Archive of articles - June 2011, page 3
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Institutions and organisations active in environmental areas
The Ministry of Environment
Health insurer to cut hospital beds
THE STATE-OWNED health insurer, Všeobecná Zdravotná Poisťovňa (VšZP), has announced it is seeking to reduce the number of beds in the health-care system by 15 percent and to do so it has decided not to renew contracts with 156 wards in Slovak hospitals beginning in July 2011.
Google opens office in Slovakia
GOOGLE has opened a new office in Bratislava that will be led by Rasťo Kulich.
Piano finds success in Slovakia
WHEN several Slovak publishers agreed that they would require online media viewers to begin paying for some of their websites’ content in May and to do this by centralising the payment system into one package, doubts quickly arose about the viability of such an idea. But after its first month the system known as Piano seems to be off and running and is even planning to expand beyond Slovakia’s borders.
Jobless rate remains stuck over 12 %
THOUGH graduation ceremonies might put some extra pressure on Slovakia’s struggling labour market as 122,000 young people leave their universities and secondary schools, economic analysts expect the country’s jobless rate to remain at its same level or even decline slightly through the remaining months of 2011. But they are also clear that the pre-crisis levels of unemployment are well beyond reach right now and will remain so for the next three or four years.
Enter the ‘Miss Compost’ contest
THOSE environmentally-friendly residents of Slovakia who are composting organic household wastes can now enter a competition that will find the best compost in the country. Two environmental organisations, Priatelia Zeme-SPZ (Friends of the Earth-SPZ) and the Centre for Environmental Activities, announced the first year of the national contest called Miss Compost in early May, with an enrolment deadline of August 31.
“Scandalous” dealings at STV
THE RESULTS of an audit of the finances of public-service Slovak Television (STV) for the past year are “scandalous” Culture Minister Daniel Krajcer was quoted as saying on June 21 by the TASR newswire. STV merged with Slovak Radio to form Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) at the beginning of this year.
Hospital worker charged with murder
A HEALTH-CARE worker at the Bratislava University Hospital at Kramáre has been charged with killing a 63-year-old woman by administrating a medication to her to decrease hypertension. The medicine stopped her heart.
Slovakia struggles to meet EU’s wastewater directive by 2015
SLOVAKIA had promised to provide wastewater treatment in all its municipalities with more than 2,000 residents by 2015. But according to a statement by Slovakia’s Environment Minister, József Nagy, on World Water Day in mid March, it is unlikely the country will meet this commitment it made before its entry into the EU in 2004, the TASR newswire reported.
Euro support guarantees divide coalition parties
THE SLOVAK cabinet approved an increase in the amount of the country’s guarantees to the European Financial Stabilisation Facility (EFSF) and its participation in a future European Stability Mechanism (ESM) that will begin in 2013. But there is no assurance that the cabinet’s decision will have enough weight in the national parliament since four ministers from the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party and one minister from the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), both of which are members of the four-party governing coalition, voted against Slovakia participating in the European programmes to assist member countries with financial difficulties.
Sale of six heating state plants begin
THE NATIONAL Property Fund (FNM) has begun the process of selling six state-owned heating plants, the Sme daily reported on June 22. The process will not end in complete private ownership as the state has promised that 5-percent of the shares of each heating company will remain under the control of the six municipalities. Local authorities will also be guaranteed a seat on the boards of directors.
Former mayor may face charges
THE FORMER mayor of Bratislava and a current member of parliament, Andrej Ďurkovský, has become the second sitting MP whose immunity from criminal prosecution could be removed by parliament. While the General Prosecutor’s Office said it could be a lengthy process before it decides on its recommendation concerning Ďurkovský’s immunity, some MPs from parties of the governing coalition have already said they would vote to remove the former mayor’s immunity.
Prosecutor elected; controversy remains
IT MAY take several months until Jozef Čentéš, elected as Slovakia’s next general prosecutor in a secret ballot vote in parliament on June 17, will be able to occupy one of Slovakia’s most powerful public positions. President Ivan Gašparovič announced that he will not appoint Čentéš, the ruling coalition’s candidate, until the country’s Constitutional Court rules about the constitutionality of the previous action by MPs that modified the rules of parliamentary order to change the voting method for choosing the general prosecutor from a secret ballot to a public, recorded ballot.
Bratislava has the oldest newlyweds in Slovakia
LAST YEAR, 3,335 men living in the Bratislava Region married, 74 less than the previous year, the TASR newswire reported based on data from Slovakia’s Statistics Office. The most weddings – 806 – involved grooms from Bratislava V district and the fewest, 238, lived in Bratislava I district. Last year’s nuptials were the first marriages for 80.93 percent of the men and 84.2 percent of the women.
The 4th puppet festival: a Grimm affair
THE FOURTH international puppet festival, organised by the Bratislava Puppet Theatre (Bratislavské bábkové divadlo, BBD) between June 16 and 19 was dedicated to the work of the Grimm brothers.
Baroque opera comes to Schlosshof
THE BAROQUE style of the Great Hungarian Empire will be revived on July 3 in Austria’s Schlosshof Palace when the opera “Il Parnaso Confuso” by Christoph Willibald Gluck will be staged at this venue.
New consumer protections for specific holiday products
Integration processes generally go hand in hand with the foundation of large multinational corporations in all fields of services, and with the creation of a wide non-transparent product range. To protect customers as service consumers from economically stronger partner, new legislation on the European level has been adopted to strengthen the position of consumers in individual fields of the consumer society, including tourism.
Disposing of old cars in Slovakia
THE NUMBER of authorised car disposal businesses currently operating in Slovakia is 37 – along with an extensive network of additional collection sites. The SITA newswire wrote in mid June that Slovakia’s Recycling Fund has aided in developing this comprehensive system for collection and processing the components of old cars.
Čechomor brings "rockier" folk music on its new CD
THE CZECH band known as Čechomor, popular in Slovakia, plays a “rockier” version of traditional Czech folk music, especially Moravian songs. The group performed at Bratislava’s new theatre-music club, Ateliér Babylon, on June 10 and offered a debut performance of cuts from their first new CD in six years (except for a live recording), titled Místečko.
A mountain haven for bandits
THE VACATION VILLAGE of Oravice, whose roots go back to 1608, lies north of the Západné Tatry (Western Tatras) mountain range. In that year, the owner of Orava Castle, Juraj Thurzo, began to colonise the heavily-forested region.
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