Slovak Spectator 1730

Payroll-levy bill readied for vote
THE CABINET of Iveta Radiov on

August 21 agreed the changes that
it wants to make from next year to
the way Slovakia calculates man-
datory payroll levies, and will now
take them to parliament. But the
reactions so far from associations
representing self-employed people
and artists and even from some
MPs within the parties of the rul-
ing coalition suggest that the
cabinet's proposed bill will face a
roughride.
The government has pitched
its proposals as a reform that will
develop a unified system for col-
lection of income taxes, customs
duties and mandatory payroll
levies and that it will ease the ad-
ministrative burden on employers
as well as employees. This aspect
of the proposal nearly everyone
seems to support but self-em-
ployed people are protesting that
the changes as currently laid out
will result in them having to
shoulder a heavier burden
through higher income taxes and
levies.
SeeLEVYpg12
SELECT FOREX RATES
benchmark as of September 1
CANADA CAD 1.40
CZECHREP. CZK 24.15
RUSSIA RUB 41.41
GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.88
HUNGARY HUF 273.11
JAPAN JPY 110.08
POLAND PLN 4.14
USA USD 1.43
NEWS
Caseopen5years on
Hedviga Malinov remains
accused of lying but with
no immediate prospect of
being able to clear her
name five years after she
reported being assaulted in
Nitra.
pg 2
Panic over falsealarm
Analarmthat sounded
around the Jaslovsk Bohu-
nice nuclear power plant in
mid-August turned out to
be false, but hardly anyone
least of all local government
officials received timely,
official information.
pg 3
OPINION
Alukewarmwelcome
Instead of lecturing poten-
tial migrants about how
they must assimilate, Slov-
ak politicians would do well
to think about what Slov-
akia is really doing or not
doing to attract them.
pg 5
BUSINESSFOCUS
Germany's role
InaninterviewwithThe
Slovak Spectator, German
Ambassador Axel Hart-
manntalks about the euro-
zone debt crisis, vocational
educationand the German
language inSlovakia.
pg 6
Don't standstill
Economic ties betweenGer-
many and Slovakia are ex-
ceptionally strong, but Slov-
akia needs to pursue further
reformto ensure they re-
mainso, investors say.
pg 7
CULTURE
Masters of culture
The first weekend of
September brings a celebra-
tionof folk art and crafts to
Bratislava's old townthat
encourages Slovaks to em-
brace traditional culture.
pg 13
Teachers inNitra(above) andother regional centres usedSlovakia's September 1 public holiday tocollect signatures
for apetitioncallingfor more money tobe spent oneducationandfor teachers' pay for tobe increased. Photo: TASR
Slovakia trims its
growth forecasts
WHILE Europe hopes that the pro-
spect of a double-dip recession will
remain only a subject of economic
discourse and not a reality, eco-
nomic analysts and state institu-
tions in Slovakia have taken off
their rose-tinted glasses and taken
a fresh look at the forecast growth
of the Slovak economy during the
remainder of 2011 and in2012.
In its recent flash estimate, the
Finance Ministrys Institute of Fin-
ancial Policy (IFP) reported that it
expects the Slovak economy to
grow at a slower pace than it had
earlier forecast, trimming its pro-
gnosis for annual growth in 2012
from4.4 percent to 3.4 percent.
The IFP said that uncertainties
in global financial markets and a
cooling of the economies of
Slovakias largest trading partners
had prompted to cut its macro-
economic prognosis.
Market watchers agreed with
that assessment, suggesting that
the ministrys earlier forecast was
much too optimistic. Some ana-
lysts have chosen to see things
evenmore pessimistically whenre-
leasing their forecasts for
Slovakias economic growth next
year.
We think the IFP prognosis is
still slightly optimistic, Vladimr
Zlack, chief economist with Uni-
Credit Bank, told The Slovak Spec-
tator, adding that his bank expects
the Slovak economy to grow by
only 2.8 percent in 2012, with addi-
tional downside risks possible.
SeeDOWNpg11
Vol. 17, No. 30 Monday, September 5, 2011 - Sunday, September 11, 2011
On sale now On sale now
FOCUS
of this issue
FOCUS
of this issue
GERMANY

Immigrants
wanted
SLOVAKIA needs migrants to meet the
needs of its labour market: that was the
main message the cabinet sent out by
passing its migration strategy for the
country for the next decade. And although
the document suggests several changes in
policy which migrants might welcome,
some cabinet members have already made
it clear that Slovakia will still expect mi-
grants to fully integrate.
The current demographic trends
show that the Slovak labour market, as
well as the social security system, are sig-
nificantly dependent on the inflow of hu-
man capital from abroad, the Migration
Policy of the Slovak Republic with the Out-
look until 2020, which the cabinet passed
onAugust 31, states.
SeeINpg3
NB should
finally get a
new boss
AFTERmonths of unsuccessful attempts to
fill the post of head of the National Secur-
ity Office (NB), the countrys main secur-
ity vetting agency, the cabinet has okayed
the candidacy of Kamil Krn, making him
the first of four candidates to even make it
to a vote inparliament.
The coalition parties agreed that Free-
dom and Solidarity (SaS) should nominate
the NB head, but the task proved unex-
pectedly challenging as one candidate
after another was rejected by SaS coalition
partners, stretching the selection process
out to more than five months following
the departure of the previous NB head.
Finally, the cabinet approved the candid-
acy of Krn on August 24, after he re-
ceived the top secret security clearance re-
quired for the job. Nothing now seems to
stand in his way other that an approval
vote in parliament, which should take
place soon after at its first post-summer-
break sessionbegins onSeptember 6.
SeeTOPpg2
BYMICHAELATERENZANI
Spectator staff
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYMICHAELATERENZANI
Spectator staff
But only if they Slovakise
see pages 6 -10
The German community in Slovakia
Judges may be allowed to comment
UNLIKE the CzechRepublic,
Slovakias judges are not al-
lowed to comment publicly
onthe verdicts they pass in
court cases. But nowJustice
Minister Lucia itansk
wants to change this by
amending the law, the Sme
daily reported.
I amconvinced that
people will trust the courts
more if they understand
their rulings, stated
itansk, as quoted by the
daily.
Sme listed the verdicts
inthe cases of the release of
the former head of the Slov-
ak Intelligence Service (SIS)
IvanLexa, the instances of
highcompensationpay-
ments awarded to politi-
cians for libel, and the ver-
dict inthe case of medical
student udmila Cervanov
as having led to public be-
wilderment.
The latter was discussed
recently ontefanHrbs talk
showPod lampou(Under the
Lamp), broadcast by Slovak
Television(STV). The General
Prosecutors Office criticised
the showbecause Hrb in-
vited the menwho were
found guilty of murdering
Cervanov to appear.
Judge Katarna
Javorkov fromthe initiat-
ive For OpenJustice suppor-
ted itansks proposal and
said that it is the constitu-
tional right of judges to ex-
press freely their opinionon
cases.
However, she said that
judges should be able to
comment only onclosed
cases, not onthose whichare
still ongoing.
Slovakia recognises Libyan rebels
SLOVAKIAbecame one of 60
countries to have recog-
nised Libyas National
Transitional Council as the
only legitimate government
of that country, the TASR
newswire reported.
The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs is convinced that the
National Transitional Coun-
cil will guarantee the ob-
servance of laws, justice and
humanrights for all Libyas
citizens, the ministry said
ina writtenstatement re-
leased onAugust 30, adding
that suchanapproachin
Libya will receive broad
support fromSlovakias
government.
The ministry also ex-
pressed its condolences to
the country inconnection
withthe large number of ci-
vilianvictims who have died
during recent clashes.
Smer youth wing criticises PM
MEMBERS of the Young So-
cial Democrats (MSD), the
youthwing of the opposition
Smer party, have launched a
campaignagainst Prime
Minister Iveta Radiov.
MSDis using a billboard ad to
target Radiovs silence
over the controversial rental
of a building for tax offices in
Koice, the TASRnewswire
reported.
The billboard, whichis
displayed ona car, depicts
Radiov sweeping dirt un-
der a carpet bearing the logo
of her party, the Slovak
Democratic and Christian
Union(SDK). It resembles a
caricature by MartinShooty
tovec published inthe Sme
daily inMay, whenthe con-
troversy over the rental deal
first began. MSDleader An-
drej Kolesk denied that he
had copied Shootys cartoon,
saying he only reads the
newspaper, Sme reported.
Meanwhile, Radiovs
spokespersonRado Bao an-
nounced that she would not
comment onthe current
deal until Finance Minister
IvanMiklo returned from
vacation.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
Amended Press Code takes effect
ANAMENDMENT to the
Press Code passed by parlia-
ment onMay 31 will come in-
to force as of September 1. It
is intended to softensome of
the codes more controver-
sial aspects, the SITAnews-
wire reported.
The most significant
change pertains to the right
of reply for public officials,
who will no longer be able to
insist ona published reply
to factually correct stories
that are published about
themintheir performance
of public functions.
However, they will still
have a right of reply to art-
icles writtenabout themas
private individuals, inac-
cordance withthe Slovak
Constitution. Also, people
involved incriminal cases
will be able to insist onpub-
licationof a reply.
The amendment also
cancels penalties for pub-
lishers who refuse to pub-
lisha reply, the responsibil-
ity of publishers to reply,
correct or add additional in-
formation, and complain-
ants right to demand pub-
licationof botha reply and a
correction.
Five years on, Malinov
case remains unresolved
FIVE years have passed since
Hedviga Malinov, an ethnic-
Hungarian Slovak citizen, re-
ported that she was assaulted
on her way to an exam at her
university in Nitra on August
25, 2006. Since then, her case
has become notoriously con-
troversial and some observers
say that it reflects malfunc-
tions in the Slovak justice sys-
tem. It is also considered as a
thorn in relations between
Slovakia and Hungary a mat-
ter of concern expressed by US
diplomats in documents re-
cently published by whistle-
blowing website WikiLeaks.
Slovak society has been
divided over what happened
to Hedviga Malinov since she
reported to police that she had
been attacked and suggested
it might have been because
she was heard speaking Hun-
garian. The police say their
investigation into the case in-
volved over 250 officers and
interviews with 600 people,
and led them to conclude that
anassault never occurred.
The police findings were
released on September 12,
2006, at a press conference by
then interior minister Robert
Kalik and then prime min-
ister Robert Fico, with
Kalik stating it is beyond
doubt that the case did not
happen. He presented sever-
al pieces of alleged evidence,
including DNA samples, to
support his assertion.
Lawyer accuses
prosecutors of bias
Malinov, who has since
married and is called kov,
was then charged in May 2007
with perjury and making false
claims. However, the charges
have never been laid before a
court and after more than four
years the case remains
pending with the General
Prosecutors Office.
Malinovs lawyer, Ro-
man Kvasnica, said on August
24, 2011 that he thinks that
nobody will ever properly in-
vestigate who attacked his
client. The state of the affair
clearly shows that since 2006,
when the attack on Hedviga
Malinov happened, the Slov-
ak state bodies have abso-
lutely failed, he said, as
quoted by the TASRnewswire.
Kvasnica recently filed an
action against several prosec-
utors, including former gen-
eral prosecutor Dobroslav
Trnka and his subordinates,
claiming that they have been
biased in their handling of the
Malinov case. He stated that
there are close ties among the
prosecutors that jeopardise
the prosecution of those re-
sponsible. He further claimed
that Trnka is not independent
from political influence, the
Sme daily reported.
Interior Minister Daniel
Lipic also recently conceded
that it is unlikely that the
public will learn the truth
about what happened to
Malinov.
The problem is that from
the beginning it was politi-
cised and then it gets hard to
look for the truth, especially
after some time has passed,
Lipic said, as quoted by TASR,
adding that it is up to the
General Prosecutors Office to
now close the case, as it has
promised to do several times.
SeeWIKI pg5
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
TOP: Krn denies conflict of interest
Continuedfrompg1
Krn, who has a background in the
ITbusiness, is currentlyanSaS MP.
I amnot going to the NBfroma pos-
ition in the IT business, but from a posi-
tion as an MP, Krn said in a recent in-
terviewwiththe Sme daily, inresponse to
concerns that a conflict of interest might
arise from the NBs role in organising
tenders for state orders inthe ITsphere.
Animportant post
The top job at the NB has proved
problematic in the past as well. The cred-
ibility of the office was brought into ques-
tion after Frantiek Blanrik, who held
the post until earlier this year, was repor-
ted to have beenanagent inthe commun-
ist-era counter-intelligenceservice.
Blanrik, who was nominated by the
Movement for a Democratic Slovakia
(HZDS) and appointed by the previous rul-
ing coalition led by Robert Ficos Smer
party, garnered much criticism from
parts of the then-opposition most of
which now makes up the current ruling
coalition because of his alleged links to
the communist secret service.
Nine months after last years change
of government, media commentators
noted that Blanrik had remained in his
post even though the leaders of SaS had
boasted that their party would not accept
former communists as members.
On March 7 Blanrik announced his
resignation, statingthat he didnot intend
to become a victim of political games-
manship.
The NB is an important component
of Slovakias power structure because it
has the authority to issue security clear-
ances. The coalition kept stressing that
they were searching for someone with a
flawless moral and professional back-
ground, who would be acceptable to all
coalition partners. SaS chairman Richard
Sulk said that since the benchmark has
now been set so high SaS will act accord-
ingly when it comes to other parties fu-
ture nominations.
Threeprevious candidates
Krn was approved by all coalition
parties only after three previous candid-
ates hadbeennominatedby SaS but then
rejected by one or other of its coalition
partners.
The ruling coalition is now placing
much hope in Krns candidacy, and
observers have warned that a continued
failure to fill the post could prompt more
tension and risk further loss of trust
amongthe coalitionparties.
After facing criticismfor its failure to
remove Blanrik earlier, SaS first pro-
posed Jn Stano as his replacement in
April 2011. However, Stano did not satis-
fy the other ruling parties because of his
previous employment, albeit in a junior
position, at the Slovak Information Ser-
vice (SIS), Slovakias main spy agency,
during its period under Ivan Lexa. Lexa
was the right-hand man of controversial
former prime minister Vladimr Meiar
and it was under Lexas leadership that
the SIS was accused of involvement in
numerous criminal activities.
SaS then, in May 2011, proposed Su-
preme Court judge Peter Paluda, and for
a brief period it seemed that he enjoyed
broad approval. Paluda has a long re-
cord as a senior judge, served as
Slovakias representative to the EU's
justice organisation Eurojust, and has
been a staunch critic of controversial
Supreme Court head tefan Harabin.
Nevertheless, the Slovak Democratic
and Christian Union (SDK) poured
cold water on Paludas chances by vot-
ing to oppose his nomination, citing a
legal action he had launched against
the state, amongother reasons.
The latest SaS nominee before
Krn, Supreme Court judge Juraj Kli-
ment, withdrew as a candidate in June
2011 after learning that he did not enjoy
the support of all parties in the ruling
coalition.
The Civic Conservative Party (OKS),
a faction of four MPs who were elected
to parliament on the Most-Hd partys
slate, raised objections to Kliments
candidacy. OKS pointed to his involve-
ment in the reconfirmation of a com-
munist-era verdict in the Cervanov
case. OKS stated that Kliment, along
with the other judges hearing the case,
failed to consider new evidence.
Without the four votes of the OKS depu-
ties, the ruling coalition would not
have had enough votes to confirm Kli-
ment inthe job.
2
NEWS
September 5 11, 2011
US diplomats
were interested
in case, had
source, leaked
cables reveal
Kamil Krn, the fourthcandidate for the topNBjob. Photo: Sme- Tom Benedikovi
False alarm causes panic
IT IS NOT muchof anexaggera-
tion to say that televised im-
ages of Japans Fukushima
nuclear disaster were among
the first thoughts in the minds
of residents of villages around
Slovakias nuclear power plant
in Jaslovsk Bohunice after the
sounding of a sharp alarm in-
terrupted their peaceful mid-
August evening. It turned out
to be a false alarm but it re-
vealed a disturbing fact: hardly
anyone least of all local gov-
ernment officials received
timely, official information.
An interrupted alarm,
known as a sharp alarm,
sounded throughout the re-
gion surrounding the
Jaslovsk Bohunice nuclear
power plant for a minute at
about 16:40onAugust 17, 2011.
I was at home and I ran
out to the street, Miroslav
Remenr, the mayor of
Radoovce, told The Slovak
Spectator. His village is about
three kilometres from the
power plant.
People living there and in
other towns and villages near
the plant, including Trnava,
are accustomed to the two-
minute-long constant tone of
a test-alarm sounding once a
month, always on a Friday.
But August 17 was a Wednes-
day and the sound was an in-
terrupted tone, a sharp alarm,
indicating that something had
happened at the nuclear
power plant.
Slovensk Elektrrne (SE),
the operator of the power
plant, later stated that its V2
nuclear facility was operating
normally and that the its acci-
dent warning system had not
been activated the alarmwas
from a new electronic siren
system under construction
and it had been set off due to a
mistake by a worker employed
by Koice-basedTelegrafia, the
company installing the sys-
tem, as he was configuring its
software.
Informationcameslowly
I ran to my office where I
have all the phone numbers
and contacts and I was trying
to call someone, Remenr
said, describing his actions in
the first minutes following the
alarm. He called the police but
they were not able to provide
any information. Nobody
answered the phone in the
power plants office in charge
of civil protection, Remenr
added.
Then I called my friend
who works at the power plant
and it was he who gave me the
first information that, most
likely, nothing hadhappened,
Remenr said. With this unof-
ficial information, he consul-
ted via telephone with mayors
from the nearby villages of
lkovce and Madunice who
were going through similar
tribulations in an attempt to
get official information they
couldpass onto their citizens.
