Archive of articles - February 2011, page 9
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Books in English now available
Freedom. Jonathan Franzen. Fourth Estate, 2010. In his first novel since The Corrections – which won the National Book Award in 2001 – Jonathan Franzen has given us an epic of contemporary love and marriage via the family of Patty and Walter Berglund.
Court rejects complaint by Smer MPs
THE CONSTITUTIONAL Court has rejected a complaint brought by MPs from the opposition Smer party who argued before the court that their constitutional rights had been violated in parliament’s secret ballot vote on December 2 to select a general prosecutor. A panel of the court dismissed the complaint by saying it was lodged by a person without proper standing and was also groundless.
Cutting the strings on the golden chute
THE SKY of the corporate world is full of 24-carat golden parachutes allowing CEOs to bail out from businesses when they get tired or when firms decide their time is past. When Time magazine dug into the history of golden parachutes it discovered price tags exceeding $35 million, plus deals guaranteeing lavish consultancy fees for the manager being shoved out of the corporate jet. Doubtless, there have been some diamond parachutes worth multiples of these sums. Slovakia’s sky has its parachutes too and even if the price tag is only a fraction of these famous ones, they are still enough to outrage the public and even politicians.
Countrywide Events
Western SLOVAKIA
Pokakať sa
IT’S NOT usual to hear politicians talk about pooping. But then again, these are exceptional times. Mainly thanks to renegade MP Igor Matovič.
The crisis delivered a ‘tough lecture’
INVESTMENT and private equity groups eyed the boom in building and property sales in the early years of this decade and many entered what they thought was an unfailingly lucrative market by building office complexes, logistics parks, residential properties and other kinds of commercial facilities. The economic and financial crisis over the past several years was a very cold shower for those who had active real estate projects and Slovakia’s investment groups did not totally escape from the chilly water.
A new military order emerges in Gemer
The Alma-centrum civic association prepared a programme for the afternoon of January 22, part of which was the founding of the Gemersko-turniansky rád rytierov vín sv. Urbana / Gemer-Turňa Military Order of the Wines of St Urban. It also included a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Visegrad cooperation. The event took place in Jablonov nad Turňou in Rožňava district, in the town’s historical Granárium building.
Chief appointed for new public broadcaster
SLOVAKIA’S mega public broadcaster now has a permanent chief: Miloslava Zemková, the interim director of Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS), which was created by the merger of Slovak Radio (SRo) and Slovak Television (STV) at the beginning of 2011. She was chosen by parliament to carry through what Culture Minister Daniel Krajcer has called a significant reform of the public media in Slovakia.
Šaľa offers another service for residents and visitors – via mobile phone
The town of Šaľa in southern Slovakia now offers one more service for inhabitants: Šaľa on your mobile / Šaľa v mobile. Users of modern mobile phones can use an application that enables them to view the town’s buildings and objects in 3D. Owners of phones like the iPhone or mobiles with the Android operating system can view pictures directly on their displays. The application can be used by tourists or locals to view Šaľa buildings and includes their description, distance, location, website, and enables users to write an e-mail or to make a phone call. It also navigates them to the building. The image changes dynamically depending on the changing position of the mobile.
ICT sector blows its own trumpet
THE AUTOMOTIVE or electro-technical industries usually jump to mind as the main engines of Slovakia’s economy but representatives of the Slovak IT Association (ITAS) said on February 8 that the information and communications technology (ICT) sector is not part of this ‘ranking’ even though it outperforms the automotive industry in many important indicators. The association introduced a study prepared by INESS Consult about the importance of the ICT sector to the Slovak economy that was commissioned by ITAS.
Bust of Dubček unveiled in Rome
A CITY square in Rome has a new addition: a bust of reformist communist leader Alexander Dubček that is within sight of the building housing the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry. The Dubček bust was unveiled in a square now called Largo Bratislava – Capitale della Repubblica Slovacca – on January 20 in the presence of top-ranking Italian guests, many of whom knew Dubček personally.
Hungarian climber dies in High Ta
A HUNGARIAN mountaineer was killed in an avalanche in the High Tatra mountains on the afternoon of Saturday February 5, Prešov Regional Police spokesperson Jana Karnišová told the TASR newswire.
Slavia eyes geothermal energy
THE INVESTMENT group Slavia Capital announced last May that it planned to invest in geothermal energy in eastern Slovakia, specifically in the village of Teriakovce near Prešov. That month Peter Gabalec, the chairman of the board of directors of Slavia Capital, signed a memorandum of understanding with Pavel Hagyari, the mayor of Prešov, and Miroslav Angelovič, the mayor of Teriakovce, to begin joint implementation of the project, the SITA newswire wrote in May.
GDP growth forecasts released
THE ECONOMY is growing faster than expected according to an analysis prepared by the Finance Ministry’s Financial Policy Institute which states that GDP in Slovakia will grow by 3.4 percent in 2011 and by 4.8 percent in 2012, the Sme daily reported.
State plans to sell heating plants
GOLDEN parachutes for CEOs, fishy sales of excess emission quotas at a hefty discount on the market price and failed political nominations to top managerial posts have brought the subject of state-owned heating companies under the political spotlight. Now the government has decided to put six heat producers up for sale based on an analysis by the country’s privatisation agency which says that the state would, in the long run, be better off selling at least part of its stake in these companies rather than trying to manage them.
Harabin seeks foreign observers
THE PRESIDENT of Slovakia’s Judicial Council, Štefan Harabin, wants the European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ) to send observers to Slovakia to monitor the election of new judicial council members that are expected to be held in May or June 2012. Harabin made the request during a February 9 meeting with the newly-elected president of the ENCJ, Miguel Carmona Ruano.
Arca buys Natura Food Additives
THE CLOSED-END fund Arca Capital CEE acquired 80 percent of Natura Food Additives company, the TASR newswire reported in November, writing that this acquisition was part of Arca’s main investment strategy: to make private equity investments in small and medium-sized companies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Investment groups active in Slovakia
Arca Capital
English becomes a must at schools
FOREIGNERS looking for a bus stop or a museum in Copenhagen or Stockholm do not usually hesitate to ask a local resident for help since they are almost certain to get a reply in fluent English. This, however, is not yet the case in Bratislava according to English teachers in Slovak schools who have welcomed the initiative of the Education Ministry to strengthen the English-language skills of current and future generations of Slovaks. But some teachers have also expressed doubts whether the legislation passed by the Slovak parliament, overriding a veto by President Ivan Gašparovič, that makes English instruction compulsory at primary schools will be enough to do the job.
Slovak bestseller now has an English v
KNIHA o cintoríne (Book About a Cemetery), a novella written by Daniela Kapitáňová but originally published under the pseudonym Samko Tále, who is the story’s main character, has been translated into English by Julia Sherwood with the title Samko Tále’s Cemetery Book. Sherwood began translating the book into English immediately after she had finished reading the original version, without even having a contract. After the translation was completed, she offered it to a publishing house specialising in eastern Europe but was rejected. However, Garnett Press accepted the manuscript and following its initial success, it seems that a second book by Kapitáňová, Nech to zostane v rodine (Let It Stay in the Family), could also be published in English.
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- From eight to thousands of runners. How Košice marathon rose to prominence Photo
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- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
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- 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 ›
