ENERGY
On sale now
NEWS
Slovakia backs NATO
Slovakia’s state representat-
ives have said that the
country will not take an act-
ive role in the military in-
tervention in Libya, even as
it backs NATO enforcing a
weapons embargo on Libya.
pg 2
Traitor or hero?
A bust of a controversial in-
terwar politician, János
Esterházy, unveiled in
Košice has laid bare division
between Slovaks and Hun-
garians – and also among
historians and politicians.
pg 3
OPINION
Integrity and justice
The government is right to
pursue reform of the Slovak
judiciary, but recent events
prove that the battle to re-
store public trust in the
justice system is far from
over.
BUSINESS FOCUS
pg 5
Energy connections
Slovakia is at the heart of
moves to strengthen the in-
terconnection of central
Europe's energy transmis-
sion systems – especially
those for gas and electricity.
pg 6
The power of waste
Slovakia is only now waking
up to the fact that there is
real value in waste as a
source of energy. It could
also save money by throw-
ing less waste into landfills.
pg 8
CULTURE
The “A” Train rolls in
The Duke Ellington Orches-
tra, led by the great jazz
composer's grandson, will
visit Slovakia for the first
time on April 3, with the
virtuoso ensemble due to
play a concert in Bratislava.
pg 15
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Vol. 17, No. 12
Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radičová attended an EU leaders' summit in Brussels on March 24 at which talks were
reportedly dominated by the debt crisis currently facing several European countries.
Officials' negligence
might lead to jail time
JUDGES could soon be allowed to
put public officials in prison for
wasting public funds because of
negligence, and use information
acquired via wiretapping in one
case as evidence in another case, if
the Justice Ministry’s proposed
changes to the Penal Code advance
through parliament in the form
presented recently by Justice Min-
ister Lucia Žitňanská. Her proposed
amendment to the Penal Code is
what she calls the next step toward
making Slovakia’s judiciary more
effective – but some observers are
saying the amendment may not
emerge from parliament in its pro-
posed form.
“After opening up the judiciary
to public control and after submit-
ting to parliament an amendment
Jobless rate hits post-crisis high
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff
WINTER is traditionally unkind
to those seeking jobs but Slovakia
cannot blame its 13.16 percent
unemployment rate in February,
the highest post-crisis level, only
HUF 267.78 on cold weather. While Slovakia’s
JPY 114.34 economy has been slowly getting
PLN 4.02 back on its feet, recovery in the
USD 1.41 labour market has not kept pace.
Employers remain cautious in
hiring, waiting for a more stable
level of orders and labour market
analysts say a drop in the jobless
Monday, March 28, 2011 - Sunday, April 3, 2011
BY MICHAELA TERENZANI
Spectator staff
to the Act on Prosecution, which
also aims to open up and cast more
light into the prosecution system,
we come with another step, the
aim of which is to make the judi-
ciary in Slovakia more effective,”
Žitňanská stated.
One set of changes in this
amendment, which is now under-
going interdepartmental review,
includes making vote-buying and
illegal construction criminal of-
fences under the Penal Code, per-
mitting the use of information ac-
quired by wiretapping to be used in
another court case against a de-
rate might only begin in the
second half of 2011.
February’s 13.16 percent job-
less rate increased by 0.18 per-
centage points in comparison
with January and in human
terms it meant that 395,445
people were registered as unem-
ployed at the country’s labour of-
fices, according to data released
by the Labour, Social Affairs and
Family Office (ÚPSVAR) on March
21. The jobless rate in February
also stood 0.19 percentage points
higher than the same month in
2010 and marks the highest num-
ber of unemployed Slovaks since
January 2005.
Photo: SITA
fendant, and widening the scope of
crimes for which the police will be
able to use persons other than po-
lice officers as their agents during
an investigation.
Žitňanská stated that another
of the amendment’s aims is to
speed up criminal prosecution and
to limit the possibility for obstruc-
tions on the part of defendants by
putting the responsibility for early
selection of an attorney more
clearly on the defendant and by al-
lowing plea bargain agreements
about a defendant’s guilt and pun-
ishment to be reached directly be-
fore the court. All the changes are
intended to become effective on
September 1, 2011.
See LAW pg 2
Eastern Slovakia’s Prešov Re-
gion registered an 18.43 percent
jobless rate and Košice Region had
17.78 percent, the two highest re-
gional unemployment rates in the
country.
