Archive of articles - August 1999, page 2

NGO's call for greater role in funding choices

Construction firms say limited highway programme not enough

The Slovak Transport Ministry gave the green light to the continuation of motorway construction when they announced on August 16 that over 30 billion Slovak crowns had been allotted to the completion of existing projects and further development. Approximately 1.9 billion has already been used to pay off debts owed to Slovak construction firms, the ministry said.Peter Barek, the director of the Transport Ministry's Road Infrastructure section, said the government had decided to continue the programme because the country was in desperate need of a modernised motorway system which would help it gain access to the European Union. Had the government continued the programme designed by the former government, over 55 billion crowns would be required - a sum, he said, which was out of the question for the cash-strapped state budget.

President says no to referendum

Infuriating the political opposition, President Rudolf Schuster announced August 24 that he would not call a referendum on the Law on Minority Language Use or on large-scale privatisation as requested in a petition signed by hundreds of thousands of Slovaks.More than 447,000 signatures were collected for the petition, which was organized by the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS). But despite the strong support, Schuster decided that the requested referendum, which could have reversed the minority language law passed on June 1 by parliament, went against the Slovak constitution.According to Slovak law, only the president has the right to announce a referendum.

Alleged attackers of Chinese diplomat indicted

Mochovce output worth 5 billion Sk in first year

Around Slovakia

Dutch hiker falls off mountainSlovak canine saves five-year-old Turkish girlFormer president's son hired by stateBrother of slain Romany vows revengeAgrocomplex fair draws farm animal fansHouse Martins gather on power lines

Heineken Slovakia beer output surges in 1999

10 Slovak Fashion Design Houses

Renata Bartolomei - Flowing dresses, innovative but odd evening dresses. She uses geometric shapes for unusual but acceptable women's suits. Sold in a variety of stores.Díp - Zuzana Kanisová - Clothes combine India's sumptuous fabrics and flowing lines with casual style. Flowing dresses this season are simply cut and in rich colours. Also designs for men. Design shop at Námestie SNP 13 (in the passage).Lýdia Eckehardt - Classic chic with clear lines. Clean shapes in every size along with quality foreign fabrics. Often glamorous. Design shop at Muzejná 2, behind Comenius University.

Letter to the Editor: People and Water true Slovak heroes

Young graduate school carving out an international niche

Svätý Jur, a sleepy town just west of Bratislava, is better known among Slovaks for its vineyards than its schools of higher learning. However, according to the folks at Akademia Istropolitana, their "alternative, post-graduate school" is putting Svätý Jur on the international educational map."We offer a unique product," said Chris Klisz, an American economics professor at Istropolitana who used to teach at the University of Pittsburgh. "No one else has the combination of what we have."The school's executive director, Katarina Vajdová, explained that Istropolitana strove to provide an alternative to what she deemed as Slovakia's faltering, sub-par university system - a practical graduate-level education in English.

Judges fired for mismanagement

The chief justice of the Bratislava Regional Court and her deputy have both been recalled from their posts for violating standard procedures in assigning cases to trial judges.According to Slovak law, cases are supposed to be assigned to judges in an order that courts set themselves. This order may alphabetical, or may be set according to the time when cases arrive at the court.But in the Bratislava Regional Court, which has recently produced two controversial rulings favouring the political allies of former Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar, a Justice Ministry investigation claimed to have found some aberrations in the case-assignment process.

French Ambassador optimistic about Helsinki summit

Mochovce costs stall construction

As cabinet gears up to outline a nuclear energy policy for the nation in September, one of the hottest debates is over what to do with the Mochovce nuclear power plant in central Slovakia. With two reactors completed and two left to build, Mochovce is being painted as a white elephant by its detractors and as an energy goldmine by its boosters.With Economy Minister Ľudovít Černák dead set against building the third and fourth reactors, and only Mochovce's owner - state energy producer Slovenské Elektrárne (SE) - pushing for completion, it seems unlikely that the country's Nuclear Energy Concept will include a four-reactor plant when it is scripted this fall.

Review: Mekong Thai Restaurant- Something Different

Restaurant Information:Address: Paleckého 18,811 02 Bratislava

Changes to new import surcharge as of August 25

Alcatel SEL netted 147 million crowns last year

US trade group coming to build ties

Economy Minister Ľudovít Černák has set himself the goal of attracting $500 million in foreign direct investment to Slovakia this year after $170 million in 1998. In the last week of August, a 40-member US trade mission visiting Slovakia may bring Černák several strides closer to his target.The mission, which is being organised by the New York non-profit agency Business Council for International Understanding, will be led by US Congressman John Mica (a Republican from Florida). Mica is of Slovak heritage and speaks regularly about Slovak related issues on the floor of Congress.About 2O US business representatives will be making the trip to Slovakia from August 28 to 31, including officials from companies like AMSLICO, Azurix, Cirrus Resources Inc., Winslow Partners, Raytheon Systems, Morgan Stanley, Dean Witter and Co. and Lanco International.

Martin Barto: Clientelism fight "long and painful"

Martin Barto, 41, is far from an average economic analyst. Now the general director of the strategy division at Slovak state bank Slovenská Sporite1/4ňa (SLSP), Barto actually holds a PhD in chemical engineering, and spent two years in the mid 1990's working as a political analyst for the Slovak secret service.Like Pavol Rusko, the director of the country's popular television station TV Markíza, and Ján Kasper, director of the state gas monopoly SPP, Barto was active during the 1980's in the SZM, a communist youth league. He has been a steady advocate of the need to speed up market reforms since the 1989 revolution, and his forthright criticisms of the economic policies followed by the current and previous governments have been widely reported in the Slovak and international press.

Lawyer-killers sentenced