Archive of articles - September 1997, page 2

Tax holidays for foreign companies in the works

Slovaks say they are smear campaign victims

The Slovak foreign ministry on September 17 summoned the Hungarian ambassador to Slovakia, Jenő Boros, and handed him a protest note against what it called a concerted campaign to discredit Slovakia."The Slovak government is, with extraordinary indignation, recording a broad and intensive discrediting campaign unleashed against it by Hungarian political representatives," the note said, according to a ministry statement.Hungary rejected both the allegations of a smear campaign and the call to apologize. "We regard those conditionalities as totally lacking any foundation and Hungary does not feel it has to comply with those conditions," Hungarian foreign ministry spokesman Gábor Horváth said. Relations are strained to the point that the Slovak government cancelled a meeting between the Slovak and Hungarian foreign ministers, scheduled for the September 20-21 weekend.

Baňa Záhorie reduced its debt in 1997 by 61.5m Sk

Visegrád 3 not much better than Slovakia

Meeting last month in Krakow, the prime ministers of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic reaffirmed their desire to increase the level of cooperation between their three countries.Such sentiments have been expressed on numerous occasions over the past several years and skeptics may be right to question whether there is anything more persuasive about this latest declaration. But now, the official version has it, Central Europe' s keeners have a bigger, better reason for sticking together: the invitations they have received to begin membership negotiations with NATO, as well as an approval from Brussels for their applications to join the European Union.Even Czech Prime Minister Václav Klaus, notorious in the past for his dismissive attitude towards regional cooperation, had to concede in Krakow that there was now a genuine basis for it.

Kozlík paints rosy economic picture for year

Slovak Finance Minister Sergej Kozlík on September 17 painted a rosy picture of the country's economy, predicting further strong growth and a stable currency for at least the near-term, but some domestic and foreign economic analysts are not convinced.In a wide-ranging speech at the annual Finex banking and finance conference held in the central Slovak town of Banská Bystrica, Kozlík characterized the economy's development in the first half of 1997 as favorable, saying he saw no impediments to continued growth for the rest of the year."Our economy kept strong growth in the first half and we don't forecast any significant slowdown," Kozlík said referring to data released by the Slovak Statistical Office (ŠÚSR) on September 16 showing first half real GDP growth of six percent.

Foreign debt grows 15% in 1H97

Kriváň: Mountain dear to Slovak hearts

Slovakia's 20 heller coin should bless its good luck. With so little to recommend it as real currency, it has (since 1993) been graced with the symbol of Slovak national consciousness - Mt. Kriváň. Granted, the imprint is unimpressive, resembling a hangnail rather than a mountain peak. But if you've ever been to the village of Podbanské in the West Tatras, you'll have seen Kriváň in the flesh and understood why it has cast such a powerful spell over generations of Slovaks.Podbanské is more a collection of cottages than a traditional Slovak village. It, like Kriváň, lies on the border between the High Tatra and West Tatra mountain chains, but unlike some of the better-known resort spots such as Štrbské Pleso, is never overrun with tourists at any time of the year. The local pub still sells cold draft beer for 12 Sk, and most cottages have neither telephone nor electricity.

Mečiar calls for ethnic minorities to be swapped between Slovakia, Hungary

Slovak Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar's proposal to his Hungarian counterpart, Gyula Horn, at their August 15 summit in Györ to initiate a mass exchange of citizens has evoked sad memories about mass repatriation after World War II, provoked anger on both sides of the border, and appears badly timed as the European Union makes a final decision on Slovakia's application in December."I proposed that the free movement of people from the Slovak and Hungarian republics be established, including changes in citizenship," Mečiar told a crowd of his supporters at his party's regular monthly rally in Bratislava on September 4, "so that if Slovaks who live in Hungary want to live in Slovakia, the Hungarian government should commit to releasing them [from citizenship], and we will commit to accepting them [as our citizens]."

