Archive of articles - August 2004

Ministry says no to lower taxes

Three new investors for Eastern Slovakia

Foreign direct investments at Sk19.9 billion

SPP to lay off up to 550

Russian envoy promises safe oil delivery

US President greets 60th anniversary of SNP

Slovakia loses its traditional tourists

Reader feedback: Cursed Fico

Slovak purchasing power lowest in EU

Reader feedback: On Kia land, the law's the law

Slovaks most susceptible to poverty in EU

Lidl will enter Slovak market in September

Japanese stress education

THE VOLUME of Japanese investments in Slovakia is significantly higher than official statistics show, experts say.Japanese companies prize most highly Slovakia's low cost of labour, but stress that Slovakia needs to invest more in education if the country wants to maintain its high degree of qualification."According to our statistics, there was $35 million (€28.4 million) in Japanese investments in Slovakia as of the end of December 2003," Ondrej Žember, the spokesman of the Slovak Investment and Trade Development Agency, told The Slovak Spectator.

ANO proposes deputy speaker

Solivar

THIS PART of Prešov, the Šariš metropolis, known as Solivar, did not feature many characteristics of a town at the beginning of the 20th century, as can be seen in this postcard. People used to make a living here in quite an unusual way - they mined salt. The noble family Soós de Soovar (Salt from Salt Castle) owned the land, already almost entirely soaked with salt, in the 14th century.Gradually, a close-knit community began to form in Solivar, resembling something between a village and town. The small community was known to communicate in a unique way from time to time. For example, in 1754, they almost threw an administrator of the Šariš county into one of the shafts just because he came to do a property registration a bit earlier than he was supposed to.Well, even miners knew how to liven up their life outside of their extremely exhausting work.

NOW PLAYING IN CINEMAS

This week's premieresI, Robot (Ja, Robot) - Sci-fi thriller by Alex Proyas. Would iconic sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov have approved of this adaptation of his work? Do the filmmakers really care? As is the case with any Will Smith movie, Smith is the focus here and, as usual, he's quite likeable in his role as a renegade cop out to prove to the rest of the world that robots are not necessarily as harmless as advertised. But the truth is that the movie really isn't as spectacular as advertised and, though it also tries to be funny in places, the true humour comes where it isn't supposed to. It also stars Bridget Moynahan, Chi McBride, and a whole lot of computer-generated images.

What the new season brings to theatres

Slovak National Theatre (SND)Slovakia's main opera and ballet stage will continue to follow its dramaturgical concept of the previous years. Four new works from various periods will expand the opera's repertoire. The SND Ballet, on the other hand, decided to split its plans into two seasons."The season of 2004-2005, which is connected with the celebration of 85 years since the SND Ballet's first performance, will favour large classical works and the season of 2005-2006 will favour original [Slovak] works - three new ballet performances, including a children's title. The reasoning behind this arrangement is to gain time for choreographers and composers to prepare the new works," said Emil T Bartko, the SND Ballet's director.

Corruption keeps with tradition

THE HIGH-ranking member of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) recently accused of corruption joins a long list of the party's representatives active in Bratislava regional politics suspected of abusing their powers.In nearly all of these cases, it seems that the responsible authorities are in no haste to bring answers to some fundamental questions.Pavol Bielik, mayor of the Rača section of Bratislava is the latest KDH member to be implicated in illegal activity. The police have gathered evidence indicating that Bielik asked for a bribe and that he used municipal property without the required consent of the Rača council.

KDH taps controversy

THOUGH it has remained consistently divided for the past two years, the parliamentary opposition may manage to unite to shake the seat of Interior Minister Vladimír Palko, arguing that he shares responsibility for lost wiretapping records that should have served as evidence in the corruption case of one of his party peers.Seven out of eight recordings of legally tapped phone calls pertaining to the charges of bribery against Rača mayor Pavol Bielik, a top official of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), were lost due to a technical failure on the Interior Ministry's wiretapping archive system.The KDH said it stands firmly behind Deputy Chairman Palko, who said he has no intention whatsoever of resigning.