Its a shame that we
should be calling each other
this way, Remenr stated,
adding that instructions about
what to do came neither from
the power plant nor from the
civil protection office of the
Trnava Borough Office, cover-
ing the districts of Trnava and
Hlohovec, onthat day.
The civil protection office
inTrnava told The Slovak Spec-
tator that official information
did not come to it on a timely
basis either. Even though a
company that causes a threat
to the environment or to the
civilian population, in this
case Slovensk Elektrrne, is
required by the civil protection
law to inform the local civil
protection office immediately,
this was not done, said Jozef
Klokner, the head of the
Trnava BoroughOffice.
They are obliged to do so
according to the law, and they
did not do it or actually did it,
but late, more than30 minutes
after [the alarm sounded],
Klokner told The Slovak Spec-
tator, adding that the civil
protection office was not able
to take further action before
receiving the official informa-
tion.
His office, according to
Klokner, was making efforts to
get any kind of information,
even via unofficial channels,
like the mayors in the region
were doing. But he said his
offices attempts to contact the
power plant failed, adding that
it was not possible to reach the
facility by telephone.
We did realise that not all
the conditions [for an actual
alarm] were fulfilled since the
alarm only lasted a minute in-
stead of the usual two minutes
and information [from the
company] did not come simul-
taneously with the alarm as it
is supposed to, according to
the accident plan of the power
plant, Klokner stated, adding
that unofficially they believed
it to be a false alarm about 10
minutes after it sounded but
that further information was
not officially provided to his
office until later.
Slovensk Elektrrne
claims that it immediately in-
formed Slovakias Nuclear
Regulatory Authority and the
Civic Information Commis-
sion Bohunice composed of
mayors of some of the sur-
rounding villages, represent-
atives of Slovensk Elektrrne
and JAVYS (Slovakias Nuclear
and Decommissioning Com-
pany) as well as the civil pro-
tection offices of regional au-
thorities, the Interior Min-
istry and the media.
Nonews is goodnews?
In the event of a so-called
sharp alarm, sirens are one of
three systems of communica-
tion, supplemented by the
Hados systemof communica-
tion consisting of special re-
ceivers at municipal offices
and at mayors homes as well
as notification via cell phones
or landlines.
There are clear rules that
all mayors must know well, re-
quiring that the signal about
the occurrence of an accident
in a nuclear facility is trans-
mitted to mayors via three
channels: cell phone, Hados,
and a two-minute-long siren,
Slovensk Elektrrne wrote in
a statement, adding that these
channels were not used on Au-
gust 17 because there was no
accident at the nuclear facility.
But the fact that their Ha-
dos receivers remained silent
and no warning arrived via a
telephone call or a text message
was not enough for mayors in
the vicinity to rest assured that
no nuclear accident was hap-
pening close to their com-
munities. Several mayors told
The Slovak Spectator they did
not dare announce information
to their citizens that nothing
serious was occurring without
having first-hand, official in-
formation. Tibor Stanko, the
mayor of lkovce located just
five kilometres from the power
plant received no information
until he found a short an-
nouncement on Slovensk
Elektrrnes website more than
an hour after the alarm went
off. Only then did he make an
announcement via the villages
announcement system.
SeeSEpg13
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
The Bohunice power plant's coolingtowers. Photo: J. Liptkov
IN: 'Cultural
proximity' sought
Continuedfrompg1
To respond to the chal-
lenges of the labour market,
the Slovak government de-
clares it wants to be active
and flexible inwelcoming
foreigners to the country, fo-
cusing onmigrants with
highqualifications, particu-
larly inthose professions
where a lack of qualified la-
bour is hindering the inflow
of newinvestments into the
country.
Foreigners toldtoadjust
To support the strategy,
the cabinet proposes several
measures intended to allow
Slovakia to become more at-
tractive and welcoming to
qualified migrants, among
thema Slovak Card, a modi-
ficationof the EUs Blue Card
for migrants. The cabinet
also pledges to redefine the
conditions for recognitionof
foreigndiplomas and quali-
fications, inorder to avoid
skills being wasted.
Integrationof migrants
who decide to live and work
inSlovakia receives consid-
erable attentioninthe mi-
grationpolicy, whichreads
that Slovakia leans towards
anintegrationmodel based
onthe full acceptance of the
reality of the Slovak Republic
by migrants. The pro-
claimed aimof the integra-
tionpolicy is to prevent the
emergence of economically,
socially, and culturally ex-
cluded communities, i.e.
ghettos.
Weve got enoughse-
gregated shantytowns, we
dont need to create newse-
gregated communities, In-
terior Minister Daniel Lipic
commented after the cabinet
session.
Lipic repeated his pre-
vious statement that multi-
culturalismas a project has
failed, and said that this is
the reasonwhy Slovakia is
orienting its migration
policy towards qualified
people fromcountries with
close cultural proximity.
The conditionof legal
migrationshould be full in-
tegration; that is, accept-
ance of Slovak culture and
traditions, Lipic said.
Full integrationalso in-
cludes mastering the Slovak
language. The migration
policy document reads that
the government wants to
make Slovak-language les-
sons and classes insocio-
cultural orientation more
accessible. The document
also refers to the creationof
a unified methodology for
testing Slovak-language
skills inmigrants withlow
qualifications.
Naturalisation
tobecomeeasier?
The newly-passed integ-
rationpolicy also promises
that the government will
consider changes to the
naturalisationprocess,
whichcould speed up integ-
ration. Inpractice, the cab-
inet will consider making
the process of granting per-
manent residence and state
citizenship more transpar-
ent and simpler.
According to the interna-
tional MigrationIntegration
Policy Index (MIPEXIII), in
whichSlovakia ranked third
frombottomamong 31 coun-
tries, Slovakia nowimposes
Europes longest waiting
time before making mi-
grants eligible for citizen-
ship, three years after ac-
quiring a permanent resid-
ency permit, while adding
that applicants for citizen-
ship must overcome some
of the most subjective and
restrictive conditions.
The report states that the
citizenship procedure in
Slovakia is difficult, poten-
tially lengthy (24 months),
and is one of the most ex-
pensive (663.50), especially
incentral Europe. Problems
inthe area of granting cit-
izenship to foreignnationals
became worse after
Slovakias Citizenship Act
was amended in2007, MIPEX
stated.
Still not attractive
Statistically, Slovakia
has one of the lowest num-
bers of incoming migrants of
any EUcountry.
The Slovak Statistics Of-
fice reported that there were
62,882 foreigners withresid-
ence permits living inSlov-
akia in2009, representing
just over 1 percent of the
countrys total population.
Inaddition, two out of every
three foreigners living in
Slovakia were citizens of
other EUcountries, mostly
Czechs, Romanians and
Poles.
To date, Slovakia has
beenprincipally a country of
emigrationrather thanim-
migration, but this situation
will slowly change, experts
say.
The country is not yet
attractive for foreigners,
despite the fact that since EU
accessionthe situationhas
beenchanging, Martina
Sekulov, anexpert onmi-
grationaffiliated withthe
Institute of Public Affairs
(IVO), told The Slovak Spec-
tator.
According to Sekulov,
being a foreigner inSlovakia
is not aneasy undertaking.
She pointed out that Slov-
akia still lacks anadequate
concept of multicultural
educationand humanrights
education, whichleads to an
ethnically-focused percep-
tionof the public space:
meaning there is a percep-
tionthat Slovakia is a coun-
try for Slovaks only.
There is a lack of per-
ceptionof the state oncivic
principles, Sekulov said.
3 September 5 11, 2011
NEWS
Should I stay or should I go?
SLOVAKIA might not be the first-choice
destination for students seeking an in-
ternational experience during their stud-
ies but nevertheless a fair number of stu-
dents from all parts of the world are liv-
ing, studying, and sometimes also stay-
ing to work inone of Slovakias cities.
Statistics provided by the Institute of
Information and Prognoses of Education,
a unit of the Ministry of Education, show
that the number of international stu-
dents attending Slovak universities has
been increasing. In 2003 the number of
international students was only 1,633 but
by 2010 the number had more than
doubled and 3,759 students were enrolled
in full-time bachelors, masters or doc-
toral degree study programmes at public
and private universities inSlovakia.
Thanakon Tiwawong, a 22-year-old
from Thailand, is one of them. He is the
only Thai student to receive a scholarship
from Slovakias Education Ministry in
2008. Thanakon has successfully finished
the second year of his bachelors degree at
the University of Economics in Bratis-
lava.
Thetransition
Coming from abroad to a different
country can cause a cultural shock but
Tiwawongs previous high school experi-
ence living and studying in the Czech Re-
public as an exchange student for 10
months made his transition to Slovakia
easier.
Having had a good experience of liv-
ing in Europe and acquiring knowledge of
the Czech language turned out to be help-
ful when attending a Slovak language
course to prepare for an examination be-
fore entering the university. Neverthe-
less, Tiwawong quickly realised that his
course modules taught in Slovak were go-
ing to be a challenge and that additional
help from his classmates would be re-
quired.
Having some international class-
mates and knowing that I was not the
only one who did not comprehend what a
teacher said or wrote can make you feel
less stressed sometimes, Tiwawong said.
See STUDENTpg12
BYZUZANA POPRENDOV
Special to the Spectator
Slovakia could be a
permanent home for
foreigners studying here
Mood of business leaders worsens
THE MOODof Slovak com-
panies and consumers fell
by 2.4 percentage points in
August month-on-month
and reached its lowest level
since the beginning of this
year. Slovakia recorded
worse results ineconomic
sentiment only during the
economic crisis in2008 and
2009, the Hospodrske Nov-
iny daily reported.
The worse mood has
beensupported by the bad
situationinfinancial
markets, said Potov
Banka analyst Eva Sadovsk,
as quoted by the daily,
adding that people and
companies are also scared of
the word crisis, whichis
becoming more frequent.
UniCredit Bank analyst
Vladimr Zlack added that
economic sentiment could
worsenfurther whenup-
coming GDP growthfigures
are announced for the
biggest Europeaneconom-
ies.
The only sector where
the mood is better is in-
dustry, where producers ex-
pect increased productionof
computers, electronics and
cars. However, KIAMotors
Slovakia spokesperson
DuanDvok said that his
companys production
would depend ondevelop-
ments inworld markets.
The optimismof Slovak
companies grewfrom2009
until the beginning of this
year, whenthe ruling
coalition's austerity meas-
ures came into force.
Zlack commented that
Slovakia had to pass the
measures; otherwise the
financial markets would
have punished Slovakia and
would have listed it as a
country withdebt problems.
Pension firms might invest in gold
PRIVATE pensionfund man-
agement companies (DSS)
operating inthe so-called
second pensionpillar could
get the chance to invest their
clients money ingold.
udovt Kank, an MP
from the Slovak Democratic
and Christian Union
(SDK), is preparing a draft
amendment to the old-age
pension savings law to al-
low this, the Sme daily re-
ported.
The Ministry of Labour
said it agreed withthe pro-
posal, adding that allowing
clients of DSS to invest in
precious metals could mean
preserving the value of their
money as well as interesting
returns, Sme wrote.
The suggestionhas also
beenwelcomed by the head
of the Associationof DSS,
Peter Socha. He said that the
state should define whether
the investments would be
compulsory and whenthey
would start.
The ruling coalitionhas
argued that DSS current in-
vestments are too conservat-
ive and that the returns on
client's funds are too low.
It plans to change the ex-
isting lawto abolishthe re-
quirement for guaranteed re-
turns onall funds, except for
the conservative fund.
Moreover, it plans to estab-
lisha newindex fund which
will track the development
of stock prices.
Doctors start preparing quit notices
TRADE unionactivists from
the state-runRoosevelt Hos-
pital inBansk Bystrica
begancollecting resignation
notices fromdoctors onAu-
gust 30, saying they think
most notices will be provided
after September 5 whenthe
doctors get specific forms,
the SITAnewswire reported.
The deadline for collect-
ing notices is being acceler-
ated inorder for themto be
sent to the management of
the hospital by the end of
September, said Jozef Valky,
the head physicianof the
Oncology and Intensive
Medicine Ward, who is man-
aging the collectionof physi-
cians' resignationnotices, as
quoted by SITA.
The threatened resigna-
tions are intended to achieve
a range of objectives includ-
ing improvement of em-
ployment conditions and
salaries inthe public health-
care system.
frompress reports
Tying up the loose ends
of coupon privatisation
MANY Slovaks have already
forgotten their participation
inthe countrys couponprivat-
isation of the early 1990s. Only
after issuing their annual
money order to pay adminis-
trative fees for the securities
they received at that time are
they reminded that they own
something, somewhere. But
after realising that they may
be holding nothing more than
a continuing obligation to pay
hefty annual administrative
fees, many Slovaks have
sought to rid themselves of
these securities and found
that many of them no longer
had any actual value or that no
one was interested in purchas-
ing them.
To assist people in ending
their continued ownership of
valueless coupon privatisation
securities, Slovakia enacted le-
gislation to allow the free
transfer of unwanted securit-
ies to the countrys National
Property Fund (FNM).
However, nobody expected
that this state body which
had the primary task of trans-
ferring state-owned assets into
private hands after the fall of
the communist regime
would have valuable securities
transferred back to it. But that
is what has happened and the
FNM does not know what it
will do with either the valu-
able shares or those that are
actually worthless.
Transferringcoupon
securities
The option to transfer un-
wanted shares to the FNM was
implemented by the Slovak
government on October 1, 2009
in reaction to citizens con-
cerns about having to pay ad-
ministrative fees for securities
that they no longer wanted
and could not sell. Some Slov-
aks who are still holding secur-
ities from the coupon privat-
isation could be paying annual
administrative fees of up to
nearly 200. The lowest annu-
al administrative fee for secur-
ities held ina persons name by
Slovakias Central Securities
Depository (CDCP) is currently
9.60.
The fee is calculated as
0.055 percent of the nominal
value of the securities held on
the account of their owner,
stated Rastislav Pavlk, the
CDCP director general, as
quoted by the Pravda daily. He
added that the administrative
fee is calculated on the basis of
the price when the securities
were issued even if some of the
companies are now bankrupt
and the shares are currently
worthless. Only owners of ac-
counts with securities with a
nominal value of up to 35 or
empty accounts will be ex-
empt from payment of the
fees, Pavlk said.
When a person holding se-
curities received through
coupon privatisation decides
to transfer them to the FNM,
that agency will pay the trans-
fer fee as well as the fees for
administering the securities
for the year during which the
securities were transferred
and for the two previous years.
Miloslav Homola from
FNM told The Slovak Spectator
that by June 30, 2011 almost
238,000 people had enquired
how they could transfer their
securities without charge and
over 127,000 of them had actu-
ally signed an agreement
transferring their securities to
the FNMfree-of-charge.
However, by using this
process some people have also
inadvertently transferred
valuable securities to the FNM,
apparently believing their
shares had no value. Up to the
end of 2010 the FNM had re-
ceived marketable shares in
the Slovnaft oil refinery as well
as shares in profitable banks
such as VB, UniCredit Bank
Slovakia, OTP Banka Slov-
ensko, Tatra Banka, insurer Al-
lianz-Slovensk Poisova,
and companies suchas Zentiva
and Biotika. The SITA news-
wire reported in January this
year that someone had trans-
ferred three shares in Tatra
Banka that had a market value
of about 36,000 to the FNM.
Individuals who still hold
securities from the coupon
privatisation scheme must
carefully research whether
their shares have any current
value before making any trans-
fers to the FNM because it is
not possible to reverse such a
transfer.
Experts say that holders of
securities acquired through
the coupon privatisation pro-
gramme should contact a
stockbroker or the issuer of the
securities to obtain current in-
formation about the market
value of the securities they
hold.
The FNM has stated that it
is the responsibility of the per-
son holding shares to assess
whether they have any value
and that after the securities
are transferred to the FNM the
previous owner cannot reverse
the transaction. Homola
stressed to SITA in January
that, based on current legisla-
tion, the FNMis required to ac-
cept any and all securities that
a shareholder decides to trans-
fer.
The FNM regularly pre-
pares statistics about securit-
ies it has obtained based on
various criteria, but primarily
about the condition of the
company and the value of the
shares, Homola told The Slov-
ak Spectator. An upcoming
valuation of the securities held
by the FNM will be prepared as
of December 31, 2011 and res-
ults should be released in
January 2012.
The FNM has not decided
what it will do with the valu-
able securities it has received
or with other securities it has
obtained under this securities
transfer programme.
The capital market de-
partment of the FNM is monit-
oring the status of such ob-
tained securities, Homola
told The Slovak Spectator. The
FNM has already initiated a
change inthe lawto set a dead-
line for transfer of securities. It
proposes December 31, 2012.
The reason is the need for fol-
low-through, effective hand-
ling of securities obtained in
this way. The FNM Executive
Committee will decide what to
do with the securities after the
FNM Supervisory Board nego-
tiates the matter.
Coupon
privatisation
After the fall of the com-
munist regime in 1989, Slovak
citizens had an opportunity to
acquire a portion of the wealth
they had helped to create dur-
ing the totalitarian regime
through a coupon privatisa-
tion scheme that enabled
them to obtain shares in some
of the flagship companies in
the state-owned economy.
Along with the possibility of
direct purchase of companies,
citizens were offered particip-
ation in two waves of coupon
privatisation but only the first
wave, which started in 1991,
was completed and led to cit-
izens actually receiving secur-
ities.
The stated goal of coupon
privatisation was the speedy
transformation of state-owned
companies into joint-stock
companies. The core idea was
to transfer shares of compan-
ies in exchange for investment
coupons rather than for cash.