A card that is smarter than the rest of us

Those coins in your pocket, those bills in your wallet, look at them closely, feel them in your hand, because someday sooner than you think they will be collectors' items. That's due to the "smart card," a card the size of a credit card with a two-by-two millimeter computer chip on it able to record money amounts and process transactions."The future is so clear, it's obvious," said Dušan Budzák, the general director of LBS s.r.o., one of the companies marketing and promoting the smart card in Slovakia. "It will be common to put a set amount of money from your bank account on to a card, the so-called 'electronic purse,' with which you will be able to go to a store and pay for goods with it."An "electronic purse" is real money, not credit, drawn by a user on to their card from a bank or bank machine. The card can then be used in designated outlets with a scanner reading the chip and subtracting the amount from the electronic purse.

Average wages continue on the upswing

Public universities' creation fuels funding debate

Even as three new, government-funded Slovak universities open their doors to students from around the country this fall, the debate surrounding their creation is being played out between two main camps - those who claim that the decision to open the schools was apolitical and a response to genuine educational needs in the country, and those who argue that the law is part of a clandestine design to create a new pro-government university system and to let the old schools wither on the vine through lack of funds.The root of the issue lies in the Slovak Parliament's July 1 passage of a law calling for the establishment of three new centers of higher education: the University of Trenčín, Cyril and Methodius University in Trnava and the Academy of the Arts in Banská Bystrica, disbursing 290 million Sk for the project.

Labor productivity grew 31% in mining industry

Chemical producers smell change

Most adult residents of Bratislava remember the 1980's as a time when air pollution lay over the city like a thick black mantle. In the eight years since communism, however, big polluters from the chemical industry like Slovnaft a.s. Bratislava and Istrochem a.s. Bratislava have reduced their most harmful emissions substantially.Still, much remains to be done, both to repair past environmental damage and improve current practices in order to meet the stiff European Union pollution standards that will come into effect in Slovakia on January 1, 1999. Much of the pressure to effect these changes, however, is being created by public awareness rather than government regulation.

Away from civilization in the remote Greater Fatras

Slovakia is remarkable, not least for the number of slang expressions that defy accurate translation. "Veľký frajer", for example, means something like, "Mr. Show-off," or "Mr. Know-it-all" or even "Mr. Smartypants." Anyway, this is the name I was given by my Slovak friends after I got us lost for the second time on a trip that I was leading, without the encumbrance of a map, in the Veľká Fatra mountains.The Veľká Fatra are among the wildest mountain ranges in Slovakia. Lying roughly between Banská Bystrica, Martin and Ružomberok, the chain supports a mixture of deciduous forests and grassy uplands, the highest peaks reaching almost 1,600 meters and most passes over 1,000 meters. With almost 60 kilometers of rugged trail separating the Horny Harmanec gateway in the South and the Ružomberok exit to the north, the Veľká Fatra are not for show-offs without accurate maps.

BCPB to introduce stock derivatives, options in 1Q98

The Slovak stock market showed signs of recovery during the last two weeks, primarily fuelled by the return of foreign investors to the market.We expect a temporary upswing of the Slovak stock market in the next few months as bargain hunters may be attracted by very low valuations. At the moment our universe of Slovak industrial stocks is trading at 1997 PER of 9.4 while Czech and Polish industrial stocks are almost twice as expensive.However, sustained growth of the market cannot be expected before the elections as foreign investors attribute a discount to Slovak equities such as weak protection of minority shareholders and weak legal enforcement, the market's opaque transparency and political uncertainty.

Slovnaft polishes image with certificate

At a press conference on September 8, 1997, petrochemical giant Slovnaft a.s. Bratislava announced that it had recently been awarded a prestigious international certificate, the ISO 14001, in recognition of its environmental management program.But before the love-in starts, say some environmental groups, people should be aware that the certificate may help chemical firms like Slovnaft 'greenwash' their image rather than eliminate polluting practices. The ISO 14001, they point out, certifies a company's environmental management system, and does not guarantee any specific emissions targets.Cestmir Hrdinka, Coordinator of Greenpeace's Toxic Campaign in the Czech Republic, suggested that Slovnaft's certification was not evidence of a superior environmental management system (EMS) but of a desire to improve its image as an exporter.

VSŽ wins bid for steel mill

Around Slovakia

Police raid makers of false forintsNine people die in highway crashFive boys sentenced for killing homeless man

Drukos's direcotor was forced to give up his company