Archive of articles - May 2011, page 3
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Some financial service providers
-OVB AllFinanz Slovensko,www.ovb.sk
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THE MASSIVE machinery of the state has been set in motion to siphon sensitive personal information out of its residents in order to store it until those driven by an insatiable thirst to control demographic trends find some way to use it – at least, this is how some Slovaks are interpreting the nationwide census.
Second pension pillar may change again
SAVING for old-age pensions is inevitably a long-term undertaking; this is especially true on the national scale. In the past, the state pension contributions of economically active Slovaks were used to fund the pensions of those who had already retired. But this approach is no longer able to generate sufficient funds to meet the needs of future liabilities, due to Slovakia’s unfavourable demographic developments. To address this issue Slovakia extended its pay-as-you-go scheme, now known as the first pillar, by adding two further saving pillars, in which people can save for their retirement. But even though these are called pillars, suggesting solidity and permanence, they have been shaken with each change of government since they were set up.
Malinová 'blood disorder' discounted
THE EXTENSIVE bleeding of Hedviga Žáková, née Malinová, whom ministers of the previous government accused of making up a story about being attacked for speaking Hungarian in public, was not caused by any blood disorder, the Sme daily reported, contradicting an earlier report by Peter Labaš, the dean of the Medical Faculty of Comenius University.
Firms active in credit management and collection of receivables
-Association of Slovak Collection Agencies (ASINS),www.asins.sk
Anti-fraud office targets airport deals
SLOVAKIA is learning to its cost that poor public procurement practices can lead to the European Union cash-tap being turned off. A recently completed European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) investigation into a project to reconstruct Bratislava’s state-owned Milan Rastislav Štefánik International Airport between 2005 and 2008 found faulty procurement and unjustified expenditures. OLAF’s findings are likely to scotch Slovakia’s chances of getting €3.9 million of the project costs covered by the EU and, as a result, Slovak taxpayers will have to pick up the bill.
Companies and credit management
THE ECONOMIC crisis brought the term secondary insolvency back into the vocabulary of many businesses operating in Slovakia – a vicious, almost endless circle in which companies stop paying their vendors or contractors because they have not received payments for their own products or services. Bad experiences during the economic downturn increased the interest of many companies in better credit management but since the sting of the recession has lessened somewhat, some companies appear to have forgotten the hard lessons of 2009 and 2010.
Radičová: No official records to confirm US assistance to Economy Ministry
There are no official records at the Slovak Economy Ministry that would confirm the US helped Slovakia when the latter re-purchased a minority share of 49 percent of the stock in oil-pipeline company Transpetrol during the previous government. Prime Minister Iveta Radičová said the issue, which arose after US Embassy cables concerning the matter were released by WikiLeaks, should be addressed by former prime minister Robert Fico (Smer) and former economy minister Ľubomír Jahnátek (Smer).
Slovakia welcomes arrest of wanted war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic
Slovakia's Foreign Affairs Ministry has welcomed the news that General Ratko Mladic, accused of war crimes in the Bosnian war (1992-95), was apprehended by Serbian officials on Thursday, May 26.
Personal Data Protection Office rejects politicisation of census
Slovakia's Personal Data Protection Office (ÚOOÚ) wants to distance itself from the politicisation of the ongoing census in Slovakia, according to a statement issued to the media by ÚOOÚ chairman Gyula Veszelei on Thursday, May 26.
Kaliňák: I'm ready to take lie detector in Malinová case
Former interior minister Robert Kaliňák (Smer) is ready to undergo a lie detector test with respect to the case of Hedviga Žáková, née Malinová, who is reported to be suing him for libel after he called her a compulsive liar in a recent newspaper interview.
Environment minister questions Trnka's 'inspections' on Danube River embankment
Environment Minister József Nagy (Most-Híd), speaking after a government session on Thursday, May 26, wondered aloud about what Deputy General Prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka was doing driving his private car on a road along a Danube River embankment that is supposed to be closed to everyone except the police, security personnel and water company staff.
Bear caught in Lučenec will be released in Poľana
In early hours of May 25, a bear that had managed to get into the yard of a family home in Lučenec, was captured, the TASR newswire reported. However, it is apparently not the same animal seen earlier moving around a Rúbanisko residential area.
Bank analysts increase inflation estimate
Bank analysts in Slovakia have again raised their estimates of this year's rise in consumer prices, the SITA newswire wrote on May 25. According to the May survey of the National Bank of Slovakia, bank analysts predict the harmonised inflation to rise to 4.2 percent at the end of the year compared with April forecasts that estimated a growth rate of 3.9 percent. Bankers also raised their estimate of the growth of consumer prices in December 2011 from 3.9 percent in April to 4.1 percent.
Train engineers set one-hour strike for May 27
The Federation of Slovak Train Engineers (FSSR) has slated a one-hour strike for May 27 between 14:50 and 15:50.
EU conference on Roma integration held in Košice
Slovakia has earmarked approximately €200 million from EU structural funds for Roma integration programs and projects, the Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič informed the press after the regional conference in Košice on Wednesday, May 25. He added, as quoted by the SITA newswire, that the drawing of these sources has been rather slow, main because of complicated administrative processes. He pointed out the project of Roma employment implemented by some municipalities in cooperation with U.S. Steel Košice as an example of a successful programme. The non-governmental organisation ETP Slovensko is also running several successful projects.
Slovak police catch serial thief
On May 25, police in central Slovakia detained a thief suspected of robbing six financial institutions and betting agencies in southern Trnava Region. According to Trnava Region Police Chief Imrich Puha the 27-year-old man from Bratislava, confessed to the robberies. The man got away with approximately €13,000 all of which he has already spent.
Slovak parliament passes amendment to Act on Use of Minority Languages
MPs from the ruling coalition parties passed the amendment to the Act on Use of Minority Languages, drafted by Deputy Prime Minister Rudolf Chmel (Most-Híd), with 78 votes on May 25, the TASR newswire wrote. The vote, personally watched the Hungarian Ambassador to Slovakia, Antal Heizer, who was greeted by a chorus of protest whistles and boos coming from Smer MPs, the TASR newswire wrote.
Court approves halt in Tipos restructuring
The restructuring application submitted by national lottery company Tipos has been stopped by the Bratislava I District Court after the court accepted a proposal by the company to withdraw the restructuring request, the TASR newswire reported. The company withdrew its application after the Constitutional Court on May 13 accepted a complaint from Tipos in which the company claimed that its fundamental commercial legal rights had been violated. "Although Tipos was found to be in a state of imminent bankruptcy, recent facts and circumstances in place after the restructuring report was worked out indicate that there's no such threat anymore," said Tipos general manager Miloš Ronec last week.
More than 100 census-takers in Bratislava’s Petržalka district resign
More than one hundred census-takers in the Bratislava's largest borough of Petržalka resigned in the midst of the census as a response to unfriendly emotional reactions they encountered from the general public, the press secretary of the Petržalka local government, Maria Grebeňová-Laczová, told the TASR newswire on May 25. "The idle chatter in the media on [the lack of] anonymity and the identification numbers has led to a high turnover among people willing to take part in this task [as census-takers]. I view the whole discussion as a gross display of irresponsibility involving the Interior Ministry, the Statistics Office and the Office for the Protection of Personal Data," stated the mayor of Petrzalka, Vladimír Bajan.
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