Archive of articles - July 1998

ZRS Parliamentary faction dissolves due to exodus

The Association of Slovak Workers (ZRS), a junior government party, saw its Parliamentary faction dissolve after yet another member quit. What started three years ago with the defection of the ZRS Vice-Chairman has gradually evolved into a mass exodus of ZRS deputies to other parties.Opposition deputies claim that the ZRS Chairman, Ján Ľupták, is finally paying for his political naiveté from the fall of 1994, when he enabled Premier Vladimír Mečiar to create a governing coalition by creating an alliance of Mečiar's HZDS and Ján Slota's Slovak National Party (SNS)."Mečiar has been using Ľupták for four years as a disposable napkin," said Ľudovít Černák, SDK election campaign leader, adding that Ľupták's total obedience to the HZDS chairman was the main reason for not fulfilling ZRS's election agenda.

SPP aims to increase its natural gas transit role

Notes blossoming as stock market withers

More than four years ago, the official SAX index of the Bratislava Stock Exchange took a nose dive, gradually ceasing to fulfil its crucial role of allocating funds. For a short while it seemed that this role may be taken over by the bond market, but state securities soon usurped it in the name of financing a growing budget deficit.With both the equity and bond markets in doldrums, Slovak companies have increasingly been forced to reel in fresh funds elsewhere. Although some firms have managed to find monies in promissory notes issued to foreign investors, the government's appetite for foreign funds snuffed out what was probably the last effective means left to allocate funds on a larger scale.

"Hidden" voters expected to balloon HZDS' election tally

Although Premier Vladimír Mečiar's HZDS is currently leading popularity polls by a thin margin over its sworn adversary, the SDK, polling agencies agree that the gap will likely balloon as the September 25-26 national elections approach. Up to 5% of the overall vote has to be added to the HZDS' current tally, they claim, because there are just as many "hidden" voters who lean toward HZDS, but keep it to themselves and declare their support only during the elections.According to Pavel Haulík, director of the MVK polling agency, almost one-third of all eligible Slovak voters do not openly declare their political orientation. They fall under two basic categories: those who would abstain and those who are undecided.

Letter to the Editor: One person's battle against a bouncer

Gov't hopes 10-year tax break lures investors

On July 1, the Slovak government began trying to attract large foreign investors with ten-year tax break enticement, but market analysts say that the measure's numerous restrictions and selective approach of preferring large businesses will spoil its final effect."The aim ..is to create conditions for a higher influx of foreign capital to strategic industries, improve the trade balance on the export side and create new jobs," the Finance Ministry said in its statement on June 11, after passing the measure which did not need Parliamentary approval.However, reactions to it were not as warm as the government had hoped.

ŠÚSR releases full 1998 forecasts

Paper mill SCP to issue bonds worth 300m Sk

VSŽ eyes Slovenská Poisťovňa to control IRB again

Seven months ago, the top brass at VSŽ, the East Slovak steel mill, came to the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) with hats in their hands, begging the central bank to save Investičná a rozvojová banka (IRB). As the bank's majority owner, the steel giant had been accused of almost sinking it by allegedly siphoning its funds.After last month's takeover of the IRB by the largest Slovak insurer, Slovenská Poisťovňa (SP), VSŽ now seems determined to get the IRB back through increasing its influence in the SP itself.

SDK established as single party

Forced to unite by the recent amendment to the election law that banishes coalitions, the SDK claims it stands ready to brawl after its July 4 congress ratified the formation of a single party with the single purpose of handing Premier Vladimír Mečiar his first election defeat.Faced with slumping poll numbers, the scandal of its group allegedly bribing journalists and rumors of internal disarray, SDK leaders' strategy was to use the congress meeting, held in the western Slovak town of Trnava, to show strength and unity that would lead them to election victory and beyond.

