PRIVATE
& CORPORATE
On sale now
NEWS
'Most wanted' is free
Karol Mello, an alleged mob
boss accused of a 2004
double murder who had
been on the run for several
years before his arrest in Po-
land, has now been released
from custody by a court.
pg 2
Minorities law passed
A new law will lower the
threshold for official use of
minority languages in Slov-
akia – but it will not come
into full effect for another
10 years.
pg 3
OPINION
Now fill in this form
State institutions should
have done a much better
census job – only then could
they have expected resid-
ents in return to have done
a better job of filling out the
census forms.
pg 5
BUSINESS FOCUS
More pension changes
Despite the solidity implied
by their name, the second
and third pillars of the pen-
sion system in Slovakia
have seen multiple changes
in the past few years and
now they face even more.
pg 6
Credit management
The rise of secondary in-
solvency during the finan-
cial crisis taught many
companies a hard lesson
about the value of man-
aging receivables, but now
experts are asking whether
the lesson has really been
learned.
pg 7
CULTURE
Trouble in Trnava
The future of Trnava’s Ján
Koniarek Gallery is uncer-
tain following the dismissal
of its director, the suspen-
sion of all its exhibitions for
2011 and the recent cancel-
lation of a major festival.
pg 11
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Vol. 17, No. 21
Residents of Slovakia were asked to start filling out census forms in late May but concerns about the anonymity of
personal data have led to controversy and some residents are even refusing to speak to census-takers.
Anonymity of census
data questioned
SOME citizens are refusing to fill out
census forms or are returning com-
pleted forms without their numer-
ical identifier, arguing that the pro-
cedures of the 2011 census violate
their right to privacy. Critics also
charge that residents are poorly in-
formed about the census proced-
ures. These were at least some of the
reasons why 40 census-takers in
Bratislava’s Old Town district
resigned from their jobs mid-way
through the census while another
100 were reported to have quit in
the Petržalka district of the capital.
Concerns about anonymity seem to
be the biggest source of controversy
in the Slovakia's census.
Census-takers had already star-
Tax legislation agreed by cabinet
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff
THE CABINET of Iveta Radičová has
approved the broad outlines of an
overhaul of what it calls deforma-
tions in the country’s income tax
and payroll levy legislation. Ob-
servers are saying that pushing the
HUF 269.02 hk}ly{pzltlu{
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Find your property at
Monday, May 30, 2011 - Sunday, June 5, 2011
BY MICHAELA TERENZANI
Spectator staff
ted circulating through their as-
signed areas, seeking to make an ac-
curate count of residents and resid-
encies in the decennial census,
when questions surfaced about the
anonymity and security of the per-
sonal data, amplified by a state pri-
vacy agency, and causing a large
outcry of concern among Slovaks.
Sociologists, statisticians and
even politicians rushed to soothe
the anxieties of residents, many of
whom now seem unsure whether to
submit their personal information
concept through the cabinet was
the easy part as the initiative has
been accompanied by fiery discus-
sion since its very inception and
will likely face a rather rocky ride
in parliament, as certain aspects of
the plan face opposition even
among MPs from the ruling coali-
tion.
While the philosophy of bring-
ing more transparency to the in-
Photo: ČTK
for the census – and some who have
certainly decided not to participate.
Privacy concerns
Slovakia’s Statistics Office (ŠÚ),
the primary organiser of the census,
had been stressing that it is every
resident's duty to take part in the
2011 census as well as provide ac-
curate information as of the meas-
urement point for the census – mid-
night between May 20 and May 21.
At the same time, the ŠÚ had as-
sured residents that personal data
collected by the census-takers
would be anonymous.
See COUNT pg 2
come tax and payroll levy systems
appeals to all parties of the coali-
tion, MPs from the Civic Conservat-
ive Party (OKS), who sit within the
Most-Híd parliamentary caucus,
say that true reform should be ac-
complished in a way that it does not
have a negative impact on certain
groups in society.
See TAX pg 9
FINANCE
FOCUS
of this issue
Anti-fraud
office targets
airport deals
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff
SLOVAKIA is learning to its cost that poor
public procurement practices can lead to
the European Union cash-tap being turned
off. A recently completed European Anti-
Fraud Office (OLAF) investigation into a
project to reconstruct Bratislava’s state-
owned Milan Rastislav Štefánik Interna-
tional Airport between 2005 and 2008
found faulty procurement and unjustified
expenditures. OLAF’s findings are likely to
scotch Slovakia’s chances of getting €3.9
million of the project costs covered by the
EU and, as a result, Slovak taxpayers will
have to pick up the bill.
Shortly after the Sme daily broke the
story, Prime Minister Iveta Radičová said
that OLAF had discovered the first incid-
ence of unjustified expenditure during the
initial part of the project in 2005, during
the Mikuláš Dzurinda government, but
that more such irregularities occurred un-
der the subsequent government of Robert
Fico, which took office in 2006.
See OLAF pg 4
The €45m
‘crime’ with
no perps
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff
THE AMORPHOUS Interblue Group, and its
infamous purchase of Slovakia’s carbon-di-
oxide emissions quotas, continues to haunt
the country. Though the state is believed to
have lost tens of millions of euros in a deal
struck in 2008 between the Environment
Ministry, then controlled by the Slovak Na-
tional Party (SNS), and Interblue Group,
those responsible for the affair – which the
current management of the ministry has
described as a crime – are yet to face prosec-
ution. The Special Prosecutor’s Office has
rejected a criminal complaint lodged by
the Environment Ministry under Minister
József Nagy, a nominee of Most-Híd,
against unnamed representatives of Inter-
blue Group on suspicion of fraud, the
ministry’s spokeswoman Beatrice
Hudáková confirmed in a memo.
See BLUE pg 4
SP90550/32
2 May 30 – June 5 , 2011
Proxy: Roma were illegally evicted
ROMA living in the vicinity
of Ťahanovce, a district of
Košice, were forced to leave
their houses on May 17 when
municipal authorities de-
cided to demolish an illegal
waste dump and illegal
shanties that had been built
around it.
“Firstly because there
was a danger of fire and short
circuit since there were il-
legal electrical connections,”
Martina Viktorínová, the
spokesperson for Košice
town hall told the TASR
newswire, adding that pub-
lic health experts had also
reported that there was a
danger of an epidemic.
The government’s pleni-
potentiary for Roma com-
munities, Miroslav Pollák,
responded, however, that
the Košice authorities viol-
SaS and mayors clash over new law
SALARIES of mayors of Slov-
ak cities, towns and villages
will be reduced by 10 percent
as early as June, according to
a law passed by parliament
on May 17 that was sub-
sequently signed by Presid-
ent Ivan Gašparovič.
In addition to the 10 per-
cent pay cut, the law govern-
ing a mayor’s legal position
and remuneration allows a
municipal council to in-
crease a mayor’s basic salary
by no more than 70 percent
and no longer permits may-
ors to get bonuses.
The Association of Slovak
Towns and Villages (ZMOS) is
unhappy with the new law
and in protest some mem-
bers booed Prime Minister
Iveta Radičová when she at-
tended its annual congress in
mid May. Richard Sulík, the
Speaker of Parliament and
head of Freedom and Solidar-
ity (SaS) party, which initi-
ated the salary cuts for may-
ors, accused ZMOS of
Malinová 'blood disorder' discounted
THE EXTENSIVE bleeding of
Hedviga Žáková, née
Malinová, whom ministers
of the previous government
accused of making up a story
about being attacked for
speaking Hungarian in pub-
lic, was not caused by any
blood disorder, the Sme daily
reported, contradicting an
earlier report by Peter Labaš,
the dean of the Medical Fac-
ulty of Comenius University.
Malinová’s lawyer Ro-
man Kvasnica said that
Malinová has no blood dis-
orders, referring to tests that
were conducted after Labaš
had submitted his expert
medical report, Sme repor-
ted. The most recent medical
tests question a theory
offered by Labaš that
Malinová's extensive bleed-
ated Slovak as well as inter-
national law by their con-
duct, TASR wrote. He said
that municipalities, when
trying to solve problems sim-
ilar to this one, would do bet-
ter to contact his office for
consultation.
The Roma were origin-
ally slated to be relocated to
the Lunik IX neighbourhood
but refused to go and were
then placed in a military tent
erected close to their original
shanties where they were
expected to stay until they
returned to the place of their
permanent address.
The Roma, however, left
the military tent and moved
into their own smaller tents,
TASR reported. Viktorínová
said the local authorities
view that act as an organised
provocation.
“extorting” the government
and his party.
“I do not see how they
got to [the conclusion] that
they will make laws,” Sulík
told journalists, as quoted by
the SITA newswire. Sulík
also urged that Slovakia
should adopt a one-mandate
rule, meaning that an MP
could not simultaneously
hold the post of mayor.
Sulík added that a few
mayors harmed the reputa-
tion of all mayors by grant-
ing themselves maximum
salaries and argued that no
mayors should have higher
salaries than the prime min-
ister. He also called upon
ZMOS representatives to dis-
close mayoral salaries.
Former ZMOS Chairman
Michal Sýkora stated that SaS
had deliberately attacked
local and regional govern-
ments, harmed their reputa-
tion, created tension and
cast doubt on their repres-
entatives, SITA reported.
ing from bruises and a lip la-
ceration were caused by poor
blood coagulation in 2006.
Malinová was accused by
former interior minister
Robert Kaliňák of lying about
being attacked in Nitra be-
cause her assailants heard
her speaking Hungarian. She
has been officially accused of
lying to police but the case
has not yet gone before a
court.
Kaliňák repeated in a mid
May interview with the Sme
daily that he believes
Malinová is a “pathological
liar” and that there is no
evidence in the case speak-
ing in her favour, stressing
that he would never apolo-
gise to her.
Compiled by Spectator staff
NEWS
Reputed underworld
boss freed again
UNTIL recently Karol Mello
had been Slovakia’s most
wanted person, an alleged
mob boss accused of a double
murder in Most pri Bratislave
in 2004. He was arrested at the
end of 2010 in Krakow, Po-
land, but now has been re-
leased from custody in Slov-
akia for the second time.
Mello was first released
on May 9 based on a court er-
ror but he was immediately
re-arrested by a special police
unit and charged with a dif-
ferent crime. The Bratislava
Regional Court then released
Mello on May 19 for the
second time in a month.
“The [Regional] Court de- Karol Mello leaving custody. Photo: Sme - G. Kuchta
cided that the legal conditions
defined under the Criminal district court as well as by a utor dealing with the case Organised Crime had initiated
Code for the District Court to prosecutor in his office. He also then made a mistake by a motion to issue another ar-
repeatedly deprive the ac- explained that after Mello was not pointing out that fact. rest warrant for Mello but
cused of his personal freedom escorted from Poland on April Šufliarsky did not men- that this can only be done
were not met, as he had 29, 2011, his custody was de- tion the name of the prosec- after the prosecution accepts
already been released with re- cided upon by a single judge utor who made the error in the motion and files such a
spect to the same case once,” from the Bratislava I District judgment but media reported proposal with the court. The
the Regional Court’s spokes- Court while under the law it was his deputy, Eva court then decides whether to
person, Pavol Adamčiak, told that decision was supposed to Mišíková, who was the gov- issue an arrest warrant.
the TASR newswire. be made by a senate of three erning coalition’s initial can- After his release from cus-
The head of the Special judges from the court. didate for general prosecutor tody Mello said he was inno-
Department in the General “This was the moment last year. cent of the charges against
Prosecutor’s office, Peter when the unlawfulness of the On May 24 the Cas.sk him and that he was not in-
Šufliarsky, told a press con- whole proceeding started,” news portal reported that a tending to flee the country.
ference on May 24 that mis- Šufliarsky said, as quoted by police investigator from the
takes had been made by the TASR, adding that the prosec- Office for the Fight against See FREE pg 5
COUNT: Census-takers bear the brunt
Continued from pg 1 the anonymity of the gathered personal Worries are out of place
data and a statement that the gathered
Many Slovaks were thus quite sur- data is anonymous,” ÚOOÚ wrote in its While the two state-run offices were
prised when they received a numerical release sent to the media and published criticising each other, the heaviest im-
code that was associated with their on its website. pact of public concern and residents’ re-
census form – used either as a login for fusal to participate in the census was be-
completing the electronic version of the Statistics Office responds ing felt by the census-takers who visit
form or as an identifier on the hard-copy people’s homes and by the local authorit-
form – and that census takers recorded The head of the Statistics Office, ies responsible for the smooth execution
the person’s name and address to match Ľudmila Benkovičová, reacted to the of the census in each municipality.
with the numerical code. statements of the ÚOOÚ by saying they Meanwhile, politicians and experts
Concerns among citizens about po- were manipulative and that the ÚOOÚ stressed that the amount of data reques-
tential misuse of their data were then was endangering the results of the ted in Slovakia’s census is much less
magnified by some media outlets and census. than what is collected in some other
bloggers. An article that circulated She added that legislation governing countries.
widely on the Slovak internet was en- the 2011 census had been passed three “In comparison with other European
titled “Improved ŠtB practices – census of years earlier and the ÚOOÚ had never ob- countries, the census gathers altogether
residents and residencies 2011” with the jected to any of its provisions during in- less information and also includes fewer
ŠtB referring to the communist-era terdepartmental or parliamentary re- personal or other sensitive questions,”
secret police. Written by Ľubomír view of the draft law or after the legisla- the Institute of Sociology of the Slovak
Kopáček, who described himself as secur- tion was signed into law. Academy of Sciences wrote in a state-
ity consultant, he wrote that “practices The ŠÚ wrote in its media release that ment it released to support the census
worthy of organised crime” have been by casting doubt on the use of the numer- effort, asking residents not to be dis-
put in place by the state to “invade the ical code the ÚOOÚ was scaring Slovak couraged from filling out the forms.
privacy of a citizen”. residents who then were hesitant to The country’s leading sociologists
A day after publishing the article, on provide data for the census. stressed that the census provides stat-
May 17, Kopáček filed a complaint with The use of a numerical identifier is istical information that cannot be ob-
Slovakia’s Office for Personal Data Pro- defined in the law on the 2011 census tained any other way and that, historic-
tection (ÚOOÚ), which in turn issued a and, according to the ŠÚ, the numerical ally, it has been a common practice.
statement on May 20, only hours before codes serve to prevent duplication in the After meeting Benkovičová at her
residents were supposed to start filling census and ensure that each resident request, Prime Minister Iveta Radičová,
out their census forms, asking the ŠÚ to gets counted only once. a sociologist by profession, called on
immediately and fully inform the resid- The ŠÚ explained that is why it needs state organisations and municipal au-
ents of Slovakia that the data collected to have each form identified in this way thorities to cooperate with the Statistics
for the 2011 census is not anonymous and for a limited period of time and that only Office. The prime minister also filled out
to cancel residents’ obligation to place a restricted circle of ŠÚ staff and staff her census forms during the meeting.
the numerical code on their respective from the census’s technical support “In Slovakia every citizen is given a
census form. company have access to the forms with single-purpose code, the so-called iden-
ÚOOÚ stated that a resident can be the numerical code. tifier, while in other countries the
directly identified after attaching the “The data is protected, we have never census forms directly contain the name
numerical code to the census form and leaked any data,” Benkovičová said, as and surname, or even the personal
the data is no longer anonymous. quoted by the TASR newswire, adding [identification] number of the citizen,”
“There is a big difference between a that the ŠÚ maintains that the forms will the prime minister stated after the
statement that the provider will secure remain anonymous. meeting.

