Archive of articles - April 2002, page 15

SDĽ consumed by internal strife

THE DEPARTURE of Education Minister Milan Ftáčnik from the ruling coalition Democratic Left Party (SDĽ) last week marked a new low for the former communists, and brought an appeal from party ranks to SDĽ leader Pavol Koncoš to resign.Ftáčnik became the third prominent SDĽ figure to abandon the party in two months, following former Finance Minister Brigita Schmögnerová and SDĽ founder Peter Weiss. All three complained that Koncoš was leading the SDĽ towards more hard-line, orthodox socialist policies.With party support among the electorate at 3.3 per cent, after reaching over 14 per cent in 1998 elections, internal dissent has begun to tear the SDĽ apart. On April 3, a regional party branch from Senec appealed to Koncoš to quit in order to save the party.

A broth of ambition and apathy

The Woch restaurant would normally be too rich for my wallet, accustomed as I am to sandwiches at furtive lunch stands or grease-sodden fried cheese wedges at stand-up 'buffets'.But as the newspaper was paying, and as I approve the expenses (a neat coincidence), I dropped work on a balmy April 3 evening for a culinary change in pace.Opened around Christmas last year, Woch derives its name from a thirteenth century knight by the same name (he apparently had no other, like a Brazilian footballer). Woch was Bratislava's first recorded burgher, and by the restaurant's account a gurmán of no small reputation.

Kinex engineering profits double

No more political bureaucrats

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

Top Pick: Simplicity moves the world

ARCHITECTURE mirrors both tradition and social change, a truth borne out by Swedish architecture of the 20th century. In its simplicity, Swedish architecture recalls the way the country, once on the outskirts of Europe, became one of the wealthiest states on the continent.The exhibition Swedish Architecture of the 20th Century is a travelling version of a larger exhibition, originally made for the German Museum of Architecture in Frankfurt in 1998 and now residing in Sweden. After visiting Buenos Aires, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw and Vienna, it has moved to Bratislava.Over 230 drawings and photographs by internationally recognised architects Gunnar Asplund, Sigurd Lewerentz, Peter Celsing, Carl Nyrén and Ralph Erskine, who marked the urban Swedish landscape, are displayed along with works by the younger generation. The exhibits follow Swedish architecture's development from the beginnings of 20th century through classicism and the post-war period to contemporary movements.

Rum, Easter and the lash: Another look at Slovak traditions

THE EASTER holiday in Slovakia is the refuge of some of the most contested traditions the country still practices. Bands of men visit the homes of women they know, strike them with willow switches and douse them in cold water, and then expect to be served liquor and cold meats before they traipse off to another encounter.If you're male and fond of drinking, Easter Monday is a high time indeed. But if you're female, especially young and unattached, you tend to resent such boorish feudal customs.This past Easter had its share of customary nastiness, with a group of young men from a village near Hlohovec throwing a 16-year-old girl in a tub and scalding her with hot water until her father came to the rescue. She remains in hospital with second degree burns.

Financial Markets Office has new powers

Backers of Spiš region industrial park prepare to break earth

FINAL preparations are underway for a woodworking industrial park in Spišská Nová Ves.The park, which is due for completion in June 2003, is a co-operative effort between the town and district governments, local development agency Agentúra pre rozvoj Spiša, the European Union (EU), and private investors to revive the traditional woodworking industry in an area struggling with high unemployment and unused capacity.According to the head of Spišská's district state office, Juraj Beňa, all required documentation and work schedules will be completed this month. A press conference is to be announced by the end of the month by wood processing firm Pilvud, which owns the plant now occupying the site, and a group of Greek investors.

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

Drukos boss Mojžiš charged with fraud

CHARGES of fraud have been laid against František Mojžiš, one of the country's most prominent businessmen.Police said March 27 that Mojžiš, head of the unlicensed finance company Drukos, used misleading advertisements to raise over Sk60 million this year from 2,091 people for his firm. He faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted.Drukos closed branches of its daughter company, BDV Družstvo, on February 25 in the midst of a nationwide crisis over failing non-banking entities. The firm held billions of crowns in client deposits when its doors shut.

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PPS Detva chaos threatens 1,800 jobs

A COURT ruling in late March, followed by the mass resignation of the board of directors at engineering firm PPS Detva, has put 1,800 jobs at risk in one of Slovakia's highest unemployment regions.The Supreme Court on March 27 challenged the legality of a 1997 move by the owners of engineering company Podpolianske strojárne (PPS) to transfer assets out of their heavily indebted firm to a new company, PPS Detva Holding.The decision, which cast into doubt the existence of central Slovakia's PPS Detva Holding, sparked the resignation of PPS management, which was in turn followed by a union strike and what all involved described as chaos at the firm.

First Roma Nazi camp survivor compensated

JOZEF Balogh, an internee of the Nazi Dachau concentration camp, on April 2 received the first half of a 15,000 German mark award from the 'Remembrance, Responsibility and Future' foundation, which was set up by the German cabinet in 2000.Balogh is one of 4,060 Slovak citizens who are eligible under a German law from August 2000 for compensation for their suffering as forced labourers.According to Daniela Stábová from the Bratislava-based International Organisation for Migration (IOM), which was responsible for co-ordinating and forwarding the applicants' requests to IOM headquarters in Geneva, Balogh is one of 49 Roma to have applied and been recognised as eligible for compensation.

Government debt up 33 per cent

EC delegation head: Status Law "not helpful"

THE NEW head of the European Commission delegation to Slovakia, Eric van der Linden, says his personal style is to be "direct". If he has any message to the Slovak government six months before parliamentary elections, it is "to get on with the job and make sure it is finished within the timeframe set in the road map for the accession process."Coming to Slovakia from his last posting as head of the EC delegation to Slovenia, the Dutch-born van der Linden, 54, is a career diplomat with experience of some of the toughest briefs in the European Union docket (Turkey, Cyprus). He says he fully expects Slovakia to make the cut for 2004 entry to the EU, and intends to take his pro-accession message to the Slovak countryside later this summer.The Slovak Spectator spoke to van der Linden on March 28.

Around Slovakia

Rogue ship clouts Old BridgeFree trip to loony binSalting new woundsSplashing leads to hospital treatmentNot as think as you drunk I amEaster egg ends friendship