Archive of articles - July 1999, page 4

State to cut 27,000 civil servants

In one of its most ambitious cost-cutting measures yet, the cabinet of Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda plans to sack up to 27,000 civil servants by the end of the year, saving the 1999 state budget three billion Slovak crowns ($70 million). The government says it simply can't afford to keep so many state employees on its payroll, but trade unions are not buying this argument. Public protests will follow, unions warn, if the government doesn't change its mind.The job cuts actually form part of a sweeping reform of public administraton that the government hopes will increase the independence and power of local governments in Slovakia. But while the reform programme will not start until January 2001, the government's budget restraints have made layoffs essential this year.

Around Slovakia

"Homosexuality is curable"Suspected criminals nabbed700-year-old treasure discoveredPolice abduct mafia groom from weddingFlower shoe buds againBeer festival counts down to 400th birthday of brewery

Letter to the Editor: Bad memories of Bratislava public transport

Culture Shock: Foreign customs still alien after ten years

This is who I am: a modern Slovak (European) woman slowly gaining self-confidence and entering the fascinating world of work. Excited to join the international community and to learn about foreign cultures, I travel around Europe, I eat international cuisine, I read fancy foreign lifestyle and fashion magazines, I learn trendy foreign expressions, I wear sneakers with my skirts, placing comfort over style and ignoring my grandmother's muttered comments that I look ridiculous.After years of wearing a dour expression (ah, communism!), I am now training my facial muscles to create a wide, sincere smile like Texas Ted. Sometimes, though, I look around at the foreigners in Slovakia (with their sneakers and skirts, their trendy expressions and their Texas Ted smiles), and I wonder what it is that still separates us.

Plan to build blocks of flats for rent non-payers abandoned

Constitutional Court amnesty verdict expected

Austrian Chamber of Commerce unhappy with investment incentives

Czech-Slovak free trade zone barrier to EU entry

The six-year-old free trade zone between the Czech and Slovak Republics - known formally as the Customs Union - has survived both political and economic tensions between the two countries. Even today, the former federal partners are each other's biggest trading nation after Germany and cooperate closely, despite occasional missteps like Slovakia's imposition of a 7% import surcharge on June 1 affecting 54% of Czech exports.The Customs Union's days may be numbered, however, given the hopes both countries cherish of integration into the European Union. For the EU is itself a free-trade zone, one that requires member countries to cancel free-trade agreements with non-EU countries before they enter.

Q & A: Investors and Nafta

Q: How will foreign investors interpret the government's handling of the Nafta Gbely affair?

Community Grapevine

New US Ambassador has been named

Letter to the Editor: And finally...

Cabinet supports sacking of Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice

Senec football appeal upheld

UNHCR opens new asylum house for refugees in Bratislava

Ambassadors briefed on state of the nation

Slovak judges say judicial system needs more money

Finance Ministry increases eurobond issue due to lower rates

Slovnaft to get strategic investor by the new year

The Slovnaft refinery's vision for luring a foreign strategic investor is slowly taking shape. Company President Slavomír Hatina declared during a general shareholders' meeting on June 24 that Slovnaft would welcome an investor "from central Europe," one who should enter the company with a minority share in the next nine months.Slovnaft first announced its interest in attracting an investor in March this year, while in June the Slovak media carried reports that the most likely candidate was the Austrian OMV refinery. "From the economic point of view, this idea has a certain charm and makes sense for both companies," said OMV General Director Richard Schenz for the Austrian daily Der Standard on June 16. "We would be very glad to welcome Slovnaft among us."

Letter to the Editor: Stockings in summer - fashion sins vs. cultural snobbery