Archive of articles - December 2010, page 2
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March - The year in business
Publisher of Pravda daily changed – The Pravda daily changed ownership as the Florena company bought the daily from the British Daily Mail & General Trust. Florena is associated with Slovakia’s J&T group.
Municipal elections
The parliamentary elections were far from the only time that voters were asked to turn up at polling stations in 2010. Shortly before the end of the year, on November 27, municipal elections took place across Slovakia. Smer again emerged as the single most popular party, but observers say it did not register a knock-down victory.
Counter-terrorism meeting in BA
AN EXPERT meeting on implementing the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Central Asia was held in the Slovak capital on December 15-16. The meeting, the first in a series of counter-terrorism expert meetings at a regional level, took place under the auspices of the Slovak Foreign Ministry.
Kapor
THE CARP (kapor) is not only Slovakia’s favourite Christmas meal. It also serves to describe someone extremely lazy, or boring. 2010 has definitely not been a carp year for Slovakia. In the past 12 months, the country has witnessed at least three major events that will go down in history:
June - The year in business
New wine categorisation – Wine makers from south-eastern Slovakia were again able to use the name Tokaj for wines they produce as of June 1 based on a revision to the Act on Viniculture in which Slovakia began using the European method of labelling wines, meaning it no longer divided its wines into table wines and vintage wines. The new categorisation emphasises geographical labelling, with Slovak vineyard regions divided into six areas: Tokaj, Malokarpatská, Južno-slovenská, Nitrianska, Východoslovenská and Stredoslovenská.
All contracts to go online
THE INTERNET should provide some interesting reading for advocates of transparency, ethics watchdogs and journalists from January 2011. All contracts in Slovakia that involve public funds will be published online: moreover, they will not become valid until they appear on the internet.
July - The year in business
Fixed and mobile operators merged – Slovak Telekom, the country’s major fixed-line operator, merged with T-Mobile Slovensko on July 1. Slovak Telekom became the legal successor of the two companies, both of which were majority-owned by Deutsche Telekom.
January - The year in business
Toll collection faced protests from truckers – On January 1 Slovakia’s National Highway Company started operation of a new electronic toll collection system requiring trucks and buses heavier than 3.5 tonnes to pay tolls electronically on about 2,000 kilometres of highways, dual carriageways and certain sections of first-category roads. The toll system was built and is operated by SkyToll, whose bid for the 13-year contract, worth €850 million, was selected after all other bidders were excluded on various grounds. Truckers immediately began protests against imperfections in the system, and even by the end of 2010 some truckers claimed that not all the bugs had been ironed out. The tender drew flak from EU officials in Brussels: Slovakia must respond before January 1, 2011, to EC objections or face possible court action and sanctions. The EC believes rules on equal treatment and non-discrimination were violated in the tender process. The state had expected to collect about €165 million in highway tolls from the new system in 2010 but income was only €130.4 million in the first 11 months.
Just a political railway station
IT PROBABLY would be easier to define the type of person who does not fall for the enticements of politics than those who do get attracted to the political domain that is simultaneously fickle and stubborn, cruel and kind, greedy and munificent.
A round-up of the year in business
SLOVAKIA, like other countries throughout the world, had to deal with the impacts of the global financial and economic crisis throughout 2010. While the country’s gross domestic product grew over the course of 2010, in contrast to the 4.7-percent contraction recorded in 2009, Slovakia’s relatively small and open economy, which exports a large portion of its production, suffered from lower economic activity in its main trading partners. After the June 12 parliamentary election the baton of government was passed from the populist and nationalist coalition headed by previous prime minister Robert Fico to a centre-right coalition of four parties led by Prime Minister Iveta Radičová. The new government, which has called itself a government of cooperation and responsibility, has started down a path of austerity measures to avoid the possibility that the country will face a situation similar to that of Greece or Ireland.
Coalition still arguing over GP vote
THE CHRISTMAS break is unlikely to calm tensions within the ruling coalition that erupted over its members’ failure to get their joint candidate, Jozef Čentéš, selected as the next general prosecutor.
The judicial system under a cloud
An early February ruling by the Bratislava District Court upholding a wage discrimination complaint and awarding a judge €90,000 in damages evoked serious concerns about the ethics of some members of Slovakia’s judiciary as well as the potential drain on the state’s coffers.
Child knights compete at Bratislava Castle
IT SOMETIMES looks as though Bratislava Castle, now in its new white dress, is sleeping and just waiting to be awakened for a new life after its thorough reconstruction is finished. But this is not completely true as the traditional Christmas at the Castle event returned to Bratislava Castle on December 12 after an absence of two years. During the event children who successfully completed tasks in courage, wisdom and other virtuous traits were dubbed royal knights. In addition, the children were able to prepare their own coat of arms, shields or parts of historical garments or armour at several creative workshops.
August - The year in business
Priorities presented by new government – On August 3 Prime Minister Radičová presented six priorities to be pursued by her government to improve life in Slovakia: healthy and sustainable economic performance; zero tolerance of corruption and securing access to justice; enough work opportunities to reduce social risks; a motivating business environment and active civil society; development of educated people and an innovative society; and assuring access to quality medical care. Parliament adopted the cabinet’s four-year programme on August 10.
Another failed referendum
Slovakia’s seventh referendum took place on September 18 and, as with most of its forerunners, failed to attract enough voters for the result to be declared valid. At least 50 percent of eligible voters have to turn out for a referendum in Slovakia to be binding.
Sulík floats 'plan B' return to crowns
THE LEADER of the ruling coalition’s Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, Richard Sulík, has sparked heated debate among Slovak economists and politicians after writing in an op-ed piece for the Hospodárske Noviny financial daily that Slovakia should stop blindly trusting eurozone leaders and prepare a ‘plan B’ for reintroduction of the country’s previous currency, the Slovak crown.
February - The year in business
Entrepreneurs of the year recognised – Michal Štencl, the founder and chairman of the board of directors of Sygic, was awarded the 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year title on February 18. Juraj Hudý, founder of XRAY, was named the 2009 Innovative Entrepreneur of the Year. The award for the 2009 Start-Up Entrepreneur of the Year went to Tatiana Kyseľová from pelicantravel.com.
Countrywide Events
Western SLOVAKIA Bratislava EXHIBITION: YURI Dojc, the prominent Slovak-born Canadian photographer, returns to Slovakia with an extensive exhibition entitled Temptation. The exhibits presented in the Bratislava City Gallery consist of seven parts.
Quote of the week
“I’ve been in politics for 20 years but I have never seen anything like this.”
S&P confirms Slovakia’s ratings
STANDARD & Poor’s (S&P) Rating Service affirmed its A+ long-term and A-1 short-term sovereign credit ratings for Slovakia on December 15, saying the country’s outlook is stable. S&P also gave Slovakia an AAA assessment on transfer and convertibility, the SITA newswire reported.
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- 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
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- Paris leads, Bratislava trails: European cities ranked on safe travel for children
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- 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
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- 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
- 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
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- 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
- 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 ›
