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Vol. 16, No. 2 Monday, January 18, 2010 - Sunday, January 24, 2010 of this issue

NEWS
Dzurinda offer rejected
Kaliňák faces
With opposition parties gear-
ing up for a national election
later this year, the Freedom
no-confidence
and Solidarity (SaS) party has
rebuffed a partnership offer
from SDKÚ.
motion
pg 2

BY MICHAELA STANKOVÁ
Judges complain Spectator staff
Four Slovak judges have
lodged a compaint with the
European Court of Human Airport staff also erred;
Rights against the election of
former justice minister police missteps accumulate
Štefan Harabin as president of
Slovakia's Supreme Court.
pg 2 THE INTERNATIONAL scandal over explosive
material unwittingly carried from the Poprad
airport to Dublin by a Slovak citizen after a
Assets law debated mismanaged police security training exercise
Two politicians, one of them continues to shake the political scene and will
the prime minister, are both most likely end in a no-confidence motion
proposing laws to force against Slovakia’s Interior Minister.
suspiciously wealthy citizens A transcript, published by the Sme daily on
to explain how they acquired January 11, of a recorded communication
their assets. Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák has had a rocky start to 2010, with embarrassment over a botched airport security operation between the policeman who had attached the
pg 3 and news of a suspect escaping from police custody. He now faces a no-confidence motion in the coming days. Photo: TASR explosive sample to the luggage of a passenger
onboard a Danube Wings flight from Poprad to
Dublin and the airport control tower as well as
OPINION
A vast conspiracy
The media and the opposition
are indispensable to the gov-
Angry truckers extract the plane’s pilot as he readied for take-off on
January 2 has cast more light on the baffling
story. It is clear from the transcript that the
policeman told the airport control tower that
the material was a real explosive, not a mock-
ernment of Slovakia. To hear
the prime minister talk, these
bogeymen appear bent on
thwarting all of the govern-
ment’s good intentions.
heavy toll from Fico up, but assured them that it could not explode
without additional components required to
make it a functional bomb.
The control tower then passed the inform-
ation on to the pilot of Danube Wings, saying
pg 5 PROTESTING truckers got back into laws it is a road to hell,” Fico told a that “the policeman forgot a mock-up of an
their parked trucks and returned to the press conference, adding that this dan- explosive” attached to a passenger’s luggage.
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ Based on this statement the pilot decided that
roads: but it took a prime ministerial Spectator staff gerous phenomenon is manifested in
BUSINESS FOCUS promise to lower excise tax on diesel support for everything – even breaking “we’ll fly with the mock-up and then try to ex-
fuel to get them on the move. After laws, disorder and chaos – as a way of plain it somehow there in Dublin”.
Slovakia's top brands much prodding, Prime Minister Robert fighting against his government. Before the transcript was published, the
The Slovak brands which have Fico yielded to the truckers on January Speaking at the Presidential Palace, Speaker Paška said that the gov- authorities at Poprad airport had insisted that
survived the political and 11 after massive protests against the Fico, assisted by President Ivan ernment would not yield to any pres- the police were to blame for the incident.
economic upheavals of the electronic highway toll collection sys- Gašparovič and Speaker of Parliament sure and that it would be unfortunate if
last 20 years are stronger than tem, which was launched in Slovakia Pavol Paška, promptly found a scape- for those couple of months until the See GOOF pg 2
ever. on January 1, 2010. goat to blame for the culmination of parliamentary elections instead of a
pg 6 The protest organised by the Union tensions. After their specially “correct political competition”

From garage to global

of Road Transporters (UNAS) only a few
months ahead of national elections
was among the strongest-ever demon-
summoned meeting, the trio –
Slovakia’s top three constitutional offi-
cials – condemned the media and the
someone were to run around with a
petrol canister and matches just be-
cause they were unable to offer a real
US Interblue
From small beginnings, some
of the newer Slovak firms are
outsmarting the competition
strations of public opposition to the
policies of the Fico government. A heap
of manure, which one of the protesters
opposition for what they called support
for the activities of the discontented
transporters, who had blocked, among
alternative.
Gašparovič’s contribution was to
say that the protest had not brought
morphs into
and capturing customers
around the world.
pg 7
left in front of the Slovak Cabinet Of-
fice, was pictured on the cover pages of
the national press.
other thoroughfares,
Rožňavská Street.
Bratislava’s

“If someone incites violation of

anything positive to Slovakia.

See UNAS pg 4
Swiss firm
CULTURE
New architecture
Industry posts year-on-year growth BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff
A new book examines some of already signalled likely growth. But been expected,” VÚB Banka senior ana-
the best new buildings con- BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ they say December 2009 might turn out lyst Martin Lenko said. “The improving INTERBLUE Group, the mysterious US-based
structed in Slovakia during Spectator staff to have been an even stronger month trend, backed by reviving foreign de- firm which regularly made headlines in Slov-
the recent boom years. in terms of production growth. mand and the basis effect from last akia because of its central role in a dubious deal
pg 11 The Slovak Statistics Office repor- year, should continue in the forthcom- under which Slovakia sold it quotas to emit 15
AFTER 13 months of suffering, ted the largest year-on-year increase – ing months.” million tonnes of carbon dioxide at a price well
Slovakia’s industrial sector has posted 16.2 percent – in the production of Mária Valachyová senior analyst below that obtained by neighbouring coun-
the first year-on-year results that mar- vehicles, which is one of the main with Slovenská Sporiteľňa, another tries for their quotas, has ceased to exist.
SELECT FOREX RATES ket watchers are able – with at least a drivers of Slovakia’s economy. Produc- bank, had also expected growth. The Slovak Environment Ministry will
€ benchmark as of January 14 little more confidence – to refer to as tion of machinery and equipment rose “Industrial production has been now negotiate any further details or issues
CANADA CAD 1.49 HUNGARY HUF 267.40 signs of recovery. Industrial output by 8.2 percent year-on-year and the gradually increasing and compared to surrounding its sale of the country’s unused
CZECH REP. CZK 26.05 JAPAN JPY 132.88 grew by 1.5 percent in November 2009 production of electrical appliances pos- its nadir in December 2008, after clean- carbon dioxide emissions quotas with the
RUSSIA (1000:1) RUB 42.67 POLAND PLN 4.06 compared to the same month in 2008, ted 7.3-percent growth. Production of ing the data of seasonal influences, it is firm’s successor, Interblue Europe, after the
GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.89 USA USD 1.45
now approximately 20 percent higher,
according to Slovakia’s statistics au- metals grew by 4.7 percent when com- rights of the mystery firm – originally based in
thority. Though pleasing to the crisis- pared to November 2008. even though it has still not reached Snohomish, a small town in Washington State
weary eye, the data has not brought “The November data for industry pre-crisis levels,” Valachyová told The in the US – were apparently transferred to this
much surprise to the markets, since has not really brought anything sur- Slovak Spectator. new company based in Switzerland.
improving foreign demand and the low prising, since the overall growth in
basis effect from the previous year had production into the positive zone had See DATA pg 4 See WHO? pg 3
2 January 18 – 24, 2010
NEWS in short
Judges complain to Strasbourg
FOUR Slovak judges, Miroslav
Gavalec, Zuzana Ďurišová,
Elena Berthotyová and Peter
Paluda, have lodged a com-
plaint with the European Court
of Human Rights in Strasbourg
challenging the election of
Slovakia’s Supreme Court Pres-
ident, Štefan Harabin. The text
of their submission was pub-
lished on the website
www.sudcovia.sk, the SITA
newswire reported.
The Judicial Council, the
supreme self-governing body of
Slovakia’s judiciary, elected
Harabin, a former justice min-
ister, to the post of Supreme
Court president in June 2009.
While justice minister Hara-
bin, who was previously a Su-
preme Court judge, had his ju-
dicial functions suspended. The
four judges claim that because
Harabin was serving as a min-
ister he was not entitled to seek
the post of Supreme Court pres-
ident, as he was not a Supreme
Author of critical Lesy SR letter resigns
A STAFF member of the general
directorate of the state-run
forestry company Lesy SR, Ján
Mičovský, whose critical open
letter addressed to the sitting
director of the company in June
2009 launched a process which
culminated in a reshuffle of the
company’s senior manage-
ment, issued an “open notice”
announcing that he was leav-
ing his position in the company
on January 12, the SITA news-
wire reported.
Mičovský announced his
resignation to protest the fail-
ure of the company’s new
management to respond to al-
legations of cronyism and inef-
fective handling of the
company’s property which
were described by Lesy SR em-
ployees in a letter addressed to
the prime minister and agricul-
ture minister on June 24, 2009.
“The management is not
willing to face these serious ac-
cusations head on, it chooses
Publisher sues Prime Minister Fico
7 PLUS COMPANY, the publish-
er of the Plus Jeden Deň daily
and the Plus 7 Dní weekly filed
a lawsuit against Prime Minis-
ter Robert Fico on January 12.
The publisher is demanding an
apology from Fico for accusing
it and other periodical publish-
ers of mafia practices.
In December 2009 Fico ac-
cused the publishers of
Slovakia’s major daily newspa-
Thousands sign petition against casino
THOUSANDS of Slovaks have
already signed a petition
against the construction of a
multi-purpose complex called
Metropolis, known also as the
‘mega-casino’, planned for
Jarovce, on the outskirts of
Bratislava.
The exact number of signa-
tures will be announced at the
end of January or when the
number exceeds 100,000, the
SITA newswire reported. At the
moment, 20 citizen associ-
Court judge at the time of the
election. According to Slovak
law, only a judge of the Su-
preme Court can be elected to
be its president.
Moreover, the four judges
state that Harabin, as justice
minister, could have directly
influenced the careers of some
members of the Judicial Coun-
cil which thus endangered the
independence of their decision-
making in the voting.
Similar claims are currently
before Slovakia’s Constitution-
al Court. On January 12 the
head of the Office of the Consti-
tutional Court told the TASR
newswire that delays in taking
up the case are due to objec-
tions raised by the four judges
against judges sitting on the
Constitutional Court.
The four judges have objec-
ted that a member of the senate
and a reporting judge are al-
legedly good friends with Ha-
rabin, TASR wrote.
ostrichism and says it will wait
for the results of a police
investigation,” Mičovský said,
as quoted by SITA.
He said another reason for
submitting his resignation is
solidarity with former col-
leagues from the communica-
tions department of Lesy SR,
who helped him prepare last
year’s open letter, who were
sacked by Lesy SR at the end of
2009.
Mičovský said that at the
end of January he, along with
his former colleagues at Lesy
SR, will submit to Prime Minis-
ter Robert Fico a petition called
People for Forests, signed by
more than 18,000 people since
June, demanding that forestry
organisations and companies
in Slovakia responsibly and
transparently manage the
country’s forests, without
political influence and inter-
ference from interest groups,
SITA wrote.
pers of plotting a unified cam-
paign against his Smer party
and then took his comments
one step further by comparing
Slovakia’s print media to the
mafia.
The publishers strongly ob-
jected to Fico’s charges and the
major dailies printed a state-
ment on December 12 in which
the publishers wrote that
“Prime Minister Fico lies”.
ations as well as religious or-
ganisations, churches and mu-
nicipalities are supporting the
petition drive which was star-
ted on December 22. The peti-
tion demands that state repres-
entatives and municipal au-
thorities prohibit the construc-
tion of the Metropolis project
in Slovakia by TriGranit, one of
Europe's largest developers.
Compiled by Spectator staff
from press reports
NEWS
SaS rejects Dzurinda as
coalition leader
BY MICHAELA STANKOVÁ
Spectator staff
WITH 2010 having now arrived
on the calendar, time is passing
quickly and reminding opposi-
tion leaders that they might not
have too many opportunities left
to change their standings before
the June parliamentary elec-
tions. Many of the opposition
parties are trying to catch up on
what they have neglected or
postponed in the past three and a
half years and now at least the Richard Sulík (left) at the December opposition meeting with Bela
theoretical possibilities for pre- Bugár (centre) and Mikuláš Dzurinda (right). Photo: Sme - V. Šimíček
election cooperation are taking
more concrete shape. than fruitful. Subsequently, the
The biggest opposition party, SDKÚ apparently decided to pick
the Slovak Democratic and Chris- one of those parties and make it a
tian Union (SDKÚ), initiated a partnership offer for the 2010 par-
meeting of centre-right parties in liamentary elections. The relat-
mid-December that proved less ively new and still rather small
GOOF: Police station escapee on the run
Continued from pg 1
But based on the communication
between the pilot and the control tower, air-
port control tower staff, who work under the
authority of the Transport Ministry, have
also had to face blame for some of the errors.
The Transport Ministry reacted to pub-
lication of the transcript by announcing that
the incident will be inspected by Slovakia’s
Aviation Office, the authority entrusted with
monitoring whether air transport legislation
is followed. The ministry refused further
comment on the incident until the inspec-
tion is finished, the TASR newswire reported.
The transcript also corroborated state-
ments made by Danube Wings on January 6,
in which the airline said the pilot was not in-
formed about the fact that the onboard sub-
stance was an actual explosive.
According to Petr Somol, executive secur-
ity director of Czech Airlines, all parties in-
volved in an exercise must be previously in-
formed about its nature.
“If an airline company is to be involved
in an exercise, its security department
must be informed sufficiently in advance
and then, of course, cooperate with the
authorities,” Somol told The Slovak Spec-
tator.
Politics of the case
The Interior Ministry stated shortly after
the story broke that they regarded the whole
incident to be “an individual professional
failure by a police officer” who will face a dis-
ciplinary proceeding.
After strong criticism of his position on
the incident, Interior Minister Robert
Kaliňák’s next step was to accept the previ-
ously-offered resignation of Tibor Mako, the
head of the Border and Foreigners’ Police, the
responsible policing department.
The opposition parties charged that the
incident stemmed from a systemic failure,
rather than from an individual’s error, and
called for the interior minister to take polit-
ical responsibility. Leaders of the opposition
Slovak Democratic and Christian Union
(SDKÚ), the Christian Democratic Movement
(KDH) and the Hungarian Coalition Party
(SMK) agreed at a meeting on January 13 to
initiate a no-confidence motion against
Kaliňák at an extraordinary session of par-
liament. They have stated that the action of
the police violated Slovakia’s constitution as
well as national and international rules.
“Citizens were exposed to risk and
party Freedom and Solidarity
(SaS), founded by economist
Richard Sulík, was chosen as a
potential partner.
“I believe it was a rather gen-
erous offer from SDKÚ, since it’s
threat,” KDH leader Ján Figeľ said, as quoted
by the SITA newswire, adding that it was
also an unprecedented international stulti-
fication which discredited Slovakia very
much in the eyes of its partners in the fight
against terrorism.
“Kaliňák is better in business than at the
ministry,” SITA quoted Figeľ as saying.
Prior, four opposition deputies from the
parliament’s security committee as well as
the HZDS deputy in the committee, Ján
Kovarčík, filed a request for an extraordinary
session of the committee at which Kaliňák
would be expected to answer questions re-
garding the incident.
Martin Pado, an SDKÚ deputy who was
among the initiators of the special session of
the committee, said the MPs believe Kaliňák
is politically responsible for the incident.
“It happened in his department, it
happened at an office that falls directly un-
der his control, under the man that he him-
self appointed,” Pado told The Slovak Spec-
tator, specifying that Mako was appointed by
Kaliňák and was a direct subordinate.
Pado rejected the Interior Ministry’s as-
sertion that the incident was the result of
an individual error. He maintains it was a
systemic failure since there are no rules in a
specific document that tell police how to
react during such an incident during a
training activity.
Prime Minister Robert Fico has so far
supported the interior minister. In a state-
ment reported by the SITA newswire on
January 7, Fico said there was no reason for
Kaliňák to resign and that similar exercises
with sniffer dogs had been conducted at
airports for a long time, including during
the previous government.
Pado, who served as interior minister in
2006, rejected that statement.
“Let them show one document where
something such as that is written, signed
by someone from the management of the
police or the Interior Ministry in the past,”
Pado said.
He said he agreed entirely with what
Mako’s predecessor, Michal Borgula, told
the press on January 12: that the system of
the work was the same as before, but the
practice was different because real samples
of dangerous substances had never been
put in the luggage of civilians without their
prior knowledge.
“Apart from that, there were always ef-
forts to test the luggage coming to the air-
port from the aeroplane and not vice versa,”
Pado said.
a bigger party with solid support
and certain political and expert
capital,” political analyst and
director of the non-government-
al Institute for Public Affairs
Grigorij Mesežnikov told The
Slovak Spectator. He said that the
SDKÚ probably realised that a
considerable portion of SaS
voters are former or potential
SDKÚ voters and that any differ-
ences in values between the two
parties are not very large. As a
result, SDKÚ hoped that voters
would accept such cooperation.
However generous the offer
might have been, the SaS Repub-
lican Council stated on January 5
that they would agree to such co-
operation only if the coalition
were led by someone other than
SDKÚ leader Mikuláš Dzurinda,
whom they labelled unaccept-
able to SaS voters.
See SDKÚ pg 9
Is Kaliňák’s chair wobbling?
The non-confidence motion in Kaliňák
is probably doomed to fail, as the opposition
parties do not hold the necessary number of
votes in parliament. Junior coalition leader
Vladimír Mečiar from the HZDS told a press
conference on January 12 that his party will
under no circumstances vote against
Kaliňák. At the same press conference,
however, he said he does not “understand
the tolerance” that Kaliňák has shown in
the chief of the Police Corps, Ján Packa.
“This man has nothing to do in the post
and he is responsible for these steps,” TASR
quoted Mečiar as saying.
However, HZDS deputy Ján Kovarčík,
who had signed the request for extraordin-
ary session of the security committee along
with opposition deputies, believes that
Kaliňák bears political responsibility for
this case.
“Prime Minister Fico doesn’t have the
same meter for ministers,” Kovarčík told
the Sme daily. “Kaliňák is lucky to be a Smer
deputy chairman. He should have been
dealt with long ago.”
Kovarčík added that he had never fully
opposed the minister since he was bound by
the coalition treaty, but that he believes the
numerous mistakes and incidents in the in-
terior ministry are a result of the minister’s
mismanaging – such as frequent changes of
high political posts.
“And the minister appoints nominees
even for politically-lower posts,” Kovarčík
said.
The opposition raised their voices
against Kaliňák even louder after Sme repor-
ted on January 13, the day they were decid-
ing on the non-confidence motion, that a
man suspected of drug-related crimes had
escaped from a police station in Senica in
western Slovakia on December 29 and was
still on the run.
Sme wrote that the suspect managed to
escape even while handcuffed and that the
police were still trying to find him.
The news only emerged after an an-
onymous reader tipped off Sme about the in-
cident. The police had not publicly reported
the suspect’s escape and only confirmed that
it had happened after the newspaper made
specific enquiries.
“What other scandal has to surface be-
fore Interior Minister Kaliňák takes political
responsibility?” asked opposition MP Martin
Fedor of SDKÚ, commenting on the most re-
cent incident.

