Archive of articles - December 2000, page 3

Bratislava soup kitchen an island of stability for homeless

In a Bratislava post office on a December afternoon, a bent old man in a long woollen coat scribbles on a piece of paper. His fingers are numb from the cold and marked with toil: he carries two heavy bags containing all his belongings everywhere he goes. The tiny pencil keeps slipping out of his grasp.The old man - a 62 year-old former businessman with a master's degree in mechanical engineering - spends his nights in the capital trying to find a warm place to get a little sleep. If unsuccessful, he stays awake, walking about all night to keep from freezing to death. Comfort, shelter and sleep are never guaranteed, and are often not found for days on end.

Banking & Finances

Since this is the last banking column this year, it is perhaps a good time for a short review of major factors and events of the year 2000.Undoubtedly, the most significant news for the banking sector and for the health of the whole economy was a decision to bring the privatisation of state banks to an end without delays. Although it is clear that economies in emerging countries can be restructured only through FDI and a stable and functioning banking sector, it was not all that clear that the Slovak government would be consistent with its privatisation decisions.

Quotes of the Week

Airline bitter on eve of sale

The boss of national air carrier Slovenské Aerolínie (SA) has launched a stinging attack on the government just weeks before it plans to close deals with potential buyers for its 34% stake in the airline.The airline chief has rounded on the government, saying that it has seldom realised the importance of the national air carrier for the country's economic development, and that the upcoming sale of the stake is further evidence of this neglect.

Letters to the Editor

Mansion-building Defence Minister's luck running out

Defence Minister Pavol Kanis's explanation last week that he financed a luxury villa in Bratislava from gambling proceeds and a loan from an unnamed business friend has failed to quiet calls for his resignation. If anything, the minister's explanation has fueled speculation that he built the four-storey residence from ill-gotten gains.The house in question has been valued at between 10 and 15 million Slovak crowns ($200,000 - $300,000) by real estate experts, a figure that Kanis has called "misleading".

News Briefs

Review:Café De Zwaan filling the Belgian vacancy in Slovakia

"You know, in Belgium, there are bars that serve 1,000 different kinds of beer," remarked a Belgian man sitting in Café De Zwaan, Bratislava's new Belgian Beer Café. "I'm no great connoisseur of beer, but I can tell you that in Belgium there is a whole beer culture. We are famous all around the world for it."Countless bars have opened in Bratislava in the last several years, many of them leading Slovakia's restaurant and café culture in brave new directions.

Top Pick: The true story of David Lynch

One of America's most innovative and respected filmmakers, a man who for two years in the early 90's had much of America dying to know who killed Laura Palmer, will be honoured in Bratislava with a mini-film festival of five of his movies at film club 901.Writer-director David Lynch, born in Montana in 1946, originally had ambitions of becoming a graphic artist. But in 1966 he enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where he made his first animated film depicting the dark corners of the human experience, violence and decay. The piece immediately caught the public's eye.

Malá Fatra towns a rustic ski option

Of Slovakia's four premier mountain ranges, the obscure Malá Fatra is probably the least appreciated. Even its name - malá means 'small' - seems designed to encourage tourists to give it a miss.This is a pity, for while its mountains are less dramatic than the High Tatras or the Veľká Fatra, with an area of over 22,000 hectares and peaks of over 1,700 metres, the Malá Fatra are hardly small. Indeed, because of their relative obscurity, they tend to be quieter, cheaper, less crowded and serviced by a more homespun tourist industry. In the winter the mountains offer some of Slovakia's best skiing, and in the summer great hiking. Museums and monuments celebrate a past that includes the most important events in the history of the Slovak nation.

Coalition parties unite to pass 2001 budget

After 10 days of tough negotiations, the government finally won over MPs December 13 and pushed its 2001 budget proposal through parliament, sticking to its original 37 billion crown ($740 million) deficit - 3.94% of GDP.Ninety of the 139 MPs present supported the cabinet proposal, under which state revenues will reach 180.6 billion crowns while expenditures will run to 217.8 billion. Government officials said the number of votes cast in favour - many more than needed - showed that the ruling coalition remained united and fiscally responsible.

