Archive of articles - January 2012, page 7
If you desire to read an old article, use the search bar or select the publication date.
Brazil: General facts
Political system: federal republicCapital: BrasíliaTotal area: 8,511,965 square kilometresPopulation: 192 millionOfficial language: PortugueseCurrency: real
Bubeníková no longer acting as head of FNM, successor unknown
The former head of the National Property Fund (FNM) state privatisation agency, Anna Bubeníková, is no longer acting as chair of the FNM executive board, board spokesperson Miloslav Homola said on Thursday, January 19. Bubeníková said she respects the government's decision to dismiss her last week, but rejects the reasons that were used to justify the move, the TASR newswire reported.
Lipšic confirms that SIS did carry out an operation codenamed Gorilla
A wiretapping operation codenamed Gorilla was indeed carried out by the Slovak Information Service (SIS) intelligence agency, Interior Minister Daniel Lipšic (Christian Democratic Movement (KDH)) confirmed on Thursday, January 19. A leaked but as-yet uncorroborated file with the same codename, including claims of high-level corruption in 2005-6, has been circulating online since mid December and has received blanket media coverage in Slovakia.
Slovak Telekom general meeting votes against dividends payment
Slovak Telekom's majority shareholder Deutsche Telekom decided at a shareholders' meeting held on Thursday, January 19, to again refuse to pay dividends worth €258 million. It was the latest in a protracted series of general meetings in which representatives of the state, which owns 49 percent of the company, have tried to secure payment of an extraordinary dividend from retained earnings. The Slovak Economy Ministry, which holds part of the state's share, said the continued refusal was not justified.
Gorilla continues its political rampage
ONE thing political ethics watchdogs and senior politicians can agree on, just weeks ahead of Slovakia’s March 10 parliamentary elections, is that the Gorilla file, containing alleged transcripts of secret recordings of senior politicians, government officials and businesspeople made by the country’s main spy agency in 2005-6, must be thoroughly investigated. If authentic, the file would indicate that high-level state corruption was widespread at the time.
OKS approaches human rights committee over ÚPN sackings
Independent MPs Peter Zajac and Ondrej Dostál (both of the Civic Conservative Party (OKS)) want the situation at the Nation’s Memory Institute (ÚPN) to be debated at the next session of the parliamentary committee for minorities and human rights on January 26, the MPs announced on Wednesday, January 18.
Embraco hires more workers in Spišská Nová Ves
Brazilian compressor maker Embraco is hiring more temporary employees at its plant in Spišská Nová Ves. It plans to take on around 150 new staffers to work a second shift on its production line making modern compressors for household cooling, general manager Norbert Brath told the SITA newswire on Thursday, January 19. The company is hiring new people due to a growing number of orders and the launch of new production facilities. The company will provide temporary jobs to new workers via an employment agency. If the favourable market situation continues and the new hires perform well they will be offered permanent contracts, Brath added.
Gas utility SPP starts selling electricity
Gas utility SPP has started selling electricity too. As of the beginning of this year small and medium-sized businesses can order electricity from Slovakia’s biggest natural-gas supplier. “We want to boost our position as the biggest energy supplier on the Slovak market. SPP meets all the prerequisites for success in the business of electricity,” said SPP chairman Jean-Jacques Ciazynski, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
Slovakia summonsed over Transpetrol share purchase from Yukos
Slovakia has been summonsed by a Dutch court over its purchase of a 49-percent stake in national oil pipeline operator Transpetrol. Representatives of the Yukos International, the rump of a now-defunct Russian oil giant, from which Slovakia purchased the shares in 2009, asked the Amsterdam District Court in late 2011 to order ABN Amro Bank N.V. to unfreeze and transfer Slovakia’s payment of USD240 million to its account, the SITA newswire reported on Wednesday, January 18.
No action taken to appoint new chair of Slovakia’s National Property
The dismissed head of the National Property Fund (FNM), Anna Bubeníková, remains in her office as Miloslav Homola, the head of the office of the FNM executive committee, told the SITA newswire that Bubeníková came to the FNM office on January 18 and wanted to provide her portfolio to her successor but that could not be accomplished.
Volkswagen Slovakia reports successful 2011 and further expansion
Volkswagen Slovakia (VW SK) enjoyed a successful year in 2011, its chairman of the board of directors, Albrecht Reimold, told the TASR newswire after his meeting on January 18 with Prime Minister Iveta Radičová.
Israel to award 17 Slovaks with Righteous among Nations Award
Seventeen additional Slovaks will be awarded the title 'Righteous among the Nations' that is given to non-Jews who helped save the lives of Jews during World War II, the Israeli Embassy informed the TASR Newswire on January 18. The awards ceremony organised by Israel and the Jerusalem-based memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, Yad Vashem, will take place on February 1 in the historical building of the Slovak parliament and will be attended by Slovakia's top constitutional representatives.
Čentéš rejects president's statements about possible bias in Gorilla case
Jozef Čentéš, the General Prosecutor-elect, who has been waiting to be appointed to the post by President Ivan Gašparovič since last June, responded on January 18 to the president's recent statements that Čentéš would not be impartial in handling the so-called Gorilla case, the TASR newswire reported. "I peremptorily reject claims that I as a person wouldn't vouch for impartiality vis-a-vis the Gorilla case. I was appointed to sit on the working group of prosecutors on the issue in question based on a decision that had been made by the first deputy of the General Prosecutor, not following my own initiative," Čentéš wrote in a statement, as quoted by TASR.
