Archive of articles - July 2010, page 10
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Some companies with UK capital in Slovakia
AquaCity Poprad, www.aquacity.sk
Radičová to visit Budapest with Nečas
PRIME Minister-designate Iveta Radičová will travel to Budapest on July 20 together with Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas, who will arrive in Slovakia the day before.
Learning from Ireland’s successes – and mistakes
IRELAND experienced robust growth and rapid development during the eighties and nineties. Now it is a country with an open and export-oriented economy hosting a number of headquarters of multinational companies. And in spite of making some mistakes which have worsened the effect of the global economic crisis on Ireland, there are a lot of positive points to inspire Slovakia.
Voľno
AT THIS time of year, it’s not unexpected for someone to take a voľno – a holiday. Unless that someone is Robert Fico.
Most Slovaks feel they are middle class
MOST citizens of Slovakia regard themselves as middle class, based on the socio-economic situation of their households. This was one of the findings from a survey conducted for the Finance Ministry by the Infostat Centre for Social Research.
Slovakia as a potential springboard for doing business
SLOVAKIA and the United Kingdom enjoy extensive and broad business contacts, with a number of British companies already established on the Slovak market and others eying Slovakia as a potential springboard for doing business either in the east or the west. Even though the crisis has put a brake on bilateral trade and investments there is already evidence of growing activity or interest in some sectors.
Some Irish companies in Slovakia
Ballymore, www.ballymore.co.uk
British and Irish tourists in Slovakia
Slovakia is quite a new tourism destination for visitors from the United Kingdom and Ireland and the economic crisis has reduced the appetite for travelling. According to available data from the Slovak Statistics Office, the number of visitors from the UK in Slovakia last year shrank by 36.5 percent compared with 2008. In the case of visitors from Ireland the drop was as deep as 49 percent.
Slovak expats in Lebanon compete
THE ASSOCIATION of Graduates of Czech and Slovak Colleges in Lebanon organised an athletic competition for children of expats and for school graduates in the country’s ancient town of Sour on June 20. Youths from the nearby Palestinian refugee camp al-Rasheedeya were also invited to compete. Originally, the event was planned for the beginning of June on International Children’s Day but because local elections were being held that day it was postponed. Badminton players as well as beach tennis players competed but the football tournament attracted the most attention. Residents of Lebanon, like those in many other countries, were excited by the ongoing football mania and many expats there closely followed the Slovak team at the World Cup. After the sporting events, the event’s organisers held a discussion with the young athletes and hosted a lavish reception, the TASR newswire wrote. The association plans to sponsor similar events in the future.
New coalition inks the deal
THE FOUR partners in Slovakia’s newly-created centre-right coalition wasted no time when it came to thrashing out an inter-party deal which came to fruition on July 6. They began working towards an agreement almost immediately after the election results emerged on the night of June 12. Talks continued at a fast clip despite several disagreements and a Coalition Treaty was formally signed less than a month after the election.
How is Ireland recovering from the economic crisis?
IRELAND has adopted a clear strategy to handle the economic crisis. Our strategy involves stabilising the public finances, repairing the banking system and improving competitiveness in order to foster sustainable employment. We have moved swiftly to take the tough, but necessary decisions to protect the economy. This involved significant public expenditure cuts, including pay cuts and a series of measures in relation to banking and financial regulation.
Slovak air guitarist advances to world finals
THE FIRST official Slovak championship for air guitar players held in Rimavská Sobota on June 26-27 selected its winner: a young man from Snina, a town in eastern Slovakia, will now represent his country at the world air guitar finals in Finland. Peter Kuričšák won over the tough jury with his heart-felt rendition of an air-guitar solo to a song by Gary Moore, even though the first Slovak champ admits he cannot play a single chord on a real guitar. “I came to the stage, played the tune and did not care about the rest,” the medical student told the media after his performance.
Lots of Irish music across Slovakia
SLOVAKIA is to get a generous serving of Irish music this year. After the Irish pipe band which performed on Hlavné Námestie in Bratislava in mid March, visitors to Pohoda in Trenčín, the biggest open-air music festival in Slovakia, will be able to enjoy music by Irish bands Interference and Jape. The bands will perform on July 9, the second day of the festival. And in August Irish singer and songwriter Sinéad O'Connor will perform in Bratislava as part of her current tour.
Protecting the golden vaults of Kremnica
THE CENTRAL Slovak town of Kremnica has been fortified by these massive walls ever since the Middle Ages. No wonder, because over its long centuries Kremnica has always had to solve a central problem: how to protect its wealth from many different enemies.
Business lays out its gripes
PLEASE refrain from adopting legislation with haste and without thorough review; start publishing court decisions on the internet, while eliminating the factors that lead to lengthy trials; identify unproductive activities by the state and scrap them – this would greatly benefit the health of the public finances; freezing the salaries of bureaucrats until their departments and offices undergo at least a basic financial trim will also help. These are just some of the suggestions that business is offering, should the new government of Iveta Radičová be ready to listen.
The ministerial chessboard
NOTHING reveals as much about the anatomy of power as the negotiations to form a governing coalition. Under the veil of handshakes, smiles and declarations of soon-to-come better times, government posts are turned into chess pieces in a complex game where each party is determined to control the best parts of the board. Yet not everyone can do so.
Challenges of a giant merger
TELECOMMUNICATIONS is a rapidly-changing field. When mobile technology emerged a few years ago it was a new phenomenon in the telecoms market requiring huge new investments and a focused approach to developing its customer and service base. Now, with the period of ballistic growth over and unlikely to return, telecoms companies are searching for ways to augment existing streams of revenue or find new sources of income. In response to various challenges and opportunities, fixed-line and mobile operators are merging or are acquiring external companies that provide related services. The telecoms sector in Slovakia is also following this general trend and on July 1 Slovakia’s well-established fixed-line operator, Slovak Telekom, merged with the second biggest mobile operator in the country, T-Mobile Slovensko, both already part of Deutsche Telekom Group.
New parliament meets, Radičová becomes PM
ROBERT Fico posed for a final snapshot with his cabinet ministers on Wednesday, July 7. The prime minister and his colleagues were preparing to pass power to Iveta Radičová, who will now lead the quartet of centre-right parties that together won a majority in the June 12 general election. That same vote left Fico’s Smer as the largest party in parliament, but lacking a coalition partner to keep it in office.
SaS referendum to go ahead in September
A PETITION initiative launched last year by the newcomer political party, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), requesting a multi-question referendum, is now bearing fruit – but it seems that the actual harvest will not conform to the timetable SaS wanted. President Ivan Gašparovič announced that the vote on the referendum, which SaS originally wanted to hold simultaneously with June’s parliamentary election, will be take place on September 18.
Indian biker's stop
SOMEN Debnath is clearly a man who believes in long-range goals. He has a plan, a big plan. In fact, a 16-year plan. Since May 27, 2004, the young man from India has travelled to 47 countries. At the moment, he has laid out a programme for himself that will keep him busy for the next 10 years and take him to all corners of the world. Debnath’s hope is to spread awareness of HIV and AIDS around the world. Debnath reached Bratislava on June 28, after entering Slovakia from Poland. On his way across the country he visited Žilina, Trenčín, Trnava and Nitra.
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- 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 ›
