Archive of articles - April 1999

Café Kút - Funky furnishings and tunes draw a hip crowd

Young, good-looking, trendy students in the evenings and men puffing cigars through subdued business meetings in the mornings: that is the clientele of Cafe Kút, a newly opened and much needed café in the centre of the Old Town near Michalská street. If you are tired of all those "cool" people at nearby café "U Anjelov", exhausted by the thought of more jazz music or can't face another evening of watching local machos (so-called businessmen) whiling away the hours with their mobile phones in one hand and keys to expensive cars in the other, then this might just be your new place to hang-out.Situated just outside the entrance to Restaurant Prašná bašta (another one of our favorites) and owned by the same family, the café is tucked away in a small corner (kút) from which it gets its name.

Pharmacists chamber dissatisfied with Parliament's decision

Women targetted by sex crime

In early 1999, a complaint was filed with the Bratislava police which charged a man was driving around the city "trouser-less." According to the police, as the offender piloted his car around town, he shouted for women to look at him, and invited them into his car to give them a lift. While doing this, he masturbated.According to the head of the investigation department of the Bratislava police, the incident is the only one of its kind to take place so far in 1999. But social scientists said the frequency of such acts is actually increasing, and blame the low police figure on the failure of women to report such crimes. Stories from numerous Slovak women also seem to indicate that sexual crimes such as exposure, frotteurism, obscene telephone calls and public masturbation are happening more often and in a more brazen manner, even if the police have no record of their occurrence.

Prvá Komunálna Banka with total assets exceeding 20 billion crowns

Schmögnerová attends EBRD annual meeting in London

VSŽ appoints more US Steel managers

Troubled east-Slovak steel giant VSŽ said on April 19 it had made further changes in its top management, bringing in yet more people with ties to one of its possible strategic partners - USX Corp's US Steel. Of the eight new executive vice presidents appointed in mid-April, two - Ladislav Matusak and Anton Lukáč - came from VSŽ's Slovak joint venture with US Steel, and two others- Howard McKee and James Lawrence - from UEC-USX Engineers and Consultants, US Steel's consulting branch.While the firm would not comment on the management shuffle beyond confirming the names involved, analysts see the moves as a definite indication that US Steel is preparing for a capital entry into VSŽ.

Upset central bank calls for Czech ČSOB EGM in May

Young film-makers highlighted in international movie festival

After a 15-year break, Bratislava's Czech Centre- known before the fall of Communism as University Club Véčko- will again host a Festival of Young Film-makers featuring international films created by young directors.The festival, which is supported by a variety of private foundations and commercial firms, as well as with public funds from the Slovak Ministry of Culture, will stage films owned by Czech art cinemas and Czech film clubs which are often difficult to see in Slovakia. The fifty-five films on offer will range from Russian and Czech documentaries to alternative American movies. They will be in a wide range of languages, including seven films in English.

Mečiar joins race in the name of amnesty

If history could be erased, and the crimes of the past four years in Slovakia obliterated, many former government members would not need Mečiar for protection any longer. Instead of an eraser, however, these people found former members of the secret service - the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS) - who were willing to talk. Only three months after investigations were launched, two key men from the SIS are already sitting in custody.One of these men, former deputy SIS boss Jaroslav Svěchota, has already squealed on his former colleagues and confessed to his own role in the kidnapping of the son of the former president. Why did Svěchota break? We can't be sure, but after 2 months in isolation, in 'protective custody,' he received a present from an unknown benefactor - a book, which contained a razor blade to warn him against spilling the beans.

New laws readied for Slovak capital market win EU approval, support

The Slovak capital market has been plagued by low liquidity, non-transparency and market manipulation for a long time. The previous government did little to improve the market environment. On the contrary, a set of amendments to The Securities Law, No. 600/1992, and The Investment Company and Fund Law, No. 248/1992, brought the market to the verge of collapse.The Bratislava Stock Exchange may have reported increased volumes of securities tradiing, but these figures were generated by an expanding trade in state debitures. As for share trading, some 99% of the volume was generated by so-called "direct trades" between the Stock Exchange members. These trades consisted of exchanges of large stakes between principal shareholders of listed companies, with the share prices agreed on beforehand.

Perverts and police indifference

Spring is imperceptibly deepening into summer, thickening the foliage in Slovak parks and recreation areas, and marking the return of one of the nation's most obnoxious pests - the exhibitionist.Men who exhibit their genitals to strange women and children are on the rise in Bratislava, and are growing increasingly bold. Only a few years ago, women were accustomed to being flashed only in more remote settings and only when the light was poor. But exhibitionists - known in Slovak as úchyláci - now practice their sordid trade in broad daylight and at main thoroughfares in the capital.While the police say that only two complaints against exhibitionists have been filed in Bratislava since the beginning of 1998, and that therefore exhibitionists are dying out, the many women who have been the targets of these attacks say that flashing is on the rise in the country. Psychologists and sociologists agree with the latter view, linking the rise in perverts to the influx of hard-core pornography from the west and the social tensions caused by Slovakia's transformation to a free market economy.

NATO granted permission to use Slovak railways

Feb. industrial production index 13% below 1998 monthly average

Slovakia says two options for Slovnaft stake

Culture Shock: Fleecing the customer is a service mainstay

Citizens of many western countries have grown up with phrases such as "the customer is always right," sayings that empower consumers and imply that most businesses understand the importance of providing good service.In Slovakia, however, the customer is still rarely right, and is furthermore almost always wrong to protest at this state of affairs. Whether it's a glass of beer served several centimetres short of full, a pair of shoes which fall apart within a week of purchase, a shop assistant too busy giggling with her mates to serve clients or two-tier pricing which discriminates against foreigners, you, the customer, are expected to pay meekly and without complaint.Having lived in Slovakia for almost four years, I had come to accept getting ripped as par for the course. But after my latest experience with price-gouging, I've finally had enough.

Market buys 1Y T-bonds as hedge

The Slovak foreign exchange and money market experienced another pretty calm period during the past two weeks. Very stable interest yields were quoted for tenors between one and six months. However, shorter periods experienced minor fluctuations driven by whether or not the banking sector was in surplus or lacked liquidity.The central bank conducted another two auctions of state T-bonds. In the first, two-year bond auction organised on April 13, the ministry accepted all bids worth 1.74 billion Slovak crowns with an average yield of 15.999% (the maximum had been set by the ministry at 16% prior to the auction). In another, one-year state bond auction, the interest of investors increased to 2.38 billions crowns. The maximum interest was set at 15.8%, so the average yield was again slightly below, at 15.797%.

TV manufacturer OTF Holding reduces loss by 83% in 1998

Women advised to fight back

While the victims of sexual crimes often feel powerless to fight back, there are a few things they can do to try to battle the problem, Slovak police said.Reporting the crime is an important first step. Women should also try to remember the exact appearance of the culprit, so the police can create a sketch and try to identify him, said the head of the Bratislava Investigative Department, who asked that his name be withheld.If the police manage to apprehend the suspect, first-time offenders face a fine and repeat offenders could face a maximum sentence of three years in prison, he said.

Number of people receiving social benefits up 27.3 % in 1998