Archive of articles - March 1999, page 5

Dutch firm buys Siemens' stake in Slovak cable TV operator

Letter to the Editor: Slovak Jews should unite to rebuild Bratislava synagogue

Cabinet passes plan to attract investors

Air Force embraces US presence

In a few months, a dozen American F-16's will be coasting through Slovakia's airspace, and Slovak officials are hoping the sun glinting off their wings will send a powerful signal to NATO to support Slovakia's entry into the international defence organization.The jets and up to 200 US soldiers are coming from Aviano Air Force Base in Italy, one of the largest NATO air force bases in southern Europe. While they plan primarily to work on their own training here, part of the agreement is that they will also cooperate with and perhaps help train Slovak pilots.Top Slovak brass are hoping the additional training will help westernise their forces, which currently fly Russian-made planes like Mig 29's. The US Air Force will also pay a fee to use the Malacky Air Force base, a boon to the cash-strapped Defence Ministry.

Letter to the Editor: Slovak bureaucrats manage to snarl even foreign wedding arrangements

NBS intervenes on spot market, claiming no desired SKK target

The National Bank of Slovakia intervened on the Slovak foreign exchange market for the first time since the Slovak crown was floated in October last year. The NBS stepped in after the EURSKK exchange rate jumped by 2% early on March 9. The crown easily broke through the psychological barrier of 44.000 against the euro, plummeting to a year-low of 44,800/900.A fall in interbank interest rates in the past few days was seen as the main reason for the crown depreciation, but increasing local corporate demand for hard currencies was also behind the developments. The central bank sold only a very small amount of euros in the two rounds of interventions that took place.

Supreme Court says more anti-discrimination laws by 2002

Ministry punishes airline's defiance

Over three months after revoking the operating licence of former national air carrier Slovenské Aerolínie, the Transport Ministry has returned the firm's three TU 154 aircraft and has told Slovenské Aerolínie to prepare them for operation. However, in a bizarre twist to Slovakia's ongoing airline saga, the airline will not be allowed to fly the planes - it can only perform maintenance on them, the Ministry announced March 2.Although the Transport Ministry is not acting out of spite, one state official claimed, Slovenské Aerolínie (SA) is in some ways being punished for defying the ministry last year. SA, the official said, continued to fly its routes without permission after its license was revoked in November 1998.

Finance Ministry says country may have to cover big loan

Around Slovakia

"Miss Slovakia" title to be decided in courtReturn of the migratory birdsPaintings of mentally ill on displayRivers still at dangerous levelsAntelopes freed from zooYoung thug steals ten crowns and non-alcoholic drink

Stock market waits with baited breath for 1998 corporate results

Since the beginning of March, the equity market has registered moderate trading activity. Average daily turnover decreased to 67 million Slovak crowns from mid-February. The official SAX index weakened by 3.8% over the two week period and closed at 84.63 on March 9. Behind the drop in the equity index was a 14.3% fall in the value of Slovnaft shares; the oil refiner has the highest weight in the SAX index.The only shares to perform favourably were those of steelmaker VSŽ, which gained 25 crowns per share to close at 180 crowns. Pharmaceuticals firm Slovakofarma lost 2.4% and is trading at 2,050 crwosn.

Construction output plunges in January

Slovak Railways losses rise to 9.31 billion Sk

Treaties with Russia may slow NATO entry

Although Foreign Ministry officials claim that Slovakia's 73 official treaties with Russia won't halt the country's integration into western alliances, political scientists and diplomats say some of the agreements - like those which require the sharing of military intelligence - may make the road westward longer than expected.In 1993, independent Slovakia inherited 43 treaties and agreements with Russia which had been signed by the former Czechoslovak government. Thirty-one new treaties have been signed since then, most of them under former Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar, who favoured close relations between the two countries.Since taking office in November, the new Slovak government has analysed 60 of the treaties, Foreign Affairs Minister Eduard Kukan said at a press conference in late February. None of them was found to present a serious stumbling block to joining Western alliances, and the nation will let them stand untouched unless directly asked to change them, he said.

Latest figures: Current account deficit wider

Slovakia's current account deficit, identified as a key problem facing the economy, widened in November as the trade deficit worsened, the central bank said on February 26.The deficit for the first 11 months of 1998 widened to 66.25 billion crowns from 63.4 billion between January and October and 56.94 billion in January-November 1997.The bank said in a statement the main impact on the deficit came from a trade deficit of 72.48 billion crowns, compared with 43.07 billion a year earlier.

Financier Majský grabs Nafta Gbely

Jozef Majský, a wealthy Slovak financier, said on March 3 he had bought a controlling block of 1.4 million shares in the oil and gas storage company Nafta Gbely. Majský's statement contradicted earlier claims by new Nafta General Director Arpád Demko that the shares had been offered for purchase to the state."I bought [the shares] in mid-February, because I wanted to stop the negative development of the company," Majský told The Slovak Spectator. "If it hadn't been me, Nafta would have gone maybe to some cabinet minister. The problem was who the new owner should be, and now it's me."Majský added that his plans for the firm involve attracting a foreign investor and giving the state a role in planning Nafta's future direction.

Around Slovakia

Jealous husband shoots at wifeMinistry of Agriculture target of bomb threatPetrol station robberyEagles begin annual "engagement flights"Polish truck-drivers car-jackedWater from creeks floods housesBeer-drugging-related robbery

SDK expels Duračka and wants him to give up his mandate

Finance Ministry okays EXIM Bank's budget