Slovakia's largest oil refinery Slovnaft Bratislava racked up a 2.95 billion ($70 million) Slovak crown loss during the first six months of 1999, a development which company officials blamed on a weak crown and high world prices for Brent crude oil. From January 1 to the end of June, the crown weakened against the dollar from 36.9 to 43.8, while the price of crude oil grew from $10.40 per barrel to $17.
Slovnaft's 1H99 operating profit dipped from last year's 1.6 billion crowns to 1.04 billion crowns, largely as a result of the 3.82 billion crowns the firm created in reserves against currency fluctuations.