Most-Híd passes
key minorities law
But only
watered-down
version clears
parliament
BY MICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
THE THRESHOLD for using a
minority language in official
communication – which also
includes displaying the
names of villages and public
institutions in both the state
and the minority language –
will drop from the current 20
to 15 percent – but no sooner
than in ten years’ time. Until
then, the current status quo
will be preserved.
Parliament passed the
long-awaited Act on the Use of
Minority Languages, drafted
by the deputy prime minister
for national minorities and
human rights, Rudolf Chmel,
on May 25, after a long debate
on the pros and cons of allow-
ing members of Slovakia’s na-
tional minorities wider use of
their mother tongues in pub-
lic communication, with a
majority of 78 MPs – all of
them coalition deputies – vot-
ing in favour of the law.
The law will become ef-
fective on July 1 if signed by
the president. The changes it
introduces include, most not-
ably, lowering of the
threshold for official use of
minority languages, but also
the right to file verbal or writ-
ten motions and submit writ-
ten decrees and evidence in a
minority language, and the
right to receive responses
from public bodies in a minor-
ity language as well.
According to the law,
Slovakia recognises Hungari-
an, Bulgarian, Czech, Croa-
tian, German, Polish, Roma,
Ruthenian and Ukrainian as
minority languages.
Chmel’s amendment also
introduced bilingualism
across the whole bureaucratic
agenda, including records,
rulings, statistics, evidence,
and the agenda of churches –
but not for the public registry,
which will remain in the state
language only.
Change agreed,
but effects delayed
The original draft of the
law was watered down by
many changes proposed by
Ordinary People faction leader
Igor Matovič, who said in the
parliamentary debate that he
wanted to make sure that
minority rights were not
broadened at the expense of
the majority.
According to the law
passed by parliament, citizens
All villages that are now bilingual will remain so until at least 2031.
have the right to use a minor-
ity language when interacting
with public officials only in
those municipalities which
conform to the threshold set
for using that minority lan-
guage. Chmel had wanted to
widen the right to cover the
whole territory of Slovakia.
Another change deman-
ded by Matovič was the re-
quirement to obtain the con-
sent of members of a muni-
cipal council as well as that of
the mayor before conducting
a local council session in a
minority language. Chmel’s
version only required the
council’s consent. Matovič
also succeeded in deleting a
requirement for health-care
facilities to have an interpret-
er or an employee who speaks
the minority tongue.
A bone of contention
among the ruling coalition
parties was the level of the
threshold required to trigger
use of a minority language in
a municipality. Most-Híd, a
member of the four-party
governing coalition which
campaigns bilingually in
Slovak and Hungarian, pro-
posed 15 percent instead of
the current 20 percent of
minority citizens living in a
municipality, but the party
was not able to get the sup-
port of some coalition part-
ners, notably the Christian
Democratic Movement (KDH)
and Matovič’s faction.
In the end, postponement
of a reduction in the
threshold was accepted as a
compromise by all the
parties. According to the law,
15 percent will be required for
a municipality to become bi-
lingual, but such a threshold
must be achieved in two con-
secutive censuses – that is, in
the census currently taking
place and in the next one,
most likely in 2021. There will
be no change in the number
of bilingual municipalities for
the next 10 years, which
means that the 20-percent
threshold applied based on
NEWS
the results of the 1991 census
will remain in use.
However, a municipality
will only lose its bilingual
status if it records the number
of minority inhabitants lower
than 15 percent in three con-
secutive censuses – which in
practice means that the num-
ber of bilingual municipalities
will not drop before at least
2031 (if the decennial period-
icity of censuses is observed).
Bugár satisfied
For Chmel’s Most-Híd the
law on minority languages
was one of its key objectives
for the current parliament.
This was partly because it was
necessary to amend the law
on minority languages in or-
der to make it compatible
with the recently changed law
on the state language (the two
laws must be compatible), and
partly because the party also
set as one its aims what it
called a more comprehensive
concept of minority policy in
legal terms, Chmel explained
in an earlier interview with
The Slovak Spectator.
“I am sincerely glad this
law was passed,” said party
leader Béla Bugár, calling it a
reasonable compromise that
helps stabilise the legal system
of Slovakia as directed towards
minorities, and thus contrib-
utes to the stability of the
democratic system in the coun-
try. He called the norm one of
the most important steps taken
by the current government.
Heated debate
accompanied the bill
Passage of the law
through parliament was pre-
ceded by long negotiations
within the ruling coalition
and then marked by an out-
spoken debate in the cham-
ber. The parliamentary dis-
cussion lasted almost two
days, and until the last mo-
ment the KDH remained split
over the vote. Finally, only
Photo: Jana Liptáková
Martin Fronc of the KDH did
not vote in favour.
The opposition parties,
Smer and the Slovak National
Party (SNS), criticised the law
and repeatedly accused the
government of collaborating
with the Hungarian govern-
ment of Viktor Orbán.
“I see it as a purely Hun-
garian agenda directed
against Slovaks and other na-
tionalities living in the Slovak
Republic,” Smer’s Dušan
Čaplovič said, as quoted by the
SITA newswire.
Chmel argued that, on the
contrary, the minorities who
would benefit most from his
version of the amendment
were the Ruthenian and
Roma minorities, not the
Hungarian minority.
Despite a proposal by On-
drej Dostál, a member of the
Most-Híd parliamentary
caucus, to drop fines from
both the law on minority lan-
guages as well as the State
Language Act, the law re-
tained the option of fines,
ranging from €50 to €2,500,
for violations of the law.
“The right wing [parties]
loudly criticised the fines dur-
ing the Fico government’s
term, but despite that they
don’t want to cancel them, for
reasons unknown to me,”
Dostál said in an interview
with the Sme daily.
Chmel has also objected to
the fines. In an interview
with The Slovak Spectator he
said that the term ‘sanction’
or ‘fine’ in relation to use of
one’s language is “a drastic in-
tervention into society, as
language is a very intimate
issue.” Despite that, he said
the fines are necessary in the
amendment so that the law
on minority languages ex-
actly matches the State Lan-
guage Act, which introduced
fines after being amended by
the Fico government in 2009,
something which prompted a
wave of criticism at home as
well as from international
minority rights watchdogs.
May 30 – June 5, 2011
EU commissioner
visits Lunik IX
LUNIK IX, the complex of
buildings in Košice where
thousands of Roma live in
poor conditions, received a
prominent visitor from the
EU when László Andor, the
European commissioner for
employment, social affairs
and inclusion, stopped there
on May 25 as part of his visit
to Slovakia. He promised
that EU assistance will be
directed to the community
and when leaving said he
would return in three years’
time to see whether the help
was effective.
“We had a discussion
with leaders of the com-
munity and also represent-
atives of the city and I
strongly believe that if there
is a continued dialogue
there will be common un-
derstanding and common
action,” Andor said, as
quoted by the Sme daily.
Andor said the measures
should be directed at a whole
range of issues, including, in
the first place, better educa-
tion and ensuring that chil-
dren from the neighbour-
hood complete the compuls-
ory grades of education.
Andor admitted that co-
operation between the
European Commission and
municipal authorities needs
to improve and said he be-
lieved EU funds would be
helpful in efforts to improve
living conditions for those
who live in Lunik IX.
“But one cannot expect
changes to happen
overnight,” he said, as
quoted by Sme.
Prior to his visit to Lunik
IX, Andor attended a confer-
ence in Košice focusing on
Roma integration, accom-
panied by one of the EC's vice
presidents, Maroš Šefčovič.
Šefčovič said at the con-
ference that Slovakia has
earmarked approximately
€200 million from EU Struc-
tural Funds for programmes
and projects to advance the
integration of its Roma cit-
izens but admitted that the
drawing down of these re-
sources has been rather
slow, ascribing this primar-
ily to complicated adminis-
trative processes, the SITA
newswire reported.
Andor confirmed that
Roma face problems across
Europe and said the EU was
quite late in starting to deal
with them. He added that
experience in implementing
Commissioner Andor (right) at Lunik IX.
3
various projects so far is
mixed but that there have
been some negative experi-
ences.
“We are currently re-
assessing the use of alloc-
ated sources. The confer-
ence should help us find a
better understanding of the
situation on the local
level,” Andor said, as
quoted by SITA.
Andor also spoke about
the Framework for Nation-
al Roma Integration
Strategies to 2020 that was
adopted by the European
Commission on April 5.
That framework calls on
EU member states to present
national strategies by the
end of 2011 in the crucial
areas of education, employ-
ment, health care and hous-
ing, including specific tar-
geted measures with addi-
tional financing from na-
tional and EU sources. Andor
underscored that the actual
strategy should not be pre-
pared at a clerical desk but
that responsible partners –
Roma citizens, municipalit-
ies and NGOs – must also
participate, SITA wrote.
In addition to the €200
million earmarked in Slov-
akia for projects for Roma
employment and social in-
tegration during the
2007-2013 programming
period, the European Par-
liament has allocated anoth-
er €5 million for pilot
projects focused on social in-
tegration of Roma.
At the conference, suc-
cessful projects implemen-
ted by the Directorate Gen-
eral for Regional Policies
were presented, including
the Good Start project, sup-
porting early-age education,
that is targeted at 5,000
Roma children up to age six
in Slovakia, Hungary, Mace-
donia and Romania.
Another project using EU
funds involves the village of
Spišský Hrhov in Prešov Re-
gion, which prepared a
strategy focused on multiple
areas, including reconstruc-
tion of a primary school,
training of municipal em-
ployees, improvement in
health-care and social ser-
vices and promotion of tour-
ism. The village also parti-
cipated in a project aimed at
supporting community so-
cial work, SITA reported.
Compiled by Spectator staff
Photo: SITA
4 May 30 – June 5 , 2011
2017 completion date for D1 floated
THE D1 highway connecting
Bratislava and Košice could
be finished by 2017, stated
Ján Figeľ, the Minister of
Transport, Construction and
Regional Development dur-
ing a presentation on the
government’s plans for
highway and dual carriage-
way construction between
now and 2014, with the min-
ister saying this deadline is
realistic, the SITA newswire
reported.
The Višňové tunnel near
Žilina, regarded as the most
difficult and expensive part
of the D1 highway, must be
completed and the minister
said it could be built by
2016-2017 and that a tender
for the tunnel construction
is expected to be announced
in autumn 2011.
Figeľ also reported that
Bratislava-Schwechat pipeline drafts
A NEW pipeline designed to
connect oil transmission
systems in Slovakia and Aus-
tria will cross either the en-
virons of Bratislava or the
Small Carpathians mountain
range.
The Economy Ministry
unveiled 10 potential routes
for the interconnection,
planned as part of either the
so-called Carpathian Cor-
ridor or the City Corridor,
the SITA newswire reported.
The Slovak pipeline oper-
ator, Transpetrol, plans to
construct the pipeline in co-
operation with its Austrian
partner, OMV, through a
joint venture called JV BSP
Bratislava-Schwechat
Pipeline GmbH.
Experts in both countries
have agreed to several pos-
sible routes that will be fur-
ther examined through im-
pact studies and analyses,
Young Slovaks suffer work stress
NEARLY half of young Slov-
aks complained about stress
they say they face at work, 11
percent more than the global
average, according to a re-
cent survey conducted by
GfK Custom Research polling
agency, the TASR newswire
reported.
About 38 percent of
young workers in Slovakia
said they are concerned
about their work-life balance
and 28 percent are worried
that their pace of work or
stress at work is having a
negative impact on their
health.
A fear of job loss was ex-
pressed by 32 percent of Slov-
aks in the survey while 27
percent perceived their
employer’s pressure to work
overtime as problematic.
The survey revealed that
only 14 percent of Slovak em-
ployees feel as if they are
130 kilometres of highways
and dual carriageways would
be opened in Slovakia in the
upcoming four years.
“It is a considerable fig-
ure, a great challenge. I con-
sider it realistic,” he stated,
as quoted by SITA.
By the end of this year,
57.5km of highways and dual
carriageways should be
completed, with another
5.7km of highways and dual
carriageways planned for
2012 and 21km planned for
2013. In 2014, 46.2km of
highways and dual car-
riageways are supposed to
open. The minister said the
government plans to finance
the new road infrastructure
from multiple sources and
estimated the sum required
over the next four years
would be about €5 billion.
the Economy Ministry wrote
in an information paper re-
porting on the progress of
the interconnection of the
Druzhba pipeline with the
Austrian refinery in
Schwechat.
If the companies pick
the Carpathian Corridor,
the pipelines would be con-
nected somewhere between
Marchegg and Záhorská
Ves.
The City Corridor pro-
poses a connection in the
surroundings of Jarovce-
Kittsee or Petržalka-Kittsee,
near Veľký Biel. The latter
route would transit the Slov-
ak capital.
The length of the
pipeline will range between
81 and 152 kilometres de-
pending on the exact route
chosen and the ministry es-
timated the cost will range
from €70 to €112 million.
“highly engaged”. Almost
one quarter of young Slovaks
said they had to accept a job
they are not happy with for
financial reasons and 27 per-
cent said they had com-
pletely redirected their ca-
reer for financial reasons.
“Low engagement
among young Slovak em-
ployees results in a phe-
nomenon similar to else-
where in the world,” the
study stated, as quoted by
TASR.
“Half of the young em-
ployees are actively looking
for another job while work-
ing in their present job or are
planning to do so in the next
six months.”
The survey also found
that 34 percent of Slovaks are
willing to search for work
abroad.
Compiled by Spectator staff
BUSINESS / NEWS
OLAF: Irregularities found in contracts
Continued from pg 1 he did so without any pres-
sure either from the media or
“OLAF can confirm that it the-then opposition.
has completed its investiga- The current minister of
tion into this matter and on transport, Ján Figeľ, described
the basis of its findings in re- the controversy over the air-
lation to certain irregularities port as part of the legacy from a
found in the public procure- period when procurement was
ment processes adopted and often conducted in a non-
followed it has recommended transparent manner incompat-
a financial recovery of €3.9 ible with European Union laws
million of the EU funding and practices. He also said that
involved,” OLAF spokesperson it was important to explain
Pavel Bořkovec told The Slov- who was and who remains re-
ak Spectator on May 25. sponsible for the failings.
The OLAF Final Case Re- Milan Rastislav Štefánik Airport in Bratislava. While noting that OLAF
Photo: SITA
port on the matter was sent to had recommended that the
the European Commission European Commission recover
and to the Slovak authorities the airport management the failings from 2005 were €3.9 million of the EU funding
in March 2011, Bořkovec said. changed following the 2006 mainly linked to invoicing of involved, Figeľ, in an interview
“As the matter will now be election and the new managers unjustified expenses. Stabil with The Slovak Spectator, said
the subject of a specific recov- scrapped the original plan at the was given the work after nego- that “it is up to the commis-
ery process between the end of 2006 and picked a new tiation, without a public call sion how it decides, but OLAF
European Commission and contractor, Ikores Slovakia. for tenders. Milan Kajan, who is an institution with high
Slovakia, OLAF will make no Ikores – then owned by managed the airport between credibility and its reports are
further comment in the Jozef Kopecký, who in 2001 2002 and 2006, has denied any very sensitively perceived”.
