Archive of articles - April 2011, page 6
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Radičová and Mikloš to await NKÚ review of Tax Directorate affair
Prime Minister Iveta Radičová (Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ)) is maintaining her earlier stance that the Tax Directorate’s general director, Miroslav Mikulčík, should accept responsibility for a questionable office rental deal in Košice and step down, the SDKÚ presidium noted at a session on Tuesday, April 19.
State will pay VSH €483,000
The state is to pay €483,000 to VSH Development, a company with which the Tax Directorate had signed a deal to rent offices in Košice. Tax authority head Miroslav Mikulčík cancelled the deal with VSH Development and instead signed a contract with another company, Nitra Invest, sparking a controversy after it was reported that Nitra Invest’s owner is also a regional SDKÚ official.
More discord over draft amendment to Labour Code
The Federation of Employers' Associations of the Slovak Republic (AZZZ) is not satisfied with the outcome of a tripartite discussion on Monday, April 18, on changes to the Labour Code, AZZZ Vice President Rastislav Machunka told the SITA newswire.
Bratislava to poll residents over fate of PKO
Two years after a bulldozer first punched a hole in the PKO cultural venue in Bratislava, Mayor Milan Ftáčnik will ask Bratislava inhabitants for their opinions about the fate of the building, which is supposed to be demolished. The plans have evoked strong opposition from several groups, the Sme daily wrote. About 7,000 people have signed a petition calling for the preservation of the building.
SDKÚ leaders calm tensions
PRIME Minister Iveta Radičová and Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš clashed head-to-head over the fate of the director general of Slovakia’s Tax Directorate, Miroslav Mikulčík, who nodded earlier this year to a five-year, €6.6 million lease of an office building with a firm co-owned by a regional official of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ).
Slovak internet paywall goes up
THE DAY of the thin grey stripe has arrived. Now appearing above content on some of Slovakia’s biggest online news providers, the stripe indicates that users will soon – though not quite yet – have to pay to view the content beneath it. The appearance of the stripe marks the launch of a unique multi-site paywall which is about to divide the Slovak internet into ‘free’ and ‘premium’ content.
Domestic political bust-up leads Radičová to cancel foreign trip
Prime Minister Iveta Radičová has decided not to travel to a summit on nuclear safety in Kiev in which she was due to participate on Tuesday, April 19, the TASR newswire reported, citing Mirko Hroch from the Government Office press department. He said the latest political developments in Slovakia were the reason for her decision. The Kiev meeting is to discuss the safe and innovative use of nuclear energy.
March poll: Smer and coalition parties neck-and-neck
In the event of a general election being held in March, Smer would have come out on top, with 43.2 percent, according to a survey carried out by Median agency.
All-clear after bomb scare at Finance Ministry
No bomb was found at the Slovak Finance Ministry in Bratislava after an anonymous bomb threat was made by telephone on Monday, April 18. The scare led to the cancellation of a news conference by Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš, who was due to speak about the Tax Directorate/Nitra Invest case and the fate of Tax Directorate head Miroslav Mikulčík, who is Mikloš’s nominee.
V4 joint embassies planned in Ukraine and South America
Joint embassies or consulates for the Visegrad Group of countries could be opened in Odessa, Sevastopol, Santiago de Chile or Rio de Janeiro. Foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group, which includes the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, exchanged letters with proposals for more of the so-called Visegrad Houses at the end of last year.
Minister plans to make university final exams voluntary
Education Minister Eugen Jurzyca is proposing that university students should in future only need to defend their thesis in order to graduate. This could mean that university students do not have to study for weeks for their final state exams, unless individual school rectors decide otherwise.
Foreign Ministry rejects any foreign laws that impact Slovakia’s sovereignty
Slovakia will stand against the enforcement of any country's laws that would infringe upon Slovakia's Constitution, sovereignty or its citizens' rights, reads a statement provided by Slovakia's Foreign Affairs Ministry to the TASR newswire on April 18. The statement came in the wake of a decision by the Hungarian Parliament to approve a new constitution. Hungary's new constitution, as enacted by the ruling Fidesz party, has sparked fears about Hungary's possible interference in issues pertinent to ethnic Hungarians living outside the country, most notably in Romania and Slovakia.
