Archive of articles - October 1997, page 2

The Spotlight

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Big issue: How long will Finance Ministry accept high yields?

The Slovak money and foreign exchange markets were influenced mostly by very high interest rates which hovered between 24-27 percent for the past two weeks on the interbank market.The main event is the Finance Ministry's continuing difficulties refinancing the budget deficit due to the money market's liquidity shortage and the National Bank of Slovakia's (NBS) strict monetary policy.The question now is whether the ministry will continue to accept very high yields in auctions of T-bills and state bonds. At recent auctions, the ministry accepted yields up to 26 percent, which is the major reason why local interbank rates are so high.

What's happening around the country

RM Systém's August turnover at 507.1 m Sk

VSŽ fails in acquisition of Škoda Plzeň

Imports reach 232.87 bn Sk

Creditanstalt Bratislava up for sale

Hotel Danube site of Mafia shooting

"We are going to do everything to forbid people from coming in with guns. We're going to have metal detectors like you see in airports."Wagih Khoury, Director, Hotel Danube in BratislavaThe Danube Hotel, on the banks of the namesake river in downtown Bratislava, is wrestling with a high-profile problem due to its seeming appeal to mobsters who like to settle accounts in and around the hotel.On September 24, an unknown assailant strolled in and shot two men in the Hotel Danube's groundfloor Amadeus bar, killing one and seriously injuring the other. After the incident, the suspect ran away through a nearby park on Hviezdoslavovo námestie, according to eyewitnesses. According to one eyewitness who was in the hotel at the time of the incident, the two victims were dealing with some paperwork when the man walked into the door and opened fire.

Banská businessman feels Mafia pressure

"I didn't sleep all night. [I was] thinking until I came up with a solution you probably won't find in any economic literature."František MojžišFrantišek Mojžiš is not the kind of man he was two months ago. His entire universe has changed ever since he sacrificed his company with a 4-billion annual turnover, Drukos Ltd., on the altar of his personal mission of defying the Mafia.For over a month, Mojžiš and his family have lived in a secret location in Banská Bystrica, at a place he is extremely cautious to describe in any way. In his office, he sees security guards far more often than his business partners."My entire life now is work, time with my closest [family and friends], and sleep - if I can," said Mojžiš, who has limited his business trips here and abroad to a minimum. His three children, ages 13, 10 and 6, didn't begin the school year with other children. Their mother stays with them at their temporary home and can only dream of a social life.

Admissions process is target of corruption charges

With the new school year underway in Slovakia, the country's new university undergraduate students can breathe a sigh of relief, for they are among the chosen. At some Slovak university faculties, more than 90 percent of applicants were turned away in June 1997, their entrance exam scores not good enough to get them into school.However, some new students may have more than their wits to thank for their good fortune. According to beliefs shared by many people both in and outside the academic community, students who have enough money or who bring enough influence to bear, can get around the strict admissions requirements."There is a certain amount of corruption, certainly," said an official who handles admissions at a major Slovak university, and who requested anonymity. "It exists, as it has for a long time, but it doesn't have just a financial form.

Heineken's net growth helped by Zlatý Bažant

The Dutch brewer Heineken reported on September 12 that its 1H97 net income increased by nearly 10 percent and predicted full-year profit growth to be even higher as newly-consolidated companies, such as the Zlatý Bažant brewery in Slovakia, recorded strong sales volumes and project increased exports.Overall, Heineken's net profits rose 9.8 percent to 326 million Dutch guilders ($162.5 million), with operating profits up 15 percent at 535 million. Analysts' forecasts for net profit had ranged from 310 million to 323 million guilders."The good summer weather in August in parts of Europe had a positive effect on sales volume," according to a statement released by the Amsterdam-based firm.

Heart of the Great Moravian Empire rises again to shine

Not many newcomers to Slovakia know that Nitra is the country's fourth-largest city. Most often thought of as an ancient agricultural town, today, with 90,000 residents, Slovakia's oldest city is an urban zone.The Modern CityEven in the middle of the day, the wide sidewalks along the main street are crammed with people. Residents pack bus stops and crosswalks, fill the town marketplace, and hurry in and out of the shops lining Štefánikova trieda. Outside the city center, hordes of workers climb off of buses at big factories; thousands of students rushto classes at the Agricultural University; and spectators pack Agrokomplex, the mammoth convention center that draws over 1.5 million visitors to Nitra each year.