Michal Páleník of the Employ-
ment Institute, an employment
think tank, told The Slovak Spec-
tator that the first quarter of the
year is traditionally not a very pos-
itive period for improvements in
the labour market, but that alone
does not explain the lack of hiring.
“The economy is slowly growing
but employment isn’t,” Páleník said.
See UP pg 13
FOCUS
of this issue
P-word is
hot again
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff
PRIVATISATION is a word which
touches a raw nerve with the country’s
largest opposition party, Smer. But the
party’s chairman, Robert Fico, should
prepare himself to hear the word much
more frequently as the government of
Prime Minister Iveta Radičová has made
a firm decision to completely privatise
six heating companies currently owned
by the state.
There are more projects in the works.
Another government analysis states that
Slovakia could raise almost €1 billion by
selling its 49-percent stake in Slovak
Telekom to the company's majority
shareholder, Deutsche Telekom.
Moreover, the state is also exploring the
possibility of selling its remaining
shares in several bus companies.
The government already knows how
it would spend the receipts from privat-
isation: the money would go towards
helping health-care institutions reduce
their mountainous debts, and bridge a
state pension-financing deficit caused by
the launch of the privately managed
second pillar of the pension scheme.
See HEAT pg 4
How to save
€1.17 billion
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff
THE ARGUMENTS of Slovakia and other
smaller eurozone members got a hearing –
and achieved something of breakthrough
– during a meeting of eurozone finance
ministers on March 21 that agreed finan-
cing arrangements for a new, permanent
bailout fund for the zone, the European
Stability Mechanism (ESM). As a result of
a compromise proposed by Estonia, smal-
ler countries like Slovakia, Slovenia and
Estonia itself will contribute around 17
percent less in contributions than they
currently do to the existing, temporary
bailout fund, the European Financial Sta-
bilisation Facility (EFSF). The compromise
should mean that Slovakia has to stump
up about €1.17 billion less.
“We have achieved a significant re-
duction of our contribution to solving the
financial crisis in the eurozone,” Slovak
Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš said, as
quoted by the SITA newswire. “This is
clear evidence that [former prime minis-
ter] Robert Fico and [former finance min-
ister] Ján Počiatek could have negotiated
much better conditions for Slovakia last
spring,” he said, referring to the agree-
ment that set the contribution terms for
the EFSF.
See ESM pg 4
2 March 28 - April 3, 2011
Prosecutor, judge accused of bribery
SUPREME Court judge Štefan
Michálik, who is also head of
the Supreme Court penal
senate, has been named in a
case in which prosecutor
Michal Barila and lawyer
Ladislav Sčury have each
been charged with corrup-
tion, the Týždeň weekly re-
ported on March 18. Accord-
ing to the weekly, the pro-
secutor is alleged to have
taken a bribe in return for
settling matters with the
judge to get a man who had
been charged with fraud re-
leased from jail.
“The investigator has ac-
cused four persons of the
crime of bribery and one per-
son of accepting a bribe,” po-
lice spokesperson Andrea
Dobiášová told the Sme daily.
The three remaining
people accused in the case
are the man allegedly re-
leased from prison following
payment of the bribe and two
other businessmen who al-
legedly helped to deliver it.
The crime is alleged to
have taken place after a Re-
gional Court refused to re-
lease the accused man from
prison.
At this point, it is alleged,
one of the businessmen
passed an envelope with
€30,000 to the lawyer, who
allegedly went to the prosec-
utor with another business-
man and gave him the en-
velope. The Supreme Court
later ruled that the accused
Sterilised Roma case goes to ECHR
THE EUROPEAN Court for
Human Rights (ECHR)
launched hearings in the
case of a Roma woman from
Slovakia who claims she was
sterilised against her will
due to her ethnic origin, the
SITA newswire reported.
The 30-year-old woman
took the Slovak government
to the ECHR after she was al-
legedly illegally sterilised in
SMK boss silent on citizenship bid
THE CHAIRMAN of the non-
parliamentary Hungarian
Coalition Party (SMK) József
Berényi, who announced in
early January 2011 that he
had applied for Hungarian
citizenship under new rules
passed in Budapest that pro-
voked a controversy in bilat-
eral relations between the
two countries, is now refus-
ing to confirm whether or
not he has been granted
Hungarian citizenship, the
SITA newswire reported.
Currently, Slovak law
states that any citizen who
acquires the citizenship of
another state, unless by
birth or marriage, will be
stripped of his or her Slovak
citizenship.
Berényi criticised the
government for not resolv-
man be released from prison,
the Sme daily wrote.
