Archive of articles - May 2000, page 5
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Racial violence case ruling sets precedent
Saying they hoped the decision would signify a turning point in how racial attacks are investigated by Slovak police, international observers and minority groups in Slovakia cautiously applauded an April 27 legal decision in which a white man from Banská Bystrica was prosecuted for a racially motivated crime. According to the press agency SITA, the case is believed to be the first time in Slovak history a judge specified that the "attack against the injured person was motivated by the fact that he is a Roma."During the trial, the defence argued that it had not been unambiguously proven that the attack was driven by racial hatred. Prosecutors, however, used the defendant's regular submission of articles to a newsletter entitled White Pride as incriminating evidence against the attacker.
Youth employment pilot gears up
Secondary schools and universities are set to release 103,000 graduates in a few weeks, and according to recent labour market trends, 50% of them may to go straight to the nearest district Labour Office to add to the 19.2% unemployed in Slovakia. In an effort to head them off, the National Labour Office together with regional labour offices in six Slovak towns are launching a pilot programme to boost youth employment.The core of the project, which will cost 16 million Slovak crowns ($350 000) and may later be implemented as a key part of an overall employment policy, is the provision of consultancy services for young people to help them find employment or start businesses and provide retraining programmes.
Cafés
Kaffee MayerCafé MúzeumCafé u MaximiliánaLaguana CaféGremium CaféU Anjelov
ŽSR still foundering despite turning profit
Despite the fact that management at Slovak Rail (Železnice Slovenskej Republiky - ŽSR) has managed to stave off an employee strike and generate an $18.9 million profit for the first quarter of this year, the national rail company is still in deep trouble.The firm said April 26 that losses last year were lower than had been forecast, but still stood at 5.2 billion crowns.The huge loss for the firm comes as company chiefs have been discussing how to implement a programme of transformation and restructuring which, according to ŽSR officials, will also attract more foreign investors which are eager to invest into ŽSR.
Mečiar dismisses illegal bonuses case
As the smoke continued to settle after the dramatic events of April 20, when police used explosives to blow down the front door of Vladimír Mečiar's Trenčianske Teplice villa and charged him with abuse of power, those opposing the arrest claimed that the legal case against the former prime minister and party boss of the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) is both full of holes and hypocritical.Two other Slovak prime ministers - Bratislava Mayor Jozef Moravčík and current Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda - both gave similar bonuses during their respective tenures. But police officials said that Moravčík and Dzurinda were not charged because neither man had known he was breaking the law, while Mečiar had been fully aware of his legal violation.
NATO reps meet at Bratislava summit
Bratislava was the site of a meeting between representatives of current NATO countries and potential future members from April 28-30. The group discussed the issue of future NATO enlargement, focusing on whether candidate countries were still on track for Euro-Atlantic integration.The three-day conference was deemed by the participants as significant for Slovakia because similar meetings had taken place in the capital cities of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic before those countries were admitted in March 1999.Speakers at the conference included Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, several foreign ministers (such as Czech Foreign Minister Ján Kavan, Slovenian Dimitrij Rupel and Slovak Eduard Kukan), country ambassadors to NATO, US Congress members, NGO representatives and various scholars.
Skinheads attack refugee
The surge of skinhead offensives which have blighted the social scene over the past several months continued on May 1 in Bratislava when two teenagers with shaven heads attacked three Slovaks on Hodžovo námestie with a knife in front of the president's palace, then jumped onto a bus where they stabbed a 33-year-old Angolan refugee three times. The latest incident again left international observers and minorities in Slovakia calling for an end to the racially-motivated violence.The rampage began shortly before 22:00 when 19-year-old Ladislav Z. and 14-year-old Matej B. attacked three white men on Hodžovo námestie for reasons which have yet to be determined (the Bratislava police headquarters refused to answer questions on the matter, saying only that they had not yet received enough information on the attack to release a statement to the press).
Sale managers unfazed by VÚB loss
News of a near 10 billion crown loss for 1999 at Všeobecná úverová banka (VŮB) has left sector privatisation managers unfazed at what bank chiefs have called a "year of sacrifice" revealed behind the loss. The government's plans to privatise VÚB remain on course, according to the privatisation advisors J.P Morgan, with the loss hardly raising an eyebrow at the international firm."It's a large loss, but we're aware of the need to clean up things [at the bank]," said Johannes Kinsky, a member of the J.P. Morgan team looking after the sale of both VÚB and Slovenská sporiteľňa (SLSP). "The size of this loss won't affect the fundamental approach to privatisation of the bank, and we had no exact expectations on the loss," he added.
Review: Bibiana exhibit plays to kids
The Bibiana art gallery invites art enthusiasts and children alike to come for a peek into the world of Vladimír Kompánek, a Slovak visual artist specialising in the genre of never growing-up. Entitled Návšteva v ateliéri u pána Kompánka (A visit to the studio of Mr. Kompanka), the show is the first in a series of exhibitions at Bibiana which aims to bring the world of Slovak art closer to children.The presentation is organised as an intimate tour through Kompánek's studio. Footprints lead patrons from the hallway to the first stop: a self-portrait comprised of colourful wooden eyes, nose and ears tacked against a black background. Next to it sits a sign asking the patron "What does Mr. Kompánek look like?" For those familiar with the toy, the answer is, coming with a chuckle, like nothing so much as Mr. Potato head.