Each citizen aged 18 or older
had the right to obtain for
1,000 Czecho-Slovak crowns
(Ks) one couponbook contain-
ing coupons with 1,000 in-
vestment points. In total, 8.5
million citizens of the Czecho-
Slovak Republic joined the
scheme, of whom 2.5 million
were Slovaks. Shares in 1,492
companies with a nominal ag-
gregate value of Ks 300 billion
were offered and these in-
cluded 504 Slovak companies
with a nominal aggregate
value of Ks 80 billion. Those
holding couponbooks invested
28 percent of all their points
directly into certain compan-
ies while the remaining 72 per-
cent of the points went to so-
called investment privatisa-
tion funds, according to a
summary review prepared by
the Trend economic weekly in
2006.
There are differing opin-
ions on whether the Czecho-
Slovak coupon privatisation
programme was successful or
not. Some analysts view it as
an exceptionally swift transfer
of state-owned firms into
private hands while others call
it the fraud of the century.
Some have argued that it was a
mistake to include certain
companies that were essen-
tially weak because they did
not have forward-looking pro-
duction plans or had lost their
markets in the former Eastern
Bloc in the coupon privatisa-
tion.
As well, there was limited
experience with analysing the
value of company shares and
Slovakia lacked effective legal
rules governing the capital
market, enabling individuals
to tunnel out assets from
some of the investment privat-
isation funds. Consequently,
some individuals who had in-
vested their coupon points
with investment privatisation
funds ended up holding worth-
less shares. This may have
contributed to some peoples
opinion, particularly those
with limited knowledge about
the stock market, that all se-
curities acquired during
coupon privatisation have
little or no value, leading them
to transfer shares to the FNM
that do have a current market-
able value.
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
ACzecho-Slovak couponbook. Photo: Sme- T. Benedikovi
4
BUSINESS
hk}ly{pzltlu{

NEW INDUSTRIAL HALLS IN VRBLE
w
w
w
.
c
e
h
i
p
.
e
u
New (16.000 m)
in sections
Existing (6.000 m)
rented
FOR RENT
SP90570/2
Some Slovak
investors got
more (or less)
than expected
kola vol
ITS time to park the pedal
boats, pick a few more mush-
rooms, and drink the last of
the holiday Kofola. September
is here and school is calling
(kola vol).
But one person who is not
picking up is Eugen Jurzyca.
There seems to be broad polit-
ical consensus that the educa-
tion minister, a thoughtful
and likeable figure with no
previous experience in polit-
ics, is underperforming. The
education minister is like In-
spector Colombos wife. We all
know he exists, but no one
has ever seen him. I swear to
God I cant remember when I
last saw him in parliament. If
I werent in politics for 20
years, I wouldnt have a clue
there is such a person, said
opposition leader Robert Fico
when he talked recently about
the governments first year.
Even Prime Minister Iveta
Radiov said that she is not
satisfied: I give him a bad
mark, because of the non-re-
form. Not that he did any-
thing wrong. He just didnt do
what was expected. She went
on to say that Jurzyca is a
highly intelligent, educated
and responsible man, but did
not forget to stress that he
himself would probably ac-
knowledge that the PM was
his starter.
There are innumerable
problems troubling the Slovak
education system element-
ary schools lack textbooks,
universities are suspected of
handing out undeserved de-
grees, European funds are
not being used properly,
there is a lack of money and
teachers at all levels, and the
country doesnt come out
well in international com-
parative studies.
It is true that many
factors limit what any minis-
ter could do. Universities en-
joy a high degree of independ-
ence, so its difficult to impose
any change on them from the
outside. Finding additional
funds at a time of cuts is no
easy task. The country doesnt
have enough good pedagogues
and high schools to catch up
with the West in the number
of people with university
titles without compromising
onquality.
But even today, there are
things a minister can do. And
as Justice Minister Lucia
itansk proves, if a system
is not working one can even
go as far as to try to change its
foundations.
For the sake of the coun-
try lets hope Jurzycas slow
start will be followed by a
more convincing perform-
ance. The holidays are over,
work is calling.
WIKI: Hungarians worried, cables said
Continuedfrompg2
Meanwhile, the fifth an-
niversary coincided with the
August 26 publication by
WikiLeaks of diplomatic
cables from the US Embassy
in Bratislava to Washington
regarding the case.
The alleged skinhead at-
tack on an ethnic-Hungarian
university student in Nitra in
August might have happened
after all, the embassy wrote
in a cable on October 6, 2006,
nearly a month after
Malinov was accused of ly-
ing. The embassy referred to
a contact with ties to the
Ministry of the Interior' as
the source of its information.
The young woman may
have received a light beating
but then tried to make her in-
juries appear worse than they
actually were because she be-
lieved that a few punches
were 'not enough' to make her
case to the police, the Em-
bassy wrote, giving the ex-
planation it said it had re-
ceivedfromthe source.
Cables spotlight
ethnic Hungarianconcerns
The US Embassy in Bratis-
lava sent several cables to
Washington on the issue of
Slovak-Hungarian relations
after Robert Ficos Smer party
came to power in the 2006
election and invited the na-
tionalist Slovak National
Party (SNS) to join the ruling
coalition, a step that was
widely criticised by the in-
ternational community at
that time because of SNS
leader Jn Slotas previous
xenophobic and racist state-
ments.
Embassy contacts con-
tend that the vast majority of
Slovakias ethnic Hungarians
are dissatisfied and disap-
pointed with the ruling coali-
tion, mainly due to the pres-
ence of SNS, a cable dated
August 21, 2006, stated, sug-
gesting that there were
already ominous signs re-
garding future Slovak-Hun-
gariantension.
The very names of
Meiar and especially of Slota
carry with them very negat-
ive associations, as the gen-
eral point of view within the
Hungarian community is
that the latter did all he could
to destroy Hungarian-lan-
guage education and Hun-
garian cultural life during the
1990s.
The embassy also noted in
its comments that with Slov-
akia being a member in 2006
of NATO, the EU and OSCE,
and having adopted a number
of new legal frameworks to
protect minority rights, that
it would be unlikely that
Robert Ficos term would re-
semble the Meiar years inthe
1990s.
Nonetheless, ethnic
Hungarians worry that the
government will find ways to
curtail minority life through
more clandestine measures,
such as decreases in funding
for education, cultural activit-
ies, and municipalities with
Hungarian population, the
cable stated.
Laying out the welcome mat
A GOOD migrant should be-
have like a guest: this is howa
leading Slovak Christian
Democrat politician envi-
sions Slovakias new migra-
tion policy. Interior Minister
Daniel Lipic recently out-
lined the rules for what he
called legal and qualified
migrants, those who are
supposedly welcome in Slov-
akia now that its politicians
have finally realised that no
country in todays Europe is
immune to migration, or can
remain so if it cares about its
future.
In Lipics house the good
guest, who by the way comes
only fromcountries with cul-
turally similar backgrounds
and values, becomes fully in-
tegrated while fully respect-
ing the traditions and culture
of the host and learns the lan-
guage as soon as they can. In
this house it is unaccept-
ablefor theguests tocreateal-
ternative communities since,
Lipic says, Slovakia has
enough segregated
settlements anobvious ref-
erence to those inhabited by
theRomacommunity.
AwhilebackLipicshared
his vision of who might be
welcome in Slovakia, saying
they would be from coun-
tries that are culturally close
to us. One of them could be,
for instance, Ukraine. Today
we already have doctors and
experts in other areas from
UkraineineasternSlovakia.
Lipics guest metaphor
for migrants is seriously
wanting, if for no other reas-
on than that Slovakia would
also need to learn how to be a
good host if its desired
guests do not end up feeling
like unwanted visitors who
couldat anymoment beasked
or choose toleave.
But what actuallygets lost
in all this guest discourse is
that Slovakia is going to need
qualified workers and thus
has to open its doors to mi-
grants. Some large investors
have been warning about a
lackof qualifiedlabour, which
if not addressed promptly
might make some of them
look further east. One way of
course would be or would
have been to reform the
countrys education system
so as to place more emphasis
on vocational training, which
over the past decade has been
hugely under-valued, with
some universities trying to
artificially pump up their stu-
dent numbers by admitting
applicants who would have
been far better off learning
another profession that could
have secured them a good liv-
ing for the rest of their lives.
But thesethoughts belongtoa
different story.
Lipic was commenting
on a draft for Slovakias mi-
gration policy submitted by
his own Interior Ministry to
the cabinet, which approved
the document on August 31.
The draft policy partly sug-
gests that the basic criterion
for accepting economic mi-
grants is their potential to de-
velop Slovakias economy and
society. It expresses a prefer-
ence for qualified or highly-
qualified migrants with an
emphasis onthosefromcoun-
tries that areculturallyclose.
Nevertheless, Lipic and
all those who keep parroting
their belief that multicul-
turalism is dead does not
seem to understand that
migrants come here because
they want to live here and
that most of them want to
feel at home. Declaring the
concept of multiculturalism
a failure will not change the
fact that migrants are still
humans who, for a variety of
reasons many of which
might be difficult for those
lucky enoughto be borninto
comparatively wealthy and
stable societies to compre-
hend are seeking a new
home.
Most of them, extremist
fanatics aside, want to pray
to their god and respect the
traditions of their grandpar-
ents, things which cannot
be forgotten simply because
theyhave crossedaborder or
two. Yet, Slovakia, which
also has demographic reas-
ons to open up to migrants,
has to learn to become a
more welcoming and open
country and not only spell
out the duties of the
guests.
Those who want to live
here in the long term will
eventually have to learn at
least some of the local lan-
guage, unless they are nat-
ive English-speakers and
live in Bratislava, where
more and more people are
able to speak at least one of
the world languages. But
Slovaks as well will have to
work harder to make their
house more welcoming,
and in some of its rooms
weed out expressions of ra-
cismandxenophobia.
Because just like every
society, Slovakia also has its
choices and can either look
at migration as unwanted
baggage, hoping that
someone else in the region
will carry it away or look at
migrants as people who can
bring benefits to its society.
It is always a two-waystreet,
with the majority learning
that the difference between
integrationand assimilation
is that onlythe former is mu-
tually beneficial to both the
host andtheguest as well.
OPINION/ NEWS
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
Migration must be conditional on full integration
and acceptance of Slovakias culture and traditions.
Interior Minister Daniel Lipic, on his ambition
to attract qualified immigrants to Slovakia.
SLOVAK WORD
OF THE WEEK
EDITORIAL
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYLUK FILA
Special to the Spectator
Slovak pupils returntoschool after the summer break onSeptember 5. Photo: Sme
The Slovak Spectator is an independent newspaper published every Monday by The Rock, s.r.o.
Subscriptions: Inquiries should be made to The Slovak Spectators business office at (+421-2) 59 233 300.
Printing: Petit Press a.s. Distribution: Interpress Slovakia s.r.o., Mediaprint-kapa s.r.o., Slovensk pota a.s.
Mail Distribution: ABOPRESS. EV 544/08. 2010 The Rock, s.r.o. All rights reserved. Any reproduction
in whole or in part without permission is prohibited by law. The authors of articles published in this issue,
represented by the publisher, reserve the right to give their approval for reproducing and public transmission
of articles marked The Slovak Spectator, as well as for the public circulation of reproductions of these articles,
in compliance with the 33rd article and 1st paragraph of the Copyright Law. Media monitoring is provided
by Newton, IT, SMA and Slovakia Online with the approval of the publisher. Advertising material contained herein
is the responsibility of the advertiser and is not a written or implied sponsorship, endorsement or investigation of such
commercial enterprises or ventures by The Slovak Spectator or The Rock s.r.o. ISSN 1335-9843.
Address: The Rock, s.r.o., Lazaretsk 12, 811 08 Bratislava. IO: 313 86 237.
J N PALLO - Publisher
EDITORIAL
BEATA BALOGOV - Editor - In - Chief
J AMES THOMSON - Assistant Editor
DONALD SPATZ - Assistant Editor
J ANA LIPTKOV - Staff Writer
MICHAELA TERENZANI - Staff Writer
ZUZANA VILIKOVSK - Staff Writer
RADKA MINARECHOV - Staff Writer & Project Manager
LAYOUT, WEB & IT
TATIANA TRAUCHOV - Graphic Designer
ROMAN KR - IT
TOM PALLO - Online Publishing
SALES - FINANCES
BEATA FOJ TKOV - Sales Executive
MARTINA MATLKOV - PR and Marketing Manager
TOM KELLEY - Circulation Manager
German, Slovak archaeologists dig
FIDVR, a Bronze Age set-
tlement near Nitra, is again
bringing Germanand Slovak
archaeologists together and
inSeptember they will begin
further archaeological re-
searchof this unique forti-
fied town. The SITAnews-
wire wrote inlate August
that the Germanside will
finance almost the entire in-
ternational project, whichis
expected to last for several
years and bring valuable sci-
entific discoveries.
Matej Ruttkay, the dir-
ector of the Archaeological
Institute of the Slovak
Academy of Sciences told
SITAthat this year will be
mostly about preparing for
the researchand that the ac-
tual archaeological work will
be more intensive during fu-
ture years.
The researchers will re-
searchthe locality of Fidvr
by all methods used inar-
chaeology, suchas archaeo-
botanics, archaeozoology
and others. The research
should advance knowledge
about Bronze Age society and
howit operated.
The territory of present-
day Slovakia was one of the
places where copper, from
whichbronze is produced,
was mined and exported.
The archaeologists believe
that Fidvr was one of the
distributioncentres for this
metal into the rest of Europe.
By processing and using
bronze, the development of
humankind was moved for-
ward significantly, but sci-
entists have only limited
knowledge about howthis
process worked inthe cent-
ral Danube region.
Archaeological work was
undertakenat Fidvr in
spring and summer 2007
througha Slovak-German
cooperationproject.
frompress reports
Some companies with German
investors in Slovakia
Allianz - Slovensk Poisova, www.allianzsp.sk
Bayer, www.bayer.sk
Continental Matador Rubber, www.matador.sk
Henkel Slovensko, www.henkel.sk
Prv Stavebn Sporitea, www.pss.sk
Rajo, www.rajo.sk
SAPSlovensko, www.sap.sk
Siemens, www.siemens.sk
SlovakTelekom, www.slovaktelekom.sk
SPP, www.spp.sk
T-Systems Slovakia, www.t-systems.sk
VolkswagenSlovakia, www.volkswagen.sk
Vchodoslovensk Energetika, www.vse.sk
Zpadoslovensk Energetika, www.zse.sk
Source: TheSlovakSpectator databases, companywebsites
German institutions in Slovakia
Embassyof the Federal Republic of Germany
Ambassador: Axel Hartmann
www.pressburg.diplo.de
German-SlovakChamber of Industryand Commerce
(Deutsch-Slowakische Industrie- und Handelskammer)
President: Vladimr Slezk
www.dsihk.sk
Goethe-Institut inBratislava
Director: Wolfgang Franz
www.goethe.de/ins/sk/bra/deindex.htm
Museumof CarpathianGermanCulture
www.snm.sk
CarpathianGermanSocietyinSlovakia
www.kdv.sk
CarpathianGermanAssociationinSlovakia
www.kda.sk
Germany: General facts
Political system: federal parliamentary republic
Capital: Berlin
Total area: 357,104 square kilometres
Population: 82 million
Official language: German
Currency: euro
Germany's major role
THOSE in this region who
studytheGermanlanguageare
making a good investment in
their education and their po-
tential future employment
with German companies, Axel
Hartmann, Germanys ambas-
sador to Slovakia argues, ex-
plaining that his country in-
vests considerable funds in
German-language training in
Slovakia. The German ambas-
sador is not onlya fierce advoc-
ate of studying German but
also of telling the story of the
fall of the Berlin Wall to the
younger generation who,
though they have no real-life
experience of living with the
artificial separation of Europe,
still needto be aware of the im-
portance of those historical
changesfortheirlives.
The Slovak Spectator spoke
to Ambassador Hartmann
about Germanys role in seek-
ing solutions to the sovereign
debt crisis, the change in Ger-
man policy towards nuclear
power, the challenges facing
the German and Slovak labour
markets, as well as business
andcultural links.
The Slovak Spectator (TSS):
EU leaders are searching for
ways to calm the markets
and resolve the eurozone
sovereign debt crisis. What
role is Germany playing in
thisprocess?
Axel Hartmann (AH):
Germany endeavours together
with its European partners to
showawayout of theEuropean
debt crisis. I remember very
well the establishment of the
euro in the late 1990s when
Helmut Kohl was still the
chancellor of Germany. The
common currency in principle
was a European answer to
German re-unification, while
Kohl and [Frances President
Francois] Mitterand wanted to
make the unificationof Europe
irreversible, whichwas indeed
one of the main points behind
the euro. Germany of course
has economic advantages,
since the euro brings addition-
al exportstoGermany, andthis
is whywe have a special role in
the process and a special in-
terest in having a strong euro
as opposedto weakeningof the
euro. All eurozone partners
must fulfil their commitments
andtrimtheir deficits to below
3 percent of their GDP: this is
the mainpoint of the euro talk.
Yet it is not only Slovakia
whereopposingpolitical views
arebeingpresented; thereis an
intense debate also in Ger-
many. But there is no real al-
ternative to the euro and we
are all in the same boat. It can-
not work in a way that one
state makes a special detour
andotherswill payforit.
TSS: As its major trading
partner, Slovakia carefully
watches the condition of
Germanys economy. What
arethemajor challengesthat
yourcountryfaces?
AH: The German economy
was running very well for the
last two years: we came out of
the economic crisis together
withSlovakiain2009. This also
indicates how tight our eco-
nomic links are. Slovakia sup-
plies a lot of products which
Germany needs for its auto-
motive sector, but alsoinother
sectors German companies
active in Slovakia produce
high-quality products such as
the systems provider Scheidt
& Bachmann in ilina or
Tatramat in Poprad. The Ger-
man economy nevertheless
owes its success to invest-
ments into researchand devel-
opment. If a country does not
invest in its own research it
can still cooperate with strong
partners but its dependencyon
them grows to be enormous.