If proved guilty, those
accused of bribery face two to
five years in prison. Accept-
ing a bribe can be punished
with three to eight years be-
hind bars.
The judge can only be
charged with a crime if the
Constitutional Court strips
him of his immunity. Judge
Michálik later said he was
willing to cooperate with in-
vestigators and maintains he
has never taken a bribe, nor
been offered one.
“I would automatically
have reported such conduct,”
he said, as quoted by the
SITA newswire.
Michálik also said he was
convinced his case is the
same as some that he said
had occurred at the Supreme
Court before, when criminals
falsely accused Supreme
Court judges of taking bribes
and whose accusations were
later proved false.
“These accusations after
proper investigation turned
out to be a clear lie, but dam-
age to a good name is hard to
restore,” Judge Michálik
said, as quoted by SITA.
Michálik was one of the
Supreme Court judges who
in 2006 reconfirmed several
communist-era convictions
in the Cervanová case, one
of the most controversial
decision in Slovak judicial
history.
a hospital after her second
child was born in 2000.
The ECHR dealt with the
case of eight sterilised Roma
women from Slovakia in 2010
and ruled that their rights
had been violated because
they were not given access to
their medical documenta-
tion. Each of the women re-
ceived compensation of
€3,500.
ing the dual citizenship
controversy with Hungary
sooner.
The latest attempts to re-
solve the issue are appar-
ently deadlocked.
The Slovak government
drafted an inter-state con-
tract to govern the mutual
practice of granting citizen-
ship, but the media has re-
ported that the Hungarian
government has yet to re-
spond to the draft.
The ruling coalition
failed to reach agreement on
issues surrounding dual cit-
izenship and agreed that no
proposal would be put for-
ward without an agreement
by all participating parties.
Compiled by Spectator staff
from press reports
NEWS
Slovakia OKs Libya action
“I am happy that we
BY MICHAELA have reached conclusions
TERENZANI dominated by the convic-
Spectator staff tion that the EU should fo-
cus its activities on human-
itarian aid in the widest
WHEN Prime Minister Iveta sense of the word,”
Radičová announced her sup- Dzurinda said in reference
port on March 10 for military to the EU’s position towards
intervention in Libya if the Libya, adding that the tasks
UN Security Council approved of the EU and NATO are
it, stating that it was the complementary and “if
hardest political decision of there is a need for military
her life, it was not yet clear if intervention on the part of
military action in Libya would the EU, it should happen
actually be initiated. Two under the NATO umbrella”.
weeks later intervention is On March 22, NATO an-
now a reality and Slovakia is nounced that it had decided
participating in international to launch military opera-
organisations’ decision-mak- tions to enforce the arms
ing even though its Defence embargo against Libya.
Minister says the country has Defence Minister Ľubomír Galko Photo: Sme - T. Benedikovič
little militarily to contribute NATO’s role
at the moment. “I’m on the side of a The minister added that
In unison, Slovakia’s state more temperate approach his opinion was that milit- “All Allies are committed
representatives have said that because every dropped ary intervention should to meet their responsibilit-
the country will not take an bomb and every fired mis- come only if there was a ies under the United Na-
active role in the military in- sile is a risky issue,” said Libyan violation of the no- tions resolution to stop the
tervention in Libya even as it Foreign Minister Mikuláš fly zone. intolerable violence against
actively supports the weapons Dzurinda, as quoted by the He stated that he views Libyan civilians,” NATO’s
embargo to Libya and TASR newswire, following the mid-March military in- press release stated.
provides humanitarian as- the meeting of the EU Coun- tervention as an effort to
sistance to Libyan civilians. cil of Ministers on March 21. protect Libyan civilians. See NATO pg 13
LAW: Lawyers question some changes
Continued from pg 1 Wiretap uncertainty Act on Prosecution through parliament.
Parliament passed the amendment to its
Negligent officials could be jailed The amendment also proposes to re- second reading at the March parliament-
solve legal uncertainty about whether in- ary session only after passionate debate.
