Archive of articles - April 2002, page 14

Slovakia tenth in world auto production

Unemployment slightly down

Doprastav forecast lifted by building sector optimism

SLOVAKIA'S largest construction company, and the second largest in the combined Czech and Slovak Republics, is planning significant growth this year with the anticipated recovery of the Slovak construction sector.Doprastav Slovakia, created in January 1994 from a former state monopoly, is projecting 2002 earnings of Sk70 million on revenues of Sk6.9 billion as it prepares further transportation infrastructure projects including the Bratislava-Trnava rail corridor and highway construction in the Czech Republic.Doprastav, which specialises in transportation infrastructure, is also part of a consortium bidding for the contract to build the Košická bridge in Bratislava - the city's fifth bridge across the Danube river.

Czech crown hits new record

Penta candidate takes SPaP tender

Audits at energy distributors finished

Will the real Miss Slovakia please stand up?

AS SOON as the most beautiful girl of Slovakia 2002 was crowned on Joj TV on March 2, rival station TV Markíza began an advertising campaign for a new competition with different participants. On April 13, Slovakia will be introduced to another Miss Slovakia for the same year.Two castings for two similar beauty contests broadcast on two television stations have confused contest participants as well local viewers, and have created tensions between their organisers since the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993. Every year several girls receive the Miss Slovakia title. So which Miss is the real one?The organisers have no doubts. "Each Miss is the real one, they just advance to different international competitions.

Reader Feedback: Re: Memories of the Frontier, By Susie Chambers, Vol. 8 No. 11, March 25-31

Trade deficit worse than last year

Reader Feedback: Re: Beneš debate 'dangerous', By Tom Nicholson, Vol. 8 No. 11, March 25-31

Insurers launch ad binge to secure market

Reader Feedback: Re: Another US warning on Mečiar, News Briefs, Vol. 8 No. 11, March 25-31

Police target mob groups in 2002

The remanding in custody of Dalibor Listig is the latest in a series of high-profile police successes against organised crime groups.Since the beginning of this year police have deployed hundreds of officers in sometimes country-wide operations to break up organised crime gangs.In January police carried out nation-wide raids on extremist gangs' operations, following this up weeks later with action against a number of gangs involved in trafficking women.

Economic good mood expands to three-year high

THE STATISTICAL Office (ŠÚ) every month compiles an Index of Economic Sentiment (IES), a complex indicator of confidence in the economy derived from outlook surveys in industry, construction and retail, as well as consumer opinion polls. The Office said the IES rose four points last month to 102.4, with 1995 sentiment representing the base value of 100.The new high came on the back of strong optimism in industry regarding production rises and demand for industrial products.More than 85 per cent of industrial firms have said demand is at seasonal averages, while more than half predict industrial production in the second quarter of the year to grow.

Police probing soft treatment of alleged mob boss

POLICE say they have put one of the country's most feared underworld bosses behind bars.Dalibor Listig, the 21 year-old alleged head of an east-Slovak underworld gang, was remanded in custody at the end of March on charges of causing grievous bodily harm and blackmail, Police Presidium Vice-President Jaroslav Spišiak announced on March 27.The arrest, which came after a woman told police that she had been hospitalised following a brutal beating by Listig, is the latest in a series of police crack-downs on organised crime gangs this year (see related story below).

Prosecutor demoted over harassment

Budget deficit at 40% of 2002 target

Culture Shock: What the Real IRA missed in the land of cabbage

THE REAL IRA have a lot to answer for. Last June they sent three gormless volunteers to Piešťany to buy what they hoped would be a wish list of weapons. However, the hapless terrorists were duly arrested in the famous spa town after they discovered they were negotiating with cleverly disguised British MI5 agents, not middle eastern arms dealers.I was sitting in the newsroom in Belfast, trying to look busy, when news of the arrests rolled in. "Mmm, Slovakia," I thought, "What the hell are the Real IRA doing there?"Now, almost nine months later, I am asking myself the same question in the present tense. Back then I had been hatching my escape from Ireland for some months, so when I enquired were there any jobs going at The Slovak Spectator and got a positive response, I packed my bags.

Hungary: "The problem of Europe"