Archive of articles - April 2010, page 4
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Intermodal transport – the key to effective management of logistics
GEFCO has emerged on the Slovak market as an expert in supply-chain management; it also offers a range of high-quality logistics services under one roof. Its activities are focused on supplying industrial businesses, securing complex logistics solutions within the supplier chain, and on outbound logistics.
Transport infrastructure in Slovakia
- Total length of operated railway lines – 3,600 km
Efficiency and Cost Optimisation - Cost Management
Today’s article on Cost Management is a follow–up to our last article on Procurement published on April 5 and earlier articles on cost optimisation appearing in March issues of The Slovak Spectator.
Ishiguro's Nocturnes
TALK to anyone in the publishing industry and they’ll tell you about their frustration with short stories. Everyone wants to write them, it seems, but no one wants to read them and in these times of economic hardship, short story collections are a big no-no.
Slovakia marketed in US
SLOVAKIA, along with its capital Bratislava, got a promotional boost in the USA in mid-April as part of a tourism roadshow organised by marketing association Central European Experience (CEE).
How to make €60 million
FROM the outset it looked like a strange decision. A Poprad district court judge ruled on March 26 that the Slovak Land Fund (SPF) was liable for at least €60 million in damages for allegedly breaking a promise to sell some farmland to a would-be investor. The land itself was worth €10 million at most, and developing it would have required a far greater outlay. Judge Peter Koman did not explain how he arrived at his compensation figure.
Constitutional Court backs press rights
A BREEZE of hope for the media emanated from Slovakia’s Constitutional Court when its second senate ruled that lower courts had violated a Slovak weekly’s right to free speech when ordering it to pay hefty damages to a judge.
The Gorals of Slovakia
The Goral people, and especially their origins, are one of the small mysteries of Slovakia. They live mainly in the north of Slovakia, in 56 villages, most of them in Spiš and Orava, close to the Polish border. However, Gorals also live in some rather distant villages in the Slovak interior, such as Liptov, Horehronie, and even in the Slovenské Rudohorie Mountains. They live on both sides of the Slovak-Polish border and consider themselves either Poles or Slovaks.
Hiking became a part of my life
It was a sunny March morning when the bus I was riding crossed the border from Austria into western Slovakia and, minutes later, gave me my first glimpse of Bratislava Castle.
Children sing their way to national competition
ON SUNDAY, April 18, a children’s musical folklore competition, Kubínske Spievanky, took place in the Town Cultural Centre in Dolný Kubín.
E-toll now in full force - but at what cost
ALMOST four months after the wobbly launch of an electronic system to collect highway tolls for vehicles weighing over 3.5 tonnes, the situation on Slovakia’s roads appears to have settled down. The European Commission is still awaiting answers to its questions about how the gigantic tender to develop the nationwide system ended up being awarded to the most expensive bidder, whose €850-million offer was almost one-third more expensive than its cheapest rival’s. But truck drivers have at least stopped blocking main transport arteries to get the new system cancelled, as they had been doing earlier in the year.
Lajčák discusses NATO strategy
FOREIGN Minister Miroslav Lajčák discussed Slovakia’s stance on the formulation of a new Strategic Concept by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) with Marie Gervais-Vidricaire, a member of NATO’s Group of Experts and a Canadian diplomat, on April 20.
Fico warns of centre-right government
THE OFFICIAL election campaign has barely begun, but awareness of the nearing general election is already creating turmoil on Slovakia’s political scene. Politicians have started travelling around Slovakia and meeting potential voters with growing enthusiasm. At the same time as opposition parties are using trucks and even ambulances to drum up support, with some of their politicians going to meet voters in their own living rooms, Prime Minister Robert Fico has been criticised for using government buildings to promote his Smer party and has toned down his previously confident rhetoric by admitting that he is not 100-percent sure that he will form the next government.
Procurement office loses one power
POLITICAL ethics watchdogs have been calling for changes to the country’s public procurement legislation to ensure more transparency and accountability. In one of its last-minute moves before the parliamentary elections in June, the ruling coalition did modify this legislation. But the watchdogs say it was not the kind of move they had in mind.
E-toll and highway stickers
www.emyto.sk – At this website operated by SkyToll, the electronic toll-system operator in Slovakia, truck drivers can find comprehensive information about the system. The rate for one kilometre driven ranges from €0.02 to €0.209 depending on the type of road used (highway or first-category road), type of vehicle, number of axles and environmental category of the vehicle.
Východniari
HARDLY any social group in Slovakia is more influential, vocal, respected, and mocked than východniari, the Easterners. To understand local politics, business, and jokes, one must be aware of their existence. It also helps to be able to identify them in a crowd. There is no better time to start observing than now, during the finals of the hockey league playoffs between Bratislava’s Slovan and the US Steel team from Košice, the capital of the East. This match-off tends to repeat itself, and it is always a period when the ever-present bond between the tens of thousands of Easterners becomes visible to the extent that even in Bratislava you can tell who is one of them.
Trapped horse survives ordeal
THE MUNICIPALITY of Andač near Nitra was the scene of an equine drama on the night of April 14, after a riding horse fell into an empty well shaft and had to be winched out following several hours down the hole.
Slovak troops get send-off as they leave for Afghanistan
Another 57 Slovak guard troops who will leave on April 23 for a six-month assignment in Afghanistan were given a ceremonial send-off at the Sokolovské military barracks in Prešov, the TASR newswire reported. Peter Gajdoš, the Armed Forces Chief of General Staff, told TASR that these troops will be stationed at the airport in Kandahar where they will be checking the traffic going through entry points and protecting designated facilities.
Slovakia’s Constitutional Court overrules earlier verdict on libel suit
The Slovak Constitutional Court’s senate (panel) consisting of the presiding judge Lajos Mészáros and judges Sergej Kohut and Juraj Horváth ruled that lower courts violated the free speech rights of the Plus 7 Dní weekly magazine by ordering it to pay Sk250,000 (about €8,800) in damages to judge Pavol Polka for alleged defamation and discrediting of his person in public, the Aktualne.sk webpage wrote. An attorney with Via Iuris civic association, Peter Wilfling, on the webpage otvorenepravo.sk, wrote that this is a crucial precedent for the Slovak courts. The chief editor of the Plus 7 Dní weekly had expressed his outrage at the sums of money ordered as compensation to judges for violations of their personality protection were far higher than compensation ordered for prisoners of consciousness, political prisoners or the bereaved family members of victims of drunk drivers.
Slovakia extradites Al-Qaeda suspect to Algeria
Earlier this week Slovakia extradited Algerian national Mustafa Labsi, charged with co-operation with the international terrorist network Al-Qaeda, to Algeria after he lost his latest court hearing in which was seeking asylum in Slovakia, Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák announced on April 22, the TASR newswire reported. According to the minister, the extradition was carried out after the Slovak Supreme Court turned down Labsi’s appeal against the Migration Office which had rejected his asylum application on April 16. Labsi has been seeking asylum in Slovakia and other countries on the grounds that he faces torture or the death penalty in Algeria, TASR wrote.
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Convicted of multiple murders, Slovakia’s mafia boss seeks release from prison
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- 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 compass points to Kúty, and people are starting to follow
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- 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
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners More articles ›