Another part of the amendment to formation acquired from a wiretap in one That amendment seeks to introduce
the Penal Code would introduce the particular case can be used as evidence in a recorded parliamentary vote for the
crime of negligence in wasting large another case. election of the general prosecutor and
sums of public money, €133,000 or “There have been cases in Slovakia would limit the top prosecutor to a
more, by a responsible public official. when people were convicted on this basis single seven-year term. In addition, the
“Negligence here concerns the du- already but there were varying legal opin- current position of prosecution clerks
ties that accrue from the law, regardless ions on that,” Žitňanská said, adding that would be eliminated, to be replaced by
of whether an intention is proven or the proposed amendment would not en- prosecution assistants, and a more
not, they [the duties] simply have to be large the necessary conditions for a transparent selection procedure for dis-
fulfilled by a public official,” said Mária wiretap to be authorised. trict-level prosecutors would be intro-
Kolíková, the Justice Ministry’s state Even though the Slovak Bar Associ- duced.
secretary (i.e. deputy minister). ation (SAK) and judges cooperated with Representatives of the opposition
She said, for example, that if the the ministry in drafting the amendment, Smer party have accused Žitňanská of
rules of public procurement are viol- some attorneys do not share Žitňanská’s attempting to place prosecutors and
ated, whether intentionally or not, and enthusiasm for using information from a judges under the political control of the
the damages are more than €133,000 be- wiretap in one case as evidence in another ruling coalition and have charged that
cause of a public official’s violation of case. The SAK’s secretary, attorney Andrej she has done nothing so far to solve
the rules, it means a crime has been Popovec, said that wiretapping interferes problems in the judiciary.
committed. with personal privacy and each such initi- “You are creating an infernal tool
Results of an investigation by ative must be preceded by a court order that can be misused in the future,”
Slovakia’s Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) with reasoned justification. Robert Fico, the chairman of Smer, said
could serve as evidence in such a crim- “The proposed amendment would leg- during a parliamentary debate, as
inal prosecution, as well as practically alise violation of the constitutional right quoted by the TASR newswire, further
any other evidence, the state secretary to privacy protection without clear spe- accusing the ruling coalition of trying
added. cification and legal consent of a judge,” to put judges, prosecutors and police all
“We don’t need to talk about specific Popovec told The Slovak Spectator. under its control so that it could “crim-
cases, but in one specific case we have Žitňanská said she understands that inalise the opposition”.
heard that intention will have to be attorneys want to widen their opportunity The parliamentary opposition has
proved,” Kolíkova said, hinting that she for defending clients, but added “I believe also rejected the idea of a public vote to
meant Slovakia’s infamous bulletin- that it is in the interest of the state to have select the next general prosecutor. Fico
board tender case. effective tools for discovering serious stated that he would never recognise a
“Under the new rules, in this case if criminal activities”. prosecutor elected by an open vote.
someone had signed a document, he or The proposed amendment would also The Justice Ministry is also propos-
she would bear responsibility for it, as permit additional situations when an ing a ban on so-called negative orders, a
well as everyone who had anything to agent who is not a member of the police process in which higher level prosec-
do with the document [if] the document corps could be used during the investiga- utors are currently permitted to order
caused damages,” Kolíkova stated. tion of crimes and the minister stated this subordinate prosecutors to not launch
However, an expected change in the would help detect crimes by criminal or criminal prosecution against a suspect,
rules which would have held public offi- terrorist gangs. to not press charges or have a suspect
cials accountable with their personal as- “Today [the rules] mean that a police- arrested, or to cease criminal prosecu-
sets for a violation of the law, which was man needs to infiltrate a criminal gang; tion. Even some parties which are part
announced recently by Prime Minister under the new rules the police might be of the ruling coalition have voiced re-
Iveta Radičová, was not presented as able to agree with a member of the gang to servations about such a ban and the
part of the Penal Code amendment. cooperate as an agent,” Žitňanská said. acting head of the General Prosecutor’s
The Sme daily wrote that Rado Baťo, Office, Deputy General Prosecutor
Radičová’s spokesperson, said changes Battle over prosecution Ladislav Tichý, has stated he would
to the law on material responsibility for take the issue to Slovakia’s Constitu-
damages caused during the performance Lately, Žitňanská has been fully oc- tional Court if such a change is passed
of public powers are now under way. cupied pushing her amendment to the by parliament.

Esterházy: traitor or hero?
Bust of interwar
Hungarian
politician
provokes
controversy
BY MICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
SCULPTURES continue to
demonstrate their power in
Slovakia. After the equestrian
statue of Svätopluk in front of
Bratislava Castle divided soci-
ety a year ago, a similar situ-
ation, though on a smaller
scale, has now occurred in
Slovakia’s second city, Košice,
where a bust of a controver-
sial interwar politician has
laid bare the division between
Slovaks and Hungarians – and
not only between locals in
Košice, but also among histor-
ians and politicians.
