Archive of articles - May 2010
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The week in Slovakia
Content of programme: Election race heats up; Bratislava responds to Budapest; Bratislava-Zilina freeway completed Brought to you in cooperation with TV SME.
SDKÚ says that new Smer billboards offend voters
The new billboard campaign of the governing Smer party insults supporters of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), said SDKÚ election leader Iveta Radičová at a press conference in Bratislava on May 28, the TASR newswire reported.
Truckers say Q-Free and Sky-Toll are at loggerheads over Slovakia’s road-toll system
Q-Free and Sky-Toll, who are supplying and operating Slovakia's road toll-collection system, are at loggerheads, accusing each another of causing frequent breakdowns in the system, the Slovak Union of Transporters (UNAS) said on Friday, May 28, the TASR newswire wrote. Supplier Q-Free and operator Sky-Toll are currently in talks to reduce the scope and value of the contract at the request of Q-Free, which is considering terminating the contract altogether and plans to report on results of the talks within weeks.
Slovakia held to 1-1 draw by Cameroon in World Cup preparation match
Amid preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup starting in South Africa on June 11, Slovakia and Cameroon drew 1-1 in a match played in the Austrian town of Klagenfurt on Saturday, May 29. Slovakia took the lead in the 6th minute, with the African team equalising in the 83rd minute, the TASR newswire wrote. In its last warm-up match ahead of the World Cup, the Slovak national team, led by head coach Vladimír Weiss, is now scheduled to play Costa Rica in Bratislava on June 5. The final, 23-man team must be announced by June 1, with the team set to leave for South Africa on June 8.
Slovakia economic sentiment index remains largely unchanged in May
The Index of Economic Sentiment (IES) in Slovakia remained largely unchanged in May when compared to April, the Slovak Statistics Office announced on May 28, the TASR newswire wrote. The IES went up by 0.2 percentage points on a monthly basis to 90.5, with negative developments in all but one of its components cancelled out by a rise in the construction indicator. The index's current standing represents an increase of 24.2 percentage points, year-on-year. However, it is still 7.9 percentage points below the long-term average. The indicator of trust in industry continued to fall in May, losing 0.6 percentage points on April, to minus 1.3.
Slovak industrial orders grow
INDUSTRIAL orders in Slovakia in March posted the fourth fastest growth within the European Union.
Making scandal count
ROBERT Fico is wrapping up his four-year term in a kind of political isolation. His potential political brides are now limited to parties which have either been tarnished by their treatment of the state as a cash machine for their cronies – like the Slovak National Party (SNS) – or are heading slowly but surely towards their political grave – like the Movement for a Democratic Left (HZDS).
Vote 2010: Parties running in the election
Order by ballot number
16th Bryndzové Halušky Championship arrives
THE 16TH World Championship in the cooking and eating of bryndzové halušky, Slova- kia’s famous dumplings of potato dough smothered in sheep’s cheese, took place in the municipality of Turecká near Banská Bystrica on the last weekend of May. The event’s organisers – the local Turecká-Halušky civic association and the town’s municipal office – were expecting about 40 competing teams, each made up of one cook and three assistants who are expected to prepare and eat 3.5 kilograms of halušky.
Fuel prices to drop by €0.01 per litre
THE DECLINE in crude oil prices and motor fuel prices on global markets will be at least partially reflected in Slovakia. Both petrol and diesel prices are expected to drop by one euro cent per litre, the SITA newswire reported.
Wedded bliss in Liptovská Osada
THIS precious, old postcard made by photographer Pavol Socháň dates back to before World War I. The text is in Slovak – which was typical for this educated and nationally-oriented photographer. He is probably the only photographer who published postcards in Slovak earlier than 1914. The high aesthetic quality of Socháň’s pictures is also characteristic of his work.
