Archive of articles - August 2012, page 2
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Cabinet nods through new Labour Code
ALTHOUGH the blueprint of the revision of the Labour Code, which had earlier struck a raw nerve with foreign chambers of commerce among others, has gone through some changes, the draft legislation that received the blessing of the cabinet on August 22 still has its critics. Yet one of the pet projects of the government of Robert Fico will most likely sail effortlessly through parliament thanks to the robust majority of his ruling Smer party, which claims that the changes to the labour legislation will bring more certainties for employees. Representatives of employers, however, called the proposed changes “bad news for Slovakia, investors and the labour market as such”.
Waste collection, recovery and recycling
Some organisations active in waste collection, recovery and recycling
STU recognised in global university ranking
THE SLOVAK University of Technology (STU) in Bratislava can boast of a historic success after it appeared in one of the most prestigious worldwide rankings of school quality. The Academic Ranking of World Universities compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University listed it among the 200 best schools in the field of computer science.
Beaming live from the Tatras
SPECIAL live broadcasts of Slovakia’s natural habitats continue. The aim of the broadcasts is to monitor the behaviour of animals living in the Tatras and to simultaneously protect them from poachers and other disturbances occurring during the short Tatra summer. Currently, the camera is focusing on a colony of marmots and chamois under the Lomnický Štít peak, the TASR newswire wrote in mid August.
Are firms pursuing eco–friendly ways?
EMBRACING green or environmentally sound practices has led many companies to pursue environmentally sustainable goals and to raise awareness among their employees, as well as to cut costs. Diana Karaffová, spokesperson of Deloitte in Slovakia, and Lucia Muthová, spokesperson of Allianz – Slovenská Poisťovňa shared their views on environmental friendly policies.
Charges against notary dropped
THE OFFICE of the General Prosecutor has dropped charges against a notary identified only as D.N. who was accused of abuse of power by a public official. The notary had been the only person to face charges arising from investigation of the Gorilla file, the SITA newswire reported on August 22. The Gorilla file is an unverified document allegedly produced by the SIS intelligence agency which purports to describe high-level corruption among senior government officials in 2005-6.
Air pollution fines imposed
INSPECTORS of the Slovak Environmental Inspection Office (SIŽP) carried out 310 air pollution studies during the first half of 2012.
Napoleon comes to life in hands of graffiti artists in Petržalka
PETRŽALKA inhabitants will now be able to admire part of the Bratislava borough’s history on the local Gessayova Street. A transformer station will be adorned with a scene depicting the months-long 1809 siege by the army of French Emperor Napoleon I, in which it was attempting to force its way across the Danube River. The project, Historical Connections in the Footsteps (Urban Gallery), seeks to enhance the perception of Petržalka’s inhabitants of its local historical dimension.
Slovakia sticks to deficit reduction goal
THE DEPARTMENTS of education, health, environment and transport will be allowed a bigger bite of the public-finance cake next year compared to what they are getting in 2012. The department of defence, by contrast, will get less than 1 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) to spend in 2013. But while these budget titbits are interesting, they are of secondary significance when it comes to the European Union’s scrutiny of Slovakia’s draft state budget for 2013, as tabled by the Finance Ministry under Smer’s Peter Kažimír.
Farmers will get €70 million
SLOVAKIA’S agricultural sector will receive an additional €70 million in aid to help farmers cope with the consequences of this year’s poor harvest. The government approved the aid package at a session held in Nové Sady, in Nitra Region, the TASR newswire reported on August 22.
Looking beyond Slovakia’s statistical miracle
REAL GDP growth as high as 2.7 percent for Slovakia in the second quarter appears rather impressive at first sight. This is especially so when placed alongside comparable regional peers, who are already mired in recession, as is the eurozone – a crucial export market for Slovak manufacturers. Hence, rather than indulging in an easy explanation of an ‘island of positive deviation’, a more detailed analysis of Slovakia’s performance is needed.
FinMin to limit cash payments
THE FINANCE Ministry wants to restrict transactions whose total value exceeds €5,000. If a new law passes, all such purchases will have to be done cashless, i.e. through bank transfers, the SITA newswire wrote.
Rabbit hole politics
SLOVAK governments, in their treatment of the proxy for the Roma community, have typically acted like a theatre director who is in charge of the cast but has completely misunderstood the script and insists on treating one of the key characters as though he were playing a non-speaking part, confined to moving the odd prop before disappearing without comment.
Masaryk residence renewed
THE MASARYK Yard, where the president of the first Czechoslovak Republic, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and his daughters spent their summers, is currently being reconstructed.
Slovakia struggles to manage its waste
SLOVAKIA is doing a poor job of managing its waste, at least according to the latest review by the European Commission. A study drawn up for EC lists Slovakia as being among those EU member countries with severe problems in several criteria including waste prevention policies, a below-average performance in waste management and insufficient adaptation of existing infrastructure to EU requirements. While some Slovak experts see Slovakia’s ranking as reflecting reality, the Slovak Ministry of Environment argues that Slovakia is actually performing better than the EC suggests.The report on how EU member states manage their municipal waste, drawn up by German consulting firm BiPRO for the European Commission, grades the EU’s 27 member states against 18 criteria, using green, orange and red flags in areas such as total waste recycled, pricing of waste disposal, and infringements of European legislation. In the top places according to this ranking came Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. Greece, Bulgaria, Malta and Lithuania were at the bottom. Slovakia ended in 19th place, below the other three Visegrad Group countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland).
Reprocessing of car textiles
TEXTILES from scrapped cars need not end up at waste dumps. They can be re-processed and used as insulation construction materials. This is the core idea of a project to recycle synthetic materials to be launched in the village of Krajné in the Myjava district with support from the Environment Ministry, the TASR newswire wrote in mid June.
Bobi´s Ranch
Bobi´s ranch in Nový Tekov (the village just 15 km from Levice) was opened in the year 2000. For lovers of horses , sport, good meal and marvelous nature the ranch offers possibility to spent free time actively all year round. The number of activities you can have fun with is really big. We offer stylish accommodation in boarding houses, meals, playground, riding, swimming, for children close contact with animals and all this in a pleasing environment on the Hron riverside. Our ranch is a perfect place where to organize social or business events, family celebrations and weddings.We are looking forward to your visit, and we hope that you will spend at us pleasant moments of comfort.
Deficiencies in hospital tenders
SLOVAK hospitals have spent more than €563 million in tenders that involved only one bidder, according to an analysis carried out by the INEKO think tank and ethics watchdog Transparency International Slovensko (TIS). The NGOs surveyed public procurements at 60 hospitals dating back to 2009, the TASR newswire reported.
Enviro-spy received 77 complaints
SLOVAK citizens sent 77 complaints to the anti-corruption line of the Ministry of Environment, envirošpión (“enviro-spy”) during the first half of 2012. Most of the complaints pertained to illegal waste dumps, the illegal cutting of trees and air pollution, Maroš Stano, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Environment told the SITA newswire.
Quote of the week
“I have many reasons to think that her basic right to court and legal protection … was violated.”
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