An argument that ended
in a brawl marked the cere-
monial unveiling of the bust
of János Esterházy, a local
ethnic Hungarian politician
active mainly in the 1930s, at a
private lot on the main street
of the city. The unveiling was
organised by the Košice Civic
Club on March 14, which is
the anniversary of the emer-
gence of the Nazi-allied 1st
Slovak Republic in 1939. A few
ethnic Slovak Košice inhabit-
ants turned out to protest
against the bust.
Peter Kalmus, a local artist
who was active in the
November 1989 revolution,
presented what he called a
peaceful protest. After the
bust was unveiled, he attemp-
ted to cover it with toilet pa-
per but was stopped by two
young men who attacked him
and threw him to the ground.
The police detained the pair
and later accused them of
promoting extremism based
on the right-wing extremist
symbols they were reported to
have been wearing.
Who was Esterházy
Count János Esterházy
was an ethnic Hungarian
politician in interwar
Czechoslovakia. He served as
a member of the Czechoslovak
parliament, and later, after
Slovakia broke away from
Czechoslovakia, he sat in the
Slovak parliament. Historical
facts about his personality
have been blurred by the di-
vergent portrayal of his role
by Slovaks and Hungarians:
while the former have tended
to think of him as a traitor,
the latter have instead tended
to regard him as something of
a hero.
Historians highlight his
attitude in the vote on the so-
called deportation law, which
the Slovak parliament passed
in May 1942 to permit the de-
portation of the country’s
Jewish citizens to Nazi con-
NEWS
Esterházy's bust was unveiled in Košice on March 14. Photo: TASR
centration camps. Esterházy living in Czechoslovakia after
was the only MP not to vote in the Trianon Treaty had de-
favour of the law, arguing termined the borders of the
that he could not support a new post-Austro-Hungary na-
law which granted the right tion-states were not happy
to the majority to expatriate a with their position and, al-
minority. His stance won him though most of them did not
heavy criticism from the support the potential change
Slovak press at the time. of borders actively and were
After the war, Esterházy not against Czechoslovak
was convicted by a Soviet statehood, they certainly wel-
court, and later also by a court comed the change of borders
in communist Czechoslov- which followed the Vienna
akia. The Czechoslovak court Arbitration.
first sentenced him to death, “Hungarians tried to ac-
later commuting that to life cept their actual situation but
imprisonment. Esterházy died it’s true that they were happy
in a prison hospital in 1957. to see the kind of changes that
were happening in their
Traitor or hero? favour,” Kollai told The Slovak
Spectator, adding that this is
Opinions on Esterházy are exactly where János
divided even within the Slov- Esterházy serves as an ex-
ak community, as well as ample which could help Slov-
within the Hungarian com- aks to understand the position
munity. Most Slovak histori- of Hungarians in Czechoslov-
ans claim he was a traitor to akia at that time.
the Czechoslovak state, “He was not a war
though some say that this ar- criminal,” Kollai said, ex-
gument lacks historical plaining that a war criminal is
foundation. someone who violates univer-
“János Esterházy, as a sal human rights, which in
minority politician, was con- his view Esterházy did not.
tinuously trying to break up Esterházy opposed the
the Czechoslovak state and its Czechoslovak state-building
democratic regime,” the His- process and most Slovak na-
torical Institute of the Slovak tion-building ideas too, but al-
Academy of Sciences (SAV) though Slovak and Czech state
wrote in a statement about and nation-building ambi-
Esterházy, adding that in pur- tions were legitimate, oppos-
suit of that aim, Esterházy ing them does not equate to
secretly collaborated with opposing universal human
Hungary as well as with Nazi rights, Kollai said.
Germany.
Historian Milan Zemko Principles or tactics?
from SAV’s Historical Insti-
tute said that Esterházy took The debate about
an active part in the prepara- Esterházy, however, covers
tion of the Vienna Arbitration, more controversial territory.
which stripped Czechoslov- He was a representative of the
akia of its eastern and some Nazi-allied Slovak state and a
southern parts, including the self-proclaimed anti-Semite,
city of Košice, and handed but this was to some extent
them to Hungary. balanced by his clear opposi-
“Slovaks can hardly see tion to the 1942 deportation
this in a positive light,” law and the evidence of Jews
Zemko told The Slovak Spec- whom he saved by helping
tator. “Hungarians, however, them to escape Slovakia.