Prime minister seeks
consensus on assets law
Origin-of-assets
law hits political
agenda again as
election year
begins
BY MICHAELA STANKOVÁ
Spectator staff
THE ORIGIN of assets accumu-
lated by some Slovak politicians
has remained unclear for many
years. That, as well as the fact
that Slovakia still lacks appro-
priate and effective laws in this
area, is a good reason for a big
pre-election issue – such as pro-
posing a new law on the origin of
assets – to climb to the top tier of
the political agenda as the June
national elections approach.
Prime Minister Robert Fico
and Christian Democratic MP
Daniel Lipšic started the pre-
election competition in the first
week of 2010 with proposals sim-
ilar in many respects to each
other's. It is Fico’s second at-
tempt to enact such a law, as his
first legislative proposal was
passed by parliament in 2005 but
was subsequently ruled uncon-
stitutional by the Constitutional
Court in September 2008 over
concerns about retroactivity in
the law as well as arguments
that it interfered with owner-
ship rights. The Constitutional
Court also ruled that the burden
of proof was inappropriately
placed on citizens rather than
public and state institutions and
that its procedures would start a
new, unknown and non-trans-
parent way of expropriating cit-
izens’ personal property.
The new proposals
To resolve the constitutional
conflicts found by the court, both
Fico and Lipšic are proposing an
amendment to the constitution.
“We will add to Article 20 a
new paragraph that will allow
the passing of a special law that
will deal with assets acquired il-
legally or acquired in such a way
that, for instance, someone
bought an asset with illegal
income,” Fico said, in describing
what he called “a small amend-
ment to the constitution”, as
quoted by the SITA newswire,
with the effect that the constitu-
tion would then only protect
legally-acquired property.
While Lipšic proposes a sim-
ilar amendment, there are sev-
eral differences between his
draft and Fico’s. In Fico’s propos-
al, police and prosecutors would
consider designating a person’s
assets suspicious if there was a
difference between their de-
clared income and the value of
their assets of at least 1,500 times
the monthly minimum wage,
currently slightly over €300.
Lipšic proposes that the law cov-
er assets that exceed 500 times
the minimum wage.
Fico proposes that the bur-
den of proving to a court that the
Daniel Lipšic
origin of one’s assets is legal will
be on the person charged and if
this is not proven, their assets
would be transferred to the state.
Lipšic proposes that Slovakia’s
financial police should forward
any suspicions about acquired
assets to the prosecutor’s office,
which in turn, would decide
whether to take a case to the
courts. When a case reached
court, a citizen whose assets
were being challenged would be
required to provide security,
similar to bail, amounting to the
difference between their legally-
proven income and the assets in
question. The citizen would then
be given five years to prove that
those assets were acquired leg-
ally; if this were not done, the
security would become the prop-
erty of the state.
The need for
broad agreement
The cabinet approved Fico’s
draft at its session on January 13
and passed it to parliament as a
government proposal.
“It’s about the fulfilment of
the programme statement of
the government,” Fico, who is
also Smer party leader, said pri-
or to the cabinet session, as
quoted by SITA. “I therefore ex-
pect the coalition partners to
support the proposal.”
In the end only ministers
nominated by Smer voted for
the proposal. Smer’s coalition
partners, the Slovak National
Party (SNS) and the Movement
for a Democratic Slovakia
(HZDS), did not back the draft.
The heads of both parties have
had problems in the past ex-
plaining the origins of their per-
sonal assets – the HZDS’s
Vladimír Mečiar has never
provided a satisfactory explana-
tion of how he managed to pur-
chase his expensive Elektra villa
in Trenčianske Teplice and the
SNS’s Ján Slota came under fire
in the media last year when he
was photographed driving a
luxury car and flying a jet plane.
NEWS
Photo: SITA Robert Fico
The HZDS has stated that it
wants the government and par-
liament to first consider a draft
law on origin of assets prepared
by HZDS-nominated Justice
Minister Viera Petríková in
December 2009, SITA reported.
Mečiar said on January 12,
a day before the government’s
session, that he could not
support Fico’s draft because of
its retroactivity provision and
because it would interfere
with Slovakia’s inheritance
procedures.
An amendment to Slovakia’s
constitution can be passed only
with a two-thirds majority of
MPs' votes. Without the support
of his coalition partners, Fico
will be forced to rely to a large
extent on support from MPs
from opposition parties.
“I have an interest in
passing this law and I don’t care
who votes for it,” Fico said after
the government’s session,
adding that he will be grateful
even if a cleaning lady raises her
hand to support the amend-
ment, SITA reported.
Fico did not specify his
plans for negotiating with the
opposition. However, the gov-
ernment made a step towards
potential agreement by drop-
ping a paragraph from the draft
that would have limited the
scope of the law only to assets
acquired after 1990. This had
been criticised by Lipšic, who
said that it would make the law
ineffective. The Sme daily also
reported that the Constitution-
al Court had rejected such a lim-
itation in its 2008 ruling.
Ideas from an NGO
Pavel Nechala, a lawyer with
the non-governmental organ-
isation Transparency Interna-
tional Slovakia, said that Slov-
akia needs a law that would help
in taking illegally-acquired
property away from its illegit-
imate owners.
“But given the present mis-
trust of citizens in Slovak courts
January 18 – 24, 2010 3
WHO? Little clearer
Continued from pg 1 ing to opposition parties. The
sale has played a part in the
The Slovak daily Plus sacking of two Slovak envir-
Jeden Deň broke the story in onment ministers, Viliam
its January 12 issue about the Turský and Ján Chrbet, both of
demise on December 29 of whom were nominees of the
what has regularly been called Slovak National Party.
a ‘US garage firm’. The political ethics watch-
On the same day, Envir- dog, Fair-Play Alliance, has
onment Minister Jozef Medveď published several documents
summoned a press conference on its website such as the certi-
and announced that Jana ficate of formation of Interblue
Lutken is the authorised rep- Group and the initial annual
resentative of the successor report filed with authorities of
firm and that she is willing to Washington State. The latter
meet with the ministry in listed the nature of the busi-
Switzerland at Slovakia’s gen- ness as an “asset holding
eral consulate in Zurich. The company”. The state licensing
meeting should take place renewal dated July 6, 2009,
sometime after January 20, names the governing people as
Medveď said, as quoted by the Jana Lutken and Hans Grop,
SITA newswire. which according to head of the
The ministry has been at- alliance, Zuzana Wienk, con-
tempting to obtain a bonus firms that they were also the
payment of €15 million from owners of the firm, not only the
Interblue Group for spending authorised representatives, as
the original proceeds from the reported by SITA.
sale of the excess emissions The 2009 renewal also
quotas on so-called green changed the principal place of
projects. The contract with In- Interblue Group’s business to
terblue purportedly included an address in Miami Beach,
an option that if Slovakia spent Florida, which was listed as the
the fund within the ‘Green In- address of the executor of its
vestment Scheme’ (GIS), the original registration, Alex Hla-
country was eligible for a bo- vacek. The alliance also pub-
nus payment of an additional lished a confirmation that In-
€1 per tonne, or €15 million in terblue Group was not re-
Photo: ČTK
total. The Slovak government gistered with the Washington
has said that its nationwide State Department of Revenue
and the number of cases Slovak
thermal insulation pro- for tax purposes.
police are floundering in, such as
gramme, funded with proceeds A significant difference
the explosive sent to Ireland or
from the contract, falls under between Interblue Group and
the Franciscans’ case, it’s risky to
the GIS scheme. its successor Interblue Europe
introduce a legal norm that trans-
According to Medveď, the is the fact that the US company
fers the burden of proof onto cit-
state will do its best to collect was a limited liability company
izens and is retroactive,” Nechala
the €15 million from Interblue (LLC) while Interblue Europe is
told The Slovak Spectator.
and also continue negotiations registered as a joint stock com-
Nechala suggested that for
regarding the contract in such pany, the Sme daily noted.
an origin-of-assets law to be ef-
a way that the country “gets Opposition parties called on
fective it must have a certain
out from the uneven business Prime Minister Robert Fico to
basis which he expressed in
position which flows from the tell the public about the steps
three distinct steps. First, he said
contract”. The minister also that his government will un-
it is necessary to put more pres-
said that Lutken has never told dertake in response to the fact
sure on public officials to submit
Slovakia that she would not that Interblue Group LLC had
complete and comprehensive as-
pay the €15 million and this is ceased to exist. The fact that
set declarations as well as to
why the ministry has not been the company ceased operations
have well-functioning mechan-
making prompt efforts to can- does not mean that its business
isms to verify the declarations,
cel the contract, SITA wrote. liabilities are gone but that
and to criminalise false state-
Almost nothing is publicly they pass to its legal successor,
ments made in the asset declara-
known about Interblue Group. said SDKÚ MP Pavol Frešo.
tion. Secondly, he suggested that
The government has re- Frešo said he is concerned
criminal responsibility should
peatedly brushed off media en- that Slovakia may have addi-
apply to people who are unable
quiries about who any addi- tional problems if the legal suc-
to explain the origins of their as-
tional investors or beneficiar- cessor demands that it be al-
sets and added that persons who
ies of its contractual partner in lowed to purchase additional
could help reveal or prove the ex-
the multi-million-euro deal emissions quotas at a price
istence of illegal income should
might be, insisting that it lower than that at which
be motivated to do so.
either does not know or that neighbouring countries sold
“The motivation of such a
the details are confidential. their emission quotas , SITA re-
person could be the possibility to
Slovakia may have lost as ported. Interblue Group’s con-
get 10 to 20 percent of the assets
much as €66 million on the tract gave it an option to pur-
revealed as having been acquired
sales price that was negotiated chase additional excess CO2
from illegal income, which could
with Interblue Group, accord- quotas from Slovakia.
motivate Slovaks to become
more willing to file criminal
complaints,” Nechala said,
adding that in a 2009 survey only
6 percent of the respondents said
they would report such suspi-
cions to applicable authorities.
Nechala said that the third pre-
condition for such a law to be ef-
fective would be a reliable sys-
tem of protection for those indi-
viduals who report their suspi-
cions to authorities.
Nechala noted that legisla-
tion regarding the origin of as-
sets is very topical right now on
the international level, because
the Conference of the States
Parties to the United Nations
Convention against Corruption
dealt last November with the
topic of returning property ac-
quired by corrupt practices.
Slovakia did not participate in
the conference. Big money is at stake over Slovakia's CO2 emissions. Photo: SITA/AP
4 January 18 – 24, 2010
BUSINESS in short
New NBS Governor appointed
SLOVAK President Ivan
Gašparovič formally appointed
Jozef Makúch to the post of
governor of the National Bank
of Slovakia (NBS) on January 12,
the SITA newswire reported.
Makúch replaces Ivan
Šramko in the position. Before
the ceremony to appoint the
new governor, Prime Minister
Robert Fico met Šramko and
commented that the central
bank under its outgoing gov-
ernor was a respected institution
in the European context and that
the government paid attention
to its opinions, SITA wrote.
Šramko was appointed NBS
governor on January 1, 2005.
DSS companies earn €150,000
THE SIX pension fund man-
agement companies (DSS) op-
erating in Slovakia succeeded
in growing the savings of about
1.5 million savers in the last six
months and thus earned addi-
tional payments that they are
entitled to from the proceeds.
Together, they received over
€150,000 from the yields, the
Pravda daily reported.
“Even with these payments
for the appreciation of pension
savings, however, the overall
sum [we received] was lower
than before the change in
legislation,” said Vladimír
Šošovička, the board director of
the ČSOB DSS, Pravda reported.
“That cut the payment for the
administration of a pension
€618,000 paid in eco-heating subsidies
SLOVAKIA’s Economy Min-
istry has provided over
€618,000 in subsidies to
households to purchase solar
collectors and biomass-fuel
boilers as part of a programme
designed to increase the use
of biomass and solar power,
the ministry told the SITA
newswire.
An expert commission has
approved 603 applications thus
far. As of late 2009, the min-
istry paid out €499,500 on 490
applications for biomass-fired
boilers and solar collectors,
while 113 applicants will re-
ceive approximately €118,600
in early 2010.
About €7.381 million re-
Between 2002 and 2005 he held
the post of NBS vice-governor.
As NBS governor he represen-
ted the Slovak central bank on
the board of governors of the
European Central Bank, and
also served as a governor of the
International Monetary Fund
and as an alternate governor of
the European Bank for Devel-
opment and Reconstruction.
The new NBS governor,
Jozef Makúch, was appointed
a member of the NBS bank
board in 2005, taking up his
post in 2006. Since 2007, he
has served as NBS executive
director for security and
premises.
fund from 0.065 to 0.025 per-
cent of the average monthly
value of the assets in the fund
as of July 2009.”
The changes mean that the
DSSs are now entitled to an ad-
ditional payment for appreci-
ation of funds, which each DSS
gets only if it achieves a set
level of growth in the savings
that its fund manages.
In the event that the value
of savings depreciates the
pension fund management
company is obliged to make up
the difference to clients from
its own funds. As a result,
most DSSs have since shed al-
most all their holdings of
high-risk, high-growth
shares, Pravda reported.
mains in the programme’s
budget for 2010.
Demand for subsidies is in-
creasing and households show
more interest in the solar col-
lectors than in biomass-fuel
boilers to use for their heating.
The head of the communica-
tion department at the Slovak
Innovation and Energy
Agency, Katarína Antalová,
said the agency had received
1,570 applications for subsidies
to finance the purchase of
biomass-fired boilers (1,335 ap-
plications) and solar collectors
to date, SITA reported.
Compiled by Spectator staff
from press reports
BUSINESS
UNAS: 'Toll system does not work well'
Continued from pg 1
Yet opposition parties said
that it was precisely such talk
that constituted political cam-
paigning, dubbing the top state
trio’s talk ‘annoying theatre’. The
leader of the Christian Democrat-
ic Movement (KDH), Ján Figeľ,
said that the Fico-Gašparovič-
Paška performance was an clear
example of them abusing their
positions. Slovak Democratic and
Christian Union (SDKÚ) deputy
chairman Ivan Mikloš said that
Fico had acted like a coward
when, after yielding to the pro-
testers, the following day he
roared from the Presidential
Palace that the activities of the
truckers were illegal.
Under the new e-toll system,
which came with a price tag of
over €850 million, operators of
vehicles heavier than 3.5 tonnes,
buses and other vehicles holding
more than nine people including
the driver, are now charged by
the kilometre for driving on a
total of 2,032 kilometres of Slovak
highways and first-class roads.
While the creator and operator of
the system, SkyToll, described
the launch as smooth, transport-
ers queued for up to 10 hours at
border crossings and called it
faulty and unfair.
In order to cover the hole that
cutting the excise tax on fuel is
likely to open up in the state
budget, Fico has announced a
plan to merge some ministries
and thus save costs. By the time
The Slovak Spectator went to
print, no information had
emerged about exactly which
ministries would be merged, but
it was already clear that the plan
promised to generate a tug-of-
war between the partners in the
current ruling coalition.
The outcome
UNAS said on January 12 that
the protest action had met its ob-
jectives since most of the de-
mands would be fulfilled. The
transporters demanded cuts to
the excise tax on gasoline; toll
charges to be lifted from 1st cat-
egory roads until the sections are
fairly divided; a reduction in
fines for wrongly installed on-
board units; and signs clearly
marking the tolled sections of
first-category roads to be erected
by the end of June 2010.
The excise tax on diesel
should drop from €0.481 per litre
to €0.391 per litre by the end of
January, which should push
The new tolls are pushing up some bus fares.
down diesel prices at petrol sta-
tions from the current €1.14 per
litre about to €1.01.
The aim is that tolled vehicles
pay only for the kilometres they
actually drive and not for whole
sections, with drivers receiving
invoices with detailed informa-
tion on the sections driven and
resultant charges.
“These are not complete con-
cessions to our demands, but we
have achieved them,” Jaroslav
Polaček of UNAS told the SITA
newswire. “I think in the history
of Slovakia nobody has achieved
this in such a form. But the fact
that we have achieved conces-
sions does not mean that we are
done. We will go on.”
Polaček said that the protest
has also been about the fact that
the electronic toll collection sys-
tem does not work well.
Rudolf Páleš of UNAS earlier
had said that the e-toll collection
is fair only if it works properly,
adding that since the most ex-
pensive bidder won the tender to
set up the e-toll collection project
the carriers expected that the
system would work as it does in
neighbouring countries.
Slovakia’s Association of Road
Transport Operators (Česmad)
said the result of the protest was
a success for all road transport-
ers, regardless of whether they
participated in the protest or not.
Peter Halabrín said that Česmad
shared the demands of UNAS but
preferred different means.
UNAS has alleged that
Česmad, which signed a contract
with SkyToll to operate contact
centres in Slovakia’s eight re-
gions as well as 13 distribution
Photo: TASR
centres, supports the toll system
because the association can
charge €112, not including VAT,
for the installation of OBUs ac-
cording to its contract.
The impact
Operators of bus lines are
among those who say the e-toll
will have an impact on their op-
erations. Some have considered
cancelling lines, while at the
same time confirming an in-
crease in bus fares.
“The electronic toll has gen-
erated costs for transporters that
they are unable to carry and it is
necessary to fully reflect these in
the fare,” Eva Vozárová, spokes-
woman of bus operator Slovak
Lines, told The Slovak Spectator.
The company increased its
fares as of January 11 on several
long-distance lines.
“We are still doing the cal-
culations and in the forthcom-
ing days, or weeks at the latest,
fares will gradually increase on
other long-distance or inter-
state lines as well, depending
on particular lines or their
routes,” Vozárová said. “After
[we receive] the first invoices
for the electronic toll, further
corrections could be made.”
According to Vozárová, the
fare increase is sensitive and
thus the company will treat
each line individually.
“We are not making a flat
price hike but rather making
very detailed calculations,”
Vozárová said, adding that this
is why on one line between dif-
ferent stops there might be dif-
ferent price hikes. “We estim-
ate that fares will increase by 10
percent on average.”
However, prices on inner-
city and short-distance lines are
regulated.
Some bus transporters had
already narrowed their opera-
tions on long-distance and in-
ternational routes last year in
response to the global economic
downturn. For example, bus
operator SAD Žilina cut some
lines, especially to destinations
in the Czech Republic, blaming
cuts on a drop in the number of
passengers.
The company provides most
of its services based on contracts
with Žilina Region.
“All the expenses linked to
the installation of onboard units
and the subsequent payment of
the toll is an item the refund of
which can be requested from
the procurer and thus the towns
and municipalities will have to
decide what approach they
take towards the increasing
costs,” Ivana Strelcová,
spokeswoman of SAD Žilina,
told The Slovak Spectator.
According to Strelcová, they
have several options: “They will
either reach deeper into their
pockets and will pay the in-
creased costs without impact-
ing the passengers, or cut the
number of lines or eventually
transfer the burden of the toll by
increasing the fare.”
As to whether SAD Žilina
plans to increase fares,
Strelcová said that the company
would re-evaluate fares after re-
ceiving the first invoices.
“In fact, there is a [price]
hike of 5 to 20 percent on partic-
ular lines,” Strelcová said. “We
are also seriously considering
the complete cancellation of
long-distance lines.”
Eurobus, another local bus
operator, estimates that it will
incur considerable extra ex-
penses because of the toll system.
Ľubomír Gerši, Director General
of Eurobus, told The Slovak Spec-
tator that his company’s addi-
tional annual costs from the elec-
tronic toll are expected to be
€185,659 for local transportation
and €166,946 for long-distance
and international routes, includ-
ing the purchase and installation
of onboard units.
Eurobus fares on local lines
remain unchanged, while
prices for long-distance tickets
have gone up by about 7 to 10
percent based on the type of
route and the tolled sections
used, Gerši said.

