Archive of articles - August 1997, page 3

Chirana posts an unexpected loss

View from the pits

If one steps away from ringside and mixes with GSM distributors and independent dealers, a sharper profile of each company, EuroTel and Globtel, emerges.Boris Knopp, manager of EuroTel dealer Mobiltel, said that his customers are middle and high class private people. "Globtel has cheaper rates and makes big business among the lower level of customer," claimed Knopp.Milan Arpas, owner of Globtel dealer Don-Auto, tends to agree. "Everyone had in their head that EuroTel is for rich people, so all business people bought EuroTel."

Technology, bureaucracy obstruct ISPs' dreams for profits

The Internet in Slovakia is expanding at an incredible rate. It was only a year and a half ago that one could connect to a handful of companies for Internet access. Since then, a veritable explosion has taken place in the business of Internet Service Provision. From Banská Bystrica to Žilina, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been cropping up like mushrooms after a heavy rain.In Bratislava alone, one can connect to the Internet at over 30 different locations. In all, 47 cities and towns throughout Slovakia now have Internet access via commercial ISPs. This translates to a total of over 150 access points for Slovakia. But, as with all things, this rapid expansion is accompanied by its own version of growing pains such as earning a profit and having technology that can handle the quick expansion of internet use.

Foreign investment at 709m Sk in 1Q 97

How to make a better mousetrap

Long gone are the days when a web page was in itself an object that captivated the interest of the average Internet "surfer." It was only a few years ago when just having a web page was considered exciting. Since that time, a greater proportion of Internet users have become extremely sophisticated.Today, the average user will log-on to the Internet only when they require specific information. Companies have had to adjust in a hurry to provide this ever-increasing number of users with exactly what they are looking for in the most efficient manner. In short, the Internet has quickly turned from a "cool amusement park" to the biggest reference library on this planet.As the interest level of the typical Internet user wanes with greater exposure, the impatience level increases in proportion. After the first month or so, Internet use drops and stabilizes. At this point, the user's relationship with the Internet becomes the same as that with a toaster - strictly a tool which enables one to achieve a goal more efficiently.

Mobile telephones + Internet = explosion to the second power

The mobile telephones' market is growing by 58% each year, a rate that can be described as a telecommunications explosion. How can the Internet help develop mobile networks? To begin with, web pages can inform customers about new value-added services that are hard to sell or for which manuals are often ineffective. For this purpose, the Internet is perfect for customers, not only because it is available 24 hours a day as multimedia, cost-efficient information, but especially because it allows mobile phone users to discover the most advantageous ways of using their mobile phones.Another way the Internet can support mobile communication development is with short message sending (SMS). Internet can help not only with the basic function of sending messages, but also by making information services, such as teletext and auto traffic reports, accessible.

The Spotlight

ABSOLUTE POWERFACE OFFSHE'S THE ONEFRENCH KISSMURDER ATt 1600DONNIE BRASCO

Globtel interrupts bond for mobile phone offer as market value of FNM bonds goes down

From the beginning of May, 1997 until the third week in July, Globtel had an offer whereby customers could bring in two privatization bonds, worth approximately 7,500 Sk each, and exchange them for a mobile phone, and a GSM activation-free minutes package worth 5,000 Sk.The handset offered at first was the Philips FIZZ (retail price 8,241 Sk including tax), and later the Sagem 410L (8,609 Sk). Globtel sold off the bonds through a broker for an undisclosed amount, giving people who were anxious to get rid of their bonds a convenient outlet for them.The trade-off was a success until the bonds' value took a sharp tumble in July after the FNM released what companies the bonds could be used for on the capital market. These companies - some in liquidation and others close to bankruptcy - inspired few citizens, causing bond values to plummet. Globtel cancelled its deal soon thereafter.

Café brings new life to Old Town

Stroll through Old Town Bratislava and a surprising revelation will hit you, "My goodness, this place is alive...." After many years, a dormant center has come to life. The newest addition to this rebirth is the Viennese style café, Kaffee Mayer - reclaiming its old habitat on Hlavné námestie.In the dying days of the Austrian-Hungarian empire in the early teens of the 20th century, the café served a vibrant crowd exotic coffee and tea, fancy cakes, with upright service. The present café aims to bring back that atmosphere. Inside, antique paintings, maps, vases and photographs take you back to that time. The most striking painting is that of the Austrian-Hungarian queen Elizabeth known as "Sissi," a frequent visitor to the café in the late 19th century, in a cozy room at the back of the café. There is room for 70 people inside, and covered seating outside provides an excellent spot for people-watching.