Currently, our economy is
slightly slowing down, but we
see this as it regaining some
balance, a kind of normalisa-
tionrather thanrecession.
TSS: Germany has decided to
unplug its nuclear power
stations by 2022. What chal-
lenges does this decision
bring and what will be the
impact on the countrys eco-
nomyandenergypolicies?
AH: The nuclear debate
started in Germany as early as
the1970s, soit has alreadybeen
going on for more than 40
years. A considerable part of
the country was against nuc-
lear energy. In the 70s a strong
green movement emerged in
Germany, and in 2000 the gov-
ernment decided to abandon
nuclear energy. The new gov-
ernment of Mrs [Angela]
Merkel and Mr [Guido] West-
erwelle [who in the 2009 Ger-
man elections was the leader
of the Free Democratic Party,
which joined Merkels
CDU/CSU to form the current
ruling coalition; he stepped
down as party leader earlier
this year but remains foreign
minister] originally extended
nuclear energy production for
more than 10 years, until well
after 2030. But then the
Fukushima catastrophe again
modified these plans and Mrs
Merkel, who in fact is a physi-
cist, made what was publicly
perceived as a U-turn and said
that her country would turn
off the nuclear plants much
sooner. Germany has an ad-
vantage in that it has been us-
ing renewable energies for
more than 30-40 years and has
developed some leading tech-
nologies in these areas. Never-
theless, even renewable en-
ergy, such as solar or wind
power, brings challenges since
the sun does not shine every
day, nor does the wind blow
regularly. But now we have 10
years to address these chal-
lenges. As for the current en-
ergy mix in Germany, in 2010
we had 78.2-percent fossil-
fuel-basedenergy, 10.9percent
nuclear and 9.4 percent re-
newable. Also, renewable en-
ergy production is more ex-
pensive. If you compare
todays tariffs for energy: one
kilowatt-hour in Germany
costs 0.24, while the
European average is 0.17 and
in France, which uses nuclear
energy, it is only 0.11. It is an
economic disadvantage not to
use nuclear energy, but it is a
political decisionGermanyhas
madesinceFukushima.
TSS: Slovak citizens are now
able to work in Austria and
Germany under the same
conditions as local workers
after the two countries
opened their labour markets
on May 1 to citizens from
eight member states in cent-
ral and eastern Europe, in-
cluding Slovakia. What im-
pact has the end of the trans-
ition period had on
Germanys labour market
and what challenges has it
brought?
AH: Germany was among
those states which extended
the transition period for its la-
bour market, and in my coun-
try this was predominantly
the position of the trade uni-
ons, whoworriedthat millions
wouldfloodthe Germanlabour
market. The numbers,
however, have shownthat it is
a rather moderate movement.
Altogether we have about
10,000 workers from Poland,
the Czech Republic, Hungary
and Slovakia, which is a relat-
ively small number when
compared to the fact that we
needaround100,000engineers
in Germany. Thus we are now
looking to other countries in
theEUarea, for exampleSpain,
where there is high unem-
ployment. Germany is facing
the problemof ageing and also
a lack of special-skilled work-
ers. I understand that Slovakia
is facing similar challenges
and your country needs more
skilled workers, which is of
course a challenge for the edu-
cation system. The gap
between salaries in Germany
and Slovakia has been gradu-
ally narrowing, though for
Slovakia it will be verydifficult
to keep a nurse at home for
600or aphysicianfor 1,200.
TSS: Prime Minister Iveta
Radiov has said that Slov-
akia will have to create at-
tractive conditions in its
own labour market in order
to keep its best brains at
home. Observers also sug-
gest that further, well-tar-
geted investments are
needed in Slovakias educa-
tion sector. What approach
do you think Slovakia should
take in reforming its educa-
tionsystem?
AH: In Germany we have
the so called dual system:
after finishing elementary
school, students learn a pro-
fession in a factory and at the
sametimealsostudyat school
the theoretical aspects of
their profession.
SeeAHpg9
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
GermanAmbassador Axel Hartmann Photo: JanaLiptkov
HEALTH CARE
SERVICES
Next issue:
BUSINESS FOCUS
GERMANY
'Standstill is a step backwards',
German investors warn
Language skills build many
bridges
Slovak Telekomopens data centre
ONE of the biggest telecom-
municationcompanies in
Slovakia that provides both
fixed-line and mobile ser-
vices, Slovak Telekom(ST), is
not limiting its business to
telephony. OnJune 1, it offi-
cially beganoperations at its
newdata centre inBratislava,
whichinvolved aninvest-
ment exceeding 15 million.
Slovak Telekomis not a
beginner inthe ICT sector
we have long experience with
operationof several data
centres inSlovakia, Ruedi-
ger Schulz, chief operating of-
ficer, Network and IT, for
Slovak Telekom, inwhich
Deutsche Telekomholds a
51-percent share, told The
Slovak Spectator. We expect
fromTelekomDataCenter a
strengthening of our position
inthe market for business
solutions.
Schulz explained that
firms that build and adminis-
ter their owndata centres
and secure the required con-
tinuous availability of data
take ona demanding job in
terms of time and finances,
and because of the never-end-
ing expansionof IT systems
suchdata centres oftenreach
their capacity, security and
quality limits withina few
years. He added that the low
effectiveness of suchinvest-
ments, under current pres-
sure to reduce IT costs, is no
longer acceptable to many
firms and, coupled with
trends incloud computing
and greenIT, has led to a sig-
nificant increase indemand
for outsourced data centres.
The centre consists of
three IT halls covering a total
area of 1,200 square metres.
ST classifies it as a Tier III,
based onthe Uptime
Institutes scale, which
means inpractice that it has
99.982-percent of technolo-
gies available and that some
components evenmeet the
standards for Tier IV.
Standstill is a step
backwards
SLOVAKbusinesspeople as well
as economic analysts are look-
ing with slight concern at the
German economy, when its
growth slowed markedly dur-
ing the second quarter of 2011.
While the German-Slovak
Chamber of Commerce sug-
gests that it would be wrong to
place too muchemphasis onre-
cent figures, fears onthe Slovak
side are understandable as
Germany is the countrys
biggest economicpartner.
The dip in the second
quarter should not be
overestimated, Guido Glania,
the managing director of the
board of the German-Slovak
Chamber of Commerce, told
TheSlovakSpectator.
Compared with the first
quarter, when the German eco-
nomy grewby 4.6 percent year-
on-year, thesecondquartersaw
year-on-year growth of 2.8 per-
cent but that figure masked
real growth of only 0.1 percent
duringthequarter.
Investment decisions are
based on long-term expecta-
tions," said Glania. "Therefore
we do not see any automatic
impact onplanninginSlovakia.
At the same time everybody
knows that there are huge eco-
nomic risks and challenges in
Europe, the US and, as a con-
sequence, for the entire world
economy.
Reinhard Wiemer from the
German Embassy in Slovakia
agreed, citing the latest fore-
cast by the German Bundes-
bank which still predicts
growth of around 3 percent for
Germanyin2011.
Growth will be lower in
2012, but Germany will remain
the fastest-growing large eco-
nomy in the EU, Wiemer told
The Slovak Spectator. Since
the Germanand the Slovak eco-
nomies aretightlyintertwined,
growth in Germany generates
growth in Slovakia. The fast re-
coveryof the Slovakeconomyis
also a result of the good eco-
nomic performance of Ger-
many."
Wiemer believes that
since the German economy
will remain on a course of
growth albeit not as strong as
in 2010 and 2011 it will con-
tinue to provide positive im-
pulses for the Slovak economy.
With regards to the current
state of economic cooperation
between Germany and Slov-
akia, Glania said that German-
Slovaktradeandinvestment re-
lations aredevelopingverypos-
itively, with exports, imports
as well as investments growing
at a rapid pace this year and
German companies creating
newjobsinSlovakia.
Wiemer added that Ger-
man-Slovak economic rela-
tionsareexcellent.
Germany is the most im-
portant trading partner of Slov-
akia and a major investor.
Wiemer told The Slovak Spec-
tator. German-Slovak trade
has reached its pre-crisis level
this year and is growing. There
is a positive balance of trade for
Slovakia, which clearly signals
the competitiveness of Slovak
industriesandbusinesses.
Intertwinedeconomies
The chief analyst with
Volksbank Slovensko, Vladimr
Vao, sees the size of the coun-
try as being behind the strong
relations between the econom-
iesof SlovakiaandGermany.
Slovakia is a small, open
economy, whichmeans that its
industry is predominantly
export-driven, Vao told The
Slovak Spectator. Manufactur-
ing, which employs over one
quarter of the Slovak labour
force, couldnot besupportedby
the meagre 5-million-strong
domestic market; it depends on
exportingitsproduction.
The importance of Ger-
manyinthat respect exceedsits
one-fifth share of exports, ac-
cordingtoVao. As for the Slov-
ak trade balance alone, one-
fifth of its exports go to Ger-
many, but the second largest
export partner of Slovakiais the
Czech Republic (14 percent of
exports), and over one-half of
Slovak exports go to countries
using the euro. The EU is the
destination for over 85 percent
of Slovak exports. Germany is
also the Czech Republics
biggest tradingpartner.
Moreover, as the worlds
second largest exporter, after
China, Germany is rightly la-
belled the engine of the euro-
zone economy, said Vao.
That explains whythe correla-
tion coefficient between the
real economic growth of Slov-
akia and Germany has in-
creasedto 0.72, whenlooking at
a time series beginning in2001.
That, in other words, means
that about 72 percent of the
change in the direction of the
Slovak economy can be ex-
plained by developments inthe
economyof Germany.
Germaninvestments
inSlovakia
The German-Slovak Cham-
ber of Commerce estimates that
there are a total of 450 compan-
ies with a substantial German
share in their ownership in
Slovakia. Theyaccount for more
than 15 billion in sales and
employ more than 90,000
people. Suchcompaniesinclude
highly visible investors in the
automobile, energy, electron-
ics, lighting systems and tele-
communications sectors. But
Glania added that most German
investors are typical examples
of the German Mittelstand:
highly innovative, medium-
sized, family-run industrial
companies. Most of these man-
ufactureindustrial goods.
The Slovak Investment and
Trade Development Agency
(SARIO) has continuedtorecord
significant interest in Slovakia
fromGermaninvestors.
Germany, along with the
US, is the country from which
most enquiries arrive, SARIO
spokesperson Richard Drer
told The Slovak Spectator. Cur-
rently we are working on 13
projects from Germany, which
are in various phases, with a
total volume of about 1 billion
and the potential to create up to
4,000newworkingpositions.
So far SARIO has wrapped
up 55 German investment
projects with an aggregate
volumeof 868millionthat had
the potential to create 10,500 to
13,000 jobs. These investors in-
clude Continental, Deutsche
Telekom, T-Systems, ZF, Leoni,
Siemens andothers.
According to data fromthe
National Bank of Slovakia, ag-
gregate direct foreign invest-
ments from Germany to Slov-
akia amounted to 4.75 billion
up to the end of 2009; addi-
tional investments of 66.55
millionarrivedin2010.
SARIO itself is active in
drawing German investors to
Slovakia. InSeptember it is or-
ganising an investment road-
show to be held in Dsseldorf
and Munich that will be at-
tended by Economy Minister
Juraj Mikov.
Both these towns are in-
dustrial centres, said Drer
adding that SARIO plans to
combine investment sem-
inars with individual meet-
ings with firms that may be
interested in the investment
environment inSlovakia.
With regards to sectors of
Slovakias economy that are
most attractive for German
investors, SARIO considers
those in which German com-
panies are already well-estab-
lished: automotive, electro-
technical, production of
plastic components, service
including shared service
centres, but also biotechno-
logy and R&D. Wiemer sees
renewable energyas one of the
fields that might become more
important inthefuture.
The Slovak media recently
reported that industrial group
ThyssenKrupp is eyeing east-
ern Slovakia. But even though
this investment has not yet
been officially confirmed, the
results of the chambers sur-
veys confirm Slovakia's posi-
tionas anattractivelocation.
We are regularly contac-
ted by German investors, said
Glania. Weprovidethemwith
information about the busi-
ness climate and investment
opportunities. According to
our latest survey, 88 percent of
the German companies who
have investedhere woulddoso
again. This is astrongfigure.
SeeECONpg8
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Slovakia's energy sector remains of interest toGermaninvestors. Photo: JanaLiptkov
7
FOCUS short
Slovakia is still
barely known by
many German
executives
BUSINESS FOCUS
hk}ly{pzltlu{
CompanIes
connected to the
6erman communIty
SP90612/1
SP90620/1
SP90590/1
RIBE S!ovakia,k.s.
Production p!ant Nitra
Sikuisku 14, 949 0S Nitiu
Te!: 00421-37-6920903
Fax: 00421-37-6920931
Production p!ant Dubnica nad Vhom
Aieul ZTS 924, 018 41 Dubnicu nud Vulom
Te!: 00421-42-4486700
Fax: 00421-42-4486702
Slovak Telekom
the largest Slovak multimedia operator with many years of experience
and responsible approach to doing business. The company is a member
of the multinational Deutsche Telekom Group.
Contact:
Slovak Telekom, a. s., Karadiova 10
825 13 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Phone: 00421 2 588 11 111
Website: www.slovaktelekom.sk
E-mail: emailcentrum@st.sk
Movingcars at VW's plant inBratislava. Photo: Courtesyof VW
VW in Bratislava celebrates 20 years
THE GERMANcarmaker
Volkswagenis marking 20
years since its arrival inBrat-
islava. In1991, the Slovak
government, carmaker BAZ
and Volkswagensigned
agreements preceding the
start of what is nowcalled
VolkswagenSlovakia (VW
SK) and since thenthe com-
pany has manufactured
more than2.5 millioncars, 5
milliongear boxes and 200
millioncomponents, becom-
ing Slovakias biggest ex-
porter.
Andreas Tostmann, the
chief executive officer of VW
SK, met Slovak President
IvanGaparovi onAugust
31, 2011, to brief himabout
the companys plans to as-
semble 400,000 cars inBrat-
islava next year. The com-
pany is adding to its current
productionof sport utility
vehicles (SUVs) by launching
productionof the Up! model
withinits NewSmall Family
of cars.
This shows the trust we
put into our investments,
Tostmannstated, as cited by
the SITAnewswire.
After his meeting with
the VWSKrepresentatives,
President Gaparovi high-
lighted the importance of the
carmaker to the country,
saying that Volkswagen
brought productionto Slov-
akia and showed that it is
capable of manufacturing
the most advanced cars. He
also positively evaluated the
carmakers operations dur-
ing the recent economic
crisis and its plans for the fu-
ture.
VWSKproduced 94,600
vehicles during the first half
of 2011, 45 percent more
thanduring the same period
of 2010. The companys
turnover rose 33.3 percent to
2.4 billioninthe same
period.
Serial productionof the
first Volswagencar inBratis-
lava, the VWPassat Variant,
was launched inFebruary
1992. The plants production
palette gradually expanded
over the years. In1994 the
VWGolf was added, as well
as the VWBora and VWPolo
somewhat later. Production
of SUVs started in2002 with
the VWTouareg and bodies
for the Porsche Cayenne. The
Audi Q7 model completed the
palette of high-end SUVs in
2005.
SEAT cars, specifically
the Ibiza model, were as-
sembled inBratislava
between2003 and 2005 and
VWSKmanufactured koda
Octavias between2008 and
2010. In2010, the Bratislava-
based plant was the first of
Volkswagens 61 plants to
start productionof the Volk-
swagenTouareg Hybrid.
After VWSKlaunches
productionof its NewSmall
Family cars under the VW,
koda and SEAT brands, VW
SKwill become the only
plant inthe world withfive
brands produced under one
roof, said Vladimr Machalk,
VWSKspokesperson, as
quoted by the TASRnews-
wire.
In1991 VWSKemployed
112 people. The current la-
bour force exceeds 7,000
people, withthe prospect of
evenmore being hired once
productionof the Up! model
begins it is expected to add
1,500 jobs intotal.
Machalk said VWSKis
currently Slovakias biggest
exporter, withmore than99
percent of its productionex-
ported to 148 countries. VW
SKs share of Slovakias total
exports in2010 was 8.2 per-
cent.
ECON: No longer a low-wage country
Continuedfrompg7
But Wiemer and Glania
sharetheopinionthat German
entrepreneurs in Germany do
not yet have sufficient in-
formation about the advant-
ages of Slovakia.
One has to be clear about
the fact that unlike its neigh-
bours, Slovakia is still hardly
known by many German
executives, said Glania.
Many of them are even sur-
prised to learn from us that
Slovakia has introduced the
euro. I think that most poten-
tial investors are small and
medium-sizedcompanies that
wish to expand in a geograph-
ically well-located, stable EU
country with moderate labour
costs, well-trained people and
goodinfrastructure.
Glania believes that cur-
rently, Slovakia is scoring
rather well onthesepoints.
But as we say in Germany
standstill is a step back-
wards, so constant efforts
have to be made to improve,
saidGlania.
In the past Slovakia drew
investors with the prospect of
lower wage costs, but accord-
ing to Wiemer Slovakia can no
longer be categorised as a very
low-wagecountry.
While in 1993, the wage
difference for industrial work-
ers between Slovakia and
Germany was 1:12, today it is
roughly 1:4 and narrowing
further, Wiemer said, adding
that this is a very positive de-
velopment and a result of
Slovakias integration into the
EU.
