Archive of articles - February 2012, page 9
If you desire to read an old article, use the search bar or select the publication date.
OKS plan to continue after elections
The Civic Conservative Party (OKS) will continue to work after the March 10 parliamentary election despite the fact that its candidates left the election slate of Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) last week and thereby lost any chance of being elected to parliament, party chairman Peter Zajac announced on Tuesday, February 14.
SIS member lodged motion over Gorilla file
The Sme daily has reported that a former member of the SIS intelligence service, Peter Holúbek, in October 2010, when he was still working for the SIS, filed a criminal complaint with the Interior Ministry about the Gorilla case in which he warned that during the SIS eavesdropping operation of that name facts had been acquired which suggested an organised effort had taken place with the potential to seriously threaten the economic interests of Slovakia.
Economic growth in Slovakia hits 3.4 percent in Q4 2011
The growth of the Slovak economy accelerated in the last quarter of 2011, according to the latest flash estimate of the Slovak Statistics Office. It reported that the year-on-year pace of real growth in gross domestic product (GDP) over the last three months of 2011 reached 3.4 percent, compared to 3 percent in the previous quarter. In quarterly terms, the Slovak economy maintained its solid pace of growth, increasing in size by 0.9 percent quarter-on-quarter. In the third quarter, the economy grew by 0.8 percent. Net of seasonal influences, GDP in the fourth quarter of last year went up 3.3 percent year-on-year.
Poll suggests SDKÚ support has dipped to around 5 percent
The Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) party, long the leading party on the centre-right of Slovak politics, risks losing its representation in parliament, according to the results of a new opinion poll. The survey, conducted by the Polis agency for TV news channel TA3, found that the party of former prime minister Mikuláš Dzurinda attracted the support of only 5.1 percent of respondents. Only parties that win more than 5 percent of the vote in a general election qualify for seats in parliament.
New parties surge in latest poll
Two new political parties are benefiting from voters’ apparent aversion to established parties whose members feature in the so-called Gorilla file. The results of an opinion poll conducted by the Focus polling agency for Radio and Television of Slovakia (RTVS) between February 1 and February 7 on sample of 1,053 respondents showed that Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) would defeat nearly all of its right-wing rivals. However, the poll took place before a large group of the party’s candidates left it last week following a row about whether candidates should submit to lie-detector tests, the TASR newswire reported.
Gorilla Protests to move from streets to meeting table
The fourth round of the Gorilla Protests and a planned march to the headquarters of the Penta financial group on Einsteinova Street in Bratislava which were to have been held on February 19 will not now take place after the organisers postponed the whole programme, the TASR newswire reported.
Moody’s downgrades Slovakia’s sovereign debt rating
Uncertainty over the prospects for institutional reform in the eurozone and the weak macroeconomic outlook across the region were the main reasons given by Moody’s Investors Service for its decision to downgrade the rating of six countries, including Slovakia. The country’s rating was decreased from A2 to A1 and its outlook changed to ‘negative’, the SITA newswire reported.
SDKÚ youth wing questions registration of the 99-Percent party
The Slovak Democratic and Christian Union's (SDKÚ) youth organisation called New Generation on February 13 asked the Interior Ministry and the Central Electoral Commission (ÚVK) to look into recently-published information about alleged forgery involving the registration of the 99 Percent-People's Voice party, the TASR newswire reported. Zuzana Huttová, a young woman who collected signatures to register the party, recently revealed that she had forged some of the signatures on the registration application form. She reportedly said that having been promised one euro for each entry she copied some of the names and addresses from a telephone directory and then fabricated ID-card numbers for those names.
SPP says regulator's decisions caused €200 million loss in household gas sector
Slovakia’s primary gas utility, Slovenský Plynárenský Priemysel (SPP), stated that it had a financial loss of €200 million in the regulated segment of household gas due to decisions by the Regulatory Office for Network Industries (ÚRSO) in setting prices for natural gas, the SITA newswire reported.
Survey reports 40 percent of Slovaks think there is no honest politician
A pollster reported that Slovaks seem disgusted with politics particularly after the so-called Gorilla file surfaced, with four in five of those polled saying that that politicians mentioned in the file do not have a moral right to run in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. The phone survey was conducted by the WakeUp polling agency from February 6 to February 10 among 1,496 respondents, the SITA newswire wrote based on information provided by Henrieta Bogdalíková of WakeUp.
