Archive of articles - April 1998, page 2

Slovaks work seven times longer than Austrians

Finance Ministry's wastefulness keeps long-term money expensive

The interbank money market experienced a two-week period of moderate trading without many dramatic developments. Altough short-term maturities of up to one week remained volatile, they remained at lower levels compared to long-term deposits. Short-term rates copied the developments of the past few months as a short-term liquidity surplus pushed them to zero percent shortly before the end of the two-week minimum reserve requirement (PMR) period ending on April 15.Long-term maturities hovered at a high level, moving between 18.5 and 22.5 percent. The yields accepted by the Finance Ministry at auctions of state securities remain the main factor that is keeping long-term money expensive. It seems that the state is willing to pay as much as 26 percent for one-year money, which is much more than anyone else on the market can pay.

Retail sales in February rose 9% annually

Battle rages over control of media in Slovakia

On April 14, the government-affiliated daily Slovenská Republika published an editorial on its front page urging the government of Vladimír Mečiar to "mobilize appropriate units of the police corps," and to "issue an order to put the Slovak Army on high alert." Republika's editors were responding neither to a foreign military threat nor to a civil insurrection, but to the decision of the Štúrovo City Council to hold a referendum on NATO membership and direct Presidential elections on April 19 (see related story, page 1).Mečiar officially rejected the appeal, but media analysts said the incident only confirmed their claims that Slovakia's political battle is being waged through the country's print media. Not only has the media become a tool in the hands of the country's political and economic elites, they argued, but it increasingly considers itself to be a political player rather than an impartial observer of current events.

Airplane ticket taxes hiked an additional three percent in plan to raise money for airport renovation

The Slovak government, faced with a shortage of revenues to cover the budget deficit, has approved a financial plan to renovate the country's six airports by levying a three percent tax on every airplane ticket sold in Slovakia. The plan has caused a furor among domestic travel agencies and both domestic and international airlines."What this may mean is that common people will opt to go to Vienna and buy a ticket there to save money on this tax," said Ivica Kianičková, Director of A.I.T. travel agency. "But in my opinion, companies will remain on this market and purchase their tickets here."

Defense Minister supports anti-NATO campaign

On April 8, members of the Slovak National Party (SNS) Central Committee launched a petition drive to spark a public debate on Slovakia's neutrality and the death penalty. On the inaugural day, all SNS leaders personally supported the initiative, with Ján Sitek, Slovak Defense Minister and SNS Vice-Chairman, being among the first to stick his John Hancock on the dotted line, indicating that five months before the elections, party affiliations count for more than the government's political program.

VSŽ posts 151m Sk 1Q98 net profit

Community Grapevine

* Do you need share or discuss aspects of American culture ? Scott Taylor from American Volunteers Overseas, along with the Center for American Studies at Comenius University Library in Bratislava, plans to organize a regular presentation series on American culture. The first presentation in the series will cover American and Slovak constitutional issues and will be held on Wednesday, May 6 at the library on Michalská Street 1, on the 1st floor in the American Studies Room at 6pm. There will be a chance to ask questions and discuss issues after the presentation, which will be held in both Slovak and English. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

March 0.2% inflation puts annual rate at 7.2%

High Tatras region wrestles with tourism decline

The High Tatras, Slovakia's highest mountain range, have for decades been the country's crown jewel for skiing and tourism. But over the past few years, the ancient faces of Slovakia's most famous peaks have watched impassively as the once-thriving tourist industry carried on below has succumbed to stagnation and decline.According to Ján Kuska, Director of the Agency for Development of Tourism in the Tatra Region, "the potential for tourism [in the Tatras] is great, but its current state is not." The region is saddled with various problems, Kuska said, among them high prices, turf-wars between regional and national tourism agencies, and an increase in car theft and other kinds of robbery. All these factors, Kuska told the daily Národná Obroda, have caused a steady decline in the number of visitors to the High Tatras.

