Archive of articles - November 2000, page 3

Referendum falls far short of validity

There were no lines of eager citizens waiting to cast their ballots at the Jesenského Street polling centre in Bratislava. Given the chance to vote in a referendum on early national elections on November 11, fully four out of five eligible voters decided not to participate, rendering the referendum results invalid and giving poll monitors little to do besides chat with colleagues and read newspapers.Organised by the biggest opposition party, the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), the referendum fell far short of the 50% turnout required to make the results valid. Indeed, only 20.03% (818,480 of the country's 4,085,172 voters) attended the plebiscite.

Government allays water hike fears

The government has tried to allay fears over a hike in water prices after the planned privatisation of state-owned water utility Vodárne a Kanalizácie (VaK), saying that the creation of an independent regulatory body will ensure ordinary citizens do not bear the brunt of strategic investors' costs after the privatisation.The government confirmed its commitment to seeing the utility go into private hands in March 2002 with the sacking of Miroslav Čomaj, the head of the water management section at the Agriculture Ministry, for "insufficient progress" in the utility's transformation. The Agriculture Ministry also issued a call for "more resolute action" on VaK's privatisation.

Deposits Protection Fund needed?

The financial sector is critical to the health of the economy because it performs an essential function in an economy by channeling funds from savings to individuals or firms that have productive investment opportunities. If the financial system does not perform this role efficiently, then the economy cannot operate efficiently and economic growth will be severely hampered.In the absence of government intervention, a bank collapse means that a depositor would have to wait to get their deposit funds until the bank is liquidated and its assets turned into cash, and at that time, they would be paid only a fraction of the value of their deposits. If bank managers were taking on too much risk, depositors would be reluctant to put money in the bank....

ÚJOP celebrates 40 years of teaching Slovak to foreigners

What do a Pakistani, an Afghan, and a Zimbabwean have in common? On a recent afternoon, a lecture on prehistoric times - in Slovak.The trio of students had been in Slovakia for months, not years, but with the instructor enunciating every word and speaking slower than usual, they were able to follow the story of man's evolution from 12 million years BC to the present.That they were able to accomplish this miracle of comprehension is due to the training they received at ÚJOP, Slovakia's lone preparatory institute for foreign students studying in Slovakia...

Big profits augur well for bank sales

Announcements of encouraging profit figures for Slovakia's two largest banks, Všeobecná úverová banka (VÚB) and Slovenska sporiteľňa (SLSP) November 3 have been taken by analysts and the banks themselves as a sign that the government's bank revitalisation programme has been successful, and that the sector is returning to health.VÚB recorded a gross profit of almost 319 million crowns ($6.1 million) for the first nine months of the year, rising from a 2.98 billion crown ($59 million) loss in the same period last year with a year-on-year profit increase from financial operations and a reduction of general operating costs.

Embraco bullish on quality

Embraco Slovakia's factory in Spišská Nová Ves is the third site the compressor manufacturer has established outside of its native Brazil, although it is the firm's first greenfield project. With 1,000 employees and an initial investment in 1999 of $45 million, Embraco Slovakia exports all of its production to Europe and the US, and has taken on some of the more labour-intensive parts of Embraco's Italian operation.The Slovak Spectator spoke on November 6 to Antonello Lanfranco, chief operating manager of Embraco Slovakia, to get his views on investing in this country.

The importance of the unimportant

In my previous articles I mentioned a lot of new technologies aggressively entering the IT market. People who use computers only on a general office software level - making use, for example, of Internet to send and receive e-mails, do Internet-banking and online business transactions; or just occasionally connecting through a small LAN to a low- or medium-performance server - might find these technical specifications and other details about HW too complicated or boring.From their point of view, such information is unimportant. However, it is necessary to bear in mind that even if the simplest of e-banking transactions is to be executed, there is a need for specific data to be correct, updated and accessible at the right moment. People often get irritated if the transaction takes ages to be completed, or, worst of all, if it is not executed at all for some reason or other. It is only then that users are forced to start thinking about "unimportant details" and actually consider changing service providers.

Quote of the Week

Hotel Carlton sparks square rejuvenation

The refurbished facade of the Hotel Carlton reveals nothing of the tangled mess inside, or of the steady process of transformation that is renewing the famous building. What today is a heap of shattered glass will tomorrow be an oaken reception desk. Where wires hang menacingly from the ceiling, a state-of-the-art office space will soon take shape for any number of international firms.But perhaps most importantly (for the city of Bratislava anyway), what is now a muddy and scarred swath of land in front of the hotel will next spring become part of a totally renovated Hviezdoslavovo námestie, one of the capital's most famous squares."The reconstruction of Hviezdoslavovo námestie is the city's greatest project for the next year," said Old Town spokesman Milan Vajda. "Because of the Hotel Carlton reconstruction, the city government decided to rework the whole square, from the Hotel Danube to the National Opera House."

