Archive of articles - November 2011, page 8
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Hundreds of police swoop on alleged organised crime group
At least 350 police officers took part in a series of night-time raids against organised crime groups operating in Bratislava Region during the early hours of November 15. The operation, code-named Eden, was the biggest in the history of independent Slovakia, and resulted in 20 people being arrested and 23 people being charged, the SITA newswire reported.
Samsung gets €28-million tax relief to continue producing in Slovakia
Korean company Samsung will not leave Slovakia, the head of its Samsung Electronics division, Boo-Keun Yoon, has promised Slovak Labour Minister Jozef Mihál. Though the announcement was intended to end speculation about a possible move by the Korean firm’s Slovak operations to Romania, Yoon admitted that the production of LCD screens faced serious problems, the SITA newswire reported.
Samsung will receive additional tax break from Slovakia
South Korean-based Samsung company will continue production in Slovakia, according to Labour Minister Jozef Mihál who during his visit to South Korea met with Boo-Keun Yoon, the president of the Visual Display Division of Samsung Electronics, who denied media reports that the company may depart Slovakia, the SITA newswire wrote.
Slovakia’s government bond auction results in no sales
Slovakia did not sell any bonds at its November 14 auction of five-year government bonds because the demand for the bonds reached only €13 million and the average offered price was only 92.4923 percent, the Finance Ministry's Debt and Liquidity Management Agency (ARDAL) told the SITA newswire.
Law to freeze MPs’ and ministers' salaries to hit fast-tracked procedures
Slovakia’s Speaker of Parliament, Pavol Hrušovský, will propose freezing the salaries of lawmakers and members of the government at current levels in 2012 based on a draft bill that will be taken up by parliament in fast-tracked procedures, Hrušovský and Prime Minister Iveta Radičová reported after their meeting on November 14, the SITA newswire reported.
Disciplinary court takes action against judge involved in Mello release
A disciplinary court has found judge Stanislav D. of the Bratislava I District Court guilty of a disciplinary misdemeanour due to a procedural mistake that resulted in the release of Karol Mello, a fugitive who is accused of a double murder, the SITA newswire reported.
Slovak police arrest alleged heroin and fentanyl dealer
Denisa Baloghová, the Police Corps Presidium spokesperson, told the TASR newswire that an alleged major dealer in fentanyl (a synthetic opiate) and heroin in the Bratislava region, along with an associate, was arrested. The two individuals were identified only as Bujar S. and Jozef V. Bujar S., a native of Macedonia, and Jozef V. have been charged with drug-related crimes as well as unauthorised possession of weapons and illegal trading in weapons as a number of weapons were seized by the police during the arrest.
Amendment to loan funds for students and teachers is discussed
An amendment to the legislation governing the Student Loan Fund (SPF) and the Loan Fund for Beginning Teachers (PFZP) has been submitted by MP Miroslav Beblavý of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), who said the changes would improve management of the two funds, the TASR newswire reported. Beblavý stated that the amendment would introduce savings in the operation of the state-subsidised funds amounting to €160,000 a year and will prevent bonuses being paid to members of the funds' bodies.
Slovak political parties must register their slates by December 11
Political parties and party coalitions must submit their slates by December 11 if they want to participate in the parliamentary election set for March 10, Slovakia’s Central Election Commission (ÚVK) announced on November 14, as reported by the TASR newswire. The ÚVK will hold its first meeting on December 16 to select its chairman and vice-chair, the TASR newswire wrote. For a party slate to be registered with the ÚVK it must pay a deposit of €16,596.
Bratislava ranks poorly among European cities for ease of doing business
Bratislava finished in 32nd place out of 36 cities in Europe for its ease of doing business according to the European Cities Monitor 2011 prepared by Cushman & Wakefield consultancy, the TASR newsier reported. Bratislava was worse than other regional cities in the survey, as Warsaw finished 21st, Prague was 25th, Bucharest was 27th and Budapest was 29th. The Slovak capital ranked ahead of Oslo, Rome, Moscow and Athens.
Dzurinda attends Council of EU Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels
Foreign Affairs Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda attended a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Council of the European Union in Brussels, the TASR newswire reported. The meeting was convened to discuss the drafting of an EU stance prior to a December conference on Afghanistan.
Foreign Affairs Ministry questions Ethiopian response to ambassador’s detention
Though Ethiopia has replied to Slovakia’s diplomatic note sent in connection with the detaining and subsequent release of Slovak ambassador to Ethiopia, Milan Dubček, the Slovak Foreign Ministry finds the explanation inadequate, the TASR newswire reported on November 12.
Hrušovský wants to discuss the freezing of MP’s salaries with Radičová
Speaker of Parliament Pavol Hrušovský announced that he would like to meet Prime Minister Iveta Radičová to discuss the freezing the salaries of constitutional representatives, other than judges, in 2012, the TASR newswire reported.
Consumer prices increase 4.4 percent year-on-year in October
Consumer prices in Slovakia increased 4.4 percent year-on-year in October, the country’s Statistics Office announced on November 11, with a monthly increase of 0.2 percent.
