Archive of articles - March 2012, page 8

Experiments disappear in puff of smoke

A TRADITIONAL competition for students of chemistry, the Chemistry Olympiad, may have to take place without practical experiments for the first time in its 48 years of existence. The head of the Slovak Committee of the Chemistry Olympiad, Anton Sirota, told the SITA newswire that this will be the likely outcome of a dispute between chemists and the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic (ÚVZ).

New MPs to be sworn in on April 4

THE FIRST session of the new parliament will take place on Wednesday, April 4, President Ivan Gašparovič confirmed after a meeting with outgoing Speaker of Parliament Pavol Hrušovský, the TASR newswire reported.

Preferential votes bring new faces

THE RESULTS of the 2012 parliamentary elections proved that preferential votes can significantly affect the final list of elected MPs. Thanks to preferential votes some candidates, mostly from the centre-right parties, improved their lowly list positions and won seats in the new parliament. There were also instances of candidates improving their positions by several places but still failing to win seats.

Ex-minister charged with fraud

PAVOL Rusko, a former economy minister and one-time chairman of the now-defunct New Citizen’s Alliance (ANO) party, has been accused by the investigator of the police’s Office for the Fight Against Organised Crime of fraud in association with the privatisation of Bratislava-based electricity generator Steam-Gas Cycle (PPC), prosecutor Alexander Bíró of the Office of the Special Prosecutor announced on March 15. According to Bíró, criminal activities dating back to 2005 and 2006 caused damage to the state valued at €42,024,306 that benefited a private company, the SITA newswire reported. Rusko described the accusation that he benefited from the privatisation of PPC as absurd and said he would take legal steps to defend himself.

Terchová at prayer

THIS ATTRACTIVE postcard, which dates back to the 1960s, features the famous village of Terchová. Originally a pastoral municipality, it has since become a tourist resort on the back of the beautiful countryside that surrounds it.

Documentary from RTVS series shortlisted for film festival

THE SLOVAK public-service television and radio broadcaster, RTVS, has prepared a series of documentaries about children and their view of themselves and the life surrounding them, called Deti o deťoch / Children on Children. The series began airing in March and one part, to be broadcast on March 22, has been entered in the finals of an international film festival.

Radičová fires 2nd military spy boss

PRIME Minister Iveta Radičová has dismissed the head of the Military Information Service (VSS), Slovakia’s main military intelligence agency, Roman Mikulec. He thereby becomes the third person nominated by former defence minister Ľubomír Galko (a Freedom and Solidarity – SaS nominee) to be sacked since Radičová took on responsibility for the Defence Ministry following Galko’s own sacking in November, the Čas.sk website reported.

Finding investment funding

SLOWER economic growth has made companies as well as banks more prudent when it comes to finding money for investments. Moreover, instead of seeking new loans firms have tended to focus on optimising their costs and strengthening their liquidity. But scarcity of funds is now pushing them to search for other ways to finance projects.

Financial Admin files complaint

THE FINANCIAL Administration (FS), which administers Slovakia’s tax and customs systems, has filed a criminal complaint related to the troubled introduction of its new IT system. The complaint will be based on the findings of an inspection carried out by the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ), which stated that the law on public administration information systems was violated, the TASR newswire reported.

FinMin: Economic growth to reach 2.3% this year, deficit to drop to 4.4%

Slovakia's economy should grow by 2.3 percent this year, according to a prognosis published by the Finance Ministry's Financial Policy Institute (IFP) on Thursday, March 15.

Mikloš blames former colleagues for failure at Financial Administration

Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš (Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ)) said on Thursday, March 15, that he is disappointed with how some of his former close colleagues failed recently when implementing changes at the Financial Administration (FS), the TASR newswire reported

Mikloš will not run for SDKÚ chair or vice-chair posts; Lipšic mulls KDH leadership bid

Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) vice-chair Ivan Mikloš, who is also the outgoing finance minister, will not seek to retain his party position or bid for the leadership at a forthcoming SDKÚ congress, the Sme.sk website reported on Thursday, March 15. Finance Ministry spokesman Martin Jaroš said that Mikloš will become a rank-and-file MP.

Fico claims SPF wanted to make 300 last-minute decisions on land sales; fund denies wrongdoing

The Slovak Land Fund (SPF) planned to make almost 300 last-minute decisions on the rental, sale or restitution of land, Smer chairman Robert Fico claimed after a meeting with President Ivan Gašparovič on Thursday, March 15. According to Fico, he learnt about the plans from members of the SPF supervisory board on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, Fico informed the president, who subsequently contacted outgoing Prime Minister Iveta Radičová (Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ)) to instruct her put a stop to the ongoing SPF negotiations.

Rusko: I'm not guilty of any fraud in PPC privatisation

Pavol Rusko, who served as economy minister between 2003 and 2005 and was formerly the leader of the Alliance of the New Citizen (ANO) party, on Thursday, March 15, described charges of fraud brought against him by police over his alleged involvement in fraud during the sale of state-owned energy producer Steam-Gas Cycle (PPC) in 2004 as absurd. "I'm in complete shock," he told the TASR newswire.

Professionals in finance

Over 21,000 foreigners are working in Slovakia, 4,000 from Romania

A total of 21,265 foreigners were working in Slovakia in January, according to the most recent statistics drawn up by the Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Centre (ÚPSVaR). The data show that one in 110 employees working in Slovakia is a foreigner, the TASR newswire reported. Only 4,500 are women.

Slovak military intelligence chief reportedly accused of lying

Following the dismissal of the head of the Military Defence Intelligence (VOS) counter-intelligence service Pavol Brychta following a scandal over the wiretapping of journalists under former defence minister Ľubomír Galko (Freedom and Solidarity (SaS)), a new scandal connected with military intelligence has now surfaced, the Sme daily wrote on Thursday, March 15.

ELECTION 2012: Slovakia gets Roma MP, after 20-year gap

It seems that Slovakia is finally prepared for a Roma MP, the Sme daily wrote on Wednesday, March 14. Peter Pollák, from the town of Levoča in Prešov Region, was elected to parliament on March 10 on the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) slate. He is the first Rom to sit in parliament for 20 years, following Gejza Adam and Anna Koptová who previously sat in the old federal Czechoslovak parliament.

ELECTION 2012: Party leaders negotiate distribution of parliamentary jobs

The six parties that won parliamentary seats in the March 10 election held a round-table discussion today, Thursday March 15, hosted by the winning party, Smer. Originally, Smer, despite winning a comprehensive majority in parliament, had said it would seek a governing coalition partner, but it now seems certain that it will rule alone.