Archive of articles - June 2008
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Survey shows pensioners are most reliable borrowers
Pensioners are the most reliable about repaying their debts, according to "European Payment Habits,” a survey by the EOC financial company.
Trade Unions sink declaration on responsible budgetary policy
A joint declaration on support for a responsible and ambitious budgetary policy failed to pass at a session of the Economic and Social Council of the Slovak Republic on June 30.
Antitrust Office clears Istrobanka/KBC merger
The Slovak Antitrust Office (PMÚ) has cleared the sale of Istrobanka to Belgian group KBC.
Bernd Wagner to head SPP Board from July
Bernd Wagner will become the new chairman of the board of directors of gas distributor Slovenský Plynárenský Priemysel (SPP) as of July 1.
Unburdened by the past
IN the 1950s, the Communist government in Czechoslovakia banned English, as well as other languages of the "imperialists," and required every elementary school and high school student to learn Russian.
The size of the market matters
RUSSIA is attractive to Slovak businesses due to the size of its market. And Slovakia offers Russian businesses entry to the 500 million potential customers of the European Union. When Slovakia was part of the communist bloc under the Soviet Union, the countries had a very direct economic and political relationship. But that relationship is now rather indirect, as it is mostly conducted on Slovakia's behalf through the European Union.
New pitch- fork record
VIDLOMET, the world championship in pitchfork casting, concluded with a new world record. Slovak javelin thrower Martin Benák, from Kálnica, threw a pitchfork 38.21 metres, beating the previous record by 10 metres. The third year of this unique competition took place on June 21 in Vaďovce, near Stará Turá, the Nový Čas daily wrote.
Danubiana displays top Russian art
VISITORS entering the main exhibition hall of Danubiana, a modern gallery on the Danube, come across a large rectangular red box with "Made in the USSR" inscribed on it in Cyrillic letters. Red, which symbolises blood, revenge, the revolution, and Communism, is the predominant colour in the room. It's also the colour scheme in staged photographs by Arsen Savadov and a painting by Erik Bulatov, contemporary Russian artists whose work is currently on display as part of an exhibition on Russian art.
Baroque artwork stays in Bratislava
THE CITY Gallery of Bratislava emerged the winner in an auction of Immaculata, a painting by baroque Austrian artist Paul Troger, at the SOGA auction house on June 10, the SITA newswire wrote. The gallery's winning bid was Sk620,000 (€20,435).
Senior judge fears smears
A SUBSTANTIAL quantity of high explosive was found in the grounds of the house of Constitutional Court Judge Juraj Horváth in Komárno, southern Slovakia. Police Special Unit members found the explosive on June 20 close to a dog pen. "This amount of explosive would have been enough to destroy a seven-storey building," Horváth told The Slovak Spectator.
Sick man’s land attracts ‘friends’
PAVEL Bátorfi is not well. A patient of the Philippa Pinela Psychiatric hospital in Pezinok since June 5, he has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and a personality disorder. Behind the glass of men’s ward A, he talks and walks as if wading through water. In his pyjamas and slippers, he looks as if he belongs where he is.
Option to leave private pensions ends; few do so
ONE of Prime Minister's Robert Fico’s pet projects, an attempt to shake up the pension system reforms of the previous government, is for now being wrapped up. Six months ago, what is known as the the second, 'capitalisation', pillar of the pension system - the option to pay pension contributions into a privately-managed fund - was opened up by the government, offering more than 1.5 million people the opportunity to leave it and return to the publicly-managed scheme. On June 30 that opportunity ends.
Investors got Sk32 billion in incentives
SLOVAKIA provided investors with incentives totalling Sk32.15 billion between 2001 to 2007, the Finance Ministry writes in an analysis.
Slovak tourists prefer private accommodation when abroad
SLOVAKS mostly look for private accommodation or a standard hotel while on holiday abroad. But if on holiday in Slovakia, they prefer to rent a cottage or a cabin.
Slovaks like beer in plastic bottles
THE POPULARITY of plastic beer bottles has been growing in Slovakia. Last year, during which plastic maxi bottles were introduced, drinkers bought almost 9 million litres of beer in them. Sales in the bottles during the first five months of 2008 totalled more than 20 million litres, the Pravda daily wrote.
Quote of the Week:
“We want to be with them in a constant, constructive conflict.” Prime Minister Robert Fico, on how his government plans to deal with energy monopolies, in order to get better prices for households.
Culture pours onto Bratislava streets
THE SLOVAK National Theatre Ballet opened the 33rd year of the Summer of Culture festival in Bratislava in grand style.
Russian-Slovak cultural links revive
THOUGH the arts from Russia are not presented in Slovakia – nor the arts from Slovakia in Russia – to the same extent that they were before 1989, the last few months have witnessed several bilateral cultural events.
Levoča looses Sk1 billion investment
FELDBACHER Holzverarbeitungs, an Austrian wood-processing company, has withdrawn from a plan to build a Sk1 billion sawmill in Levoča, in eastern Slovakia. The company failed to find enough suppliers of logs in the region.
Fico's march to a socially-oriented state
THE TIME has come for a “very serious return” to a socially-oriented state in Slovakia, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico declared as he shared his vision of how the government intends to use the second half of its term in office. The Fico team promises more subsidies, more stability in the pension system and some clean-ups within state institutions, which it says could save money and allow greater state generosity via social programmes.
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Slovakia plans to restrict access to new medicines amid funding shortfall
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- Convicted of multiple murders, Slovakia’s mafia boss seeks release from prison
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- The disinformation scene has become a tool of media capture
- Slovakia plans to restrict access to new medicines amid funding shortfall
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- The disinformation scene has become a tool of media capture
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- A mayor resigns over €2.7 million fraud scandal at town hall
- Show me your moves! Slovak hockey stars share their best pick-up lines
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- He designed Gatwick. But this is his masterpiece
- Fico praises China and Vietnam as models, says liberal democracy has failed
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- The compass points to Kúty, and people are starting to follow
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- Slovakia plans to restrict access to new medicines amid funding shortfall
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners More articles ›
