Archive of articles - March 2012, page 7
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New cabinet to decide on airport
THE FUTURE of M. R. Štefánik Airport in Bratislava is to be decided by the government of Robert Fico following his victory in the parliamentary elections on March 10. Last year the Transport Ministry headed by Ján Figeľ, leader of the Christian Democratic Movement (KDH), said it wanted to select a concessionaire for the largest airport in the country for a period of 30 years. The collapse of Iveta Radičová’s cabinet grounded this plan and it is now up to the next government to decide whether the airport will be operated in the long-term by a concessionaire or the current status quo will remain, the SITA newswire wrote.
Fire devastates Krásna Hôrka Castle
The election was not, unfortunately, the only big news event on March 10 in Slovakia. On the same day a huge fire engulfed one of the country’s best-preserved medieval castles, Krásna Hôrka, near Rožňava in eastern Slovakia. The fire struck the hill-top castle’s wooden roof, which was almost completely destroyed in a blaze visible from many kilometres away.
A gallery of Roma
A WOMAN writer, an artist-carver, a female activist, a businessman, a nun and the girls’ trio Sabrosa should become positive role models for Roma children thanks to the Romane Hangi project. It has installed these figures in a virtual gallery of Roma personalities in business, art and culture that the Prešov civic association Slovenská Obecná Vzdelávacia Asociácia (Slovak Communal Education Association, or SOVA) has published on its website.
Rules on state aid changed
THE OUTGOING cabinet of Iveta Radičová changed the rules for granting investment incentives, hinging them mainly on the unemployment rate in a given region as well as the sector investors intend to put money into. Investors planning to invest in sectors with a high added value in areas with low levels of economic activity and high unemployment are likely to see the maximum possible amount of investment stimuli. The new regulations were approved on December 7, the SITA newswire reported.
Latin flavour on the Danube
AS PART of a series of musical evenings, Lazaro de Jesús Hodelin Thomas Y Su Sabor Latino recently performed a concert in the intimate venue of the Loď Café - Divadlo v podpalubí / Boat Café - Thea-tre Under the Deck. The smooth Latin music seemed at first to be an ideal background accompaniment, but by the end of the evening the whole place was on its feet singing Guantanamera, a famous Cuban patriotic song.
The also-rans ponder their fate
TWENTY parties running in the March 10 general election did not receive enough votes to make it into the new parliament. Two of them came close, but most of the rest had little chance and now face political oblivion. This ignominy came despite no shortage of well-known faces.
Ten steps to winning the FDI race
FOREIGN direct investment is – and will continue to be – one of the core drivers of economic development in Slovakia. Therefore, it is crucial that Slovakia is vigorously pro-active in its efforts to attract foreign investors to all regions of the country. The American Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia (AmCham) has developed, in close cooperation with members of both the Slovak and international business communities, its foreign direct investment (FDI) strategy, which it presented in December 2011.
Smer will rule alone
ROBERT Fico is now set to lead Slovakia’s first one-party government since the end of communism in 1989. After a landslide victory in the March 10 general election which left his Smer party with 83 seats in the 150-seat parliament, thereby giving it a majority of 16 over all other parties, Fico initiated a round-table discussion on March 15 with the other five parties that had cleared the 5-percent threshold to win seats. He initially offered the other parties, which are all from the right, the option of governing with his left-leaning Smer, but all refused. President Ivan Gašparovič therefore charged Fico with forming the next government alone.
Countrywide Events
Western SLOVAKIA
Decision expected on Samsung
THE CABINET of Iveta Radičová postponed a final decision about whether to support a €90-million investment by South Korea’s Samsung Electronics in its plant in Slovakia with incentives amounting to €28 million, leaving it up to the next government. The incentives would be provided as a form of tax relief between 2011 and 2014 thereby securing 950 jobs, the Sme daily wrote.
