Archive of articles - October 2008, page 6
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Coalition parties less popular
THE POPULARITY of the ruling coalition parties is decreasing. The latest survey by the ÚVVM polling agency , which is part of the Statistics Office of the Slovak Republic, showed that the popularity of the major ruling party Smer dropped by almost 2 percent over September, to 44.8 percent, the SITA newswire wrote.
Real estate prices up over 30%
Housing prices continue to shoot up in Slovakia, rising by 31.2% y-o-y in the second quarter after a 34.5% rise from January to March, according to the National Bank of Slovakia.
Hepatitis A breaks out in Lomnička
THE village of Lomnička in eastern Slovakia has been struck by a massive outbreak of Hepatitis A. As many as 168 children were taken to local hospitals on October 15. Epidemiologists have said the outbreak in Lomnička, which is in the Stará Ľubovňa district, is of an extent not experienced in Slovakia for years, the Sme daily wrote.
Preserving what remains of a vanishing past
As an employee of the BBC she traveled the world, meeting dozens of people who today hold important positions. Her Portobello production company helped to make the Oscar-winning film Kolja, as well as others better known in Slovakia such as The Life and Unusual Adventures of Private Ivan Čonkin (Život a neobyčajné dobrodružstvá vojaka Ivana Čonkina) and Dark Blue World (Tmavomodrý svet). Katya Krausová emigrated from Czechoslovakia to London in 1968 at the age of 18, following the occupation of her country by Warsaw Pact troops. Today, along with photographer Yuri Dojc, she is searching Slovakia for clues as to what became of people who survived the Holocaust in this country, as well as information about those who perished. About what is becoming of the world of Slovak Jewry.
Archaeologists discover rotunda
AN EXCAVATION near the St Nicolaus Dome in Trnava has uncovered the foundations of the town’s oldest sacred building.
Three Js improving access to finance
IT NOW seems that regional policy’s time as a marginal issue is gone for good and that the European Union’s regional development programmes are running in top gear.
Exploring the Small Carpathians through wine tourism
One of the most arduous forms of travel, and often the least rewarding, is that involving alcohol. Rarely does one remember quite what one saw or what one said, and the amount of recovery needed can exceed the length of the trip itself.
Authoritarianism rules, OK?
ACCORDING to Ivan Lexa, the former head of Slovakia’s secret service (the SIS), parliament should consider repealing the resolutions it passed approving his arrest and prosecution. “To respect history, but also the purity of the Slovak Parliament, it should consider whether these resolutions by parliament - of which I was a member - should not be formally cancelled,” Lexa said on October 9, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
Ministers shuffled
Agriculture Minister Zdenka Kramplová was fired in August by her HZDS party, ostensibly because of a Sk900 million tender awarded to Columbex International for an IT system. Columbex supervisory board member Alexej Beljajev at the same time figured in a company that lent the HZDS Sk10 million last year; Kramplová was the party official responsible for certifying the HZDS’ financial reports.
Cabinet OKs Energy Security Strategy
THE SLOVAK government adopted the final version of the Energy Security Strategy of the Slovak Republic to 2030 at its session on October 15. The approval arrived one year after the document was presented by the Economy Ministry, the SITA newswire wrote.
Devín buries itself
The mayor of Devín, a historic village at the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers in Western Slovakia, led a symbolic burial of the site to protest plans by Swedish developer Skanska to build almost two dozen new apartment blocks there.
Regulator refuses gas price increase
IN COMPLIANCE with Prime Minister Robert Fico’s statements that household gas prices will not rise, the Regulatory Office for Network Industries (ÚRSO) decided on October 15 to turn down the SPP gas utility’s second request to increase prices, the Sme daily wrote.
Elektra forever
A draft law that would have allowed the state to seize property from people who could not prove that they had obtained it legally has been struck down by the Constitutional Court.
Pensioner gave millions in shopping bag
The HZDS party of the ruling coalition claimed to have received Sk11 million in donations under curious circumstances. Rudolf Trávniček, who is on a disability pension and lives in a tiny one-room flat in Bratislava, allegedly donated the party Sk7 million in cash; the money was ostensibly handed over in a plastic bag.
How a former PM paid for his villa
For years, Vladimír Mečiar refused to explain how he had financed the construction of his multi-million crown Elektra villa in Western Slovakia’s Trenčianske Teplice. He even once notoriously punched a journalist for JOJ television who asked him about it. But according to documents recently obtained by Spex, it is clear that Mečiar was helped in repaying a loan by those whom he in turn had helped to become wealthy.
Royal itinerary unveiled
BRITAIN'S head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, and her husband Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, will meet top Slovak politicians, visit the Tatras and attend an ice-hockey match in Poprad during their first official visit to Slovakia. They will arrive in Slovakia, following a visit to Slovenia, on October 23 and leave on October 24.
Last-minute vote gets Fico’s budget moving
IN A LAST-MINUTE vote the cabinet of Prime Minister Robert Fico has approved the draft state budget. By law, a draft had to be approved by October 15; it now goes to a vote in parliament. The budget - which assumes revenues of €13.222 billion (Sk398 billion), expenditure of €14.109 billion (Sk425 billion) and hence a deficit of €886.7 million (Sk26.7 billion) - sailed through cabinet without any major struggles, puzzling both the observers and the political opposition. It would leave the general government deficit at 1.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
Banking & wealth management shorts
All but two banks profited in first half of 2008 MOST of the banks operating on the Slovak market reported a profit in the first half of this year, with the sector netting a total of Sk10.477 billion (€347.8 million). Only two foreign bank branches posted a loss.
Al Jarreau and bass guitarists headline
WORLD star Al Jarreau, the three best bass guitarists in the world, and the British jazz-pop Swing Out Sister are the headliners of the Bratislava Jazz Days, which will start on October 24. The three-day festival, one of the main events of the concert season, will offer a generous portion of various forms of jazz at its traditional venue - the Culture and Leisure Park (PKO) on the Danube embankment.
Quit gouging households – or else
The standoff over energy prices between SPP, the natural gas utility, and the Slovak government continued with a veiled threat by the prime minister to retake control of the company. Following a request by SPP to the state energy regulator to approve a 19.8% price hike as of November 3, Prime Minister Robert Fico (above) said the company should either withdraw the request or its foreign shareholders should consider selling their stakes back to the state at the price they originally paid for them.
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