Archive of articles - November 2001, page 3

US firm donates Warhols to museum

US Steel Košice has purchased seven Andy Warhol original works of art for the Warhol Family Museum of Modern Art in Medzilaborce, eastern Slovakia.The original prints, along with three donated by the Central-European Foundation, constitute the complete portfolio Ladies and Gentlemen."It's a great boost for us, especially these days when the Minister of Culture treats us as a provincial institution," said curator Michal Bycko.

ŽSR and ZSE reach debt agreement

Review: Mediocrity with a view

Reštaurácia Veža has the best view of any restaurant in Bratislava, much fuller and grander than the view from the UFO bridge. Eating lunch on a table set on its revolving track (1 revolution per 40 minutes), I spotted Pezinok to the East, the Austrian hills across the border to the west and the Danube snaking Hungary-bound past Slovnaft to the south.Because of the view, I was disappointed the restaurant turned out to be a typical psuedo-fancy Slovak restaurant (PFSR). A PFSR makes passing attempts at urbanity - waiters in vests and bow ties, silver serving dishes -undermined by tacky decorations and undistinguished food. Having said that, lunch had a few nice surprises, most notably the bill, on the small side for a PFSR, even a viewless one.

Shamed actor held after police drug raid

Actor Dušan C. has been charged with illegal possession of drugs.He was taken into pre-trial custody and may serve up to eight years in prison if found guilty.Dušan C., 31, who is known as the voice of Chandler in the US sitcom Friends, was caught during a November 13 police raid in Bratislava's Old Town flat owned by Hugo Schilder, a disgraced doctor who has already been imprisoned for producing and selling pervitin, a synthetic metamphetamine.

MBAs more than just a fashion

Providing students with managerial, economic and language skills, Master of Business Administration programmes (MBA) are becoming the preferred way of studying in Slovakia.With the consolidation of the Slovak corporate sector and an increasing number of foreign firms entering the local market, such programmes have become popular among managers and young people who lack work experience."MBA graduates find better jobs, especially in foreign firms and abroad," said Katarína Bachratá, MBA project coordinator at City University Bellevue (CU) in Bratislava, one of the three schools in Slovakia that provide MBA courses in cooperation with foreign universities.

Students opening doors to employment

KOŠICE: How does a university graduate in the Košice region, home to some of the country's highest unemployment rates, gain the essential work experience many companies now demand of new employees? According to non-profit student organisations operating in the east, the answer is to leave the country."It's very hard to find a job here, but there are other ways to get students practical experience to make them more attractive for employees," said Ľubomír Žiak who works for Best (Board of European Students of Technology), an international student organisation focused on preparing students for the 'real world'.Best arranges international study programmes and internships aimed at giving students foreign work experience and a more attractive resume.

Movies for November 26 - December 2

American Pie 2 (Americké pokušenie) - The cast of American teenagers returns, bumbling through sexual adolescence. After a year at college they rent a cottage for the summer and the party is on.Atlantis: The Lost Empire (Atlantis: The Lost Empire) - A billionaire finances an expedition to the underwater city of Atlantis. A Disney animated film with voices by Michael J. Fox and James Garner.Before Night Falls (Kým sa zotmie) - Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas leaves home and moves to Havana as Castro's revolution sweeps the country. Later Arenas' homosexuality and political writing make him a target for the communist regime.

Biography: PAVEL KONCOŠ

Pavel Koncoš, 54, agriculture minister and newly elected Democratic Left Party (SDĽ) chair studied economy at Nitra's Agricultural University and began his professional career as the head of a farm in Klenovec in 1979.He has defended agriculture farms interests ever since. Under communism he worked in the Agricultural Farmers' Union and later led the Slovak agricultural chamber.In 1992 he became member of parliament and acted as temporary agriculture minister in 1994 after the cabinet led by Vladimír Mečiar was dissolved following a non-confidence vote in parliament. In 1998 when SDĽ joined the ruling coalition, Koncoš was nominated to the same ministerial post.

PM's party flops in latest poll

Unemployment rises again

Bombs, banks and blocked shares: Sins of omission and commission

It's tough to say what threatens the rule of law in Slovakia more - things happening that shouldn't occur, or things not occurring that the law says ought to.Are you, for example, most worried that the National Bank of Slovakia allowed a private bank to keep its license for over a year after discovering the bank was lying about its financial health? Or are you more bothered by the collaboration of several courts and stock brokers to allow a small firm illegally to recover a debt from the Finance Ministry by grabbing shares in Transpetrol, a state firm owned by the Economy Ministry?Should we be surprised that Slovak police authorities say they have not taken legal action against Slovak Peter Jusko, even though these same authorities supplied information on Jusko to a United Nations team that described him as part of an international arms smuggling gang? Or rather amazed that a Žilina regional court has actually ruled there was a racial motive involved in the murder of a Roma mother of eight in her home by baseball bat wielding skinheads?

This Week

IRB sale to close in December

Mečiar still poses FDI threat

Despite a huge effort to raise Slovakia's profile abroad investors are still scared of a return to power of Vladimír Mečiar, claims a former US ambassador to the country."The thought that some of the things that were characteristic under his term might return sends a shiver down the spine of a number of investors," Carl Spielvogel, US Ambassador to Slovakia until April this year, told The Slovak Spectator.Spielvogel, talking during an international investment conference in Bratislava November 19, added that while Mečiar's HZDS party had recently declared a new pro-western stance there were still doubts among investors as to the former PM's sincerity.

Racial motive confirmed

Reader Feedback: The flavour of an interesting culture

Consumer gloom despite positive signs

Hundreds of cars and thousands of people with carriages full of goods could be seen after the largest and newest shopping park in Slovakia Aupark opened two weeks ago.By looking at the crowds in stores like Aupark one might presume that consumer confidence is on the rise, however Slovaks are generally sceptic about the overall economic situation.The latest survey carried out by the Slovak Statistics Office suggests that 17% of the Slovaks will make big purchases, including washing machine, fridge, furniture etc., but more than two thirds of the population believe that the economic situation has worsened over the last year.

Minister's son in flats row

Tennis ace in love match