Archive of articles - March 2004, page 5

Top local official arrested taking Sk1 million bribe

A HIGH-standing regional politician was caught in the act while taking Sk1 million (€24,700) in cash, a sum believed by the police to be a fraction of a bribe totalling Sk18 million (€444,000) as payment for a city contract for the construction of tenement flats in the eastern Slovak city of Košice.Police arrested Eugen Čuňo, Košice deputy mayor, along with a lawyer named only as Ladislav P, and businessman Viktor K on March 10. Čuňo is believed to have promised to help the construction firm Kame-Slovakia Group get the city job, worth Sk181 million (€4.47 million), said Interior Minister Vladimír Palko at a press conference on March 11.

Choose to be positive

V4 cooperation has a future

TOP officials of the central European countries called the Visegrad Four (V4) - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia to agree that their cooperation should last after accession to the European Union.The V4 is not an economic association oriented toward granting advantageous conditions for developing mutual trade, it is a political alliance. As such, it can also work after its member countries became part of the EU in May, 2004.

Slovak paintings shown in Dublin

Reader feedback: The true voice of Slovakia

2003 economy sees highest growth in central Europe

ECONOMIC growth in Slovakia keeps posting optimistic numbers. The gross domestic product (GDP) surpassed analysts' expectations and rose by 4.2 percent in 2003 compared to the previous year, which made Slovakia the fastest growing economy in central Europe.The Slovak economy generated a GDP of Sk1.2 trillion (€29.6 billion) last year, of which Sk316 billion (€7.8 billion) was in the fourth quarter of 2003. The year-on-year growth at 4.7 percent in the last quarter of 2003 was the highest for all of last year."We were positively surprised as the fourth quarter exceeded market expectations of a 3.9 - 4.0 percent GDP growth for 2003," Ján Tóth, analyst with ING Bank, told The Slovak Spectator.

Bratislava takes a step "Towards a Wider Europe"

STANDING at the doors of NATO and the EU that will open wide in early April and May, the Slovak capital is hosting a conference of prime ministers of the future member countries of both groups March 18 - 20.Bratislava will become one of the most protected cities in the region to secure what is one of the most watched conferences of the year.12 premiers, two presidents, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Gunter Verheugen, US Senate delegates, current and former politicians, non-governmental expert analysts, and journalists will discuss integration and stability in Europe.

Slovakia sees biggest wage rise in Europe

Chopin music recital in Poprad

VAT rules to change May 1

Roman quits, Smer supports Gašparovič

LESS than three weeks before the presidential elections on April 3, the race is getting dramatic. Ľubo Roman, the candidate of the co-ruling New Citizen's Alliance, has withdrawn from the race in favour of Foreign Affairs Minister Eduard Kukan, who is the candidate of Mikuláš Dzurinda's Slovak Democratic and Christian Union.Kukan has found himself in need of more voter espousal after Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) boss Vladimír Mečiar climbed over him on the popularity charts for the first time, with the support of 26.7 percent of potential voters.

Reader feedback: A history of discouragement

Wartime anniversary goes unnoticed by local media

SLOVAK society has yet to reach a consensus on the historic role of the fascist wartime Slovak state.But the quiet that surrounded the anniversary on March 14 of its establishment proves what it means for modern-day Slovaks - a product of history with little relevance for today's life.The Slovak state was created in 1939 as a puppet of Hitler, who wanted a subdued Czechoslovakia to serve as a base for his offensive against Poland, which materialised in the autumn of that year.

Biggest issue of Eurobonds

New NBÚ law approved

Around Slovakia

Undernourished boyFour million illegal smokes found in truckBronze-Age dishesStolen statue found mutilatedVillage pub LtdSpud cellars in the rock

Events Countrywide

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Reader feedback: Good show, US Steel

Seven detained in Sk230-million fraud