Smer paints Slovakia’s electoral map red
ROBERT Fico, whose Smer party won 44.41 percent of the vote in a landslide victory in Slovakia’s March 10 parliamentary elections, has painted Slovakia’s political map red – the party’s campaign colour. It emerged in first place in an astonishing 77 of the country’s 79 districts. Smer even took the capital, Bratislava, with 30.69 percent of the vote, double the support of any of its political rivals. It thereby went some way to overcoming the conventional wisdom that Smer appeals mainly to rural voters and that larger cities – Bratislava in particular – tend to vote for right-wing parties.
Art as an investment opportunity
SECURITIES and real estate are not the only commodities into which people can ‘deposit’ their money or from which they can profit. Art works, archive wines, stamps, antiques or diamonds can also be used for these purposes. Interest in making less conventional investments such as these has been growing in Slovakia, and recent economic turbulence has even tended to boost such trends. Banks and other financial firms cooperate with auction houses as well as with art experts to secure the best possible art investments for their clients. But while interest is growing, it has not reached levels commonly seen abroad.
The faces of power
TOO MUCH power is unhealthy for any politician and can easily set anyone who lacks a sense of balance on the road to becoming a caricature of himself – or something even more disturbing: the father of the nation, a saviour or miraculous political medicine man who claims to have the remedy for the pains of the needy and desperate.
Two dances meet in SND
THE BALLET evening Duo, which premiered recently in the Slovak National Theatre (SND), brought together two works by renowned foreign choreographers, Nacho Duato and Uwe Scholz.
Unusual owls nest in Upper Nitra
A PARLIAMENT of almost two dozen protected long-eared owls (asio otus) has unexpectedly settled in the tops of conifers near the municipality of Koš in the Upper Nitra region. Gardener Valent Hudec took fright when he spotted them in mid February: no wonder, as their wingspan is up to 95 centimetres and a female can weigh 300 grams.
Slovakia lags in VAT collection
THE LOSS in revenues from value-added tax (VAT) represented €2.3 billion, i.e. 3.5 percent of GDP in 2010. Half of this money was lost through the level of efficiency in collecting taxes being lower than the European Union average, the TASR newswire reported.
Ministry says GDP will grow by 2.3%
THE FINANCE Ministry’s Financial Policy Institute painted a rather rosier picture of Slovakia’s economic prospects on March 15, revising upwards its estimate for GDP growth in 2012 to 2.3 percent. The institute said that the change had been inspired by better-than-expected GDP numbers from the fourth quarter of 2011, as well as positive signals from the economies of Slovakia’s main trading partners, the SITA newswire reported. Earlier this year, responding to worsening economic news in the eurozone, the Finance Ministry cut its forecast for Slovakia’s GDP growth in 2012 from 1.7 percent to 1.1 percent.
Enthusiasts turn Neolog synagogue in Žilina into a hall of arts
While the cultural centre in Bratislava – called Kunsthalle, or Hall of Arts, per the German term – is still awaiting state approval and financing, Žilina could have its own Kunsthalle completed. The Truc Sphérique civic association which already runs the Stanica Žilina-Záriečie culture hub won the competition of local Jewish religious community.
ThyssenKrupp postpones its plans
THE GERMAN steel giant ThyssenKrupp has postponed its decision to invest heavily in Slovakia, the Hospodárske Noviny daily reported in late February.
A deadly weekend on the peaks
THE WEEKEND of March 3/4 turned out to be a tragic one for skiers, tourists and mountain rescue workers in Slovakia: it ended with five people dead and more than a dozen injured.The series of accidents began on the morning of Saturday, March 3, when two skiers suffered a collision at Martinské Hole ski resort. One of them, aged 41, suffered broken ribs and complications, Helicopter Rescue Medical Service Air Transport Europe (VSSZ ATE) spokesperson Silvia Galajda said, as reported by the TASR newswire.
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- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
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- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- Convicted of multiple murders, Slovakia’s mafia boss seeks release from prison
- News digest: Prosecutor seeks jail for NBS Governor Kažimír as his political support wanes
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- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- A mayor resigns over €2.7 million fraud scandal at town hall
- He designed Gatwick. But this is his masterpiece
- Fico praises China and Vietnam as models, says liberal democracy has failed
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- 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 ›
