Archive of articles - May 2001, page 5
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VSŽ issue picked as April market leader
The Slovak capital market once again picked a leader in speculative trading at the beginning of April: steel-maker VSŽ. The issue was last under the investor spotlight in May 2000, when shareholders attempted to strengthen positions before an extraordinary shareholders meeting at which final approval was given to an acquisition by U.S. Steel.On the basis of the shareholders' decision, U.S. Steel, a member of USX Group, acquired all steel-making assets of VSŽ Košice, and the company was named U.S. Steel Košice. The newly founded company still has very close business ties to VSŽ, being by far and away its largest supplier, mostly of auxiliary materials.
Chimney sweeps fading to black
No matter how dirty, no matter how covered in soot he may be, a chimney sweep walking down a Slovak street is certain to brighten and enliven his surroundings.With a rich tradition dating back to the 17th century, Slovak chimney sweeps have always been regarded as bearers of good luck. By touching a chimney sweep's button, it is still believed, one can make one's wishes come true. Indeed, whenever they see a chimney sweep today, few Slovaks pass up the opportunity to make a wish."The tradition of us bringing good luck comes from the times when houses had roofs of wood or hay," says 58 year-old Alexander Tartóth, one of 18 chimney sweeps in Bratislava. "Chimneys would often spit out burning embers which could cause serious fires to such roofs. By regularly sweeping out the chimneys, the old sweeps reduced the chance of fire. Therefore, we became a symbol of luck."
EU funding scandal: Hell hath no fury
The latest case of suspected corruption involving Slovak government officials is by far one of the strangest yet. Details of how Government Office section head Roland Tóth spent money - over 300 million euros - entrusted to him by the European Union were submitted to police and Tóth's boss by his wife, who is in the process of divorcing him. The EU, through its ruling body the European Commission, cut Slovakia off from future funding in response, but a day after the news went public, reversed its decision and sent a team to investigate. Deputy Prime Minister Pavol Hamžík, the man in charge of EU-government relations, denies having covered up the scandal, and says he kept his bosses informed - which they in turn deny.
What is PHARE, and how are funds used?
The PHARE programme was started by the European Union in December 1989 as a way of extending financial support to political and economic changes in Poland and Hungary. Gradually, the programme was extended to other post-communist central and eastern European countries, and eventually took on its current purpose, which is to support these countries in their attempts to join the EU.On April 23, 1996, the Slovak Government Office took over responsibilities for coordinating the PHARE programme in Slovakia and distributing the funds.
Community Corner
Indonesian Cultural EveningItalian Institute film festivalGoethe Institute exhibitionsAustrian Culture Centre book presentationFrench Institute exhibitionAustrian Culture Centre exhibition in PrešovBratislava Town GallerySpanish exhibition at DanubianaCzech-Slovak film festivalCountry Ball Postponed!Bahá'í Community
The Last Word: Peter Báňas
The Slovak Spectator spoke with Peter Báňas, the head of the Justice Ministry's international law and EU integration department, on the legal aspects of child custody cases of international marriages which end in divorce.The Slovak Spectator (TSS): Here's a hypothetical situation: A Slovak and an American get married, have a child, then divorce. The Slovak spouse is given custody with the American spouse given visitation rights. The American spouse then leaves for America. What happens to the American's visitation rights?
"It's a fact": Women paid less than men
When Communism fell in 1989 and a capitalist market was ushered in, former school teacher Elvíra Chadimová decided to start her own business. Eleven years after its foundation, her PTK Echo company now has 11 offices in four countries managing language schools, au-pair agencies and hotels as well as performing publishing and translating services.She has become a success in a business world dominated by men - and she's not the least bit surprised: "Women can work just as well as men and we are equally able to be successful leaders," she says.But her road to good fortune has not been easy.
EC questions Slovak handling of funds
Slovakia has been shaken by concern from the European Union (EU) over possible corruption in how the country's Government Office has used hundreds of millions of euros in funding from EU taxpayers.Based on suspicions that over 330 million euro in funds sent to Slovakia through the EU's PHARE and ISPA transfer programmes since 1998 may not all have been distributed fairly, the European Commission, an EU ruling body, decided on April 6 to freeze funding for new development projects in Slovakia, and to cancel preparations for the projects.At the time, suspicion fell on Roland Tóth, a 28 year-old Government Office employee who was Slovakia's lead negotiator on development project funding from the EU.
Vodochody sets sights on plane deal
Czech firm Aero Vodochody said that it had taken a step closer to winning a possible 50 billion crown ($1 billion) contract to supply the Slovak airforce with subsonic jets after an April 24 deal with two Slovak firms.Vodochody, which is part-owned by American aeronautics giant Boeing, signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Slovak companies DMD Trade, a division of DMD Holding, and Virtual Reality Media on the promotion of each other's products in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.The deal means that the Czech firm could push its L-159 aircraft, which it hopes to sell to Bratislava in a tender later this year, while DMD could do the same with its own 'Zuzana' howitzer and other military hardware.
Price to rule sale of shipper
Tasked with choosing the best of seven bidders, the FNM state privatisation agency started its selection process for strategic ownership of an 87% stake in Slovakia's only shipping and harbour utility, Slovenská plavba a prístavy (Slovak Shipping and Ports - SPaP) April 20.The company's management had hoped for a sale which would see a strategic partner bring new plans for restructuring and modernisation of the firm's vessels and harbours, allowing it to compete with more developed western shipping companies and generate more customers.But the cash-strapped FNM has set price for the stake as its top criterion in selecting a strategic investor.
