Archive of articles - December 2000, page 2

Price hikes around corner

Government approval of a new package of hikes in regulated prices for households and business have brought vows from unions to fight for wage increases.The hikes, which will affect tariffs for gas, power, water and transport, were less than the Economy Ministry had originally proposed to the government, however, and will take effect one month later than had been expected - February 1.Under the approved rises, electricity for households will increase 15% while firms will pay 12% more. Natural gas will become 20% more costly for households, 15% higher for medium-sized corporate customers and 25% for large volume customers. Water rates will be raised 20%, and rail and bus fares 15% and 20% respectively.

Slovenské Elektrárne: The beginning of the end for political nominees

An event in March showed that the Slovak economy, and some of its most important companies, are still far from free of the influence of political meddling.The sacking of Štefan Košovan as head of the state electricity utitlity Slovenské Elektrárne (SE) reminded everyone of the power struggles behind the biggest firms in Slovakia. Slated for privatisation some time over the next 18 months, the furore over Košovan's sacking on suspicion of awarding sweet contracts to party sympathisers had wide repercussions.

OECD accession a major foreign policy success story

The current government's largest foreign policy success to date, entry to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), was a milestone for Slovakia, not just in pursuing FDI but in helping it along the road to membership of even more important alliances such as NATO and the EU. Having fallen behind regional neighbours in joining western organisations because of the economic and political policies pursued by former Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar, the government had been pushing for membership of the grouping.

2000: Privatisations speed up

Kanis resigns, SDĽ circles wagons

In earnest of their support for the government's anti-corruption plan, members of the reformed communist Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ) put personal property disclosures on the Internet December 13. The move came shortly after two recent scandals involving the party, scandals which critics said cast doubt on the sincerity of the SDĽ's commitment to fighting corruption.Embattled SDĽ member and Defence Minister Pavol Kanis announced on December 16 that he would step down from his post effective January 2 because he could "no longer face the media pressure" over a mysterious gap between his income and the cost of his new villa in Bratislava's exclusive Koliba area.

Corporate profits soar 540% over 1999

The government has brandished figures from the Slovak Statistics Office showing a huge growth in corporate profits in the third quarter of the year as a sign of the continuing success of its economic programme.

Year in review: Race, raids, resignations

January 15:Róbert Fico, head of the non-parliamentary party Smer, suggests an amendment to the Social Benefits Law denying Slovak Romanies their legal right to collect benefits. Calling the proposal a means of curbing the number of Slovak gypsies seeking asylum in western countries, Fico says that "citizens who travel for speculative reasons to a foreign country would on their return to Slovakia have their social benefits payments stopped for 12 months."January 16:The opposition Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), led by ex-Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar, launches a petition drive to hold a national referendum on early parliamentary elections.January 17:Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda announces that he will form a new political party, the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ). The move is seen as a dramatic bid by the leader to divide and conquer his political rivals in his SDK mother party and secure a political future for himself.

MP support for new budget a bad sign

Despite the pleasure expressed by cabinet officials over the ease with which the 2001 budget was approved in parliament last week, analysts have ascribed the apparent unanimity of coalition MPs to the fact that key but politically sensitive reforms to the health care, education and agriculture sectors were not included in the financial package. If the reforms had been planned for 2001, analysts have said, they would have dramatically decreased a deficit that is already perilously close to the upper limit of 4% of GDP which international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the government itself have recommended as a maximum safe shortfall.

Slovak Christmas traditions undergoing plastic surgery

In the midst of the Christmas shopping rush on a recent afternoon at a well-known department store in Bratislava, a swarm of young couples circled a display of artificial Christmas trees."We won't have to clean up after it," commented a young woman bent over a tree with glowing fibres. "And this way we won't have to buy a new one every year."Outside, a man selling natural Christmas trees stood alone in the cold, blowing on his hands and waiting for customers.

HR Briefs

Štrbské Pleso: Harnessing 'useless lake'

Hundreds of years ago when serfdom was abolished and land was passed to locals by the Hungarian royalty, Štrbské Pleso (Cleft Lake) and its surrounding forests were given to local Slovak peasants. They did not appreciate the gift.The Štrba locals were incensed at being given what they said was worthless land. Calling the lake itself a "useless pond", they threatened to drain it and use the reclaimed meadow for pastures to salvage some value from the land.

Community Corner

Communications Tech: The call centre revolution

Everybody today looks to Voice over IP (VoIP) services as strategic drivers. Both service providers and people in enterprise expect significantly reduced bottom-line costs for voice services and cost advantages from combining voice and data networks. But the VoIP service is not just about price efficiency. It is about flexibility and improving traditional services like "call centres", combining them with the Internet.

Abortions down as fear of pill declines

Oral contraception is gaining popularity among Slovak women, say sociologists and doctors, as education and better drugs continue to make inroads on communist-era stereotypes of 'the pill' as dangerous and inaccessible.The newfound faith in contraception has had a dramatic effect on the rate of abortion, which until 1989 was considered the country's only safe method of birth control. Since the end of communism, the number of annual abortions has fallen by 64% from 49,847 in 1988 to 18,141 in 1999.

Welfare work plan extended to 2001

With an announcement that it is to pump 1.5 billion crowns ($30 million) into continuing its new work-for-welfare employment programme, the government has decided toturn the project into the cornerstone of its active labour policy next year.The job scheme, which helped cut a soaring unemployment rate of 19.41% in July to 16.58% in October, was started in August this year and provided temporary employment for three months to people who had been unemployed for more than one year.

Tourism body trudges onwards underfunded

With more than 300 ski resorts and almost 1,000 ski lifts in mountain ranges such as the Tatras, Fatras, Slánske and Vihorlat, the possibilities for winter tourism in Slovakia have made it one of the bright spots in a lacklustre industry.However, despite the relative success in winter tourism, experts say that winter resorts are mainly filled by Slovak holidaymakers or tourists from former eastern block countries. They add that Slovakia has conspicuously failed to attract more western visitors with greater spending potential, and blame the virtual absence of promotion of Slovakia's winter resorts outside the country.

Erste tipped as SLSP buyer for $360 million

Austrian bank Erste Bank was revealed as the Privatisation Ministry's preferred choice as winner of an 87% stake in the country's largest bank, Slovenská sporiteľňa (SLSP) December 13, after the finance house put in an 18.4 billion crown ($360 million) bid for the share.The Austrian bank must now wait until December 20 for a final decision from the cabinet, but it is widely expected that there will be no objections to the choice and that the stake will be in Erste's control by early January.

Business Briefs

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