advisory foundation Genesis, touched down at Vienna's Schwechat airport, her book, whose idea was originally conceived by the International Women's Club, stands as a testament to the stress and legwork that any long-term foreign visitor can expect from their first year in Slovakia. Williams's text has a lively and no-nonsense tone that newcomers will appreciate, while the book provides a wealth of corner-cutting, labor-saving insights and data that will make expats already here wish they had had the book to read on their incoming flight.

Bratislava International Cuisine

Community Grapevine

New Protection of the Republic law passes through

A controversial amendment to the Slovak Criminal Code that coalition deputies now say is in line with the country's Constitution and with EU norms squeezed through Parliament on December 17 and now awaits President Michal Kováč's approval or veto. Eight months ago, President Kováč vetoed the "Protection of the Republic" bill, as the measure is popularly known, stating that it contradicted "fundamental human freedoms" such as freedom of speech and assembly.This time, coalition MPs said the law is designed to punish enemies of the state and not critics of the government. "The leading idea of the law is that just as an individual has the right to protect [himself or herself] against attacks, so the state has the right to protect itself from false blame," said Jozef Prokeš, vice-chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and a deputy with the Slovak National Party (SNS), which has led the charge to adopt the legislation. "The law applies not to enemies of the government, but to enemies of the state."

For ski rentals or lessons, these Tatra-based agencies are tops

The Tatra mountains are arguably Slovakia's greatest natural asset. Vacationers flock from all over central Europe to take advantage of the recreational opportunities there.At this time of year, the number one attraction is skiing. Whether it's for cross-country skiing, snowboarding, or especially alpine skiing, the Tatras are world-class.Particularly if you are a beginner, you should sign up for some lessons before you start stepping into your boots and schussing downhill. The best place to find skiing lessons are the three biggest agencies in the Tatras: Crystal Ski, T-Ski, and Juršport. All three have staff who speak English.

VSŽ aims for steel mill in Hungary

New STV Director named

Acting upon the wishes of Slovak Television's (STV) Governing Council, Parliament has removed the station's director, Jozef Darmo, and replaced him with an equally eager, younger supporter of the dominant governing party the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS).Igor Kubiš, 38, worked as a deputy director in STV's news department until the time he became STV's director. In that time, Kubiš helped produce several documentaries discrediting the opposition and Slovak President Michal Kováč, the main political rival of the leader of the HZDS and the government, Vladimír Mečiar.Speaking to reporters after becoming director, Kubiš said one of his first acts would be to shake up the station's management, and "appoint my closest colleagues to STV's top posts," the press agency TASR reported.

Slovak-American's gourmet guide now on CD-ROM

A lip-smacking encyclopedia of haute gastronomy, "The Most Complete Guide to Gourmet Food, Wines & Spirits" is now on CD-ROM in Bratislava bookstores. The CD-ROM guide, by Emil Kraus, a Slovak-American gourmand and connoisseur who lives in Santa Barbara, California, lists over 2,500 wines from France, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina, among other regions, along with gourmet recipes, a history of the world's brandies, cognacs, Armagnac, grappas and liquers, and "many interesting facts about cigars," as Kraus put it.

New ambassador nominations circulating in government circles

A list of three ambassadors destined to replace their colleagues at Slovak missions - two in the European Union and one outside Europe - has made its way to President Kováč's office, where it awaits his approval, an informed source told The Slovak Spectator. The source, who has seen the list, declined to identify to which countries the new ambassadors would go, saying only that the pair destined for Europe were going to "not very important countries" in the EU.Of EU countries whose ambassadors have already served a normal term of four years are Spain, Portugal and France, according to Eduard Kukan, the foreign affairs minister in the interim 1994 government led by Jozef Moravčík.

JP Morgan sets second loan to Vodohosp. Výstavba

OTF sold off to firm's j.s.c.

Entrepreneur and FNM compromise on sale of brewery

Rudolf Mosny, the Slovak-American entrepreneur who signed a contract four years ago with the state privatization agency the National Property Fund (FNM), that would have given him almost complete ownership of the Šariš brewery in east Slovakia, has found himself in a game of brinksmanship with an organization whose officials he does not trust but who hold the shares he needs to take control of the company.The case boils down to a simple money for share transaction. Under the terms of a contract Mosny and FNM officials penned four years ago, Mosny had to pay the Fund by June 1996 $10.7 million as the first installment to acquire the 79 percent of shares in the brewery owned by the FNM. Succeeding payments would follow on a quarterly basis over the next 10 years totalling $16.3 million.

Deputies change amendment to Securities Act back to way it was

Deputies in the Slovak Parliament reversed themselves and wiped out changes made a month before to the Securites Act that both market organizers and analysts said would have severly depressed interest in and stymied the liquidity of the country's public markets.The December 10 vote incorporated suggestions made by President Michal Kováč in vetoing the amendment. Those recommendations were that joint stock companies with publicly traded shares will not be allowed to convert them into non-publicly tradable shares and that securities be traded only on the bourse.In a floor debate prior to the vote, economic experts from the opposition parties in Parliament explained how the measure would negatively impact Slovakia's capital market and the country's economic progress if the President's suggestions were ignored.

Entrepreneurs debate corruption, the government, and western integration

Two of Slovakia's most well-known businesspeople discussed the challenges and issues involved with doing business in Slovakia on December 5 in an event called Spectrum Live, the third in the Debates for Democracy series organized by The Slovak Spectator. Karol Konárik, who is both the owner of KK Company, which brews Martiner beer, and an MP for the governing Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), and Jozef Majský, the president of Sipox Holding, one of Slovakia's 10 most profitable companies, were the featured participants of the live debate held at Bratislava's Štúdio S theater.

Foreign owners unlikely in banks' privatization

When Finance Minister Sergej Kozlík said recently that foreign partnerships should not be ruled out in the privatization of the country's three major banks, it looked like foreign capital finally would get a crack in Slovakia's tightly-gripped privatization saga. But at least one government source has cast doubt on Kozlík's aperture, while financial analysts said it was more likely that foreign entities could get involved in ways besides buying direct shares.Asked about Kozlík's remark, an official at the Finance Ministry who preferred anonymity told The Slovak Spectator that the government's position is that "foreign investors should not privatize a major share in the three banks or Slovenská Poisťovňa [the Slovak insurance company]. As far as I know, no decision has been made."

Two Americans die in separate incidents

Two Americans visiting Slovakia died tragically in separate incidents within days of each other last month, Slovak police officials confirmed. On November 11, an American woman was killed when the car in which she was riding struck a van whose driver was illegally trying to cross the median on a highway near Trnava. Ten days later, an American male was found dead in an apartment in the Prievoz section of Bratislava. Both cases remain under investigation by police.Jeanette Frances Micech, a 66-year-old resident of Miluwi, Wisconsin, was in a car heading for Vienna's Schwechat airport at about 6 p.m. on Monday evening, when the driver of a van from the other side of the four-lane D-61 highway illegally entered the lane in which Micech, her husband, and two Slovak relatives were travelling.

Figaro nets 28 million Sk for first half 1996