Archive of articles - January 2012, page 8
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SPP to maintain household bills despite Gazprom deal
Despite a recent deal between Slovak gas utility Slovenský Plynárenský Priemysel (SPP) and its main supplier, Russia’s Gazprom, securing better terms for the Slovak firm’s purchases of natural gas purchases over the next 20 years, the company does not intend to reduce the prices that it charges household customers, the Sme daily reported.
Radičová says military defence unit bought equipment after the minister’s dismissal
Pavol Brychta, the sacked director of Slovakia’s Military Defence Intelligence (VOS), decided to purchase software and hardware equipment worth €100,000 a day after former defence minister Ľubomír Galko from Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party was recalled from his post on November 23, 2011, Prime Minister Iveta Radičová said on January 16, as reported by the TASR newswire. "There's no contract, there are no records of a selection procedure, and what's outrageous is that the sum was paid within days," Radičová stated, as quoted by TASR. The prime minister is in charge of the ministry until the March early general election.
US ambassador updates PM Radičová on new defence strategy
Even though the new US defence strategy is shifting to more focus on the Pacific region, the importance of cooperation with Europe continues to be high, US Ambassador to Slovakia Theodore Sedgwick said during a meeting with Prime Minister Iveta Radičová on January 16, the TASR newswire wrote. "The size of a country isn't important. What matters is its standing within NATO, its fulfilment of commitments and its reliability. Slovakia is indeed a reliable partner and, just like the US, has rolled out a new strategic evaluation of defence and new decisions; Slovakia too is working on a parallel strategic evaluation," Radičová stated, as quoted by TASR.
Slovenská Pošta launches website for personalised stamps
Slovenská Pošta (Slovak Post) has launched a new web application through which a customer can create and order a postage stamp with his or her own portrait.
Slovakia successfully sells 364-day treasury notes worth €294.5 million
Slovakia’s Debt Management and Liquidity Agency (ARDAL) sold 364-day state treasury bills worth €294.5 million on January 16, with foreign investors purchasing €1 million of the notes, the TASR newswire reported.
Poll finds Slovaks spent average of €447 in e-shops in 2011
Slovaks last year spent an average of €447 in e-shops, €34 more than in 2010, the heureka.sk and heureka.cz websites determined via a poll. These two portals compare thousands of internet shops and their goods and prices. The poll was conducted at the beginning of this year with 2,000 respondents.
PM Radičová asks intelligence service to explain circumstances of Gorilla case
It is up to politicians and political parties to decide whether they will take responsibility for the allegation contained in the Gorilla documents, said Prime Minister Iveta Radičová from the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) at a press conference on January 16. She was speaking in response to the statement by Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party leader Richard Sulík a day earlier suggesting that Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš and Foreign Affairs Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda (both from SDKÚ) should withdraw from the party's slate of candidates. Radičová also said she had addressed a letter to the director of the Slovak Intelligence Service (SIS), Karol Mitrík, requesting explanations regarding the file. She asked specifically when SIS was aware of suspicions of alleged influence-peddling during the 2002-2006 government led by Dzurinda reportedly contained in the leaked documents, whether SIS had permission to use the intelligence gathering tools it used, and why the investigation was subsequently closed.
New board chairman chosen for state-run VOP Nováky military firm
An agreement has been reached between the Defence Ministry and Sitno Holding, a private company, on how the €70,000 loan that the Nováky Military Maintenance Company (VOP), a state-run company, received from Sitno last year should be settled, Prime Minister Iveta Radičová told the TASR newswire on January 16.
Passenger numbers fall at Bratislava Airport in 2011 but revenues increase
Bratislava's M.R. Štefánik airport (BTS) expects that the number of travellers using the airport in 2011 fell by 4 percent year-on-year, BTS spokesperson Dana Madunická told the TASR newswire on January 16 with nearly 1.6 million people flying in or out of the airport. Despite the drop in passengers, the spokesperson reported that revenues probably rose by a few percent in 2011. The trend in 2011 followed the trend in the previous year ever since SkyEurope airline went bankrupt in 2009, Madunická said, adding that despite unrest in certain Arab countries in early 2011, which resulted in the cancellation of dozens of flights, the airport saw an increase in interest in charter flights.
Slovakia’s national bank comments on 2011 inflation rate
The rise of prices in Slovakia in 2011 followed trends in the eurozone reporting higher inflation in 2011 compared to 2010, but price growth was higher in Slovakia than the average in the euro zone, the country's central bank (NBS) said in a commentary on January 16, the TASR newswire reported. The EU-harmonised inflation rate in Slovakia over the past 12 months was 4.1 percent, up from rate of 0.7 percent rate in 2010, the NBS wrote, adding that the higher prices were due to higher energy and foodstuff prices as well as the introduction of measures aimed at consolidating public finances and the increase in the VAT rate (from 19 to 20 percent), the NBS wrote.
Slovakia’s harmonized inflation rate drops slightly to 4.6 percent in December
The annual growth of consumer prices as measured by the harmonized index of consumer prices (HICP) was 4.6 percent in December, a drop of 0.2 percentage points compared with the November inflation rate, which was the highest since August 2008, according to the Statistics Office. The average twelve-month inflation rate was 4.1 percent in December, up 0.3 percent from November, the SITA newswire reported.
