Archive of articles - April 1997

Audi A3 offers all the benefits of a good compact

Introduced in Slovakia in September 1996, Audi's new A3 model is a premium compact class car. It offers all the benefits of a compact, including good fuel economy and maneuverability, with the performance and power of a larger model.Buyers of the A3 have a choice of four engines: the 1.6 liter (74kW/101 bhp), four cylinder with aluminum block and variable intake manifold; the 1.8 liter, five valve unit (92kW/125 bhp); the 1.8 liter (110 kW/150 bph) turbocharged unit with 5 valves per cylinder; and the more economical 1.9 liter TDI (66kW/90bhp). This reviewer drove the 1.9 liter TDI. Audi's direct-injection turbocharged diesel technology (TDI) improves the efficiency of the combustion process and decreases fuel consumption.

Education Ministry endorses Anti-Semitic book

In 1942, Slovak War State officials dispatched the first transports of Slovak Jews branded with the star of David. In a highly bizarre commemoration of this seminal event fifty-five years ago, officials from the Education Ministry have dispatched to all grade schools in Slovakia a history book that has inflamed the country's Jewish community and drawn harsh criticism from at least one state-run historical science institute.At issue is a book called "The History of Slovakia and the Slovaks" by Milan S. Ďurica, a Slovak priest and historian, and currently a professor at the University of Padova in Italy.While praising Ďurica for undertaking virtually a pioneering historiographical trip, Valerián Bystrický, deputy director of the Slovak Academy of Science's Institute of History, said that the author has tripped one too many times on his journey. "It was a helpful undertaking, because such a book is much needed," Bystrický said, "but the author's choice and presentation of many facts is too biased and one-sided."

NBS does not see devaluation of the crown this year

City Hall aims to revitalize PKO

Anyone raised in Bratislava in the 1960s, 70s, or 80s probably has fond memories of Friday night dances and Saturday chess tournaments held in the once-vibrant exhibition grounds along the Danube's left bank known as PKO - the Park for Culture and Recreation. But PKO's prime passed when the Incheba exhibition-organizing company moved across the river to its new fairgrounds at the beginning of the 1990s.Now Bratislava City Hall intends to renovate the PKO auditoriums and develop the 23,849-square-meter tract of land extending eastward toward the Botel Fairway. The city will do this through a new joint stock company it wholly owns called the Trade and Cultural Center (OSC). The city's plans for the land - which together with old buildings is valued at 118.6 million Sk ($3.6 million) - are ambitious.

PREŠOV: Overlooked keeper of historical treasures

Prešov is not usually a first-choice destination for the average tourist. But this is what makes it one of its main attractions, especially if you are not the average tourist.To give an example: when two pioneering Australian backpackers arrived in Prešov from Budapest in January they were startled to discover that almost nobody spoke English. They were rescued from their bewilderment when they accidentally discovered an English-language school and translation company which specializes in educating its clients about current political events by using recordings from the BBC World Service who helped them in their peril. If you arrive in Prešov prepared for such adventures, then you will probably have an interesting and enjoyable time.

IRB owners reject management changes

A shareholders meeting of Slovakia's second largest commercial bank, Investičná a Rozvojová Banka a.s. (IRB), rejected on April 9 a central bank call to reconsider personnel changes in its supervisory board."Today shareholders showed their will by rejecting the dismissal of the current supervisory board," František Orolin, IRB's vice-president, said after the EGM. "Therefore the current status has been confirmed as correct and legal."Last autumn, the banking supervision department of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) called for a reversal of changes to IRB's board due after suspicion arose of collusion among several groups of the bank's shareholders.

Transport minister Rezeš resigns

Slovak President Michal Kováč on April 14 accepted the resignation of Transportation, Post and Telecommunication Minister Alexander Rezeš for health reasons, the Slovak press agency TASR reported."The president today accepted the resignation of Alexander Rezeš, effective April 15," TASR quoted presidential spokesman Vladimír Štefko as saying.Rezeš first tendered his resignation at the beginning of March, citing unexplained health problems as his reason for wanting to leave his post, but Kováč did not immediately accept it."I am leaving the ministry with sadness in my heart, because I am not going to witness the completion of some great projects," Rezeš said, adding that he was departing nonetheless with a clear conscience. "I'm leaving with clean hands and not just clean paper," the former minister said.

