Archive of articles - May 2010, page 13
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Slovak Telekom is majority owner of PosAm
SLOVAK Telekom has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in the IT firm PosAm. Slovak Telekom had announced in early February that following regulatory approval it had become the 51 percent shareholder in PosAm after the two companies signed an agreement to transfer the stake on January 29. PosAm is continuing to operating under its current name, as an independent legal entity, the SITA newswire wrote.
Media experts to meet in Bratislava
IN MID-SEPTEMBER, Bratislava and Vienna will jointly host one of the biggest events in the media world – the International Press Institute’s (IPI) world congress, which annually gathers media professionals from all over the globe in one place to discuss trends in media production, media freedom and other issues, both joyful and troubling, which concern professionals working in the media sector.
Slovak share of BPO cake still small
BUSINESS process outsourcing (BPO) is a form of outsourcing that involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of specific business functions or processes to a third-party service provider. These can include contact centres, human resources, finance and accounting, marketing and sales, or procurement. BPO helps increase a company’s flexibility but on the other hand brings a risk of loss of control over the company's operations and processes.
Bilbord
COME election time, Slovakia is usually full of absurd campaign billboards. In 1994 there was the HZDS singing “Vivat Slovakia!” and four years later Mečiar’s party produced a collage combining the Swiss countryside with the Tatras to create “The country of your heart”. In 2002 Smer amused the country with a picture of naked behinds and the slogan “Into the EU! But not with bare bums”.
Prosecutor to review e-toll system
SLOVAKIA’S General Prosecutor’s Office will review the country’s new highway electronic toll collection system for defects in response to a complaint submitted by truckers who claim that the system has serious imperfections.
Moravský Svätý Ján
THE BEGINNINGS of this small municipality reflect the interesting history of the Záhorie region in the Middle Ages. At the beginning of the Great Hungarian Empire, this was a barely inhabited and quite dangerous border region settled only by the half-wild nomadic tribes that guarded the frontier. The tribes, originally from the distant Russian steppe, were largely pagan and so efforts began to systematically Christianise them. In practice, this meant that a church was built near each settlement to gradually turn the pagans towards Christianity. These efforts were very successful.
Global accounting centre in Bratislava
JOHNSON Controls, one of the biggest global suppliers to the automotive industry, announced in late December a plan to move its accounting centre from Juarez, Mexico, to Bratislava.
Polls show Smer sagging
WITH just a bit more than one month before the parliamentary elections the numbers reflected in opinion polls gain increasing importance. With support for Smer showing a sagging tendency and a rising level of support for the centre-right parties being seen in the polls, the top ruling party has a few more reasons for concern. Political observers say the outcome of the 2010 parliamentary election is not very predictable – but they are ringing alarm bells about an expected low voter turnout.
Iron Man starts to show his age
ANY self-respecting 10-year-old boy should quite rightly want to be either Batman or Spiderman, accepting dull periods as the weary billionaire socialite Bruce Wayne or the geeky Peter Parker as a fair trade for their thrilling moments of super-heroism. But if you canvassed those 10-year-olds’ fathers, the chances are they would want to be Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, the second episode of whose suave, high-octane adventures has recently landed on the big screen.
Labour Ministry tender a “mockery”
WHEN THE Labour Ministry announced a tender to find a contractor to evaluate projects of the ministry that were to be financed from European Union Structural Funds, the tender lasted for only three days and not all those who registered at the ministry’s website, hoping to participate in it, were informed about the final details, the Sme daily wrote.
Antik outsources production to China
ANTIK Technology, a Košice-based company, in April launched production at its Chinese facility of a new hybrid set-top box for interactive television. The technology was originally developed in Slovakia, according to information provided by the company’s director general, Igor Kolla, to the Hospodárske Noviny daily.
This is it: the political basement
THE SLOVAK National Party obviously has a low opinion of the intellect of its own voters. The shameless billboard campaign that Ján Slota’s party chose was designed to appeal to the basest human instincts: hate, exclusion and aggression towards others. But one has to admit that anything other than images and slogans with an undertone – or, as in this case, a central theme – of fabricated patriotism, xenophobia and even racism would be somehow inconsistent with the SNS message.
Media excluded from Fico hearing
THE COURT has agreed to exclude the public from portions of a hearing involving Prime Minister Robert Fico. Fico brought a lawsuit against the Sme daily for publishing a cartoon which depicted him as a person lacking a spine.
Lessons from the Greek tragedy
THERE are some serious fiscal responsibility lessons that Slovakia might learn from the unfolding Greek tragedy, say Slovak economists, though their opinions might be overshadowed by the contentious domestic political discourse about the country’s participation in the €110 billion loan programme for Greece – currently paralysed by strikes and social unrest.
Some IT companies providing outsourcing
-Accenture, www.accenture.sk-Centire, www.centire.sk-DATALAN, www.datalan.sk-Dell, www.dell.sk-HP, www.hp.sk-IBM, www.ibm.sk-NESS Slovensko, www.ness.sk-PosAm, www.posam.sk-SAP Slovensko, www.sap.sk-Siemens, www.siemens.sk-Soitron, www.soitron.sk-Tempest, www.tempest.sk-T-Systems Slovakia, www.t-systems.sk
Open Justice calls for responsibility
ACCORDING to the independent judicial initiative “For Open Justice”, it will take the efforts of those responsible for the current situation at the highest level, including the President of the Supreme Court, Štefan Harabin, and Justice Minister Viera Petríková if conditions are to improve.
One Goooly too many
AS SOMEONE who has taken a bit of ribbing over the years for his malapropisms in Slovak, I feel I have earned the right to comment on the use of English by Slovaks. And I’m afraid to say that the name the authorities chose for their World Hockey Championships 2011 mascot – Goooly – is rather unfortunate. In Britain, gooly is slang for testicle, although it can also mean a pathetic loser, according to the online “urban dictionary”. Either way, the Slovak ice hockey association might want to have another crack at it.
Slovakia follows IT trends
SLOVAKIA has been hard on the heels of the rest of the world when it comes to outsourcing, and IT outsourcing is no exception. Companies in Slovakia are adopting models successfully implemented abroad, while outsourcing of specific segments of IT has started to occur here as well. This is because subsidiaries are gradually taking over the business models of their parent companies, which are often global or international companies. The financial and economic crisis has highlighted even more the cost-saving aspects of IT outsourcing while rising demands on the knowledge of IT experts is another incentive to search for IT services outside a company.
Chinese carmaker eyes Slovakia
CHINESE company JAC Motors, has declared an interest in building a factory in Slovakia.
IT outsourcing brings more flexibility
THE ECONOMIC crisis has helped companies that provide IT outsourcing: their existing and potential clients have become more cost-sensitive and have started searching for ways to optimise costs which reach beyond internal solutions. But IT outsourcing is not only about cost cutting: it enables companies to use the services of talented and experienced people clustered in IT outsourcing centres and allows them to adjust the IT services they consume to their current needs in a more flexible way.
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Liberal MP’s boxing challenge backfires as far-right MEP seizes the moment
- Zdeno Chára inducted into world hockey hall of fame Video
- Hockey legend with Slovak roots started playing without knowing any English Video
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Young British boxing star who quit Slovakia over racism is now aiming for the top
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- 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
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- 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
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- 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
- 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
- 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
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Zdeno Chára inducted into world hockey hall of fame Video
- Liberal MP’s boxing challenge backfires as far-right MEP seizes the moment
- 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 More articles ›