matter,” he added. had donated Sk200,000 to malpractice and said that the However, Figeľ also added
Radičová, after meeting Smer, the leading party in the problems pertain to invoicing, that he is convinced Slovakia
the EU commissioner for re- 2006 government – was picked Sme reported. needs modernisation to ensure
gional policy, Johanes Hahn, for the job without any public Kajan’s successor Stolárik that the country’s air trans-
on May 23, confirmed that tender, but instead according argued after taking over that port, and its transport infra-
Slovakia cannot expect any of to what was referred to as the new management had structure in general, remains
the costs it incurred to be re- ‘market research’. been forced to turn to Ikores safe and comfortable, and that
imbursed by the EU, the TASR Independent political directly without calling for his department would contin-
newswire reported. watchdog Transparency Inter- tenders because the previous ue with existing work to com-
Slovakia undertook work national warned at the time government had ignored pre- plete a new terminal while
at the airport prior to joining that the airport contract only parations for Schengen so long “learning the lesson that the
the Schengen zone in late 2007, added to concerns that Ikores that Slovakia was in danger of work needs to be done with
in order to effectively separate was profiting from Kopecký’s not meeting its entry deadline. strict observance of quality
Schengen from non-Schengen close relationship with Smer. The Ministry of Transport was and well as compatibility with
passengers. The country had According to Sme, approx- at the time led by Smer nom- the law. Today we are assess-
hoped to have the bill covered imately €1.7 million of the €3.9 inee, Ľubomír Vážny. ing investment intentions and
by the Schengen fund. million in expenses ques- Vážny, now a Smer MP, the use of EU funds in a much
The basic project was drawn tioned by OLAF should have responded to OLAF’s findings stricter way so that later on we
up in 2005 with an estimated gone to Ikores and the remain- by saying that while he was do not face the suspicion of
price tag of Sk23 million (ap- ing €2.2 million to another minister the airport was not fraud or other doubts,” Figeľ
proximately €760,000); a year firm, Stabil, which was sup- managed in line with his ex- added. He suggested the new
later it was submitted to the posed to rebuild the airport in pectations, and that as a res- terminal would be finished by
Schengen Commission, which 2005. The daily, citing ult he had recalled its general June 2012, thereby boosting
approved the plan. However, Radičová, also reported that director. Vážny told TASR that the airport’s capacity.
BLUE: None accused in emissions deal
Continued from pg 1 blocks, no further money has been re- Former environment minister Ján
ceived to date. Chrbet was sacked for signing the deal,
The prosecutor’s office argued that Meanwhile, the US-based firm was while his short-lived successor Viliam
Slovakia had signed a highly disadvant- dissolved and re-established as Interblue Turský was recalled for his failure to
ageous contract but that this did not mean Group Europe, registered in Switzerland. terminate it.
that the intention of Interblue Group was According to Hudáková, the prosec- In 2010, Czech hotelier Milan Ružička
to defraud Slovakia, Hudáková reported. utor found that Interblue had not used the emerged to claim that he was the new
In a highly disadvantageous deal in “unacceptable nature of thermal insula- owner of Interblue, which he said he had
late 2008, the Environment Ministry sold tion [as a GIS]” simply to avoid paying the bought from another Czech business-
Slovakia’s quotas to emit 15 million tonnes bonus; nor, the prosecutor decided, was man, Marek Pleyer, as a private invest-
of carbon dioxide to US-based Interblue the company’s sudden dissolution inten- ment. However, Ružička has not been
Group at a price of €5.05 per tonne. It was ded to serve a specific purpose, she added. able to provide documentation proving
later revealed that Interblue Group had Last December, Nagy said that Slov- that Interblue Group Europe is the legal
been established just before the contract akia would not try to force Interblue successor of the US-based firm.
was signed and that its registered address Group to pay the €15-million bonus. Jozef Medveď, the Smer party nom-
was an unattended lock-up garage in the “We will not act from the viewpoint inee who replaced Turský as environ-
State of Washington. The identities of the of commercial law since we don’t see any ment minister, had declared the original
company’s owners and beneficiaries have chance of getting the money paid,” Nagy contract void, but Ružička insisted that it
never been confirmed. What is known is said on December 15, as quoted by the was still valid and even suggested he had
that immediately after the sale, Interblue TASR newswire. €15 million with which to pay the green-
sold on the quotas for €8 or more per However, Nagy did file a criminal com- scheme bonus to Slovakia under the
tonne, netting an instant profit of at least plaint against Interblue, without specifying terms of the original contract.
€45 million. Critics of the deal said that at names, on December 21, 2010. It is this com- However, the contract also included
the time of the sale other countries such as plaint which the prosecutor has now rejected. an option for Interblue to buy further
Hungary, the Czech Republic and even “The ministry is of the opinion that In- Slovak quotas, to emit 35 million tonnes
Ukraine had obtained much higher prices terblue representatives committed a of carbon dioxide, at the original price of
for their national quotas. crime,” Nagy said, according to a state- €5.05 per tonne.
A clause in the sale contract stipu- ment provided by Hudáková to The Slovak Lucia Žitňanská, who is now justice
lated that if Slovakia spent the proceeds Spectator. “Probably, it is not possible to minister, in August 2009 filed a criminal
from the original sale of quotas within prove it [the crime] based on the concluded complaint related to the Interblue deal
the ‘Green Investment Scheme’ (GIS) for contract in the way the prosecution states, case, against an unnamed offender. In
environmental projects, the country but based on the ill-willed conduct of the September 2009, she and other Slovak
would be eligible for a bonus payment of representatives of Interblue Group.” Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ)
€1 per tonne, or €15 million in total, from The Environment Ministry will con- deputies handed over to the general pro-
Interblue. However, despite spending sult with criminal law experts on its next secutor an appeal to cancel a contract to
millions of euros on a scheme to improve steps so that a court can decide on guilt or sell a further 50 million tonnes of emis-
the thermal insulation of apartment innocence, Nagy added. sion quotas.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
Identifikátor
BY LUKÁŠ FILA
Special to the Spectator
FORGET the Terminator. A dif-
ferent threat roams the streets
of Slovak cities: the
Identifikátor. The use of a
unique ID number attached to
all census questionnaires has
become a key factor in the
heated public debate about the
ongoing national census,
which focuses on three key is-
sues:
1. The necessity of the
census. The law on census 2011
was passed way back in 2008
but it has started receiving
wider attention only now,
when little can be changed.
Still, the key arguments
against a census sound com-
pelling – the state already has
most of the information about
real estate, car ownership and
demographic structure in its
various databases and compil-
ing their data would be both
more accurate and probably
cheaper. The information the
state lacks, such as religious
One of the census questions: How long does your daily trip to work take?
FREE: Justice minister considers appeal
Continued from pg 2
Detained in Poland
Mello was detained on
October 27, 2010 in Krakow,
Poland in an apartment
where he was living with his
partner, a well-known Slovak
actress, and their son.
Mello is reportedly one of
the most dangerous mem-
bers of the Slovak under-
world. He is accused of order-
ing the murder of a busi-
nessman from Most pri Brat-
islave in 2004.
The gunman, however,
shot and killed the
businessman’s partner and
his small son while firing at
the businessman’s car. Fol-
lowing the shooting, Mello
fled abroad.
“Never ever in my life have I attacked minorities;
I am only attacking the draft law.”
Smer MP Marek Maďarič, speaking during the
parliamentary debate on the law on use of minority languages.
SLOVAK WORD
OF THE WEEK
affiliation or mobile phone
use, could be gained through
selective polls.
2. The quality of prepara-
tion. Municipal councils re-
sponsible for collecting the
data have been complaining
for months that they received
inadequate support from the
Statistics Office – in some cit-
ies entire blocks were missing
in their documents and maps.
There has been no campaign to
ensure that the results reflect
the actual size of the Roma
In 2006 an international
warrant for Mello’s arrest
was issued but he was never
detained, even after the Slov-
ak weekly Plus 7 Dní pub-
lished pictures of Mello, his
partner and their child in
Alicante, Spain, in August
2007.
At that time, media spec-
ulated that Mello had protec-
ted testimony status in crim-
inal proceedings against oth-
er mob bosses, the Sme daily
reported.
Slap in the face, Lipšic says
The court decisions in-
volving Mello represent a
slap in the face to justice and
a mockery of victims, Interi-
or Minister Daniel Lipšic, a
member of the Christian
OPINION / NEWS
population – the estimate is
between 250,000 and 400,000
but the last census showed
their numbers to be under
100,000. And the Statistics Of-
fice is terrible at explaining its
methods.
3. Anonymity. At first,
census organisers presented
the entire enterprise as an-
onymous. But, thanks to the
“Identifikátor” it is not, which
the Statistics Office later ad-
mitted.
These are not the only
reasons why this census has
stirred more controversy than
previous ones. This time there
was also a massive clash of
state institutions. The Interior
Ministry accused the Statistics
Office of mishandling the
project and the Data Protec-
tion Office issued a warning
against the lack of anonymity.
Statistics Office boss Ľudmila
Benkovičová, appointed by the
previous government, says
that she has done no wrong.
The cabinet is keeping her
until the end of the census. But
after that she is likely to hear, a
la The Terminator: “Hasta la
vista, baby”.
Photo: SITA
Democratic Movement
(KDH), said at a press brief-
ing on May 20 following
Mello’s release, calling the
decision absurd.
“It is absurd of the Re-
gional Court to render the
custody null and void first,
and subsequently rule that
the second custody repres-
ents a repeated custody,
when the first one was actu-
ally nullified,” he said. “How
long will we tolerate such un-
lawful rulings by the courts?”
Lipšic said that Mello’s
case was a textbook example
of one in which the accused
must remain in custody, as
he is charged with an ex-
tremely brutal crime and had
previously been on the run
for several years.
Justice Minister Lucia
Please allow us to count you
THE MASSIVE machinery of
the state has been set in mo-
tion to siphon sensitive per-
sonal information out of its
residents in order to store it
until those driven by an insa-
tiable thirst to control demo-
graphic trends find some way
to use it – at least, this is how
some Slovaks are interpret-
ing the nationwide census.
The fact over 100 people
recently gave up their jobs as
census-takers in Bratislava
signals that the discourse
over what critics call a lack of
any guarantee of anonymity,
has in part turned into hys-
teria.
Those who have given up
serving the state’s ambition
to count its citizens, houses
and apartments said that
they were discouraged by
people’s distrust, finding
them unwilling to open
their doors or even talk to
them. Residents have also
been returning census forms
without their numerical
identifier, apparently fearful
of a loss of privacy.
Before anyone interprets
this as a sign of a former
communist nation’s hyper-
sensitivity to loss of privacy,
it is worth noting that vari-
ous state institutions
already have almost all the
information they are seek-
ing in the census.
Slovakia’s statistics au-
thority did not invent the
census and Slovakia did not
even exist as an independent
country when other nations
had already begun diligently
counting their citizens, sol-
diers, land and buildings.
Yet the concerned cit-
izens should not be blamed.
The costly campaign ahead
of the census was a rather
lame underestimation of
people’s concerns about pri-
vacy issues, disseminating
the message: let yourself be
counted; it is important for
your future. When concerns
over the multi-million-euro
project mounted, politicians
rushed to make last-minutes
calls on people to submit
their census data.
Žitňanská requested the
Mello case files from the
court to evaluate whether
there are reasons to file a spe-
cial appeal.
“At this point our priority
is to see whether there are
justified reasons to file a spe-
cial appeal,” her spokesper-
son Peter Bubla told the TASR
newswire. “After that we will
decide in a standard proceed-
ing the issue of the potential
responsibility of the judges
who were dealing with the
case.”
Mello’s attorney, Peter
Schmidl, told the SITA
newswire that the Regional
Court had ruled based on a
motion made by the defence.
By Michaela Terenzani
with press reports
May 30 – June 5, 2011 5
Ľubomír Kopáček, who any preventive measures to
describes himself as a security see whether the mega-collec-
consultant, poured fuel on the tion of data was in line with
fire by describing the census the principles it is expected
as the “improved practices of
the ŠtB”, a reference to the
communist-era secret police,
to guard? The privacy watch-
dog in fact suggested that it
believed the statistics au-
and suggested that “practices thority when it said it would
worthy of organised crime” collect nothing more than
statistical data. One wonders
what type of data collection
EDITORIAL
would attract the full atten-
tion of the ÚOOÚ if not a na-
tionwide census.
The idea of a numerical
identification code obviously
did not emerge until just be-
fore the launch of data collec-
tion and the statistics au-
thority did not treat the in-
formation as top secret.
Nevertheless, the ŠÚ
obviously did not present a
full picture of the census to
citizens: it did not explain
that for a certain time, for a
limited number of people,
the data will not be fully
anonymous, even if in its
final form the data will not
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ be attached to anyone's
Spectator staff specific name.
In the age of Facebook
and social networking sites,
people share all kinds of in-
have been put in place by the formation; one can track the
state to “invade the privacy of number of their children,
the citizen”. He also filed a where they go on holiday and
complaint with the country’s even their negative com-
personal data protection au- ments about their bosses at
thority and briefly became a clearly identifiable work-
media darling. places. Thus it might seem
The Office for Personal strange that suddenly they
Data Protection (ÚOOÚ) un- panic over having to tell the
expectedly agreed and called government whether they
on the Statistics Office (ŠÚ) to have an internet connection
immediately inform residents or a computer.
that the data collected for the In principle, state insti-
census would not be an- tutions should have done a
onymous – in direct contra- much better census job –
diction to the ŠÚ’s previous perhaps then they could have
declarations – and to cancel expected residents to have
the obligation to place a nu- done a better job of filling out
merical code on the census the forms in return, thus
form. The ÚOOÚ stated that a helping the state to get a
resident can be directly iden- clearer snapshot of demo-
tified after attaching the nu- graphic trends, and more.
merical code to the census But if the state had done a
form and this means the data better job of using the data it
is no longer anonymous. already possesses, it could
This is in fact a typical have avoided the whole
case of state institutions drama, saved money and not
simply not doing their job. had to face accusations of us-
Why had the ÚOOÚ not taken ing practices of the ŠtB.
J ÁN PAL LO - Publisher
EDITORIAL
B E ATA B AL O G OVÁ - Editor - In - Chief
J AM E S THO M S O N - Assistant Editor
D O NAL D S PATZ - Assistant Editor
J ANA L IP TÁKOVÁ - Staff Writer
M IC H AE LA TER ENZANI - Staff Writer
ZUZANA V IL IKOVS K Á - Staff Writer
D O M INIK A UH R ÍKOVÁ - Staff Writer
LAYOUT, WEB & IT
TATIANA ŠTR AUC HOVÁ - Graphic Designer
R O M AN K R Á Ľ - IT
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SALES - FINANCES
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6 May 30 – June 5 , 2011