DATA: Significant trade surplus in January-November 2009

Continued from pg 1
According to Lenko, this trend is also con-
firmed by the December data for confidence in in-
dustry, in which forecast production for the next
three months has significantly improved.
“We expect that industrial production in the
last month of 2009 grew by 10 percent
year-on-year,” Lenko told The Slovak Spectator.
Valachyová agrees that the same factors, the
low comparison basis and growth during the year
will mean there was significant year-on-year
growth of approximately 15-20 percent.
“The data can be interpreted as a revival of the
economy even though the most significant
month-on-month growth emerged in the summer
and autumn,” Valachyová said. “We expect that
month-on-month growth will, in the coming
months, be milder since the effect of the old-car
scrapping bonus is evaporating and interest in
new cars will be smaller because people who had
been considering purchase of a car will obviously
have done so using the discounts.”
The key sectors of the economy – production of
vehicles, production of machines, electronic ap-
pliances and production of iron – have fuelled this
growth, said Lenko.
However, the analysts also suggested that even
though industry might have put its worst times
behind it, this does not mean that milder impacts
of the crisis, at least, will not still be felt.
“I dare to say that despite the improving eco-
nomic activities all [economic] branches will con-
tinue to feel to a smaller degree the negative im-
pacts of the crisis,” Lenko said. “Though demand is
reviving, it is doing so only very slowly.”
Slovakia’s foreign trade balance posted a sur-
plus in November 2009 of €259.4 million, com-
pared with a revised surplus in October of €352.6
million. The cumulative 11-month foreign trade
surplus amounted to €1.393 billion. During the
same period a year ago, Slovakia recorded a for-
eign trade deficit of €391 million, according to the
statistics authority.
Exports in November posted year-on-year
growth for the first time in 2009, up by 2.7 percent
to €3.995 billion. In the previous month, exports
had declined by 11.7 percent year-on-year. Imports
recorded their lowest figure this year in November,
though the indicator did not reach 2008 levels, the
SITA newswire wrote.
“I personally had expected a drop in exports in
November of 4 percent,” said Lenko. “There is no
market consensus about the growth of exports. In
the same way, detailed data for foreign trade in
November are not available – these will be released
next month – and thus it is impossible to tell with
certainty what was behind the year-on-year
growth.” However, based on the industrial
branches, all export-oriented, which had previ-
ously retarded the growth of industry it is possible
to assume that exports of cars, machines and
metals were the drivers, said Lenko.
“We expect that in December exports will grow
further, while the fall in imports should flatten
out,” said Lenko. Valachyová too assumes that
year-on-year growth in exports will be more signi-
ficant in upcoming months for the same reasons
that are propelling growth in industrial produc-
tion: the low basis and improving foreign demand
for industrial products seen during the previous
months. Slower imports have also contributed,
along with the increase in exports, to the signific-
ant foreign trade surplus, she said. The structure of
foreign trade has not yet been published.
“I assume, however, that lower imports are a
reflection of the same tendencies from the preced-
ing months: lower inward foreign investment,
imports of industrial products and most probably
also consumer goods,” Valachyová concluded.
 OPINION January 18 – 24, 2010 5
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "The Economy Ministry doesn't presently control anything.
It seems to us somehow deaf-mute." The vast anti-Smer conspiracy
Slovak National Party (SNS) leader Ján Slota justifying his idea of merging the Economy Ministry and
the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development, which is controlled by SNS. takes shape in Fico's mind
THE MEDIA and the opposition chaos – as a way of fighting excise tax on fuel – and those

Kamionisti are indispensable to the gov-

BY LUKÁŠ FILA
Special to the Spectator
TRUCKERS are perhaps the least
likely profession you would ex-
pect to lead a social movement
of any type. Yet there the
“kamionisti” were, blocking the
streets of Slovak cities, talking to
the media about the hardships
brought upon them by the new
toll system, gaining the support
of people who have nothing in
common with truck transport,
and eventually forcing Prime
Minister Fico to surrender to
most of their demands, a feat the
opposition, the media, or even
Fico’s own coalition partners can
only envy.
Two questions are especially
interesting – why kamionisti and
how come they succeeded? There
are many groups in Slovakia that
have a reason to be angry. Teach-
ers have to teach from old text-
books because education minister
Mikolaj mismanaged school re-
form. Judges with decades of ex-
perience in commercial law are
being transferred to try criminal
cases and vice versa, or have their
office temporarily suspended al-
together based on absurd discip-
linary charges, if they dare stand
up to Supreme Court boss Štefan
Harabin or one of his henchmen
in the judiciary.
Media have to pay hundreds
of thousands of euros to coalition
politicians for alleged defama-
tion, not to mention that “sleazy
snakes”, “prostitutes”, or
“hyenas” are the prime minister’s
commonly used names for journ-
alists, for whom he authored a
Announcement
Ownership Structure of the Publisher
The ownership structure of The Rock, s.r.o., as of December 31, 2009, was as follows:
Partner: Petit Press a.s., Lazaretská 12, 811 08 Bratislava 1, Slovakia; share of total investment is 75
percent. Partner: Daniel J. Stoll, 373 Ogden Avenue, Jersey City, New Jersey 07307, USA; share of
total investment is 12.5 percent. Partner: Eric Robert Koomen, 323 Grand Street #3R, Hoboken,
New Jersey 07030, USA; share of total investment is 12.5 percent.
ernment of Slovakia. If Robert
Fico wills it, these bogeymen
against his government.
Then he called on the oppos-
ition and media to present an
who caused the chaos, the me-
dia and the opposition, were
singled out and publicly con-
forms of totality and state dys- appear, in a thousand inimical alternative to his government. demned.
SLOVAK WORD function they don’t easily get
people excited.
guises, in the statements of the
prime minister’s crew, bent on
It was all quite predictable.
Though the prime minister has
The government seems
tempted to try the same anti-
OF THE WEEK
Losing your living, that’s a thwarting any or all of the never learned to swallow media dote over the humiliating police
different matter altogether. It can government’s good intentions. criticism, he has developed an- foul-up in which high explosive
easily be argued that for many The media and opposition can tidotes for himself such as suing was planted and then accident-
people one of the principal reas- shake the pillars of democracy ally left in the luggage of a Slov-
ons for supporting the Velvet Re- in this small central European ak man who unwittingly car-
volution was a desire to share the country, as least according to ried it to Ireland on a commer-
living standards of their Austrian
neighbours. And that the Mečiar
government fell in 1998 because
Fico’s recent statements. Why
would they do so? What would
they gain? These are questions
EDITORIAL cial flight.
Fault has already been
found with the opposition: the
people saw in him an obstacle to to which the reader will not previous governments, includ-
the country’s entry into the EU, easily find answers – at least ing those led by the current op-
another symbol of prosperity. not in this piece. position, trained sniffing dogs
What was for the truckers a After yielding to pressure by planting explosives in pas-
matter of sheer survival became from disgruntled truckers, who sengers’ luggage as well, we are
for others an act of resistance. expressed their opposition to told.
restrictive new press law. Po- Slovakia sees a new corruption the newly launched electronic And the media? Nothing
licemen have to be upset with In- scandal almost every week, yet no toll collection system by block- could be clearer: they wrongly
terior Minister Kaliňák for the top politician has ever ended up ing roads and even leaving, al- reported the number of explos-
way he handled the case of ex- in jail. Coalition party bosses legedly by accident, a heap of ives being used; exaggerated
plosive shipped to Dublin, or the Slota and Mečiar enjoy a life of manure under ‘Fico’s window’ the event; mixed up Bratislava
escape of yet another suspect luxury with no credible way of at the Government Office, the and Poprad Airports; etc, etc.
from police detention, because it explaining their wealth. It takes prime minister was quick to Since the scandal made interna-
makes them all the laughing courts years, sometimes even blame the opposition and me- tional headlines, however,
stock of the country. And the list decades, to decide even simple dia for supporting them. these arguments will hardly cut
could go on and on. citizen disputes. People feel they This time, though, he was it with the Irish, the audiences
So why are kamionisti the need to bribe doctors to get qual- assisted by the other two fig- of international news channels,
first ones to take really dramatic ity treatment. A police officer can ures who make up Slovakia’s or the readers of the world’s
action? First, professionals can plant an actual explosive in the trio of top constitutional offi- press.
protest all they want, but it’s a luggage of a passenger, let him fly cials: President Ivan BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ True, these groups are not
heck of a lot easier to make people off to Ireland, and nothing really Gašparovič, who secured a Spectator staff very important for the govern-
listen to you when you’re sitting happens. second, four-year presidential ment since few of them are po-
in a truck. But even more import- All this creates a sense of ten- term last year; and Speaker of tential Smer voters; and New
antly, the truckers had strong sion which keeps building up, Parliament Pavol Paška, whose the press or ‘blessing’ it with a York Times-reading, BBC-
motivation – their principal and supporting the truckers last vented his spleen on the Fico-style press code. What he watching Smer voters are an
source of income was being seemed to many as a good way to supposed evils of the opposition has not been accustomed to un- equally select group.
threatened – so they really had vent some steam. The efficient and the media ahead of last til now are massive protests by Yet one of the “enemies”
little to lose. Teachers get their and very visible form of the year’s celebrations marking the the very people who he might struck back: the publisher of the
regular pay, so do judges that protest, the approaching parlia- 20th anniversary of the Velvet normally expect to be among Plus Jeden Deň daily and the
don’t make a fuss, media fines are mentary elections, and the fear of Revolution. his voters. These have Plus 7 Dní weekly sued Fico on
paid by publishers, and police of- frustration he helped feed, led At the time, Paška warned happened just a couple of January 12 for his media-phobic
ficers can always hope that with a Fico to back off and do as the of “media prostitution” after months ahead of a general elec- statements in December 2009.
new minister things will get bet- truckers wanted. It’s no surprise the press reported that some of tion, and have been targeted at The publisher is demanding an
ter. Judicial independence and that when you create a truckload the leading figures of the 1989 the prime minister who has apology from Fico for accusing
freedom of speech are nice con- of problems, you have to deal revolution were less than im- been trying to construct an im- periodical publishers of mafia
cepts but in a country used to all with the kamionisti. pressed by Paška’s decision to age as a politician who supports practices.
invite former communist big- a ‘socially-oriented state’. Using He claimed that the pub-
wigs to the official state celeb- taxpayer’s money to buy a spec- lishers of Slovakia’s major daily
ration. tacularly expensive toll system newspapers were plotting a uni-
“If someone incites viola- that those who use it describe as fied campaign against his Smer
tion of laws it is a road to hell,” unjust has not done this image- party and then took his com-
Fico told a press conference, building effort much good. ments one step further by com-
adding that this dangerous But the toll-turmoil ended paring Slovakia’s print media to
phenomenon is manifested in at least partly satisfactorily for the mafia. True to form, Fico
support for everything – even Fico, since the truckers went and his cronies could not care
breaking laws, disorder and home – with a promise of lower less.

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6 January 18 – 24, 2010

From garage to global BUSINESS FOCUS

SLOVAKS AND SLOVAK BRAND NAMES

success
Slovak companies which
are worldwide leaders INDIA

Pop the Hubert! Institutions engaged in protection of

industrial property in Slovakia
Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic
The office is a central state administrative body for industrial

Guzzle the Zlatý Bažant! property protection.

www.indprop.gov.sk

Slovak Chamber of Patent Attorneys

The work of a patent attorney is to represent natural persons and
Slovak brands have legal entities before the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak
Republic and before other state administrative bodies in
survived political proceedings related to industrial property.
and economic www.patentattorneys.sk

upheavals Slovak Association for Trademark Products (Slovenské

Združenie pre Značkové Výrobky)
The main aim of the association is protection and support of
producers of trademark products in areas affecting the
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ production, market launch, distribution and sale of trademark
Spectator staff products.
www.szzv.sk

