Archive of articles - March 2012, page 2
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Slovakia could lose millions in EU structural funds
Problems identified in projects used by the Slovakia’s Environment Ministry to draw money from European Union structural funds could cost the country up to €46 million, the Sme daily reported.
NBS reduces its 2012 economic growth estimate to 2.1 percent
The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), the country’s central bank, has decreased its forecast of Slovakia’s economic growth this year. In December 2011 it predicted that GDP would rise by 2.3 percent this year, but now says it expects growth to be only 2.1 percent, the SITA newswire reported.
KDH-SaS dispute over committee chair remains unresolved
Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) and the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) have failed to reach an agreement over which of them will nominate the chair of parliament’s economy and budget committee. It means that a final decision will be made by MPs, who will vote on parliamentary positions in a secret ballot held on April 4, the TASR newswire reported.
Pressburg, Pozsony, Prešporok... Or is it Bratislava?
If you look up and see a white castle in front of you and then, over your shoulder, a tower that looks like a UFO at the top of a massive steel bridge, than yes, you are standing in Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia.
Most Slovaks view the country's economic situation negatively
More than three-fourths of Slovaks recently surveyed (76 percent) view the country’s current economic situation negatively while three percent had a positive view, the SITA newswire wrote based on a survey conducted by the Public Opinion Research Centre in the Czech Republic and by the Focus polling agency in Slovakia in January. The survey was also conducted in Poland and Hungary under the auspices of the Central European Opinion Research Group, SITA wrote on March 27.
SARIO schedules trip to attract US investors
Four thousand new jobs and investments worth €350 million are under discussion in tentative talks between the Slovak Agency for Investment and Trade Development (SARIO) and fifteen US companies, the SITA newswire reported, noting that the interest of potential investors from the US is greater than interest of investors from Europe for the first time ever.
New bridge linking Slovakia and Poland to be built over Poprad River
Slovak Transport Minister Ján Figeľ and his Polish counterpart Slawomir Novak laid the foundation stone of a bridge that will connect the two countries over the Poprad River in the village of Mníšek nad Popradom in Prešov Region on March 26, the TASR newswire reported.
Survey finds Bratislavans often use social networks
Social networks in Slovakia are used mostly by residents of Bratislava Region, as 58 percent of people in this region have created such an account and more than 25 percent visit a social site daily, according to a survey conducted by the Focus polling agency on behalf of the Institute for Public Affairs (IVO), the TASR newswire reported. Above-average use was also recorded in Košice and Prešov regions (57 percent), with residents of other regions being in the neighbourhood of 54 percent, even though Trnava Region reported only 46 percent, TASR wrote.
Finance Ministry says €1.16 billion required for deficit to reach EU criteria
Unless additional changes are adopted, Slovakia's public finance deficit will be at 4.46 percent of GDP in 2013, according to a Finance Ministry report on the state budget for 2013-15 that will be submitted to a session of the new government, the TASR newswire reported. A total of €1.166 billion will required on the revenue and expenditure sides of the budget for Slovakia to reach a budget deficit of 2.9 percent of GDP and comply with the EU's budgetary rules. The report summarises the ministry’s macroeconomic and tax forecasts based on intact expenditure levels from the 2012 budget and no additional consolidation measures. The basic scenario reports that the deficit will shrink to 4.19 percent and 3.6 percent of GDP in 2014 and 2015, respectively. But according to the EU’s rules the deficit should decrease from 2.9 percent in 2013 to 2.32 percent and to 1.68 percent in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
Economy Minister Miškov confirms a Slovak defrauded eight Austrian firms
A Slovak who defrauded eight Austrian companies out of millions of euros did not materially damage Slovakia but has hurt the country's reputation, said Economy Minister Juraj Miškov from Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party at a press conference after meeting representatives of the Austrian embassy on March 26, the TASR newswire reported. Several Austrian companies paid the fraudster, who pretended to be a representative of the Slovak Economy Ministry, millions in 'administration fees' related to a phony construction project in Levice that was supposed to be worth €127 million.