Secondary insolvency was a BUSINESS FOCUS Next issue:

PRIVATE & CORPORATE FINANCE

regular term during the crisis

Moves to ease personal

CORPORATE
bankruptcy are in the pipeline
RESPONSIBILITY

Firms active in credit management

Second pension pillar and collection of receivables

-Association of Slovak Collection Agencies (ASINS),
www.asins.sk

may change again

-Atradius, www.atradius.sk
-Coface Slovakia Credit Management Services,
www.coface.sk
-Creditreform, www.creditreform.sk
-EOS KSI Slovensko, www.eos-ksi.sk
-Euler Hermes, www.sk.eulerhermes.com
choose to save for their pen-
Analysts call for -Exekučná, www.exekucna.sk
sions in the second pillar but
-General Factoring, www.generalfactoring.sk
more discussion were not required to do so.
-Intrum Justitia Slovakia, www.intrum.sk
Later, in 2009, the Fico
-Profidebt Slovakia, www.profidebt.sk
government changed the fee
-Transcom Worldwide Slovakia, www.transcom.com
structure for private pension
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ fund management companies
Spectator staff and introduced guarantees for
pension savers preventing
their accounts from falling be- Some financial service providers
SAVING for old-age pensions is low the principal sums they
inevitably a long-term under- had invested. Pension fund -OVB AllFinanz Slovensko, www.ovb.sk
taking; this is especially true management companies ob- -Salve Finance, www.salvegroup.com
on the national scale. In the jected to the change, stating -Partners Group SK, www.partnersgroup.sk
past, the state pension contri- that it would endanger their
butions of economically active operations as well as reduce
Slovaks were used to fund the the long-term value of future Pension fund management
pensions of those who had Slovakia's pension pillars keep changing. Photo: Jana Liptáková pensions for individuals sav-
already retired. But this ap- ing via Slovakia’s second pen- companies in Slovakia
proach is no longer able to these are called pillars, sug- tration companies known as sion pillar. -Association of Pension Funds Management
generate sufficient funds to gesting solidity and perman- the second – or capitalisation – The introduction of guar- Companies (ADSS), www.adss.sk
meet the needs of future liabil- ence, they have been shaken pillar, while voluntary sup- antees has caused the pension -Aegon Dôchodková Správcovská Spoločnosť (DSS),
ities, due to Slovakia’s unfa- with each change of govern- plementary saving was made fund management companies www.aegon.sk
vourable demographic devel- ment since they were set up. possible even earlier. After to stop investing in equity -Allianz-Slovenská DSS, www.asdss.sk
opments. To address this issue From the beginning of Robert Fico took power in shares, meaning that all three -AXA DSS, www.axa.sk
Slovakia extended its pay-as- 2005, under the second 2006, he initiated extensive funds in which pensioners can -ČSOB DSS, www.csob.sk/sporenie-dochodok
you-go scheme, now known as Mikuláš Dzurinda govern- changes to the second pillar. save, i.e. growth, balanced and -ING DSS, www.ingdss.sk
the first pillar, by adding two ment, Slovaks were given the Under these changes, the conservative funds, all now -VÚB Generali DSS, www.vubgenerali.sk
further saving pillars, in option to start saving for their second pillar became volun- generate similar yields.
which people can save for their pensions through newly estab- tary and young people enter-
retirement. But even though lished pension fund adminis- ing the labour market could See PENSION pg 8
Association of collection
agencies launched in Slovakia
Financing business expansions FIVE international collection agencies operating in
The growth in business loans has not loans. This trend occurred for loans Slovakia founded the Association of Slovak Collection
Bank terms remain tight reached the pace by which retail loans taken by businesses in most economic Agencies (ASINS) in mid October 2010. Its primary goal is
so other financing are increasing, according to Jozef Barta, sectors but particularly those in trans- to represent the interests of professional companies
director general of UniCredit Bank Slov- port, the chemical industry, in whole- active in collection of receivables and secure their proper
methods now appeal akia, who said firms are thinking over sale and in real estate. Hotels were the operation in the market. The founding members of
every new investment as well as hiring business sector with the highest rate of ASINS are EOS KSI Slovensko, Intrum Justitia Slovakia,
new staff very carefully because they are troubled loans but surprisingly this was Coface Slovakia Credit Management Services, Creditre
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ not totally sure whether the crisis is not where significant loans sales or form and Transcom Worldwide Slovakia, ASINS wrote in
Spectator staff over. Other bank representatives shared write-offs of failed loans occurred. its press release.
this opinion at the conference. Leasing, another way for businesses ASINS further wrote that its main aim is to represent
Vida believes that the current supply to arrange financing for various kinds of and protect the interests of its members, pursue the
THE ECONOMIC crisis diminished com- of money in the market exceeds demand equipment, has recorded significant protection of legal norms related to collection of
panies’ appetite for expansion and that and Patrik Mozola, the head of HSBC growth thus far in 2011. Companies receivables and build a good reputation for professional
was subsequently reflected in a reduced Bank in Slovakia, said that there are no clustered in the Association of Leasing companies engaged in collection of receivables.
demand for external financing through significant projects which banks are Companies of Slovakia (ALS) signed new Martin Šoltes, ASINS president, said that vaguely
loans or equity. The recovery in willing to invest in and that is a reason deals worth €399.88 million during the formulated legal conditions for operation of collection
Slovakia’s economy has encouraged why there is excess money supply. first quarter of 2011, representing a agencies in the market leads some collection agencies to
some companies, which are again be- The interest of businesses in taking 20-percent increase from the same peri- use unfair practices when collecting receivables.
ginning to look for financing to execute bank loans for financing needs increased od of 2010. The number of contracts "ASINS wants to make the situation in the market for
their business growth plans. Slovakia’s due to the improving economic situation grew by as much as 12 percent from the receivables more transparent and especially prevent
leasing sector reports an upward trend, during the final quarter of 2010, the Fin- previous year. The main driving forces, operation of unqualified companies using such unfair
commercial banks have seen a modest ance Ministry and the National Bank of in line with the leasing industry’s ex- practices," said Šoltes.
increase in their loans, and other meth- Slovakia (NBS) wrote in a report released pectations, were new deals for cargo and The five founding members account for about 80 percent
ods of financing are finding their niche in March, but the report also noted that passenger vehicles, machines and tech- of the Slovak receivables market. In 2009 they managed
in the market, as well. the banks remained cautious in their nology. 525,499 receivable accounts worth €396.84 million in
According to commercial bankers, loan conditions and the growing de- Discussing the development of the total, which was almost 45 percent more than in 2008. Of
demand for loans from businesses re- mand clashed against tightened terms Slovak market in mid February, Juraj that total, receivables from companies and businesses
mains lower than the bankers had ex- by banks. The SITA newswire further Ebringer, president of ALS, said that amounted to €53.64 million and receivables from private
pected at this point in the economic quoted the report as saying that it is leasing is a way for businesses to get individuals were €158.1 million. Foreign receivables ac
recovery. thus of little surprise that more general funding when they do not qualify for a counted for €22.3 million and the remaining €162.8
“I expected much faster growth of growth in bank loans to companies has bank loan. Ebringer added that the re- million represented receivables that individual
loans,” Igor Vida, director general of not been recorded. cent growth in leasing activity confirms members of ASINS acquired and now administer.
Tatra Banka, said at a Financial Man- Last year the total volume of bank that business in Slovakia has revived The ambition of ASINS is also to represent the Slovak
agement conference held earlier in May, loans to companies grew by only 0.4 per- and that companies are becoming more businesses active in the collection of receivables at the
as quoted by the SITA newswire, adding cent according to the report. courageous and optimistic as reflected in international level and become a member of the
that while banks cannot expect in- During the last two months of 2010 an upward trend for leasing – even Federation of European National Collection Associations
creases in the range of 10 percent this several banks in Slovakia began clearing though actual levels remain below those (FENCA).
year, this may occur within five years their loan portfolios of bad loans. They of the pre-crisis period.
because the potential for economic were especially selling failed loans and Compiled by Spectator staff
growth in Slovakia is huge. to a smaller extent writing off failed See LOANS pg 8 from press reports
 BUSINESS FOCUS May 30 – June 5, 2011 7

