The five best Slovak scientists are announced on June 16, 2020, in Bratislava. (source: TASR)
This is your overview of news from Slovakia from Tuesday, June 16, 2020. The news digests from previous days are available here. Today in Slovakia is an unpaid service for our readers. If you appreciate our work and want to support responsible journalism, buy our subscription. Thank you for being our reader.
People’s trust in the news falls
People in Slovakia do not trust the news as much as they did last year, the Digital News Report 2020 has found. This is, however, a global trend reinforced by social media, including Facebook.
The Reuters Institute of Oxford University said people in Slovakia read less printed newspapers while online media outlets and social media are the biggest source of news. It added that 12 percent of the Slovak internet population pays for news.
Pravda daily publisher files a court protection request
One of the largest publishers in Slovakia, Perex, has turned to the court, asking for the temporary protection of its business, which is a tool introduced by the government to protect firms against the impacts of the coronavirus.
Even though the publisher issues the best-selling Pravda daily, it is experiencing a shortage of income from advertising amid the pandemic like other media outlets. This is mainly the result of a past court case.
More people in Slovakia use video calls
Slovakia has slightly increased its ranking in the Digital Economy and Society Index 200, published by the European Commission. Nonetheless, Slovakia came 22nd out of 28 EU member states.
The report has found that more than 25 percent of Slovaks possess more than basic digital skills, which is the best result among the Visegrad countries (Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, and Hungary). Slovaks, however, fall behind the rest of Europe.
Slovakia has improved the most in adopting video calls as a form of communication – 66 percent use them today.
KIA will produce e-cars
After announcing the latest project for €70 million in the KIA car production plant in Teplička nad Váhom, in the Žilina Region, Kyong-Jae Lee, President of Kia Motors Slovakia, confirmed for the Trend weekly that the carmaker is also coming up with a plan for the production of an electric model.
"Žilina could thus produce a new C-segment e-car model from 2024," he said.
He added the decision is part of the concern’s global strategy to introduce 11 new e-car models by 2025, hoping to sell half a million e-cars a year.
In other news
The number of active coronavirus cases in Slovakia has dropped below 100, based on the testing numbers from Monday. Find the complete coronavirus statistics for the country here.
President Zuzana Čaputová does not consider the restriction of Sunday sales due to sanitary measures adequate and justified. Following the lifting of the state of emergency, it is necessary to reassess the extent to which the hygiene and safety measures in force are still meeting their objective, which is to protect the health of citizens, she said.
Any such measures must be proportionate and justified.“
Those insured by Dôvera can get a COVID-19 test for free. This, however, concerns only adults who have not been examined by their GP yet. However, they must visit their GP by September, and their GP must have a contract with the Alpha medical laboratories. (SITA)
Physicist Peter Skyba has been named the Slovak Scientist of the Year. Read more.
Lidl has abolished the distribution of printed leaflets with promotions in Slovakia. The leaflets will still be available in stores, and their e-version is published on Lidl’s website.
President Čaputová signed a law that will help entrepreneurs cover their rent payments if they have been struggling to pay them due to the pandemic. The state will spend €200 million on these payments, but the sum is not final.
TheIMD World Competitiveness Center has published its 2020 ranking, assessing the performance of 63 economies worldwide. Slovakia came 57th, which is a drop by four places compared to 2019. Singapore tops the ranking.
Also on Spectator.sk today:
