Archive of articles - May 1999, page 3

Is Schmögnerová to be next NBS Governor?

The term in office of National Bank of Slovakia Governor Vladimír Masár ends on July 28. The search for his replacement began even as Slovakia's new government was being installed last fall, and was one of the main themes of the last night of coalition negotiations in October. Will the new Governor be Finance Minister Brigita Schmögnerová? And if so, what will be the consequences?Coalition negotiations for a long time operated under the assumption that the post of Deputy Prime Minister for Economy would go to the SDĽ party and Brigita Schmögnerová, who had already proven her worth in the 1994 Moravčík government. At the conclusion of the coalition negotiation marathon, she wound up with the post of Minister of Finance. She didn't hide her disappointment at the time.

Globtel celebrates big client lead over EuroTel

Globtel GSM notched its 400,000 customer on May 18, leaving the firm over 100,000 customers ahead of EuroTel, its only competitor on the Slovak mobile telephony market. Although Globtel joined the market fully six years after EuroTel was launched in 1991, the firm has built its 57.8% market share through subsidised prices and effective promotion.EuroTel, which operates on both NMT and GSM-900 frequency networks, ascribed the widening gap between the two companies to a number of factors, including poor marketing strategies on EuroTel's part in the past, a business strategy that focused on generating yearly profits rather than expanding client base, and the low prices offered by Globtel.

Bullets hit former HZDS Finance Minister's house

State grants reprieve to grounded airline

After three months of empty skies, Slovakia may soon again have a domestic air carrier operating on its territory if Tatra Air fulfills the terms of a recent bargain struck with the Finance Ministry.Following a May 13 meeting between the two parties, the Finance Ministry offered to waive one of Tatra Air's two debts to the state - 21 million Slovak crowns in unpaid import duties dating back to 1992. Tatra Air must now pay off its remaining debt and submit a business plan to ministry officials for approval.According to the Finance Ministry, Tatra Air now owes the state 66.7 million crowns in unpaid Value Added Tax (VAT) accrued since 1992 on two Saab 340 aircraft imported by the airline that year.

Election law flaw can cause chaos

Though only two candidates will run in the second round of the Slovak presidential elections, the Central Election Commission has ordered the Interior Ministry to print out three separate sets of ballots. One is the version that will most likely be used: that which pits Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar against SOP chairman Rudolf Schuster. The others substitute the name of the third highest vote-getter, Madga Vášárýová, for one of the top winners, creating three separate election scenarios.Why the expense of the other two versions?The reason, according to legal experts and analysts, is rooted in a failure in Slovak election law to provide for a smooth transition in case one of the candidates drops out of the second round or dies before it can be completed. Currently, a candidate is permitted to drop out even hours before the final vote takes place, a move which would cause political havoc and perhaps, pundits say, weaken the ruling coalition.

Kramplová returns from Canada

Kosovo Albanians control the narcotics market in Slovakia

Returned migratory birds to sing till June

Schuster and Mečiar head to round 2

Finishing about as well as he expected, Mayor of Košice Rudolf Schuster came close to earning 50% of the votes cast in the first round of Slovakia's first direct presidential election May 15, soundly drubbing all independent candidates and placing strongly above his primary rival, former prime minister Vladimír Mečiar.The SOP chairman and former communist leader will now face Mečiar in a second round battle May 29 which is shaping up to be a near-mirror image of the factious parliament, with government coalition ministers and reform-minded voters supporting Schuster and the HZDS and SNS nationalist opposition squarely behind Mečiar's camp.

Changes in Globtel management

Hjelm-Wallen: Economic and political criteria are equally important

Skinheads attack Romanies the evening before presidential elections

Hungarian minority vote helped Schuster win first round

Media watchdog penalises broadcasters for campaign violations

Agro Minister expects EU retaliation for increased duty on pork

Investors say ST sale is crucial test of government's privatisation plans

The pending sale of the state telecom monopoly Slovenské Telekomunikácie (ST) will add billions of crowns to state coffers and, according to government officials, give the cabinet a fighting chance of meeting one of its most important macroeconomic targets - a fiscal deficit of no more than 15 billion Slovak crowns in 1999.But as the new government's privatisation policy comes under increasing scrutiny by economic analysts, the ST sale is rapidly gaining significance for another reason as well. Both the cabinet and investors are now saying that the sale will be a crucial test of whether the country has turned the corner on the murky privatisation sales of the past, and of whether it will be able to attract significant levels of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the near future.

Rajo Bratislava dairy Q1 profit about 7 million crowns

Černák investigation concluded

Telecom sale key to future of both Slovakia and ST

If everything goes according to the government's plans, the state-run telecom monopoly Slovenské Telekomunikácie (ST) will be privatised by the end of this year, bringing foreign capital and know-how to a cash-strapped, technologically deficient firm. The fact that ST's monopoly ends in 2003, at which time international competition can enter the market, has created added incentive for wedding ST to a rich and high-tech foreign partner, for analysts agree that ST will not survive international competition alone.