Kia produced 252,000 cars in Slovakia in 2011
Korean-owned carmaker Kia Motors Slovakia produced more than 252,000 cars in the country last year, representing growth of 10 percent year-on-year, company spokesman Dušan Dvořák told the TASR newswire on Tuesday, January 17. Production of engines increased by 12 percent during the same period, with over 359,000 petrol and diesel engines leaving the company’s Slovak assembly lines.
Police ask Gašparovič to allow SIS head Mitrík to speak about Gorilla
Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič received a written request from the police on Thursday, January 12, asking him to lift the code of secrecy from Slovak Information Service (SIS) spy agency director Karol Mitrík in connection with the so-called Gorilla case, presidential spokesman Marek Trubač has confirmed, as reported by the Aktualne.sk website. "He [Gašparovič] wants to decide whether to remove the code of secrecy from the current director [Mitrík] within the shortest time possible," Trubač said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.
Appellate court orders new trial in Deaflympics case
The appellate senate of the Banská Bystrica Regional Court has accepted an appeal by former Slovak Deaflympic Committee chief Jaromír Ruda and Košice-based notary Stanislav Furda, who were previously convicted by a first-instance court and sentenced to thirteen and fourteen years respectively on charges of embezzling €1.6 million that had been designated for the 2011 Winter Deaflympics, the SITA newswire wrote on Tuesday, January 17.
AFP: Government shouldn't vote on contract with Microsoft just yet
Political ethics watchdog Fair-Play Alliance (AFP) has called on the Slovak government not to vote on a contract with Microsoft worth €52 million before "all relevant questions are answered in a clear way”, Peter Kunder of AFP said on Tuesday, January 17, the TASR newswire reported.
Doubt cast on authenticity of Gorilla file
File numbers contained in the so-called Gorilla file, a recently leaked document which purports to describe high-level corruption among senior government officials in 2005-6, do not match the numbers used to mark the files of the Slovak Information Service (SIS) intelligence agency, according to the chair of the parliamentary defence and security committee, Martin Fedor, and committee member Robert Kaliňák. The SIS is alleged to have been the ultimate source of the document. Because of this the committee has requested the head of SIS, Karol Mitrík, to submit the relevant documentation, the TASR newswire reported.
Poll suggests SDKÚ may be losing its leading position among centre-right parties
The Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) would get less than 10 percent of the vote, according to the latest poll conducted by the MVK polling agency between January 5 and 11. The party would be supported by only 9.3 percent of people and would be surpassed by one of its coalition partners, the Sme daily reported.
Slovakia registers highest unemployment rate among V4 countries
Though industrial production in Slovakia has been growing since the end of the economic crisis, companies based in the country have not yet hired as many employees as they earlier dismissed. This has resulted in Slovakia having the highest unemployment rate among the Visegrad Group (V4) of countries, according to UniCredit Bank analyst, Dávid Dereník. However, it is also has the highest labour productivity in the V4 – which also includes the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland – the TASR newswire reported.
- Prices surge in Slovakia as inflation hits 15-month high
- German shoemaker Lowa joins wave of factory closures in Slovakia
- When to shop over Easter: Opening hours for supermarkets in Slovakia
- News digest: House passes what activists and civic organisations call Russian law Photo
- US giant pulls plug on Slovak factory, axing 137 jobs
- News digest: A parade too far? Fico heads to Moscow despite EU warnings Video
- Cockroaches and crumbling toilets greet seven-year-old battling serious virus
- A storm within: crisis at Slovak weather agency could jeopardise air safety
- German shoemaker Lowa joins wave of factory closures in Slovakia
- News digest: A parade too far? Fico heads to Moscow despite EU warnings Video
- Danish shoemaker to shut Slovak factory, axing 650 jobs in fresh blow to struggling region
- Prices surge in Slovakia as inflation hits 15-month high
- When to shop over Easter: Opening hours for supermarkets in Slovakia
- “Return not,” the ocean cried. But I returned for her
- News digest: House passes what activists and civic organisations call Russian law Photo
- Chicken Jockey! Chicken Jockey! Chicken Jockey! Video
- German shoemaker Lowa joins wave of factory closures in Slovakia
- Danish shoemaker to shut Slovak factory, axing 650 jobs in fresh blow to struggling region
- A café in an ice cellar, sand dunes and a flower shop at the border
- News digest: A parade too far? Fico heads to Moscow despite EU warnings Video
- Last Week: Fico erupts as ‘Purgatory’ case heads to court
- News digest: President Pellegrini opposes PM Fico on several issues
- When to shop over Easter: Opening hours for supermarkets in Slovakia
- Prices surge in Slovakia as inflation hits 15-month high
- A café in an ice cellar, sand dunes and a flower shop at the border
- Hollywood turns Slovak highlands into high-speed playground Video
- You say nazdar, I say dovi
- Chicken Jockey! Chicken Jockey! Chicken Jockey! Video
- Bratislava opens new support centre for foreigners
- German shoemaker Lowa joins wave of factory closures in Slovakia
- Danish shoemaker to shut Slovak factory, axing 650 jobs in fresh blow to struggling region
- Last Week: Fico erupts as ‘Purgatory’ case heads to court
- US giant pulls plug on Slovak factory, axing 137 jobs
- News digest: House passes what activists and civic organisations call Russian law Photo
- Cockroaches and crumbling toilets greet seven-year-old battling serious virus
- Extremist with ties to Slovak ruling party arrested outside parliament
- Slovakia's top ice-hockey league finals may see a new record
- The Slovak singer who wants to help Czechia achieve its best result in Eurovision
- News digest: A parade too far? Fico heads to Moscow despite EU warnings Video
- “Return not,” the ocean cried. But I returned for her More articles ›