Business Briefs
30.9 billion crowns in bad loans to be transferredIstrobanka Q1 profit at 20 million crownsProducer prices up year-on-year in MarchSP approves updated budget for 2000Slovnaft refinery caught in the red for Q1 2000Ľudová banka slips on operating profit in 1999ST reports net earnings of 2.06 billion crownsNafta Gbely shareholders approve bond issue
Cabinet rift widens over shuffle
Shock waves from the decision of Parliamentary Speaker Jozef Migaš to support a vote of non-confidence in Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda continue to shake the government. Some cabinet members now concede that early elections have become a real possibility, and say that Migaš' demand for a significant cabinet shuffle has created a large rift between the speaker's SDĽ party and its three ruling coalition partners.After joining the parliamentary opposition parties in voting for Dzurinda's recall on April 14, Migaš continued his campaign against his coalition mates last week with a demand that some cabinet posts be shuffled and others cut altogether.
Letter from the Publisher: What I will and will not miss about Slovakia
Half a dozen years remained in the last century when I moved to the city where my father was born. The only people I knew in town were my grandfather, who was sick and dying, and my grandmother, who was nursing him. I did not speak their language, I had no job and yet I had bought a one-way ticket. A friend had wept as she said goodbye. I told her: "I am just going away for a while; I am not starting a new life." Little did I know.
Tax incentives back to drawing board
Just five months after being voted into law, it's back to the drawing board for tax incentive legislation. Although the current law only went into effect on January 1, 2000, after being revamped from an April 1999 draft, the pro-investment package is undergoing yet another face-lift and is slated to be submitted to the government in the week beginning May 8.The latest version of the law has been hailed as the most investor-friendly to date, presenting improved incentives on the most criticised issues of the present law: stipulations on initial investment, minimum requirements on exports, and tax credit periods. Additional changes include governmental subsidies for the creation of new jobs, consideration for domestic and already-established firms, and the creation of a new consolidated governmental department dealing specifically with foreign investors and investment.Both the government and analysts were optimistic about the changes.
Migaš on government reform: All that "blah blah blah"
Parliamentary Speaker Jozef Migaš is no friend of the truth. Having sparked a coalition crisis by siding with the opposition during a non-confidence motion on the Prime Minister, he has added fuel to the fire by suggesting the country's four deputy prime minister posts be scrapped, and by supporting a proposed law to hamper the privatisation of state-owned utilities and banks. He says he's doing all this to improve the living standards of ordinary Slovaks. As he himself once said of a colleague, "that's all blah blah blah."Migaš' behaviour has nothing to do with protecting the interests of the average voter. It's not part of a personal vendetta against Dzurinda. It's not about improving the effectiveness of government. Instead, it's about protecting the business interests of the nuclear lobby in Slovakia and Russia, and of those who profit from the settlement of Russia's old debt to Slovakia.
Review: Slovak folk culture celebrated
As stated in the foreword of Slovakia - European Contexts of the Folk Culture, few nations have folk-art as rich and varied as Slovakia. This complex national treasure, ranging from ceramics and architecture to contemporary dance and music - most of which is still largely unexplored by western tourists - is beautifully presented in great detail in this book presented by the Publishing House of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV).A number of academics and experts from the SAV contributed to the book through writings and thorough research. The end result is a comprehensive introduction to the country and its culture which succeeds in its aim to define Slovak folk-art in the wider European context.
Venture capital bypasses Slovakia
Despite hard efforts to the contrary from one of the country's few venture capital funds, the corporate sector's reluctance to change its ways is seeing vital investment cash ploughed into Hungary and Poland rather than Slovakia.The Slovak American Enterprise Fund (SAEF) said April 28 that last year it extended $1.96 million in loans and investment programmes to domestic firms. However, the nine firms which benefited from the SAEF help are, according to the fund's president, Iveta Griačová, the exception in this country."Demand among Slovak companies for own capital and strengthening their capital structure is not as significant as we would expect in an undercapitalised corporate sector," Griačová said.
Community Calendar
International Women's Club Bratislava
Deputy PM Ivan Mikloš: Cabinet ruckus 'harmful'
Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Ivan Mikloš has been discouraged by Slovakia's latest round of ruling coalition bickering, mainly because he feels it is damaging the country's fragile image of political stability (see lead story, page 1). As the recognised architect of many of Slovakia's recent economic reforms, Mikloš himself has become the target of the socialist SDĽ party, which feels his free-market ideas have cost it both popular support and influence within the government.The Slovak Spectator spoke to Mikloš on May 2 to learn his reaction to the SDĽ's recent idea that his cabinet post be cancelled.The Slovak Spectator (TSS): You have said in the press that recent bickering in the coalition could be harmful for Slovakia's foreign image. Could you explain what you meant by that?
Destruction of missiles applauded
Slovakia cleared another hurdle on its path towards NATO membership on April 27 when the Slovak Army Chief of Staff Milan Cerovský and US Chargé d'Affaires in Slovakia Douglas Hengel signed an agreement to destroy the country's Soviet-made SS-23 Short Range Ballistic Missiles (also known as 'spider' missiles in US terminology). The agreement calls for the disarmament of Slovakia's total of six missiles, all of which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, on May 10.Designed to replace the Scud missile, the SS-23 was manufactured by the former Soviet Union in the mid-1980s. The missile has a range of 500 km (310 miles) and is fired from a mobile transporter-erector launcher (TEL) vehicle. If launched from Slovakia, every Slovak neighbour as well as other countries like Germany and Italy would be in range.
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