News digest: Two more people die of COVID-19, yellow trains leave busy regional track

Overview of news from Tuesday, September 22, 2020.

Yellow train of RegioJet company leaving Bratislava.Yellow train of RegioJet company leaving Bratislava. (Source: Sme)

This is your overview of news from Slovakia that happened on Tuesday, September 22, 2020.
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Speaker of parliament met with Penta co-owner

Journalists of the Denník N daily filmed Boris Kollár, Speaker of Parliament, and Jaroslav Haščák, co-owner of Penta financial group, after a meeting on September 18.

Each one had a different explanation for the meeting that took about an hour in a hotel in the centre of Bratislava. While Kollár claimed that he had wanted to ask Haščák why the Penta-owned media attack him in the press, Haščák noted that he is writing a book about politics and that was his reason to meet with Kollár.

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Haščák is a well-known figure from the Gorilla corruption case.

Speaker of parliament met with Penta partner, each offered a different explanation Read more 

Commentator Havran free of charges

The charges against commentator and theologist Michal Havran for an opinion piece where he criticised Catholic priest Marian Kuffa have been revoked, after the intervention of the General Prosecutor’s Office.

It deemed the action taken by Special Prosecutor’s Office incorrect, and revoked the charges and a disapproving statement on a complaint submitted by Havran. Although the prosecution in the matter continues, Havran is not charged anymore.

Related article Police revoke charges against prominent commentator Read more 

Yellow trains leave a track to Komárno

Yellow trains will not operate on the busy track between Bratislava and Komárno (Nitra Region). The current valid contract of the private carrier RegioJet will expire on December 12, 2020.

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The route will be taken by the state-run railway passenger carrier ZSSK and Austrian national carrier ÖBB. This solution is cheaper for the state and offers more quality service for passengers, Transport Minister Andrej Doležal (Sme Rodina) explained.

Yellow trains will no longer run between Bratislava and Komárno Read more 

Coronavirus-related news:

  • Two more people died in Slovakia of COVID-19, increasing the total number of victims to 41. A 69-year-old man hospitalised in Prešov hospital died on September 8, and a 78-year-old man died in the Trenčín hospital on September 19.
  • The September 21 testing revealed 175 new coronavirus cases, the total number thus increasing to 6,931. See more detailed statistics here.
  • The regional Public Health Authority office in Martin closed the dormitory and a canteen of the Jessenius Faculty of Medicine of the Comenius University in Martin, after four positive cases had been identified at the faculty last week, and five more students proved positive in the subsequent testing.
  • The operation of the emergency line of the Regional Operational Centre of the Rescue Service in Trnava was suspended until further notice after 18 of its operators tested positive for the coronavirus.
  • President Zuzana Čaputová signed an amendment about social insurance that adjusts pandemic care for a family member (OČR in Slovak) into law. Parents who will not send their child toschool due to the fear of the coronavirus (and not because school attendance will be limited) will not be entitled to this benefit.

Picture of the day:

In other news:

  • Tax returns will have to be submitted by November 2 at the latest, and people will be required to pay taxes by this date as well.
Related article Pandemic has changed the tax calendar in Slovakia. Here is what you need to know Read more 
  • The Judicial Council will submit a proposal to President Zuzana Čaputová for the removal of 82 judges, who turned 65 years of age.
  • The disciplinary committee will deal with the case involving former general prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka, who may face prosecution for a recording with Marian Kočner, on October 19.
  • Slovakia borrowed €61.4 million in a September 22 government bonds auction. The country has borrowed altogether €612.4 million on the financial market this week.
  • The number of visitors to hotels in Slovakia tripled in July 2020 in month-on-month comparison, but fell by 20 percent year-on-year. The drop in the number of foreign visitors was partly replaced by the growth in the number of domestic guests, according to the Statistics Office.
  • The Bratislava Tourist Board on September 23-27 is celebrating 55 years since the establishment of its first information centre in the capital, with free guided tours around the city centre, focused on special themes. Check out for example this one in English.

Disclaimer: The Penta financial group has a minority share in Petit Press, the publisher of the Sme daily and the co-owner of The Slovak Spectator.

Also on Spectator.sk:

Bratislava to renew its greenery Read more 

Komárno: A city on the edge (from our archive) Read more 

Slovaks with high blood pressure ignore treatment, experts say Read more 

Top stories

Stock image.

Twice as many Ukrainians work in Slovakia now than before the Russian invasion.


Píšem or pišám?

"Do ľava," (to the left) I yelled, "Nie, do prava" (no, to the right), I gasped. "Dolšie," I screamed. "Nie, nie, horšie..." My Slovak girlfriend collapsed in laughter. Was it something I said?


Matthew J. Reynolds
Czech biochemist Jan Konvalinka.

Jan Konvalinka was expecting a pandemic before Covid-19 came along.


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