Archive of articles - November 2009, page 2
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Housing loans on upswing despite economic slowdown
In response to the spreading waves of the global economic downturn, which crossed the Atlantic and reached Slovakia in the third quarter of 2008, banks have toughened their lending criteria just as potential borrowers have reduced their appetite for making large purchases. But after a shaky first quarter in 2009 the mortgage market now seems to have stabilised, with homebuyers more willing to take out loans even with the uncertainties in the labour market, according to both banks and experts in the real estate market.
Police will not apologise to Franciscans
THE SLOVAK Police Corps has rejected statements that it made mistakes in its investigation of alleged child abuse by three Franciscan monks.
Sufficient office space is on the market
The current tight-fisted approach of banks to financing new real estate projects is likely to leave fingerprints on the way the market for office space will look in the upcoming years, market watchers agree.
Cutting costs - a cliché, or a necessity?
Terms like crisis, layoffs and cutting costs have been mentioned for several months in the international as well as the local media, in various contexts and with various meanings. Readers, whether they work as CEOs or heads of department, could get the impression that there is nothing more important right now than how to cut costs. Due to the quantity of newspaper articles, analyses and advice on this issue, one might also get the impression that this has almost attained mythical status, a phrase that has permeated the whole economy and has become a part of the agenda of every management meeting.
Record for historical railway
The back-swath railway in Vychylovka in the Kysuce region this year had a record number of visitors. Between May and November the historical Kysuce-Orava Logging Railway transported more than 32,000 people. Lenka Janovcová, the manager of the Kysuce Museum which operates the historical railway, told the media that next year the museum plans to make the railway more attractive thanks to a new traction engine, and will also got a donkey engine for transportation of 10 passengers, and a driver from the Žilina regional administration.
Residential property prices continue to fall
The Slovak residential real estate market has not escaped the effects of the global economic crisis. After the preceding boom in new housing projects triggered by economic growth and high demand – when new units were sold even before builders had time to realise the visions of the architects – the situation has changed completely. Now it is the customer who rules the market. Developers, in an effort to sell apartments in their new projects, are offering incentives in the form of special equipment or free parking places. But customers are thinking twice before they buy an apartment, bearing in mind their current financial situation and future prospects.
Medicines policy in Slovakia
IT SEEMS that there will never be enough funds in health-care budgets. Development of new medicines as well as new medicinal methods enabling treatment of more and more health problems continues to challenge the financial resources of the health-care sector. This makes it almost impossible to fill the gap between the amount of money needed and the funds actually available.
Slovaks collect more loyalty cards
THE WALLETS of Slovaks are getting stuffed full of loyalty cards as almost every major player in the Slovak retail market has introduced them in an effort to build a better relationship with their customers. They hope to distinguish themselves from other retailers and offer their customers more than their competitors - even though each has the same goal: to keep existing customers, to recruit new ones and to identify their shopping habits better.
State seeks 'green' quotas bonus
THERE is still no end in sight to the saga of Slovakia’s controversial deal with the company Interblue Group to sell the country’s excess carbon dioxide emissions quotas. On the contrary, new complications and plots are emerging almost by the week.
Economic shocks permeated 2009; some encouraging signs are now emerging
In mid 2008, many had thought that the adoption of the euro and steady economic growth would be the keywords for Slovakia’s business environment in 2009. Things took quite a different turn: 2009 started with Russia turning off its gas tap to European markets over a commercial dispute with Ukraine, forcing Slovakia’s vital manufacturing sector to an almost complete halt. And it was only the beginning of a series of negative economic shocks which brought the government and many businesses face to face with the most challenging times they had ever experienced.
VW’s new car family to create 7,000 jobs
VOLKSWAGEN’S New Small Family of cars, the so-called Up! series, to be assembled in the company’s Bratislava factory, has entered its implementation phase. The chairman of the board of directors of VW Slovakia, Andreas Tostmann, laid the foundation stone for the project and announced that modifications will be made to several parts of the current factory, the SITA newswire reported.
Slovak link to FBI arrests in arms probe
THREE Lebanese nationals with Slovak residence permits were arrested in Philadelphia on November 21 on weapons smuggling and stolen goods charges. According to an FBI press release, Dani Nemi Tarraf, Douri Nemr Tarraf and Ali Fadel Yahfoufi of Trnava were charged after a two-year investigation. The most serious charges concern Dani Tarraf, 38, who allegedly attempted to buy 10,000 Colt M4 machine guns and 100 Stinger FM-92 anti-aircraft missiles.
Changed rules add to uncertainties in the business environment
Through some of the recent changes in legislation, the Slovak government is thwarting the free market, changing the rules of the game for corporations and businesses and adding to the existing level of uncertainty, says Ján Čarnogurský, a partner in the ULC Čarnogurský law firm. Though he expects no positive impacts from most of these changes, neither does he believe that they will crucially change the business and investment environment in Slovakia. And he also sees some changes with a potential for positive impacts, such as the development of e-government, which could make business and personal life in Slovakia easier.
More Slovaks go online to shop
ONLINE shopping is becoming more common in Slovakia. Market watchers as well as online shops report increasing sales as well as a fall in Slovaks’ reluctance to use the internet for shopping.
EC closes bulletin-board tender case
THE EUROPEAN Commission closed its infringement procedure against Slovakia in the case of the controversial bulletin-board tender at the Construction Ministry.
Navigating the records of communism
COMMUNISM has been the last regime to document itself, said historian Timothy Snyder at the Central European Forum’s panel discussing ‘The second life of totalitarian structures’. And it is exactly this documentation that, among other things, represents a controversial part of the post-communist heritage. The overarching question left to people living in post-communist countries now is how to view the archives of the communist secret services: as trustworthy sources of historical facts or as questionable records keep by regimes based on lies.
EC challenges Slovakia over insurers' profit ban
TWO years ago, the government of Prime Minister Robert Fico decided that health insurance should not be a profit-making business in Slovakia and amended the law on health insurance so as to prohibit private health insurers from paying dividends to their shareholders. Instead, they must channel any profits back into the health-care system.
Swiss funds aim to reduce disparities
IT SHOULDN’T be one of those comets in the sky of international assistance that appears unexpectedly, makes a swift impression and then vanishes without much impact other than the media noise around it. It has been planned and discussed thoroughly with special care for sustainability, transparency and focus on areas that genuinely need support: this is how the Swiss Ambassador to Slovakia, Josef Aregger, and Anton Hagen, the head of the Swiss Contribution Office for Slovakia and the Czech Republic, describe the Swiss contribution scheme for the ten states that joined the European Union on May 1, 2004.
IFF to bring the best of world cinema to Slovakia once more
NEW films, new faces, and new points of view: this is what the organisers of the Bratislava International Film Festival (IFF) promise to cinemagoers, as the event enters its second decade.
Slovakia supports renewable energy sources
As of 1 September 2009 the new Act on Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources (“RES-Act”) became effective in Slovakia. The RES-Act introduces financial and administrative support mechanisms for producers of electricity from renewable sources and by means of combined heat and power plants.
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