Archive of articles - August 1999

Fashion designers sell individuality to a conservative market

Way back before the Revolution, fashion-conscious young women couldn't find a simple, straight-cut skirt in all of Slovakia. If they didn't want something more suitable for their mother, they had to spend months looking for fabrics, queuing at shops, and sitting with personal tailors in the evening. The truly ambitious learned how to sew themselves.Though years have passed, many of these practices have not changed. The off-the-rack clothing selection is perhaps wider, but it is of doubtful quality. Many international brands are too expensive to succeed and sometimes it seems the words chic and classy have been forgotten. Street fashion, many Slovak fashion designers say, is marred by bad colour combinations and transparent ladies' blouses. While some people dress well, those who try to look different are often labelled "weird, intellectual, or proud".

Transport Ministry official defends 30 billion Sk in highway spending

With the state budget already over 12 billion Slovak crowns in deficit, and likely to overshoot the government's full year target of 15 billion by a wide margin, questions are once again being raised about the state's expensive highway construction programme. Do we need it? Can we afford it?Peter Barek, director of the Transport Ministry's Road Infrastructure Section, says the government's plan to allocate 30 billion crowns over four years to complete highway projects begun by the former government was taken with one eye on the state budget and the other on the country's EU integration ambitions.Barek took two hours on August 24 to explain the ministry's policy to The Slovak Spectator.

Letter to the Editor: Ghoulish national news a disgrace

Expensive cars face daunting Slovak regulations

Importers of foreign cars are struggling to survive in the tough Slovak market. Thanks to a domestic currency that is 20% weaker than it was less than a year ago, as well as to a government imposed 7% import surcharge as of June 1, sales are down 60% from last year, car importers say.Július Šabo, general director of the German car importer Mercedes-Benz Bratislava, said that 1999 had been the most trying year in Slovakia for his firm so far."This year has been very hard," he said. "The Deutsche mark has strengthened [from 21.65 to the crown on December 17 to as high as 24.18 on May 20] and now there is a 7% import tax. It is hard to say which of these factors hurts us the most, but altogether, we expect to sell only 70% of the passenger cars we sold last year."

Národná obroda circulation jumps to 130,000 readers

Bank restructuring plan approved

The Slovak cabinet finally gave the green light for restructuring selected state banks and companies at its meeting on August 25. Finance Minister Brigita Schmögnerová said that much of the 80-90 billion Slovak crown ($1.9-$2.15 billion) cost of healing the banks would be met by a state bond issue in Slovak crowns with a minimum 10-year term."Room for such a bond issue exists and depends also on the evaluation that foreign institutions make of our restructuring plans," agreed Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Mikloš after the cabinet session.The cabinet move drew approval from economic analysts. "It was high time they passed this," said Ján Tóth, a senior analyst at ING Barings. "They are moving in the right direction, following the advice of the World Bank."

Conscripts resent Army service

Standing motionless in the sunlight at the entrance gate of one of Bratislava's military bases, 19-year old Richard salutes an officer leaving the base. As soon as the officer passes by, the conscript raises the middle finger of his right hand, glancing around to make sure he wasn't seen."I hate the army," he later tells The Slovak Spectator in a short interview. "My father had to ask his friends at military headquarters to post me here so that I would get my service over as soon as possible. If I had known what it would be like, I'd have done my best not to come here at all."

Vladimír Poór has the last laugh

Gas storage firm Nafta Gbely is making headlines again, this time showing what fools Nafta owner Vladimír Poór managed to make out of the government and the national media.Nafta is a funny company, and its suffocating media coverage over the last few months has been hard to explain. It is not essential to the functioning of the national economy, as are state banks VÚB and SLSP, nor is it an attention-getter like steelmaker VSŽ, whose pirouettes on the edge of financial ruin have held the nation's gaze for months.

Trade gap hits 28.9 billion crowns at end of July

Quote of the week

Deutsche Bank chosen advisor for VSŽ tender

Deutsche Bank, one of the largest European financial houses, has been selected to arrange the sale of a stake in eastern Slovak steelmaker VSŽ Kosice. The decision was taken on August 23 by a commission composed of VSŽ representatives and shareholders, and Slovak government officials.According to VSŽ spokesman Jozef Marko, the commission selected Deutsche Bank from a dozen bidders interested in arranging a tender for the selection of a strategic investor for VSŽ. Deutsche Bank, according to Marko, won the tender thanks to its extensive experience in consulting activities in the restructuring and sale of steel companies.Tax and financial consulting firm KPMG finished second in the tender.

SDĽ modifies objections to Privatisation Law

US Senator discusses NATO on visit

Before Slovakia can join NATO, it has to convince the alliance that it has something "to bring to the table" which will help maintain peace and security in the world.That was part of the message of US Senator Richard G. Lugar, who paid a visit to Bratislava August 23 on the way home from meetings in St. Petersburg, Russia.Lugar, who is the second-ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees in the US Senate, spent much of his time in the country focused on the relationship between Slovakia and NATO. Lugar met President Rudolf Schuster and spoke with officials from the Ministries of Defence and Economy, as well as with Slovak Army officials.

Investor Johnson Controls praises Slovakia's 'cost structures' over rivals'

The decision of American auto upholstery firm Johnson Controls to build a factory in Slovakia shows that the country is "at the moment playing the investment game better" than its neighbours, according to a senior Johnson Controls executive.Klaus Pashko, Johnson Controls' General Plant Manager for eastern Europe, said that his firm had decided to build a new $20 million factory here because "Slovakia is showing better cost structures - principally lower salaries" than neighbouring Hungary or the Czech Republic.

Letter to the Editor: Romany comments aimed at Finnish audience

Nafta scandal defused as state signs with Poór

A damaging scandal over the fate of lucrative gas storage firm Nafta Gbely was finally put to rest last week when the government reached an out of court settlement with the controversial owner of the Nafta shares - Mečiar-era privatiser Vladimír Poór.The agreement was signed on August 23 by officials from the FNM state privatisation agency and lawyers for Druhá obchodná, the firm that controls Nafta Gbely. According to the terms of the deal, Druhá obchodná will return to the FNM the 45.9% stake it owns in Nafta, which it privatised in 1996.

Roma assistance projects approved by cabinet

Tourism numbers down but revenues up in 1999

Deputy PM urges scrapping of SE Russian debt tender

The state energy utitility Slovenské Elektrárne (SE) came under heavy pressure last week to cancel a tender for a mediator to settle Russia's outstanding debt to Slovakia. Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Mikloš spoke for many critics when he urged the SE to cancel a current tender which, he said, had been marred by murky rules and the absence of outside supervision.Mikloš's public criticism of the tender came on the heels of a decision by independent corruption watchdog Transparency International Slovakia (TIS) to refuse an invitation from SE to monitor the tender.However, SE officials said that they had no intention of abandoning the tender, origianlly called on August 11. Instead, the utility said, SE's Supervisory Board would choose a winner of the lucrative contract by September 15 at the latest. The Economy Ministry, for its part, passed the final decision on the tender to the government on August 26.