Foxconn will lay off up to 600 employees at its Nitra factory
The second biggest producer of TV sets in Slovakia, Nitra-based Foxconn, will lay off up to 600 people. The main reason is reportedly resistance by its main purchaser, Sony, to buy sufficient quantities of the company’s products, the Hospodárske Noviny daily reported.
Dzurinda says he will not withdraw his candidacy due to the Gorilla case
The chair of the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, Richard Sulík, called upon Mikuláš Dzurinda and Ivan Mikloš to withdraw from the candidate list of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) because of the Gorilla case, the Sme daily reported while writing that Dzurinda does not want to repeat the step he took in 2010 when he did not stand for parliament because of questions about his party’s past financing.
S&P rating agency downgrades nine eurozone countries
The credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s carried out its threat from the beginning of December 2011 and downgraded the ratings of nine eurozone states, including Slovakia, which was given the rating A with a stable outlook, the SITA newswire reported.
Nitra hosts racing pigeons
WHILE breeding of racing pigeons is a serious business abroad, it is mostly a hobby in Slovakia. But interested hobbyists had an opportunity to see about 700 of these birds, sometimes called carrier pigeons, at a two-day exhibition at the Agrokomplex fairgrounds in Nitra beginning on January 6.
Košice swimmers enjoy a refreshing New Year’s dip
THE KOŠICE Seals (Košické tulene), a club of people who are “winter-swimming fans” bid farewell to 2011 in a rather untraditional way by holding a group swim in a lake in the Košice borough of Nad jazerom. About twenty hardy swimmers tested the lake water, which was only about three degrees Celsius; the youngest participant was 10 years old and the oldest was 70.
Fairs and exhibitions scheduled for other Slovak cities in 2012
A selection of some of the fairs and exhibitions that are planned for other cities in Slovakia this year:
Župkov parties with pig slaughter
A DESIRE to revive old traditions – and also to relish fresh delicacies – led volunteers organised by the Župkov amateur sports club to hold an end-of-year pig slaughter and then make various traditional delicacies.
Learning tolerance and non-violence
REJECTING the use of violence is not an expression of weakness and very often requires great inner strength and self-discipline, said Rajiva Misra, India's ambassador to Slovakia, adding that whenever people want to change their societies, they must first bring about change in themselves. Ambassador Misra spoke with high school students in Rimavská Sobota in early December last year. The ambassador stressed that his country, with one billion-plus citizens, more than 20 official languages and a multitude of religions and cultures which often look physically different from each other, must take the path of tolerance and non-violence, stressing that “if India is not tolerant, then there would be no India”.
Some fairs and exhibitions at Incheba in Bratislava
A selection of fairs and exhibitions being held this year at Incheba in Bratislava:
- He said he wanted a guitar and ran away. About the time a famous NHL team picked up an unknown Slovak
- Weekend: What to make of Easter in Slovakia
- News digest: Finns air unseen video of Fico shooting, PM’s bloody jacket driven away by minister
- Hundreds of people ousted from Bratislava’s Volkswagen
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Around Slovakia
- US giant pulls plug on Slovak factory, axing 137 jobs
- Prices surge in Slovakia as inflation hits 15-month high
- Hundreds of people ousted from Bratislava’s Volkswagen
- Weekend: What to make of Easter in Slovakia
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- News digest: Finns air unseen video of Fico shooting, PM’s bloody jacket driven away by minister
- US giant pulls plug on Slovak factory, axing 137 jobs
- When to shop over Easter: Opening hours for supermarkets in Slovakia
- Prices surge in Slovakia as inflation hits 15-month high
- Cockroaches and crumbling toilets greet seven-year-old battling serious virus
- “Return not,” the ocean cried. But I returned for her
- German shoemaker Lowa joins wave of factory closures in Slovakia
- Hundreds of people ousted from Bratislava’s Volkswagen
- US giant pulls plug on Slovak factory, axing 137 jobs
- Prices surge in Slovakia as inflation hits 15-month high
- When to shop over Easter: Opening hours for supermarkets 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
- A café in an ice cellar, sand dunes and a flower shop at the border
- “Return not,” the ocean cried. But I returned for her
- Hollywood turns Slovak highlands into high-speed playground Video
- German shoemaker Lowa joins wave of factory closures in Slovakia
- Chicken Jockey! Chicken Jockey! Chicken Jockey! Video
- Danish shoemaker to shut Slovak factory, axing 650 jobs in fresh blow to struggling region
- Hundreds of people ousted from Bratislava’s Volkswagen
- Prices surge in Slovakia as inflation hits 15-month high
- Slovakia's latest basketball star is destined for great things in the USA
- News digest: Finns air unseen video of Fico shooting, PM’s bloody jacket driven away by minister
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- He has been disciplined for delays. Now he will lead Slovakia’s top court
- Slovak startup Upfan declares war on fake tickets
- Smer MEP tells Slovaks to learn the EU’s rules – so they can break free from Brussels
- Too small to cope alone, Slovak villages are teaming up
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners More articles ›