Ethnic Hungarian pupils return Slovak-only reports

Thousands of Slovak ethnic Hungarian pupils handed back their year-end reports on June 30 in a massive protest against government moves to restrict the use of their mother tongue at schools."We are not pleased by the constant need to protest, but we don't have many other opportunities to voice our disagreement," said Rudolf Mezes, head of the Association of Hungarian Parents. "If this trend does not stop now, then where could it lead?" he asked.Mezes continued that according to preliminary estimates, between 30 and 50 percent of ethnic Hungarian pupils handed their Slovak-only report cards back to their schools after receiving them at the end of the school year on June 26. "There are schools where 90% of pupils did this, but also schools where only 10% protested," he said.

More firms see output grow in July-August

NBS sticks to 1998 inflation target

Petrimex gains Iraqi crude contract approval

Financial giants to be merged

The June 16 proposal by Premier Vladimír Mečiar to merge Slovakia's four biggest financial houses into two has aroused heated debate in financial and political circles. While Mečiar and his economic advisors say that their sole intention is to heal the malnourished banks by feeding them to each other, opposition party leaders maintain that the operation is simply a clever maneuver to allow the government to privatize the entire banking system before September's parliamentary elections.Mečiar's prescription to achieve a sound banking system is to merge Všeobecná Úverová Banka (VÚB), the largest commercial bank, with Slovenská Sporiteľňa (SLSP), the largest savings bank, and to create a second twin with Slovenská Poisťovňa (SP), the dominant insurer, and Investičná a rozvojová banka (IRB). The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), while not overly supportive, has given the plan a cautious nod.

Will Slovak politicians sign a treaty, too?

When Czechoslovakia split, the world predicted political stability for the Czech Republic while prophesying a period of political turmoil for its former sibling, Slovakia.After five years of separation, there are some interesting similarities to be drawn between the two. Before the end of September, both countries will have held two general elections - one regular (Czech Republic-1996, Slovakia-1998) and one premature (Czech Republic-1998, Slovakia-1994). Both countries have experienced a long period of a minority government followed by half a year of an interim government. The two politicians responsible for the "Velvet Divorce," Václav Klaus and Vladimír Mečiar, have reigned ever since that divorce on their respective territories, with half-a-yearlong breaks. Even more, these leaders' parties have been plagued by political and economic scandals, while both Klaus and Mečiar themselves often have been described by critics as authoritarian, arrogant, and having a special appetite for power.

Close call for next president

Otto Tomeček, the Rector of Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica and the Presidential candidate nominated by Premier Vladimír Mečiar's party, HZDS, has come the closest so far in the Slovak Parliament's protracted effort to elect the country's second President.Tomeček received 86 votes in two secret ballots held on July 9, the fifth month that parliamentary deputies have attempted, without success, to agree on a new leader for the country.Still, Tomeček was the most successful candidate so far, falling only four votes shy of the 90 votes required by the Constitution to name a new president. A HZDS member whose membership is temporarily "frozen" because of his academic position, Tomeček did not expect himself to be elected. "Opposition deputies let it be known that I would not be elected," he said. "[However], it was an interesting experience," added the rector of the only Slovak university where government officials often come to give lectures.

Slovak Army Chief Commander quits army, enters politics

General Jozef Tuchyňa, Chief of the Slovak Army General Staff, has decided to quit the ranks and enter politics for the September 25-26 national elections on the ticket of the Party of Democratic Left (SDĽ). However, two obstacles bar his way to the chamber. For one, Defence Minister Ján Sitek signed Tuchyňa's resignation request effective from September 30, after the elections are scheduled to take place. Perhaps a bigger problem is that Tuchyňa can only be freed from his post by the President, whose office has been vacant since March.On June 29, Sitek announced that Tuchyňa would be released from the Slovak Army by September 30, at his own request. "[Tuchyňa's] request met all the requirements for retirement, so it was approved," said František Kašický, Defense Ministry spokesman.

ŠÚSR revises '97 trade deficit