Archive of articles - March 1997

Slovakia leads in GDP growth

Hard currency reserves went down in January

"Mother" will make you laugh then cringe with horror

A play like "Mother" ("Matka"), showing at the Astorka Theater, has not been staged in Slovak theater for a long time. Promoted as "social horror in two acts," the story has strong black humor that will make audiences both laugh and cringe in horror at the same time. The story is one that everyone can easily identify with: a controlling mother who inflicts pain, but with love."When I read the play for the first time, I thought it was horrible," related castmember Vladimír Hajdu. "But the second time, I thought it was very funny. We had to go through the play a few times so that we could laugh at ourselves, get it out, and then finally actually rehearse." Zuzana Kronerová, who plays the double-edged "Mother," had a different reaction from her initial readings. "When I first read the play I laughed a lot. It was fun," she said. "But the more times I read it, the more serious it became and it seemed more and more like a tragedy."

"Slovak-triangle" cures spring travel bug

Winter is finally over - you can come out of the cave now. As you stand blinking in the spring sunshine, a dormant longing to frolic and scamper is reactivated in your limbic system. Quick, before you wake up completely and can think clearly, gas up the car and travel across Slovakia!Forget shopping malls, good hotels and clean rest stops. The SmallCarpathians have charms and surprises, enough almost to make up for these bourgeois basics. You won't even miss them until you need to eat, sleep or pee, and there's lots of open road between now and then.Have you done the Bratislava-Trnava-Nitra triangle day trip? I've become especially fond of Trnava with its pedestrian-only town center dominated by the recognizably regional tall white church. There are shops of all kinds lined up on either side of the wide mall, just like Main Street at Disneyworld.

So you want to be a food importer?

January's foreign trade figures

Exclusive Interview with National Bank Governor Vladimír Masár

In the plush offices of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), Governor Vladimír Masár sat down with News and Business Editor Daniel Borský and Managing Editor Daniel J. Stoll to discuss the latest developments in Slovakia's banking and finance sector. This is the first of a two-part series The Slovak Spectator will run from the interview.In the first past excerpted below, Masár discusses the cabinet's role in bank policy and the NBS's independence. In The Slovak Spectator's next issue (March 29), Masár will address fears of an imminent devaluation of the Slovak crown and the widening budget deficit.

No one's a saint in search for church's soul

With the country's president and the prime minister locked in perpetual confrontation, Slovakia's Catholic clergy is having trouble walking a fine line between the two political rivals and reflecting consensus towards each."What is so unfortunate is that when I don't agree with one side, I am automatically considered [to be that side's] enemy," lamented Štefan Herényi, a Jesuit priest at Bratislava's Blumenthal Church. "This is the diagnosis of our nation." But Herényi said that the church must not forget its strength as a moral arbiter. "By nature, politics are confrontational; insensivity is therefore a part of this dialogue," he said. "To that extent, the church cannot really be politically impartial on issues that concern the church and state. However, I think that the church should avoid leaning toward either side. The church should act upon the strength of its moral position in dealing with both sides of any political opposition.

Fashion fair kicks off in Trenčín March 25-28

The biggest fashion and clothing fair in Slovakia, to be held in the self-styled "Town of Fashion" - Trenčín- will celebrate its 30th anniversary at this year's event on March 25-28. Shoewear, leather and leather accessories now constitute a separate fair called Togako, taking place at the same time. The fair promises to be a full week of fashion and textiles. Accompanying the regular fair will be the third annual Salon of Textile and Clothing Technologies.Another activity, organized by the Slovak Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the Association of Textile and Clothing Industries and the management of Leipzig Fairs, will be a seminar on March 25, in which Leipzig Fairs will present their activities and events organized at their new fair facility in Leipzig.

Bratislava Bars & Clubs

VÚB ups capital, cuts risky assets

The biggest bank in Slovakia with total assets valued at 163.33 billion Sk ($5.4 billion), Všeobecná Úverová Banka (VÚB) is the gorilla in the country's banking sector. The Slovak Spectator's editor-in-chief Richard Lewis asked VÚB's president and chairman of its board of directors, Ján Gabriel, about the bank's results last year, its prospects, and developments affecting the financial sphere. Excerpts from the February 21 interview are below:

Around Slovakia

17-year-old stabs own baby to death with scissorsFlaming house engulfs woman's sonCzech hiker dies after being left on mountain

Stylish, affordable suits tailor made for men

For men seeking inexpensive, stylish threads, textile factory outlets and custom clothiers in Trenčín, the seat of Slovakia's garment industry, offer high-quality men's apparel for a fraction of the price at most off-the-rack Slovak boutiques. "Panský Salon Kubička," a small men's clothier in Trenčín, will tailor a suit from any fabric in two weeks for 3,100 Sk-3,600 Sk, said Vladimír Ondrovíč, the firm's sales director.Founded seven years ago by Peter Kubička, a former fashion-designer at the Slovak textile company Ozeta, Salon Kubička produces to order and sells most of its creations on the spot; however, Ondrovíč said that some of the company's products make their way onto shelves at pricy franchised stores like Zoe, in Bratislava.

Sarlos trying to woo Tesco, other retailers

Polus, the ambitious shopping, office, hotel, and apartment complex to be constructed by Hungarian-Canadian investor Andrew Sarlos in the Nové Mesto district of Bratislava, is already lining up its first tenants, according to a report in the Slovak daily Pravda. Gábor Zászlós, the representative in Slovakia for Sarlos's Central European Investment Corporation (CEIC), sounded like he had deals wrapped up, when he said that Polus's 40,000-square meter shopping center will house retailers Tesco, La Standa, and Michelfeit.But officials at one of those companies - the British firm Tesco, which bought a chain of 13 department stores across the Slovak and Czech Republics from K-mart last year - say "that is not the case."

V. Výstavba set for $100 million bond issue

Legal battle starts between Slovakia, Hungary over Gabčíkovo dam dispute

The long-running dispute between Slovakia and Hungary over the completion of the Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Danube River dam project has entered the final stretch towards resolution before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.While the Hungarian legal delegation batted first in the oral round of their week-long proceeding which started March 3, the Slovaks are cooling their heels until March 24 to argue their side of the case. The Court's ruling, expected this fall, is binding and final for both countries.The case concerns the disputed history of the Danube River's diversion by a dam and power plant project launched twenty years ago this fall, bound by a treaty between the Czechoslovak and Hungarian governments to build two dams between the Slovak village of Gabčíkovo and the Hungarian town of Nagymaros.

Cabinet discusses limiting drink imports from Czech Republic

Strike! Actors walk in protest

NITRA - On the last Friday morning in February, 15 of the 21 state-run Slovak theaters went on an indefinite strike. Joined by four independent theater companies, including the avant-garde Stoka Theater and the acting company of the Slovak National Theater (SND), the strike brushfire blazed as far as to Prague, where it gained support not only from theater professionals but also from Czech President Václav Havel's office.Originally ignited by three puppet theaters, the strike amounts to the biggest clash between citizens and the government since the November 1989 revolution, strike organizers said."The union believes we have no alternative but to strike," said Vladimír Durdík, honorary president of the actors' union.

Creditanstalt registers 93 million Sk in income