THE COMMUNIST regime fell 20

years ago and while politicians
of that time have long ago ended
up in history’s waste dump,
there are many much more
pleasing things which have
thankfully survived to this day.
Slovaks have kept nibbling Hor-
alka or Tatranka wafers and
when thirsty, they still prefer
reaching for a Kofola soft drink
or a Zlatý Bažant beer. Most
Slovaks welcomed in the New
Year with a glass of Hubert sekt
in their hands and after finish-
ing a meal they continue to
wash their dishes with Jar de-
tergent. There are quite a num-
ber of local brands which foreign
rivals have not succeeded in
pushing out of the now highly-
competitive Slovak market and
experts do not see nostalgia as
the main driving force behind
these loyal customers.
Local brands play an import-
ant role in every country, espe-
cially in the case of food and
beverage products. This is also
the case in Slovakia where mostly
domestic brands of food and
drink have remained popular, for
example Kofola and Vinea soft
drinks, Zlatý Bažant beer, Hor-
alka wafers, Figaro chocolates,
Rajo dairy products, Demänovka
liquor, and Hubert sekt (spark-
ling wine), just to name a few.
Hubert remains the most popular sekt in Slovakia.
and, in comparison with other
countries, this orientation is
The nostalgia game is a even stronger.
new phenomenon “Slovaks have a preference for
branded clothes, shoes, electron-
which has been successful ic devices, and other products,”
only for a few years. he said. “They still have not had
enough of branded products,
Sociologist Zuzana Kusá which they lacked for decades.”
But in Slovakia the trans-
ition from socialism to capital-
“They are not popular be- ism has also had its particularit-
cause of nostalgia, but rather be- ies. For example, when Procter &
cause people have gotten very ac- Gamble, a US company, bought
customed to them,” Marian the Rakona company in the early
Timoracký, marketing expert 1990s, it changed the name of
and managing partner of United Rakona’s detergent from Jar to
Consultants told The Slovak Fairy Ultra even though its com-
Spectator. “They have become position remained almost the
inseparable parts of their every- same. However, it soon became
day lives; they have built up a re- clear that Slovak customers pre-
lationship with them.” ferred Jar, which had been pro-
Timoracký sees Slovaks, in duced here since 1959, as
general, as trademark-oriented Timoracký told the Sme daily. As
Photo: SITA
a result, Procter & Gamble re-
turned the Jar brand name to the
market and it has remained here
ever since.
According to sociologist Zuz-
ana Kusá, a particular sentiment
to a local product is not conveyed
through a family in either Slovak
or Czech society because the
concept almost did not exist
back in the 1990s.
“The nostalgia game is a new
phenomenon which has been
successful only for a few years,”
she told The Slovak Spectator.
Traditional local products
experienced difficult times after
the fall of the previous regime
when foreign-branded products,
which were unavailable here for
decades, flooded the Slovak and
Czech markets.
See BRAND pg 8
Some traditional Slovak brands
Zlatý Bažant (Golden Pheasant)
Zlatý Bažant beer got its name from the prevalence of pheasants
in barley fields around the town of Hurbanovo, where it is made:
the presence of the birds have always signalled a rich crop and
excellent quality. The Zlatý Bažant brand dates back to 1969,
when the brewery was set up in Hurbanovo. The launch and
development of the malthouse and brewery was inspired in
particular by the favourable climatic conditions of the region.
Moreover, the lack of a local beer laid the basis for future sales
and the proximity of a significant port, in Komárno, allowed the
product to be transported to more remote markets. The beer had
established itself in foreign markets as early as the 1970s.
This was partly thanks to a number of innovations. For
example, the brewery in Hurbanovo was the first in any of the
then-communist countries to sell beer in cans.
Horalka
Horalka has been the king of Slovak wafers for decades. Neither
the introduction of the free market nor competition from other
wafers has been able to oust it from the number-one spot in
Slovakia, according to the Hospodárske Noviny daily. It remains
popular even though it has preserved its old-style packaging and
looks like a product dating from the 1960s. Slovaks have been
eating the wafer, with its peanut filling and partial cocoa
coating, for 57 years. Horalka was ‘invented’ by Pečivárne Sereď in
1953. At that time, when a number of companies were producing
bare wafers, the company wanted to innovate. To keep its
product accessible, it coated only the ends to improve the taste,
while keeping its price low. I.D.C. Holding privatised Pečivárne
Sereď back in 1992.
Indulona
If you ask people in Slovakia and the Czech Republic what is the
most well-known hand cream there the most frequent answer
would probably be Indulona. Since its launch on the market in
1964, several generations have used it to care for their hands. In
spite of its primary purpose as a hand cream, legends abound of
the other uses into which it was pressed during the communist

Intellectual property protection period. Only those lacking in imagination applied it only to their
hands or face. People used it as a sunbathing cream, cream for
shoes and leather handbags and jackets, as well as for polishing

needs more attention wood or greasing rubber parts in washing machines.

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
THE PRE-1989 totalitarian regime, during
which public assets were deemed to belong
to all and intellectual property was not un-
derstood as private property, has left its
traces on Slovaks’ perception of intellectual
property. But although there is still a lot of
work to be done, the situation is improving.
Greater focus by Slovakia on developing a
knowledge-based economy could further
enhance the situation.
“Awareness among the Slovak public
about industrial rights is still not at the re-
quired level,” Július Šípoš, spokesperson of
the Industrial Property Office (IPO) of the
Slovak Republic, told The Slovak Spectator.
“This lower awareness perhaps stems from
history, when the term intellectual property
actually did not exist. During the previous
regime all assets produced belonged to all
and intellectual property was not under-
stood as private property; nor was it under-
stood that the value of a trademark can be
several times higher than the tangible assets
of a company.”
Nevertheless, Šípoš believes that it is
wrong to say that things are not improving,
because people involved in inventing, or de-
veloping new technological solutions or
designs, and those who want to protect
names linked to their goods or services know
how important protection of intellectual
property is. Such people also know how to go
about protecting their intellectual property
or are interested in the subject and fre-
quently engage patent attorneys.
“But there are also many cases where
people become more closely interested in
the protection of intellectual property only
after they realise that their rights are en-
dangered or that somebody is violating
them,” said Šípoš.
Firms are also starting to realise to a
greater extent the importance of protection
of intellectual property.
“Effective management of intellectual
property increases competitiveness and
results in a strategic advantage,” said Šípoš.
“But there are still a lot of people ignoring
the legal protection of their ideas. However,
this has a wider context as there are also
problems in Slovakia with enforcement of
rights. Enforcing protection in a legal way in
Slovakia is not only time-consuming but
also expensive.”
Šípoš believes that a coordinated atti-
tude by more involved institutions may help
increase Slovaks’ awareness about protec-
tion of intellectual property. He would wel-
come more attention being paid to the issue
of intellectual property as early as second-
ary-school level and for it to become part of
the curriculum at schools.
See IPO pg 8
Dermatologists recommended it to people suffering from eczema
as it did not contain any preservative agents. Indulona was
developed by the pharmaceutical company Slovakofarma
Hlohovec, now part of Zentiva. A group of doctors and
pharmacists began working on its composition as early as 1948
and it finally entered production in 1964. It is exceptional because
of its ingredients, the ratio of individual elements and the
conditions under which it is produced, which equals those for
production of medicines and curative ointments.
Tatramat
During the previous regime Tatramat was synonymous with
washing machines. The predecessor of the current producer of
washing machines in Poprad dates back to the 19th century. In
1845 Carl August Scholtz set up a mechanical engineering
workshop in the nearby village of Matejovce. Over the years it
changed its name as well as its range of products until finally, in
the 1970s, settling on the Tatramat brand and making its main
focus the manufacture of washing machines. After the fall of the
communist regime it split into two units: one sticking to
production of washing machines, now Whirlpool Slovakia; and
the second producing water heaters, which retained the
Tatramat brand.
Source: Companies, Hospodárske Noviny daily
Compiled by Spectator staff

