Archive of articles - June 1997, page 2

Despite having its quipment stolen, a new press agency jumpstarts operations

Despite being robbed of vital computer equipment worth more than $33,000 one week before its scheduled launch, SITA, a new private press agency jumpstarted its operation on June 15.Observers agree that the robbery was likely sabotage. But SITA's co-founder and director, Pavol Múdry, preferred not to share his suspicion on who could have been the culprit. "I'm not suicidal," he said the day after the theft was discovered.Once SITA manages to get established on the Slovak market, it will be competing primarily with TASR, the government-run, official Slovak news agency.Not long after the incident, SITA made the news again. Private TV Markíza found out that the Culture Ministry forbade its organizations to use SITA's services, on the grounds that the agency was "oppositional."

Czech-Slovak beer war looms after quota

A beer war between Slovakia and the Czech Republic looms after Slovakia imposed an import quota on Czech beer, limiting its annual imports to 532,000 hectoliters.Slovak officials and brewers justified it as an "ordinary" measure to protect a domestic industry which has its problems coping with stiff foreign competition. But Czech breweries, who are pushing for exports at a time when domestic beer industry suffers from declining consumption, were both confused and angered."The quota should help our brewers fight the ever-growing penetration of Czech breweries the Slovak market," Jozef Hudec of the Slovak Agriculture Ministry said."This is a very common measure to protect domestic producers in many countries," added Štefan Karšay, owner of Slovakia's fourth largest brewer, Pivovar Karšay.

Around Slovakia

World halušky champs crownedTall people's club seeking members860 kg of HCl leaks from tankTwo shootings in eastern Slovakia

Technopol to start operate new radio net

Consumer prices increase 0.1% in May

Poštová banka opens in Vienna

Opposition fails to try to oust Krajči

The opposition failed to arrange in parliament a no confidence vote in the Interior Minister Gustáv Krajči on June 12, as all 82 deputies from Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar's ruling coalition boycotted the single-purposed extraordinary session called to try to oust Krajči.The opposition expected to have difficulty collecting the 76 votes needed to unseat Krajči, but they believed at least a symbolic vote was necessary. What they did not expect was that the vote would never happen. Despite the coalition MPs having signed in as being present at parliament, only 58 of the total 150 deputies showed up in the chamber, 18 less than the necessary quorum.

Bratislava blast from the past

This month, Bratislava takes a nostalgic look back at the city's history with a number of mock-royal pageants and heraldic celebrations; at the same time, the city's young people can enjoy a series of children's theater events. A re-enactment of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Jozef I's coronation will be staged on the 310-year anniversary of the Habsburg monarch's accession to the throne in 1687. The pomp and ceremony starts at 3 p.m. on June 22, at Bratislava's Hlavné Námestie. Many of the dynasty's divine-right "chief executives" were crowned at St. Martin's Cathedral, in the heart of Bratislava's old town."Drienka," a Slovak children's traditional dance group, will perform at the Stará Radnica (Old Town Hall) at 5 p.m. on June 24; a puppet troupe called "Tatko Ubu" will delight the young at the same location at 8 p.m. on June 28; on June 30, Dychová Harmónia Bratislava will blow medieval trumpets with full heraldry and dash from the tower of the Stará Radnica; "Divadlo Štúdio GONG" will render Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (downstairs) in the same location that evening at 8.

Boss, Lauder, Dior all moving to Obchodná

Stiefelkönig, Hugo Boss, Estee Lauder, and Christian Dior all plan to open shops on Bratislava's Obchodná ulica within the next year. With these international brand names joining current tenants Betty Barclay, Stival, and EduScho, the pedestrian street appears poised to regain its status as the capital's leading shopping strip.At least one end of the street looks that way. All of the above-mentioned retailers are or will be huddled on the block between Župné námestie and Poštová ulica on Obchodná's western end. For good reason: that stretch is becoming a hub for shoppers with high spending power. Businesspeople spill out of the Hotel Forum on to that part of the street and tourists wandering through Old Town often end their stroll above Michael's Gate, which is across from Obchodná's mouth. Add to this mix Námestie SNP, the capital's commercial heart around the corner, and the sum is prime real estate.

