Archive of articles - May 2007, page 5

Debate on healthcare temporarily suspended

THE SLOVAK cabinet interrupted the debate on Health Minister Ivan Valentovič's proposals on May 16.Valentovič has been tasked with improving the situation of the heavily indebted health sector. One of his suggestions was to introduce a single state-run health insurance company, though he knows Smer's ruling coalition partners oppose the idea.

People in their 30s are Slovakia's highest earners

People between the ages of 31 and 40 are in Slovakia's highest-earning age group.In this age range, those who work in the state sector earn an average of Sk22,000 (€657) a month while employees in the private sector earn an average of Sk33,000 (€985).

EU takes Slovakia to task

A major windstorm hit the Tatras in November 2004, devastating around 12,000 hectares of forest.

Internet calls battle fixed lines

THE INTERNET keeps changing our lives. E-mail killed the postman, and ever since companies offering free calls over the internet appeared, telephone service providers have also been added to the list of endangered communication species.

Airport errors

In April, the never-ending optimism about the growth of the Bratislava airport and how it would increase passenger numbers finally ran out. After five years, the numbers finally started to fall - not by a large amount, but it showed that Vienna airport is managing to attract money and passengers from Bratislava.

HZDS' Trnava assembly backs Veteška

Former PM Dzurinda gets Hayek Prize

Answering the question every tourist hears: why Slovakia?

WHENEVER my husband and I tell people about our experiences hiking in Slovakia, we inevitably get responses like "I've heard of Slovenia!", or "You mean Czechoslovakia?"They're apparently unaware that Slovakia and the Czech Republic independently joined the European Union on May 1, 2004.

Still no written verdict after 5 months

THE SIX men convicted in December of murdering medical student Ľudmila Cervanová have still not received an official copy of the verdict.The extreme delay is the result of a request by Štefan Michálik, the president of the senate of the Supreme Court, which ruled on the case, that Chief Justice Milan Karabín grant him a fifth thirty-day extension to the verdict's deadline.

EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE

Parliament marks 100th anniversary of SLA

Triple play keeps phone companies alive

ON JANUARY 15, 1997, the Globtel GSM mobile operator (now Orange) arrived in Slovakia and the golden era of fixed line telephones ended for Slovenské Telekomunikacié (now Slovak Telekom).

From assault victim to defendant

HEDVIGA MALINOVÁ, the student from Nitra whose bruised face was splashed all over the media last August as proof of anti-Hungarian violence in Slovakia, was officially charged at the beginning of last week with making the whole story up.

Even 8.9% GDP growth is unique

DESPITE the fact that analysts expected more than ten percent GDP growth in the first quarter of this year, according to the Slovak Statistics Office's 'flash estimate', the real growth was only 8.9 percent. However, in the final quarter of 2006 the economy grew by 9.6 percent. The Slovak Spectator asked economic analyst Karol Morvay from the MESA 10 think tank to explain the difference.

Gašparovič for the state

The Polish prime minister left Bratislava under the impression that official Slovak foreign policy is presented by the president, not the head of the Slovak government. President Gašparovič was the only one in the host country to repeat what the Slovak representative said at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Around Slovakia

British and Slovak pilots hold joint exercise

Small victories

The Trnava wing of the HZDS party is backing Viliam Veteška against Vladimír Mečiar for the leadership. No surprise there, as Trnava party head Tibor Mikuš has been in Veteška's corner for years. But Mečiar has always had a problem in Trnava from the days when Vladimir Póor led the region (and after 1999 became a sponsor of Robert Fico's Smer party).

Foresters have no right to protest

HUNDREDS of foresters protested outside the Government Office on May 16, claiming they were being discredited by environmental activists for removing thousands of cubic metres of fallen trees from the Tichá and Kôprová valleys in the Tatras National Park. Thus might wolves protest against sheepdogs, or thieves against door locks.