From garage to
global success
Some Slovak firms
are outsmarting
the competition
and winning new
customers
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
DURING the communist regime
Slovakia’s economy was under
central command, with large-
scale producers manufacturing
to satisfy not only local demand
but also the needs of other coun-
tries within the so-called Soviet
bloc. The fall of the Iron Curtain
and the subsequent revolution of
free-market economics meant
the end for many such giants,
but also provided new opportun-
ities for Slovaks courageous
enough to start their own busi-
nesses. Some of them managed
to make it – literally from their
garage to the world market – and
their products are now sold
around the globe.
Millions of computers are
protected against viruses by a
program developed by Eset.
People follow iPhone navigation-
al instructions designed by Sygic
or cruise the skies in ultralight
Dynamic aeroplanes. Lighting
produced by OMS illuminates the
grounds of Tottenham Hotspur
Football Club in Great Britain.
And wine lovers can look forward
to savouring wine matured in
Boswell-Polonyi barrels made
from Slovak oak.
Eset is the most well-known
example of a Slovak company
that started as a small new firm
and, over the years, has de-
veloped into a prominent com-
pany with a global reach. Marian
Timoracký, a marketing expert
and managing partner of United
Consultants, sees Eset as unques-
tionably the most successful
Slovak trademark of all.
“In Slovakia almost every-
body knows their legendary
NOD32 antivirus software, but
only a few people know that half a
billion people around the globe
know their trademark and that
more than 100 million clients use
their products,” Timoracký told
The Slovak Spectator.
The development of a univer-
sal program for the identification
and treatment of computer
threats, which started in 1987,
when its first version was cre-
ated, and then underwent signi-
ficant changes and improve-
ments in the first half of 1990s,
was the cornerstone of the
company’s future success. A fa-
vourable review in the British
magazine Virus Bulletin in 1998
put the program into the spot-
light for the world’s experts.
The creation of effective anti-
virus software while focusing on
key characteristics – proactive
detection of threats, low system
requirements and simple control
– helped Eset establish itself on
the market, according to Martin
Baranovič, public relations man-
ager for EMEA at Eset.
BUSINESS FOCUS
A Dynamic aeroplane being built in Prievidza. Photo: ČTK
“Eset distinguishes itself get to market ahead of the com-
from the competition in partic- petition with any new operating
ular by its long-term high qual- system that has appeared since
ity level and by the stability of or which will appear in the fu-
its system,” Baranovič told The ture. “Sygic’s greatest success is
Slovak Spectator. “Clients know definitely the fact that it has be-
that Eset traditionally provides come a globally acknowledged
a high level of protection brand and one of the leading pro-
against computer threats and viders of turn-by-turn voice-
does not burden its product guided GPS navigation for mobile
with useless and needless fea- devices in just a very short time
tures. It does not have periods on the market. Another great
when it is excellent and then success is being the very first
periods when it is weak.” supplier of turn-by-turn naviga-
Eset was the 11th fastest- tion for the iPhone, as well as one
growing technology company in of the very few available for the
the central European region, popular Google Android OS
which covers 10 countries, in- devices, and in a few days our
cluding fast-developing ones in product will be the first turn-by-
the Balkan region, according to turn navigation launched for
the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Nokia Maemo phones.”
Central Europe ranking for 2009. According to Hurbanič, along
Eset has recorded 951-percent with a quality product Sygic’s
growth in the past five years and strength lies in its customer sup-
is the fastest growing techno- port and bi-directional commu-
logy firm in Slovakia, the com- nication with users, enabling the
pany wrote in a press release. constant improvement of its
Eset was not the only Slovak product. She said Sygic is not rest-
company in the Deloitte rank- ing on its laurels, but is continu-
ing. In another category, ‘Rising ing to bring innovations and new
Stars’, in which young compan- products to its customers.
ies with great potential were “The Sygic development
nominated, Sygic was ranked in team is also working on a wholly
sixth place. The company, new product that we believe will
which produces a unique multi- change the history of mobile
platform navigation engine, navigation, but we cannot re-
was the sole Slovak representat- veal more at this moment,”
ive in that category. Hurbanič added.
The Sygic story commenced Lighting producer OMS has
in 2002, when its current CEO taken a less traditional approach
began to focus on GSM, GPRS and to its development. As company
GPS software development director general Vladimír
toolkits for industrial mobile Levársky told the Hospodárske
devices utilised in the logistics Noviny daily, OMS was silent for
market. The company was foun- a very long time. It worked on
ded in 2004, while its focus nar- development and grew into a
rowed on navigation software. strong company out of the sight
The crucial decision in Sygic's of competitors.
development was to abandon “We consider the fact that
the design of product- and ver- we have managed to build up a
sion-specific navigation applic- company on a green field,
ations and instead to design a without any privatisation, sub-
multi-platform navigation en- sidies or contacts to be our
gine. The multi-platform ap- biggest success,” Levársky told
proach makes it easy to adapt The Slovak Spectator. “Over 15
the navigation program to virtu- years OMS managed to establish
ally any mobile device or in-dash itself within the demanding
solution, regardless of the oper- competitive environment of
ating platform, screen size or traditional producers of lighting
type of operation, whether key- fixtures to become one of the top
input or touch-screen. European producers.“
“Creation of this unique From the very beginning OMS
multi-platform navigation en- tried to do things in a different
gine gave the company a compet- way to its competitors. It was ag-
itive edge over established gressive, but in a healthy way,
brands when it entered the mo- and offered high quality products
bile phone GPS mass market in for reasonable prices.
2006," Anna Hurbanič, a spokes- “We managed to be flexible
person for Sygic, told The Slovak towards the needs of
Spectator, adding that this ad- customers,” said Levársky. “We
vantage allows the company to met their requirements quickly
and reliably. Thanks to this we
managed to establish ourselves
amongst European rivals who
had decades-long tradition [in
the business].”
Over the years, OMS has
moved from production to the
development and design of
lighting.
“Nowadays we have our own
research and development team
and designers, and we are able to
bring in our own solutions,” said
Levársky, adding that now the
company is endeavouring to be-
come one of the top ten lighting
companies in Europe.
This year OMS plans to in-
vest a total of €7 million, of
which one half will go into its
R&D centre. Almost 40 special-
ists in the centre develop new
products for OMS, focusing on
energy efficiency and usage of
LED technologies.
“Our aim is to advance our
own research and development
to a new level,” said Levársky.
“In the new centre, which will
open in the second half of 2010,
we will create unique condi-
tions for further development of
research and development ca-
pacities, which will serve not
only our company, but the
whole segment.”
The path to success taken by
the Iron Art company of Július Po-
lonyi was different: his meeting
with Brad Boswell from T.W.
Boswell, a company which pro-
duces over 51 percent of the
world’s barrique wine barrels,
gave it a new twist. The compan-
ies created a joint trademark,
Boswell-Polonyi. Iron Art sup-
plies shooks – the wooden sec-
tions from which barrels are made
– out of Slovak oak and Boswell
uses them to produce barrels in
France’s Bordeaux region.
“In January 2009, our joint
trademark was officially intro-
duced at the world exhibition in
Sacramento in California, where
it harvested great success,” Po-
lonyi told The Slovak Spectator.
“Boswell offers barrels produced
from Slovak oak and designed to
mature wines of the highest qual-
ity via its trade networks in 20
countries around the world.”
Iron Art secures distribution
of Boswell-Polonyi barrels in
Slovakia and the Czech Republic
and some wines from grapes
harvested in 2009 are now
maturing in Boswell-Polonyi
barrels in the cellars of promin-
ent wine producers in Slovakia
and the Czech Republic.
The above are just a few ex-
amples of Slovak companies suc-
ceeding. The path that each of
them took to build a thriving
business was different, but each
of their owners worked hard to
realise their dream of a successful
company. There is no single for-
mula for achieving success.
Sometimes the best way is to find
an unoccupied niche in the mar-
ket, while in others the zest to do
things differently from the com-
petition and listen to customers
can create a miracle. None of
them are resting on their laurels,
but are continuing to bring in-
novations and new products to
their customers.
January 18 – 24, 2010 7
Some Slovak companies which have
successfully established themselves
worldwide
Aerospool – The roots of the Aerospool company date back to
1990-91, when a team of Prievidza Air Club pilots started work on
a WT3 glider prototype. Using the skills gained they decided to
launch a company through which they could fulfil their dream of
building aeroplanes. The company later moved into the
development and production of ultralight planes; its composite
WT9 Dynamic aeroplane is its biggest project so far.
The company is based at Prievidza Airport, which will host the
2010 FAI World Gliding Championship, of which Aerospool is the
general partner.
www.aerospool.sk
Antik computers & communications – This company has been
operating on the market since 1989. It first operated under the
name AFV-Antik. Ten years ago, as Antik computers & com-
munications, it also became also a telecommunications operator.
It has designed its own set-top box connecting PCs with TVs,
which it distributes in a number of countries around the world.
ww.antik.sk
Eset - From its origins as a small company, Eset has evolved into
a global provider of software solutions providing protection and
security for millions of computer users worldwide. The most
well-known Eset product is its antivirus program known by the
abbreviation ‘NOD’.
The first computer viruses attacked disk boot sectors, which are
located at the edge of a disk. An antivirus program could in a
sense be considered a hospital, or ‘nemocnica’ in the Slovak
language. The new antivirus program was thus named
‘Nemocnica na Okraji Disku’ – or ‘NOD’ – which in English
means ‘Hospital at the Edge of the Disk’.
www.eset.sk
Grand Power – Grand Power, which was established in May 2002,
develops, designs and manufactures firearms and does special
engineering work. Its main product is the K 100 self-loading
pistol and modifications to it. The K 100’s unique design, quality
and price have earned it the appreciation of sport shooters,
armed forces and specialist authorities around the world.
www.grandpower.eu
