Archive of articles - November 2011, page 13
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Diversification is the answer for investments
THE RECENT economic crisis, the threat of its return, as well as questions about the future of the eurozone have presented people who are lucky enough to have money with an extra dilemma: as well as the normal quest for growth, they must worry about how to protect their financial assets. Banks have recommended that clients diversify their investments, while customers have become more conservative, preferring safety over high yields.
Some banks active in Slovakia
Retail banks
Quote of the week
“We will certainly not throw ourselves on the rails. If others agree to it, we will not veto it.”
J&T to buy shares in Poštová Banka
SLOVAKIA’S Poštová Banka will have a new shareholder as Istrokapital SE, one of the bank’s major shareholders, signed a strategic partnership agreement with J&T Finance Group in which J&T will acquire a 9.9-percent stake in the bank, the TASR newswire reported.
Doctors not backing down
WHILE Slovakia’s teachers have curbed their rising frustration and announced on November 3 that they would continue negotiating with the Education Ministry over salaries rather than striking, the 2,000 or more doctors working in state-run hospitals who submitted notices to terminate their employment contracts in protest against conditions within their hospitals show no signs of backing down.
Slovak athletes to sport Čičmany motif at Olympics
SLOVAKIA has formally agreed to participate in the 30th Summer Olympic Games in London next summer and also decided on a folk-pattern design for the athletes’ attire, according to František Chmelár, the head of the Slovak Olympic Committee, who signed the Olympic application on October 24.
Slovaks’ savings rate is high in 2011
SLOVAKS are more likely to put aside some portion of their current income now than they were in the past. In the crisis year of 2009 Slovaks’ saving rate reached almost the highest level for the last decade and was then followed by only a moderate decrease, according to Marek Gábriš, an analyst with ČSOB bank, as reported by the SITA newswire.
Slovaks have low financial literacy
SLOVAKS say they are quite confident about their financial knowledge and ability to handle money but a recent survey found that their financial literacy is quite low. The results of a survey conducted by the ING financial group were that even though almost one-third of Slovaks believe they are knowledgeable about financial issues, only 12 percent actually had good or excellent financial skills, the SITA newswire wrote in late October.
A big touch of jazz
VIVID and full of energy on one hand, calm and mysterious on the other: jazz can be as different as the people who have dedicated their lives to playing it. The fact that this older musical style can combine very easily with rock as well as Latino rhythms could be attested to by anyone who was at the Incheba Expo Centre in Petržalka, the venue for Bratislava Jazz Days, during the October 21-23 weekend.
Profits for Slovak banks rise 54 pct
SLOVAKIA’s banking sector posted after-tax profits of €590.66 million for the first three quarters of 2011, a jump of 53.9 percent compared to the same period in 2010, the National Bank of Slovakia announced on October 31, as reported by the SITA newswire.
Day of Plums honours slivovica
SEVERAL distinctive traditional Slovak products were honoured as well as joyously sampled in mid-September at Gazdovský dvor, a farmyard in Turá Lúka that is part of the town of Myjava in western Slovakia near the Czech border. The Day of Plums included a conference for experts, theatre performances and much sampling of slivovica, Slovakia’s traditional plum brandy, as well as plum marmalade. The festival was even opened by the screening of a film made by student Šimon Horn called Slivovica – sila tradície (the power of tradition).
Catering to the wealthiest clients
PRIVATE banking is one sector which, at least in the Slovak banking business, has a relatively short history. Under communism, of course, the idea of a non-state-owned bank that catered solely to very wealthy clients would have been preposterous. But nowadays Slovakia has three banks that focus on private banking, as well as several retail banks that provide specialised services to their wealthiest clients. Since the potential size of the Slovak private banking market is estimated to be between €6 billion and €7 billion, of which only one-half is ‘sheltered’ by banks, analysts regard this sector has having considerable potential.
Too soon to really entertain
IT IS now showtime in Slovakia for every kind of political exhibitionist. As the elections approach, an assortment of political deviants – from fossils of the communist regime, to noisy buffoons, to people whose names are either remembered for a single spectacular failure or have long-since been forgotten – emerge from the woodwork of the public arena.
Countrywide Events
Western SLOVAKIA BratislavaBALLET: BALET Bratislava, a new ballet ensemble founded by choreographer Mário Radačovský, will start its artistic performances with the famous love story of Romeo and Juliet, put to music by Sergei Prokofiev and choreographed by Radačovský. The opening nights of Rómeo a Júlia in Bratislava will be on November 11 and 12, 2011; its home stage will be the Nová Scéna Theatre, Živnostenská 1. The cast includes Katarína Košíková (pictured), Natália Némethová and Veronika Hollá – all performing as Juliet – and Peter Dedinský (also pictured) and Canadian dancer Arthur Abram, appearing as Romeo. Tickets (€19-€24) can be bought through www.nova-scena.sk or www.ticketportal.sk.
Roman history across the border
ONLY until November 15 will visitors have a chance to see the Exhibition of Lower Austria 2011 that cost €42 million to assemble and is a cultural highlight of the region of eastern Austria. Since its opening in mid April, more than 450,000 people have visited one of the three sites making up the exhibition: the open-air museum at Petronell, the archaeological Museum Carnuntinum in Bad Deutsch-Altenburg and the Hainburg Culture Factory.
Slovak doubts over EC-proposed financial transaction tax
A FINANCIAL transaction tax, also known also as a Tobin tax or Robin Hood tax, is on the table again. In late September the European Commission adopted plans to introduce a financial transaction tax (FTT) from January 2014, which it hopes will be extended worldwide. The proposal has attracted varying responses and is expected to be discussed during the G20 summit of the largest global economies starting November 3. Slovakia’s stance is negative, at least for now.
NGOs make accessing public contracts easier
WATCHDOG groups that deal with transparency and political fairness have called last year’s law requiring all public contracts be published online the most significant anti-corruption measure taken by the outgoing government of Iveta Radičová. But less than one year later, the NGOs believe that the law on its own is not enough and say they are launching their own efforts to make sure the information generated under the law is more accessible and useable by the general public.
Low-price state auction raises doubts
AN ELECTRONIC auction of state-owned platinum mesh has now been added to the list of murky government deals. Even though the state agency responsible for the sale claims that it acted in line with all the rules, the opposition Smer party believes there was political deal and a cover-up, and a transparency watchdog group says the government needs to take further action.
'Three strikes' ruled constitutional
REPEAT offenders who commit more than three crimes can be imprisoned for life, the Constitutional Court has ruled in a case over the constitutionality of the ‘three strikes and you’re out’ principle, the TASR newswire reported.
SSS
CONFUSED by the number and names of local political parties? Afraid you’ll get lost in the upcoming election campaign? Here is a little guide to those parties that can be especially difficult to tell apart:
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- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access More articles ›