Finance Minister Mikloš says Tax Directorate’s Mikulčík should not step down
Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš stated on April 18 that the general director of Slovakia’s Tax Directorate, Miroslav Mikulčík, enjoys his full trust and called on Mikulčík to remain in his post even though Prime Minister Iveta Radičová had indirectly asked Mikulčík to resign on April 16 because of controversy surrounding a rental arrangement involving the offices of the Tax Directorate in Košice, the TASR newswire reported. "I don't see any relevant reason for him to resign from his post. My examination of all the factors has persuaded me that general director Mikulčík has been acting in accordance with the public interest and in line with the law," Mikloš said in a statement, as quoted by TASR.
SDKÚ’s presidium to discuss divergent views of Radičová and Mikloš
Prime Minister Iveta Radičová on April 18 confirmed that she and Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš (both from the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ)) differ in their views regarding the Tax Directorate general director’s share of responsibility for a questioned rental agreement for offices of the directorate in Košice, the TASR newswire reported. "I've asked the SDKÚ chairman (Mikuláš Dzurinda) to call a session of the party's presidium as the views of the Finance Minister and me are diverging when it comes to the Tax Directorate general director's responsibility," reads a statement released by Radičová. Radičová urged Mikulčík on April 16 take responsibility for the controversy, indirectly calling for his resignation. On April 18, however, Mikloš said that he continued to trust Mikulčík and called on him to stay in his post. Radičová's position was echoed by the co-governing Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) on April 18. The head of its parliamentary caucus, Pavol Hrušovský, said that there is no reason why Mikulčík should disobey the prime minister's call for his resignation.
Blast inflicts minor damage to Slovak Embassy in Baghdad
A time bomb went off in the vicinity of the Slovak embassy in Baghdad on April 18, Juraj Tomaga, head of the Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry's press department, told the TASR newswire. Based on available information, a convoy of armed vehicles was the target of the attack rather than the embassy. The blast caused minor damage to embassy property but no injuries to embassy personnel were reported. However, at least nine people were killed in two blasts right next to a security checkpoint on a road leading into Baghdad's Green Zone, the seat of numerous government authorities and embassies.
US ambassador celebrates Peace Corps’ volunteer work in Banská Bystrica
A celebration marking the 50th anniversary of the American Peace Corps programme was held by the US Ambassador to Slovakia, Theodore Sedgwick, and his spouse Kate in the Banská Bystrica-based State Scientific Library on April 18, the TASR newswire reported. Sedgwick said the Peace Corps is primarily targeted at improving people's lives, as it focuses on those parts of the world where people face hardship. The ambassador also praised the programme’s benefits for Americans as it enables them to travel and get to know new countries. A total of 350 American volunteers were active within the programme in Slovakia between 1990 and 2002. The period after the fall of communism in 1989 and prior to Slovakia's accession to the European Union in 2004 must have been very hard for Slovakia, Sedgwick said.
This week in Slovakia
Content of programme: SDKÚ defends no-tender contract for party member; Organized crime suffers several defeats; Hockey team rejoined by sulking forward Brought to you in cooperation with TV SME.
Radičová calls on Tax Directorate head to take responsibility for rental controversy
Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radičová, after reviewing information regarding the rental of premises for the Tax Directorate in Košice, called on the head of the Tax Directorate, Miroslav Mikulčík to take political responsibility, the Government Office press department said in a statement released on April 15, the TASR newswire reported. "The premier has initiated a Government Office probe at the Tax Directorate and requested that the Speaker of Parliament [Richard Sulík] submit a proposal to the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) to carry out an inspection," reads the statement, as quoted by TASR. According to Radičová, the Tax Directorate saved money by signing a more advantageous contract than the one sealed with a different company under the former government.
Berényi elected chairman of Hungarian Coalition Party
The interim chairman of the extra-parliamentary Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK), József Berényi, was elected as the more permanent head of the party at a congress in Veľký Meder on Saturday, April 16, the TASR newswire reported. SMK spokesperson Eva Dunajská informed the TASR newswire that Gyula Bárdos remains chairman of the party’s Republican Council. The convention also elected specialist vice-chairs, confirming in most cases the incumbent party members such as: Ivan Farkas as vice-chairman for the economy and regional development, Peter Ory as vice-chairman for self-governing bodies; and László Szigeti as vice-chair for education and culture.
Alleged Mafia boss asks to speak to interior minister about Valko's murder
Juraj Ondrejčák, nicknamed Piťo, the alleged boss of the 'Piťovci' organized crime group from Bratislava, has asked to meet with Interior Minister Daniel Lipšic to discuss the murder of well-known lawyer Ernest Valko, the Nový čas daily wrote on Saturday, April 16, as reported by the TASR newswire.
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