This Week

Review: Month of Photography brings peerless art to capital

They could easily be missed, scattered as they are in numerous nooks of Bratislava's city centre. But it would be a shame for anyone living in the capital not to catch at least one or two of the 38 excellent photography exhibitions from home and abroad currently here on display. The programme of events leaves hardly anything to be desired when it comes to quality, creativity and diversity.The exhibitions come as part of Slovakia's 10th annual month of photography, organised by the Slovak photographic society, and are housed in a mixed bag of small galleries, drinking establishments, museums and cultural centres. Many are free, and most are located conveniently in and around the Old Town.

Poles remain incognito on Slovak soil

Under the former communist regime, Slovaks and Poles were officially pronounced natural allies by their respective states. A logical step, considering that the two countries share 444 kilometres of Slovakia's 1,355 kilometre borders.But despite their proximity and proclamations to the contrary, Slovaks and Poles have traditionally enjoyed a surprisingly shallow relationship. It's almost as if the snow-capped peaks of the High Tatras have created a natural barrier, blocking closer relations and a deeper mutual understanding between the two countries.

US elections: Slovak politics should be so boring

"We don't really have two parties in America," growled US novelist Gore Vidal recently, "we have one with two right wings. That's why these elections really don't matter."The silver-haired Vidal, who is actually a cousin to US presidential hopeful Al Gore, is at his best when tossing off these cynical political epigrams. He could care less if his opinions are rubbished by his Pecksniff opponents; it's enough that he plucks one true chord with the thinking public.Many Americans would bristle at the suggestion that US politics are a sideshow to the real action that occurs in boardrooms across the nation - that presidents and parties are stooges for the same corporate interests. They would point to issues such as medicare, abortion, gun control, the death penalty or oil drilling in a pristine Alaskan wilderness and argue that the gap between Republicans and Democrats is substantial, that elections offer a real choice.

Real interest rate - getting it right

People read that inflation in Slovakia is close to 9%. Slovak retail banks are offering 6-7% interest rates on crown deposits. Does it mean that only a fool would deposit his/her money in the bank?Economics deals with the question by offering a real interest rate concept. People often simplify the concept and guess the real interest rate by simply subtracting headline inflation from the interest rate. If the number is negative, the conclusion is that it does not make sense to save, but rather one should borrow and spend as much money as possible since the money loses its value faster than it grows at the bank. This simplification is fair for developed countries most of the time, however, it has serious flaws for emerging countries in general.Let's refer to the proper definition of real interest rate. The real interest rate concept addresses the issue of whether one should consume and borrow, or instead save. Let's assume that I want to buy a TV in one year's time.

HR Briefs

Molex to take on more workers in 2001Miners and SE energy utility agree on coal

Rusyns finally don't have to pretend

Rusyns live along the southern and northern slopes of the north-central ranges of the Carpathian Mountains in central and eastern Europe. Today, between 800,000 and 1,000,000 Rusyns inhabit several countries, most notably Ukraine, which has between 600,000 and 800,000 Rusyns.Rusyns have never had their own state, and the use of Rusyn as a written language has never been widespread. Even the terminology used to describe Rusyns is varied and tainted by foreign influences - Carpatho-Ruthenians, Capatho-Russians, Carpatho-Ukranians, Lemkos, Ruthenes, and Ruthenians, to name a few.Rusyns, for centuries members of the Austro-Hungarian empire, in 1918 became citizens of the first Czechoslovak Republic, in which they enjoyed a significant level of autonomy. But after World War II, Ukraine (as a part of the Soviet Union) usurped almost all territories from Czechoslovakia that were inhabited by Rusyns. A comparative handful of Rusyns remained in Czechoslovakia in areas where Slovaks also lived.

Business Briefs

Istrobanka records Q1-Q3 profit of 62.4 million crownsNine firms to compete after SP loses monopolyLyonnaise des Eaux praises water privatisation planFides reports 2.9 billion crown turnover for Q1-Q3Globtel has three-quarter profit of 1.9 billion crowns

Voters reward reform authors

History is full of politicians whose careers were cut short after they became the unwilling bearers of bad tidings. It's relatively rare, on the other hand, that such messengers have been rewarded with increased voter support, as Slovak Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Mikloš and Finance Minister Brigita Schmögnerová have been in recent monthsIn a late September poll conducted by the Statistics Office, Mikloš commanded 7.9% voter trust, up from little over 5% in August, while Schmögnerová rose to 6.6% from around 3%. The two officials are now the sixth and seventh most trusted politicians in Slovakia, respectively, despite the fact that they have been identified as the authors of some of the most unpopular economic 'austerity' reforms of the past two years.

Letters to the editor

Backpackers not all badCheck teacher credentials!Bad experiences with teachersPolitics vs. law-makingMore Danglar supportExit visas as well?