Referendum held despite government threats

"If not for that article, no one would have known about the referendum - neither the world, nor Slovakia, nor even half of Štúrovo."Referendum committee member from polling station #1, who wished to remain anonymous.More than 47 percent of eligible voters in the southern Slovak town of Štúrovo turned out on April 19 to participate in a referendum on NATO membership and direct election of the President. Although the results of the vote carried no official weight, the Slovak government mounted a concerted campaign in the days leading up to the plebiscite to stop its taking place at all.The poll asked voters to say whether they wanted Slovakia to join NATO, whether they would accept nuclear weapons and foreign troops on Slovak soil, and whether the president should be directly elected by the people.

Slovakofarma posts lower profit

SOP makes strong political debut

When the roll call of Slovakia's new Parliament is taken in late September, it may include some fresh faces from the newly-formed Party of Civil Understanding (SOP): party leader and Košice Mayor Rudolf Schuster, and his two lieutenants - former Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavol Hamžík and Banská Bystrica Mayor Igor Presperín.Much has been made of the fact that the SOP still has no concrete political program, and that its electoral pitch to the common man less than convincing given the elite origins of the party's leadership. Despite these shortcomings, the SOP has won a cautious welcome from both government and opposition SDĽ deputies. The only real holdout has been the strongest opposition bloc, the SDK, whose members have said they distrust the SOP's declared intentions.

State railroad plagued by scandal, debt

Slovak Railways (ŽSR), Slovakia's biggest employer, has recently been switched onto a blind track leading into a big black tunnel. With corporate profits plummeting, murky financial scandals swelling, and company management cheating on employee social benefits, ŽSR is reaching the end of the line.ŽSR's 1998 business plan projects a 3.8 to 3.9 billion Sk loss, stemming mostly from price subsidies for passenger transport. Company Director General Michal Lazar said that ŽSR's cumulative uncovered loss from passenger transport over the past three years is 15.5 billion Sk, a sum that almost equals the company's total debt.

Parliament fails to elect president for fifth time

As widely expected, Parliament failed again in its fifth attempt to elect a new president on April 16. None of the three candidates came anywhere near mustering the required 90 votes, which means that the country's six-week old constitutional crisis will continue for the forseeable future.Parliament's Speaker Ivan Gašparovič, who announced the result, set a new vote for the end of the month. "No candidate succeeded in gaining the necessary majority to be elected as president. I interrupt this session until April 30," he said.The fifth round was the first in which Premier Vladimír Mečiar's ruling coalition fielded a candidate, HZDS deputy Milan Sečánsky, who despite polling more than his two rivals combined, only secured 59 votes. 25 deputies voted against him and 41 abstained.

SIT posts higher 1997 profit

Slovak prisons debunk the myth of pampered convicts

A distance of 320 meters usually takes about three minutes to walk. But the road of this length that connects the inner and outer gates in Leopoldov, Slovakia's largest prison, may take ten or twenty years to travel. Is it the road out of hell, as many westerners imagine, for whom prisons in eastern Europe conjure up notions of desolate Russian gulags? Or does it bring forth idlers who have enjoyed a life of lesiure and fun, as is believed by Slovak taxpayers?There are literally hundreds of myths about life behind the walls and bars of Slovak prisons, beliefs that are as distant from reality as Slovak prisoners are from society.

Slovak Constitution needs some work

Dr. Milan Čič, the Chief Justice of the Slovak Constitutional Court, contributed this column in parts to the Národná Obroda daily. In his writings, Dr. Čič provided the text of several articles as they currently appear in the Constitution, proposed changes to the current text, and then concluded with a discussion of the state of the Constitution in general.One of the most divisive topics these days is the Constitution of the Slovak Republic that is currently in force, and the question of whether we should design an entirely new one. The current Constitution, during the five years it has been used, has fulfilled its purpose. That is why I don't think that it is necessary to change or replace it with a new version. Calls to change the Constitution have often arisen when there has been insufficient political will to resolve constitutional problems; personal motivations and conflicts have also interfered with this process.

1998 economic predictions released