Companies and credit FOCUS shorts

management
The crisis
taught firms a
lesson - but have
they already
forgotten it?
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
THE ECONOMIC crisis
brought the term secondary
insolvency back into the
vocabulary of many busi-
nesses operating in Slovakia
– a vicious, almost endless
circle in which companies
stop paying their vendors or
contractors because they
have not received payments
for their own products or
services. Bad experiences
during the economic down-
turn increased the interest
of many companies in better
credit management but
since the sting of the reces-
sion has lessened some-
what, some companies ap-
pear to have forgotten the
hard lessons of 2009 and
2010.
“Secondary insolvency
peaked in the second half of
2009 and this peak took place
across all economic sectors,”
Tomáš Mezírka, represent-
ing Atradius Credit Insur-
ance N.V. in Slovakia, told
The Slovak Spectator, based
on the company’s statistics.
“Apart from some sectors,
for example construction,
the payment ability of com-
panies has visibly increased
and only rather under-capit-
alised companies remain
endangered by any delay in
receiving their payments.”
Secondary insolvency is a problem in construction. Photo: TASR
The financial difficulties
or potential bankruptcy of
companies with these kinds of
problems are predictable, but
Mezírka pointed out that “of-
ten these are companies that
have been able to lure large
volumes of goods from suppli-
ers and their downfall then
causes a domino effect”.
Companies in construc-
tion and businesses closely
linked to it were most prob-
lematic during the crisis, for
example steel production and
also the transport industry.
Mezírka said the financial
situation in steel production
and transport is now stabil-
ised but the construction sec-
tor remains weak.
“Construction continues
to combat large problems be-
cause of fewer orders and it
will be possible to say more
about this sector only after the
construction season is over,”
Mezírka said.
Mezírka stated that com-
pany restructurings have be-
come a significant burden, say-
ing that problems in the re-
structuring process are endan-
gering many other companies
because these often surface
quickly, almost overnight.
He said that unsecured
creditors are collecting only 5
percent of their receivables
and secured creditors are col-
lecting only 35 percent of
their receivables in restruc-
turings, often after waiting
for several years, and charac-
terised the process as more
like “a legalised fraud on
creditors” than salvation for a
troubled company.
Were lessons learned
in the crisis?
Even though uncollected or
uncollectable receivables may
bring down an otherwise
healthy company, experts say
that recent experiences with
secondary insolvency have not
pushed many more companies
into undertaking better or
more extensive credit man-
agement. While more interest
was shown in external profes-
sional credit management for a
short while, experts say that
companies are again becoming
less cautious.
“In my opinion interest
has been decreasing again and
only bigger companies have
learned from the crisis,” Ľubor
Jenis, managing director of
Coface Slovakia Credit Man-
agement Services, told The
Slovak Spectator.
“These [companies] have
set up their internal processes
better than smaller companies,
which are afraid of assigning
receivables for collection. They
are afraid that in doing this
they would spoil their good
private relations and would not
get new orders. Thus, they are
actually only ballooning re-
ceivables since they are con-
tinuing to deliver goods or ser-
vices also to bad payers.”
Mezírka said that it is un-
fortunate that very often in
Slovakia external credit man-
agement continues to be per-
ceived as a solution only after
problems arise.
“Prevention, for example
via credit insurance, is re-
quired more often and even
after the experiences of the
last two years when this
product saved the existence of
many companies, we are still
talking about a much different
interest [in credit insurance
here] than in countries west-
wards from our borders,”
Mezírka stated.
Experts describe a number
of common mistakes made by
Slovak businesses when man-
aging their receivables and
their credit relationships.
See CREDIT pg 8
Business bankruptcies jump in 2010
THE NUMBER of bankruptcy
proceedings increased in
Slovakia last year. District
courts initiated 814 bank-
ruptcy proceedings in 2010,
36 percent more than in
2009. Based on statistics of
the Justice Ministry, the
number of declared bank-
ruptcies increased too, up 25
percent to 344.
According to Andrej
Glézl, external restructur-
ing manager at KPMG in
Slovakia, last year many
companies fully experi-
enced the impact of second-
ary insolvency, the situ-
ation when a company is
not able to collect its own
receivables and because of
this is late in meeting its ob-
ligations to its own credit-
ors, the SITA newswire
wrote in early April.
As Glézl pointed out,
even though the companies
were able to cover their ob-
ligations from their own as-
sets last year, these re-
sources are now drying up
and many companies are
getting into serious trouble
that can lead to insolvency
proceedings.
Some households ignore budgeting
ABOUT two-thirds of Slovak
households have a good
sense of their monthly in-
come and expenses and regu-
larly monitor their budget
while the other third do not
bother to keep track of a
budget in any way. These are
main results of a survey con-
ducted by the Factum In-
venio agency for Provident
Financial at the beginning of
April among a sample of 1,075
Slovak respondents aged 15
and older. The survey also
Last year the district
courts received 1,248 bank-
ruptcy declarations, an
18-percent increase. Glézl
admitted that the number of
insolvency proceedings may
grow further this year and
that this trend may continue
until the economy com-
pletely stabilises.
Last year the number of
companies seeking to solve
their financial problems via
restructuring increased too.
While in 2009 courts re-
gistered 78 restructuring
proposals, in 2010 that num-
ber had increased to 129. In
total, the courts greenlighted
87 restructurings compared
to 58 in 2009.
Ivan Lužica, the head of
the consulting department
at Deloitte Slovakia, ascribes
this development to the im-
pact of the crisis, which is
still stinging. Another factor
behind the increase is, ac-
cording to Lužica, a better
legal understanding of the
restructuring process.
“It is also possible to ex-
pect an increased number of
bankruptcies and restructur-
ings this year,” said Lužica.
found that 7 percent of Slov-
ak households are living on
debt over the long term, the
SITA newswire wrote.
“The results prove the
well-known principle that
people who have their budget
under control can manage
their income better and are in
the red less frequently,” said
Diana Priechodská Brodni-
anska, spokeswoman for
Provident Financial.
Compiled by Spectator staff

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Œ‘ê —‹ˆê š’•‡ê –˜†‹ê „–ê {‹ˆê sˆŠ„ê ¥ªª±ê ˆŠ„ê „‡™Œ†ˆê ‰’•ê ’˜•ê †Œˆ‘—–­µê t•êê l˜•’“ˆ²ê š‹„—ê Œ–ê “•’™ˆ‡ê …œê ’‘Š¾ …ˆŒ‘Šê—‹ˆê„šê‰Œ•êš‹Œ†‹êµ‹„‡ê—‹ˆê
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SP90566/1
8 May 30 – June 5 , 2011 BUSINESS FOCUS

PENSION: Third pillar already changed

Continued from pg 6 pillar to spread across the
whole political spectrum, to
FOCUS short
This is because pensions have been insufficient.
saving companies have to re- With respect to the draft
port and compare the value of revision itself, Ďurana said Moves to ease personal bankruptcy
the assets in their funds on a that it returns to the original
six-month basis and as a result objectives of the second pillar. IT IS NOT only companies their debts and may then
are investing in a very conser- “The current system of that can file for bankruptcy: have to wait for three years
vative way and not risking any guarantees which, however, individuals can do the same and pay annual instalments
losses. But this safe investment guarantee zero yields, should when they are no longer able set by the court, which can
strategy brings lower yields. be cancelled as an inevitable to settle their debts. But even be as high as 70 percent of
The Iveta Radičová gov- precondition for fulfilment of though this is possible in their annual net income.
ernment, which took office the original goals of the Slovakia, this way of resolv- “This is why personal
last, summer declared a desire second pillar,” Ďurana told ing indebtedness is not often bankruptcy is impossible for
to fix the second pillar. The The Slovak Spectator. used here because of too- most people,” said Alexan-
Ministry of Labour, Social Af- Ďurana also welcomed the tight rules, says one expert. der.
fairs and Family has elaborated re-naming of the funds, While in the neighbouring The statistics in Slovakia
and submitted for interde- Saving for retirement can often be difficult. Photo: Sme which in his opinion will in- Czech Republic hundreds of confirm this near impossibil-
partmental review a draft revi- crease transparency; he also individuals have filed for ity. There were only 104 per-
sion to the old-age pension sav- over the proposed changes tion of guarantees by the pre- praised the introduction of personal bankruptcy, only sonal bankruptcy filings in
ing law. However, the draft re- they are all calling for more ex- vious government, with re- the index fund for widening slightly more than 100 Slov- 2009 and only 21 people ap-
vision still faces a long path tensive discussion. Pension gards to the conservative risk investors’ options. aks did so in 2009, the Sme plied for termination of their
through the legislative process management companies are profile of most savers, to be a daily wrote last November. debts.
before becoming law. predominantly calling for sta- negative phenomenon. In- Third pillar became The Justice Ministry has an- The first half of 2010
In the draft revision the bility and continuity. stead, it regards the main less attractive nounced plans to soften the showed some higher num-
ministry proposes to scrap the “We believe that what the problem as having been the legal rules to make it a little bers but these were far from
guarantees in the balanced and second pillar needs most is aggressive style of its commu- The current cabinet has bit easier for those who need hundreds of people. By the
growth funds while preserving stability and continuity, nication and the failure, at the already altered the so-called this option. end of June, 63 people had
it in the conservative fund. which can be reached only time the guarantees were in- third pillar of the old-age pen- Experts say that the pro- filed for bankruptcy and only
Meanwhile, a new type of fund under the precondition that troduced, to create an option sion scheme. This pillar, with- cess of personal bankruptcy 17 had applied for termina-
will emerge – the so-called in- changes to the second pillar for savers who want to invest in which people save for their is something that should be tion of their debts. For com-
dex fund – while the names of will be a result of wide con- part of their money without a retirement via voluntary sup- available to any citizen – a parison, as many as 915
the other funds will also sensus, will be sound, convin- guarantee, Paška said. plementary payments, re- debtor – as a way of resolving people applied for termina-
change. The conservative fund cing and will keep all the con- According to Viktor Kouřil, cently lost its tax advantages. one’s inability to settle debts. tion of their debts in the
is to be renamed the bond fund stitutional rights that legisla- director general of VÚB Gener- Changes to the third pillar “The current legal norm month of September in the
while the balanced fund be- tion to date has offered savers, ali DSS, another pension fund were part of the austerity does not provide protection Czech Republic.
comes the mixed fund and the “Jozef Paška, the head of the management company, savers package designed to consolid- of property and does not se- Alexander suggests that
growth fund will be called the board of directors of Allianz- perceive the introduction of ate public finances adopted by cure the possibility of a new Slovakia should adopt the US
stock fund. Slovenská Dôchodková guarantees positively. the cabinet last year. To in- start,” Juraj Alexander from or Czech system of personal
“Our aim is to generate Správcovská Spoločnosť (Alli- “The problem was the in- crease government revenue, Salans Europe stated, as bankruptcy.
higher pensions for people and anz-Slovenská DSS), one of troduction of the six-month the opportunity for savers in quoted by Sme. “Thus, debtors could get
that’s why we’re making pension fund management performance assessment peri- the third pillar to deduct al- A person cannot begin to rid of their debts and simul-
changes in the pension-savings companies operating in Slov- od for the funds and, most €400 per year from their cope with personal bank- taneously they could choose
law and the second pillar,” La- akia, told The Slovak Spectat- moreover, the unreasonable tax base – resulting in an in- ruptcy without the help of whether they would give
bour Minister Jozef Mihál said or. “We are afraid that many of approach in applying this to come tax reduction of €76 – family members because un- over their current property
on May 6, as quoted by the TASR the proposed changes, for ex- all funds,” Kouřil told The was terminated. der the current Slovak bank- and keep their future income
newswire. ample cancellation of guaran- Slovak Spectator. Speaking in mid May on ruptcy rules a person loses or the opposite, to give over
Under the newly-proposed tees or introduction of com- Kouřil praised the option public broadcaster Slovak Ra- nearly all his or her personal future income and keep their
rules, savers will be allowed to pulsory entry for young people to save in two funds, one of dio, Labour Minister Mihál property, which often means current property,” Alexander
put their investments into two will lead to polarisation of so- which should follow a conser- admitted that this had been a he or she has nowhere to said, as quoted by Sme.
different funds, one of which ciety, which in the future vative strategy, and supported mistake and that voluntary live. After petitioning for
will be guaranteed. The could lead to other interven- the launch of the index fund. forms of saving for pensions bankruptcy, they must re- Compiled by Spectator staff
amendment will also oblige tions in the system.” But he said that cancelling the should be given an advantage quest the termination of from press reports
young savers who enter em- Apart from articulating guarantees could prove to be a and made more attractive, the
ployment to join the second pil- this fundamental reservation, problem because about 17,000 Pravda daily reported.
lar. There will be an option to Paška pointed out that the savers entered the scheme
leave the pillar within two wording of the draft revision while the guarantees were
years of entry. is in many place terminolo- still being offered, meaning
“The cabinet should an-
nounce clearly that the first
pillar will not be able to gen-
LOANS: In search
If passed as drafted, the gically inaccurate, cannot be that cancelling them could
amendment will become effect- implemented and is some- constitute a violation of
ive as of October 1. However, times not even comprehens- savers’ legal rights.
erate sufficiently high pen-
sions, and should call on
people to secure [their pen-
of alternatives
stipulations concerning guar- ible. On the other hand, his Radovan Ďurana of INESS, sions] via other means,” Continued from pg 6 were relatively easily
antees and other substantial company regards the effort to an economics think tank, also Ďurana said, as quoted by accessible,” said Procik.
changes would become effect- optimise conditions for in- considers discussion before Pravda. He added that it is not Mezzanine financing “Thus, there was no need for
ive on January 1, 2012. vesting in the guaranteed now of the purpose and im- possible to say that the third alternative or supplement-
While the opinion of pen- schemes as a positive move. portance of the funds, a pro- pillar is the best way, as the Another way businesses ary forms of financing. Dur-
sion management companies Allianz-Slovenská DSS cess which might encourage best form of saving for retire- can get financing is called ing the crisis banks started to
and market watchers is divided does not regard the introduc- general support for the second ment differs for each person. mezzanine financing, a hy- re-assess their loan portfolios
brid of debt and equity fin- and required higher guaran-
ancing typically used to fin- tees from their clients, better

