Archive of articles - November 1997, page 2

Disappointing 1-3Q97 results indicate trouble

The last two weeks haven't brought any surprises from the Slovak equity market. Lethargy continued and the SAX index went down as blue chips' prices declined. Some blue chips were traded at prices close to their all-time lows (IRB for instance). But even that didn't spur investors to buy shares because there are continuing doubts about the Slovak equity market's future, supported by recent transactions of Príroda shares. The 1-3Q97 results of most Slovak companies did not give an impetus to the markets either, as higher financial costs and stronger competition have narrowed their profit margins.

The best of Slovak film

Film historian Richard Blech is a man qualified to rank the best Slovak films. From 1954-72 he was an editor and film critic for the daily "Smena." Since then he has worked as an editor at the encyclopedia department of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, has been a judge at international film festivals, and has authored most entries in "The Panorama of World Cinematography" (Panoráma svetovy kinematografie - 1964) and the mammoth, 1,055 page "Encyklopédia Filmu - 1993."Here is his list of must-see Slovak films. (Note: The best way to catch one of these films is to either watch STV late at night or to check the film schedule at Kino Charlies Centrum which periodically shows Slovak films with English subtitles.)

Town resurrects past glory from recent obscurity

It is the 1st of June 1846, 6:30 AM. Excited passengers are sitting on the first horse-pulled train to operate on the territory of the Hungarian empire, of which Slovakia is a part.Starting from the busy cosmopolitan town of Pressburg (now Bratislava) they are heading to the tranquil provincial village of Trnava, which is situated about 50 kilometers to the north-east. The coachman sounds his horn, cracks his whip and off they go through an early summer morning, the horses whinnying and stamping excitedly.At Pezinok the country opens out, flat in every direction - they are leaving behind the wine-growing hillsides of the Malé Karpaty (small Carpathians), which now stretch off to the left.Eventually, after a 2 hour ride, the steeples of Trnava's many churches appear on the horizon. They get a standing ovation, and cries of 'Vivat!' as the dusty train pulls into the sleepy countryside station.

Employment drops, but wages increase

Quote of the Week

Greek food at Delfín is an odyssey worth making

You won't see traditional shards of smashed plates, nor is sitting next to a swimming pool quite the same as sitting on the shore of the Aegean, but at the Delfín restaurant - which opened about two years ago - you will find authentic Greek cuisine, delightfully prepared and attentively served.Live music awaits as you enter. Real olive oil on your table - the only restaurant in Slovakia we have found that serves it on your table - is a sure sign of a quality restaurant.The menu is temptingly full of what makes Greece special. Fresh salads with real feta cheese, lightly fried spanikopika triangles (called spinach strudel on the menu), aromatic and ample Kakavia (fish soup), and baklava drenched with honey and nuts. Sitting under the Corinthian columns and sampling a little Metaxa wine, it can be a real feast!

Minority mentalities: Myths rule Slovak, Hungarian relations, not reality

One of the most persistent myths surrounding Slovak-Hungarian relations is that Hungarians living in southern Slovakia either can't or don't want to speak Slovak, the language of their country. Among Slovak politicians this myth has fueled suspicion which trickles through the media down to citizenry that Hungarians have a master plan to separate the territory of Southern Slovakia and join it to Hungary. The plain truth of the matter is that only a small percentage of Hungarians would like southern Slovakia to be part of Hungary. It is the same percentage of Slovaks who would like to purify Slovakia of "Magyars."The greater reality is that Slovaks and Hungarians live peacefully together. In the small town of Fílakovo, 70 percent Hungarian, 30 percent Slovak, near the Hungarian border, any thought of autonomy or secession is ludicrous. There are two Hungarian schools from K-12 and two Slovak schools K-12. Intermarriges are common.

Slovak, Hungarian Relations Part 1

A priest analyzes Mečiar, his fellow Christians

The Church must accord the utmost respect to the right of a nation to self-determination. Indeed, broadly speaking, self-determination is one of the most fundamental and inalienable of human rights. However, the Church's mission is also to assess self-determination in a theological light, and to ask difficult questions whenever it feels that a nation~s pursuit of its basic rights is in conflict with the Church's primary mission.A crucial mission of any church which calls itself universal is to insist that in the sphere of a state's right for self-determination, the rights of individuals are to be held superior to the right of nations. But in Slovakia, many Christian people have lost sight of this mission, seeing their role no longer as that of "sanctifying the entire world," but of sanctifying only that which is Slovak in the world.

Salaries are on the upswing

Before 1989 starting salaries for university graduates were - to put it frankly - the same. A graduate received a starting salary of about 1,600 Sk gross monthly. If a graduate had extremely good marks , they got 50 to 100 Sk more. A lot has changed since then, as graduates can now expect a starting salary of between 8,000 to 12,000 Sk gross monthly.The current job market certainly bodes well for graduates in Finance, Sales, Human Resources, Marketing, Plant Management, and Information Technology. Managers in each of these fields will have salaries close to their counterparts in the west in a couple of years.Other determining factors concerning salaries are the different regions in Slovakia. Bratislava salaries are in general the highest since there is a huge demand for skilled employees - to be sure it is an employees market. The problem with working in Bratislava is the unrealistic housing market , which can eat up to 50 percent of an average salary.

Slovnaft records sales of 29.9bn Sk from Jan-Sep

Wage regulation softened

VSŽ and U.S. Steel Group to form a joint-venture

Around Slovakia

Man flees courthouse through toilet windowTruck drivers protest sluggishness

The Spotlight

BeanLost HighwayMy best friend's weddingContactBasquiatPeacemaker

Survival tips: Hang this up

No one ever thinks that anything bad will happen to them. But it is always better to be safe than sorry. If an accident befalls you in Slovakia, there are basic emergency phone numbers that could help you. The people at the other end of the line claim to understand many foreign languages, including English, German, Russian and Hungarian. These numbers work all across the country.

Nafta received $10m loan

Styvros plans to invest in Russian business center

One-on-one with the mother of Slovak film

When it comes to the history of Slovak film, no one should know more about it than actress Vilma Jamnická who, after all, has lived through most of it. The actress was born in 1906, not long after the first public screening of a motion picture. She remembers her first film only as "a war movie." "More German soldiers were killed in the film than there were Germans in it," she said. "Communism always defeated fascism in our movies."After that first film, her memories are less keen. There is nothing particularly wrong with her powers of recall, it's just that she has appeared in over 500 roles in her career.Out of those numerous roles she liked the minor ones the best. "I like small roles, " she explained, "because you can earn more with less effort. A star carries a lot of responsibility and has to be there all the time, but in smaller parts you can go home when you're finished.