Archive of articles - February 2011
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Spanish movies in Nitra
Within the 2nd year of the cycle of Spanish-speaking films, the Inlingua language school, supported by the Instituto Cervantes, organises a series of movies in Nitra, beginning on March 3 with the Los santos inocentes (Innocent saints), 1984, by Mario Camus. The first month's cycle is called The Spanish Civil War and offers movies on Thursdays, at 18:30, in the Old Theatre of Karol Spišák; admission is free. Please, find more info on www.inlingua.com website.
This week in Slovakia
Content of programme: Unemployment reaches 13%; GP signs deal on way out; Top cop sets performance targets; Tomi ‘the Kid’ Kovacs holds on for WBO win
Slovak state government will lend funds to finish Bratislava ice hockey arena
Instead of granting the funds needed to complete Bratislava's Ondrej Nepela Ice Hockey Arena, the Slovak government will provide the Bratislava city government a €12-million loan spanning five years at an interest rate of 3.5 percent, Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš told a press conference on February 25, the TASR newswire reported. The minister said that due to a deal closed between the former state government and the city council, the state was supposed to cover 54.23 percent of the total expenditures for reconstruction of the stadium, amounting to €74.822 million. However, doubts have emerged whether €40 million has been used in an efficient manner, Mikloš said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Defence Minister Galko says staff at Military Prosecutor's Office will be transferred
Staff employed at the Military Prosecutor's Office will not become unemployed after the institution is shut down, Defence Minister Ľubomír Galko said last week. Galko stated he is working on the issue with the Justice Ministry, headed by Lucia Žitňanská, the TASR newswire reported. "All prosecutors and administrative officials of the Military Prosecutor's Office will be transferred to civil prosecutor's offices. All movable and immovable assets will remain in the ownership of the Defence Ministry and we'll manage them efficiently," Galko told TASR.
Research finds Roma pupils are more comfortable at school than non-Roma
Roma pupils feel better in school than their non-Roma schoolmates, while Roma children are also more comfortable with their marks and self-esteem and overall have more fun at school, according to research conducted by the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV), the TASR newswire wrote.
Slovakia closes it embassy in Libya and evacuates staff
Slovakia closed its embassy in Libya on February 26 and members of the diplomatic mission were set to return to Slovakia on a French plane, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Ľuboš Schwarzbacher told the TASR newswire.
Cost of reconstruction of Bratislava Castle reduced by €7 million
The total cost for reconstruction work on Bratislava Castle will be cut by €7 million to €63.18 million, the Slovak Parliament's communications department told the TASR newswire on February 25. The agreement to curb the sum to be spent was sealed between the head of the Parliament Office, Michal Nižňan, and Váhostav, the company handling the renovation.
Tackling tax evasion
TAXES are the main source of revenue for the state as well as for Slovakia’s municipalities. Personal and corporate income taxes and other forms of taxation totalled €7.96 billion in revenue in 2010. Of this sum, value added tax (VAT) accounted for €4.43 billion. The government believes it can collect more in taxes that are legally due, saying that tax evasion and fraud could amount to hundreds of millions of euros.
Institutions in the tax and audit field in Slovakia
Finance Ministry
Press law to be defanged
SLOVAK journalists might find their work that little bit easier from this summer. The country’s Press Code, much criticised by local journalists as well as international press freedom watchdogs after it was amended in 2008 by the Robert Fico-led government, is soon to shed its most controversial provisions.
The rebirth of Smolenice Castle in the Carpathians
SMOLENICE Castle had the role – like other Small Carpathian castles – of guarding the wider region. In medieval Hungary, the Small Carpathians were a border range as the region west of the mountains was sparsely inhabited flatland with only a few military garrisons prepared to defend the kingdom.
‘Millionaire’ income tax preserved
The Iveta Radičová government has decided to preserve the so-called millionaire tax. According to the scheme, introduced under her predecessor Robert Fico in 2007, the non-taxable income of private individuals decreases when gross income rises above a certain level. Ivan Mikloš, the current finance minister had previously criticised the tax, calling it punishment for the wealthy.
Fame and shame
JAROMÍR Ruda has deeply engraved his name into minds of deaf athletes and their families. They are likely to associate Slovakia with words like fraud, shame and bitterness for the rest of their lives. Ruda and his story of shame instantly pumps up the blood pressure of those working in tourism in Slovakia’s High Tatras. The man, who allegedly embezzled money earmarked for the Winter Deaflympic games, has put one of the worst possible black marks on one of this country’s premier tourist destinations.
Mikloš rejects EU tax harmonisation
SLOVAKIA’S finance minister says the Competitiveness Pact, which the biggest eurozone economies have drafted to help deal with the instability of the single European currency, is a good idea but insists it cannot be accepted whole. According to Ivan Mikloš, the major problem would be harmonisation of the tax base for corporate profits.
New rules for income tax assignment
New rules will apply to companies in Slovakia wanting to assign a portion of their income tax to non-profit organisations this year. The new regulations took effect as of January and will apply to taxes payable for income received in 2010, the SITA newswire wrote.
Deaflympics organiser charged
FEBRUARY was supposed to have been Slovakia’s first chance to host the world’s biggest event for deaf sportspeople. But instead of live broadcasts from the Winter Deaflympics, the Slovak media was full of reports about alleged fraud and the arrest of Jaromír Ruda, the head of the Slovak organising committee, following the games’ last-minute cancellation.
Mossad agent donates to Danubiana
A FORMER agent of the Israeli secret service Mossad, Rafi Eitan, has donated one of his own creations to the Danubiana Museum of Modern Art near Bratislava. Eitan, a politician and a past cabinet minister, decided to donate his bronze sculpture of a hand called “Holding on to Life” to Danubiana because he grew to like the museum during his visits to Slovakia, Zuzana Kizáková of the Israeli Embassy told the SITA newswire.
2009 attack on tax chief 'solved’
THE POLICE say they have solved a brutal attack on senior tax official Ján Dobrovič, which took place almost a year and a half ago. At the time he was deputy director of the Tax Directorate. The police say it was a ‘commissioned’ attack and that the culprits were paid €2,000 in total, the Plus Jeden Deň daily wrote.
Cigarette racket busted in Pezinok
CUSTOMS officers in Slovakia discovered the country’s largest facility for producing untaxed cigarettes in recent years when they found three illegal machines for making cigarettes, a huge amount of tobacco and already manufactured cigarettes in a building in the town of Pezinok in western Slovakia on February 20, the SITA newswire reported.
Audit in the spotlight
IN AUTUMN last year the European Commission published a Green Paper on Audit which has initiated extensive discussion on the responsibilities of auditors, their governance structures and potential changes that may be warranted in this important profession. The EC received about 700 responses with about 10,000 pages of suggestions in reaction to its document. The Green Paper was also a main topic at the Financial Reporting and Auditing conference organised by the EC in Brussels on February 9 and 10. In his opening speech the EU’s Internal Market Commissioner, Michel Barnier, told the conference participants that changes must be made in how auditors do their work so that there is more competition in the auditing business and auditors are more independent. He also presented a plan to prepare new legislation by November to curb what he called increased concentration in the audit market that is dominated by less than a handful of major firms, the so-called Big Four.
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- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Slovakia plans to restrict access to new medicines amid funding shortfall
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- Convicted of multiple murders, Slovakia’s mafia boss seeks release from prison
- 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
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- 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
- 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 ›
