(source: SME.sk / Hej,ty)
Good evening. The Tuesday, March 22 edition of Today in Slovakia is ready with the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
Gov't has not fulfilled a third of its anti-corruption pledges
The Eduard Heger cabinet (source: TASR)
The Let’s Stop Corruption Foundation has evaluated the first two years of rule by the coalition created after the 2020 general election.
, the NGO said. Key reforms should have been during the first two years of tenure.
The biggest plus of the incumbent government is that the police launched investigations into corruption-related cases linked to prominent figures.
The coalition is divided when it comes to other promises, particularly the adoption of the new court map or the amendment to the criticised Article 363 of the Criminal Code, which has been used by the general prosecutor and his office several times to cancel criminal charges against prominent figures.
Foreigners' Police open again to all foreigners
Foreigners' Police in Bratislava (source: TASR)
After several weeks, when the operation of the Foreigners' Police department was limited to dealing with refugees from Ukraine, the police is starting to deal with other agenda again.
As of Wednesday, March 23, 2022, the Foreigners’ Police opened all its branches for temporary residence applications for the purpose of employment and applicants for the issuing of a residence permit for people - drivers of international truck or bus transport.
The police points out that in any case, it is necessary to use the online booking system on the website of the Interior Ministry.
“The Foreigners’ Police will continue to work on expanding the number of life circumstances that can be handled at the site's workplaces with regard to the development of the migration crisis due to the war in Ukraine,” the police stated.
War in Ukraine
Approximately 360 refugees from Ukraine have found employment in Slovakia so far, mostly in western Slovakia, reported Labour Minister Milan Krajniak. If a refugee applies for temporary protection and he or she is able to find a job, a further work permit is not necessary.
The Slovak Bar Association (SAK) has set up a special list in which Ukrainian lawyers interested in professional employee positions at law firms in Slovakia have the opportunity to register. The Slovak Advocacy Act stipulates that a law firm can employ professional and other staff apart from trainees.
The Slovak parliament will discuss an amendment that will allow the government to exclude companies with Russian co-owners from tenders, in a fast-track procedure. The government should decide after the amendment is passed on which fields it would concern.
3,400 pupils from Ukraine have been enrolled in Slovak schools, most in the Bratislava Region, the Education Ministry announced.
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Photo of the day
Bratislava has a new museum. The latest addition to the city’s cultural scene celebrates Martin Luther and the Reformation. The Museum of Luther’s Reformation can be found on Palárikova Street
Feature story for today
The moment she woke up, she immediately heard noises that sounded like air bombs or planes. “I was just lying in my bed, listening to the sounds coming from outside. I didn’t at first understand what was happening,” the student recalls. It was only after her parents turned on the TV and she checked social media that they realised what Russia had done.
They lived in a high-rise building outside the city centre, on the left bank of the Dnieper River, which divides Kyiv. To save their lives, they quickly grabbed their documents and several pieces of clothing and headed outside the capital.
In other news
8,937 people were newly diagnosed as Covid positive out of 18,522 PCR tests performed on Monday. The number of people in hospitals is 2,419. 28 more deaths were reported on Monday. The vaccination rate is at 51.26 percent, 2,819,190 people having received the first dose of the vaccine. More stats on Covid-19 in Slovakia here.
The forged promissory notes case is over after a sentence of 13 years in prison for Štefan Ágh was passed. reported that Ágh did not appeal against the verdict and neither did the prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Ján Šanta appeal.
The main hearing in the sexual abuse case regarding the Chachaland children's camp has been adjourned to May 31, the reason being the absence of the main defendant Roman Paulíny.
The number of foreigners working in Slovakia soared in February this year. In the
second month, 69,300 foreigners worked in Slovakia, a monthly increase by 904 and year-over-year increase by 2,000, according to data of the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family. Ukrainians are still the biggest group. Their number soared by 375 last month to 19,700.€365 million more will be allocated to health care, announced Finance Minister Igor Matovič and Health Minister Vladimír Lengvarský: €100 million will go via payments for insurees of the state, €120 million via the increase of basic capital of the state insurer Všeobecná Zdravotná Poisťovňa. The state also promises a higher collection of the insurance fee, €145 million.
Last year, the European Investment Bank Group more than doubled its investments in the Slovak Republic, provided us with €469 million and ranked among the largest investors in the country.
There are currently more than 300,000 capital companies registered in Slovakia, but a tenth of them do not pursue any business activities. According to data provided by Dun & Bradstreet, 31,062 entities report zero activity, thereof 30,268 were limited liability companies and 794 joint-stock companies. On the whole, it is a drop of 206 in annual terms.
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