Archive of articles - May 2013, page 16
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Fresh flavours of Israeli cuisine
IMMIGRANTS from more than 100 countries brought their cuisine, their music and their own traditions to Israel, says Alexander Ben-Zvi, the Israeli ambassador to Slovakia, explaining why he cannot pick a single ‘typical’ Israeli dish.
Slovak National Museum turns 120
AS PART of its 120th anniversary celebrations, the Slovak National Museum (SNM) is holding commemorative events throughout 2013. On April 23, a festive colloquium was organised at Bratislava Castle to mark the museum’s foundation.
Some insurance companies in Slovakia
-Allianz-Slovenská Poisťovňa, www.allianzsp.sk -Generali Slovensko, www.generali.sk-ING Životná Poisťovňa, www.ingpoistovna.sk-Kooperativa Poisťovňa, Vienna Insurance Group, www.kooperativa.sk -MetLife Amslico, www.metlifeamslico.sk-Union Poisťovňa, www.union.sk-Uniqa Poisťovňa, www.uniqa.sk
Only 1/3 of households have insurance
IN SPITE of several natural disasters to have hit Slovakia during recent years, only one third of the population has home insurance. As many as 72 percent of people in Hungary have home insurance, and about one half in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia, according to a survey conducted by Generali PPF Holding in nine countries in central and eastern Europe. The situation is worse in Croatia, Serbia and Bulgaria, the SITA newswire wrote in April.
ROA part-owner was NOVA member
THE CASE of Regional Procurement Agency (ROA) in Horné Plachtince, dubbed a “classic Slovak scam” by the opposition, caused red faces in the New Majority (NOVA) party in late April after information surfaced that a party member, Ján Feranc, was among the owners of ROA.
Education - a subject to discuss
THE GRAVE problems currently faced by Slovakia’s education system have recently been described in more than one report, and the number of such reports is set to grow in the next few months. Any big change, however, will require turning the thin stream of money flowing into schools into a river, say teachers and experts. The government is keeping its coffers closed tight, saying that changes first need to be discussed and agreed upon in a wide consensus across society.
SDKÚ accuses Interior Ministry of bypassing EP directive, ministry denies claims
In a tender to purchase hardware, the Interior Ministry is bypassing an EU directive and is creating leeway for the purchase to be rigged, cartels created and public funds to be mismanaged, according to Lucia Žitňanská, chair of the parliamentary caucus of the opposition Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ).
Sme: OSCE comments on Slovak judges' Bonanno-bar case
Because of the much-publicised case of several Slovak judges and a senior prosecutor who held a party in the Bonanno bar, Rajecké Teplice in 2010, and who are now suing the newspaper – the Nový Čas daily – that reported on the party, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has taken an interest in the case.
Anti-terrorist forces seize Slovaks at Heathrow Airport
Anti-terrorist units on Wednesday, May 1 arrested a group of Slovaks at London Heathrow Airport when an object similar to a detonator was discovered among the possessions of one of the group during a security check, the TASR newswire, quoting the TVnoviny.sk news website.
Forbes ranks Babiš as wealthiest Slovak, followed by Chrenko and Haščák
Andrej Babiš, the owner of Agrofert Holding, who has lived in the Czech Republic for some 20 years, was ranked the wealthiest Slovak by the Slovak edition of Forbes magazine, who estimated the value of his property as being €1.54 billion, the TASR newswire learnt on Thursday, May 2. When drawing up its list of the richest Slovaks, the magazine relied on official figures from the companies owned by respective entrepreneurs.
Draghi: Fall in HICP is reason for cut in ECB's key interest rate
A significant downward development in the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) was the main reason for the reduction in the European Central Bank's benchmark interest rate to 0.5 percent, ECB President Mario Draghi said at a press conference in Bratislava on Thursday, May 2. The prices of food and energy also rose at a pace below expectations, but the gap was not so significant, said Draghi.
Guspan is new parliamentary secretary
Daniel Guspan has become the new parliamentary secretary, replacing Viktor Stromček who is leaving for the post of Transport Ministry state secretary (i.e. deputy minister), the TASR newswire learnt on April 26.
