Archive of articles - April 2012
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Higher salaries for nurses will be covered by state reserve subsidies
Representatives of nurses and midwives will not strike because of problems in receiving their minimum salaries they said during a meeting with Health Minister Zuzana Zvolenská at which time she promised to resolve the current dispute by allocating €50 million from the state reserve, the SITA newswire reported.
Slovak government adopts its 2012-2016 programme statement
The government of Robert Fico adopted its programme for the years 2012 to 2016 during its session held on April 27. The main priority is an attempt to temper the effects of economic crisis on the lives of people and to strengthen common welfare, the SITA newswire reported.
Vladimír Mečiar to resign as chair of HZDS
After 21 years the chairman of the Movement for Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), Vladimír Mečiar, is leaving his post. The three-time prime minister who helped to establish an independent Slovakia and whose governments have also been accompanied by several scandals and dubious privatisations of state property decided to resign after his party received only 0.93 percent of the vote in the March 10 election, the Hospodárske Noviny daily reported.
Parties report their campaign expenses
THE PUBLIC can learn how much each of the political parties spent on their campaigns leading up to the March 10 parliamentary elections as they have now filed final financial reports with the Finance Ministry.
Dom, Cigán scoop awards
THE WINNERS of the Slnko v sieti (The Sun in a Net) 2012 Slovak National Film Awards were announced on April 17, 2012 in Bratislava. The biennial awards were established in 2004 by the Slovak Film and Television Academy (SFTA).
Maestro conducts Verdi’s Requiem
ITALIAN conductor Nello Santi, aged 80, who worked with Giuseppe di Stefano and Renata Tebaldi, conducted two performances of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem in Bratislava in early April. The maestro, who celebrated 60 years of conducting last December, offered an outstanding performance at the invitation of Peter Dvorský, the head of the Opera of the Slovak National Theatre (SND) who had sung with the maestro years ago as an opera tenor.
Slovakia can act as example to others
WESS Mitchell came in contact with central-European issues when he was a child, as his Texas-based family would visit areas of that state during their summer holidays that had large communities of Czech immigrants. At university his first studies focused on Germany but later his strong interest in central Europe made this region his primary area of academic interest.The Slovak Spectator spoke with Mitchell, currently the president and co-founder of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), a think tank in Washington DC, while he was in Bratislava for the GLOBSEC forum in mid April about the role of the third sector in a democratic society as well as the role of Slovakia in the international community.
Live video action from Bojnice Zoo
IN FEBRUARY Bojnice Zoo launched a trial period during which five webcams are broadcasting live action from the zoo on its website.
Taking Slovak knowledge to Indonesia
PROFESSORS at the Slovak University of Agriculture (SPU) in Nitra are teaching visiting Indonesians how to grow wheat in their country, with the first five students starting their studies in mid April. The objective is to make these and future students experts in how to grow this crop in their tropical Asian homeland.
New tourist bodies mushroom in Slovakia
LAST YEAR, Slovakia adopted a law on support for tourism development, a move which those involved described as the best news for tourism in the last 20 years. The legislation, which created a systematic framework for the germination and transparent financing of destination management organisations, has already started bearing fruit. The number of destination management organisations created so far has come as a positive surprise to industry observers.
Strike in Dubnica nad Váhom
ALMOST 100 employees of the Metalurg Steel company based in Dubnica nad Váhom did not come to work on April 24 in protest against the company’s management as the company owes over €300,000 in wages to its employees, the SITA newswire reported.
When being less known is a tourism advantage
SLOVAKIA is a long way from being a major force in MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) tourism. But its low profile, untouched countryside and its growing number of high-class hotels – plus its location in the centre of Europe – may soon start to draw in new business clients and make Slovakia more visible in this lucrative segment of the tourism market.
Slovaks surf the internet fastest
PEOPLE in Slovakia enjoy the world’s fastest internet browsing experience, according to data from Google which show that it takes about three seconds on average in Slovakia for a website to be displayed on the monitor, the shortest time globally, the Sme daily reported.
Institutions and organisations involved in tourism
- Ministry of Transport, Construction and Regional Development, www.telecom.gov.skMinister: Ján Počiatek
Confidential bank data made public
THE BANK account numbers of several customers of Privatbanka, together with personal data and information about their financial transactions, were released to the public, the Pravda daily reported on April 24.
Hodejov museum to present replicas of ancient treasures
THE MUSEUM of the Gortva Region in Hodejov plans to make replicas of bronze treasures that were made in 1500 BC in order to display them. Vladimír Gondáš, the museum’s head, told the TASR newswire that he is negotiating with a sponsor who is willing to make replicas of the Hodejov treasure – three-dimensional bronzes with Mycenaean patterns – that were unexpectedly found in 1961 and are now scattered across four museums.
PM lays out budget options in Brussels
CONSOLIDATION of public finances in Slovakia, which is one of the poorest countries in the EU, has a moral aspect and the state cannot expect people who live on low pensions to carry the cost of repairing the state’s finances. Prime Minister Robert Fico delivered this message to the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, during his first official trip to Brussels since taking office on April 4.
Countrywide Events
Western SLOVAKIA
Destination management organisations
Regional tourism organisations
Seeking ways to pay the nurses
IF NURSES in Slovakia were to turn to the courts to claim the salary increase that a recently passed law is supposed to guarantee them, almost all of them would win: this is the opinion of Slovakia’s ombudswoman, Jana Dubovcová, who was commenting on one of the thorniest issues in Slovakia’s turbulent health-care sector.
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- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners More articles ›
