Archive of articles - October 2008, page 7
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Rómeo’s flight comes to an end
RÓMEO, a young saker falcon, was recently found dead near the Russian village of Umet. Slovak and Hungarian ornithologists had been tracking the bird through use of a transmitter.
Bluegrass Fest
The third edition of the international festival of bluegrass and acoustic music offers a rich program featuring 24 excellent bands from seven countries playing various types of bluegrass and related music.
Bratislava Music Festival
The 44th edition of the most prestigious festival of classical music will again enable music lovers to listen to stars of this music genre. A special evening, at which the La Scala Philharmonic will perform under the baton of Daniele Gatti, will precede the festival on November 14. This will be the first performance of this prominent ensemble in Slovakia, and it will certainly be one of the highlights of the music season in this country.
Euro may increase use of cash back
CASH back, a service common in much of the world for more than 15 years, is finally available in Slovakia. Slovenská Sporiteľňa, the country’s biggest bank, launched the service on June 1 and ČSOB and Citibank Slovakia followed a month later.
Phone call lands former SIS officer in hot water
For a decade, Michal Hrbáček was one of Slovakia’s worst-kept secrets. He was rumored to have masterminded the brutal takeovers of companies like Slovglass and Chirana, to have orchestrated the kidnapping of the president’s son, and to have provided muscle for corporate raiders Istrokapitál. He was credited with vast power, connections and ruthlessness. He was untouchable, but no one was safe from him. “Be careful,” said a former police anti-corruption unit chief once said after an interview was over. “He’s the kind of guy who shoots first and asks questions later.”
Mixed feelings on returning to Slovakia
The only drawback to traveling, to long summer holidays, is that you eventually have to go home again. Home to beloved hearth and family, yes, but home also to the daily disputes, stresses, and discontents that make travel so necessary an escape in the first place.
Rights pact to be revised
SLOVAK Foreign Affairs Minister Ján Kubiš met his Hungarian counterpart Kinga Göncz in Brussels on October 15 to try to smooth over the tension that has plagued Slovak-Hungarian relations over the past several months.
Where have all the tourists gone?
George W. Bush once got Slovakia and Slovenia mixed up. Infamy, in Bratislava and Ljubljana, but understandable elsewhere in the world, where these two benign, pretty countries must compete with the Alps, the Amazon and the Eiffel Tower for a place on the tourist map.
Vets detect melamine in food
VETS have discovered high traces of melamine in four kinds of food products stored in a customs warehouse in Nitra.
Bratislava Jazz Days
Jazz lovers can look forward to another celebration of jazz within the annual Bratislava Jazz Days festival. The program includes many big names from the Slovak as well as the foreign jazz scene. S.M.V, a US trio featuring bass guitarists Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten, along with Al Jarreau will undoubtedly be among the highlights of the festival.
The Second Russian Avantgarde
This exhibition, subtitled Non-Conformists from the Bar-Gera Collection, brings to Slovak fine art lovers the unknown works of unofficial Soviet artists of the so-called “second Russian avant-garde” from the 1955-1988 period, a movement which opposed the then-Soviet regime. The main credo of the artists was to promote and defend their right to artistic freedom and independence even during a time of oppression.
PM defends contracts for allies
Far from being embarrassed by the Labor Ministry’s awarding of Sk400 million (€13 million) in subsidies to four NGOs close to his Smer party, Prime Minister Robert Fico declared that such favoritism would continue to be a pillar of his government’s policy.
Slovakia, France ink nuke deal
Although a tender for a new nuclear reactor on the site of the decommissioned V1 plant at the Jaslovské Bohunice power station is not set to be called until later this year, the Slovak government has already shown a preference for a Western-style design.
PM rejects NGO criticism
NON-GOVERNMENTAL organisations have repeatedly raised the alarm over allegations of political cronyism, saying that Slovakia has become increasingly insensitive to obvious corruption, and that even corruption itself has increased. But in response Prime Minister Robert Fico has accused NGOs of having become part of the opposition, and attacked them for criticising the ruling coalition’s leading members.
Coming Events
Tarja TurunenThe world-known soprano, known as the voice of Finland, sings rock, heavy metal as well as opera within her Storm Returns to Europe tour. When: October 24, 20:00Where: Incheba Expo Arena, Viedenská cesta,BratislavaTickets: from Sk590/€19.58
Juraj Šmatlík’s business edge: Patience
During Communism, Juraj Šmatlík worked for the Institute of Technical Cybernetics at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, where he and his colleagues copied Western silicon chips. In 1991 he started afresh in software and the IT sector. In the mid-1990s he submitted a privatization project for BEZ with several friends, which was approved. He took over the company in 1997.
Slovakia to face arbitration over insurance profit ban
Slovak private equity group Penta Investments is taking Slovakia to arbitration over the Fico government’s decision to ban private health insurers from earning a profit.
Evaluation of Economic and Social Measures in Slovakia
1. Introduction of euro as of January 1, 2009 at the rate of 30.126 SKK/EUR _______165.6
EC criticises Slovakia for procurement
THE EUROPEAN Commission has criticised Slovakia for using allegedly non-transparent methods to select legal advisors for public private partnership (PPP) projects in highway construction. The criticism refers to the fact that the Jaroslav Ružička Law Office and CMS Cameron McKenna firm were selected without a contract notice and without holding a public tender, the SITA newswire reported on October 9.
Bus crash kills 14
A horrific bus crash in Croatia on September 7 killed 14 Slovaks, mostly older people from the east of the country on their way to a holiday by the sea.
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- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
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- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- 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
- Convicted of multiple murders, Slovakia’s mafia boss seeks release from prison
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
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- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- Convicted of multiple murders, Slovakia’s mafia boss seeks release from prison
- The disinformation scene has become a tool of media capture
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- A mayor resigns over €2.7 million fraud scandal at town hall
- 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 Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- 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 More articles ›
