Archive of articles - September 2007, page 11

Bush to nominate new U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia

Warhol's brother visits Medzilaborce

Gerulata camp re-creates ancient Rome

Goverment floats private pension reduction proposal

State still has to iron out some wrinkles in Enel deal

IT TOOK Slovakia almost five difficult years to wrap up the sale of a 66-percent stake in power utility Slovenské Elektrárne, which supplies more than 80 percent of the domestic market, to the Italian power giant Enel. But now it seems that there are still some wrinkles in the deal for the state to iron out.Slovakia will probably have to pay Sk2.5 billion (€74 million) back to Enel after auditing firm Deloitte & Touche found that the shares the Italian investor acquired for Sk31.4 billion have a lower value than the purchase price, the Slovak daily Pravda reported, quoting an anonymous source from one of the state institutions that acquired the audit.

Orange launches optic network

Slovakia marks constitution anniversary

SLOVAKIA celebrated the 15th anniversary of its constitution with a national holiday on September 1.The Slovak Parliament approved the state's most important document on September 1, 1992.

Events Countrywide

Western SLOVAKIACentral SLOVAKIAEastern SLOVAKIA

Land-owners are in the way

THE CABINET'S latest attempt to remove the road blocks in the way of a cross-country motorway has been submitted to an interdepartmental review.The Transportation Ministry has submitted a draft on one-time special measures for expropriating the land needed to complete the unfinished road sections for the motorway linking the eastern and western parts of the country.

Media session 'a political matter': Harabin

AFTER a special cabinet meeting about the media on September 4, Justice Minister Štefan Harabin said, "I am satisfied with the work of the media. They have notified me of many shortcomings."Harabin spoke to The Slovak Spectator about his thoughts on the media, but he refused to go into details about the cabinet meeting.

Minister survives opposition vote

LABOUR Minister Viera Tomanová has survived a non-confidence motion in parliament.The final vote came early on the morning of September 5 after a 17-hour blame game between the ruling coalition and the opposition.The opposition wanted to have Tomanová sacked for what the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK) and the Christian Democratic Party (KDH) called a "moral and professional failure".

Thriving economy pushes up apartment prices

REAL estate prices have been rising radically in Slovakia's capital over the past six months.Market-watchers attribute the estimated 20-percent hike to the robust economy, citizens' rising incomes and the anticipated switch to the EU currency.Bratislava is also giving birth to several luxury housing projects, a segment that has been missing from the market since the decline of socialist architecture.

Public Private Partnership Projects in Slovakia - A Chance to Renew Public Services and a New Challenge for Investors and the Real Estate Market

Introduction

Haunted by the Holocaust

ON AUGUST 23, a Czech website published a list of Jews or "partial Jews" who come from Slovakia.It is hard to say whether all the people included on the list are actually Jewish. At first glance, it seems that two-thirds of them do not even have Jewish ethnicity, and do not practise the Jewish religion.

International Theatre Festival turns Nitra

DO YOU want to see a sample of what's been playing on stages across Central Europe? Go to Nitra.Between September 21 and 26, this western Slovak town will host Divadelná Nitra, the International Theatre Festival, which is staging the most interesting and thought-provoking performances by top European troupes and Slovak theatres. This year's festival is subtitled Middentity."It's a combination of 'middle' and 'identity'," festival director Darina Kárová explained to The Slovak Spectator.

Cabinet passes resolution on media

PRIME Minister Robert Fico called a special meeting of cabinet to deal with what he called unethical behaviour on the part of the media.Several ministers told journalists shortly before the September 4 meeting that they did not have the slightest idea what they were supposed to discuss or why they had been summoned.

Occupation of southern Slovakia

IN 1938, the world's major powers left the young Czechoslovak Republic at the mercy of Hitler's Germany. This allowed Hungary to reclaim the parts of southern Slovakia it had lost after the First World War.

Quote of the Week:

Attacks on minorities spark outcry

TWO racially-motivated assaults on minorities in Slovakia in a span of four days have activists and protesters calling on the government to do more to fight racist attacks.A black British skateboarder, Rodney Clarke, was beaten in the western Slovak city of Trnava on August 24. And a Roma couple was beaten on the way home from a funeral in Detva, in central Slovakia, on August 28.