Archive of articles - April 2006, page 13

Quote of the Week:

Ministry berates Belarus

Railway track modernization to continue from March 1

RAILWAY network operator Železnice Slovenskej republiky (ŽSR) began additional track modernization on March 1, 2006. "This year, the track between Bratislava and Trnava will be modernized between March and December and work will move closer to Leopoldov and Piešťany," ŽSR spokesperson Nela Blašková said.

Reforms and growth earn cheap credit

SLOVAKIA'S economic awakening continues to pay dividends, this time in the form of cheaper international credit. In late March the country took another step towards joining the European Monetary Union by floating a 15-year €1 billion Eurobond at four percent interest.

Airport passenger traffic up sharply from 2005

BRATISLAVA'S MR Štefánik Airport served 204,367 passengers during the first two months of 2006, a 97 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Štítnik

THE TOWN of Štítnik in the Gemer region is known for its Gothic church with marvellous wall paintings, which make it a perfect place to visit in southeast Slovakia.

Commission registers 21 parties for elections

Austria to keep its labour market closed

Slovak history joins art in Italy

THE LUIGI Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography in Rome plans to join the archaeological findings in Slovakia: The Crossroads of European Civilization with the art show PRAE - ARS: Prehistoric Roots in Central European Contemporary Art.

Hungary alerted to bombs by SIS?

THE SLOVAK intelligence service tipped off their Hungarian colleagues about a planned bombing campaign ahead of general elections in Hungary next month, according to the country's largest daily paper, Népszabadság.

Culture shorts

Intersections of three artists

THE FAMILY of great Slovak artist Vincent Hložník (1919-1997) donated 1,000 of his works to Bratislava's Old Town in 2003. Three years later, the public was promised an exhibit at the former Lenin Museum on Štefánikova street. But with the museum still under reconstruction, art-lovers were offered an equally attractive alternative.

Hitching a ride with the private sector

INFRASTRUCTURE spending has always been a difficult temptation for governments to resist. It creates jobs (and appreciative voters), promotes economic growth, and creates the impression of active leadership.

Loving and being loved

ART can often be both deeply beautiful and intensely sad. Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings (which played in the background of Oliver Stone's gripping 1986 masterpiece Platoon) springs to mind as a work that ebbs and flows with the courage, vulnerability, and profound longing of love and loss.

Unions join Smer election team

THE OPPOSITION Smer party drew bitter criticism from its political rivals after signing a cooperation agreement with five trade unions in a bid to boost its voter support ahead of June 17 elections.

Slovakia first to ratify nuclear terrorism convention

SLOVAKIA has become the first country to ratify the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in April 2005.

Slovaks work longer than EU peers

ACCORDING to a new finding by the EU statistics office, Eurostat, Slovak employees work an average of 41 hours per week - more than in most European Union countries - and spend 10 hours more in the workplace than Dutch employees, for example.

Compagnero to settle in Rimavská Sobota

Enel to wrap up SE deal by end of April