Archive of articles - February 1997, page 2

Letter to the Editor: In defense of "Human Resources"

1997 VW Passat turns heads

Volkswagen's new Passat is a step beyond its predecessor, boasting a few technical improvements and turning heads with smoother, more aerodynamic lines.Most of the Passat's new technology, including its chassis, is from Audi. A four-link front suspension keeps the car disciplined while negotiating potholes and bucolic, but bumpy, cobblestones. The car's body shell is 10% more rigid than the earlier model. The end result is a firm, but not harsh, ride. The power steering, however, is a bit too playful, which can result in oversteering.Our test drive car's 1.8-liter, 5-cylinder (150 bhp) engine was perky, with decent acceleration both from a standstill and when overtaking Austrian Sunday drivers. A sprint from 0-100 km takes 8.7 seconds. The 2.8-liter (193 bhp) model finishes the deed in 7.6 seconds.

Ceram Čáb exports 90 percent of production abroad

Sporiteľňa places $80 mill. bond issue

Slovenská Sporiteľňa (SLSP), the country's largest retail deposit bank, in February reached out to tap investors on foreign markets when it placed an $80-million subordinated bond issue. Arranged by the investment bank Merrill Lynch International, SLSP officials said the bank is targeting American and Japanese investors who would be interested in the high-risk, yet high-yield bonds. The bonds carry an interest rate of LIBOR plus 1.25 percent for the first five years.The goal, according to Jozef Straško, deputy chairman of Sporiteľňa's board of directors and its first vice-president, is to increase SLSP's basic capital and to reach the 8 percent level of capital adequacy ratio (CAR) - the ratio of basic capital to risk-weighted assets - by the end of 1996, as recommended by the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS).

Construction firms build on big '96

After five years of inactivity that saw total construction production in Slovakia sliced in half, 1996 was the second straight year of modest gains. An industry that had a total production volume of 115 billion Sk in 1989 and fell to 55 billion Sk by '94, should rise to 60 billion Sk in '97, according to Euroconstruct estimates.The biggest chunk of that business - 36% in '95 -is engineering projects, with industrial construction ranking second at 28%. Reconstruction is third at 15%, public construction composed 13%, and residential building made up the remaining 8%.One firm that is rising with the times is Sibamac, which ranked eighth among Slovak construction firms with a turnover of more than 720 million Sk in '95. That figure is expected to jump to over 1 billion Sk this year. The Austrian side of Sibamac entered the Slovak market five years ago by privatizing parts of Dubnica-based Stavoindustria.

A blueprint for outsourcing personnel needs

As more foreign investment enters the Slovak economy, new businesses are confronted with the difficult prospect of finding skilled people for key positions. Two options for foreign corporations are to create a personnel department in-house or to use an outside personnel consulting firm.The Slovak Spectator talked with Marta Kubinská, Executive Consultant, and Juraj Necpal, General Director, of H. Neumann International, about the problems, advantages, and challenges involved with personnel consulting. H. Neumann International has operated in Slovakia since 1991 and is the leading human resources consulting company in central Europe according to a report published by The Financial Times in November 1996. What follows is a blueprint for investors who might want to outsource a personnel consulting firm.

The many faces of Emil Horváth

One of the premier actors in the Slovak National Theatre is a man who has been in the Slovak entertainment business longer than almost anyone else. Emil Horváth is seen every day in television, films, and theater in Slovakia. People gawk and gander when he walks the streets, and some even stop him for praise or an autograph or two.Horváth is currently concentrating his talent toward directing a new play, a dramatization of the Janko Jesenský novel, "The Democrats". The novel, which was written during the first Czechoslovak Republic in the 1920's and 30's, is in a prose style that satirically depicts the bloated bureaucracy that existed at that time. "The situation in the play is the same now," said Horváth. "It's unbelievable."

Expatriates can put resumes on data network

Capital makes headlines with international newsstand opening

Saying that one of his city's goals is to create a downtown pedestrian zone that will offer tourists services they expect from big cities, Bratislava Mayor Peter Kresánek welcomed the February 13 opening of a slick newsstand that offers a full range of international publications.The store, owned by Interpress, a foreign language newspaper and magazine distributor, boasts over 50 international newspapers and 400 international magazine titles plus the full range of Slovak news and entertainment. "The opening of this store is important for the development of Bratislava's character," Kresánek said, underlining his point by saying that he rarely attends shop openings anymore.Peter Galis, a representative for Time Warner in Slovakia, claimed that the store, located at Sedlárska ulica 2 and open from 7:00 to 22:00, was the only one of its kind in central Europe outside of Prague to offer as many foreign titles.