Chair of Slovak Bar Association to become justice minister
Tomáš Borec, the chairman of the Slovak Bar Association (SAK), will become the new justice minister, Prime Minister Robert Fico a press conference on March 26, the Sme daily reported in its March 27 issue, adding that Borec has received prevailingly positive reactions by judges and non-governmental organisations. Fico had previously indicated that Smer was seeking an expert from the bar not affiliated with any party to become justice minister. The head of Smer's branch in Bratislava, Martin Glváč, had been widely reported to be headed for the post but Smer has never confirmed those reports.
Fico says Slovakia’s election system will change only if opposition agrees
Smer party has been contemplating changes to the country’s election system for some time but Smer leader Robert Fico said at a press conference on March 26 that this would be feasible only if an agreement is reached with opposition parties, the TASR newswire reported. "We want to discuss the election system with the other parties… I promise that we won't approve any changes without consensus with the relevant political parties," Fico stated, as quoted by TASR. Asked how many parties would have to consent to changes, Fico said Smer would seek the consent of a constitutional majority (90 votes) and Smer has 83 MPs.
Slovakia re-enacts death train to Auschwitz to commemorate 70th anniversary
A special train was dispatched from the Poprad railway station to Auschwitz, Poland on March 23 to mark the 70th anniversary of the first transport of Jewish women from Slovakia to the Nazi concentration camp on March 25, 1942. In addition to students, historians and philosophers, the event was attended by outgoing Prime Minister Iveta Radičová, the SITA newswire reported.
Special prosecutor’s office drops charges against Pavol Rusko
The Office of the Special Prosecutor has dropped criminal charges against former economy minister Pavol Rusko, the chair of the now-defunct New Citizen’s Alliance (ANO) party, who had been accused by a specialised team of the Police Corps Presidium with fraud in connection with the sale of the state-owned energy producer, Steam-Gas Cycle (PPC), in 2004, the TASR newswire reported on March 23.
Police start criminal investigation over collapse of Slovakia’s tax system
The police department’s Office for the Fight Against Corruption has officially launched an investigation of the malfunctioning tax system within Slovakia’s Financial Administration, reviewing several issues, including why the Financial Administration (FA) substituted the old tax information system administered by Novitech company with a new KONS information system provided by IBM, the Sme daily reported.
Slovak Parliament goes mobile
IN RESPONSE to a growing interest by the public in watching sessions of the Slovak parliament and because of the limited opportunity to attend parliamentary sessions in person, parliament has now made it possible for users of smart phones and other mobile devices to watch parliamentary sessions online, the SITA newswire reported on February 29. Information on the service is available at http://m.nrsr.sk, according to the Office of the Slovak Parliament.
Opposition scraps over positions
A WEEK before the first official session of the new parliament it is still not clear who will be nominated for some of the most important parliamentary positions. Though the Smer party, which will form the government, named Pavol Paška as the new speaker of parliament, the four deputy-speaker posts remained empty, as did the chairs and deputy chairs of parliamentary committees.
Relatively cheap mobile internet
SLOVAKS pay more than Poles to access the internet from their mobile phones but less than Czechs and Hungarians, according to the Sme daily, which compared services and prices in the four countries.Slovaks can buy 500 MB of downloaded data from mobile internet providers without additional costs for a monthly fee of €6 while Polish customers can get more than double that amount, 1.2 GB, for the same price. Hungarian customers pay €6.87 for the same amount of data while Czech customers get only 150 MB of data for a similar price.
99 Percent party goes to court
THE 99 Percent – Civic Voice party has filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court claiming that the March 10 parliamentary elections were unconstitutional and asking the court to rule the results invalid and order a rerun of the election, the SITA newswire reported.
Books in English now available
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. John le Carré. Sceptre paperback edition 2011, first published in 1974 by Hodder & Stoughton, London.This successful spy story, written in 1974, was recently made into a film directed by Tomas Alfredson and starring Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Mark Strong. Set during the Cold War, veteran British spy George Smiley is forced out of semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6. He is pitted against his Soviet rival, Karla, in one of the greatest battles in spy fiction. Tasked with rooting out a high-level mole of thirty years’ standing, Smiley is required to spy on the spies. John le Carré, born in 1931, spent five years in the British Foreign Service, during which time he wrote three novels, including The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, his first worldwide bestseller. All those novels featured George Smiley, who later played a central role in the “Karla” trilogy, of which Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the first book. Le Carré’s more recent novels include The Constant Gardener, A Most Wanted Man and Our Kind of Traitor.
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