The state-owned telephone company Slovak Telecom (ST) expects to make a 4.4 billion Sk gross profit this year, up from its projection of 3.7 billion Sk, company officials announced. ST invested 7.8 billion Sk, of which a large part went to install the third digital phone exchange supplied by the German firm Siemens for the city of Košice. According to ST's director, Peter Valent, a syndicated loan worth $100 million is still in the works. The loan, arranged by Citibank International and twenty other financial institutions has been held up as the banks await the resolution of a legal battle between ST and Slovak businessman Jozef Majský.