NBS approves changes to Foreign Currency Act

Lesson 1: Know the road you want to take

"If you don't know where you're going any road will take you there."This phrase on the need for clear thinking became one of my first key professional insights. What makes it practical is its simplicity. You can apply it immediately and frequently to your marketing pursuits.We will go on a step-by-step journey through "Marketing in the Trenches" - reviewing the applicable aspects of six key marketing concepts: (1) Thinking, (2) Researching, (3) Deciding, (4) Planning, (5) Doing and (6) Managing. The six ideas above form the basics of the marketing game. Learning the realities of how to apply them is what "Marketing in the Trenches" is all about.

Drug seller increases market share

NATO omission could have grave consequences for Slovak military

Slovakia's omission from the first group of countries expected to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) could have grave consequences for soldiers' morale and thus desire to enter at a later time, say officials of the Slovak military establishment.Jozef Tuchyňa, chief of the Slovak armed forces, on March 18 warned of the consequences if Slovakia is excluded from the first wave of central and eastern European nations to enter the joint American-European security alliance. "Our absence from the first wave can only have negative results," Tuchyňa told the Slovak press.Pavol Hrivík, foreign policy advisor to Slovak Defense Minister Ján Sitek, interpreted Tuchyňa's remarks by saying that Slovakia's rejection could reverberate negatively with the country's military rank and file.

Doctor's salary increase masks other problems

The long running dispute between doctors and the Ministry of Health over a salary increase appeared to have ended when the government and the medical community agreed on a 35 percent pay raise that took effect April 1. However, though an agreement was reached, the compromise masked what everyone in the health care industry knows: because Slovak hospitals and other health care institutions are financially in dire straits, those receiving a pay increase doubt that the government will make good on its pledge.The project, called "the extensive strategy for doctors and others, working in health care for 1996-98," mainly focuses on a timetable for a salary increase.

Government seeks closer trade ties with Russia

Alarmed by last year's 49.5 billion Sk ($1.5 billion) trade deficit with Russia, the Slovak government is seeking the means to swing to the opposite side of the trade balance pendulum. However, after European Commission Vice-President Sir Leon Brittan placed a "Wrong Way" sign onto the entrance ramp toward a Slovak-Russian free trade highway, the search for the right vehicles continues.In 1996, Slovakia's trade balance with Russia marked the worst development among all its trading partners (see graph below). Exports to Russia dropped by 4.1 percent, while imports increased by 36.8 percent, deepening Slovakia's trade deficit with Russia from 33.5 billion crowns in 1995 to 49.8 billion a year later.

Toyota may build plant in Slovakia

Hear the call of the wild? Must be in Čergov forest

Almost everybody who knows Slovakia is familiar with the Tatras, High and Low, but less well-known, at least to foreigners and those living in the western part of the country, is Čergov. While Slovakia has many mountainous areas and forests, there are few places where it is possible to find 600 square kilometers of more or less unbroken, hills covered with a forest populated priarily with native fir and beech trees.Lying a few kilometers to the north of Prešov and easily accessible by train and bus from the Torysa valley to the west or the valley linking Prešov and Bardejov to the east, Čergov abounds in opportunities for hikes, appreciation of nature, and viewing traditional Šariš village architecture. The main ridge of the hills runs from the Kyjov village up to Mincol and then via mostly gentle ups and downs to Sedlo Čergov and down to Osikov.

Swedish Chamber of Commerce opens office

FNM to buy Slovnaft shares from EBRD

LONDON - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Slovakia's state privatization agency the National Property Fund (FNM) have reached an agreement under which the FNM will buy back the bank's stake in the Slovak oil refiner Slovnaft a.s, EBRD officials said on April 13.The EBRD took a 10.5 percent stake in Slovnaft in 1995 when it bought half the refiner's 113 million issue of global depository receipts, which flopped on international markets.The bank later offered the shares for repurchase and an agreement in principle was reached in talks between EBRD president Jacques de Larosiere and Slovak Finance Minister Sergej Kozlík, Slovak officials said.

There are no bad teams at the World Championships in Helsinki

The World Championships are always exciting to watch because of the different styles of hockey that clash. There is the finesse passing style of host team Finland and fellow Scandinavian countries Sweden and Norway. Then there is the dump and chase, strong fore-checking style famous in North America.The Czechs and Slovaks attack the net with crossing wingers looking for a pass that will put the goalie way out of position for an easy goal. And of course there are the Russians whose speed turns any mistake into a one- on-one with the goalie.The only cloud over any world championship is that by playing in late April and early May, the NHL playoffs are in full swing, keeping most of the world's best players from their ęnational teams.

New flats falling behind schedule