Archive of articles - December 2014, page 2
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Prosecutor drops charges against journalist
THE PROSECUTOR of the Bratislava II District Prosecutor’s Office dropped charges against journalist Júlia Mikolášiková using the pseudonym Piraňa [Piranha] for alleged libel on December 19, according to Medialne.sk.
Finding a new home – Slovakia
Foreigners moving to Slovakia must start planning their journey much earlier than packing their suitcases.
A letter from the Publisher
The Slovak Spectator has for 20 years been able to bring independent reports about what is going on in the country’s politics and business. We continue the mission started by our founders in 1995 and not even the partial ownership by the Penta financial group of our mother company Petit Press that made news in the autumn can threaten our independence and firm ethical principles that have become part of our corporate culture.
Reconstruction of a church floor unveils rare archaeological findings
THE RECONSTRUCTION of the sanctuary of the late-Gothic Church of St Peter of Alcantara which is part of an old monastery complex in Okoličné (now part of the town of Litpovský Mikuláš) required archaeological research.
Slovaks will get food aid
SLOVAKIA will join the European Union programme designed to distribute free food to the neediest people for the second time in its history. Though there are some negative feelings concerning the programme, which previously ended up in scandal after thousands of people did not receive the aid they were entitled to, the Labour Ministry now claims it has taken steps to prevent the problems.
August: The year in business
S&P improves Slovakia’s outlook. After exiting the EU’s excessive deficit procedure some months ago, Slovakia received more good news. Rating agency Standard & Poor’s revised its outlook for Slovakia to ‘positive’ from ‘stable’. At the same time, it affirmed its ‘A/A-1’ long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings for Slovakia. Such ratings are important for the interest rates at which the country borrows money.
February: The year in business
Slovakia keeps Tokaj brand. Slovakia’s producers of Tokaj wine can continue to use the brand name after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) declared that the listing of the Slovak wine name “Vinohradnícka oblasť Tokaj” in the E-Bacchus register of protected designations of origins “does not constitute an actionable measure”. The European Commission added the name to the register after Slovakia requested that it be a protected designation of origin on the list of quality wines in specified regions. Hungary subsequently challenged the decision to register the name in Slovakia, but the ECJ turned down the appeal on February 13.
September: The year in business
Reverse gas flow from Slovakia to Ukraine launched. High Representative of the European Union Klaus-Dieter Borchardt, together with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Ukrainian PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk, ceremonially opened the valve of the Vojany-Uzhgorod pipeline on September 2. The capacity of the so-called small reverse version of transit that uses the existing, unused Vojany pipeline near Veľké Kapušany on the Slovak side is 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year.
Atmosphere of traditional goose-feather processing
THE PROCESSING of goose feathers was one of the traditional seasonal (meaning autumn and some places also winter) works of Slovak women. Every good farmer wife collected feathers from her geese and then put them together.
October: The year in business
Construction giant in trouble. The Bratislava I District Court accepted the request to start the restructuring process in the construction company Váhostav. After Doprastav, it is the second big construction company in Slovakia in trouble.
March: The year in business
Slovakia faces the first drop in consumer prices. For the first time in its history, prices in Slovakia dropped compared to the previous year. Inflation measured using the national methodology stood at -0.1 percent in February, with core inflation at 0.3 percent and net inflation at 0.2 percent, the Statistics Office announced on March 12. Analysts ascribed the drop in prices to falling prices of food.
Andy Warhol Museum in Medzilaborce gets new collections
THE ANDY Warhol Modern Art Museum in Medzilaborce (eastern Slovakia) extended its collections by several new pieces. They are comprised of 17 works by 12 artists, including Warhol.
Countrywide Events
Western SLOVAKIA
May: The year in business
Car production rose in 2013. A total of 987,718 cars were produced in Slovakia last year, up by 6.6 percent compared to 2012. The number of cars produced per 1,000 inhabitants in Slovakia stood at 182 in 2013, confirming Slovakia as the largest automobile manufacturer per capita in the world.
April: The year in business
Construction firms banned over cartel. The state National Highway Company excluded four construction giants – Doprastav, Strabag, Skanska and Inžinierske Stavby – from the public tender process in the wake of a cartel scandal from 2005 that also involved two other firms. The ban hit Doprastav and Skanska the hardest, as they were bidding for the largest highway tenders. On December 30, 2013, the Supreme Court upheld an Antitrust Office verdict finding six construction companies in Slovakia – Strabag, Doprastav, Betamot, Inžinierske Stavby, Skanska DS and Mota – Engil, Engenharia e Construcao – guilty of forming a cartel when competing for a highway construction order in a public tender. The companies involved must pay an aggregate fine of a record nearly €45 million.
V4 leaders visit Ukraine
AMID rapid developments in Ukraine and Russia, Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák led a delegation of Visegrad Four leaders to Kiev, pledging to help Slovakia’s eastern neighbour with reforms in various strategic sectors and continued cooperation in 2015.
Slovak centre of PEN celebrates 25th anniversary
THE SLOVAK centre of PEN finished celebrating the 25th anniversary of its establishment in the Primate’s Palace on December 12 with awarding its members of merit.
SDKÚ continues rapid decline
MEMBER after member continue to leave the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) party which now has just 2.1 percent public support in the latest poll, the same result as Communist Party of Slovakia reached.
Ryanair to fly Bratislava-Athens
THE IRISH low-cost airline Ryanair will be adding Athens to the list of destinations that travellers will be able to reach by air from Bratislava come the summer of 2015. There will be three flights to the Greek capital per week.
Sailors and rescuers commemorated victims of the Danube river
A MEMORIAL feast, commemorating the sailors, shipmasters and other workers who died in an accident during their work on ships sailing the Danube river – as well other rivers – took place on December 5, on the eve of the day of St Nicolaus, patron-saint of sailors.
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- Slovakia loses another EV model to Spain as Stellantis chooses Zaragoza over Trnava
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Convicted of multiple murders, Slovakia’s mafia boss seeks release from prison
- Slovakia plans to restrict access to new medicines amid funding shortfall
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- News digest: Fico’s bloc wants to save money by restricting electoral access
- The disinformation scene has become a tool of media capture
- Slovakia plans to restrict access to new medicines amid funding shortfall
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- News digest: Violent gang in Bratislava is under arrest
- The Kremlin’s security agency has a Russian contractor in Slovakia - no one has noticed
- 3 free things to do in Bratislava in the next seven days
- Digital Jarvis is real now. He is coming for your to-do list
- Weekend: Celebration of fun comes to Malacky Photo
- The disinformation scene has become a tool of media capture
- Maria Theresa on the banks of Bratislava
- A mayor resigns over €2.7 million fraud scandal at town hall
- Show me your moves! Slovak hockey stars share their best pick-up lines
- No more photos or bank statements? Slovakia moves to ease residence process
- 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 compass points to Kúty, and people are starting to follow
- 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
- Top 10 events in Bratislava for foreigners More articles ›
