Archive of articles - June 2009, page 6

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15 years of building business relationships

ALREADY 15 years have gone by since the French-Slovak Chamber of Commerce was launched. During these years it has helped to develop business cooperation between France and Slovakia as well as bilateral trade contacts between French and Slovak companies and it has also assisted many French companies to launch investments in Slovakia.

Tupý

DANIEL Tupý was murdered and no one will ever be punished for his death. “Tupý” means “blunt”. Sadly, the blades with which the twenty-one year old was stabbed on the banks of the Danube in November 2005 were sharp enough to take away his life. “Tupý” also means “idiotic”, which the philosophy student was not, but which his killers and the system that failed to deliver justice definitely are. “Tupý” also means “insensitive”. And as a result of last week’s verdict, the country is becoming ever more desensitised.

Venture philanthropy is for donors

FOR some donors just giving out money to charity is not enough: they want to get more involved in solving social problems and are ready to offer their business skills and experiences. For them, there is a relatively new model of philanthropy, venture philanthropy, which connects the world of venture capitalists with the non-profit sector.

France’s view of EU’s role during the economic crisis

TWO MAJOR unforeseen crises that occurred at the end of 2008 have enhanced the role of the European Union as a global player.

Companies connected to the French community

Countrywide Events

Western SLOVAKIABratislava CONCERT:SOUL MUSIC fans in Slovakia will have a unique opportunity to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the famous British band Simply Red on June 28, as the group is heading to Bratislava within their Greatest Hits World Tour. This series of performances, expected to be attended by around a million people, will probably be Simply Red’s final one, since the band’s leader, Mick Hucknall, has recently announced he plans to launch a solo project. The concert will be held at the Sibamac Arena (National Tennis Centre) at Príkopova 6, starting at 20:00. Admission is between €43 and €66. For more information, visit www.streetproduction.sk.

Slovak tree selected as curiosity recordholder

SLOVAKS can be proud that they were ably represented at the 19th year of the International Festival of Records and Curiosities held in the Czech town of Pelhřimov. The Slovak winners of the Record of the Year went to Ján and Jaroslav Malík from the village of Dolný Pial in south Slovakia, who have nurtured a single tree that bears five kinds of fruit.

Sacred secrets of Slovak sanctuaries

ADMIRERS OF religious architecture will probably be delighted with the richness of Slovakia in this domain. There is no lack of interesting churches. Slovakia’s oldest sacred buildings, few of which have been preserved, were built in Pre-Romanesque style. One of them, a little church near Kopčany in the Záhorie region (see pg 13), is located only a couple of steps from the Czech border. Historians discovered a few years ago that it dates back as far as the Great Moravian period. What is most striking is that it stands alone on the bank of Morava River, very far from the nearest village. But aerial photographs and archaeological findings have shown that it once was in the centre of a settlement. It is thus a good example of how the country was being gradually settled at the time.

President Gašparovič begins 2nd term

PRESIDENT Ivan Gašparovič was sworn in for his second presidential term on June 15. He is the only president in the history of independent Slovakia to be re-elected to the office.

Art Film Fest offers rich menu

THE LATEST offerings from talented young directors, well-known cult movies, American comedies, open-air concerts and famous figures of the silver screen. These are the ingredients for the film cocktail being served up in Trenčín and Trenčianske Teplice as this year’s Art Film Fest, one of the largest Slovak film festivals, which opened on June 19 and will continue until June 27.

The fight for clients rages everywhere

A YEAR ago, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told CNN that the increasing success of elections in some African countries owed a lot to the existence of mobile phones. This view does not surprise Pavol Lančarič at all. The general director of Orange Slovensko believes that people can vote with their mobile phones with a larger degree of certainty than via the internet since voters can be identified through both their SIM-card and the serial number of the phone. Yet, democratisation is also embedded in the fact that there are probably more people who have personal access to mobile phones than to the internet.

Slovakia to get new court

THE CREATION of a Specialised Criminal Court to replace the Special Court – ruled unconstitutional in a Constitutional Court judgement on May 20 – got the green light in the Slovak parliament on June 18 after all the opposition and Smer party deputies present voted in favour of a law establishing it.

Facing the truth about child sex abuse

CHILDHOOD should be a happy and carefree time for games and for children to safely discover the world around them. But there are children who can no longer play innocent games with classmates and who have been forced to discover the pains and joys of adult life much earlier than they are supposed to. These are the children who suffer from sexual abuse – most of them behind the closed doors of their own supposedly safe homes.

Having the time of his life

ŠTEFAN Harabin is having the time of his life: after three years as the country’s justice minister, and now driven by swollen ambition, he is running for the post of president of the Supreme Court. A bonus of being elected is that he would also become the head of the Judicial Council, which oversees the operation of the courts in Slovakia.

Slovakia signs anti–sex abuse treaty

THE SLOVAK government signed the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse on June 10, 2009 in order to protect children in Slovakia and to foster national and international cooperation in this area, the SITA newswire reported.

State readies banking lifeline

IF SLOVAK banks begin to drown, the government will throw them a lifeline. In return, the state would assume shares in the rescued bank: at least this is how the recent draft legislation pertaining to the banking sector envisions a rescue operation working. The Slovak parliament passed the draft to a second reading on June 17. At the same time Ivan Šramko, the governor of Slovakia’s central bank (NBS), confirmed that currently Slovakia’s banking sector is not suffering from any aches which would require such legislation to be used. He stressed that the proposed law is only precautionary.

Ex-owners of land under Kia to protest

FORMER owners of land plots from Teplička nad Váhom and neighbouring villages who claim that the state did not pay the promised money for their land, now lying under the Kia Motors Slovakia car assembly plant, are preparing to protest at the factory again, the SITA newswire reported.

Tastes of east Slovakia

EVERY year when spring comes, my husband John and I become excited at the idea of exploring another hiking area of Slovakia. Last year we left Ottawa, Canada, in mid-June and spent nearly three weeks exploring eastern parts of the country.