Archive of articles - October 2000, page 2

Macro Notes: Is economic growth back on track?

Slovakia recorded 1.9% year-on-year headline growth in 2Q00, very similar to headline growth rates in recent quarters. But are current growth dynamics the same? We think not. Base effects were such that headline growth numbers did not reveal true Slovak growth dynamics. The following analysis focuses on annualised quarter-on-quarter changes.Slovak growth actually strong in 2Q00The state of the economy was much worse in 2H99 than headline numbers indicated. The economy began its recovery from post-election price shocks (following the floating of the currency in September 1998) and rapidly recovered after no more than five months. This was in sharp contrast to the experience of the Czech Republic in 1998-1999.Slovak growth actually strong in 2Q00

Business Briefs

Chase Nominees revealed as VSŽ share sellersParliament passes new money- laundering lawInterest rises in SAD bus line privatisation

This Week

Communist security boss has last laugh

One of Slovakia's most infamous former communist leaders may escape prosecution. The Bratislava Military District Court (VOS) last week dropped criminal charges against Alojz Lorenc - the last communist State Security Bureau (ŠtB) boss - for crimes he allegedly committed against the state.The October 3 decision to halt prosecution confirmed Slovakia's tradition as a country unwilling to criminally prosecute figures from its communist past. While the Czech Republic's Justice Ministry formed a department in 1991 to investigate communist crimes, Slovakia waited until November 1999 to form a similiar body; while the Czech department boasts 100 employees, Slovakia's lays claim to just two.

Tax licence scheme widened

In an attempt to boost a flagging small- and medium-sized enterprise sector, parliament September 20 broadened the list of professionals able to qualify for independent business licences, and thus for greatly reduced tax rates. However, the change, cited by the government as one of the most important impulses for business sector development in the year 2000, had been heavily delayed by Finance Ministry intransigence.The amendment, which will take effect as of January 1, 2001, allows self-employed people and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to purchase inexpensive tax 'licences' under which they are allowed to pay a lower amount of tax than the going annual corporate tax rate of 29%.The standard corporate tax rate has in the past discouraged the setting up of small businesses, while dense and often confusing tax legislation has put some firms which were unable to pay expensive tax advisors and accountants out of business.

News Briefs

Cabinet nixes draft public service lawEU urges Slovakia to quicken pace of reform processRefugee group aids returning Slovak RomaTop court overrules complaint of Chief Justice Harabin

Austrian expats wince at Slovak image

Nuclear power stations, gypsies and crime - this trio of sensational news topics shapes the average impression Austrian citizens have of life east of Vienna. For those Austrians who live and work in the 'uncharted territory' beyond the Slovak border, however, the stereotype is as painful as it is wrong."Everyone who lives here regrets that other Austrians don't know anything about the country," said Walter Persché, the cultural attaché at the Austrian Embassy in Bratislava. "Some Austrians don't even know that Slovakia is an independent state, and confuse Slovaks with Czechs.""Fear of the east remains in Austria," agreed Michaela Burgstaller, a teacher at the Austrian Institute in the Slovak capital.

Community Corner

Zen Centre invites newcomersOctober Hash Run at Riviera pubAustrian centre exhibits women artistsItalian Embassy Photo ExhibitionKafka interpreted through paintingSwiss culture group exhibits Bratislava artFrench wine tasting exhibit features BordeauxBaptist WorshipDutch Embassy Museum

Minnows feel ignored by FDI trawlers

"No one bothers with us, no one cares."The message from Peter Jäger, director of water-cooler vendor Dolphin Slovakia, is a grim one, but one heard more than ever these days from increasingly disgruntled smaller investors who are trying to come to terms with what they say is the government's pursuit of FDI 'big fish' at the expense of investment 'minnows'.

Nuclear security row has SE in hot water

A murky dispute over who's looking after the security of Slovakia's Mochovce nuclear power plant has left the reactors without a contracted security service, forcing local police and plant employees to guard the facility themselves.The problem began in late September when the plant's contract with the Košice-based security firm G5 ended before a new company had been signed on. Although a May tender to decide which firm would guard the plant had re-selected G5, which first began operating at Mochovce in 1997, state-owned energy utility Slovenské Elektrárne's (SE - the operator of Slovakia's nuclear plants) board of directors ignored the tender results and instead hired the Bratislava-based SBS Dynasty for the job.However, it was then discovered that SBS Dynasty lacked the necessary license from the Slovak Nuclear Control Office (ÚJD) to provide nuclear security services, forcing Mochovce to cobble together a temporary solution.

Crime boss appeal receives boost

The government's apparent inability to put important Mečiar-era criminals behind bars, despite its 1998 promises, may weaken voter confidence and lead to a backlash the next time Slovaks go to the polls, a prominent political analyst said this week."A big part of the population voted for the ruling coalition because of issues unrelated to the economy like democracy, European Union accession and fighting crime," said Grigorij Mesežnikov, head of the Bratislava-based think tank Institute for Public Affairs (IVO). "Therefore it is important for the government to solve crime, one of the hottest problems in society. If they don't, people will perceive the government as weak."