Bus drivers’ strike set for June 2
BUS drivers and employees of bus companies announced on May 25 that they will go on strike from June 2 as part of a dispute over travel benefits that drivers and their families have enjoyed for the past 60 years. However, on May 27 it seemed that most of Slovakia’s eight regions, whose subsidies to bus companies help fund the perks, may avoid strikes. The action, organised by the KOVO union, is supported by about 8,000 employees at bus companies. The strike received widespread support in a nationwide ballot of union members announced on May 14. The situation escalated after the Transport Ministry failed to issue a directive providing for employee perks for bus companies workers in 2010.
Books in English now available
I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny. Vivian Cash. Simon & Schuster, 2007.
Slovaks spending less, saving more
THE FINANCIAL assets of Slovak households have been increasing in spite of the impacts of the economic crisis. In response to the worsening economic situation, Slovak households tightened their belts last year and started saving more and in the end accumulated more in savings than they had in 2008. So says an analysis prepared by UniCredit Bank, as cited by the SITA newswire.
Hanzel files motion after death threat
ENTREPRENEUR and former MP for the ruling Smer party Bohumil Hanzel filed a criminal motion with the General Prosecutor’s Office against an unknown offender for death threats that he received, but decided to withdraw it after a person admitted writing the threatening e-mail and apologised.
Gay Pride was a success, says MEP
MARIJA Cornelissen, a Dutch Member of the European Parliament for the Green Party, was on the stage at Saturday’s Gay Pride rally in Bratislava when a stone thrown by an onlooker narrowly missed her colleague, Ulrike Lunacek. The Slovak Spectator (TSS): In what capacity were you attending the rally? Marija Cornelissen (MC): I was there as a member of the European Parliament. Ulrike and I are members of the parliament’s LGBT rights intergroup, and we try to divide the gay prides between us, especially the threatened ones, so that everywhere there’s someone on hand to show support. TSS: What is it about Gay Pride events in eastern Europe that makes them threatened? MC: It has to do with conservative societies. In many of these countries religion plays a role, in that it’s worse if the population is more religious. TSS: Have you had similar experiences to what happened in Bratislava elsewhere? MC: Something similar happened on a slightly larger scale in Vilnius (on May 8), with the tear gas and the police separating Pride and counter-protesters. In Moldova the Pride march didn’t even happen, because the mayor got the courts to ban it. TSS: You were on stage in Bratislava when the rock was thrown at Ulrike Lunacek. Were you scared? MC: I was standing right next to her. She ducked and it missed her by a few centimetres. But to tell you the truth, it was a small stone, and at worst Ulrike might have had a cut over her eyebrow. What threw me more was the tear gas. There were children in the audience when the tear-gas canister came down, and having people right in there [the crowd] with us means that security was lax.
Bankruptcy filings are growing
THE NUMBER of bankruptcy proceedings in Slovakia in the first quarter of this year grew by 50 percent year-on-year. While in the first three months of 2009, courts approved 85 filings for bankruptcy, this rose to 128 in the same period of this year. The statistics were prepared by the international export credit insurer Euler Hermes.
Bratislava Zoo marks 50 years
IN THE greenest part of Bratislava, in Mlynská dolina, both well-known and more obscure wildlife species have had a home for 50 years. On July 1, 1959, Bratislava’s leadership – then known as the City National Council – issued a decree founding the zoo in Bratislava. Its doors were opened on May 9, 1960. The Bratislava Zoo was one of the first to breed lynx and that animal has become its symbol. The zoo is a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA), the International Association of Zoos (IZE) and other international organisations.
Some credit insurance companies
-Atradius Credit Insurance N.V., a branch of the insurer from
Secondary insolvency to rise this year
THE MOST frequent reasons for entry into insolvency proceedings last year were reduced sales, growing secondary insolvency, and insufficient formation of reserves on the part of businesses.
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- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
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- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- The disinformation scene has become a tool of media capture
- Slovakia plans to restrict access to new medicines amid funding shortfall
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- The disinformation scene has become a tool of media capture
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- A mayor resigns over €2.7 million fraud scandal at town hall
- Show me your moves! Slovak hockey stars share their best pick-up lines
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- 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
- 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
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava More articles ›
