Archive of articles - May 2007, page 2

Culture shorts

Foreign companies aim for Slovak 'shore'

A WEAK ECONOMY, unstable political situation and the so called "brain drain" were said to be the biggest obstacles stopping Slovakia from becoming a nearshoring haven in 2004 by Datamonitor, a UK based market research provider.

Gas or polonium?

The claim of Austrian Foreign Minister Martin Bartenstein for Die Presse, that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a supporter of energy nationalism, and that together with Gazprom boss Miller he is using energy to conduct foreign policy, is nothing new.

Around Slovakia

Amnesty International's annual report mentions Malinová case

Slovakia follows outsourcing trend

MORE THAN three out of four medium-sized and large companies in Slovakia outsourced some of their services last year, trying to minimize costs and focus more on their core business, a recent survey has shown.

Themselves

The ruling coalition is characterised not only by love for cars, brothers, and mothers-in-law (etc.), but also by legislative support for existential certainties, of which the new Civil Court Order is the crown jewel.

European speakers of parliament meet

BRATISLAVA HAS become the host for the Conference of the Speakers of European Union Parliaments, the highest form of European inter-parliamentary cooperation.

Dürer and Emperor Maximilian I at Castle

WHEN ALBRECHT Dürer painted one of his artworks at the order of the Emperor Maximilian I, the ruler so esteemed the artist that he kept the ladder that Dürer used for himself, said curator Ivan Havlice while introducing the exhibition Albrecht Dürer and his Age - The Triumph of Emperor Maximilian I on May 3.

The money or the door

MANY of us remember a time - however dimly - when the professions we chose meant more than just a salary. It wasn't just what we did: It was what we were. And so you could tell a policeman by his frankly challenging stare, a teacher by his didactic nature, or a priest by his faith.

Penta is investing Sk1.6 billion in environmental cleanup project

THE COMPLEX reconstruction of the slag heap at the ZSNP aluminium plant in Žiar nad Hronom in Central Slovakia, at a projected cost of over Sk1.6 billion, is the largest private sector project in Slovakia's history trying to eliminate an environmental burden from the past.

Businesses in the dark over value of outsourcing

DESPITE the fact that outsourcing is now a widely accepted business practice, a recent survey from professional services organization KPMG International entitled Strategic Evolution: A global survey on sourcing today shows that 42 percent of outsourcing arrangements are not supported by a formal strategic measurement framework.

Šomoška

THIS POSTCARD from 1901 shows how the ruins of the Šomoška castle in eastern Slovakia's Novohrad District looked more than one hundred years ago. The castle has a turbulent history. In the 14th century its owner joined the anti-royalists under the powerful aristocrat Matúš Čák (Maté Csák) and thus brought Šomoška under the heavy hand of King Charles Robert.

Giotto in Bratislava

THE COPY of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua that is being exhibited at the Bratislava castle shows beauty of this, Giotto di Bondone's most important work.The copy is a 1:4 ratio scale model that makes it possible to admire every detail of the frescoes that have been copied from the original.

The Russian superpower cudgel

Russia is currently putting great pressure on its direct neighbours in the Baltics, and at the recent Russia-EU summit tried to drive a wedge between the new and older EU members. It achieved precisely the opposite - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission head José Manuel Barroso declared that the argument between Moscow and Tallinn and Warsaw is "a European problem".

Media should harness the power of the people

PEOPLE ARE the best media, said Barry Cupples, CEO of the Omnicom Media Group for Central and Eastern Europe, at a recent conference in Bratislava. The conference "Revealing the Future Potential of Media", organized by the Omnico Media Group (OMG), an international advertising holding company, featured ten top experts who shared their views on the new directions of media and marketing at the conference on May 17.

Jobless rate in Slovakia was 8.5 percent in April

Unions find no takers on pay demands

HEALTH sector unions have so far won little support for their demanded 30-percent pay rise for medical employees, but continue to meet with hospital representatives and wait for input from Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Vážny: Audit found no serious air-traffic safety violations