Archive of articles - June 2000, page 2
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Pension hike passed with 10% compromise
After three weeks of political bickering over pension hikes parliament approved a 10% compromise increase effective August 1.Despite a huge shortfall in the state pension fund's coffers and the government's stated reluctance to allocate finances to insurance firm Sociálna poisťovňa (SP) - the body responsible for pension payments - coalition as well as opposition deputies have called for a bigger hike.At the original May 31 cabinet session when the government approved a 7% figure, Finance Minister Brigita Schmögnerová emerged most satisfied with the amount saying it was the most acceptable rise taking into account the potential dangers for the state budget if the figure was anything more.
New UMTS mobile licences to be offered
Telecoms sector liberalisation received a boost at the June 14 government session after cabinet announced it was considering offering three third generation UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) mobile phone licences as part of an approved telecoms strategy.The licences, slated to be doled out between 2001 and 2002, would be for frequencies between 1900 to 2170 MHz to allow new and existing operators using this frequency band to move to UMTS, an advanced mobile phone system allowing quick Internet access and higher connection speeds. The frequencies are currently used by the Slovak armed forces, who will be asked to free up the bands.Speaking at a press conference June 14, Deputy Telecom Minister Dušan Faktor said: "We would be interested in granting three licences. I think that the telecommunications market in Slovakia could sustain a third operator, and it would benefit consumers."
Bratislava cops battle poor image and low funds
The life of a Slovak police officer is far from easy. Slovak citizens rarely have anything nice to say about their upholders of law and order, while foreigners and tourists may have little faith that the police are either interested or able to help them in need. Watchdog groups, too, accuse the police of not responding to Slovakia's escalating social problems such as racial violence and organised crime; criminals on the street seem undaunted by their presence, and politicians remain unsympathetic to their cries of under-funding and neglect."We're trying to do our best even though we know people believe the opposite," said Bratislava police captain Ján Jankovich, who spends three 12-hour shifts a week patrolling the streets of Bratislava in a squad car with his partner, first lieutenant Henrich Klačanský.
OLD TOWN NOTES: Castle hill poses challenge for city
Few European cities boast such a distinguished orientation point as Bratislava's Castle Hill above the Danube River. Although the castle itself was massively reconstructed in the 1950s and 1960s, the castle's hill has experienced accute deterioration. In its heyday, the Under Castle area consisted of an urban quarter to the south along the Danube and on the east slopes from where it flowed into other parts of the Old Town. Another urban area was located on the northern slopes.The south area is called Zuckermandl. The area between Zuckermandl and Rybné Námestie (Fish Market Square) is called Vydrica. The settlement on the east slopes was called the Mikulasske Podhradie (Nicholas's Under the Castle) with Židovská ulica (Jewish Street) beyond. The northern Under Castle had Zámocká ulica (Castle Street).One of the most bizarre places was a quarter west of the Castle near Vodný vrch (Water Hill) where tiny streets resembled the renowned Golden Street in Prague. The streets were destroyed in favour of the construction of the new parliament building.
Bratislava's Largest Retail and Business Centres
Polus City Centre houses a complete chain of 160 retail shops, two banks, a travel agency, pharmacy, solarium, beauty salon, bowling alley and eight movie theatres. It also has four restaurants, 12 cafés and seven fast food stores.
Globtel stake fetches handsome sum
The state's 36% share in mobile telecoms operator Globtel was sold for nine billion crowns ($180 million) June 14 to a 10-member consortium led by insurance giant AIG.The deal represented an 800% return on the original investments made by five state energy companies (gas giant SPP, power monopoly Slovenské elektrárne, and three power distributors, VSE, SSE and ZSE) whose stakes were sold. The government immediately hailed the deal a success, and pledged revenues to clearing mutual debts between SE and the distributors.The debt settlements are seen as an important step in the privatisation of the firms in the next 14 months and future liberalisation of the energy market.
News Briefs
Cow suspected of carrying BSE found cleanJournalists call for increased police protectionIndian refugees found drowned in Morava RiverPresidential convoy crash leaves eight people injuredMečiar: cooperation with SDKÚ in negotiationsKey witness in Mafia boss trial changes testimony
Swedish firm scents road-building profits
Bosses at one of the largest multinational construction firms, the Swedish Skanska OY, walked into the offices of the Slovak Transport Ministry on May 22 and presented their plans for acquiring the Slovak construction firm Váhostav, promising billions of crowns in investment.If the government agrees to the acquisition - any firm which wants to be involved in highway construction in Slovakia, as Váhostav is, must first get the government's approval - Skanska will put the money into highway and housing construction.