Slovakia co-chairs EU-Tunisia task force meeting in Tunis
Slovakia and the Netherlands co-chaired the first EU-Tunisia task force meeting in Tunis, where Arab Spring protests started last year, the SITA newswire reported.
Slovak public TV will air talk show featuring Gorilla Protest organisers
Organisers of the series of Gorilla Protest rallies in Slovakia will receive television airtime following a decision to do so by public-service Radio and Television Slovakia (RTVS), the TASR newswire reported on February 13. A round-table discussion show, which will also feature additional guests such as political analysts, will be broadcast on RTVS channel 2 on the evening of February 15.
Transparency International evaluates Slovak laws that fight corruption
The best piece of legislation introduced by Iveta Radičová's government to fight corruption is the Act on Judges and Judicial Assistants, said Transparency International Slovakia (TIS) on February 13, as reported by the TASR newswire. The Act on Judges and Judicial Assistants introduced the publication of court decisions on the internet, a public selection process for judges, and detailed disclosure of property owned by judicial officials.
Air route from Sliač to Vienna scrapped before it started
The launch of a scheduled air route between the Sliač airport in central Slovakia and Vienna that had been announced to start at the end of March has been scrapped for now, the TASR newswire reported.
Year-on-year inflation in Slovakia hits 3.9 percent in January
Consumer prices in Slovakia increased by 3.9 percent year-on-year in January, the country’s Statistics Office announced on February 13, with the most significant price increases occurring in transport (7.6 percent) and in housing (5.7 percent). Significant price increases were also recorded in the categories of education (5.6 percent) and alcoholic drinks and tobacco (5 percent), the TASR newswire wrote, adding that prices decreased in postal and telecommunications services (0.1 percent).
Penta might sue Interior Minister Lipšic for statements about its Privatbanka
Representatives of the Penta financial group are considering filing a legal complaint against Interior Minister Daniel Lipšic for causing damage to the company’s reputation after he recently made statements about Privatbanka, a bank owned by Penta, the TASR newswire reported.
Fewer people attend third Gorilla Protest in Bratislava on February 10
The third round of protest demonstrations against political corruption held in Bratislava on February 10 attracted fewer people than a week earlier. The demonstration on February 3 had attracted about 15,000 people but only about 3,000 were present at SNP Square in Bratislava on Friday, February 10, the Sme daily reported.
Employment in Slovakia grew year-on-year in December 2011
Employment grew by 3.2 percent year-on-year in December 2011, according to Slovakia’s Statistics Office, with improvement in several monitored sectors, the SITA newswire reported.
Gorilla protest organisers have an internal split
Some of the main organisers of the Gorilla protests have disassociated themselves from their former colleagues saying that Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) party is now masterminding the protests and saying they will establish a new movement to fight for radical bolstering of direct democracy, the TASR newswire reported.
Testing IT skills
MOST Slovaks are only apprentices in using information technology and the most commonly used online service in Slovakia is internet banking. These were two of the findings from European e-Skills Week 2010, a programme aimed at raising awareness of the growing demand for highly-skilled IT practitioners and developing more sophisticated users of information technology. The first European e-Skills Week was held in March 2010 and Slovakia was a participant. Preparations of the activities for the second edition, scheduled for the week of March 26-30, 2012, are nearly complete but some preliminary activities will start on February 15. Slovakia’s e-Skills Week 2012 will feature two primary activities: an IT Fitness Test and the final national round of the Networking Academy Games.“These activities raise the interest of students in IT studies and the IT testing provides information on how target groups, particularly young people, are able to use information and communication technology (ICT) for their needs in life, in school and so forth,” Gustáv Budinský, the executive manager of the IT Association of Slovakia (ITAS), one of the organisers here, told The Slovak Spectator. “The results of the tests help in preparation of studies and recommendations on how to alter study programmes in the ICT field so that the skills of school graduates improve and they are better prepared.”
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- From eight to thousands of runners. How Košice marathon rose to prominence Photo
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Iconic Slovak barn still draws crowds. Without donors, it might have been lost Photo
- The Coburgs are long gone. The park is just getting started. Photo
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Convicted of multiple murders, Slovakia’s mafia boss seeks release from prison
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- A mayor resigns over €2.7 million fraud scandal at town hall
- Fico praises China and Vietnam as models, says liberal democracy has failed
- He designed Gatwick. But this is his masterpiece
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- Slovakia plans to restrict access to new medicines amid funding shortfall
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process More articles ›