In spite of this increase,
according to Wiemer, German
investors still appreciate the
competitive wage levels in
Slovakia. He sees many other
advantages: a reliable and
goodlabour force, central loca-
tion, political stability, clear
and relatively low taxes and,
of course, theeuro.
Increasingly, German
companies open up R&D de-
partments in their Slovak
branches, said Wiemer. This
shows that German compan-
ies also value the intellectual
potential of Slovakia.
Similar to the Slovak busi-
ness community, German
businesspeople also hoped for
positive changes in the busi-
ness environment after the
Iveta Radiov government
tookofficeoneyear ago.
Most German companies
were hopeful that the new
government would improve
the business environment,
Glania said. The reformof the
Labour Code is clearly going in
the right direction. The new
bankruptcy law can even be
seen as a milestone. However,
we encourage the Slovak gov-
ernment to be bolder as re-
gards infrastructure develop-
ment and reformof the educa-
tionsystem.
He added that many of
chambers members have dif-
ficulty finding well-trained
techniciansandengineers.
We are pleading for a re-
form of vocational training
systems, said Glania. This
should follow an integrated
approach combining schools
and companies. In Germany
wecall this thedual system.
Such a system can ensure
that trainees learn with state-
of-the-art technologies and
that the development of their
skills and knowledge is geared
to the real needs of the
companies.
8
BUSINESS FOCUS
FOCUS short
RIBE S!ovakia, a company
operating production p!ants
in Nitra and Dubnica nad V-
hom, was founded in 1996
as a daughter company of
RIBE Verbindungstechnik,
based in Schwabach, Ger-
many.
RIBE Slovukiu's pioduc-
tion plunt in Nitiu supplies
speciulised lusteneis to
tle Euiopeun uutomotive,
uiiciult und consumei indu-
stiies, witl u locus on smull
und medium-sized piodu-
ction, witl ulmost 2,000
vuiious kinds ol pioducts
uvuiluble. Oui piimuiy pio-
duct line is ligl-stiengtl sciews, pio-
duced muinly by cold moulding ol wiie
witl u diumetei liom 4 to 20 mm.
RIBE Slovukiu's pioduction plunt in
Dubnicu nud Vulom is locused on lui-
ge-seiies pioduction ol sciews viu tle
piocesses ol cold moulding, leut pio-
cessing, stiuigltening, iolling, suiluce
ud}ustments und, lust but not leust, tle
linul puckuging ol tlis ussoitment loi
linul puicluseis. Tle Dubnicu plunt
ulso munuluctuies teclnicul spiings
und mounting components loi tle
uutomotive industiy. In uddition to mu-
nuluctuiing tlese pioducts, tle plunt
olleis its metul luidening seivices to
exteinul customeis. RIBE Slovukiu
employs ulmost 210 woi-
keis in its two lucilities.
Eucl ol oui piodu-
cts cuiiies tle quulity
und expeiience ucquiied
duiing oui 1S-yeui listo-
iy in Slovukiu. We possess
tle lollowing inteinuti-
onul quulity ceitilicutes:
ISO 9001: 2008 und ISO
TS 16 949: 2009.
Bused on oui pioduc-
tion cupubilities und oui
piolessionul und teclni-
cul expeiience, we luve
become one ol tle best
supplieis ol lustening pio-
ducts in Euiope.
We use ull elements ol leun pioduction"
to lelp us to stund umong tle best in tle
Euiopeun muiket. Tle success ol oui com-
puny is bused on oui quulity employees us
well us oui yeuis ol building ligl-stunduid
ielutionslips witl oui business puitneis.
Oui woiking motto is: One Aim/One
Elloit/One Teum".
Production p!ant
Dubnica nad Vhom
Aieul ZTS 924
018 41 Dubnicu nud Vulom
Tel.: 00421-42-4486700
Fux: 00421-42-4486702
RIBE S!ovakia,k.s.
Production p!ant Nitra
Sikuisku 14
949 0S Nitiu
Tel: 00421-37-6920903
Fux: 00421-37-6920931
"Lean production" he!ps RIBE
to stand among the best
hk}ly{pzltlu{
SP 90621/1
Notbctr Scnutmann, Cnic| Fxc-
curivc O||icct o| \ycnodos|o-
vcnsld cnctgcrila (\SF), ra|ls
abour dcvc|opmcnr o| tcncwab|c
cnctgy soutccs, wnicn is onc o|
rnc ptiotirics o| \SF, c-mobi|iry
in S|ovalia, smatr mcrcts and
socia| tcsponsibi|iry.
E!ectric cars have started ap-
pearing on European roads.
What part is VSE p!aying in
this process?
We uie glud to be pioneeis
ol e-mobility in Slovukiu. We
luve ulieudy instulled oui liist
cluiging stutions in Slovukiu
und puiclused un e-cui. Oui
liist clullenge wus to intioduce
tlis concept, pieviously known
only to uutomobile luns, to tle
bioudei public. Tlunks to tle
inteiest ol tle muss mediu in
oui uctivities, we believe we
luve ulieudy uclieved out goul.
A luitlei clullenge is to biing
moie e-cuis onto tle iouds.
Tlis clullenge is ieully demun-
ding since tle inliustiuctuie is
lucking und tle puicluse piice
ol e-cuis is still ligl. We luve
tliee cluiging stutions in ope-
iution und uie piepuiing uno-
tlei. On tle otlei lund, we cun
luidly ullect tle puicluse piice
ol e-cuis. Tleieloie, we stiess
tle udvuntuges ol tlese cuis,
und oigunize loiums to discuss
und geneiute suppoit loi tlem,
in wlicl iepiesentutives ol mi-
nistiies ulso puiticipute.
The question of renewab!e
energy sources has become
even more urgent fo!!owing
the catastrophe at Japan's
Fukushima nuc!ear power
p!ant. In what ways is VSE
participating in the deve!op-
ment and usage of renewab!e
energy in S!ovakia?
Witl tle iespect to tle Fuku-
slimu disustei, we would like
to point to tle impiovement
in sulety stunduids und tle
execution ol sulety clecks ut
existing nucleui powei plunts
in Slovukiu, insteud ol tle com-
plete ubundonment ol nucleui
eneigy us lus been tle cuse in
Geimuny. Neveitleless, tle
development ol ienewuble
eneigy souices is one ol tle
piioiities ol VSE, witl u view to
contiibuting to tle ieduction ol
cuibon dioxide emissions. VSE
lus tleieloie ulieudy put tliee
pio}ects into opeiution witl un
instulled cupucity ol 2.1 MW
in eustein Slovukiu. Cuiiently,
VSE is piepuiing otlei pio}ects
bused piimuiily on biomuss, to
piovide botl gieen electiicity
und leut to tle iegion.
Which fie!ds (such as biogas,
so!ar, wind or geotherma!
energy) do you consider to
be promising for the future
deve!opment of renewab!e
energy in S!ovakia?
We keep un eye on ull lields,
but cuiiently suppoit only two
ol tlem. Wind und solui pio-
}ects uie unpiedictuble souices,
wlicl uie cuiiently not wel-
comed due to tle stute ol tle
electiicity tiunsmission system
in Slovukiu. Geotleimul eneigy
seems to be un inteiesting lield
witl signilicunt potentiul, but
tle enviionment loi investois is
not luvouiuble. Tle time liume
loi development ol sucl pio-
}ects is ubout live yeuis in totul,
but tle iegulutoiy ollice cun
clunge tle leed-in tuiill mucl
soonei, tlus exposing investois
to gieut unceituinty. We weie
inteiested in developing lydio-
powei plunts. Howevei, tleie
uie no suituble iivei pioliles
uvuiluble. Slovukiu is u countiy
endowed witl ubundunt loiests
in ull iegions, und it would be
u sin not to utilize tle domesti-
cully pioduced biomuss wlicl
is cuiiently expoited to wes-
tein countiies oi lelt unused.
We ulso suppoit biogus-bused
pio}ects, since we believe tlese
pio}ects cun stubilize tle ugii-
cultuiul sectoi in Slovukiu.
Does VSE cooperate with its
shareho!der RWE to deve!op
usage of renewab!e ener-
gy sources, exp!oit existing
know-how and deve!op new
techno!ogies? If so, how?
Ol couise, we uppieciute
tle know-low ol compunies
in RWE Gioup, especiully tle
division RWE Innogy, tle sole
puipose ol wlicl is to develop
ienewuble eneigy souices.
Moieovei, we coopeiute clo-
sely witl RWE's subsidiuiies
in tle iegion, wleie we cun
sluie oui expeiience witl
cuiient pio}ects. In tle cuse
ol cioss-boidei investment,
locul compunies cun piovide
suppoit to pio}ects. One sucl
exumple is u pio}ect by Czecl
subsidiuiy KA-Contiucting in
Bunsku Bystiicu.
What is VSE's position on
the insta!!ation of smart me-
ters to monitor the e!ectrici-
ty consumption of c!ients?
What are the advantages or
disadvantages of such me-
ters either from the viewpo-
int of c!ients or VSE?
Oui subsidiuiy Vclodo-
slovensku distiibucnu, u.s.
(VSD) is cuiiently woiking
on un extensive cost-benelit
unulysis ol tle implementuti-
on ol smuit meteis. Tle liist
iesults indicute tlut blunket
implementution ucioss tle
louselold segment would be
liglly inellective und would
be to tle detiiment ol custo-
meis. Tleieloie VSD does not
expect smuit meteis to be im-
plemented ucioss ull customei
segments ut tle moment.
O!d e!ectricity !ines, due
to their construction, can
threaten bird!ife. What is
VSE's position on this, as
we!! as other environmenta!
issues?
Tle locus on enviionmentul
piotection lus become un in-
tegiul puit ol ull oui woiking
uctivities. In co-opeiution witl
tle Stute Enviionmentul Pio-
tection und non-goveinmentul
oigunisutions we ugieed on u
stiutegy loi eliminuting sucl
negutive impucts, e.g. in line
witl piioiities set loi 2010
we ud}usted 22 kV lines in tle
,Kosicku kotlinu und ,Medzi-
bodiozie biid-piotection uie-
us in u wuy tlut does not con-
stitute u dungei to biids. We
ud}usted 1,780 suppoit points
ultogetlei, iepiesenting 13S
kilometies ol electiicul lines.
We ulso built ulteinutive buses
loi tle ielocution ol Wlite
Stoik (Ciconiu ciconiu) nests.
Does VSE cooperate in any
way with secondary schoo!s
or universities? In what way
does VSE benefit from such
cooperation with students?
We luve been one ol tle
leudeis in tle lield ol sociul
iesponsibility. Enviionmentul
piotection, us well us piomo-
tion ol educutionul uctivities
luve ulso become oui piioii-
ties. Oui coopeiution witl se-
conduiy sclools und univeisi-
ties lelps iuise tle stunduid
ol educution und suppoits
tulented young people. We oi-
gunize vuiious competitions,
und piovide tiuineeslips und
inteinslips. Tle puitneislip
witl tle Teclnicul Univeisity
in Kosice meuns tlut students
get tle oppoitunity to obtuin
u scloluislip und u }ob ut oui
compuny, und contiibutes to
tle luitlei development ol
tle univeisity.
Ploneers oI e-moblllty
SP90519/1
Notbctr Scnutmann
hk}ly{pzltlu{
AH: Slovakia's education system needs to be reformed
Continuedfrompg6
This is a very efficient sys-
tem and all our special-skilled
workers come out of this sys-
tem. Skilled workers earn a lot
of money in Germany since
these professions are very well
paid. Skilled workers are in a
much better position during a
recession since at these times
unskilled workers are laid off
first. Germany has a very flex-
ible labour market and
Slovakias labour minister Mr
[Jozef] Mihl did apply some of
the German elements in the
revision of Slovakias Labour
Code.
However, some German
investors are already finding it
difficult to hire skilled workers
and the state must take some
steps to reform the education
system. Along with the Ger-
man-Slovak Chamber of
Commerce, we have submitted
some proposals and we hope
that the government will ex-
amine them.
TSS: Starting this month,
English will be mandatory
for all incoming third-grade
pupils. In response to the le-
gislation, which was passed
last year, the German Em-
bassy in a press release sug-
gested that along with Eng-
lish other world languages
should also be taken into
consideration, and called for
the creation of the best pos-
sible access to several for-
eign languages. Do you think
the decision to make only
English mandatory will put
the study of German at a dis-
advantage inSlovakia?
AH: The German language
in Slovakia is a traditional lan-
guage, and this region was of-
ten influenced by German tra-
ditions. Before WWI about 50
percent of Bratislavas popula-
tion was German-speaking.
The times have changed but
the German language is still
important, especially through
the prism of the economy,
since there are more than 400
German companies working
here in Slovakia, giving jobs to
more than 90,000 people.
These employees need to speak
some German. Yet if you make
English an obligatory first lan-
guage, we wonder why the
students are not given the
choice between English or
German as the first language,
since even those who are of
German origin will now have
to learn English instead of
German. We feel that if you
look two decades ahead, there
will be a younger generation
who will not be able to speak
German any more since the
classes will be reduced to only
a couple of hours per week. In
the end only a very limited
number of young people will
speak German. If we look at
our economic relations and the
need for young employees able
to speak German, then diffi-
culties will emerge. But we are
very much engaged here; we
invest considerable funds into
German education here, hav-
ing almost 30 teachers from
Germany working all around
Slovakia. It is expensive but
we are doing it gladly because
we want to increase the qual-
ity of German education. Of
course we also have lecturers
inthe Germanlanguage.
As for the figures, last year
there were around 40,000 Eng-
lish final exams taken at
school and about 15,000 Ger-
man exams, which is a clear
signal that the German is the
second most spoken language
here.
TSS: As of September, there
will be a continuation of lec-
tures about the construction
and fall of the Berlin Wall in
schools in Slovakia. What
lessons can the younger
generation learn from the
fall of the BerlinWall?
AH: For people of my gen-
eration the fall of the Berlin
Wall still marks one of the
most outstanding events of
the last 30-40 years. Being born
and raised in West Germany
during the so-called cold war I
would not have dreamt that
Slovakia and many other
countries of the former
WarsawPact would today rank
among Germanys closest al-
lies in NATO and the European
Union. Yet the younger gener-
ation today, those aged under
25, do not remember the exper-
ience of living under dictator-
ship. They are used to freedom
of movement, freedom of
speech; they can work
wherever they chose to. It is
important that they are aware
that these freedoms are not
naturally granted to all people.
The uprisings in many coun-
tries of the Arab world that we
see today are, in the first in-
stance, motivated by exactly
the same reasons. The lesson
that the young generation can
learn is that two decades ago
there was a border close to
Bratislava that could not be
crossed. Today, when people
travel to Austria they do not
even realise that they are go-
ing abroad. The young genera-
tion must understand that the
most important value is free-
dom for everybody; freedom
was more important than
peace.
TSS: German investors are
well established in Slovakia,
for example in the automot-
ive and ICT sectors. Where
do you see other opportunit-
ies for German investments
in Slovakia? Are there any
unexplored areas?
AH: Our business contacts
are on a very high level. The
main challenge now is to
maintain this level and not to
sink below it. Volkswagen is
now expanding production of
its Up! car and other compan-
ies are also thinking about ex-
pansion. I do not think,
however, that there will be
any new big companies com-
ing, so we have to concentrate
on what is here nowand main-
tain the level of business links.
The business environment is
friendly, and the new Labour
Code brings some more flexib-
ility. Investors are facing the
problem of a lack of skilled
workers, which is one of the
main challenges of the labour
market.
TSS: Traditionally, which are
the strongest cultural
bridges between Slovakia
and Germany?
AH: There is a small Ger-
man minority, which has been
in Slovakia for more than 800
years. We are supporting them
as much as we can, but it is a
story that is slowly running
out because it is mostly the
older generation that is in-
volved. The German president
plans to visit Slovakia at the
end of September also to meet
with the German minority in
Kemarok. He will deliver a
speech to mark the tradition,
history and future of the Ger-
mans still living in Slovakia.
This all shows our engagement
with this minority, even if it is
a very small minority of only a
fewthousand people.
Ambassador Hartmannat his residence. Photo: JanaLiptkov
9
BUSINESS FOCUS
Language skills
build many bridges
AN OLD Slovak proverb says
that the more languages you
speak, the more times you are
human, meaning that they
make you a better person. Des-
pite its antiquity, this saying is
echoed in the modern trend for
learning several foreign lan-
guages. As a recent study by the
Institute for Public Affairs
(IVO) found, half of all people
living in Slovakia claim to
speak at least to some extent
two or more foreign languages;
and only 19 percent speak none
of the six most widely-spoken
foreignlanguages.
The six most widespread
foreign languages in Slovakia
are Russian (54 percent), Ger-
man (49 percent), and English
(46 percent), followed by
French (7 percent), Italian (4
percent) and Spanish (3 per-
cent).
From the point of view of
level of knowledge, English is
the most prominent language,
followed by German. The study
was initiated by the Goethe-In-
stitut and supported by the
GermanForeignMinistry.
The Goethe-Institut (GI) is
an institution of the German
Federal Republic which pro-
motes and spreads not only the
German language, but also
German history and culture
abroad, including in Slovakia.
The German language has al-
ways had a strong presence
here, thanks to this countrys
geography and history. During
the Austro-Hungarian Empire,
it was one of two official lan-
guages, but both before and
since this period the closeness
of Austria has strongly influ-
enced the country, especially
its western part. In central and
eastern Slovakia, waves of
German immigrants many,
but not all of them miners
have left noticeable traces, in
local names as well as in
peoples lifestyle and tradi-
tions.
During the communist era,
listening to Austrian radio and
watching Austrian TV broad-
casts was one of the few ways
to obtainaccurate information,
given the propaganda broad-
cast via the official media. Cur-
rently, of course, these influ-
ences have diminished, but the
prominent presence of German
and Austrian companies and
the opening of the labour mar-
kets of these two countries
have highlighted the import-
ance of learning the language.
The GI also supports multilin-
gualism (by organising the
Language Caf event and
through cooperating with oth-
er cultural institutions in Slov-
akia) and early teaching of for-
eignlanguages.
According to data provided
by the Goethe-Institut, the
number of students on Ger-
man-language courses is con-
tinuing to grow, as is the num-
ber of people undergoing tests
aimed at getting an interna-
tionally-recognised certificate.
Also, many students of second-
ary schools seek to obtain some
kind of German-language certi-
ficate, be it a school-leaving
examor some other type.
For those who have already
learned some German and who
want to enhance their know-
ledge the Language Caf rep-
resents one opportunity. Every
first Wednesday in the month,
several embassies organise an
exchange invarious languages,
including German. Competi-
tions for young learners, like
German for Clever Minds, a sci-
entific contest for German be-
ginners, are designed to attract
students to the language.
The Goethe-Institut also
seeks to bring German artists
to Slovakia. Examples in-
clude: Gisbert Stach from
Munich, at Hommage Erna
Masaroviov; eight artists
from Munich who will take
part in the Collaboration 4
mobile project at 'Bansk St a
nica' in Bansk tiavnica;
Danica Daki and her multi-
sensual works; and Einar
Turkowski and his creative
workshops at the Biennial of
IllustrationBratislava (BIB).
The Koice Artist-In-Resid-
ence project within the Koice,
European Capital of Culture
2013 programme, has brought
Urbanartist (an artistic duo)
and Maya Schweizer from
Germany to the eastern Slovak
city for three months to create,
cooperate with locals and in-
volve the public. Visual arts
need no translation, like mu-
sic, so it is also easier to present
musicians fromGermany, such
as Marc Jaquet, who will play
within the Ivan Sokol Interna-
tional Organ Festival; Till
Brnner, at the Bratislava Jazz
Days; and Friedrich Gauwerky
from Cologne, at the Orfeus
student musical festival.
On the other hand, literat-
ure needs some language skills
or a good translator but ex-
changes in this sphere are
vivid, too, and popular among
Slovaks. In September and Oc-
tober, Daniela Seel and Tom
Schulz will participate in the
Ars Poetica International fest-
ival and Christina Viragh will
tour Slovakia and discuss her
own works and translations.
Some new literary translations
will also be launched and the
Literature In Flux project fuels
discussions about literature in
the regionof the Danube River.
Another popular artistic
form is film, which incon-
spicuously promotes foreign
culture and language. The
Cinematik international movie
festival taking place in
Pieany in September will
screen a film by a legend of ex-
pressionism, Fritz Lang's M (A
Murderer Among Us) dating
from1931. The Inakos gay- and
lesbian-themed film festival
will show 3 (Drei) by Tom Tyk-
wer (2011), Romeos by Sabine
Bernardi (2011) and Fremde
Haut (Strange Skin) by An-
gelina Maccarone (2005).
In 2011, the institute has
co-organised or taken part in
several musical projects (espe-
cially in classical and choir
music), artistic exhibitions,
the SHaPiNG The NeW artistic
residence in Koice, theatre
performances (like the puppet
theatre fromDresden at the In-
ternational Puppet Festival),
movie screenings, festivals
(Early Melons, Fest Ana), lit-
erary exhibitions, readings,
discussions andother events.
The Goethe-Institut also
helps to train German-lan-
guage teachers, both for Ger-
man as a foreign language and
German as a minority lan-
guage, and to establish part-
nerships between Slovak
schools and schools abroad. It
tries to find ways to make
learning German fun and mo-
tivating. In September, library
services are being enhanced
with an online-library called
Onleihe where anyone re-
gistered with the GI library can
borrow e-books, e-magazines,
or videos for a PC, iPad or tablet
device.
Thanks to these activities,
as many as 80 percent of Slov-
aks think that speaking more
foreign languages than just
English is important; and the
same percentage believe that
the best chance of succeeding
in the German and Austrian la-
bour market lies with those
who can speak the local lan-
guage. Apart from these data,
the IVO study of foreign-lan-
guage learning showed that 88
percent of people in Slovakia
consider mastering the Ger-
man language to be important.
It seems that in the central-
European context, German
remains a strong influence and
phenomenon, regardless of os-
cillations in popularity caused
by geo-political and historical
developments.
Wanted: better command of German
THREE months after the com-
plete opening of the German
and Austrian labour markets,
Slovaks continue to be very in-
terested in working in these
German-speaking countries.
Job agencies report a higher
number of available jobs in
Germany, Austria and
Switzerland than at the be-
ginning of the year as well as
an even higher number than
when the German and Austri-
an markets opened on May 1.
However, low command of
the German language by
many Slovaks often disquali-
fies them from getting the
available jobs, the Sme daily
wrote in late August.
The interest inGerman-
language markets is still
high; we register 150 job ap-
plicants monthly, said Jan
Trgala fromTrenkwalder, the
biggest personnel agency op-
erating inSlovakia, as quoted
by Sme. We register a com-
parable number of offers
fromAustria, Germany and
Switzerland. These are
mainly qualified positions
and all require active com-
mand of German. But most
[Slovak] applicants speak
Germanonly minimally.
Some experts say Austria
and Germany opened their la-
bour markets too late and
those seeking to work abroad
had found jobs elsewhere, es-
pecially inthe UKand Ireland.
Germany expected 140,000
migrant workers to arrive
since the start of May fromthe
eight countries that entered
the EUonMay 1, 2004 but only
10,324 migrant workers from
those countries actually ar-
rived. But this was double the
number of workers who had
arrived inApril whenentry
permissionwas required.
German-language trainingcanprove valuable. Photo: Sme
BYZUZANAVILIKOVSK
Spectator staff
Germanfirms provide many jobs inSlovakia. Photo: Sme
Germany still
attracts students
ALTHOUGHthere are about
400 Germancompanies
providing as many as 90,000
jobs inSlovakia, Englishis
still the clear leader among
foreignlanguages taught in
local schools. However, Slov-
ak students are still inter-
ested instudying German
the language is, after all,
spokeninseveral nearby
countries.
Eachyear, up to 150 Slov-
ak students apply for schol-
arships offered by the Ger-
manAcademic Exchange
Service (DAAD), and many
others apply to attend Ger-
manuniversities through
the Erasmus programme, in
order to spend time studying
inGermany, improve their
language skills, and get to
knowGermanculture.
Historically German
has played a very important
role inSlovakia and has been
spokenhere for around 800
years, Roland Westebbe
fromthe press department
of the GermanEmbassy in
Bratislava told The Slovak
Spectator, adding that the
large number of German
companies and the number
of people they employ here
indicates howvaluable the
language is.
Student exchanges
arestill popular
In1997, Germany and
Slovakia signed a treaty on
cultural cooperationwhich
allowed for the academic
exchange of students. This
cooperationdeepened after
Slovakia joined the
EuropeanUnionin2004.
For more than50 years
the University of Economics
inBratislava and the Martin
Luther University inHalle
have beenworking together
closely and successfully in
the area of academic
exchange, says Westebbe.
The mutual cooperation
was extended in2005 when
they launched a combined
masters study programme
inInternational Financial
Management.
Westebbe adds that sev-
eral factors influence the at-
tractiveness of student mo-
bility. Thoughthe number
of Slovak students travelling
to Germany is high, it has
decreased over the last few
years.
Recent studies by DAAD
indicate that the Bologna re-
forms [whichsought to
standardise higher educa-
tionqualifications by im-
plementing a systemof
credits for attendance on
specific courses] have had a
negative effect onthe mobil-
ity of students, he told The
Slovak Spectator, adding
that the reformlimited flex-
ibility inbothbachelor's and
master's study programmes.
Another negative factor
influencing mobility is the
overall economic situation,
whichaccording to West-
ebbe has certainly had an
impact onthe willingness of
students to enhance their
skills by studying abroad.
MakingGerman
moreattractive
At the moment, the trend
at Slovak schools is towards
wider teaching of English.
ThoughWestebbe says that
the GermanEmbassy sup-
ports the improvement of
English-language skills, he
emphasises that schools
should not undermine the
importance of learning a
second foreignlanguage.
Inour modernand glob-
alised world a profound
knowledge of Englishis today
almost indispensable, West-
ebbe said. Onthe other hand,
as Englishis a must intodays
world, it is also no longer a
competitive advantage for
young people seeking quali-
fied employment. Aworking
knowledge of at least a second
foreignlanguage should thus
be the goal. For that reason
the Germanembassy and its
partner organisations intend
to closely monitor the further
development of language
educationinSlovak primary
and schools.
We hope that despite
the legal changes German
will continue to be taught
inSlovak schools to a simil-
ar extent as before, West-
ebbe said.
10 September 5 11, 2011
The number of
students on
German-language
courses is
growing, says
Goethe-Institut
BYRADKA
MINARECHOV
Spectator staff
FOCUS / CULTURE
DOWN: Crisis scenarios unveiled
Continuedfrompg1
On August 29 the International Monetary
Fund released even gloomier assessments of
economic growth in the eurozone for the re-
maining months of the year, trimming its
previous prediction of 2-percent annual
growth in 2011 to 1.9-percent. But Standard &
Poor's, an international rating agency sugges-
ted on August 30 that Europe should be able to
escape a double-dip recession despite the sig-
nificant slowdown in second-quarter GDP
growthinmost Europeancountries.
Slovakias banks have been more aggress-
ive in lowering their predictions for next
years economic growth than the IFP. Based
on a regular survey of banks conducted by
Slovakias central bank in August, the con-
sensus of the banking houses is for growth of
3.1 percent for all of 2011, lower by 0.5 per-
centage points thantheir July assessment.
The bankers scaled down even further
their forecasts for economic growth in 2012:
in July they predicted annual growth of 4.3
percent while in August they slashed that
predictionto only 2.9 percent, SITAreported.
The IFP lowered its prediction for annual
GDP growth in 2011 from Junes estimate of 3.6
percent to 3.3 percent in its most recent report.
The IFP also lowered its prognosis for 2013 by
0.5 percentage points to 3.7-percent growth
and its crystal ball for 2014 foresees 3.9-percent
growthinGDP.
The slower rate of economic growth is ex-
pected to affect Slovakias public finances.
A 202-million shortfall in state revenues
in 2012 is expected because of lower economic
growth, the IFP said in its August 26 release.
The institute added that it expects govern-
ment expenditures to remain unchanged in
2012, predicting that interest rates will fall,
saving the government money on interest
payments that would counteract higher
spending onunemployment benefits.
Eva Sadovsk, an analyst with Potov
Banka, told The Slovak Spectator that a slow-
down in economic growth directly influences
the public budget because slower growth has
negative impacts on employment levels, per-
sonal consumption and investment, leading
to less revenue flowing to the state from vari-
ous taxes.
The further consolidation of public fin-
ances or maintaining the planned lower [state
budget] deficit could happen through meas-
ures that will either increase budgetary reven-
ue or cut spending, or by a combination of
these two, Sadovsk stated.
Fico: Taxbanks andtherich
Robert Fico, leader of the oppositionSmer
party, proposed that banks, corporations and
the rich be taxed to plug holes in the state
budget. Fico also argued that the govern-
ment will need to revamp its draft state
budget for 2012.
The spokesman for the Finance Ministry,
Martin Jaro, responded that the ministry had
prepared the draft state budget by August 15, as
prescribed by law, and had taken into account
the most recent economic developments and
had consulted with independent experts. Nev-
ertheless, he added that Finance Ministry State
Secretary Vladimr Tvaroka is holding discus-
sions with experts every day that are marked
by an expectation of lower state revenue, the
TASRnewswire wrote.
Effects onthestatebudget
The Finance Ministry had originally
pitched its draft state budget as a roadmap for
fiscal consolidation, laying out a budget deficit
of 3.172 billion for 2012, 637.6 million lower
than the deficit approved for this year. If these
numbers hold, the public budget deficit in 2012
will fall to 3.8 percent of gross domestic
product. The target for 2013 is to bring the defi-
cit under the 3-percent limit set by the
Maastricht Treaty for countries in the euro-
zone. The public finance deficit for this year is
predicted to reach 4.9 percent of GDP, accord-
ing to the ministry.
The economic outlook has significantly
worsened within a short period and it is good if
politicians, during the debate on next years
budget, have some vision about what it could
mean for the revenue side of the budget,
Eduard Hagara, senior research analyst with
ING Bank, told The Slovak Spectator, adding
that his bank had lowered its forecast for GDP
growthin2012 from4.5 percent to 3.5 percent.
Hagara added that since uncertainty pre-
vails at this time it would be prudent for the
government to remain cautious and not reach
immediately for budgetary reserves, express-
ing his opinion that this would be premature.
It would be best to respond to lower revenue
in the budget with lower expenditures,
Hagara said.
Zlack agreed that the main risk to the
draft state budget for next year is lower than
expected economic growth, which could lead
to lower state revenue and higher expendit-
ures thanproposed inthe budget.
In case of panic in the financial markets,
interest-servicing costs for government debt
might grow, Zlack said. On the other hand,
we appreciate that the cabinet is striving for
fiscal consolidation and reforms in the labour
market and the business environment that
should gradually lead to lower risk premiums
for Slovak debt and in the future slightly ease
the expenditure side of the budget under the
condition of normal developments in the fin-
ancial markets.
Twocrisis scenarios prepared
The IFP also unveiled two crisis scenarios in
the event of a significant economic freefall. The
first scenario assumes a full-blown European
sovereign debt crisis that IFP said would add
pressure of 86 million on Slovakias public fin-
ances in 2012 and more pressure in forthcoming
years. The second scenario, even more negat-
ive, assumes a global economic crisis, including
a bursting bubble in Asia and a political stale-
mate in the United States that would create
pressure on Slovakias public finances of an ad-
ditional 116 million in 2012 and 315 million in
2013, according to the IFP release.
The IFP outlined several possible measures
to soften the impact of crises such as these on
public finances, including an improvement in
the effectiveness of state-run businesses,
scrapping the countrys construction-savings
subsidies, modifying social benefits and
downsizing the civil service. On the revenue
side, the IFP outlined possible tax measures
such as abolishing the reduced-rate VAT of 10
percent on certain goods, increasing the basic
VAT rate from20 to 21 percent, raising taxes on
real estate by 50 percent, scrapping all relief
programmes on energy taxes and increasing
the excise tax onalcohol.
Whoshouldpayhigher taxes?
Sadovsk of Potov Banka suggested that
tax hikes are an unpopular approach because
taxpayers have certain expectations regarding
their levels of taxation, adding that with no-
ticeable quality problems in the health-care
and education sectors and the revelations of
overpriced government tenders citizens res-
istance to higher taxes could harden.
Regarding a higher VAT rate to increase
state revenue, Zlack of UniCredit bank said
that this approach would further reduce
already weak household consumption and
result inevenlower economic growth.
We would instead welcome higher taxes
on alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and
other hazards, as well as a considerably higher
tax on real estate, which is relatively low in
Slovakia, Zlack stated.
Fico announced that Smer will soon table
proposals for imposing higher taxes on banks
and what he called monopoly enterprises as
well as on higher-income individuals. Zlack
was negative about the idea of higher taxes on
banks, suggesting that this would be a negat-
ive signal to investors.
It is interesting that Robert Fico comes up
with such proposals whenever his party is not
in government, stated Jaro of the Finance
Ministry, as quoted by SITA, in response to
Ficos proposals. The question is why they did
not have that courage while ingovernment.
Fico also stated that Smer rejects the philo-
sophy that revenue shortfalls in the state
budget should be dealt with by taxing the in-
comes of Slovakias poorest citizens.
Jaro responded to that point by saying
that Smer does not need to be concerned about
the progressive nature of the current tax sys-
tem because it had been made more progress-
ive in 2004 through the establishment of de-
ductible amounts and other relief for citizens
withlower incomes.
Thanks to this, the poorest do not pay any
tax, or the state is even paying them, while the
better earners are not motivated to avoid their
taxation duties, Jaro stated, adding that
even Smer while in power did not change this
aspect of Slovakias social system.
Finance Minister IvanMiklo may needtofindadditional tax revenue if growthdips. Photo: Sme
REAL ESTATE
NEW.....for..... RENT:
1-2-roomapartments Vajnorsk,
Ruinov, Karlova Ves...
3-4-roomapartments Drotrska,
downtown, Ruinov,Koliba, Brik...
family houses Koliba, Brik
area, Polus area, Horsk park,
Ruinov...
madison@nextra.sk, 0905 659156,
www.madison.sk
C 3655
C 3679
CLASSIFIEDS
ANNOUNCEMENT
September 11th Commemoration
On Sunday, September 11th at 9:30 am, the Bratislava
International Church will commemorate the 10 year anniversary
of the terrorist attacks on New York Citys Twin Towers and the
Pentagon in Washington D.C. The one hour worship service will
remember the victims of subsequent attacks in Spain, Great
Britain, Bali and most recently in Norway, as well as to honor
the possibility of reconciliation and hope. The worship service
takes place at the Mal kostol or Little Church on Panensk
26/28 near the Presidential Palace.
All are welcome.
RELIGIOUS SERVICES
ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORSHIP
Bratislava International Church
Sundays, 9:30 at historic
Small Lutheran Church
(Mal evanjelick kostol) in central Bratislava
(near Hodzovo namestie);
on Lycejna at intersection
with Panenska 26/28.
Children's Sunday School provided.
Everyone Welcome.
Information at 02-5443-3263
Web Site:
www.bratislavainternationalchurch.org
C 3573
Frequency di scounts:
3x - 10x 5%
11x - 19x 7,5%
20x and more 15%
NOTE:
Prices do not include value added tax
(VAT 19%)!
DEADLI NE: Wednesday, 12:00,
for publication that week; otherwise,
the advert will be published the
following Friday.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
email:
beata.fojtikova@spectator.sk
tel: +421 2 59 233-311
fax: +421 2 59 233-319
or write:
The Slovak Spectator, Lazaretsk 12
811 08 Bratislava, Slovak ia.
1/ 48 page
44 x 41 mm
25
1/12 page
91,5 x 87 mm
100
1/24 page
44 x 87 mm
91,5 x 41 mm
50
Adverti sing rates
for busi ness cl assifieds
or
2. Prices for business classified ads (according to size):
1. Pri ces of cl assi f ied ads
(according to no. of words)
Up to 20words - 10
Up to 50 words - 20
Up to 70 words - 30
Up to 100 words - 40
Up to 150 words - 60
Additi onal options
Logo or picture ins ertion
+ 7
Bold or capital bold letters
+ 0.3/word
Box + 3
Box with shading + 7
11
BUSINESS / NEWS
Will the state needmore money? Photo: Sme
STUDENT: 'Respect the differences of other people'
Continuedfrompg3
Youarewhat youeat?
There were days when Tiwawong sought
to integrate into Slovak society but there were
also situations when he did not want to be ex-
actly like Slovaks. Pretending to be like a Slov-
ak was not always the best way to achieve in-
tegration, Tiwawong learned. Despite his de-
termination not to bring a rice cooker from
Thailand to prove his willingness to blend into
Slovak society, his stomachs inability to di-
gest heavy Slovak food eventually forced him
to invest ina rice cooker.
I realised that what I eat has nothing to do
with my integration in Slovakia, Tiwawong
said, adding that he also works as a volunteer
for AFS, an international organisation that or-
ganises and supports intercultural learning
experiences for students and adults. It does
not matter which country one goes to and
what language one learns, the most important
lesson is that rather than forcing yourself to
become somebody else we should stay differ-
ent and respect the differences of other people
and people fromdifferent cultures.
His recollections of attempts to integrate
into Slovak society and other situations he has
faced since his arrival in Slovakia were presen-
ted in an article, My Life My Story, that won
third prize in an international media competi-
tioncalled Migrants inthe Spotlight.
Through my article I wanted to emphas-
ise that we foreigners living here also consider
Slovakia to be our home and despite different
attitudes and values I believe that we can all
live together, Tiwawong said.
University students fromforeign countries
were asked to submit articles or films that
touched on migration or integration issues in
Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia,
Lithuania or Romania for the Migrants in the
Spotlight: Training and Capacity Building for
Media Representatives and Students project.
The project aims to contribute to greater media
coverage of migration of third-country nation-
als and their social integration in order to in-
crease public awareness about these issues and
reduce prejudices and stereotypes in society,
and lead to better integrationof migrants.
Being Asian, Tiwawong arouses the curios-
ity of Slovaks, who often look at him intently.
He said this is often demonstrated on Bratis-
lava public transport and that as soon as he
gets on a bus or tram he becomes the most vis-
ible element.
I kind of understand their staring at
foreigners, said Tiwawong. Overall, there are
still not too many of us inSlovakia.
According to an International Organiza-
tion for Migration (IOM) study titled Public At-
titudes toward Foreigners and External Migra-
tion in the Slovak Republic, people form their
views on migration and migrants on the basis
of false concepts, stereotypes and misinforma-
tion. The report also notes that Slovaks overes-
timate the proportion of migrants in the total
population especially because of foreigners
that they personally encounter whose skin
colour and other external features differ signi-
ficantly fromthe native population.
Drawing from figures provided by the
Slovak Statistics Office, 62,882 foreigners were
registered as resident and living in Slovakia in
2009. Even though the number of citizens of
Asian origin coming from countries such as
Vietnam, China, South Korea and Thailand
quadrupled between 2004 and 2008 and despite
the fact that they are particularly visible, this
specific group represents just 10 percent of all
foreigners living inSlovakia.
Slovakiaas asecondchoice
In a brochure entitled Neighbours: Inside,
Outside published by the Milan imeka
Foundation, ivka Deleva from Macedonia
who successfully completed her PhD studies
at Comenius University in Bratislava stated
that one of the most important things is to
study, but travelling not only helped me to
see things differently but also made me real-
ise that you can be happy anywhere in the
world.
But Slovakia was not her first choice. Like
Tiwawong, who initially applied to study in
Japan, Deleva failed to gain a scholarship to
study in Sweden but was offered a spot at
Comenius Universitys Faculty of Social and
Economic Sciences and was the only person
from Macedonia to receive a scholarship from
the Slovak EducationMinistry in2007.
When my colleague and I enrolled, this
was the first time that the PhD programme
had international, internal students and it oc-
casionally resulted in some confusion, said
Deleva.
Deleva nevertheless believes that it is good
to be in Slovakia during this period as she be-
lieves the awareness of the Slovak public about
people from different cultures seems to be
rising.
People are becoming more conscious
about the presence of foreigners in the country
and that is about to get bigger; thus their ac-
ceptance will grow and they will also feel chal-
lenged to become better in whatever their pro-
fessionis, thus more qualified, Deleva said.
Futureplans
Tiwawongs ability to speak six foreign
languages, along with his volunteer experi-
ence and his future university degree, could
make him an attractive candidate for any Slov-
ak employer.
However, after completing his bachelors
degree he would like to study further and apply
for another scholarship which would enable
him to undertake a masters degree in interna-
tional relations, preferably in Germany or in
Spain, which he believes would provide him
witha wider international approach.
Unlike Slovak universities, German and
Spanish schools seem to be well-recognised in
Thailand and this could be crucial if I decide to
return home to Thailand, Tiwawong said. Ad-
ditionally, both countries also offer more op-
portunities in terms of job diversity,
something that he said he finds appealing.
Even if he does not receive such an intern-
ship, he does not intend to stay in Slovakia.
Many of his international friends who received
a degree in Slovakia either returned to their
countries of origin upon graduation or contin-
ued pursuing a career at another chosen des-
tination.
In a similar vein, Deleva will stay in Slov-
akia only as long as she feels that she has
something to learn from the country and more
to experience.
Once this feeling is over, I would probably
start looking for a job elsewhere, she said.
The reasons to leave are personally motivated
and it is not going to be hard to leave, as I have
already left once.
Some of her friends planned to stay but
most of them subsequently left after they
found muchbetter opportunities elsewhere.
Despite the experiences and attitudes of
these two individuals, the attractiveness of
Slovakia is starting to change, according to the
research project entitled Economic Aspects of
Migration and Integration of Migrants from
Third Countries in Slovakia published by the
Institute for Public Affairs in 2011. That re-
search study found that two-thirds of the
working migrants who were surveyed, includ-
ing students working while studying, had
chosen Slovakia as their final destination,
rather thanjust a transit point.
The author wrote this article while serving as an in-
tern at the International Organization for Migra-
tion (IOM) office in Slovakia.
12
NEWS / BUSINESS
LEVY: 40% tax-free allowance to go
Continuedfrompg1
Representatives of the Slovak As-
sociation of Small Enterprises,
joined by Slovensk ivnostensk
Zvz (SZ) and Slovensk
ivnostensk Komora (SK), repres-
enting self-employed trade and craft
workers, and the Slovak Coalition for
Cultural Diversity, a group repres-
enting artists, delivered a statement
to Prime Minister Radiov at the
end of August with their position on
the cabinet proposal. The slogan
crafted by the four groups was: We
want to live and survive. Radiov
promised the representatives of the
groups that leaders of the ruling co-
alition would review their position
and comments.
The government also approved
the concept of a so-called super-
gross salary on August 19 that would
increase the nominal gross salaries
of employees so that they reflect the
amount of payroll-based mandatory
payments that employers make,
principally for mandatory social in-
surance and health insurance, on
behalf of their employees. The intro-
duction of this super-gross salary
concept is not supposed to result in
employers making higher mandat-
ory payments for these programmes,
the TASRnewswire reported.
Under the cabinet-approved pro-
posal, three rates for calculating
payroll levies for social insurance
programmes will be established, de-
pending on an employees salary
level and type of employment con-
tract. The highest, 19-percent rate
will apply to employees who receive
a regular monthly salary: these em-
ployees will continue to be entitled
to sickness and unemployment be-
nefits. Employees with irregular in-
come or dividend income and those
who are self-employed will pay so-
cial insurance contributions at a
13-percent rate and those employed
on limited work agreements (na
dohodu in Slovak) will contribute at
a rate of 10 percent, TASRwrote.
The payment for mandatory
health insurance would be set at 9
percent for all employees except
those with serious health impair-
ment or those receiving a disability
pension, who would pay half of the
fixed rate (4.5 percent).
The cabinet proposal would also
abolish the 40-percent lump-sum al-
lowance that self-employed taxpay-
ers can deduct from their gross in-
come, substituting instead a max-
imum monthly allowance of 200, a
figure linked to Slovakias official
subsistence level.
The parameters are set in such a
way that the majority of employees
will have a slightly higher net
income, stated Labour Minister
Jozef Mihl, as quoted by the SITA
newswire. The minister added that
the removal of exemptions on pay-
ment of payroll levies would give the
systemgreater justice.
The representatives of the artists
and the self-employed argue that the
40-percent lump-sum tax allowance
for self-employed individuals should
be preserved and that their payment
rate for social insurance should be
set at 9 percent of income.
The Civil Conservative Party
(OKS), which won four seats in par-
liament on the slate of the Most-Hd
party, a member of the governing
coalition, has been critical of the
proposed measures, saying that they
will raise the tax burden on self-em-
ployed individuals.
The chairman of OKS, Peter Za-
jac, said in late August that the cur-
rent economic situation in Slovakia
is different from just a few months
ago.
Everybody had expected high
GDP growth, Zajac stated, as quoted
by TASR. It has become evident of
late that it is small and medium-
sized entrepreneurs who generate
jobs and financial resources.
Finance Minister Ivan Miklo
stated on August 21 that he does not
know any alternative to the
cabinets reform bill and that the le-
gislation emerging from parliament
must not undermine the state
budget or preserve unsystematic
elements in the system, as reported
by SITA.
Stanislav imrik, president of
SZ, suggested that cancellation of
the lump-sum tax allowance could
contribute to the development of a
grey economy in Slovakia and serve
as an incentive for individuals not to
declare their real income.
Finance Ministry spokesman
Martin Jaro told public-service
broadcaster Slovak Radio that the
ministry does not share this con-
cern, saying people who have actual
expenses that are higher than 200
monthly can deduct them from their
tax base and this is nothing demand-
ing and they do not even have to
keep an accounting, only a simple
registry of income and expenses. The
ministry admits that the cancella-
tion of the lump-sum [allowance]
might negatively affect high-earn-
ing people with no real expenses
that they could deduct.
Lszl Solymos, Most-Hds par-
liamentary caucus leader, told TASR
on August 30, that what he termed
freelancers should be covered by
different conditions in the proposed
tax-levy reform than those that will
apply to other self-employed people,
adding that his party will propose
adjustments in parliament to this
part of the cabinet bills draft lan-
guage.
The caucus leader said Most-Hd
is of the opinion that freelancers
should not be deprived of their right
to deduct a lump sumof 40 percent of
their income from their tax base and
that they should not pay any levies
ontheir royalties.
The prime ministers spokes-
man, Rado Bao, told the media that
the government is seeking a payroll-
levy reform solution that causes no
damage to the labour market or em-
ployment while making sure that
the level of payroll levies secures a
high enough old-age pension so that
retirees are not dependent on the
countrys social system.
Prime Minister IvetaRadiovfaces oppositiontothe changes. Photo: Sme
13
NEWS / CULTURE
Back to their roots
WATCHING a group of women precisely
embroidering lacework, seeing wood-
carvers creating new masterpieces, tast-
ing traditional Slovak food, listening to
songs indifferent dialects or enjoying the
performances of folk dancers all the
whileseeingeveryonedressedinclothing
that many young people would call way
out-of-date. Once a year, Slovakias capit-
al dispenses with its image as a modern
city and returns back to the times before
skyscrapers or aeroplanes, when people
earned their living throughvarious kinds
of crafts.
It has become a tradition that
Bratislavas city centre, and more spe-
cifically its old town, becomes occupied
by craftsmen and artists during the Days
of Masters, which this year runs from
September 2 through September 4. The
Centre for Folk Art Production (UV) re-
cruits people from all three historical re-
gions of Slovakia west, central andeast
and brings themto this spot in Bratislava
to remind 21st-century Slovaks of their
traditionsandtheirpast.
The festival has been dedicated to
many different themes throughout its
21-year history. This years theme has the
motto Vykroj sa z davu (Cut Out from the
Crowd) to focus attention on one import-
ant but nearly forgotten part of history
traditional Slovak folk clothing called
kroj Inspired by the traditions of Norwe-
gians who proudly wear their traditional
folkcostumeseachyearontheirConstitu-
tion Day, UV decided to connect
Slovakias Constitution Day, celebrated
on September 1, with its festival of crafts
and this year to focus specifically on the
kinds of clothingthat were once aninsep-
arablepart of everydaylifeinSlovakia.
We will bring people fromall corners
of Slovakia who will bring every colour of
language, and traditions that are charac-
teristic of their regions, said Milan Bel-
jak, the head of UV. They will also
bring their folk costumes, very interest-
ing and rich, which are a clear identifica-
tionof their region.
UV plans to present kroj and folk-
lore itself in many different ways, both
traditional and modern, to tell young
people that they should not be ashamed
whentheywant towear traditional cloth-
ing.
The word folklore has a negative
meaning these days, said Juraj Hamar,
the director of the SUK folklore en-
semble. But it should not. Through our
performances we want to showthat folk-
lore can be an inspiration for new out-
puts, current andpopular pieces.
Thus, the festival is dedicated not
only to presentationof classic folk dances
and songs but also to showing experi-
mental folk performances, offered
primarily by SUK. A part of the Saturday
programmeis afashionshowwherethree
contemporary designers Michaela
Bednrov, Lenka Srov and Lucia
Ponckov will present their designs
presenting traditional folk costumes in a
more modern way, one that could be at-
tractivefor theyounger generation.
Twoother traditional parts of thefest-
ival are the creative workshop, where
childrenandtheir parents will be allowed
to watch various crafts as well as be en-
couraged to try their own hands, and a
showof the art of embroidery inwhich80
people will present their creations. Visit-
ors to Days of Masters canalso taste tradi-
tional Slovak cuisine and watch perform-
ances by ethnic Slovaks fromBkscsaba,
avillageinHungary, whowill present the
traditions theyhave preservedsince leav-
ingSlovakia.
There will be 250 craftsmen, said
Beljak of UV, adding that all of
Slovakias regions and all of its types of
craftswill bepart of thefestival.
The festival also has a charitable as-
pect. In cooperation with the Div maky
(Wild Poppies) civic association, the
festivals organiserswill collect voluntary
donations that will be used in the civic
associations Crafts for Roma Children
project, which seeks to develop and
showcaseRomatalent inthisfield.
ByRadkaMinarechov
SE: Missing info
Continuedfrompg3
By that time the national
media had begun reporting
the alarm in their news pro-
grammes as well.
Stanko and Remenr
both complained to The Slov-
ak Spectator about the lack of
official information ad-
dressed directly to them.
Remenr said that although
the head of the Trnava Bor-
ough Office made a state-
ment, no information had
been sent directly to the
mayors.
Mayors want apenalty
Several of the mayors
from villages around the
power plant told The Slovak
Spectator that given their
experience during the false
alarm that mass panic would
be difficult to avoid if a real
accident occurred.
People werent indiffer-
ent to what was happening,
Remenr said. They could
see on television what it
means if a nuclear accident
happens and whether we like
it or not the power plant is
here and people should be
readyfor that.
Experts say that when a
sharp alarm is sounded
people should take shelter in
a building and seal the win-
dows and doors and receive
quick information about the
reason for the alarm and in-
structions about what to do
next. In this incident people
from the villages around the
Bohunice power plant ran
out of their houses, hoping to
get more information about
what was happening from
neighbours inthe street.
The incident is nowbeing
investigated by Slovakias
Nuclear Regulatory Author-
ityandthe Interior Ministry.
Klokner insists that the
civil protection warning sys-
tem did not fail but that the
power plant had not followed
the steps required by the law
on civil protection. For that
reason his office is launching
an administrative action
against Slovensk Elektrrne
through which they will
evaluate the false alarms
circumstances, the commu-
nication systems used, and
the problems caused to the
communities.
And it is sure to end up
with a sanction, not neces-
sarily only financial,
Klokner told The Slovak Spec-
tator.