CREDIT: Firms 'make several mistakes' ance the expansion of exist-

Continued from pg 7
“If companies have set up an internal
process of claiming receivables, then it is
mostly too long and loses effectiveness,”
said Jenis. “Receivables should be as-
signed to a collection agency 60 to 90 days
after the due date. If they do not have any
established system, it often happens that
receivables assigned to a collection
agency are already too old, more than 180
days after the due date, and this greatly
decreases their collectability.”
Mezírka said several of the biggest
mistakes he sees are a company’s viola-
tion of its own internal directives about
credit management, in the event they
even have such directives, as well as an
excessive focus only on the amount of
turnover.
“Only after getting into really difficult
financial trouble do many companies real-
ise that only real turnover, which is
turnover that has been paid for, is good
turnover,” Mezírka said.
These experts also think that Slovak
companies are not using all opportunities
to better protect themselves from the im-
pacts of secondary insolvency.
“The current usage of various means
of protection, either credit insurance or
another product is, alas, still at a low level
in Slovakia,” said Mezírka. “In my opinion
economising on protection of credits is
economising in the wrong place because
unsettled receivables are exactly what
may bring down any sound company. But
each manager or owner of a company has
to reach this conclusion on his or her own;
we can only wish that this happens earlier
rather than after it is too late.”
Jenis also sees several other crucial
areas in which Slovak businesses can im-
prove.
“Firms are entering into unverified
commercial relations, the contractual
basis of deals is weak, documents about
delivery are often missing and so on,”
Jenis said, adding that this magnifies a
purchaser’s unwillingness to pay. “We
also often hear statements from debtors
such as ‘I have not received payments
either, I have a big unsettled receivable
and I am just waiting for money’. When
we offer them debt collection, then they
say they will wait a bit longer and they
will try themselves once again. But later
is usually too late. Or they act to solve this
immediately via a lawyer and that is a
time-consuming and expensive solution.”
ing companies. Mezzanine
financing involves a long-
term subordinated loan
with its total cost and terms
of payment dependent
mostly on the success of the
expansion project.
Mezzanine financing is
relatively unused in this re-
gion, according to Boris
Procik, the head of the
board of directors and CEO
of RMS Mezzanine, who told
The Slovak Spectator last
October, that this was the
case in Slovakia because
there were no specialised
institutions dealing with
this method of financing.
“During the pre-crisis
period banks had expansive
goals and business loans
security, and early settle-
ment of their loans.”
This was the time, ac-
cording to Procik, when sup-
plementary financing via
subordinated debt was wel-
comed by businesses as well
as by banks. But Martin Par-
dupa, investment director of
RMS Mezzanine, explained
that mezzanine financing
can be used at other times as
well, most often when there
is a need for development
capital, changes in the struc-
ture of existing financing,
during acquisitions as an ad-
ditional source of financing,
or when there is a need for
equity for investments of a
project nature, for example
with projects co-financed
from EU funds.

