Archive of articles - March 2010, page 10
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Slovak rosé wine takes Paris by storm
AT A world competition in Paris – Vinalies Internationales – Slovak wine producer Vladimír Mrva was awarded the title champion, Martin Pomfy won a gold medal and Chateau Topoľčianky garnered two silver medals.
Rádiožurnál celebrates 20 years
RÁDIOŽURNÁL, the main news programme of the public broadcaster Slovak Radio (SRo) is celebrating its 20th anniversary: its first programme was broadcast on March 5, 1990.
Schools will be checked for symbols
THE SLOVAK National Party (SNS) has again managed to draw attention to one of its evergreen topics, by passing the Patriotism Act. It did so with the help of its ruling coalition partners, who supported the new legislation in parliament, and with silent consent of opposition MPs, most of whom despite their pronounced disagreement with the law did not raise their hands against it.
Frešo leaves SDKÚ slate over poll fraud
OPPOSITION SDKÚ MP and Bratislava Region president Pavol Frešo resigned from the party's slate for the parliamentary elections over voting fraud in the party’s primaries in Bratislava, the TASR newswire reported.
Construction output shrinks
THE OUTPUT of Slovak construction companies continues its decline. After consecutive shrinkage over all months of 2009, except in August when output increased by a mere 0.1 percent year-on-year, the downward trend continued in January 2010 with construction output recorded as 8.1 percent less than January 2009, at €257.5 million, the Slovak Statistics Office reported on March 9. The poor development is ascribed to low demand for almost all kinds of construction projects, financing limitations and unfavourable weather conditions as well as some other persisting effects from the financial crisis.
Spring skiing is in the air
EVEN though we are half-way through March, winter is still reigning in the mountains and it does not seem to want to wave an early goodbye. Skiing is ideal. The thickness of the snow base has now reached its deepest, the ski resorts have reduced prices, and there are now only half the skiers on the slopes compared with the high season.
Highway PPP projects go on, despite complications
SLOVAKIA is placing a lot of hope in its public-private partnership (PPP) projects to build highways. Not only are these intended finally to link the east and west of the country with an unbroken multi-lane highway and hence bring new business opportunities eastwards, but they should also provide orders for construction companies, thus helping to keep them afloat and their workers employed. However, the economic crisis has slowed down and complicated the whole process.
Industrial production up from low base
INDUSTRY in Slovakia grew at the highest pace in more than two years in January 2010.
Association of Construction Entrepreneurs of Slovakia (ZSPS)
ZSPS is an independent, voluntary and non-political organisation uniting about 150 member companies from all aspects of the construction industry, including large, medium and small-sized companies as well as self-employed construction workers, hand craftsmen and producers and sellers of construction materials as well as companies publishing magazines and textbooks focused on the industry. Its members account for approximately 50 percent of construction production within Slovakia. ZSPS is a member of the National Union of Employers (RÚZ) and participates in tripartite negotiations as well as negotiations for higher-level collective agreements.
Thermal insulation becomes trendy
THE CHANGING look of many Slovak towns and cities shows that the trend towards thermal insulation of buildings is spreading all across Slovakia. Making living more comfortable and cheaper as well as being more environmentally-friendly are the main driving forces behind exchange of old windows for new energy-efficient ones, covering exterior walls of buildings with thermal insulation, and other energy-saving improvements. But a lack of funds to finance such projects remains the biggest obstacle to even greater improvement in the thermal qualities of older, and sometimes obsolete, residential properties in Slovakia.
CONECO and RACIOENERGIA fairs
The largest construction fair in Slovakia, CONECO, will be held at Bratislava's Incheba exhibition centre between March 23 and 27. The 31st such fair, it will provide a comprehensive offering of
Construction institutions in Slovakia
Ministry of Construction and Regional Development
VAT cut risks provoking EU
IN A CHANGE to the country’s tax legislation, the government of Robert Fico has pleased some not-yet-clearly identifiable group of farmers by lowering the value added tax for selected products sold directly from their farms to consumers. However, the reduction of VAT from 19 percent to 6 percent for the so-called ‘courtyard sale’ of selected kinds of meat, eggs and milk has already generated many opponents who warn that a selective tax cut like this might deform competition and attract unwanted attention from the European Union.
Slovak for Foreigners Examination Dates Announced
The E-KU Institute of Language and Intercultural Communications in Nitra announces the test dates for the first International Exam, ECL, Slovak for Foreigners:
Countrywide Events
Western SLOVAKIA
Scandinavian sax enchants Slovaks
IT’S NOT very common for an audience in Bratislava to watch someone playing a half-full metal water bucket on stage. Seeing the famed Norwegian jazz saxophonist Jan Garbarek performing live is an equally rare occasion. Early March gave Slovaks the chance to experience both these unique encounters at the same time – when Garbarek and his band gave their first gig in Slovakia.
New woylie now hopping around at Bratislava Zoo
THE WOYLIE (Bettongia penicillata) is a small, 30-centimetre-long marsupial belonging to the Potoridae family which is also known as the brush-tailed bettong. Bratislava Zoo is the first and only zoo in Slovakia to successfully breed these small animals, which look something like a cross between a rat, a kangaroo and a rabbit. Bratislava Zoo considers the birth of its first woylie, born in November 2009, to have been an enormous success and on February 18 the young offspring left its mother’s pouch.
Troubles in life and death
THE TOWN of Modra in the Small Carpathians is where Ľudovít Štúr, the awakener of Slovak national consciousness, lived at the end of his life.
NGO: nuclear changes against EU rules
PARLIAMENT has amended Slovakia’s Environmental Act in response to calls by the European Commission, which had threatened to cut the country off from EU funds worth €12 billion.
Mill workers still waiting for privatisation money
WHAT new charges can be aimed against “privatisation” – sales of state property – during the 1990s in Slovakia that have not already been laid? That the process was ruled by kickbacks, nepotism and discrimination against foreign investors is common knowledge. And that public assets were grossly mismanaged is certain: companies with an accounting value of Sk109 billion were sold off during the four frenzied years of Vladimír Mečiar’s government (1994-1998), but yielded only Sk20 billion in income.
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- From eight to thousands of runners. How Košice marathon rose to prominence Photo
- Iconic Slovak barn still draws crowds. Without donors, it might have been lost Photo
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- From eight to thousands of runners. How Košice marathon rose to prominence Photo
- Iconic Slovak barn still draws crowds. Without donors, it might have been lost Photo
- 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
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- 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
- A mayor resigns over €2.7 million fraud scandal at town hall
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Fico praises China and Vietnam as models, says liberal democracy has failed
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- He designed Gatwick. But this is his masterpiece
- 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 ›