Deputy PM Mikloš: "Society has matured and moved up"
KOŠICE - The decision of Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Ivan Mikloš to join the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) of PM Mikuláš Dzurinda a fortnight ago was given mixed reviews.Political analysts said that Mikloš might help the flagging party in the polls, as well as give a more pro-reform thrust to its avowedly 'centre-right' politics. Economists, meanwhile, worried that Mikloš' re-entry into 'big politics' might spell the end of 'radical' economic reform in Slovakia as the Deputy PM would have to obey a political agenda not of his own drafting.The man himself declares that reform will not suffer, and that much of the scepticism surrounding his motives and future is due to the naive expectations of a population which is deeply disappointed that reform has not been achieved overnight.
News Briefs
Poll: European citizens split on Slovak accessionCommunists stage May Day protest rallySecret Service: Roma exodus was organisedPolice: Remiaš murderers near being apprehended
Mixed couples: A bumpy, enriching ride
The story of the American-Slovak couple on the front page of this paper is a poor advertisement for international marriages. That's a pity, because marrying a Slovak has much to recommend it.1. Entertainment value. I can only speak for myself, a male foreigner who married a Slovak woman, but marrying someone from a different country is sometimes like living in a house whose many rooms you never completely explore. Strange sayings, customs and attitudes crop up unexpectedly, turning the most mundane of household chores (peeling potatoes) into a full-blown cultural encounter over the merits of knives versus potato peelers, and the reliance of foreigners on gadgets.
"My daughter is a prisoner"
"Have you seen where my daughter is locked up?" asked American John Izykowski of The Slovak Spectator May 1. "She's not 'living' in Bratislava with her mother. She's locked up. My daughter is a prisoner in Slovakia."Izykowski was speaking of his five year-old daughter Emily, whom he hasn't seen since 1998, except for a brief dramatic encounter this past New Year's Eve when he tried to take her back to America with him by force. Slovak police intervened and returned the child to her mother, Eva Slobodová, an American-Slovak who is wanted in the US for kidnapping her own daughter.Slobodová, who was born in Czechoslovakia but emigrated to the US with her family in 1968, left America with her daughter in 1998 without telling Izykowski. She applied for and received Slovak citizenship for Emily and herself last June.
AROUND SLOVAKIA
Ružomberok: Drugs found in posted lettersHigh Tatras: Tatra Rescue Service called to action 535 timesBojnice: Ghost Festival visitors attacked by localsBratislava: Skinhead attacks leaves two injured, one dead
Review: Even history buffs may choke on this lifeless study
When the Iron Curtain fell in 1989, one of the most pressing tasks facing Slovak educators, already working on shoestring budgets, was to come up with new history textbooks. The current textbooks were hopelessly coloured by communist ideology, the older emphasised Slovak nationalism or Czechoslovak unity, and still older texts were written in Hungarian.Finding unbiased English-language information on Slovak history has also been a problem for foreigners, some of whom believe that Slovaks still stand in line for toilet paper. More than uninformed, such notions reflect the shadow cast by the legacy of Communism, as if it were the only (and the worst) event in Slovak history. Newcomers may be startled by the complexity of the 1,000-year Hungarian-Slovak relationship.
Top Pick: Bratislava in Movement
Eleven dancers from Hungary, Slovakia and Germany, inspired by the Austro-Hungarian coronation celebrations which formerly took place in Bratislava when the city was the kingdom's capital, will give a lively one-hour dance parade along the coronation route May 11, 12 and 13. Starting at 16:30 at Saint Martin's Cathedral on Rudnayovo námestie, the performance follows the route, marked with gold crown plaques, up to Michalská brána (Michael's Gate). Constantly changing costumes, and accompanied by music ranging from renaissance and baroque to contemporary, the dancers will transport visitors to the past."We are trying to create a new relationship between the performer and the spectator," said Miroslava Kovářová, the director of the performance called "New Ritual II", explaining that audience participation will be involved in the walk-along dance.
Swedwood investment lifts hopes of logging companies
Swedish furniture-producer Swedwood raised hopes among Slovak lumber firms that business may improve dramatically with the opening of a furniture production plant in the western Slovak town of Malacky April 26.Plagued by debt and a wood surplus on European export markets, wood processing companies in the sector have lacked the finances to upgrade their technology, while loggers have been unable to make full use of the six million cubic metres of wood they fell in Slovakia each year.Now, logging representatives hope that Swedwood's 1.5 billion crown ($41 million) Malacky investment - the company's largest ever investment into a single production plant - will solve some of their financial problems, allowing them to sell 'low-grade' wood which would otherwise be left to rot, and will bring payment discipline to the sector.
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- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Liberal MP's boxing challenge backfires as far-right MEP seizes the moment
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- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- From eight to thousands of runners. How Košice marathon rose to prominence Photo
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Iconic Slovak barn still draws crowds. Without donors, it might have been lost Photo
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Fico praises China and Vietnam as models, says liberal democracy has failed
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Legendary captain Zdeno Chára inducted into IIHF Hall of Fame Video
- Liberal MP's boxing challenge backfires as far-right MEP seizes the moment
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access More articles ›
