Archive of articles - December 2014, page 9
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Prešov hospital did not sign deal over expensive lunches
COMPANIES Hospital Catering Solutions and Dora Gastro Slovensko not only won the competition for supplying the food to patients and employees of the hospitals for 10 years in state-run facilities in Trenčín, Trnava, Banská Bystrica and Poprad, but also in Prešov. This last hospital, however, in the end decided not to sign the deal. If it did, the sum for the firms would climb to €110 million, the Sme daily reported in its December 10 issue.
Industrial production index up in October
THE INDUSTRIAL production index (IPI) rose by 2.7 percent year-on-year in October. Its development was affected mostly by the growth in manufacturing by 3.2 percent. It, however, dropped in electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply by 0.7 percent, and in mining and quarrying by 0.3 percent, the Statistics Office (ŠÚ) informed on December 10.
NGO: Media present Roma in a stereotypical way
Some journalists still view Roma as a separate group and not as a part of Slovak society. This is the finding of the analysis elaborated by the Romano Kher – Rómsky dom (meaning Roma House) civic association in collaboration with the Newton Media agency.
Parliament fails to override veto, Smer MPs were absent
MPs of Slovak parliament failed to override a veto by President Andrej Kiska when voting on the amendment to the Commercial Code, as the ruling Smer party deputies did not have enough votes in the main hall.
Parliament discards school food bill
The food on offer at school snack shops will not change after all, as parliament on December 4 accepted the reservations of President Andrej Kiska towards an amendment to the School Act that was supposed to do away with junk food at school snack shops. The amendment was proposed by Smer MP Renáta Zmajkovičová and passed by the parliament on October 29 before Kiska vetoed it on November 19. He objected to what he called the vagueness and ambiguity that leads to a lack of clarity, according to the TASR newswire. Kiska also asked for a list of “banned items” to be scrapped form the bill, the SITA newswire wrote. Parliament agreed with Kiska’s comments, but moved to place a request with the government to draw up a bill aimed at addressing the issue of food sold in schools that will ensure that schools offer food that benefits the health of their pupils. Zmajkovičová proposed that shops in schools should be required to get rid of all fast-food products, foods containing over 1.5 grams of salt per 100 grams, sweets, ice cream, ice lollies, energy drinks, alcohol, beverages containing quinine and flavoured soft drinks including those with added sugar and/or artificial sweeteners. She also proposed that shopkeepers who violate the legislation be subject to fines of €50-500. In his response to parliament’s latest move on the bill, Most-Híd vice-chair Zsolt Simon said that common sense has prevailed in the governing Smer party. He added that, first and foremost, it is up to parents to educate their children on healthy foods. The Food Chamber of Slovakia pointed out that Zmajkovičová’s draft bill is not based on any expertise and was not preceded by any expert debate, SITA wrote.
Slovak central bank lowers economic growth estimates
The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) has lowered GDP growth projection to 2.6 percent next year, down from 2.9 percent in earlier forecasts.
SNS and SMK in parliament, SDKÚ and SaS out
IF THE parliamentary elections took place in early December, they would be won by the ruling Smer party which would receive the support of 38.3 percent of voters. The second strongest party in the parliament would become Sieť with 11.9 percent, followed by the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OĽaNO) with 8.4 percent, the poll carried out by the Polis polling agency for the SITA newswire between December 1 and 7 on 1,463 respondents suggests.
Foreign trade balance in surplus
THE TOTAL export of goods stood at €5.9819 billion in October, down by 3.9 percent year-on-year, while the total import of goods dropped by 5.9 percent y/y to €5.4624 billion. The foreign trade balance was in surplus in the amount of €519.4 million, up by €96.8 million compared to October 2013, the data published by the Statistics Office on December 9 showed.
The purchases of cars will be capped
THE PURCHASES of vehicles by state authorities will be capped at €48,000 without VAT, according to a proposal authored by the Finance Ministry which still needs to get approval from the government.
PMÚ Council confirmed the fine for Cargo
THE COUNCIL of the Antitrust Office (PMÚ) has confirmed the fine of €10 million for the state-run freight carrier Cargo issued in August 2013. The decision became valid on December 5, 2014, the TASR newswire reported.
Chinese Minister Jiarui Wang urges strengthening of ties between Slovakia and China
VICE-chairperson of China’s National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Jiarui Wang, along with his delegation visited Slovakia on December 8, the TASR newswire reported.
Ministry issues a certificate of compliance for JESS’ nuclear plan
THOUGH the project to build a new nuclear power plant in Jaslovské Bohunice is still a long way off, it is a ‘step closer’ to realisation. The Slovak nuclear power company JESS, which covers the entire project, has obtained from the Economy Ministry a certificate of compliance for its investment plan with the long-term energy policy of the Slovak Republic, the SITA newswire reported.
Law was bypassed in case of hospital canteens
THE HEALTH Ministry admitted that the suspicious contracts with food suppliers to four state-owned hospitals were not approved by the government, even though they should have been. Health Minister Viliam Čislák will explain to the government why his ministry bypassed the law on budgetary rules, the Sme daily wrote.
Slovakia wins another dispute with Dôvera health insurer
SLOVAKIA has won a lawsuit with commercial health insurance company Dôvera, according to a recent ruling of the European Commission, the Trend weekly website reported on December 8.
State hospitals pay millions for food
FOUR large state hospitals in Trenčín, Banská Bystrica, Trnava and Poprad that are deteriorating and their patients are waiting sometimes even months for examinations will pay external caterers almost €81 million including VAT for ten years. In comparison, some hospitals with private owners may pay even half as much for catering of what aforementioned hospitals do, the Sme daily wrote on December 8.
Fico discusses opposition and social measures during Smer’s congress
PROTESTS, a social measures package and the opposition were among the issues of the Smer congress held in Nitra on December 6. In his speech Prime Minister and Smer chairman Robert Fico said that the opposition does not know how to compete with Smer and all it can offer is hatred and an effort to paint the most negative possible picture of Smer.
Anti-shell law introduced an exception for tenders related to the EU
The recently approved amendment to the law on public procurement, which is to ban shell companies from attending public competitions, contains an exception which will allow small purchases related to Slovakia’s EU presidency, which will take place in the second half of 2016, without public competition. The provision was authored by Smer MP Maroš Kondrót.
Čentéš and Čižnár disagree over the candidacy for the post of General Prosecutor
JOZEF Čentéš, whom ex-president Ivan Gašparovič refused to appoint for general prosecutor, said that he approved the candidacy of Jaromír Čižnár for the post in a vis-à-vis conversation. Čižnár however claims that Čentéš first approached him three times trying to persuade him to take the post.
Slovak organisation awarded
THE SLOVAK non-profit organisation Via Iuris has won a special prize in the 2014 edition of the Czech-Slovak competition for the best publicly beneficial campaign. In total, 68 non-profit organisations enrolled 112 campaigns into the eighth edition of the Žihadlo (Sting) competition. Of them, three Slovak NGOs enrolled eight campaigns, Karolina Fialová, project manager at Neziskovky.cz, told The Slovak Spectator. The award ceremony took place in Prague on November 20.
Historical tram rode in the streets, now parked in Transport Museum
THE ONCE legendary tram that connected Prešportok/Pozsony/Pressburg, now Bratislava, and Vienna has been reconstructed. After two years’ work, it was presented by the Club of Friends of City Mass and Regional Transport on the M.R. Štefánik Embankment during one weekend at the beginning of November. Then it was moved to the Museum of Transport in Šancová Street where it will be presented, together with a whole exhibition focused on this history, the TASR newswire informed.
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