Attorney tells TA3 that Čentéš’s court complaint may have consequences to President Gašparovič
President Ivan Gašparovič’s decision not to appoint elected General Prosecutor Jozef Čentéš could be costly to the president as the TA3 news channel reported on November 13 that if the Constitutional Court finds that Čentéš’s rights had been violated the court could order sanctions against the president.
Books in English now available in Slovakia
A Dictionary of Computing (Oxford Paperback Reference). J. Daintith, E. Wright. Oxford University Press, 2008. With expanded coverage of networking and databases, feature spreads on key topics, and a section with biographical entries, this comprehensive reference work encompasses all aspects of the subject. It has been fully revised by a team of specialists and contains over 6,500 entries, many new to this edition. The dictionary recommends web links for many entries, accessible via the Dictionary of Computing companion website, which provide valuable extra information. It also contains coverage of computing terms in industry, school, work, education, and home, including internet, multimedia, networks and databases, which are defined in a concise manner with helpful examples where relevant. My Antonia. Willa S. Cather. Oxford World’s Classic, 2008. Willa Seibert Cather, US Pulitzer Prize laureate (1923, for One of Ours), depicts in this book from 1918 the pioneering period of European settlement of the American Midwest, with its beautiful yet terrifying landscape and rich ethnic mix of immigrants and native-born Americans. Jim Burden recounts his memories of Antonia Shimerda, who settles in Nebraska with her family from Bohemia. Together they share childhoods spent in a new world. Jim leaves the prairie for college and a career in the east, while Antonia devotes herself to her large family and productive farm. Her story is that of the land itself, a moving portrait of endurance and strength. Headhunters. Jo Nesbo. Translated from Norwegian by Don Bartlett. Harvill Secker, 2011. Roger Brown is a top Norwegian executive headhunter, with a beautiful wife, magnificent house and a successful business. However, he leads a double life: he uses his connections and contacts acquired in his official career to steal precious works of art. One day he meets Clas Greve, the perfect candidate for a position with Roger’s biggest client, and also owner of one of the most sought-after paintings in the world (by Rubens). Roger enters Greve’s flat – and his position changes from hunter to hunted. This best-selling thriller has been made into a film by Morten Tyldum, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Aksel Hennie and Julie R. Olgaard. The Kite Runner. Khaled Hosseini. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2004. Twelve-year-old Amir is desperate to win the approval of his father and resolves to win the local kite-fighting tournament to prove that he has the makings of a man. His loyal friend Hassan promises to help him but they are in 1970s Afghanistan and Hassan is a low-caste servant who is jeered at in the street even though Amir is sometimes jealous of his natural courage and the place he holds in his father’s heart. But after the Russians invade the country and Amir’s family is forced to flee to America, Amir realises that one day he must return, to find the one thing that his new world cannot grant him – redemption. Hosseini is a US-Afghani writer; The Kite Runner, his debut novel, became an international bestseller and catapulted him to fame. This column is a selection by The Slovak Spectator of English-language books recently released in Slovakia; it does not represent an endorsement of any of the books selected. The column is prepared in cooperation with the Oxford Bookshop Bratislava.
How do you make a successful entry into the Slovak labour market?
Entry into a foreign labour market represents an important strategic decision for any company. Despite a relatively high unemployment rate the Slovak labour market is a competitive environment and so it is crucial for an investor to answer the following four questions prior to their entry. What is the brand awareness of the investor’s brand in the Slovak market? Brand awareness plays a key role in a successful recruitment process. Entering companies operating in a business-to-consumer area usually have a significant head-start compared with local start-ups or even global business-to-business companies. One must therefore differentiate between company brand awareness and employer brand awareness. At the start of the recruitment process it is advisable to carry out a survey focused on the brand awareness of the entering company, in which the candidate target group and the position of the company is assessed in terms of the competition that the company will face. Another important step in the survey is to explore any possible risks of confusion with another brand, for example similar-sounding brands, prejudices that candidates associate with the brand-name, and so on. The results of the survey should be incorporated not only within a company’s recruitment strategy when it is launching its operations, but also in financing the strategic plan for recruitment marketing, which should reflect the specific details of the Slovak labour market.
President axes transformation
THE HEALTH Ministry’s biggest project – the transformation of state-run hospitals into joint-stock companies, something which the government says will improve their financial management – will not happen as Slovakia's president intervened to block it. Even though this seems to meet one of the main demand of protesting doctors, it has not made them back down from their resolve to leave their jobs in December.
Slovak designer wows Łódź
A SLOVAK designer emerged as the overall winner at Poland's biggest fashion event of the year, FashionPhilosophy Fashion Week in Łódź, at the end of October. Twenty finalists from all over Europe presented their collections, but Slovak Andrea Pojezdálová took the top prize.
MPs ponder freezing their own salaries
AFTER assessing pay demands made by teachers and physicians, the government of Iveta Radičová, pressed by the gloomy prospect of an economic slowdown and a swelling deficit, is now looking at its own pay and that of other public officials. While the wages of teachers and physicians are likely to go up in order to forestall further tension in the health or education sectors, the cabinet will propose freezing the salaries of constitutional officials including MPs and ministers.
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