Archive of articles - March 2003

Court closures aim to speed up justice

Bugár to remain head of SMK

KDH: Homosexuals should not be teachers

Alleged mob boss Černák skips country

Draft of conflict-of-interests law ready

A DRAFT version of a rewritten conflict-of-interest law that aims to introduce severe sanctions for MPs and state officials who are found misusing their posts has been described as "strict and good" by Justice Minister Daniel Lipšic.A commission composed of 17 members - including the minister, coalition and opposition MPs, and anti-corruption watchdog organisations - recently presented the draft to the public, hoping the law will be passed by parliament in May and take effect in July.If approved, the draft will require MPs and state officials, including municipal leaders and their close relatives, to regularly publish property declarations.

Car-hungry Slovaks turn to leasing

IN SPITE of a two-year decline in car sales, Slovak leasing companies have been steadily expanding as more Slovaks opt for financial plans in purchasing their cars rather than paying in cash.Slovakia's leasing market as a whole grew by nearly 15 per cent last year, driven in part by the leasing of new and used cars, which remains the sector's largest segment. Around half of the 68,000 new cars sold last year in Slovakia were leased, while the share of used cars sold on lease grew to as much as 15 to 20 per cent, say Slovak leasing firms."The total number of cars sold, particularly new cars, will probably fall on average this year compared to previous years," said Peter Palkovič, sales manager for GE Capital Leasing's Slovak subsidiary.

President sends back health bill

MPs uninterested in EU training

PPS investor cries foul

AS BANKRUPT engineering firm PPS Detva Holding (PPS Holding) prepares for a sell-off in April, a foreign investor in a lucrative subsidiary firm claims that the bankruptcy trustee has blocked its shareholder rights and prevented its access to factory facilities.Despite acquiring a two-thirds stake in automotive component maker PPS TSN (TSN) last year, officials from the Danish company Green Welt say their representatives have been unlawfully removed from the company's boards and have been physically prevented from using their offices."We don't know what is going on in our own factory," said Marek Sásik, director of Green Welt Slovakia, a subsidiary of the Danish company. According to Sásik, the bankruptcy trustee for PPS Holding, Vladimír Rybovič, has refused to recognise Green Welt's capital increase into TSN despite its approval by PPS Holding shareholders in May 2002 and its entry into the Slovak commercial registry in October.

Quotes of the Week

National Gallery opens film club

Why did the toads cross the road?

AS SOON AS the sun's first rays warm up the earth, a gaggle of toads sets off on a journey to lay eggs in a nearby pond. However, many of them die under the wheels of cars and trucks while crossing the roads to get from the woods in which they live to the ponds in which they mate.To help the toads make their journey and achieve their goals, several toad rescue missions have been organised by environmentalists around the country. On March 22, a group of people gathered for the 18th time to rescue toads from certain death at the Bratislava leisure and recreation resort Železná Studienka.

Nonfictional deaths in a pulp-fiction war

DIRECTOR Michael Moore's comments at the Oscars ceremony certainly rang true in Slovakia. Myers, collecting an award for best documentary for his film Bowling for Columbine, said that "we live in fictitious times," referring to the war in Iraq.The high-tech images on our screens of animated bombers moving across an Iraq covered in cartoon soldiers hides the fact that these images represent real planes dropping real bombs on real people. And the results are very different from the clean images on our screens.Politicians in Slovakia are using the spectacle to score points against one another, and hysteria is rising as the country protects its "potential terrorist targets" and hoax bomb threats close hospitals and railways. In Iraq the bombs are real and families are being torn apart - on both sides of the conflict.

Top Pick: Lúčnica springs forward on tour

NATURE has just begun waking up from its winter sleep and the 50 dancers of folklore ensemble Lúčnica are finishing up their three-month rehearsal period. At the start of April, they will get on a bus, and for almost two months they will cruise the country with their new show Dance and Game."The title of the programme suggests that the show will have an easy, playful spirit," says Július Jackuliak, Lúčnica's manager.However, the tour will be very demanding for Lúčnica's dancers because they are not professionals, instead either they are students or employed elsewhere. They will have to do almost 30 performances while travelling across the whole country - and that number might increase.

ST stays profitable despite earnings drop

Review: Too grey to hold your attention

INSPIRED by the bravery of her lover, an RAF pilot, a young Scottish woman decides to join the French Resistance. Charlotte Gray, portrayed by Cate Blanchett, receives training and a false identity, and is sent behind enemy lines to the Vichy area of France, controlled by the Nazis, in order to assist the local Resistance movement by sabotaging German operations.Charlotte Gray risks her life not only during missions, where she delivers coded messages and blows up Nazi trains, but also while searching for her lover, who was shot down over France. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Sebastian Faulks, the film describes a fictional character whose life is changed by her active involvement in fighting the Nazi regime.

Former minister candidate for SIS chief

Language barrier bridged by emotions

A MAN sits in a hotel bar and tells you, a complete stranger, his life story. Nothing extraordinary: He has a wife and three kids, works as a manager, and is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In real life, one would probably walk away, but this is theatre. As you continue listening, the monologue becomes a confession to a chilling crime.Watching Slovak actor Matej Landl rehearse with British director Jan-Willem van den Bosch, you become aware of the many layers a play can have and see how these layers are revealed by the actor's performance. The work, written by the American Neil LaBute and bizarrely titled bash: latterday plays, is actually a set of three plays about violent and highly disturbed individuals.This is not the first time that Slovak actors have staged a play with the Dutch-born British director. In February 2002 van den Bosch directed Patrick Marber's Closer for the Košice State Theatre. This production won the Slovak theatre award Dosky for best production and best set. Matej Landl was voted best male character and Alena Ďuránová chosen best newcomer.

Slovaks at Oscar ceremony

ONE of the pieces of music that accompanied the 75th annual Academy Awards ceremony on the night of March 23 was the Blizzard Suite, composed by Mark McKenzie and recorded by the joint orchestras of the Slovak Radio and the Slovak Philharmonic with the Lúčnica choir. Peter Breiner, a Slovak composer and musician living in Canada, conducted the recording.