Artmedia strikes again

ACCORDING to the Bestbetting online oddsmakers for Champion's League play, Bratislava's Artmedia football club is a 2,501:1 outsider to win the annual European tournament. In other words, if they win, a bet of four pence will earn you a hundred pounds.

Slovakia goes to Davis Cup final

NOT TO BE upstaged by Slovakia's footballers, the men's Davis Cup tennis team destroyed a highly regarded Argentine squad over the September 23-25 weekend to reach the finals of the international tournament.

Populism "dangerous"

Once almost entirely an economist, Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš has assumed an increasingly important political role as the voice of reason and pragmatism in the Mikuláš Dzurinda government. The Slovak Spectator interviewed him September 22.

Artmedia loses opener

ARTMEDIA Petržalka may not have covered itself in glory in its home opener in the Champion's League group round - a 1-0 loss to Inter Milan - but they played well enough to keep it close and to earn a sincere round of applause from the sellout crowd of 30,000 at Bratislava's Tehelné Pole stadium.The September 13 game represented the first time any Slovak club had qualified for the main round of the annual football tournament of top European teams. Artmedia, a rank outsider, beat out Glasgow Celtic and Partizan Belgrade earlier in the summer to advance.

Interview with Igor Tham, chairman of the board, Citibank (Slovakia), a.s.

Did explosives made in Slovakia kill Hariri?

REPORTS that Slovakia might have been the origin of the RDX high explosive that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a February 15 car-bombing in Beirut have mystified Slovak state security forces.

Interview with Štefan Rosina, president of Matador a.s.

Slovakia, Russia deadlocked

A HARD-FOUGHT 1-1 draw with Latvia left the Slovak national football team even on points with Russia going into the final two games of the World Cup qualifying round.

Interview with Jaroslav Ružička, Managing partner of Dr. Ružička Law Office

Interview with David Lohr, president of U. S. Steel Košice

Interview with Peter Weber, General Director of Hewlett-Packard Slovakia

The Slovak Spectator (TSS): Slovak labour has a reputation for being not only comparatively cheap, but also skilled. Is the Slovak government doing enough to ensure that the country's labour force remains equipped with the high-tech and language skills necessary in the 21st century?

USSK bids to supply car factories

SLOVAKIA's surging auto industry is not only drawing would-be parts suppliers from abroad - it is also driving a $160-million (€132 million) investment by one of the country's oldest concerns, US Steel Košice, which is bidding to become the "preferred supplier" of high-quality steel to the huge car factories due to come on line by 2007.

Sacked employees win suit against Mondi

LABOURER Jozef Daniš and four of his co-workers won a lower court verdict in a wrongful dismissal case against their former employer, the international paper firm Mondi Business Paper SCP of Ružomberok.

Interview with Vladimír Masár chairman of Deloitte

The Slovak Spectator (TSS): Deloitte did a survey last year that found that 81% of the top companies surveyed in Western and Eastern Europe predicted that the new member states of the EU would become more attractive for investors following enlargement. Has this prediction come true?

Slovakia advances from top spot

TEAM Slovakia clinched first place in its basic group at the World Ice Hockey Championship on May 4 with a powerful 8-1 victory over home side Austria.

Boos send Slovakia to Worlds

TRENČÍN - Jeers and derisory whistling followed the Slovak national hockey team off the ice on April 27 after their last exhibition game before the 2005 World Championship in Austria - a match they lost 3-0 to Sweden in a lacklustre performance.

Judge: Special Court needed

JÁN Hrubala's luck finally seems to have changed. After losing a vote in parliament to the post of ombudsman in 2002, he was rejected for the post of Special Court judge by the Judicial Council in 2004

Barto: Reduce moral hazard

MARTIN Barto, 46, has more than a decade of experience in the Slovak banking sector, beginning as an analyst with ING Bank and then moving after 1999 to become chief economist of the then-state bank, Slovenská sporiteľňa

Lipšic defends free speech

JUSTICE Minister Daniel Lipšic will return to battle this month in parliament to see another version of his draft Penal Code amendment approved. He withdrew the previous bill in early February after MPs approved several alterations the minister believed would benefit organized crime; now, says Lipšic, emotions have cooled, and there is wider political support for this important legislation.