Archive of articles - October 2011, page 2
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Banks remain cautious lenders
THE FINANCING of central and eastern European real estate has shown signs of improvement during the last 12 months but the situation remains uncertain. There has been a significant increase in real estate investment transactions compared to 2010, but the performance of real estate has varied greatly across different countries and asset classes.
Delinquent real estate auctions
FINANCIAL problems faced by the owners of real estate are sending more reclaimed properties to the auction block in Slovakia. The number of auctioned properties is well above the level before 2009 and the number of such properties that could be tagged as luxurious is increasing, according to Martin Krnčan from Dražobná Spoločnosť, an auction company, the TASR newswire wrote in early August.
Countrywide Events
Western SLOVAKIA
Most Slovaks earn less than Czechs
THE AVERAGE gross monthly salary in Slovakia reached €896 in the third quarter and though that average is 12 percent higher than in Hungary it is 11 percent less than the average salary in the Czech Republic, according to an online survey conducted by Platy.sk, a website that collects information on salaries and is operated by Profesia, a job search portal.
PM negotiates on Greek debt
“SUCCESSFUL” is the word Slovakia’s Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš used to assess the initial outcomes of a summit by eurozone leaders to find an effective band aid for Greece’s bleeding debt as well as the right tools to confront possible financial contagion spreading across Europe.
Svätci
ALL SAINTS Day is just around the corner. Slovaks increasingly wish to have “saintly peace” (svätý pokoj) and not be bothered by endless political hassles. Voters of the right stand bemused like a “saint behind the village” (svätý za dedinou), not having a clue whom to support in the upcoming early elections since their camp absurdly opened the door for the return of Robert Fico. It’s likely “even a saint couldn’t help”.
Labaš questioned over Malinová report
THE CASE of Hedviga Malinová, which has become one of the lengthiest handled by the General Prosecutor’s Office, recently witnessed limited progress: the prosecutor and lawyers finally got to hear from the author of a medical report that supported the official view that Malinová was the culprit of an alleged assault rather than the victim.
Regulated rents remain a problem
EVEN though 22 years have elapsed since the fall of the communist regime, some issues linger from then and are still unresolved. One of these is the issue of regulated rents in properties which were confiscated by the communist state but then returned – but with their sitting tenants – to their pre-communist owners in the post-1989 process of restitution.
Evil joins the audience at the premiere of SND’s Otello
IN ITALIAN composer Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Otello the focus shifts slightly from the main characters, the Moor of Venice and his wife Desdemona, to the nefarious plotter Iago. Unlike in the Shakespearian Othello, this Iago “needs no strong motive for doing evil – he commits evil for evil’s sake”, states the bulletin accompanying the opera currently being staged by the Slovak National Theatre (SND). Perhaps the most dramatic moment in the entire opera comes at the end when Iago contentedly watches as a jealous and half-mad Othello learns the truth about how he was deceived into killing his wife and then commits suicide. After the climax, Iago calmly stands up, walks into the audience and casually takes a seat. The notion that evil is not always an obvious threat or only an onstage monster – but perhaps your rather inconspicuous neighbour – can send goosebumps down your spine.
Expedition seeks Štefánik’s towers
SLOVAK statesman Milan Rastislav Štefánik, who helped establish the first state of Czechs and Slovaks after the end of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, was also an avid traveller, discoverer and astronomer. On Vava’u – one of the islands that are part of the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean – Štefánik constructed two concrete towers that were used to observe a total eclipse of the sun on April 28, 1911.
Prices keep falling
THE 2008-2009 economic crisis and current concerns about the future of the euro and the possibility of another global recession have had a significant impact on Slovakia’s real estate market. Even though the average sales price per square metre of residential real estate in Bratislava has decreased for the past three years many young people are continuing to search for smaller and more affordable flats.
Quote of the week
“For the party it is as if Lionel Messi had left Barcelona. It doesn’t mean Barcelona will not win the league.”
The peak and the eagle
THIS POSTCARD dates back to the beginning of the 1920s and shows a reproduction of a picture by Czech painter Jaroslav Šetelík, who probably painted the scene from one of the windows of a hotel in Dolný Smokovec (Lower Smokovec). Dolný Smokovec was built, like many other Tatra settlements, because it had a natural spring with acidic mineral water.
Arbitration court closes dividend case
SLOVAKIA can now spend the €1 billion that it might have had to pay to a shareholder in two of Slovakia’s private health insurers after the European Court of Arbitration in Strasbourg issued a final ruling about Slovak legislation that was ruled unconstitutional by Slovakia’s Constitutional Court earlier this year.