Government hesitates over purchase of SPP stake
The Slovak government has still not decided whether it will take a 100-percent stake in the parent company of Slovak gas utility SPP. A decision about whether to buy the 49-percent stake in SPP from its Czech shareholder, the company EPH (Energetický a Průmyslový Holding) should be made by mid-May.
Communists hold Labour Day protest in Košice
The Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS) held a protest against capitalism on May 1 in Košice. Some one hundred party members, adherents and young anarchists marched through the streets, calling on passersby to join them and protest against exploitation and social injustice. KSS Košice city committee chairman Ivan Gaľa told the TASR newswire that communists traditionally make their protest heard on May 1.
Sme: SIS is involved in Horné Plachtince scandal
Public procurement tenders worth €200 million held by ROA, a previously unknown firm based in Horné Plachtince, first looked like a classic example of siphoning off state funds; but now they seem to involve the SIS intelligence service, the Sme daily reported on May 2.
Sme: Kaliňák’s advisor, former police chief, resigns after reports of alleged mafia links
The former vice-president of the national Police Corps, Stanislav Jankovič, resigned as an advisor to Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák on May 1, the Sme daily reported.
Smer passed Constitutional Court law in fast-tracked proceeding
The Slovak Parliament changed the law regulating the operation of the country’s Supreme Court in a fast-tracked proceeding on Tuesday, April 30. The ruling Smer party said the change was needed to relieve a logjam in the handling of the long-running case over the appointment of the next general prosecutor. Prime Minister Robert Fico justified the use of fast-tracked proceedings, to which the opposition had issued loud objections, on the grounds that urgent change was needed at the Office of the General Prosecutor. He said he could not talk about the information on which he based his opinion.
Economic sentiment improved in Slovakia again in April
The mood in the Slovak economy improved again in April. The economic sentiment indicator gained 2.2 points month-on-month to 92.6 points, based on data from the Slovak Statistics Office (ŠÚ) reported on Tuesday, April 30.
Čentéš case: Fico rams through law change
THE SITUATION at the Office of the General Prosecutor has become “unbearable” as its "non-functionality” has assumed "unseen proportions”, Prime Minister Robert Fico stated on April 30, when defending his ruling Smer party’s arguments for passing, via a fast-tracked proceeding, a revision to a law on the operation of the country’s Constitutional Court. The amendment, which foresees the implementation of the doctrine of necessity based on the so-called Bangalore principles of judicial conduct, is to solve the deadlock at the Constitutional Court, which has left only one out of thirteen judges not subject to allegations of bias by either general-prosecutor-elect Jozef Čentéš or President Ivan Gašparovič, who has been refusing to appoint Čentéš for nearly two years since he was chosen for the post by parliament.
Krási
IT’S ASIA week. First, Bangalore turned out to be the city deciding the country’s future. And then the Indonesian Embassy helped us to understand that our president isn’t able to write a single sentence without making several mistakes.
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- Kicked out of her home and broke, she defies the odds to win her first WTA title
- Bratislava unveils its first 3D-printed bus stop Photo
- News digest: Brussels committee launches scrutiny of EU funds in Slovakia
- ‘Listen, Martina, this is not just your country’: protest song becomes rallying cry for folklorists Video
- Irish metal band to make long-awaited debut in Bratislava Video
- They could have left. But these young Slovaks stayed.
- Zdeno Chára inducted into world hockey hall of fame Video
- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Zdeno Chára inducted into world hockey hall of fame Video
- Who is behind your vending machine coffee? A look inside Slovakia’s growing caffeine empire
- Kicked out of her home and broke, she defies the odds to win her first WTA title
- Liberal MP’s boxing challenge backfires as far-right MEP seizes the moment
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- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Zdeno Chára inducted into world hockey hall of fame Video
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- The law changed. Our family papers were ready. Now my kids are Slovak citizens
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- Slovak female triathlete shatters barriers with historic win at Himalayan event
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- Irish metal band to make long-awaited debut in Bratislava Video
- News digest: Brussels committee launches scrutiny of EU funds in Slovakia
- Bratislava unveils its first 3D-printed bus stop Photo
- ‘Listen, Martina, this is not just your country’: protest song becomes rallying cry for folklorists Video
- They could have left. But these young Slovaks stayed.
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- Who is behind your vending machine coffee? A look inside Slovakia’s growing caffeine empire
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