Archive of articles - October 1998

SDĽ slows discussions with power demands

A struggle for cabinet seats between the four victorious parties of the former opposition continues to stymie efforts to put together a new government. Members of the Hungarian Coalition Party pointed the finger of blame at the leftist SDĽ party, saying that it was demanding more influence in the new administration than it deserved."The SDĽ think they are worth more than their election results showed," said Béla Bugár, the Hungarian party chairman, adding that a plan to assign ministerial posts proportional to the election results of each party had foundered due to SDĽ intransigence.After four weeks of intensive negotiations, "the four," as the parties call themselves, jointly declared on October 16 that they would have a coalition government agreement signed by October 27.

Small town blues

The Constitutional Court handed down its verdict on Slovakia's municipal election law amendment on October 15. Not just one or two, but a laughable six out of seven new clauses, the court said, were against the constitution.Clearly, these elections, set for November 13 and 14, cannot go ahead under the new law. They would be invalid, and would have to be re-run at great cost and little credit to the new government. But just as clearly, delaying elections or scrapping the amended law imply many risks for the candidates and the municipalities themselves.The greatest risk is that voters and those running for municipal office across the country will lose interest in the elections. Having geared themselves up over the past months for a good scrap, electors and municipal candidates might have to wait up to eight months for the law to be fixed and the vote to be held.

New visas complicate travel

John Skelton, an English photographer and film maker living in Slovakia, is fed up with the mutual visa restrictions imposed in October on Slovak and British citizens. "It's ridiculous," he fumed on October 15 after being forced to cancel a planned business trip to England with two Slovak colleagues.Skelton had intended to drive to York with Adrian Kapustik and Marek Petrnák, both of Banská Bystrica in central Slovakia, but the refusal of the British embassy in Bratislava to issue travel visas to the two Slovaks meant that the October 18 trip had to be called off. Skelton said he needed the men to advise him on a new computer video-editing system.The Home Office of the United Kingdom imposed a visa requirement on Slovak citizens travelling to the UK on October 8, a move that was parried by the Slovak cabinet with a decision to introduce a similar requirement for UK citizens as of October 15.

Press Digest

Slovak central bank Oct 14 forex reserves $2.99 billion

Slovak nouveau riche

Slovak SAX index hits yet another low

Government forgives IRB taxes

Four weeks after losing national elections, the outgoing government of Premier Vladimír Mečiar has released the troubled state-owned IRB (Investičná a rozvojová banka) from 1.4 billion Sk ($40 million) in taxes and penalties. Politicians from the parties of the former opposition declared that the move was illegal, but said a new government would have limited means to recoup the money.On October 13, the government authorised Finance Minister Miroslav Maxon to make the necessary budget arrangements to absorb the loss. The 1.4 billion Sk figure represents money owed to the state in tax backpayments and related fines.But although the Finance Ministry has been charged with responsibility for implementing the decision, it has done nothing so far. "We have some preliminary figures [related to the amounts to be forgiven] but we have no idea about next year's national budget.

Squirrelling away supplies

NBS declares confidence in VÚB

The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) on October 21 admitted that Slovakia's largest commercial bank, VÚB, had repeatedly failed to meet its minimum reserve requirements. But NBS governor Vladimir Masár strictly rejected speculations that the central bank was considering placing VÚB under a caretaker administration.

Slovak Securites Centre avoids bailiffs for now

Slovakia's state Securities Centre, the country's sole securities ownership registration organisation, said on October 16 it had managed to ward off the bailiffs for the time being.A court ruled that bailiffs could confiscate property after the SCP failed to pay damages of 67 million Sk ($1.9 million) to a little known company, Kierra a.s. which had shares stolen from an account at the SCP.SCP spokeswoman Erika Mináriková said the centre filed an objection this week against the ruling. She said the SCP would use the time to find money from the state, banks, or on the capital market to pay the damages rather than attempting to have the claim dismissed altogether.

Decommissioning nuclear plants to cost 55 billion Sk ($1.5 bn)

Mustang - one step up on the Irish

A fine new addition to Bratislava's nightlife opened its doors in late September near the Slovak National Museum and Comenius University. Named 'Mustang,' in deference to the line of denim wear that the bar touts on its walls, this new watering hole threatens to make serious inroads on the Dubliner Irish Pub's ex-pat business.Mustang is (so far) a smaller, cleaner, cheaper and less-crowded version of the Dubliner. With 12 beers on offer, including Guinness, Kilkenny, Murphy's and Cashell's, the pub boasts a fine selection of amber nectar at an average of 10 Sk per pint cheaper than its cross-town rival. Domestic Slovak beers go for 23Sk a large pint. The liquor list is also well-stocked - Canadian Club rye whisky, for example, being about as common in these parts as Newfies in Norway, will catch the eye of anyone who knows the intoxicating pleasure of a rye and coke.

New government means more democracy

For the better part of the past three years, we have had some sharp differences with the policies of the present Slovak government [of outgoing Premier Vladimír Mečiar]. Increasingly often, as time went by, these differences were spelled out publicly. It would not serve any purpose in the waning days of this government to inventory our disagreements. Suffice it to say that we found its increasingly autocratic conduct to be completely inconsistent with its declared aspiration to join NATO...This September's elections have turned a new page for Slovakia. The parties that have been elected campaigned on a platform of political and economic reform and have pledged to end the politics of intolerance and exclusion...I am convinced that we can look forward to a far more open and democratic political life and to an end to the abuses of power, including the misuse of the intelligence service, that characterized the present regime.

New import controls discussed by SDĽ

A senior member of Slovakia's Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ) said on October 19 the new government, of which SDĽ will be a part, may impose import restrictions to deal with the current account deficit.Slovakia's current account deficit represents around 11% of gross domestic product.After the victory of the four party opposition in elections at the end of September, the Slovak crown was floated and has depreciated by some 5% against the mark and dollar.The government of Vladimír Mečiar, which retains power until the reopening of parliament on October 29, viewed a strong crown as a matter of pride, but analysts had long predicted that any new government would be forced to devalue.

Markíza occupied for third time

What's Happening in Bratislava

Irish want visas

Firms shrug off new visa requirements

British-based companies doing business in Slovakia maintain they have not been greatly affected by the visa requirements imposed by UK and Slovak authorities in the first half of October. Despite the added fees and delays, they say, the visa regime is not a severe inconvenience."It is another drop in the bucket of administrative barriers, but it's not something we can't overcome," said Radovan Pekník, external affairs officer with Coca-Cola Beverages Slovakia, which has its headquarters in London. Pekník reported that his company's top management make frequent business trips between the two countries.