TAX: Self-employed brace for likely fall in take-home pay
Continued from pg 1
At the same time,
Slovakia’s trade unions have
prepared an alternative pro-
posal to overhaul the tax sys-
tems and strongly reject some
of the key elements of the re-
form advocated by Finance
Minister Ivan Mikloš.
Some observers believe
that the government’s pro-
posed changes may discourage
those with higher incomes
from switching from standard
employment to self-employ-
ment and observers also noted
that the changes might en-
courage self-employed per-
sons to engage in various
forms of creative accounting,
including declaring fictitious
business expenses to lower
their taxable income.
Mikloš, a nominee of the
Slovak Democratic and Chris-
tian Union (SDKÚ) has said
that it is impossible to remove
what he calls multiple de-
formations in Slovakia’s rev-
enue system without harming
some groups of people.
Based on calculations made
by the Ministry of Finance, the
proposed changes will mean
that many self-employed indi-
viduals and people working on
so-called limited work agree-
ments (“na dohodu” in Slovak)
will pay more in payroll levies
and income taxes.
But the ministry also said
that 99.5 percent of persons
with standard employment
contracts will be better off after
the reforms are adopted, adding
that the same is true for persons
who are self-employed if they
have annual incomes of less
than €4,823, before income tax
and payroll levies. Mikloš said
116,600 self-employed indi-
viduals have business income
less than that amount, the
TASR newswire wrote.
But Mikloš said the self-
employed with “high earnings
and negligible expenses” will
see their net income drop due
to the proposed changes in the
lump-sum allowance that cur-
rently is deducted from a
person’s gross self-employed
income before income taxes
are calculated. The minister
has argued that these high-
earning, self-employed indi-
viduals include large numbers
of those who only have pro-
forma self-employed status
and without what he calls this
“deformation” they would be
included in the payroll levy
system as standard employees.
Some specific changes
The government’s propos-
al will introduce a so-called
super-gross wage and the rates
of the payroll levies for social
insurance and health insur-
ance will be reduced for some
persons. The mandatory
health insurance levy was ap-
proved by the cabinet at a rate
of 9 percent, except for dis-
abled persons who will pay
half that rate. The proposed
levy for the various compon-
ents of Slovakia’s social insur-
ance programme (old-age and
disability pensions as well as
BUSINESS / NEWS May 30 – June 5, 2011 9
sickness, accident and unem- According to the figures somewhat softer on self-em-
ployment insurance) is 19 per- published on the INEKO blog at ployed persons with higher
cent for employees, 13 percent Etrend.sk, self-employed per- levels of actual employment
for self-employed people and sons with monthly incomes less expenses, for example a self-
10 percent for those working than €329, with no expenses, employed person with a
via “na dohodu” agreements, who will no longer be required €3,000 gross monthly income
TASR wrote. to make social insurance con- with actual expenses of 40
The tax-exempt base, the tributions, will still see their in- percent of income will lose
amount on which no taxes are come reduced by €9 per month €121 per month, equivalent to
paid, will be decreased from its due to increases in their contri- about 10 percent of income.
current level of 19.2 times the bution for health insurance. “As a consequence of the
country’s minimum subsist- Self-employed persons reduction of the lump sum for
ence level to 18 times. Projec- with a gross monthly income expenses and cancellation of
ted into annual income, the over €605 with actual expenses the deduction of payroll levies
amount of tax-free income from zero to 20 percent, those from the [income] tax base,
will drop by €200 in 2012. earning €675 with actual em- the number of self-employed
However, TASR wrote that this ployment expenses of 40 per- who will be paying their
tax-exempt base will not be cent of their income, and those payroll levies from the min-
reduced as incomes rise and with gross monthly incomes imum calculation base will
this will effectively scrap what over €1,010 with actual ex- most probably drop,” Peter
is now called Slovakia’s penses of 60 percent of their in- Goliaš of INEKO wrote in a
‘millionaire’s tax’. come will all see their monthly blog entry.
The Finance Ministry also take-home pay fall, according INEKO also noted that it
said that its package of meas- to INEKO, which added that expects the changes will re-
ures will have an unfavourable the higher the income, the lar- duce the incentive for people
Some household movers are self-employed. Photo: Sme
impact on the state budget, ger the loss in spendable earn- with higher incomes to switch
with a loss in revenue of €59.9 ings will be. from standard employment to
million projected in 2012. tainly has wider support than hardly be understood as an im- Self-employed people with self-employment.
The proposal will also es- some of the partial solutions,” proper requirement for the higher incomes and low em- “This fact, along with the
tablish an overall maximum Figeľ said, as quoted by the self-employed,” Ďurana said. ployment expenses will lose factors that the proposal sim-
insurance levy, which in 2012 SITA newswire. “But the cancellation of this the most from the proposed plifies the payroll tax system
will be set at €8,965 for social item will impact self-em- changes, INEKO said, explain- and offers a [future] reduction
insurance contributions and One economist’s reaction ployed who have an extensive ing that these include self-em- of payroll levy rates for em-
€4,246 for health insurance range of expenses and who will ployed persons who perform ployees are the main reasons
contributions. The Finance Radovan Ďurana of the In- thus see their administrative demanding intellectual work that INEKO, in principle, sup-
Ministry said this will replace stitute for Economic and Social burden significantly as well as the so-called pro- ports the reform,” Goliaš
the maximum income base Studies (INESS) views the idea increased.” forma self-employed, a cat- wrote.
currently used when calculat- of a super-gross wage as the Ďurana added that this egory of people who trans- However, Goliaš wrote
ing these levies. most appealing part of the re- group of self-employed per- ferred from standard employ- that an impact could also be
The 40 percent allowance form proposals. sons, however, will not have a ment to self-employment in that self-employed persons
that self-employed persons can “The current state of in- higher income tax calculation order to reduce their income with higher incomes who cur-
currently deduct from their forming employees about their base as a consequence of the re- taxes and payroll levies. rently use the lump sum de-
annual income to represent payroll taxes is non-transpar- form, except for the payroll INEKO offered the ex- duction for their expenses
their self-employment ex- ent and hard to understand,” levies for social insurance and ample of self-employed per- will have stronger motivation
penses will have a monthly cap Ďurana told The Slovak Spec- health insurance, which will sons with gross monthly in- to switch to actual accounting
of about €200 per month in the tator. “Greater transparency is no longer be deductible items comes of €3,000 with actual of their expenses and could
future, as it will be pegged to welcomed and necessary.” from income for income tax employment expenses at 20 potentially seek to reduce
Slovakia’s monthly subsistence Ďurana added that the purposes. percent of their income, who their tax base by recording fic-
level under the cabinet propos- moderate overall decrease in “Financially, this step will it calculates will see their titious expenses, as well as
al. Also, payroll levies going to the payroll levies for employ- affect those self-employed per- after-tax income drop by €367 bearing a greater administrat-
social insurance and health in- ees is also a positive step. He sons who do not have actual per month, equivalent to a loss ive burden.
surance will no longer be de- noted that if the changes also expenses at 40 percent [of of 20 percent.
ductible from a taxpayer’s in- accomplish the goal of simpli- income],” Ďurana told The INEKO expects that the For a longer version of this
come before calculation of per- fying regularly submitted Slovak Spectator. “It is unclear, impact of the changes will be story, go to www.spectator.sk
sonal income tax liability. payroll levy reports it will save however, what the real effect
time and costs for all contrib- of this approach will be and C LASSIFIEDS
Some of the objections utors to the social insurance whether the self-employed
system. will report a higher tax base or REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE
MPs from the OKS and “The reform also means they will devote their energy
some MPs from the Christian shifting the burden from toward securing high enough NEW.....for..... RENT: NEW.....for..... RENT:
Democratic Movement (KDH) [payroll] contributions to in- [actual] expenses.” • 1-2-room apartments – Vajnorská, • 1-2-room apartments – Vajnorská,
have made critical comments come taxes,” Ďurana said. Ďurana suggested that the Ružinov, Karlova Ves... Ružinov, Karlova Ves...
• 3-4-room apartments – Drotárska, • 3-4-room apartments – Drotárska,
about the proposal. OKS MP “This shift should be reflected Slovak government could take downtown, Ružinov,Koliba, Bôrik... downtown, Ružinov,Koliba, Bôrik...
Ondrej Dostál organised a as well on the expenditure side some inspiration from other • family houses – Koliba, Bôrik • family houses – Koliba, Bôrik
Facebook press conference and of the social system, since the countries where he said the area, Polus area, Horský park, area, Polus area, Horský park,
Ružinov... Ružinov...
stated that he would stop shav- [payroll] levies aren’t of a re- lump sum allowance ranges
ing his face until his concerns ward character.” from 40 to 80 percent. madison@nextra.sk, 0905 659156, madison@nextra.sk, 0905 659156,
www.madison.sk www.madison.sk
about the treatment of self- Regarding risks that he Ďurana also noted that the C 3655 C 3655
employed persons and those sees in the reforms approved government’s reform is not
working via “na dohodu” work by the cabinet, Ďurana said directly aimed at reducing the RELIGIOUS SERVICES
REAL ESTATE
agreements are dealt with. that the changes will impact burden of payroll levies but is
“OKS has long been saying some groups of self-employed instead intended to simplify ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORSHIP
Rent: Bratislava International Church
that it would not support in- persons as well as persons the payroll levy collection sys- Sundays, 9:30 at historic
creasing the [income] tax- working on “na dohodu” work tem and that reduction of the new house, Bratislava III,
Small Lutheran Church
located in a quiet street, with (Malý evanjelický kostol) in central Bratislava
payroll tax burden for the self- agreements who are using payroll levies should come in
6 rooms, 3 bathrooms, (near Hodzovo namestie);
employed or those with ‘na do- these work agreements along- the upcoming period. garage for 2 cars, garden on Lycejna at intersection
hodu’ work agreements,” side their standard employ- “I think, however, that the with grill. with Panenska 26/28.
Children's Sunday School provided.
Dostál said, calling on citizens ment. government could have Everyone Welcome.
who disagree with the cabinet’s “The increased payroll tax reached for a reduction of Price: 1800 EUR + E Information at 02-5443-3263
tax proposals to join in his sym- burden might lead to changes payroll taxes already this Web Site:
0903 234 999, 0903 471 999 www.bratislavainternationalchurch.org
bolic protest, with men no in people’s form of employ- year,” Ďurana said. C 3675 C 3573
longer shaving and women ment or efforts to circumvent
painting their nails black. this burden,” Ďurana said. Impacts on the self-employed
Ján Figeľ, the chairman of Ďurana said the proposed
KDH who also serves as the change in the 40-percent In response to the most de-
minister of transport, con- lump-sum allowance that self- bated part of the reform, the IN-
struction and regional devel- employed persons can cur- EKO (Institute for Economic and
opment, said that the cabinet rently use is a problematic Social Reforms) think tank in
proposal could be modified in point. cooperation with the Business
parliament. “It is unclear what the cur- Alliance of Slovakia (PAS) calcu-
“Simplification, unifica- rent role [of the 40-percent al- lated some of the expected im-
tion and bringing more trans- lowance] is, while the duty to pacts of the proposed changes
parency to the system cer- report actual expenses could on self-employed persons.
C 3673
10 May 30 – June 5 , 2011
Spišský Štiavnik mansion
THE ABBEY of the Cistercians
can be found in the municip-
ality of Spišský Štiavnik loc-
ated southeast of Poprad. The
Cistercian order
was founded in
1098 in a secluded
area of Burgundy.
The Cister-
cians, known for
their rigorous dis-
cipline, originally divided
their lives between liturgical
ritual and manual labour.
Thanks to the efficient cul-
tivation of their lands, their
skill at shepherding and their
construction of a profitable
Slovaks are introduced to
contemporary circus acts
WHEN YOU think circus you
probably conjure up images of
huge striped tents with
parades of ponies and mon-
keys followed by acrobats,
clowns and jugglers all lead-
ing up to a dramatic con-
frontation between man and
beast, the face-off between an
enraged African lion and a
fearless lion tamer.
But a new theory of what a
circus should be is spreading
around the world, a concept,
the Nouveau Cirque, that es-
pouses the idea that animals
do not belong in a circus. This
contemporary kind of circus
made its first appearance in
Slovakia in mid-May at the
Cirkul’Art festival in
Bratislava’s Medical Garden.
It featured performers
from 15 countries and organ-
isers estimated that it attrac-
ted some 3,500 visitors.
The main event featured
some names already known
to Slovaks, such as the
renowned Czech clown Bolek
Polívka and the T.E.J.P.
theatre. Also on hand were
Nouveau Cirque artists from
Spain (Theater Yllana), Japan
(Unicycling Cirkus), Belgium
(Paki Paya), Denmark
(Theatro Glimt), and Italy and
Switzerland (Circocentrique).
Other performances and
Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia
can now be found at www.spectator.sk.
In cooperation with the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute
ironworks, they quickly grew
rich and just as quickly aban-
doned their religious ideals.
In 1531, as a result of
HISTORY TALKS
battles between Levoča and
Kežmarok, the monastery
was burned to the ground. In
its place, the presiding lord of
Kežmarok, Hieroným Laski,
built an ostentatious man-
sion that was successively
activities were offered
throughout the garden
without charge.
“We are happy to bring
contemporary circus to
Slovakia,” the festival’s or-
ganiser, Pavol Kelley, told the
Sme daily. “It’s been known
in advanced countries for
years,” Kelley added, saying
that there even is a university
of contemporary circus. “Our
feeling is that animals don’t
belong under a circus tent,”
he said.
Nouveau Cirque is one of
Cirkul'Art in Bratislava.
CULTURE
inhabited by several promin-
ent families: the Thurzas, the
Thökölys and the Eszter-
goms. Archbishop Szelepcsé-
nyi later gave the
building to the Je-
suits, who added a
chapel to the man-
sion. The building
was originally de-
signed in Renais-
sance style but adaptations
in the 19th century altered its
original facade.
This postcard of the man-
sion dates from 1901.
By Branislav Chovan
the newest genres of the per-
forming arts according to the
festival’s website. The
concept originated in France
in the 1970s out of independ-
ent theatre's need to explore
new forms by reviving forgot-
ten rituals and dramatic tra-
ditions as well as circus and
street theatre skills.
Contemporary circus can
be characterised as narrative
storytelling as it uses meta-
phors, themes, theatrical im-
ages and stories alongside
traditional circus skills.
Photo: Tomáš Medelský
Western SLOVAKIA
Bratislava
l LIVE MUSIC: E.ON Jazz
Night 2011 – The third jazz
night in Design Factory will
bring DJ C.O.D.E, Yvonne
Sanchez from Cuba, Pedro
Tagliani and Luis Ribeiro from
Brazil, Nicola Conte Jazz
Combo from Italy and en.dru
and Jirka Vidasov from the
Czech Republic; as well as
DJane Lady Smiles (Austria) at
the after-party.
Starts: June 3, 19:00-4:00;
Design Factory, Bottova 2.
Admission: €15 (in advance),
€20 (at the door). Tel: 02/5020-
1717; www.designfactory.sk.
Bratislava
l FOREIGN TALKS: Language
Café – A chit-chat in “your fa-
vourite language” while sip-
ping coffee, this time high-
lighting Japanese. The event
is organised by the Bratislava
Cultural and Information
Centre and the cultural insti-
tutes of the embassies of Ja-
pan, Germany, Hungary, Aus-
tria, UK, Spain, France, Italy,
Portugal. The meetings are
held on the first Wednesday
in each month.
Starts: June 1, 17:30; Café
Studio, Laurinská 13. Admis-
sion: free. More info: www.sk.
emb-japan.go.jp/event_langu
age_cafe.html.
Bratislava
l LIVE MUSIC: Joe Cocker –
The legendary rock musician
with the husky voice returns
to Slovakia to perform his re-
cent songs as well as all-time
favourites.
Starts: May 31, 20:00; NTC
Sibamac Arena, Príkopova 6.
Admission: €50-€80. More
info: www.eventim.sk.
Bratislava
l EXHIBITION: All Inclusive -
Marcin Mierzicki – The young
Polish artist works with ob-
jects and installations in a
way that involves the active
perception of the visitor. Each
of his exhibitions is created
individually for the specific
space.
Open: Mon-Thur 10:00
-17:00, Fri 9:00-15:00 until
June 17; Polish Cultural Insti-
tute, SNP Square 27. Admis-
sion: free. Tel: 02/5443-2014;
www.polinst.sk.
THE 20TH year of Zlaté stuhy (Gold Ribbons) / Concourse d’
Elégance, a parade of more than 40 antique autos will take
place on Piešťany’s Spa Island between June 2 and 4. There will
be competitions for best car from before 1918, best car after 1919
as well as best matching historical garb by a crew. Admission is
free. The parade of historical vehicles will begin on June 4 at
10:00 as part of the "Opening of the Spa Season", offering a col-
ourful and varied cultural and entertainment programme. For
more information, visit www.spapiestany.sk.
N A M E
Monday Tuesday
Ferdinand Petronela
Petrana
May 30 May 31
A Slovak’s 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 Všetko najlepšie k meninám (Happy name day)
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
The Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava begins a new pro-
gramme on June 2 at 18:00 when it offers in-depth artistic in-
sights and experience in the English language. The sessions will
introduce permanent and current exhibitions and will be fol-
lowed by informal discussions. The first Thursday Art Talk is
focused on The Last Classic / Ernest Zmeták, Artist and Collect-
or – one of the most significant Slovak painters of the second
half of the 20th century. It takes place at the SNG, Esterházy
Palace, Ľ. Štúr Square (2nd floor). Admission is €4.70; for more
information call 02/2047-6270, go to www.sng.sk, or email
marcela.lukacova @sng.sk. Photo: Courtesy of SNG
Trnava Admission: free. More info:
l LIVE MUSIC: Sólo - Iva www.sturovo.com.
Bittová – The Czech (Moravi-
an) singer, composer, violin- Central SLOVAKIA
ist and actress, an outstand-
ing representative of the Banská Bystrica
Czech alternative scene, gives l CHILDREN’S OPERA: Ferdo
a solo concert in Slovakia. Mravec – A popular character
Starts: June 5, 19:00; from children’s books, an ad-
Synagóga – Centre of Contem- venturous ant, has been made
porary Art, Halenárska 2. Ad- into an opera for children by
mission: €10 (in advance), €12 Jiří Pauer, directed by Dana
(on the door). Tel: 033/5341- Dinková and conducted by Ig-
261, or 02/5293-3321; www.
ticketportal.sk.
or Bulla.
Starts: June 1, 17:00, State
Opera, Národná 11. Admis-
Štúrovo
l HAPPENING: AquaPhone –
This event combines books,
sion: €3-€5. Tel: 048/2457-120;
www.stateopera.sk.
music, puppets, an art exhib- Lučenec
ition, local delicacies and l LIVE MUSIC: IMT Smile -
drinks, and the documentary After a tour of acoustic con-
movie “Hranica” by Jaro Vo- certs, one of Slovakia’s most
jtek. The performance, or- popular bands makes its only
ganised by the town of solo performance in Lučenec.
Štúrovo and supported by the Starts: June 4, 19:00;
Swiss Embassy, commemor- Sports Hall. Admission: €12.
ates the time before the Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.
Maria Valeria Bridge con- ticketportal.sk.
necting Štúrovo and the
Hungarian town of Eszter- Eastern SLOVAKIA
gom had been built – when
trans-Danube communica- Košice
tion was much harder. l LIVE MUSIC: Hrana Tour
Starts: June 4, 11:00-22:00; 2011 Oskar Rózsa - Tribute to
several venues in Štúrovo. Marek Brezovský – Hrana (The
Edge) is the project of versatile
musician, composer, con-
ductor and producer Oskar
Rózsa that commemorates the
talented Slovak musician
Marek Brezovský, who died
tragically young. It will visit
six Slovak cities and towns.
Starts: June 2, 20:00; Ka-
sárne / Kulturpark, Kukučíno-
va 2. Admission: €15. Tel: 055/
6854-299; www.kulturpark.sk,
www.eventim.sk.
Prešov
l ASTRONOMY/MUSIC: Hud-
ba pod hviezdnou oblohou J.
M. Jarre / Music Under the
Starry Sky – The music of fam-
ous French artist Jean-Michel
Jarre, under an (artificial)
night sky.
Starts: June 2, 18:00; Ob-
servatory, Dilongova 17. Ad-
mission: €2. Tel: 051/7722-065;
www. astropresov.sk.
Photo: ČTK
By Zuzana Vilikovská
D A Y M A Y - J U N E 2 0 1 1
Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Îaneta Xénia Karolína Lenka Laura
Oxana
June 1 June 2 June 3 June 3 June 4