CE.ZA.AR awards announced
FRESH projects by young architects – this is what captured the attention of Czech architect Jiří Suchomel in the works submitted for the tenth year of the CE.ZA.AR architecture competition. The winning architects accepted their prizes in the annual competition organised by the Slovak Chamber of Architects for their “excellent professional accomplishments in completing architectural works that significantly contribute to the enrichment of Slovak culture” at a gala event on October 13.
Institutions and organisations in construction and real estate
Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development
Radnička café reopens
AFTER Bratis- lava’s Old Town Hall (Stará radnica) re-opened in early summer after its two-year reconstruction, one important obligation remained. Before the hall had closed it was the site of a café called Radnička (a diminutive for town hall) that in addition to its good food and pleasant ambience employed disabled people. The café has now reopened to the delight of many guests.
That elusive decency factor
DECENCY, a rather scarce item on offer in Slovakia’s politics, is not something that is acquired by training and even if some politicians have it, decency easily gets flushed away by the political streams that elected leaders are required to swim in. Slovakia’s first woman prime minister, Iveta Radičová, offered decency when she entered politics and she displayed it in her 16 months in office.
Radičová: Slovakia won't contribute to increase in Greek bailout
Slovakia is the only member of the eurozone to acquire an exemption from contributing towards the increase in the second bailout mechanism for Greece, said Prime Minister Iveta Radičová on Thursday, October 27, following negotiations at the EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday.
KDH leader Figeľ donates his flat to charity as promised
More than a year after facing criticism in the media over his cut-price acquisition and continued ownership of a large flat in a desirable location in the centre of the capital, Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) chairman Ján Figeľ has donated to charity the apartment he bought from Bratislava's Old Town. Figeľ gave the apartment to the civic association Bol raz jeden človek (Once upon a time, there was a human), he told a news conference on Thursday, October 27.
- Slovakia brings back border checks with Hungary and Austria starting April 8
- Last Week: And then they came for the NGOs
- Parts of Bratislava to witness significant development in near future
- News digest: Crisis, what crisis? Culture minister's empty limousine tours Europe
- Foot-and-mouth outbreak hits major Slovak cattle farm near Austrian and Czech borders Photo
- What abides: Giving a shit
- Strange romance: Slovak leaders’ affection for Russia has yo-yoed
- Slovakia’s Gorals gain recognition. Historians say it is a joke. Photo
- Last Week: And then they came for the NGOs
- Slovakia brings back border checks with Hungary and Austria starting April 8
- What abides: Giving a shit
- Foot-and-mouth outbreak hits major Slovak cattle farm near Austrian and Czech borders Photo
- Don’t be afraid to use cash, say entrepreneurs as transaction tax begins
- Strange romance: Slovak leaders’ affection for Russia has yo-yoed
- Slovakia’s Gorals gain recognition. Historians say it is a joke. Photo
- Štítnik resumes hand-crafting Christmas ornaments after 25 years
- Last Week: And then they came for the NGOs
- What abides: Giving a shit
- Slovakia brings back border checks with Hungary and Austria starting April 8
- Štítnik resumes hand-crafting Christmas ornaments after 25 years
- A partnership centuries in the making
- Strange romance: Slovak leaders’ affection for Russia has yo-yoed
- From Mexico to Slovakia – finding a new life Audio
- News digest: Crisis, what crisis? Culture minister's empty limousine tours Europe
- What abides: Giving a shit
- Last Week: And then they came for the NGOs
- Foot-and-mouth outbreak hits major Slovak cattle farm near Austrian and Czech borders Photo
- From Mexico to Slovakia – finding a new life Audio
- Trading McDonald’s for the front lines
- Slovakia brings back border checks with Hungary and Austria starting April 8
- A paper that wasn’t supposed to last
- Strange romance: Slovak leaders’ affection for Russia has yo-yoed
- News digest: PM Fico questions Europe's rearmament
- Young Slovak ice-hockey sensation helps her team secure US title
- One of the biggest car makers enters Slovak market
- Parts of Bratislava to witness significant development in near future
- Last Week: And then they came for the NGOs
- Slovakia brings back border checks with Hungary and Austria starting April 8
- News digest: Crisis, what crisis? Culture minister's empty limousine tours Europe
- Don’t be afraid to use cash, say entrepreneurs as transaction tax begins