Innovatrics – This company, launched by a student in 2004,
focuses on providing fast, accurate, interoperable and
sensor-independent fingerprint recognition software for
incorporation into final biometric applications. The company
now has clients on every continent except Antarctica, and most
of its clients are in Africa.
www.innovatrics.com
Iron Art – In 2004, 10 years after it was launched, Iron Art started
producing wooden shooks for wine barrels. In 2009 it created a
joint trademark, Boswell–Polonyi, with the world leader in
production of wine barrels, T.W. Boswell. Under this trademark
barrique barrels made from European oak harvested from
the forests of Slovakia are being sold to over 20 countries
worldwide.
www.ironart.sk
OMS – This is a privately owned Slovak company, one of the
largest producers of lighting fixtures in central and eastern
Europe. Founded in 1995, it focuses on development, design and
production of interior as well as exterior lighting for offices,
hotels, restaurants, residential areas, warehouses, hospitals and
banks to exterior lighting used in parking lots, highways, football
stadiums and billboards, as well as for illumination of historical
monuments. In addition to its vast product line, OMS also has an
R&D centre.
www.oms.sk
Spinea – This private engineering company was founded in 1994
and is active in the research, development, production and sale of
high-precision bearing reducers. Spinea’s trademark TwinSpin
bearing reducer is the company’s main product. This original
patented solution represents a new generation of a backlash-free
high-precision reducer with radial-axial bearings implemented
inside a supporting element. These reducers are installed, for
example, in robots serving on the production lines of companies
such as BMW, Volkswagen and Daimler.
www.spinea.sk
Sygic –Sygic develops and sells turn-by-turn voice-guided GPS
navigation for a wide range of mobile devices. It delivers its GPS
software worldwide in more than 20 languages, including
Chinese, Arabic, Farsi, Malay, and nearly every European
language, working together with map providers to support maps
for all regions. Sygic is compatible and cooperates with leading
producers of portable navigation devices and mobile phones and
its navigation software can be also found on iPhones.
Sygic was founded in 2004 with a vision to operate as a strong,
technically oriented company in order to bring innovative
products to the navigation market.
www.sygic.com
Source: company websites, Hospodárske Noviny daily, Žurnál weekly
Compiled by Spectator staff
8 January 18 – 24, 2010
BRAND: Borders limit local brands
Continued from pg 6
Many of the traditional local
brands had to regain their repu-
tation and they slowly rebuilt
their paths to consumers during
the following years.
In many cases they also had
to solve legal disputes over
trademarks and with plagiar-
ists as some of these brand
names had started to be used
for the whole product category
in the past.
Timoracký believes that en-
lightened owners, who have sys-
tematically developed their
brands to a significant extent,
are behind the successes of tradi-
tional Slovak brands.
“The power of a brand is
based especially on its aware-
ness, of which the most import-
ant parameter is being at the ‘top
of the mind’ as well as the mar-
ket share of the brand,”
Timoracký said. “But this is not
enough. Only a brand which is
based on an attractive product
idea with a coherent value struc-
ture and a stronger, let’s say, cul-
tural dimension can be the best.
A powerful brand should have
the ability to respond to unceas-
ingly changing consumer beha-
viour and have respect and
humbleness toward the custom-
er. But probably the most im-
portant ingredient of a strong
brand is its credibility, reputa-
tion and the respect in which it
is held.”
Top Slovak brands
In 2008 the Hospodárske
Noviny daily organised a ballot
among experts in marketing,
promotion, legal protection of
industrial property, and design
to choose the top Slovak trade-
marks. The Zlatý Bažant trade-
mark beer won the highest rank-
ing of the 15 most-valued trade-
marks in the category of
products. The trademark of
Vinea finished second in the top
15 most-valued trademarks in
the products category, followed
by Horalka wafers, Kofola – the
cola-like soft drink – and Budiš
mineral water.
ADVERTISEMENT
Kofola - a cola-based soft drink - has been on the Slovak market since
the early 1960s.
“The voting confirmed that
Zlatý Bažant is not only the
most-valued Slovak beer trade-
mark, but also the most-valued
Slovak trademark in general,”
Hana Šimková, corporate rela-
tions manager of Heineken Slov-
ensko, for which Zlatý Bažant is
its flagship trademark, told The
Slovak Spectator. “But it is ne-
cessary to add that during its
first years of existence Zlatý
Bažant developed into a beer
brand distributed all across the
country, not only in the region
where it was brewed. This also
became the basis of its sub-
sequent export success.”
Kofola is another trademark
success story, a product which
did not disappear from the mar-
ket after the Velvet Revolution.
“The brand of Kofola joined
with our company for the first
time in 2000,” Branislav Burák,
the marketing director of the Ko-
fola company, based in Rajecká
Lesná, told The Slovak Spectator.
“That year we started producing
Kofola as a licensed partner of
the original owner of the trade-
mark and according to the recipe
of Kofola Original from the Ivax
BUSINESS FOCUS
Photo: Courtesy of Kofola company
company, from which we also
bought the trademark Kofola
two years later. This acquisition
was one of the milestones in the
whole history of our company,
which then changed its name
from Santa Nápoje to Kofola a.s.
in 2002.”
Vinea, a grape-based soft
drink, became part of the Kofola
company’s portfolio of beverages
some years later. The Kofola
company became the exclusive
owner of the trademark and the
recipe for Vinea on January 31,
2008, said Burák.
“Kofola and Vinea are leaders
in their categories in the Slovak
market – Kofola among the cola-
like soft drinks and Vinea among
grape-based soft drinks and, in
general, among all kinds of fruit-
based soft drinks,” said Burák,
adding that he thinks both
brands have potential for fur-
ther growth.
Chances abroad
Burák believes that both Ko-
fola and Vinea can find a niche
beyond the borders of Slovakia
and the Czech Republic.
“Vinea, by its taste and
aroma is a product that is at-
tractive for consumers beyond
the Slovak borders,” he said.
“But the potential of a product
to establish itself in a foreign
market is not only about the
composition of the product it-
self, but also, as is the example
of Vinea, about its character-
istic packaging.”
On the other hand, Kofola,
because of its specific taste, has
faced bigger difficulties and
higher costs in finding its way
to foreign customers – as
people in neighbouring coun-
tries are used to a different,
more classical cola-like taste,
according to Burák.
“But now it is no exception
that foreign consumers have also
started to like Kofola because of
its distinctive taste,” said Burák.
Zlatý Bažant is the most-ex-
ported Slovak beer with one mil-
lion hectolitres being sent
abroad each year, according to
Šimková, who sees its tradition,
taste and world-quality behind
its success. The beer is exported
to 17 countries, with the US and
Canada being leading importers.
Zlatý Bažant is the company’s
strategic brand within central
and eastern Europe and its li-
censed production has been
launched in the Czech Republic,
Hungary and Russia.
But Timoracký, in general,
does not see great chances for
local brands of soft drinks and
sweets to get established else-
where.
“There are enough similar
soft drinks and sweet snacks in
neighbouring countries and
those local consumers have built
up relations with their own soft
drinks and sweets,” he said.
“Moreover, the image of Slovakia
as a whole also has an impact on
the success or the failure of a
Slovak brand, ‘what being Slov-
ak’ means to people in foreign
countries, if anything at all. We
should be frank: consumers
around the world have only su-
perficial visions about other
countries and thus also about
Slovakia, based often on myths,
presuppositions or anecdotes.”
IPO: Innovation
required
Continued from pg 6
“It is also necessary to
hope that more original solu-
tions deserving legal protec-
tion might be developed in
Slovakia,” said Šípoš. “So far,
we have instead imported and
realised good ideas from
abroad. The area of science,
research and development
has been underfed in Slovakia
for a long time. In early
December 2009 the number of
valid patents in Slovakia ex-
ceeded the magic limit of
10,000; alas, Slovak subjects
account for only 3.5 percent of
these, or 353 patents. This
should be no small matter for
all those who decide on the
future of Slovakia, its trans-
ition to a knowledge-based
society and an economy based
on new technologies with
higher added value.”
The IPO has registered over
50,000 names as trademarks, of
which about one half belong to
Slovak owners. The oldest
trademark still valid in Slov-
akia is Acetopyrin, which was
inscribed in the official register
on July 26, 1900. Its owner is
Zentiva, a pharmaceutical
company. The Harmanec 1829
trademark registered on
December 17, 1910, is the
second oldest valid trademark
in Slovakia, followed by Pinosol
from August 5, 1913, also held
by Zentiva.
In Slovakia trademarks
create the most numerous
group with Slovakia’s Industri-
al Property Office.
“This is logical because the
number of entrepreneurs in
the market economy has been
increasing and they want to
protect their products and
services,” said Šípoš. “For the
last few years, IPO has been re-
ceiving about 3,000 applica-
tions from local subjects and
about 1,000 applications from
foreign subjects annually. In
2009, certainly due in part to
the influence of the global eco-
nomic downturn, we have re-
gistered a 23-percent decline in
trademark applications. In the
design category applications
fell by 20 percent.”
The number of patent ap-
plications increased by almost 7
percent in 2009, to 176, while
the number of applications for
utility models remained at the
previous year’s level in Slov-
akia, the SITA newswire wrote.
Darina Kyliánová, the dir-
ector of IPO, believes that the
crisis is an opportunity to ac-
tivate the creative potential of
companies and their best
brains, SITA wrote. The crisis
has changed the established
rules and given new projects a
chance. Only those who innov-
ate, who try to come to the
market with something new,
economical, and friendly not
only to the pockets of custom-
ers but also to the environ-
ment, and who also get their
innovative solution legally pro-
tected can succeed in the
highly competitive market-
place, according to Kyliánová.
Slovakia’s entry into the EU
in May 2004 did not make any
big change in the number of
trademark applications. But
applications for patents re-
gistered a significant change.
“Slovakia had already
joined the European Patent
Convention on July 1, 2002,
which meant that the
European doors to Slovakia’s
Industrial Property Office
opened 22 months earlier; and
foreign applicants still prefer
the opportunity to protect their
inventions through a European
patent granted by the European
Patent Office in Munich,” said
Šípoš. “On the other hand, the
number of European patents
with a designation for Slovakia
has been increasing in the re-
gisters of our office. Foreign
applicants are interested in
protecting their inventions in
Slovakia.”
SP90185/1
 BUSINESS / NEWS January 18 – 24, 2010 9
Via Bona nominations open ADVERTISEMENT