Turbulent times at Trnava gallery
BY DOMINIKA UHRÍKOVÁ
Spectator staff
THE FUTURE of Trnava’s Ján Koni-
arek Gallery (GJK) remains uncer-
tain following the dismissal of its
director and the suspension of its
programme of exhibitions for 2011.
Though it has been several months
since Vladimír Beskid left his posi-
tion, the interest of the media in the
gallery’s fate has recently been re-
newed after a major festival was
cancelled only days before it was
supposed to start at the GJK.
Vladimír Beskid was dismissed
by the Trnava Regional Parliament
on February 9 over what officials
called repeated breaches of discip-
line, which included a late submis-
sion of the property declaration and
several instances where violation of
safety procedures occurred, such as
insufficient training of cleaning
personnel working on ladders.
“I hold Mr Beskid to be an irre-
sponsible person, acting without re-
spect for the institution he presided
over, for his co-workers and for our
cultural heritage,” Tibor Mikuš, pres-
ident of the Trnava Self-Governing
Region and the author of the propos-
al to dismiss Beskid, told the TASR
newswire after the council session.
At the time, Beskid’s dismissal
prompted widespread protests from
the public. Over 700 artists, curat-
ors and students from Slovakia and
the Czech Republic signed an online
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OUR SPECIAL ANNUAL PUBLICATIONS
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write to circulation@spectator.sk or call +421 2 5923 3300
www.spectator.sk
Multiplace was staged outside the GJK in protest.
petition objecting to the decision
and a group of protesters gathered
outside the council office on the day
of the session.
Three months later, Jakub
Slobodník was appointed provi-
sional director of the GJK. On April
27, only a day after his appoint-
ment, Slobodník announced that
the gallery’s 2011 programme of ex-
hibitions had been cancelled until
further notice “due to changes in
the management team of the gal-
lery and the dissolution of the Gal-
lery Council”.
The GJK Gallery Council serves
as an advisory board to the director
and annually approves GJK’s pro-
gramme of exhibitions. After
Beskid’s dismissal it was dissolved
by the Trnava Regional Council.
Slobodník added in an official
statement that GJK’s permanent
collection remains accessible to
the public.
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CULTURE
Photo: Sme - Roman Gajdoš
Among the cancelled events was
Multiplace, a festival of the new me-
dia, planned to be held at the GJK
between May 2 and 6. Founded in
2002, Multiplace takes place every
year simultaneously in different
European countries. The 2011 edition
was held in several towns
throughout Slovakia, Romania,
France, Iceland, Hungary and the
Czech Republic. The announcement
of the festival’s cancellation imme-
diately sparked new protests.
“The provisional cancellation of
the programme of exhibitions is un-
justified and unprecedented; it re-
minds me of the practices of the
former regime, which used to pre-
vent underground artists from freely
exhibiting their works,” Magdaléna
Klobučníková, president of the
Council of Slovak Galleries, wrote in
an open letter to Slobodník. Organ-
isations such as Trnava Forum 89,
East of Paradise and the Slovak sec-
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tion of the International Association
of Art Critics (AICA) sent similar let-
ters to the gallery's management.
The artists who were supposed to
take part in the May festival pro-
tested against the decision by show-
casing their works on a fence outside
the GJK. One of the videos screened,
an animated short film by Viliam
Slaminka entitled Who’s the Boss
Here? is an allegorical reaction to
Beskid’s dismissal. According to Jana
Kapelová, a visual artist who also
took part in Multiplace with a series
of video-lectures, this particular
movie – and especially its title –
might have been among the reasons
the festival had been cancelled.
“We obviously touched upon a
sensitive issue,” she told The Slovak
Spectator. “We did not expect that
this playful, slightly ironic video,
which nobody had actually seen be-
fore, could lead to such a reaction,
which is clearly an instance of
censorship.”
Juraj Čarný, chairman of the
Slovak section of AICA, agreed, stat-
ing that “it is now a public secret
that there were political reasons be-
hind this measure”.
When contacted by The Slovak
Spectator, Slobodník refused to ex-
plain his decision to cancel Multi-
place along with other events sched-
uled for 2011, stating only that
“Trnava Region is the only authority
competent to provide information of
this kind”. He likewise refrained
from commenting on GJK’s future.
“Being only a provisional director,
I am not in the position to talk about
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May 30 – June 5, 2011 11
the future of the gallery,” he said.
“Once a new director has been appoin-
ted, he or she will decide about what
kind of events will be held at the GJK.”
Patrik Velšic, spokesperson for
the Trnava Self-Governing Region,
confirmed that a new programme of
exhibitions will only be approved
after the appointment of a new dir-
ector. The selection process is cur-
rently ongoing and should be com-
pleted by the end of June, he added.
As for the cancellation of Multiplace,
Velšic said “it was not even listed on
the approved programme of exhibi-
tions planned for 2011, as was the
case with many other events organ-
ised by the GJK both in its premises
and even abroad”.
Beskid confirmed that Multi-
place had not been included in the
schedule but said this did not justify
its cancellation.
“The programme of exhibitions,
as its name suggests, features only
exhibitions, and not festivals or oth-
er kinds of events; in addition, the
GJK has taken part in Multiplace
every year since 2002 and was one of
its founders, so our participation in
2011 was certainly not a secret
matter,” the former director told The
Slovak Spectator.
Beskid said he viewed his dis-
missal “as yet another instance of
repeated incompetent interventions
and efforts to assert power over the
gallery’s activity, with the objective
to put forward mainstream and
kitsch. I find this unacceptable, bar-
barous, and strongly reminiscent of
the earlier times.”
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12 May 30 – June 5 , 2011 FEATURE

AROUND SLOVAKIA compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports

Golf at
Tále
THE LADIES

5
European
Tour (LET)
will stop at
the Gray Bear
golf course in

Porsches in Tále over the weekend of

May 26-29 for the Allianz
Ladies Slovak Open. It will

short supply mark the second time

Slovakia’s first champion-
ship course has hosted one
THE FIRST “On that day, a parade of the prestigious LET

1
Slovak rally of
Porsche cars
was held on
April 22 in
SNP Square in
Banská Bystrica, but was at-
tended by fewer than a
dozen cars.
Nevertheless, the event
is new and its organiser,
Radovan Drtil, told the TASR
newswire he would like to
try again in future years.
through the city took place
and on the next day the cars
continued towards the High
Tatras, Poprad and
Kežmarok, where we con-
cluded our event,” Drtil said.
He added that Porsche
reunions have a ten-year
tradition in the Czech Re-
public where several dozen
of these luxury cars, often
including rare vehicles,
gather every year.
events.
“The LET enjoys huge in-
terest worldwide; thus we
are glad to have the chance
to organise this leg of the
tour for the second time in
Slovakia,” the promoter of
the event, Jozef Soták, told
the TASR newswire. One
hundred and twenty-six
professional golfers from 29
countries are due to compete
The abandoned Lomnica Hotel in Tatranská Lomnica. Photo: TASR over four rounds. The Slovak
event has prize money of
€350,000; the winner gets

‘Tatra Trash’ website should €52,000.

The only previous Slovak
winner of a LET event, Zuz-

provoke lively discussion ana Kamasová, plans to par-

ticipate in the event. “I have
always dreamt of the chance
THE TATRAS owner of the building, based on Currently, the website to play professional golf

A Porsche rally in the Czech Republic.
3
Beautifying As-
sociation has
decided to pro-
voke some lively
discussion and
make people think about the
condition of some of the High
Tatras’ buildings, calling its
project Tatranské haraburdy
(Tatra Trash) and displaying
mountain buildings on its web-
site that are in particularly poor
condition.
One example of a Tatra har-
aburda featured on the website
Photo: ČTK is the Lomnica Hotel, which is
in the centre of Tatranská Lom-
nica, and has been in a dilapid-
data from the land registry.
“Haraburda represents
something unnecessary,
something thrown away.
However, we don’t want the
buildings to become unwanted
objects and to be put aside as
discarded toys. The buildings
form one consistent whole with
the surrounding green,” said
Jakub Staško of the Tatras
Beautifying Association at a
press conference, as quoted by
the SITA newswire.
According to the www.tatr
anske-haraburdy.sk website
other similar “trash” includes
the observation tower Monte
features 12 buildings that the
association calls cultural
monuments and that it says
are not being properly cared
for by their owners.
The general public can
have a say about these build-
ings in the Tatras in an online
poll and Staško believes this
could be a form of pressure on
the owners to do something
about the current state of
their buildings.
The Tatranské haraburdy
project is not just about de-
teriorating buildings in the
High Tatras, since part of the
website also shows cultural
with top rivals at home.
After my victory at the Lalla
Meriem Cup in Morocco, I
feel like I could be successful
at my home course at Tále,”
she announced before the
tournament. Slovakia is also
represented by a new talent,
Natália Hečková, who is 16
years old.
The biggest stars of the
tour include the first four
players on the chart for
nomination to the autumn
Europe-versus-US Solheim
Cup: Laura Davies and
Melissa Reid (UK), Christel
Boeljon (Netherlands), and

Colour handprints ated condition for more than

ten years. Apart from a photo
and basic data about each build-
Móry, Vila Limba, Vila Marína,
the spa house Liečebný dom
Limba, Kúpeľný dom (another
monuments in the moun-
tains as well as memorials.
The website will gradually
Virginie Lagoutte-Clement
(France). This year, the LET
covers 27 events in 20 coun-

support forests ing, the website includes in-

formation about the current
spa house), the Weszterheim
Hotel, as well as others.
add other buildings and issues
suggested by site visitors.
tries, including visits to
China and Australia.

ORGANISERS with the message [of protect-

2 Bratislava’s ‘Lost City’ project gets funds

of an event in ing forests],” Svitok said.
Zvolen called “Among the 1,280 hand-
Forestry Days prints was one by Slovakia's
collected 1,280 pop idol, Peter Cmorík, who BRATISLAVA’s regional The project was initiated by the Is- 20th century; before then was called by

4
handprints for even autographed it.” self-government will raeli Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia its Hungarian name, Pozsony, or by its
an initiative called Ruky pre As in many other efforts provide €12,000 to support with the hope to show – particularly for German name, Pressburg, as both these
les (Hands for Forests), the of this type, the number of the project known as younger people – at least a virtual image languages were spoken in Bratislava and
TASR newswire wrote. The handprints is expected to Stratené mesto (Lost City) of how that part of the city looked before the city had multicultural traditions be-
coloured prints of people’s rise as others seek to beat the which will construct a rep- it was torn down in the 1960s. The re- cause of its proximity to the Austrian
hands were collected at record. The National Forestry lica of a synagogue on the site where the gional government will attempt to soli- and Hungarian borders.
Zvolen's Main Square over Centre in Zvolen organised original building stood at Bratislava’s his- cit donations from other sources so that Another idea presented as part of the
six hours on April 14. It was the April event. toric Rybné námestie (Fish Square) with it is not the only source of funds for the the project is to feature key events and
the first attempt at a Slovak the goal to revive, virtually, a part of Slov- project. Bratislava Mayor Milan Ftáčnik locales in the interior of a tram that has
record of this type, said Igor ak capital that was destroyed in the past, said that he also supports the project, initially been dubbed "The Tram of His-
Svitok from Slovenské complete with its ancient name of the SITA newswire wrote. torical Memory” which will travel over a
Rekordy, which keeps track Podhradie (Settlement Round the Castle). The project, officially called route with the symbolic name “The Ring
of such efforts in Slovakia. Pavol Frešo, president of the Bratislava “Stratené mesto: Bratislava Pozsony of Historical Memory”.
“The central idea of the Self-Governing Region, told the TASR Pressburg”, seeks to motivate Bratis- At the midpoint of the ring the vir-
initiative was to express newswire that it is important to com- lavans to look at their past and com- tual silhouette of the synagogue will ap-
support for the message of memorate important buildings within the memorate certain traditions that were pear in the form of a coulisse in Rybné
the 2011 International Year boundaries of Bratislava, like the demol- practically erased over the course of the námestie, where the original 25-metre-
of Forests and each hand- ished synagogue, that were an essential 20th century. Bratislava has been using tall synagogue, completed in 1893, was
print expressed agreement A handprint. Photo: SITA part of city life in the past. its current name only since the early situated.