see it as a contribution to the Historians from SAV say
re-unification of magyarság, that despite his vote on the
the Hungarian community in deportation law, he had sup-
the Carpathian Basin, and ported all the previous anti-
thus as positive for the Hun- Jewish laws in parliament
garian nation.” and himself stated that he
István Kollai, a historian was “always on the anti-Jew-
and director of the Hungarian ish side since childhood and
Cultural Institute in Bratis- will always remain there”.
lava, stressed that Hungari- “He declared himself an
ans who found themselves anti-Semite, but that doesn’t
mean he completely identi-
fied with the intentions and
policies of Adolf Hitler,”
Zemko said. “More likely, he
hoped that Hitler’s revisionist
and expansionist politics will
be useful in favour of Hun-
garian revisionism too.”
Claims of anti-Semitism
can burden historical person-
alities of that time, Kollai
said, but in the case of
Esterházy his anti-Semitism
is not a strong issue, “because
nobody can be sure whether it
was genuine or only tactical
behaviour”.
Kollai claims that there
are Jewish survivors who
were saved by the Esterházy
family, and some of them
even wrote letters to the Yad
Vashem Museum in Israel to
nominate Esterházy for the
“Righteous Among the
Nations” title.
Zemko admits that
Esterházy might have helped
some Jews who were
threatened by the wartime
regime in Slovakia but says
“he was far from being alone
in this praiseworthy activity
in Slovakia, even among
politicians”.
Bust or rehabilitation?
Views about whether
Esterházy deserves to have a
bust in Košice differ, just like
the opinions about his histor-
ical role. Matica Slovenská, a
state-supported cultural or-
ganisation, rejected the bust
as tension-inducing, and
some human rights organisa-
tions have protested against it
due to Esterházy’s record of
anti-Semitism. But historians
are divided over the bust.
“I believe it is not
justified,” Zemko said.
“Esterházy, with his political
and conspiratorial activities
against the state of which he
was a citizen, is not a good ex-
ample for the present and the
future of Europeans.”
Ivan Mrva, a historian at
the University of Ss Cyril and
Methodius, however, says
that Esterházy’s conspiratori-
al activities are unconfirmed
and in the end he was a victim
of post-war hysteria in
Europe. From that point of
view, the bust is not problem-
atic.
“The question, however, is
whether this is not one of the
Hungarian provocations that
have grown in number – and
we, Slovaks, are sensitive to
that,” Mrva said.
Kollai of the Hungarian
Cultural Institute said Hun-
garians are trying to avoid any
provocation and believe that
Esterházy can serve as an ex-
ample for Slovaks of what
Hungarians think about some
historical issues.
“If this example is accep-
ted by Slovaks as an under-
standable point of view at that
time, it means that the whole
behaviour of the Hungarian
community at that time was
understandable and
acceptable,” Kollai said.
March 28 – April 3, 2011
€1.1 million for
tagging bears
SLOVAKIA’s nature protec-
tion agency hired a private
company from Bardejov to
perform tasks that had
already been finished by
state forestry companies
even before the tender was
opened. Critics called the
process absurd, while the
agency said applicable law
bound them to the proced-
ure, the Sme daily reported.
The State Nature Protec-
tion (ŠOP) agency was gran-
ted €700,000 from Slovakia’s
Environmental Fund to pre-
vent bark beetles from
spreading in protected fores-
ted areas. ŠOP then prepared
a tender for this work which
was won by LSO, a private,
Bardejov-based company.
What LSO then did was to
use the money it received to
pay Lesy SR, the state
forestry company, and other
regional forestry companies
which had earlier under-
taken the protective meas-
ures. Sme wrote that accord-
ing to the invoices, LSO
profited by €200,000 under
this tender.
The preventive measures
against bark beetles must be
taken between April and
September, and partly also in
October, in order to be effect-
ive and the public procure-
ment was not finished until
the end of October, Pavel
Mathe, a forester and former
ŠOP employee, told Sme,
adding that by the time of
the tender the preventive
measures had already been
completed and it was clear to
what degree.
“Such procurement is il-
logical and absurd and in my
opinion also contradicts the
law,” Mathe said, as quoted
by Sme.
Employees of the state
and regional nature protec-
tion companies said that de-
fects in the procurement sys-
tem are to blame for the pro-
cess. First, they said ŠOP does
not know in advance how
large the grant from the En-
vironmental Fund will be
and therefore cannot an-
nounce a tender earlier in
the year. Secondly, while in
the past the services were
procured directly from the
state company managing the
applicable forests (such as
State Forests of TANAP in the
High Tatras), the Public Pro-
curement Office complained
about that process and ŠOP
Bears frolicking in the Tatras, sans GPS collars.