COMPANIES with a distinct approach to cor-

porate social responsibility (CSR) can enter
the running to win a Via Bona 2010 award.
These will be the tenth such awards, which
are presented by the Pontis Foundation.
The aim of the awards is to publicly re-
cognise companies and entrepreneurs who
support corporate social responsibility and
corporate philanthropy in Slovakia. Via Bona
2010 will be presented in 11 categories. Be-
sides the two main awards – traditionally
given separately to large corporations and to
small and medium-sized enterprises respect-
ively, there are separate categories that eval-
uate individual aspects of CSR and corporate
philanthropy.
In the corporate social responsibility area
there are four categories: the Green Award
for an environment-related project, the Eth-
ics Award for transparency and the fight
against corruption, the Award for Respons-
ible Approach to Employees and the Award
for Socially Responsible Market Operations.
The corporate philanthropy area features
three awards: the Award for Long-Term Pos-
itive Corporate Impact on society and the
surrounding community, the Award for
Courage to Support an Innovative Project
implemented in a little-known area or in an
unconventional form, and the Award for Em-
ployee Engagement in volunteer activities.
Apart from that, there are two special
awards: the Honourable Mention for Media
Contribution in furthering CSR and corpor-
ate philanthropy in Slovakia, and the Award
for Innovative Solutions to Social Inclusion,
a new award established for the 10th edition
of Via Bona.
A Via Bona Award. Photo: Courtesy of Pontis
“This award will be presented in coopera-
tion with the Social Development Fund on
the occasion of the European Year for Com-
bating Poverty and Social Exclusion 2010,”
Vladimír Vladár, a PR manager at the Pontis
Foundation, told The Slovak Spectator.
According to Vladár, the Via Bona awards
have undergone significant changes during
the ten years of their existence.
“A comprehensive approach to respons-
ible entrepreneurship as a concept in all its
aspects has come to the forefront,” Vladár
said. “Since 2008, Via Bona is not only about
corporate philanthropy but also about re-
sponsible entrepreneurship: ethics, envir-
onmental awareness, approach to employees
or responsible market operations.”
Nominations for any of the categories, a
detailed description of which can be found at
www.viabona.sk (in Slovak and English), can
be submitted until February 8, 2010, via an
on-line application form. For the two main
awards companies have to apply on their
own behalf, but in the other categories nom-
inations are accepted from anyone who
wants to draw attention to specific projects
in the respective areas.
Evaluation of the nominations will be
performed by a commission composed of
representatives of the business world, public
administration, media, the non-govern-
mental sector and independent institutions.
The winners will then be announced at a gala
night on March 30, 2010, by the Pontis
Foundation.
According to Vladár, donations from
companies to charities have not been greatly
affected by the crisis so far, because there are
several ways for businesses to donate, in-
cluding diversion of 2 percent of their in-
come tax or by donating a specific share of
corporate income. So in 2009 companies
mainly operated according to their financial
resources from the 2008 taxation period.
“For non-profit organisations which de-
pend on this source of finance the crisis will
therefore show only in 2010,” Vladár ex-
plained, adding that Pontis has, however,
noted a trend of increased non-financial help
from businesses: such as donating their used
equipment or donating the working time of
their employees to NGOs.
“Based on this experience we expect in-
terest in non-financial support from com-
panies to grow,” he said.
By Michaela Stanková
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SDKÚ: 'We gave a serious offer to SaS' Min. education: University education (Bachelor‘s degree)
Languages: English - advanced

Assistant to legal department

Continued from pg 2
“Dzurinda as a leader doesn’t come into
consideration for those of our voters who
vote for us in protest against him,” Sulík ex-
plained on his blog. “The result would be that
a coalition of the SDKÚ and SaS with
Dzurinda as the leader would get about the
same number of votes as the SDKÚ alone if
SaS did not exist.”
The SDKÚ, in turn, called that condition
unacceptable and labelled the SaS response
as being not serious.
“We gave a serious offer to SaS, but we
don’t consider their answer to be a serious
one,” SDKÚ deputy chairman Ivan Mikloš
said, as quoted by the SITA newswire.
“Calling our answer not serious is a sign
of desperation and I have to say I expected
more from experienced politicians,” Sulík
wrote in reaction. He also commented that
there are several people within the SDKÚ he
could imagine as a leader of the potential co-
alition, specifically naming former opposi-
tion presidential candidate Iveta Radičová.
Radičová said she cannot imagine herself
as the leader of such a coalition. The TA3
private TV news channel reported that she is
even considering withdrawing from political
life, depending on how her party accepts the
election programme she is currently prepar-
ing in the social area.
“The reaction of SaS shows that the party
is programme-wise relatively close to SDKÚ,
but politically not very experienced,”
Mesežnikov said. “Even if the reservations
about the leader of another party are legit-
imate and are understandable, solving them
in public was not very good tactics on the
part of SaS if they were serious about cooper-
ation with SDKÚ.”
Mesežnikov admits, however, that it
might not have been any lack of political ex-
perience on the part of SaS but rather a polit-
ical gambit with the aim of winning over
some SDKÚ voters.
Within a few days of the end of discus-
sions between SaS and the SDKÚ, SaS ap-
proached another newcomer on the Slovak
political scene, the Most-Híd party founded
by Bela Bugár, who left the Hungarian Coali-
tion Party (SMK) last year. Bugár announced
on January 11 that his party will hold talks
with SaS about three possible forms of pre-
election cooperation, including the creation
of an election coalition. Most-Híd has ap-
pointed a negotiating team for this purpose,
the TASR newswire reported.
Mesežnikov believes that cooperation
between SaS and Most-Híd might be success-
ful for the parliamentary elections, charac-
terising both parties as in the same “weight
category” in regard to voters’ support and
noting that they are both relatively new on
the political scene.
“I believe voters would accept this union,
but still, the voter base of the two parties is
rather different and the differences on issues
are bigger than those between, for instance,
SDKÚ and SaS,” Mesežnikov said. He added
that the two parties – which surveys show
each have about 5-percent voter support –
might be able to surpass the 7-percent
threshold required for an formal election co-
alition to get seats in parliament.
“And that would be an acceptable result
overall, because if neither party made it to
the parliament it would be a loss [for the
centre-right of the political spectrum],”
Mesežnikov said.
TASR quoted Bugár as saying that he con-
sidered the creation of a formal election co-
alition, which would need 7 percent of the
votes to enter the parliament, risky but that
he would rather go for new joint party which
would require only 5 percent of the votes to
make it into parliament.
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SP90021/5

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C 3634 C 3649
10 January 18 – 24, 2010 CULTURE
The accidental spa Western SLOVAKIA

Bratislava
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Concert
at the Austrian Cultural Forum –
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
Florian Kitt from Graz playing
cello and Rita Medjimorec from
Vienna on piano, two outstand-
ing Austrian musicians, per-
form works by Robert Schu-
mann, Franz Koglmann,
Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt and
Richard Strauss.
Starts: January 22, 18:00.
Admission: free. Rakúske
kultúrne fórum, Zelená 7. Tel:
02/5464- 1337, www.rakusko.eu/p
rogram/program.aspx.

THE KOVÁČOVÁ spa in central
Slovakia is relatively young. The
thermal mineral springs were
discovered here by acci-
dent during geological
hole and formed a small lake.
Later, the spring was
bought by several businessmen.
found for Kováčová, and the
businessmen who owned the
spa were able to build just one
pool, a small
hotel and a res-
Bratislava
l THEATRE: Haiku – Elements
of dance, motion, music, and
Japanese traditional poems
form an ephemeral image of a
theatre experiment, per- Galéria NOVA in Bratislava has organised an exhibition, a specialised
formed by homeless and han- project of painter Ján Triaška, who ponders the leitmotif of Christmas,
dicapped people. consumption and the art of installation. It combines photographs
Starts: January 21, 19:00. with the theme of Christmas gifts within glass light boxes. This picture
Admission: €3.32 and € 2.66. shows one part of his installation, called Christmas Present 2008,
Štúdio 12, Divadelný ústav, Jak- which can be viewed at the gallery on Baštová 2 until January 31, 2010.

exploration at the end of
the 19th century.
Between 1898 and 1899,
engineers searching for
coal reserves in the re-
gion sunk a bore that struck a
source of thermal water at a
depth of 405 metres. The water
rose to the surface at the bore-
HISTORY TALKS
After they had regulated the
water supply, they established a
small spa on the site. Unfortu-
nately, no big investor was
ubovo nám. 12. Tel: 02/2048-7102, The gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday from 13:00 to 18:00 and
taurant. 7103, www.theatre.sk. admission is free. For more information, see 02/5443-3039, or
As a result, www.galeria-nova.sk. Photo: Courtesy of Galéria NOVA
the Kováčová spa Bratislava
remained a re- l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Sólo pre tional show, including competi- Choir of the Teaching Faculty
gional resort. moju lásku, Momentum music- tions attractive for both children of the MBU Mladosť, celebrat-
This postcard from 1932 depicts um – This cycle of chamber mu- and adults: brace competition, ing its 40th year, gives a con-
the hotel restaurant “Príhoda”. sic concerts offers a selection of junior handling, and the Grand cert conducted by Professors
romantic songs sung by Henrieta Prix Slovak (national) Breeds on Milan Pazúrik and Alfonz Po-
By Branislav Chovan Vrábelová and Mária January 23. liak at the Church of St. Mi-
Jendruchová, accompanied by Open: January 23-24, chael Archangel.
Milada Synková on piano and 9:00-16:00. Admission: €1 - €2, Starts: January 20, 17:30. Ad-

Snowless January called Solo for My Love.

Starts: January 24, 16:00.
Admission: €3 and €2. CC
parking €4 a day. EXPO Center,
Pod Sokolice 43.
02/5249-2298, www.skj.sk or
Tel:
mission: free. Kostol sv. Michala
Archanjela, Internátna 14. tel:
048/4155-085, www.kisbb.sk.
Centrum, Jiráskova 3. Tel: www.expocenter.sk.

SKI WINDOW
02/6382-4390, www.kzp.sk. Donovaly:
Nitra l SPORTS: Rossignol Demo
Bratislava: l EXHIBITION: From Home as Tour – This winter event at the
l LIVE MUSIC: Hudba z Marsu Far as Abroad/Z domova až do popular ski resort of Donovaly
and guest – With its 13 years of cudziny – Exhibition of graphic will be full of skis, snowboards,
performing original music at works by renowned Czech artist drinks, computers, cars, face-
HALF of the coldest month of the year is over, and venues such as the Sunrock Fest- Adolf Born, who is also famous painting, tombola, and more.
it seems that there is more snow in Prague, for ival in Belgium and Slovakia’s among his Slovak admirers. Starts: January 22-24. Admis-
instance, than at Štrbské Pleso. And nothing Pohoda Festival, the Hudba z Open: until January 31, daily sion: free. For more info, see:
much is expected to change. The cold air will stay Marsu band has won thousands from 9:00 till 17:30. Admission: www.parksnow.sk/donovaly.
in Slovakia but no major snowfalls are expected. of fans. free. Malá galéria Akcent, building
So, it seems, the skiing will continue, but just on Starts: January 21, 20:00. of the Town Spa (Mestský kúpeľ), Eastern SLOVAKIA
machine-made snow. During the week, cloudy Ski lifts and cableways offer views of the beautiful Admission: €3 in advance, €5 on Kúpeľná 4. Tel: 037/6517-604,
weather with mild snowfall is expected; while at countryside. Photo: Roman Millan
concert day. DK Zrkadlový Háj 0905/318-260, 0903/409-123, Košice
the weekend the weather should brighten up. House of Culture, Rovniankova 3. www.kamdomesta.sk. l EXHIBITION: Kedi jasna hv-
The lack of natural snow is a pity for this time In Vrátna dolina, the Cena Malej Fatry race Tel: 02/6383-6776, www.kzp.sk. izda z ňeba vichodzila… – The
of year. Temperatures will continue to linger be- will take place on January 19 and 20: this includes Central SLOVAKIA 20th year of the Festival of Sacral
low zero, even during the day. In the early morn- skiing, super G, and slalom events. Also this week Trenčín Art brings Bethlehems and
ings they could even fall as low as minus 10 de- holidays begin in Poland, so the empty slopes of l DOG SHOW: International Banská Bystrica items used for Christmas car-
grees. An interesting addition to the list of activ- recent days are not likely to last. However, due to Dog Show – The Slovak Cynology l CLASSICAL MUSIC: New olling from the ethnographic
ities available in the mountains should be the the lack of snow, the most attractive ski slopes, Union has organised an interna- Year’s Concert – The University collection of the Eastern-Slovak
Snow Bike Downhill in the vicinity of Chopok- on the top sections of Chopok and in Lomnické Museum with an accent on
Juh (Chopok-South). This involves freestyle bike- sedlo, will probably not be used. Slovak folklore traditions.
riding, jumps, and downhill riding on snow, Open: until January 21, Tue-
activities which are relatively new to Slovakia. By Roman Millan, www.lanovky.sk Sat 9:00-17:00; Sun 9:00-13:00.
Admission: €1.50. Galéria Bašta,
Hrnčiarska 7. Tel: 055/6222-856,
www.vsmuzeum.sk.
Ski conditions around Slovakia (as of January 13)
Prešov
CENTRE SNOW CONDITIONS SKI PASS PRICE IN € LIFTS IN OPERATION l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Hudba
pod hviezdnou oblohou – The
Donovaly 30 cm very good €22 5/15 Observatory and Planetarium
Jasná – Sever 70 cm very good €29 11/24 has organised a series of events
under the indoor sky, e.g. Mu-
Chopok – Juh 80 cm very good €19 3/6
sic under the Starry Sky. The
Martinské hole 60 cm very good €22 1/6 For a third time Košice’s Steel Arena is hosting the popular Sony Eric- Baroque Four Seasons by Viv-
Štrbské Pleso 80 cm very good €22 5/6 sson Freestyle Motocross – but this year several surprises await visit- aldi will be performed in this
Lomnické sedlo 50 cm unsuitable €27 0/1 ors. Top racers will participate, including Jose Miralles, the vice cham- unique atmosphere.
pion for 2009, Jack Rove from the US, Australian Steve Mini, and oth- Starts: January 21, 18.00.
Tatranská Lomnica 40 cm very good €28 9/14 ers. Libor Podmol will meet two-time world champion Remi Bizouard Admission: €2. Hvezdáreň a
Zverovka 60 cm very good €20 4/4 in a surprise one-on-one duel. Another lure will be an attempted back planetárium, Dilongova 17.
Skipark Ružomberok 35 cm very good €22 4/8 flip on a snow-scooter by Joisten Stenberg from Norway. The show Tel: 051/7722-065, 051/7733-218,
will be held on January 23 at 20:00 with an advance admission fee of www.astropresov.sk.
Vrátna 60 cm very good €22 3/15 €21.90 until January 22. Tickets are available at www.ticketportal.sk.
Veľká Rača 45 cm very good €22 4/7 For more info, see www.fmx.sk. Photo: Courtesy of FMX By Zuzana Vilikovská

