Archive of articles - April 1999, page 5

Mikloš named to represent cabinet on the NBS board

Finance Ministry reports positive first quarter budget performance

Bratislava protests against NATO strikes continue daily

Steel-maker VSŽ freezes payment of yields from its bond issue

Slovnaft reports troubling 1998 results, Slovak income tax laws modified

Investors moved with caution during last week of March and the first week of April on the Slovak equity market. Trading activity was low, although a few, larger direct trades somewhat inflated market statistics. Average daily turnover during the two weeks reached 92.4 million crowns. The SAX index hovered around 83 and closed at 83.11 on April 6. Biotika gained over 65%, soaring to a value of 320 crowns per share, while Slovenske Lodenice shares dropped to 255 crowns.

Deputies debate stricter crime laws

Due to oppostion from the ruling government coalition, the Slovak Parliament voted down an amemdent to the criminal code intended to prolong the 24 hours preliminary custody to 48 hours. The amendment, which was proposed by coalition deputy Robert Fico from the Party of Democratic Left (SDL), would have revised the Constitution, the Penal Code Order, and the law in the preamble in the Chart of the Basic Human Rights and Freedoms.In interviews after the vote, members of the opposition parties objected to the unwillingness of the ruling coalition to accept Fico's revision. Deputies from the Movement for Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) and the Slovak National Party (SNS) argued that the increase of the crime rate in Slovakia and the mounting of the related problems make the change crucial.

Slovak swimmer grabs triple victory

Slovak swimmer and "super-fish" Martina Moracová, 23, dominated the short-course World Swimming Championships in Hong Kong April 3 and 4, winning three gold medals and setting a new European record in the 200 meter individual relay.The stunning performance matched that of another set of Slovak athletes half-way around the world. At the Davis Cup tennis tournament in Sweden, the Slovak men's team, led by Slovak's number one player Karol Kučera, eliminated the Swedish defending champions in the tournament's first round, thus turning an unlucky first round draw into a display of Slovak talent.Moracová, who was named Slovak athlete of the year in 1993, 1995, and 1998, now holds 23 world competition medals and 70 Slovak championship golds. Her Easter weekend performance brought her victory in the 200 meter freestyle, the 200 meter individual medley, and the 100m individual medley races.

DMD Group wants to return to Latin American weapons markets

Culture Shock: Slovak Easter traditions can bother unwilling women

As a native-born Slovak, it never occurred to me that there was anything striking about the way we celebrate one of the biggest of all Christian festivities, Easter. The suspicion that there was something peculiar about some of our customs only came when I was first confronted with the bewildered looks of foreign visitors to our country who obviously could not understand how they had managed to survive. And though these guests did not ask directly, they all seemed to wonder what the point of our ancient practices could possibly be. 

Slovak au pair murdered by her boss in America

Slovakian debt increases

Slovakia's net foreign indebtedness was $4.1 billion at the end of 1998, up $2.2 billion since the beginning of the year. The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) released this information on April 7.The country's gross foreign indebtedness is 11.8 billion crowns. Net foreign indebtedness is calculated by then accounting for liabilities of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), NBS's foreign exchange reserves, foreign assets of commercial banks, the government and the corporate sector., and foreign assets totalling $7.7 billion.The indebtedness of the corporate sector was $9.293 billion. The debt of municipalities totalled $56 million. The debt of government agencies was $48 million.

Theatres face uncertain future

Under a long-term plan to decentralise the activities of Slovakia's culture ministry, most state theatres in Slovakia will be transferred from the administration of the ministry to the country's regional offices as of July 1.Culture ministry officials maintain that the transition will provide theatres with more independence from the state and give them greater opportunities to get funding from sources other than the state budget. But many theatre professionals are criticising the plan as solely an administrative change which does not get to the root of the budgetary crisis of many independent theatres in Slovakia.

Schuster fails to earn full support

Although a 1998 election agreement dictates that Košice city mayor Rudolf Schuster must be the presidential candidate of Slovakia's four-party ruling coalition, 28 of 93 coalition deputies in the parliament refused to support his candidacy on the March 31 formal candidacy petition. Their main objections stemmed from Schuster's active communist past.Most of the objectors came from three branches of the SDK party, a complex five-party coalition pieced together before the last parliamentary election. Christian Democrats (KDH), Democratic Party (DS) members, and Democratic Union (DÚ) deputies said they could not stand behind Schuster."The current candidate of the ruling coalition wasn't able to unite all deputies of the parliamentary government majority," said Vladimír Palko, a SDK deputy with the Christian Democrats.

Motorola revitalizes former Piešťany factory

The Motorola company is moving ahead with plans to convert the formerTesla electronics plant in Pieštany to a new factory for the creation of electronic components. The company Motorola established for the purpose-Slovakia Electronics Industries, a.s., (SEI), has started to recruit personnel, and over 30 workers, mostly in the field of equipment repair and integrated circuits production, have already been hired, the SEI Board of Directors announced.In addition to regular SEI employees, over 100 employees of contractors' firms have already been hired for preparatory and construction works in the firm's premises. SEI plans to gradually increase the number of employees and create about 1,500 jobs in 5 to 7 years.

ZTS TEES engineering company signs supply contract with India

Letter to the Editor: "Cozy relationship"

TV Markíza joins ranks of Swedish media giant

A major share in Slovakia's largest private TV station, TV Markíza, was included as part of a parcel of properties in a major, late March merger of Swedish television and radio broadcaster SBS and American-owned Central European Media Enterprises (CME). CME owns a 49% stake in the company which operates TV Markíza.Jeffrey Silverberg, the financial director with TV Markíza and a representative of CME, said that the merger is a very positive step for the station."SBS will, after completion of the merger, become the largest television broadcaster in Europe. That will also help Markíza in its long term plans," he said.

Boesch: Slovakia a "small but important" land

Q: What is your opinion on the resignation of the Commission and the allegations of fraud against several commissioners? Will the change prolong the pre-accession procedures for candidate countries, including Slovakia?Herbert Boesch (HB): My impression from discussions with friends is that it is Slovakia's goal to join a strong union and I think we are now on the way to becoming a really strong union indeed.The basic problem still is that we have an administration which is more of an administration of the sixties, not of the late nineties. So this crisis had to come. The way that the commission played with information, for instance, in communication with the European Parliament, was totally unacceptable.

Letter to the Editor: Right on target