The Sme daily reported
that Slovensk Elektrrne
blamed Telegrafia for the in-
cident and will demand that
the contractor pay for any as-
sesseddamages.
hk}ly{pzltlu{
21378
||t1 H1:|w:|1
Ne Natter Hew Har4 de r|e4
I| #1|:t1w1. #1|:1w. |J|l\|
i||tti | ||t|t !1|tr1
I|r |tt|||: &||ti |rt|t1|rrrt
Ve|4 !ter
||ti |rt|t1|rrrt. :|ll|i.
|\|I|| ||\||JH
i||tti | I|r |tt|||:
!|1rr: ||t|i||. |1.|i !1|1|
de|sseaste|a
|ri| I|1t|. ||1a.
|/||| ||||||||
i||tti | |1.|i !1|1|
H1\|r |||
|e |ewer 0ept|s
J|I / \||r|a: ||t I|1t|. ||I||l\|l
i||tti | J:|1|1: ||:ar.1:
i !
|
| | | | J | J | | | | | \ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | J | | | | | | | | | | ' | \ | | ii !!
| |
|| || || || JJ || JJ || || || || || \\ || || || || || ||| || || || || || || || || || || || JJ || || || || || || || || || || ''
|rt|r1t|r1| :rj:|ar
|est|ra| as a(0reat|rej |a4astr
j|:rt1t|r l t| Para||e| ||res - I0
t|
0eatar
t|reaq| t|e |es eI t|e !ecret Pe||ce ||jtt
:|tt|r l|r t| i1 ||1a Ja1i|rr|1| j|jtt
|atersect|ea. |at|mac aa4 !pectac|e
Hew te Preserre raas|eace t| I|1t| |r:t|tat
|r ||1t|:|1.1 a1
t|
1rr|.|:1| \||||t|r
1tt|.|t|: 1ri ||.1i|r \|t|1
i1t| 1rr|.|:1| ja|||t1t|r:
H1|r J|1r|t|.
l::t|1t|r ||.1i|r \|t|1
H1|r ||1r|:|:
I|1t| |r:t|tat. ||1t|:|1.1.
lri|j |11| I|1t| |r \|t|1.
|1|| :j|:| J|i I|1t| |r \|t|1.
\|t|1 :|l.|r|r ||r. I| ||t l \|t|1
!tl |||]
Ka|e (rema|ej
:|.1| ||1r|| I|1t|. H1|t|r.
:|J\l||l
i||tti | |i |r||
#jt| /|r||:||
!ma|| Narrat|ea
:tai| I|1t|. #1|:1w.
|J|l\|
i||tti | #jt| /|r||:||
l|r|i #:||
|e K|tc|ea
lri|j |11| I|1t| |r \|t|1.
:|J\l||l
i||tti | /|tr |1|t:
|1l1| :j|||a|i
Paraae|a
I|1t| i: |at||:.
|rr:. ||l\||
i||tti | H1|t|1| || |rt |. |||: \|||
!1r |1aw|: &\itrj1r
|e 0eer Hease
\itrj1r. ||a::|:. ||||||H
i||tti | !1r |1aw|:
Baqqers aa4 !ac|ers
:||lI I|1t|. ||1t|:|1.1. :|J\l||l
i||tti | |a:1r \|tr
H1|t|r :j||
|e Haat|aq !ceaes Irem |ewer Barar|a
\1t|r1| I|1t|. |ai1j:t. ||\|l|I
i||tti | |||t l|l|i|
I|| !|r:r
|e 0ra4aate
|1|| :j|:| J|i I|1t| |r \|t|1. :|J\l||l
i||tti | !1|a| ||lt1
:rt1. !1r lra|||. !:j| ||i:|
Ne4ea
HII|/. H:tw. ||::|l
i||tti | |1r1 ||r|1:
H l | \ | | J | | l H H |
|estiril sapparte1 |.
||:|||a|||. |a|1:
1|1|a|11|||:
N1|| N1|1 |1||||:
|||.1| 'a((|||:
Embassy of Belgium
Bratislava
| \ | | || \\ || ||
Traditional pottery-making. Photo: TASR
The tragic tale of Biela Voda
IN THIS lovely postcard from
the time of the Austro-Hun-
garian monarchy, we can see
a valley with an equally
lovely name: the Valley of
Biela Voda (White Water).
The name probably
comes from the
powerful stream
that flows through
it.
It is not clear
who was the first tourist to
enter the valley. Very prob-
ably, it was a student or pro-
fessor from the lyceum in
Kemarok. One of the first
recorded trips was made on
June 11, 1565, and it ended in
tragedy for the main protag-
onist, a woman.
Countess Beta had a
noble origin and vast fortune.
After her first husband died,
she married the owner of
Kemarok Castle, the Polish
noblemanAlbert Lasky.
The countess, who was
much older than her hus-
band, was enchanted by the
Tatras; and assisted by
Kemaroks professors, she
decided to make it into the
highmountains.
However, after returning
from the trip, Countess Beta
was imprisoned by her hus-
band, who claimed that a wo-
man should not undertake any
travel without her man, a pre-
judice widely held at the time.
In fact, this was just a pretext
for him to take pos-
session of her prop-
erty. She spent six
years locked up. Sev-
eral days after she
was freed by the
castles new owner, Jn Re-
uber, she died fromthe mental
and physical strain.
Today, the walk to Zelen
pleso ranks among the easier,
but more beautiful trips tour-
ists canmake inthe Tatras.
ByBranislavChovan
HISTORY TALKS
WesternSLOVAKIA
Bratislava
l LANGUAGE CAF: Jazykov
kaviare / Language Caf
Aspiring linguists who want
to discuss various topics in
their favourite language can
choose between English,
German, Hungarian, Russian,
Spanish, French, Italian, Ja-
panese, Portuguese and
Korean.
Starts: September 7, 17:30;
Caf Studio, Laurinsk 13.
Admission: free. More info:
www.goethe.de, www.sk.
emb-japan.go.jp, www.
britishcouncil.org /sk.
Bratislava
l MOVIEFESTIVAL: Projekt 100
2011 The 17th travelling show
of exceptional movies, repres-
enting part of the worlds
cinematographic heritage, will
visit 33 cities and towns, start-
ing with Bratislava.
Starts: September 8 to14 -
Melancholia (international co
-production, 2011), Sept. 15-21
Norwegian Wood (Noruwei
No Mori, Japan, 2011); Mlados
cinema, Hviezdoslavovo
Square 14. Admission: 3. Tel:
02/5443-5003; www.asfk.sk.
Bratislava
l TEA CEREMONY: Tea cere-
mony and Kd workshop
The Sakura club of the Japan-
ese Embassy presents a tea ce-
remony, led by Mrs Magumi
Mori, lecturer in the tea cere-
mony from the Enshu School,
and a Kd (Magic of Japanese
Scents) workshop by Mr Sat-
ora Horiguchi.
Japanese Embassy, Main
Square 2. Admission: free, but
participants must register in
advance. Tel: 02/5980-0101;
www.sk.emb-japan.go.jp.
Bratislava
l DANCE: Holes World
renowned dancer and choreo-
grapher David Zambrano will
open the new season at the
elledanse dance school/
theatre with this project, in
cooperation with the Les
SlovaKs grouping. After per-
forming at elledanse they will
make a short tour of Slovakia
together.
T & D House, Miletiova 17/B.
Admission: 5-10. Tel: 0905/
433-378; elledanse.dus.sk.
Pieany
l FILM FESTIVAL: Cinematik
The 6th edition of this inter-
national movie festival aims
to attract and also educate
young audiences. This year,
it focuses on the dark side of
sci-fi, Jacques Audiard (the
first book of a new series,
Cinematik, is dedicated to
him) and filmanimation.
Starts: September 9 to 15;
Kpen ostrov / Spa Island
and its surroundings. Admis-
sion: various. Tel: 0914/266
-911; www.cinematik.sk.
Central SLOVAKIA
Bansktiavnica
l TOWN-FEAST:
Salamandrov dni / Salaman-
der Days The tourist season
in this old mining town cul-
minates with a festival, ori-
ginally celebrating the Day of
Miners, that offers crafts,
competitions, markets, food,
entertainment, but especially
the historical Salamander
Procession.
Starts: September 8 to 10;
various sites. Admission: free.
More info: www.
banskastiavnica.sk.
Martin
l MUSEUM/EXHIBITION: Svet
plastikovch modelov a
modelrov / The World of
Plastic Models and Modellers
The 30th anniversary of Al-
batros, the club for plastic
modellers, inspired this exhib-
ition that shows models of
aeroplanes, military equip-
ment and vehicles, including
period items.
Open: Tue-Sun 9:00-17:00
until September 30; Slovak
National Museum, Mal Hora
2. Admission: 1-2. Tel: 043/
4131-011; www.snm.sk.
EasternSLOVAKIA
Kemarok
l LIVE MUSIC: Luk Adamec
& Siempre Cassovia Sound
System An unplugged con-
cert by the winner of the
esko-Slovensk Superstar TV
competitionand his band.
courtyard of Kemarok Castle.
Admission: 4 (in advance,
from Town Culture Centre) -
5 (on the door). Tel: 052/
4522-165; www.kezmarok.sk.
Poprad
l EXHIBITION: Rmovia
oami Jaroslava Balvna /
Roma through the Eyes of
Jaroslav Balvn A photo-
graphy exhibition by a man
who has studied Roma his-
tory, life and culture, worked
with Roma on a long-term
basis and recorded their lives
inexpressive pictures.
Open: Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri
9:00-17:00 until September 29;
Podtatransk kninica / Tatra
Library, Podtatransk 1548/1.
Admission: free. Tel: 052/7729
-495; www.kniznicapp.sk.
ByZuzana Vilikovsk
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
THE ORIGINAL musical concept behind Baroque Minimal is to
highlight the minimalist principle inclassical music. At a concert
on September 10 at 20:00, in the Klarisky / Clarissen concert hall
in Klarisk Street in Bratislava, Igor Karko (Slovakia-Switzer-
land, violin and leadership), Petra Noskaiov (Slovakia, mezzo-
soprano), Charlotte Hug (Switzerland, viola, vocals, in the
photo) and the Minimal chamber orchestra will perform works
by Hndel, Pachelbel, Merula, Purcell, Marini, Scarlatti and Hug.
Tickets cost 5-9 and can be bought through
www.ticketportal.sk. For more info, please visit
www.slovakmusicbridge.eu. Photo: A. Venzago
Hlasy pre zajtrajok / Voices for Tomorrowis a European project
of integration through art initiated by the international Yehudi
Menuhin Foundation and the NGO ETP Slovensko. In September,
Hlasy pre zajtrajok will offer artistic workshops for Roma children
from Moldava nad Bodvou and Koice (some lead by Ida Kelarov, in
the photo); andonSeptember 7, at 19:30inthe House of Arts (the res-
idence of the State Philharmonic) in Koice, professional performers
give a concert, as will 15 youths from Moldava nad Bodvou and
members of the Slumdog Theatre. Admission is free. For more info,
please visit: www.voicesfortomorrow.eu. Photo: Sme
14
CULTURE
A summer of Roma feasts
SUMMER in Slovakia is a
time when outdoor events
prevail, and this holds true
for the festivals of Roma cul-
ture that have mushroomed
across the country in recent
times. The event closest to
capital, Div Makys Bashavel
(Roma Feast) shrunk from
last years massive event to a
small, even intimate show
this year due to the with-
drawal of its main sponsors.
The event enjoyed good
weather, however, which
came just after anunseasonal
cool spell, and those per-
formers who participated
displayed a lot of joy and en-
thusiasm, making the whole
feast a sight worthseeing.
The Bashavel took place
on August 13, on a small stage
in Senec, at the Sunny Lakes
resort. It was organised for
the third time by the Div
Maky (Wild Poppies) associ-
ation that strives to support
talented Roma children and
youths. The annual feast is
the culmination of year-
round work and shows the
results of the associations
Summer Academy, a
weeklong training sessionfor
children by professionals.
Originally meant to take
place at erven Kame
Castle on a much bigger scale
(as had happened in the pre-
vious two years), it ended up
being a much more modest
affair at a different venue.
In the afternoon, the
small amphitheatre was half
empty but by the evening the
performers enjoyed a full
house. Guests included the
Merci group from Brno (in
the Czech Republic), Street
Element from the Klsok
Preov association, the Div
Maky theatre, the GPS gospel
band of Div Maky, Dance
Masacre (SPIN, CreDance,
Partia) and Bohmiens.
In addition to a perform-
ance of The Prince and the
Pauper, the Div Maky train-
ees also danced, played mu-
sic, sang, and drummed on
improvised percussion in-
struments made of plastic
bottles and other waste
items. As usual, beautiful
paintings as well as trade-
mark red, hand-painted um-
brellas in Wild Poppies
style created by the chil-
dren were onsale.
To read the full article,
please go to www.spectator.sk.
By Zuzana Vilikovsk
Dancingat Div Makys Bashavel. Photo: RamonLeko
Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia
can be found at www.spectator.sk/weather.
A Slovaks name day (meniny) is as important as his or her birthday. It is traditional to present friends or co-workers with a small gift,
such as chocolates or flowers, and to wish them Vetko najlepie k meninm (Happy name day)
N A M E D A Y S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1
Monday
Regna
September 5
Tuesday
Alica
September 6
Wednesday
Marianna
September 7
Thursday
Miriama
September 8
Friday
Martina
September 9
Saturday
Oleg
September 10
Sunday
Bystrk
September 11
Historic
hotel #10
HISTORIC
Hotels of
Slovakia
(HHS), an
association
of castle ho-
tels established in 2009, ac-
cepted the Hotel Hviez-
doslav in Kemarok as its
tenth member in August
2011. The hotel is named
after the great Slovak poet
Pavol Orszgh Hviezdoslav,
who lived there during his
studies. It is situated in the
middle of the main town
square in a 17th century
building and, according to
HHS president Daniela
Mihlikov, is one of the
historical treasures of Slov-
akia.
The age of HHS member
hotels ranges from 99 to 600
years. The other HHS mem-
bers are: Hotel Amade Chat-
eau in Vrak (near
Dunajsk Streda), Hotel
Chateau Bla in Bel (near
trovo), Hotel Bankov in
Koice, Hotel Grand Castle
in Liptovsk Hrdok, Pchy
Castle, Hunting Lodge &
Park in Hermanovce (near
Preov), Hotel Sandor Pavil-
lon in Pieany, Hotel u
Leva in Levoa, Hotel Jele
in Hlohovec and Mansion
Villa Neas inilina.
Its Tree of the
Year time again
THIS YEAR marks the ninth
year of the Ekopolis
Foundations Tree of the Year
poll, in which the country
picks its top tree, one which
later competes with winners
fromother countries.
From among 91 contest-
ants nominated before the
May deadline, twelve trees
have made it to the national
finals, including the biggest
chestnut tree in Slovakia,
from ast (Bratislava Re-
gion), which is 500 years old,
making it one of the oldest
participants; and a small-leaf
lime from Kameniany
(Trenn Region), the top of
whichresembles a heart.
A pedunculate oak from
Podluany (Trenn Region),
which is 400 years old and
known as Rkczis Oak, is
also competing for the title
Tree of 2011, as well as a wild-
cherry tree from Bratislava
Castle hill, a lime tree from
Kameniany and several
exotic trees, Milan Hronec
of Nadcia Ekopolis told the
SITA newswire. He added
that limes were the most fre-
quently nominated species
and that, counted together,
the aggregate age of the fi-
nalists is about 3,670 years.
People can view data on
the trees on
www.ekopolis.sk and then
vote for one tree until the
end of September.
Couldthis be Slovakia's tree of the year? Photo: TASR
Look, nowoodworm! Inside the roof of St Martin's Cathedral. Photo: Sme- Gabriel Kuchta
Cathedral smokes out worms
THE SLOVAK
capitals
largest church,
St Martins
Cathedral,
which in its
current form dates back to
the 14th century, has been re-
cently been undergoing
renovation. However, it has
also had to deal with an un-
wanted side-effect of an
earlier makeover: wood-
worm, which was unwit-
tingly introduced during
work on the roof in the 1990s.
The parasite is believed to
have got in via wood which
was used without having had
all the bark removed. Since
1993, the woodwormhas been
consuming the wood in the
roof, threatening to destroy
the whole edifice and even
spread to the cathedrals
wooden decorations and
statues.
For the first time in Slov-
akia, a new method that has
been used since last year in
the Czech Republic was ap-
plied inthe cathedral.
After the worm was
found, the church authorities
called in a company from the
Czech Republic, Termo San-
ace, to get rid of it. The meth-
od they used is known as
thermal rescue and involves
pumping hot air into the af-
fected areas via aluminium
piping. Woodworm cannot
survive temperatures above 55
degrees Celsius, so the con-
tractors heated the air in the
roof to between 55 and 120 de-
grees Celsius. Its workers had
to be careful, however, as
wood can ignite at 300 degrees
Celsius and all the churchs
interior, and its roof, is made
of wood.
We had to drill holes in
the wood and insert electronic
probes one-millimetre thick.
Then we had to check that the
air was entering at 55 degrees
Celsius everywhere, to be sure
that all the worms were
killed, Jan tpnek of Termo
Sanace told the Sme daily.
We had to check the temper-
ature by computer, and also in
person from time to time.
Representatives of the arch-
diocese came to check, but
they were able to stay for only
about five minutes," he noted.
The whole process con-
sisted of three phases, each
lasting between four and ten
hours. When we later looked
at the cathedral from the New
Bridge through a thermal
camera the whole building
appeared to be luminescent,
tpnek said.
He refused to specify the
cost of the thermal rescue pro-
cedure, only insisting that it
was definitely cheaper than
building a completely newroof
which was one alternative
option. He criticised the ig-
norance of the restorers back
in 1993, who he said did not
check the wood properly and
brought in woodworm under
the bark of the lumber they
had used.
1
2
AROUND SLOVAKIA
compiled by Zuzana Vilikovsk from press reports
FEATURE
15 September 5 11, 2011
hk}ly{pzltlu{
30555
DGYHQWXUH
6O RYDNL D $TXD )XQ
_
Z Z Z V O R Y D N L D W U D Y H O
DVHD RIVXPPHU
1RWVDOW\",WVKHDOLQJ
d
&
Photo: Courtesyof HHS

16
ADVERTISEMENT
SP90617
India Tourism Frankfurt
info@india-tourism.com
www.incredibleindia.org
www.india-tourism.com
Endless holiday
Discover a world full of magic and mystery

Slovak Spectator 1730

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Slovak Spectator 1730

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Payroll-levy bill readied for vote

THE CABINET of Iveta Radiov on

Photo: Courtesyof HHS

Вам также может понравиться