Business Briefs
Agreement reached over Russian debt settlement and S-300Date set for bad debt bids; bank clean-up continuesSP insurer, bank put up for sale later this yearEducation key to employment, says OECD headBank Act implementation delayed two monthsSES Tlmače signs deal on China thermal plant plansTwo new investments to create 1,000 jobs
Two down, one to go: Intesa bid wins VÚB
Italy's largest bank, IntesaBci, beat France's Societe Generale in a tender for Všeobecná úverová banka (VÚB) June 15, bidding 550 million euros (23.6 billion crowns) for an eventual 95% share in Slovakia's second biggest finance house.Under the acquisition deal, IntesaBci will acquire a 25% share in VÚB held by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on top of the 69% state stake offered in the tender.After the deal was closed officials at the Italian bank refused to discuss specific future strategy for the bank, but said they would look to secure a sound financial basis for the bank's operations and help boost local business and investment.
Community Corner
Bahá'í Choir to perform in BratislavaArt Film Festival in Trenčianske TepliceAustrian Culture ForumGoethe Institute photo exhibitionFrench Institute concert and exhibitionClassical Concert at Zichy PalaceCzech 'textile artist' exhibition
Top Pick: Classic guitar festival in Bratislava
The Johann Kaspar Mertz International Guitar Festival, which opens in Bratislava on Sunday, June 24, hosts classic guitarists from Spain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Chile, Venezuela and Slovakia. The collection of musicians will perform scores on their Spanish guitars until Friday, June 29.The 26th annual festival was founded by Slovak guitarist Jozef Zsapka, and pays homage to famous Slovak composer Johann Kaspar Mertz.The visiting guitar players have studied and performed around the world. In Bratislava they will play works of international classic composers, including Stanley Myers, Frederic Chopin, Francisco Tarrega, Francois Borne, Gioacchino Rossini, Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Schubert and Mertz.
Slovak drug consumption to be curbed
Slovaks consume too many medical drugs, say officials of the Health Ministry. Some 8.5 million doctor-prescribed pills are swallowed daily by the Slovak population, an average of 1.6 per inhabitant, compared to 1.2 pills per day by the Czechs.Drugs remain largely free in Slovakia, covered by state subsidies and health insurers. The ministry blames this fact for the nation's high drug consumption, saying that after 40 years of free health care, Slovaks have little idea of what medicaments really cost.
Foreign buyers? Come one, come all
Bucking the trend in other states aiming to join the European Union (EU), which are pushing for barriers to be erected to potential EU buyers of local real estate, Slovakia is actually looking for more foreigners to buy domestically-owned houses and apartments.The reason, says the Foreign Ministry, is simple. Slovakia is banking on foreigners to raise local employment levels."Foreigners' investments into Slovak real estate can only help the country," said Miroslav Adamiš, head of the EU integration section at the Foreign Ministry. "We'd be happy if there were more [foreigners in Slovakia].
New cadastral law a grudging concession to demand for speed
"It's hard. We lack people. There are only 37 employees here, the same as in 1993, but since then the number of requests that we have to deal with has doubled, and we now have over 5,000 that haven't been handled within the period set by law," says Vladimír Banák, the head of the district cadastral office in Trenčín.Banák's problem is one common to district cadastral offices across Slovakia, where state officials store, verify and approve documents that register title to real estate in the country.For workers like Banák, the labour shortage has made it impossible to meet demand for changes to be registered in title to land and buildings. But for the investment hungry Slovak government, the delays at cadastral offices mean they can lose investors - something the cabinet can't afford if it is to fulfil its aim of besting the $2 billion total in direct foreign investment the country attracted last year.
Real Estate Briefs
Construction Ministry subsidies hit 357.5 million Sk4,070 housing units built in five months of 2001Schmögnerová defends cuts for building savings
A help-manual for expats hunting housing
When I first arrived to teach at Žilina University in the fall of 1995, I was delighted to be lodged in a three-room flat in Žilina. My spacious apartment was owned by the Schools Ministry, and I was to be charged only 2,000 crowns a month (then about $60) rent - a real bargain, I was told. But my dreams of comfortable and above all solitary accommodation were shattered when I received my first monthly pay check for 4,200 crowns.
Colossal retail centres storm Slovak market
After a slow start during the 1990s, large shopping centres are spreading like wildfire around Slovakia. While the country did not see its first 'hypermarket' - a shopping centre with at least 5,000 square metres in floor space - until June 1999, by the end of 2000 Slovakia had 11 such facilities. The most aggressive hypermarket builder in Slovakia, British retail chain Tesco, has promised a further 10 sites by the end of 2002.Bratislava, whose citizens are the wealthiest in the country and whose infrastructure is the best developed, has attracted the lion's share of retail centre investment, and 2001 is shaping up to be no different.
EU welcome suddenly warmer
With both NATO and European Union heads last week setting concrete dates for their groups' expansion, Slovakia's chief integration officials said they had received "the clearest signals yet" that their western integration efforts would be rewarded in the next four years.Speaking after a meeting of NATO heads in Brussels July 13, general secretary of the alliance Lord George Robertson for the first time confirmed that invitations would be extended to new members at a Prague summit next year.Followed by statements from US President George W. Bush the same day that "in Prague [NATO] should be in a position to start the next wave of expansion," the unexpected confirmation of enlargement was warmly welcomed in Bratislava.
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