3
was asked to initiate public
tenders that could be won by
any firm. But at the same
time the state companies
managing the forests had the
responsibility to protect the
forests from bark beetles and
had to use their own re-
sources within the effective
time period and then hope
that the expenditures would
be reimbursed after the pub-
lic procurement.
Pricey bear surveillance
Protecting state forests
from bark beetles is not the
only service that LSO has
provided under contract to
ŠOP, however. The Sme daily
reported that LSO also has a
contract to run a bear monit-
oring programme and that
for €1.1 million the company
is required to capture a max-
imum of 15 bears in the High
Tatras and tag them with
GPS collars. Sme wrote that
the contract does not state
the minimum number of
bears that LSO must outfit
with GPS collars. In mid 2012,
the company is required to
submit a comprehensive
ethological study of the bear
population in Slovakia.
Sme wrote that LSO had
no previous experience with
similar projects and that so
far the company has set four
traps but has not captured or
tagged any bears.
An expert in this field
told Sme that he believes this
contract was grossly over-
priced.
“For this money you
could easily map the entire
bear population in central
Europe,” Marián Janiga from
the Mountain Biology Re-
search Institute of the Uni-
versity of Žilina told Sme.
Former ŠOP head Ján
Mizerák, who signed the
contract on behalf of the
state, said that the project
should continue because it
will provide valuable in-
formation.
The Environment Min-
istry, however, believes that
LSO had more than an arms-
length relationship with
Mizerák: the ministry filed a
criminal complaint about
the bear surveillance con-
tract in December 2010, al-
leging fraud.
Compiled by Spectator staff
from press reports
Photo: TASR
4 March 28 - April 3, 2011
Austria to sue over nuclear plants
THE AUSTRIAN government
has renewed its opposition
to the construction of nucle-
ar power plants in Slovakia
and the Czech Republic after
the problems experienced at
Japanese nuclear plants fol-
lowing the March 11 earth-
quake there.
The Austrian cabinet
agreed on March 21 to file a
lawsuit against both Slovakia
and the Czech Republic at the
European Court of Justice
(ECJ) in order to stop the con-
struction of power plants at
Mochovce (in Slovakia, 170
kilometres from Vienna) and
Temelín (in the Czech Repub-
lic, 95 kilometres from Linz),
the Sme daily reported. The
lawsuits form part of a new
action plan which the Austri-
an government passed 12 days
after the disaster in Japan.
“No member state of the
EU can ban other member
state from using nuclear
energy,” Slovak Economy
Ministry spokesperson Róbert
Merva told Sme, adding that
the ministry can provide no
EC calls for labour market reform
SLOVAKIA should imple-
ment structural reforms in
order to reduce unemploy-
ment, the European com-
missioner for employment,
social affairs and inclusion,
László Andor, said after a
ministerial conference to
examine the impacts of the
global economic crisis on
employment and the recov-
ery of the labour market.
The gathering took place in
Bratislava on March 22.
Slovakia should provide
more job opportunities for
people excluded from the
labour market, many of
whom are young people,
Andor said, as reported by
the SITA newswire. He also
advised dealing with voca-
tional training and doing
more to improve the posi-
tion of Roma citizens.
Andor said the opening
of the German and Austri-
an labour markets on May
1, 2011, would be a great
opportunity for the people
of the Visegrad Group of
countries.
German investor targets Poltár
A NEW investor has emerged
for the Slovglass glassworks
in Poltár in Banská Bystrica
Region. The troubled plant is
currently undergoing re-
structuring.
The offer to invest came
from German Crystal, which
belongs to the German con-
cern AHG Industry, the TASR
newswire reported.
The German company
said that it could maintain
the current number of jobs at
Slovglass, a key employer in
further comment on the law-
suit because it had not been
formally notified.
However, the daily quoted
an Austrian expert on nuclear
energy, Radko Pavlovec, who
said that Austria could suc-
ceed with its complaints if
these focus on the fact that
the two power plants in ques-
tion do not have an external
shell to prevent radiation
leaks. The affected Japanese
power plants do not have
such a shell.
The Austrian govern-
ment imposed conditions on
Slovakia’s EU accession, re-
quiring it to close two older
blocks at the V1 power plant
in Jaslovské Bohunice (the
second closed more than two
years ago). Several lawsuits
have also been filed against
the Mochovce power plant.