Despite record deficit, budget seen as honest

The Finance Ministry October 9 managed to cut a huge public finance deficit for 2001 that threatened to reach 50 billion crowns ($1 billion), and stick to an original promise to keep the deficit just under 4% of GDP at 37.8 billion crowns ($745 million).The 2001 state budget [overall public sector budget] figures released at a press conference after a special cabinet meeting set the deficit in public finances for 2001 at 3.94% of GDP. Average inflation in 2001 is projected at 7% and the average unemployment rate should stand at 16.5%.Global financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have said that Slovakia must meet its set economic targets, such as the budget deficit as a percentage of GDP, to inspire investor confidence in the country's economy and demonstrate the government's commitment to sticking to economic reform programmes.

Top Pick: Bratislava Jazz Days Horizon 2000

The Bratislava Jazz Days festival will for the 25th year again fill the Main Hall of the Culture and Leisure Park (PKO) with jazz after taking a year off in 1999. From October 20 to 22, jazz fans will have the opportunity to view live concerts by almost 20 international jazz, swing, jazz-rock or avant-garde legends playing Slovakia for the first time.Each evening offers visitors several eclectic jazz concerts on two stages culminating with a single main performance.

Hardware technology: Storage options as solutions

In my previous two articles I discussed trends in contemporary IT and their importance for enterprises with ERP, BI, e-business or with mission critical applications. This column discusses hard drive storage devices which could naturally become the foundations of such solutions.Presently, there are several leading companies on the market that offer hard drive storage devices. They can be divided - according to capacity, possibility of being scaled and performance - into two groups: storage systems devised for mid-performance computing platforms and those designed for high-performance. In capacity they range from around tens of gigabytes to several terabytes. All the most commonly used server platforms and operation systems can be connected to such hard drive devices.

Benefit revisions draw fire

Groups working with mentally and physically handicapped people have attacked goverment approval of a revision to the law on social assistance benefits, saying a straight choice has been made between hitting economic targets and providing welfare for handicapped Slovaks - a choice in which the latter have lost.The revisions, agreed to by cabinet September 28, will see the amount of money paid out in certain benefits fall and will introduce stricter criteria for receiving benefits. The move, which Social Affairs Minister Peter Magvaši has called "rather drastic action", will save the state one billion crowns ($20 million) next year.

Cutting disabled benefits: The price of cowardice

A man who lives near the main train station in Bratislava drags himself and his wheelchair up three flights of stairs to reach his flat every day. He is a well-known figure in the capital, and was recently the subject of a Slovak television documentary. He is evidence that handicapped people living in Slovakia do not have an easy time getting around, and his life may quickly become even more difficult by the Finance Ministry's insistence that benefits for physically and mentally handicapped people be cut.The government has pledged itself to a transition from a 'nanny' welfare state to a 'self-help' government-assisted welfare scheme that the capitalist countries of the West have had in place for many years already.

Playwright Štepka keeps 'em laughing despite lean times

"I wanted to write joyful plays," babbles the middle-aged man on stage, confused and slightly distraught. "I wanted to make people laugh.""But they will laugh," responds one of the four life-sized 'parasites' which surround him. "They will laugh when they see you."The exchange is from the play Ako som vstúpil do seba (As I entered myself), one man's absurd, hilarious journey into his own body and soul. The adorable middle-aged man on stage is Slovak legend Stanislav Štepka, founder of the theatre house Radošinské naivné divadlo (RND) and author of its 34 plays. True to the forecast of the 'parasite', the packed house bursts into laughter every time his fidgety, nervous character appears on stage, every time his face wrinkles into a guilty smile.

HR Policy: Leaders unleash potential

The style in which people are led has the potential to increase motivation and at the same time can have a significant impact within a company. People in leading positions may follow the same rules of a company, yet the manner in which they exercise their authority differs from person to person.The process of guiding and directing people's workplace behaviour is viewed as leadership. In essence, leadership is the ability to influence a group to achieve goals. It also involves the translation of organisational goals into real and achievable goals for employees. Leadership thus has both individual and organisational aspects.It is also clearly a process as well as the possession of the special traits needed to influence other people. As a process, leadership helps transform potential in people or situations into reality; it is the activity that identifies, develops and enriches potential within a company and its employees.

Review: Operatic Hamlet twists tale for pleasing vocal effect

The Slovak National Theatre (SND) has chosen to bring new blood into its repertoire this season and stage the opera version of Shakespeare's classic Hamlet for the first time ever in Slovakia. This version, by nineteenth century French artist Ambroise Thomas, a relative unknown among modern opera aficianados, is the composer's best work besides the opéra comique 'Mignon'.The script was compiled by two contemporary librettists to match the tastes of the period, in which light and entertaining operettas were preferred over the rich and complex psychology of the original characters.