UN tabs Božena for mine removal

Tesla wins tender to supply Czech Telecom with phones

"The quality of our products is about the same as other companies, but we have a little bit lower prices."Daniel Roth, General Director, Tesla StropkovTesla Stropkov, a.s, a telephone apparatus producer, has won a tender to supply 157,500 telephone devices over the next three years to SPT Telecom, the largest Czech telecommunications company, Tesla's general director, Daniel Roth, told The Slovak Spectator on October 1."Tesla Stropkov was one of the chosen suppliers, because it has fulfilled all of the requirements that SPT Telecom had," said Dana Dvoráková, the spokeswoman for SPT Telecom. Tesla will be one of three suppliers to SPT; the other two are the German firm Siemens and the Czech company WT Prague.In August, it looked different for Tesla. SPT Telecom said that Tesla would not be a supplier, prompting Tesla's management to announce the lost contract would force the company to lay off 400 of its total workforce of 1,500. The news hit Stropkov hard, as the area, located in eastern Slovakia, is wrestling with unemployment between 16-18 percent.

Eurotel, Ericsson expand GSM cooperation

Representatives for Slovak mobile phone operator Eurotel Bratislava s.r.o. announced on September 19 it would increase the size of a deal to buy GSM equipment from Sweden's LM AB Ericsson to 106 million Deutsche marks (2 billion Sk) from the 29 million mark (555 million Sk) deal signed last year.The expansion contract includes new switches and radio base station equipment. "We were pushed to extend our contract from the original 29 million marks by increased competition in Slovakia," Eurotel Bratislava's general director, Artur Bobovnicky, said at the deal's signing ceremony.

American Football bangs away in Bratislava

Company Profile: Zlaté Stránky Mediatel

Anyone who has a telephone "yellow pages" book uses it sooner or later. That's why telephone directory information is valuable as, well, gold,Zlaté Stránky Mediatel (Golden Pages) knows that well. The company was established as a joint venture in Slovakia in 1993 between Herold Business Data GMBh,Wien, and NYNEX corporation, a company that serves large portion of the U.S. telecommunications market.NYNEX, originally created by AT&T, doesn't exist anymore. A few months ago it was taken over by Bell Atlantic, a telecom leader who operates 40 million telephone lines and serves another 5,5 million wireless customers all over the world.

Political instability keeps investors at bay

"A recent survey conducted by the Slovak agency for foreign investment has discovered something that is known to most investors already - political instability was the greatest fear in the minds of would-be investors into the country."Slovak government officials, local businessmen and foreign economic experts all seem to agree that Slovakia has achieved the kind of stable market environment that foreign investors seek. But they also appear to be unanimous in saying that while the country must revive its capital market and tighten its corporate laws, Slovakia's international image as a political maverick must be overhauled for large-scale investment to occur."Over the next four years we expect the flow of foreign direct investment into central Europe to reach $20 billion a year," said David Brown, a European Union advisor to the Slovak National Agency for Foreign Investment and Development (SNAZIR). "Slovakia is now well positioned to attract a large share of that capital."

Incheba, The Slovak Spectator corral new managers

Alexander Škurla, 26, recently became the marketing director at Incheba, the trade fair and events organizer in Bratislava.Škurla, who is single, began studying at the State University in Kiev at the department of international economic relations. In 1990 he left Kiev to continue his studies at the Economics University in Bratislava, from which he graduated in 1993. Upon graduation, Škurla went through several educational stays in Great Britain and the USA. At the beginning of 1995, he started working as an assistant at the department of transition economies at the Economy Ministry.After a short period of time at the ministry, Škurla was sent on a one-year, post-graduate stay at the Scuola Superiore Enrico Mattei in Milan, Italy, where he studied economy and management of the petrochemical and gas industry. Because of the many countries Škurla studied in, he speaks fluent English, Russian, and Italian and he is conversant in German and Polish.