Finance Ministry drafts '98 state budget

Bureaucrat caretaker to watch over foreign policy

Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar appointed Zdenka Kramplová as the new Foreign Minister on June 4, stressing that foreign policy goals have not changed.The parliamentary opposition and diplomatic community, however, met the decision with surprise and a sense of foreboding. Kramplová replaces Pavol Hamžík, who resigned following last month's thwarted national referendum on NATO and direct presidential election.At her first press conference, Kramplová, formerly the chief of the Foreign Ministry's staff, made clear that her appointment heralds no change in Slovakia's foreign policy goals. "There are no reasons for that [change]," Kramplová told TASR, the state-run press agency. "Membership in NATO and the European Union, and good relations with neighboring countries remain our priorities."

Východná, queen of folk festivals, looks to maintain old charm

On the road from Liptovský Mikuláš to Poprad, plum in the middle of the sweeping Váh River Valley that cuts between the Low and High Tatra mountains, lies a shabby, nondescript settlement meriting no more than cursory attention. For a few days in early July, however, Východná becomes a national center of attention, as Slovakia's oldest festival of folk music, dance, arts and crafts takes place in and around the huge wooden amphitheater that overlooks the village.Slovaks holds their folk heritage dear, and while there are dozens of other festivals going on around the country during the summer months, most citizens see Východnáas the pinnacle of achievement in all aspects of folk craft and performance. "We pay performers no more than bare expenses," says festival organizer Jaroslav Uhel. "It's seen as a great honor to perform at Východná."

Industry employs fewer people

Psychological tests evaluate candidates

As human resource companies vie with each other in the increasingly competitive job placement market in Slovakia, one firm claims that psychological tests of job applicants is a vital tool to evaluate candidates whose employment history in a socialist economy divulges little to the interested company.But the success of this formula, introduced onto the Slovak market by the human resources firm Hill International Slovakia, remains to be proven, as companies for now view it warily.Hill International, founded in Vienna in 1975, has long used psychological tests to screen candidates for jobs with its business clients. Its founders, psychologists Othmar and Christina Hill, devised a battery of tests to assess the personality, intelligence, interests and concentrative powers of job applicants.

Not a happy market so far in June

Bears dominated the BSE floor market during the first two weeks of June. Most blue chips declined as a result of continued expectations of crown devaluation, low liquidity in the interbank money market and increased political instability resulting from the marred referendum. VSŽ, the most liquid share, lost ground, falling by 70 Sk to 610 Sk. Slovnaft slumped more than 100 Sk to 900 Sk. Slovakofarma remained steady within a band of 4,200 Sk and 4,300 Sk. Other blue chips were traded in very small volumes. The current situation with money market liquidity being squeezed should force companies to seek funds through the equity market. However, the currently non-functioning Slovak equity market is not an alternative source of finance for Slovak companies. The capital market reform approved by the government will probably had to resolve the problems of the capital market since the relevant authorities still have not understood the importance of impartial regulations or market transparency.

Two international schools vie for growing Bratislava market

With the takeover of Bratislava International School (BIS) by a worldwide school conglomerate based in Britain, the city's two main international schools, BIS and Quality Schools International (QSI), seem ready to drop their mortarboards and fight to cement their respective positions on the city's educational market for Slovak and international students.Nord Anglia Education Plc, the largest education company in Great Britain, acquired BIS "in the last month or so," said Nord Anglia's chairman, Kevin McNeany, and will operate the school under its present acronym as "British International School," starting in July.The takeover will mean a completely new teaching staff. McNeany said that "the majority of teachers" at the newly administered school will be "recruited from the U.K." He volunteered the information that none of the school's former teachers would be "sacked." "They came to the end of their contracts, and are all leaving in a very friendly way," he said.

Letter to the Editor: Chemes Humenné's production grew 9% in '96

34-floor National Bank is Slovakia's tallest building

Pavol Paňák is one of very few Slovak architects who can point to a planned 34-floor office building and call it his "second-greatest project." A crater next to the upside-down pyramid housing Slovak Radio holds the foundation of what will soon be Slovakia's tallest building, the National Bank of Slovakia's (NBS) headquarters.Paňák and his partners in the firm Architekti BKPŠ, Martin Kusý and Eduard Šutek, are the envy of architects across the country. They entered their design in the bank's architectural competition in the summer of 1995. Theirs was named the winning bid in March 1996, construction began last November, and the building is scheduled for completion in September 1999.

ŽSR's director resigns from post