Archive of articles - April 1999, page 4

SAV buys state's first 'super-computer'

After years of bureaucratic frustration, the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Slovenská akadémia vied, SAV) has purchased the country's first "super-computer". Jaroslav Bobovský, the director of SAV's computer centre, said that the super-computer will assist the academy in research of quantum physics, astronomy, geo-physics, genealogy, atomic physics and conductivity."We want to enable SAV employees to secure a location at the forefront of world technology," he said. "Our employees will learn how to use the newest technologies, get to know them and grow with them." Bobovský added that he hoped the new technology would aid the SAV in gaining a reputation as an organisation with access to the highest technological advances in the world- including the most up-to-date, modern knowledge in the computer world.

Mečiar enters presidential race

Former Prime Minister and chairman of the opposition HZDS party Vladimír Mečiar declared his presidential candidacy in a final-hour announcement April 9, thus interrupting the seven-month-long silence he has kept since being denied another term as prime minister after the September, 1998 elections.Mečiar will be one of 10 candidates in Slovakia's first direct presidential elections, which are scheduled for May 15. The candidates range from front-runner Rudolf Schuster, a SOP deputy and the mayor of Košice, to relatively unknown independent candidate and philosopher Boris Zala (see related story, page 5).Mečiar's entrance into the race has been met by serious warnings from ruling coalition politicians and some analysts, who said that electing the former prime minister for a president would halt the current government's efforts towards integration into the European Union and NATO.

Prime Minister Dzurinda to tour the United States

Forex reserves drop to the lowest level in six years

Stop-gap tax hikes postpone VAT debate

The goal of finding an substantial source of additional revenue for the state budget again eluded the Slovak cabinet at its April 14 session. The meeting broke up with the announcement that the government had approved several small charges, but had been unable to agree on a major tax hike.The government remains divided over whether to reimplement a surcharge on imports - a measure that some ministers claimed would harm Slovakia's chances of acceptance into western bodies - or raise the nation's Value Added Tax (VAT) rate on basic food items, a move the political left has rejected as a betrayal of socialist principles.The cabinet is under pressure to resolve the issue quickly. The 1999 state budget expects a fiscal deficit of 15 billion Slovak crowns ($360 million), but financial analysts with institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have said that the government's budget revenue projections are too optimistic, and warn that the final deficit figure may be much higher unless additional sources of revenue are found.

Anti-NATO protests draw radical crowd

Waving signs proclaiming "Close our airspace" and "We don't want a puppet government," about 100 anti-NATO protesters took to the streets of Bratislava's old town April 12 to amplify their disagreements with the alliances' strikes in Yugoslavia and inveigh against the Slovak government of Mikuláš Dzurinda for its support of the strikes.The protests, which have been held for more than two weeks every day at 5 p.m., bring together a diverse group of Slovak right-wing radicals including former communists, subscribers to Zmena, a radical Nationalist weekly, and skinheads. Last Monday, the group began their march on Hievzdoslavovo námestie. in front of the American embassy, where they blew whistles and chanted "Hands off Yugoslavia" with the help of three organizers with loudspeakers. They then marched, accompanied by a group of Slovak police, through the Old Town, repeating their calls in front of the British and French embassies.

Slovak and Czech Construction Ministers meet in Prague

Consumer prices rise in March

Piešťany Spa Director Karol M. Charged with Fraud

Government considers Kosovo resolution

(reprinted from SME, Tuesday April 6, 1999)Last week, debates about the situation in Kosovo began in the Slovak Pariament. The following document is the proposed proclamation of the Slovak Parliament in support of the NATO bombing of Yugoslovia. The resolution has not yet been adopted by the parliament.The Parliament of the Slovak Republic, perceptive to the variety of opinions of citizens of the Slovak Republic and aware of its responsibility to pursue long-term state-political interests of Slovakia:

Crown unshaken by finance minister's currency policy concerns

The exchange rate rose above 45 Slovak crowns (Sk) to the Euro, but the market remained relatively stable despite Finance Minister Brigita Schmögnerová's call for greater currency control by the central bank.Crown recovers from fallThe EUR-SKK exchange rate reached new heights on Monday, March 29, when the crown weakened to 45.2 during the day. However, the next day it moved back below 45.00 and then held in a narrow range between 44.80 and 45.05 during the following days.

OECD survey sees negative short-term outlook for Slovakia

Charter airline rents two state planes

Two Russian TU-154 aircraft owned by the Transport Ministry will be leased by Air Transport Europe until the end of 1999, according to the details of the tender announced April 1. But Slovenské Aerolínie, the nation's one-time national carrier, claims that the deal was unfair and that losing the tender will cast them even deeper into debt.For Air Transport Europe, the planes will help out greatly with summer charter and tourist flights, said ATE director, Milan Hoholík, who added that it was better for his company to have planes of Slovak ownership than lease them from abroad. Currently, ATE runs charter flights with two of its own aircraft, a 76-seater TU-134 and a 17-seater L-410. The company also has a fleet of helicopters and performs mechanical and air rescue services."We have contracts with several travel agencies and generally operate eight flights a week on average during the summer season...so the planes would be a great help," he said.

Dzurinda courts potential Italian investment

Slovak Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda has invited Italian businessmen to take advantage of the opportunities the Slovak Cabinet has offered foreign investors since April 1.Dzurinda, on a two-day trip through Italy with Economy Minister Ľudovit Černák, Finance Minister Brigita Schmögnerová, and Foreign Ministry State Secretary Ján Figel, addressed Italian businessmen at the Italian Union of Industry (Confindustria). During his lecture, Dzurinda introduced Slovakia's new foreign investment strategy which is aimed at attracting direct foreign investment. He highlighted the country's 5-year tax holiday for foreign investors who promise to invest at least 5 million ECU (2.5 in areas of high unemployment) while exporting 60% of their production.

Smoking kills one Slovak every 28 minutes

Gaz de France ready to put 4 billion crowns in Nafta Gbely

State contemplates sale of Globtel shares

The Slovak Economy Ministry announced April 7 that it is preparing the sale of a 36% stake in one of two GSM operators in Slovakia - Globtel GSM. The Ministry has asked eight investment banks and companies with representatives in Slovakia to submit tenders, from which a ministry's commission should select a manager for the sale of the stake."The Economy Minister requested banks to submit their projects containing price assessment, the method of the sale, the time-table for realization of the transfer of the shares and other details by Monday, April 12. The bank with the best offer will manage the sale," Economy Ministry spokeswoman Alica Ďurianová said.She did not specify the date when the ministry should announce the winner.

Alfredo Café - Milkshakes worth having

In the center of Banská Bystrica, surrounded by full-service Slovak-style restaurants, sits a spacious Slovak "House of Sweets" which offers the kind of milkshakes that make you want to slurp the bottom of your glass like a child. If you are looking for a place to meet in the center of the town for a quick coffee or a calorie fix, this is it.The 80-seat café, on SNP square in this central Slovakia city of 85,000 inhabitants, is suitable for visitors of all age, for trendy young couples through the weekdays and families with children on Sundays. Although there is no English menu, the place is popular with English speakers, and the waitresses will be pleased to help you . In the summer, the place's French doors open out onto the pedestrian mall, and you can eat your gelato in the sunshine.Inside the café, two rooms are decorated with wooden chairs and marble tables. The walls are painted in rich yellow and covered with "old" , and often quite amusing, advertisements in English, French or German. Even if your friend is late meeting you, just reading the walls might keep you from getting bored.

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