Slovak trade gap in June slows down

The growth in Slovakia's foreign trade deficit slowed in June but market analysts said this was more a short-term phenomenon than a reversal of long-term negative developments.The Slovak Statistical Office (ŠÚSR) released figures on July 30 showing that the trade gap widened to 32.57 billion Slovak crowns (Sk) in the first half of 1997, up 2.95 billion Sk from a 29.62 billion Sk deficit in the first five months.The statistics revealed that cumulative imports totalled 177.33 billion Sk, a year-on-year increase of 12.6 percent, while exports during the same period rose by 12.9 percent to 144.76 billion Sk. The trade gap for June alone was 2.95 billion Sk, down from 4.21 billion Sk recorded in May.

Slovaks to battle Czechs in soccer

Slovakia's national soccer team will finally meet the Czech Republic on August 24 in part of the qualification round for World Cup '98 in France. The match had been scheduled for May 21, but was canceled by FIFA, (soccer's world governing body), because several Czech players had not been released by their club teams.The newly reconstructed Slovan football stadium in Bratislava, which can seat 31,000 people, promises to be rocking. Emotions will be high, since Czechoslovakia split in 1993, with both countries hoping for bragging rights. Slovakia last played the Czech Republic in a friendly in 1995 when they tied 1:1. Game time is 20:15.Slovak players to watch for are: Alexander Vencel - a goalkeeper currently playing for Strasbourg, a first division club in France; Dušan Tittel - a reliable defense player for Spartak Trnava in the top Slovak league; and Szilárd Németh - a virtuous offensive player on the premiere Czech team Sparta Praha.

European Union reports on Slovakia's candidacy for membership

On July 17 the European Union (EU) released its report about all countries aiming for EU membership. Reprinted here in part is the summary and conclusion of the 125-page report on Slovakia.Slovakia submitted its application for membership of the European Union on June 27, 1995. Its request is part of the historic process of ending the division of Europe and consolidating the establishment of democracy across the continent. Slovakia's situation presents a number of problems in respect of the criteria defined by the European Council in Copenhagen.The operation of Slovakia's institutions is characterized by the fact that the government does not sufficiently respect the powers devolved by the constitution to other bodies and that it too often disregards the rights of the opposition.

Sporiteľňa sells Benzinol shares

Around Slovakia

Town may lose half its populaceHarvester kills Romany girl

Bardejovské Kúpele seeks strategic investor

JAS Bardejov to cut workforce in half

JAS Bardejov, one of Slovakia's largest shoe-manufacturers, will layoff at least half of its 4,080 employees on November 1 unless the firm, which lost 500 million Sk ($14.4m) in the first five months of this year, is relieved by a bank loan or rescued by the government, a high-ranking company official told The Slovak Spectator."We are planning to lay off some 2,000 employees," said Jozef Štalmach, the vice-president of JAS Bardejov's board of directors. "On August 1, we sent a letter informing them that in three months they will be done with work here." The layoff will be unpaid and indefinite, Štalmach added.JAS has been hit hard by the tidal wave of shoe imports that has engulfed the Slovak market. Out of 13 million pairs of shoes sold domestically in 1996, 9 million were imports. This has cut drastically into JAS's position on the market. In the first five months of 1997, the company sold 400,000 pairs of shoes in Slovakia, an 8.4 percent market share.

Capital Market

Investor trust down after tussle between FNM and Czech companyMystery sharesSecondary bond market illiquid

Róbert Krajňák is a man on a mission

"If it works...Mečiar will be weeded out forever. If it doesn't, then my business instincts were wrong." Róbert Krajňák, Beer distributorRóbert Krajňák, a Slovak beer distributor, may pose a bigger threat to Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar than the entire political opposition in the 1998 parliamentary elections. That's because ever since November 1995, Krajňák, a methodical, patient man, has been on a privately-funded mission to collect enough signatures to force a public vote on ousting the premier.On November 11, 1995, Krajňák took out a full-page ad in four leading Slovak dailies, Nový Čas, Pravda, Práca, and Sme calling on citizens to sign up. Since then, the same ad has appeared several more times.In the ad, Krajňák first cites the citizens' constitutional right to petition. The ad also contains an article from the Slovak Constitution, corroborated by a Mečiar quote, both saying that the power of the state is vested in Slovak citizens, who are the country's ultimate rulers.

3rd NBS loan from Japan's EXIM Bank