(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
Good afternoon. Catch up on the main news of the day and get some tips for the weekend with the October 8 edition of Today in Slovakia. We wish you a pleasant read.
For weekend tips and reads, check out our Spectacular Slovakia weekly roundup. This week, Peter Dlhopolec is writing about the abuse of Slovak singer Peter Nagy’s hit Láska je tu s nami (Love Is Here with Us) by the Czech far-right and Norway's fresh take on the 1973 Czechoslovak fairy tale classic Tři oříšky pro Popelku (Three Nuts for Cinderella).
The dilapidated building of the former erotic club. (source: Bratislava/Marek Velček)
The former erotic club in the park Sad Janka Kráľa on the left bank of the Danube in Bratislava will be rebuilt into a modern eating place. The abandoned building has been a source of shame for the city for years. The Bratislava city council obtained it through exclusive ownership at the beginning of 2021.
The reconstruction of the former erotic club into a modern eating place for visitors is part of the ongoing, extensive revitalisation of the park.
“Sad Janka Kráľa is one of the oldest central European parks and is one of the city’s protected monuments,” said Mayor of Bratislava Matúš Vallo, as cited in the press release. “Thanks to the new services that will be added in the former building of the night salon, people will be able to spend an even more comfortable time in the park.”
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Coronavirus in Slovakia
1,690 people were newly diagnosed as Covid positive out of 11,034 PCR tests performed on October 7. The number of people in hospitals has increased to 806. 15 more deaths were reported on Thursday. The vaccination rate is at 44.83 percent; 2,465,677 people have received the first dose of the vaccine. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here.
Starting on Friday, October 15, the required quarantine period will be shortened. New rules will also be implemented for registration at the border and documents shown to prove one’s vaccination status.
Photo of today
The developer Penta Real Estate has completed the €13 million reconstuction of the historical heating plant designed by Dušan Samuel Jurkovič. (source: Jana Liptáková)
The heating plant has been converted into a creative and community centre with co-working offices and features three original concrete storage bins.
Feature story for today
Fabrizio, Maurício, Paťo. 20-year-old Patrizio Gravina, who grew up in Slovakia as a child from a mixed Slovak-Italian marriage, recalls that growing up, his not-typically-Slovak name created difficulties for his Slovak classmates.
Nowadays, that problem is history. “There are more people like me,” Gravina told The Slovak Spectator. By "people like me" he means children from mixed families.
In this interview with The Slovak Spectator, he explains how his family's “Italian lifestyle” often left his friends astonished and how the Italian and Slovak sides manifest in his identity.
In other news
The 10th edition of the three-day Tatra Summit conference organised by GLOBSEC started in Štrbské Pleso in the High Tatras on Friday, October 8. Political and economic leaders will discuss the world's economic recovery during the pandemic crisis.
Four accused investigators from the National Criminal Agency (NAKA) will continue their work. Interim Police Corps president Štefan Hamran confirmed this on Friday, October 8. He acknowledged their work, saying he sees no reason why they should be suspended.
Incumbent National Crime Agency (NAKA) head Eva Kurrayová will vacate her post on October 15, while Police Corps vice-presidents Jana Maškarová and Robert Bozalka will follow suit by the end of 2021, Hamran also announced on October 8.
Bratislava’s borough of Devín will mark the 100th anniversary of its local specialty – currant wine– on Saturday, October 9.
Slovakia’s total export in August 2021 amounted to €6.4 billion, increasing by 0.5 percent year-on-year. Despite the slight year-on-year increase, total exports grew by more than 8 percent when compared to August 2019. Meanwhile, the country’s total imports in August grew by 11.1 percent y-o-y to €6.5 billion. Compared to August 2019, the imports of goods from Slovakia grew by 7 percent. As for Slovakia’s trade balance, the country recorded a negative trade balance of €146.2 million. In July, Slovakia posted a trade-balance deficit of €22 million. (the Statistics Office).
Several medical organisations are against the planned reduction of health insurance payments for state policyholders by €232 million to €1.2 billion.
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