The Mountain Rescue Service (HZS) urges tourists not to underestimate avalanche hazard warnings. (source: TASR)
Good evening. Here is the Friday, January 13 edition of Today in Slovakia – the main news of the day in less than five minutes.
For weekend events and news on travel and culture in Slovakia, see the latest edition of our Spectacular Slovakia newsletter.
Slovenská Pošta closes two out of seven post offices in Bratislava’s Petržalka
Balíkobox parcel drop boxes in Petržalka will in part make up for the loss of services at the post offices. (source: TASR)
Two of seven post offices in Petržalka, the biggest Bratislava borough, will cease to provide its services. The post office at Pečnianska Street will close as of February 1 and the office at Holíčska Street as of March 1, the Petržalka municipal office has announced on social networks. The remaining five post offices, at Vlastenecké Square and Jiráskova, Einsteinova, Furdekova and Jasovská Streets, are staying open. They will also take over services for citizens from the two closed offices, the SITA newswire wrote.
The borough states that the national postal service provider Slovenská Pošta would have closed the two post offices despite their opposition.
The Balíkobox parcel drop boxes in Petržalka will in part make up for the closed post offices.
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Anniversary of the month
Park Hotel (left), by Ladislav Hudec. (source: Courtesy of STV/Mao Iris)
Slovakia has marked the 130th anniversary of Ladislav Hudec's birthday (January 8, 1893, Banská Bystrica – October 26, 1958, Berkeley), an architect of Slovak origin who changed Shanghai’s skyline. Park Hotel was one of the most acknowledged skyscrapers, completed in 1934. It was the first high-rise building in the Far East and maintained this title for dozens of years.
Feature story for today
Rising energy bills and inflation, coupled with the legislative changes the parliament adopted in late 2022, mean that municipalities are facing a heavy financial burden in the new year. Bratislava is no exception.
The measures promoted by former finance minister Igor Matovič, which he intended as aid for Slovak households at a time of skyrocketing prices, turned Bratislava into one of the EU's poorest capitals, according to Mayor Matúš Vallo.
“The two weeks that parliament spent changing laws like on a conveyor belt, were worse for Bratislava in financial terms than the pandemic and the war in Ukraine combined,” said Vallo.
More stories from The Slovak Spectator website:
SCIENCE: An unusual meteor burned across the sky over the Canadian province of Alberta two years ago, and Slovak astronomers played a key role in discovering where it came from.
HIKING:Hiking trail marking reaches Cultural Heritage list
FOREIGNERS IN SLOVAKIA: Listen to another episode of The Na Slovensku Aj Po Anglicky podcast, this time with three foreign artists discussing the creative pursuits that give their lives meaning.
BRATISLAVA: TheSNG reconstruction, parking policy and elections dominated Bratislava in 2022.
Picture of the day
Babindol farm has expanded its tomato farm in Levice. (source: SITA)
Babindol farm in Levice has expanded its tomato farm with another 1.35-hectare greenhouse. Three varieties of tomatoes are planted inside the greenhouse, and the annual harvest should reach 400-500 tonnes. The energy crisis and the saving measures have resulted in no extra lighting installed in the greenhouse, so it will not produce tomatoes in the winter months. The first harvest is expected in March and the season should last till the end of November, Matúš Jančura, director of Babindol farm, told the TASR newswire.
Other news
The average inflation for all of 2022 reached 12.8 percent, the second-highest level in the history of modern Slovakia, solely behind the average recorded in 1993. Last year’s inflation was mainly influenced by a rise in energy prices and a record increase in food and fuel prices. The growth of prices slowed down to 15.4 percent y/y in December, with the consumer prices of goods and services growing by only 0.2 percent in monthly terms, the slowest rate in 2022, the Statistics Office reported.
The testing of hydrogen buses in Bratislava has been successful. Four hydrogen buses will enhance the Bratislava public transport fleet later this year, announced Dopravný Podnik Bratislava (DPB), the capital’s public transport operator.
Residents of the Staré Hory municipality in central Slovakia will rally against high prices energy and municipal funding on Friday, January 13. They will block the main road to Ružomberok via Donovaly between 17:00 and 18:00. The rally will be held with the lights off, participants wielding flashlights, candles and mobile phones.
Bratislava will host the Winter Games 2023 hockey event. This consists of ice-hockey matches played at the national football stadium at Tehelné Pole under open sky, this weekend of January 13-15. While Dopravný Podnik Bratislava (DPB), the capital’s public transport operator, will add special lines, traffic around the stadium will be limited.
A gullible 54-year-old Bratislava female resident became the victim of a crook. She gradually sent a total of €250,000 to a man who had contacted her while impersonating a UN army soldier serving in Yemen, Bratislava regional police spokesman Michal Szeiff told the TASR newswire.
The Mountain Rescue Service (HZS) urges tourists not to underestimate daily avalanche hazard warnings. In recent days, 30 centimetres of new snow has fallen on the mountains, which is not sufficiently melded with the hard underlying layer. On Wednesday, January 11 alone, mountain rescuers intervened in avalanche accidents in the Tatras, the Interior Ministry told TASR.
If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.