N A M E D A Y J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 0
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia Bohdana Drahomíra Dalibor Vincent Zora Milo‰ Timotej
Mário, Sára Sebastián
can now be found at www.spectator.sk.
January 18 January 19 January 20 January 21 January 22 January 23 January 24
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,
In cooperation with the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute such as chocolates or flowers, and to wish them Všetko najlepšie k meninám (Happy name day)
 CULTURE January 18 – 24, 2010 11

Generation A Books in English

A review of
Douglas Coupland's
latest novel
BY HOWARD SWAINS
Special to the Spectator
IN THE early 1990s, the Cana-
dian novelist Douglas Coupland
was among the first artistic fig-
ures to catch the whiff of teen
spirit that would come to fuel
the decade’s disaffected. His lit-
erary debut, Generation X, was
sub-titled "Tales for an Acceler-
ated Culture" and the book was a
bible for the children of the baby
boomers, vast swathes of innov-
ative and intelligent youth, who
were wasting their talents in
dead end “McJobs” and strug-
gling to make sense of a world
that favoured blandness over in-
vention. Coupland’s novel pop-
ularised the Generation X
moniker and promoted him
overnight to the role of spokes-
man for the slouching classes.
Each of Coupland’s sub-
sequent 10 novels could be re-
garded in some ways as a se-
quel. As marketeers and advert-
isers strengthened their grip on
the modern world, Coupland’s
characters continued to regard
dropping out as a crucial tactic
to tolerate their surroundings.
Microserfs, Girlfriend in a
Coma, Miss Wyoming, All Fam-
ilies are Psychotic and others all
discussed the theme of isolation
in a rapidly homogenising
world. What marked them all as
Coupland creations, however,
was an enduring stream of op-
timism that seemed to flow
alongside the cynicism. His
characters sneered, but did so in
the hope that it would keep
them alive.
For obvious reasons of no-
menclature, Coupland’s latest
offering, Generation A, will be
considered a more formal follow
up to his early masterpiece. It
takes its title from Kurt
Vonnegut’s dismissive challenge
to the Generation X makes such a state attractive.
phenomenon—“The media do us
all such tremendous favours
when they call you Generation
X, right? I hereby declare you
Generation A, as much at the be-
ginning of a series of astonish-
ing triumphs and failures as
Adam and Eve were so long ago.”
And Coupland seems happy to
have the boundaries blurred
between the beginning and the
end of an era.
Generation A is set in an
unspecified near future, wholly
recognisable despite two major
developments. First, environ-
mentalists’ gloomy predictions
have been realised and bees are
now thought extinct. At the
same time, the world’s popula-
tion has grown silently ad-
dicted to a drug named Solon,
which does not only comfort
against loneliness, it actually
Users seek only their own
company and “society” is
rendered less than a sum of its
parts. Coupland’s casual nihil-
ists have therefore more evid-
ence than ever to consider their
outlooks prescient.
The world is roused from its
communal slumber when five
young people, one American,
one Canadian, one French and
one each from Sri Lanka and
New Zealand, are stung by
bees. With Earth itself resem-
bling a vast celebrity obsessed
reality-show, the five ironically
dub themselves “Wonka
children” and are plastered
across billions of television and
computer screens. They are
then whisked away for a series
of sinister experiments, appar-
ently to determine why they
were selected for the elusive
stingers’ special treatment.
The five relate their tales in
a round-robin narrative and as
with much of Coupland, there
are many passages that
sparkle, but also plenty that
seem forced. Coupland has al-
ways seemed addicted to ob-
servation but is sometimes
guilty of employing his fiction-
al entities merely as chirruping
mouthpieces for his mass of
preoccupations.
The most successful mo-
ments come when a particular
vision gels with its orator, such
as when the exhibitionist Zack
offers: “I mean, everyone I
know – hell, the whole country
– is baked on drugs, clueless as
dirt and morbidly obese.” But
such snarky generalisations are
less convincing from the re-
cently-lapsed Christian Diana,
or Harj, who begins the novel as
a humble call centre operative.
The high points in any
Coupland yarn still outnumber
the low and Generation A is re-
warding in its belief that the art
of storytelling holds the secret
to the planet’s prosperity. “How
can we be alive and not wonder
about the stories we use to knit
together this place we call the
world?” says one character as
the five become embroiled in an
exchange of short stories.
The downside is that
Coupland’s canon is itself homo-
genising. His themes and atti-
tudes were once utterly modern
and audacious, but every repeti-
tion dulls the thrill. Generation A
is thus just another good Coup-
land novel that is not, however,
as breathtaking as his first.
now available
The Geopolitics of Emotion.
Dominique Moisi.
Doubleday, 2009.
The first book to expose and
investigate the far-reaching
emotional impact of globalisa-
tion says its publisher. In The
Geopolitics of
Emotion
Dominique
Moisi, a LITERARY
leading au-
thority on CORNER
interna-
tion-
al affairs, demonstrates that
our post-September 11 world
has become divided by more
than cultural fault lines
between nations and civilisa-
tions. Moisi chronicles how
today’s geopolitics is character-
ised by a “clash of emotions”,
and how cultures of fear and
humiliation as well as hope are
reshaping the world.
Esther’s Inheritance. Sándor
Márai. Picador, 2009.
This book by Sándor Márai,
a Hungarian author who was
born in 1900 in Košice, was ori-
ginally published in Hungarian
in 1939. In it, the author of the
famous Embers tells the story
Cities, was first published in
1947 as his first novel. It tells a
story of Pin, a bawdy, adoles-
cent cobbler's assistant, both
arrogant and insecure who -
while the Second World War
rages - sings songs and tells
jokes to endear himself to the
grown-ups
of his town -
particularly
jokes about
his sister,
who they all
know as the
town's
'mattress'. Among those his sis-
ter sleeps with is a German
sailor, and Pin dares to steal his
pistol, hiding it among the
spiders' nests in an act of rebel-
lion that entangles him in the
adults' war.
Oxford Practice Grammar.
George Yule. Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 2006.
This book for advanced stu-
dents is a part of the Oxford
Practice Grammar series of
three books, intended for use in
either a classroom or as addi-
tional study material for stu-
dents’ individual preparation.
The book is divided into units,
each of which covers an im-
portant grammar topic and in-
cludes a set of practice exer-
cises. Tests at the end of each
unit or section of units give the
opportunity for more practice
and assessment of learning
outcomes.
Oxford Word Skills. Ruth
Gairns and Stuart Redman.
Oxford University Press,
2009.
This vocabulary practice
book is designed for advanced
learners. The book contains 80
units of vocabulary presenta-
tion and practice. New vocabu-
lary is presented in manage-

New Slovak Architecture of Esther. Twenty years after

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
SLOVAKIA has experienced a nonpareil con-
struction boom during recent years. Skylines of
Slovak cities and towns, and the general ap-
pearance of the countryside as well, have
changed – with new skyscraper buildings erec-
ted, new residential areas constructed and old
facilities torn down. Henrieta Moravčíková, the
head of the Department of Architecture at the
Institute of Construction and Architecture of
the Slovak Academy of Sciences, has selected
101 buildings constructed or renovated
between 1999 and 2009 to illustrate current
trends and developments in Slovak architec-
ture. Slovart publishing house published the
Slovak-English book, titled New Slovak Archi-
tecture, at the end of 2009.
“No one has grasped Slovak architecture,
spanning the period from the beginning of
modernism to the present, better than Henrieta
Moravčíková,” said Dietmar Steiner, architec-
ture critic and director of Architekturzentrum
Vienna, about the most recent book written by
this enthusiastic devotee of Slovak architec-
ture. “Her excellent choices and excellent de-
scriptions of the buildings of the past decade
impressively reveal the quality of Slovak archi-
tecture, comparable with that of any European
country. The book has already become a histor-
ical document covering the top performances of
the largest building boom in the history of this
country in the heart of Europe.”
The book’s section describing selected
buildings is preceded with a historical and
theoretical introduction elucidating the spe-
cific situation of Slovak architecture over this
time period.
“Slovakia was among the European coun-
tries with the highest growth in building con-
struction over the past decade,” Moravčíková
writes, adding that in addition to bigger in-
vestments the number of architects, archi-
tectural studios, architectural awards,
magazines, and so forth increased as well. But
this has not fully resulted in a desired higher
quality of completed projects or more discus-
sion about the role of architecture.
“As a result, building construction,
whose development was long-awaited, has
paradoxically yielded hundreds of new,
banal buildings, tens of destroyed heritage
sites, and the privatisation of a number of
public spaces,” writes Moravčíková. She em-
phasised that a good overall cultural setting,
rather than just a strong economy, is the pre-
requisite for interesting and valuable archi-
tecture to be created.
In the book, Moravčíková arranges the
architectural works into six groupings, ac-
cording to their purpose, environment and
origin. Living in the City focuses on residen-
tial housing in cities and towns and In the
Village introduces residential projects in vil-
lages. In Nature describes projects like week-
end houses, recreational cottages and tourist
amenities. The Culture, Education and Reli-
gion chapter presents projects of a gallery
and a museum as well as schools, sports
centres and religious centres.
Production and Services focuses on
buildings and premises used as offices and
production halls and the final section, called
Reconstruction and Renovation, brings the
most innovative projects in reconstruction
and renovation of historical buildings, in-
cluding renovation of industrial premises as
well as rebuilding of historical edifices to
serve different purposes than in the past.
Each project presented in the book is ac-
companied by commentary, architectural
drawings and technical data, as well as
high-quality photos.
leaving her, the great love of
Esther’s life sends a telegram.
Tomorrow, he tells her, he is
coming back.
“This novella is not an ex-
ercise in nostalgia; the family
secrets it uncovers are too
painful… Márai understands
that ghosts have a way of reviv-
ifying themselves,” the Inde-
pendent wrote in its review of
the book.
The Path to the Spiders'
Nests. Italo Calvino. Penguin
Classic, 2009.
This novel by the renowned
Italian writer Italo Calvino, the
author of the novel Invisible
able quantities for learners,
with practice exercises follow-
ing immediately, usually on
the same page. The vocabulary
includes a wide range of top-
ics, concepts, different fields
of academic English and it
puts a focus on different styles
of English.
The Name of This Book is
Secret. Pseudonymous Bosch.
Usborne, 2007.
The cover of this book for
children doesn’t reveal much
about it, except for the inform-
ation that it includes two ex-
traordinary adventures, a miss-
ing magician’s diary, a sym-
phony of smells and a deadly
secret. “Open the book if you
must. But please, tell no one,”
the notes conclude. This mys-
terious fantasy story, which
starts with the warning “Do
not read beyond this page”, has
the label of a New York Times
best-seller and was shortlisted
for the Bedfordshire Children’s
Book of the Year 2009 award.
This column is a selection by The
Slovak Spectator of English-lan-
guage books recently released in
Slovakia; it does not represent an
endorsement of any of the books se-
lected. The column is prepared in
cooperation with the Oxford Book-
shop, Laurinská 9, Bratislava.
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