The 'lucky dip' minister: Not unusual in špatnokrásne Slovakia

What does it say about a country when a government minister dares to explain a suspicious gap between his income and the cost of his luxury home with the claim that he has earned the difference through 'lucky dip' gambling proceeds?The very fact that Defence Minister Pavol Kanis would try this one on says first and foremost that he thinks the rest of us are fools capable of believing such nonsense. Kanis now makes about 500,000 crowns ($10,000) dollars a year as minister, but is building a four-storey monster on the Koliba hill above Bratislava worth anywhere between 10 and 15 million crowns ($200,000 and $300,000).

EU meet puts Slovakia in picture

It took four days, failed to streamline decision-making and was racked by threatened walk-outs, but the European Union summit in Nice produced a last-minute agreement on the mechanics of eastward expansion that left Slovak delegates delighted.At 4 a.m. December 11, President Jacques Chirac of France announced that a final face-saving deal had been struck. Chirac, who hosted the meet, said it would "go down in history as a great summit for the variety and the complexity of problems that were solved."

Czechs, Slovaks forget marital scraps

Although former national partners, Slovaks and Czechs are only now discovering that good fences make good neighbours.During the 1948-1992 Czechoslovak state, Czechs often complained of having to pay support for the poorer, unindustrialised Slovaks, while the smaller nation grew weary of what it perceived as cultural and political hegemony from Prague.

Orphans given a 'family'

"I'm sorry, I just don't like reporters," admitted Eva Mojtová, director of Detský Domov children's home in Bratislava. Twenty minutes into the interview, her frosty exterior was melting, and the social worker with over 25 years experience with orphaned and abandoned children felt the need to explain."I've had so many reporters come here and I have never had a good experience with them, not once. They all come looking for tragedy and tears, but that isn't the case here. Our children are just like children everywhere - they laugh, they tell lies, they hate school, they are funny, they imagine things."

NTS: Heritage begging to be saved

For some, Slovakia's thousands of abandoned industrial buildings are just part of an unkempt landscape. But for Martin Kováč, they represent a priceless cultural heritage begging to be rescued.Kováč, director of the non-governmental Národný Trust Slovenská (National Trust of Slovakia - NTS), is devoted to promoting the "systematic and sustainable management" of old buildings. The process involves reconstruction and restoration of former mills, foundries and manor houses across the country - sites less resonant than castles and churches, perhaps, but no less evocative of the country's history.

Top Pick: Christmas Market on Bratislava's Main Square

Christmas in Slovakia remains a time when distinct traditions are revived, such as the Christmas eve dinner of honey wafers, home made 'kapustnica' (cabbage soup), fried carp and potato salad.These traditions are also alive in the streets of the Bratislava Old Town, specifically on the Main Square. The area is now dominated by a huge decorated tree next to a stage holding live Christmas performances, such as carol singing, theatrical plays, concerts and dancing. The rest of the square is flooded with small wooden stands offering Slovak Christmas goods.

Macro Notes: Fiscal deficit - why is it a problem?

Since the Velvet Revolution in 1989, Slovakia has faced two main economic problems: the highest unemployment rate in the region and recurrent problems in external economic imbalances. The high level of state interference in the economy could be the main source of both problems.High state interference in the economy absorbs much of the value created in the private sector. Through bureaucracy and high taxation, the state discourages private investment. Subsequently, the private sector does not produce enough jobs and the country faces high unemployment - the employment problem.Economic theory suggests that a huge fiscal deficit creates a trade deficit, and calls both deficits 'twin deficits'.

HR Policy: The need to cope with change

In today's work environment, it is becoming more and more crucial to comprehend, analyse and react to the stimuli that stem from both the external environment and within the organisation itself. We are well aware of the fact that the world in which we work today is becoming less stable and less predictable, therefore we need to develop an attitude that enables us to cope with these forces. We need to be able to change. We need to be able to anticipate the new and be proactive as well as to adjust to an event in a reactive, yet flexible manner.In the process of change there are four main phases that should be looked at. At the beginning there is a force that makes us aware of the need to change.