Bratislava Slovak cuisine

Exim Bank established to support Slovak exports

In its most visible move to jumpstart Slovak companies' flagging exports parliament in mid-February approved establishing Exim Bank, a bank devoted to financing mid and long-term export and import loans.Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar cabinet's idea to create the bank, with a basic capital of 10 billion Sk, comes as Slovakia's trade balance slipped 60 billion Sk in the red for 1996. "We approved 2 billion Sk from the state budget for the bank's basic equity and another 8 billion Sk from other parts of the state budget," said Ladislav Lysak, an economic specialist from the leading coalition party Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS). "This means that the bank will have everything necessary to be very active right from the start."The bank, expected to start operating on July 1 according to the legislation, will support Slovak exporters' activities abroad, mainly in exporting machinery, finished products and complete production capabilities.

Get a grip on what's being said or written with a translator

Though it is not difficult to find in Bratislava a professional translator or interpreter to translate into English or, Slovak, finding a reliable one is not so easy. Most interpreters and translators have contracts with an agency and sometimes more than just one. A number of translators have agreements with some Slovak ministries as well. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a list of the translators that can be contacted by going through the Ministry at 3704 210 or 3704 333. But even this list isn't always a viable option since their public relations department said that these translators are hard to get a hold of so they use translators and interpreters from various agencies as well.When working with interpreters give them an idea beforehand what's going to be the topic. Most interpreters prefer that you give them some materials beforehand, so they can prepare.

Bratislava International cuisine

Kremnica: Golden medieval town unspoiled by time

Every central European country has a town like Kremnica. The Czechs have Telč, the Hungarians Eger, and the Romanians Brašov. A medieval mining bastion whose repute for beauty has weathered the passing centuries as well as her walls.Living in cosmopolitan Bratislava, it is simple to lose sight of the rustic mountain heritage dominant throughout much of Slovakia. A folk culture characterized by church bells echoing through deep valleys and evenings spent with friends at a salaš (shepherd's cottage) as opposed to frequenting Gaelic watering holes followed by late-night fast-food runs. But is this hearty culture still breathing or has it been relegated to the dusty pages of ethnographic coffee-table books?

Law change hurts audit firms and their clients

A new twist to an audit law that compels businesses to switch audit companies every three years will cause audit firms to lose clients and force companies to expend time and money to work with new accounting firms, auditing executives and representatives from the Slovak Chamber of Auditors said."We don't agree with it on our side," said Mark Dobson, senior manager for international audits for Ernst & Young's (E&Y) office in Bratislava, "and [our] clients are against it because they are used to working with someone. It's like chopping and changing, so to speak."Added to a 1992 audit law, the amendment mandates that businesses operating in Slovakia - foreign and Slovak - must change their accounting partner every three years. The provision's proponents say it is necessary to prevent corruption in performing audits, citing the potential for too cozy auditor-client relationships.

ZRS rebels against coalition allies

The Association of Slovak Workers (ZRS), one party in the governing triumvirate, ticked off both its coalition allies at February's parliament session, voting against an amendment to Slovakia's penal code and joining opposition parties in postponing the privatization of the country's four biggest financial institutions. The latter vote agitated Premier Vladimír Mečiar so much that he accused the ZRS of adultery and then threatened to file for a coalition divorce at the assembly's March session."We warned the ZRS that it is impossible to behave in a way that 'I'm married to somebody, but I will sleep with someone else whenever I feel like it,'" Mečiar said in his regular address on Slovak Radio waves on February 14, the day after all 12 ZRS members voted to banish the privatization of four financial giants until the end of 2003.

EuroTel nets $100 m syndicated loan

350,000 support referendum on direct presidential election

Six weeks after engineering a nationwide drive to recruit Slovak citizens to sign in favor of directly electing the country's next president, representatives from opposition parties said they have attained enough signatures to force a public vote on the issue.The petition committee's spokesman, Ivan Šimko, confirmed on February 18 that over 350,000 people had signed sheets supporting a referendum to hold a direct presidential election, marking a "successful completion" to the drive. Šimko, a vice-chairman for the opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), said the committee would now approach coalition deputies about calling a vote to hold the referendum, which would require a three-fifths majority to pass.

Reference banks to reduce Sk standard listed volume