The ECJ ruled in 2009 that no
country is entitled to require
the closure of a nuclear
power plant in another coun-
try if the power plant in
question possesses all the
necessary permits.
Slovak Labour Minister
Jozef Mihál pointed out that
Slovakia had been severely
hit by the global economic
crisis, which resulted in un-
employment almost doub-
ling. According to him, this
may have been the worst
growth in unemployment in
any EU country during the
downturn, SITA wrote.
Mihál said that in order
to support employment, the
cabinet is preparing changes
to the Labour Code and in-
troduction of a so-called in-
terim labour market, which
would allow concurrent re-
ceipt of social benefits and
work income.
Sándor Czomba,
Hungary’s deputy minister
for employment policy, un-
derlined the issue of regional
differences. According to
him, the unemployment rate
in Hungarian regions ranges
from 3.6 to 20 percent. He said
unemployment among older
people and those who have
just finished their education
is a most significant problem.
Poltár, which is in an area
with high unemployment.
German Crystal said that
its main goal would not only
be to make use of the region's
tradition of glass production,
but also to employ local
people's skills and experi-
ence in the field.
The company said it also
plans to invest money in
strengthening Slovglass.
Compiled by Spectator staff
from press reports
BUSINESS / NEWS
HEAT: Mikloš backs sale of ST shares
Continued from pg 1 viser is selected. Potential in-
vestors might be asked to
“We want to use the rev- submit bids in March 2012,
enues very responsibly,” said the SITA newswire reported.
Radičová, adding that the
state would use the proceeds Telekom is no longer
to reduce deficits and debts in 'strategic'
these two programmes so that
citizens do not have to carry The cabinet on March 23
the burden of covering exist- also reviewed an analysis
ing debts. jointly prepared by the Fin-
Fico, however, sees the ance Ministry and the FNM
government’s privatisation concerning an eventual sale of
initiatives through a different the state’s 49-percent stake in
prism and called the proposals Košice's heating plant will be among those sold. Photo: TASR Slovak Telekom (ST), perhaps
a fraud on the government’s to its majority shareholder,
election promises. The FNM assessed the man of UMS wrote in an earlier Deutsche Telekom.
“What mandate does this total market value of the six statement. “Slovak Telekom is no
mash-up [the governing coali- heating plants at between The state government said longer a natural monopoly or a
tion] have to make decisions €160 million and €200 mil- that having regional or muni- strategic company,” Finance
on the privatisation of such lion. Dividends from the six cipal governments involved Minister Ivan Mikloš stated, as
strategic companies as the companies have brought the would complicate the process quoted by the Sme daily.
heating plants?” Fico asked, state around €4.2 million an- of privatisation and it does The FNM stated that the
arguing that before the par- nually in recent years. not see any price-related ra- government would not receive
liamentary elections Radičová tionale for selling or transfer- more from dividends than
announced that she would not Firms will not go to cities ring state-owned shares to cit- from the actual sale of its own-
support the privatisation of ies or regions. ership stake in ST and that the
any strategic enterprises. The cabinet’s final decision “There's no link between sale of the 49-percent stake
The heating plants are loc- has dashed the hopes of some the cost for heat and owner- could be completed by the au-
ated in Bratislava, Trnava, of the municipalities of obtain- ship structure,” Radičová said, tumn of 2012.
Žilina, Martin, Zvolen and ing shares in the heating firms. as quoted by TASR, adding that The state is considering
Košice. Earlier this year, the Union of “the heating companies are in two options for selling its
Slovakia’s National Prop- Towns and Cities of Slovakia need of investments of approx- shares in ST: the first is an in-
erty Fund (FNM), the state’s (Únia miest Slovenska, or UMS) imately €760 million. We're ternational tender with all the
privatisation agency and stated that the cities the heat- facing commitments towards state’s shares being sold as a
holder of shares in many ing firms serve should be al- the EU to utilise new techno- block, giving Deutsche
state-owned companies, lowed to obtain either 100 per- logies and innovations. Muni- Telekom an option to achieve
wrote in its analysis that it cent, a 51-percent majority cipalities would have to go 100-percent ownership. The
supported the sale of the heat- share, or at least a minority through a conundrum in find- other option is to sell the state-
ing companies, citing a long- share in the companies. ing new financial resources.” owned shares in the capital
term decline in the volume of “Heating production is un- The state government also market, a process which
heat sold and a corollary drop ambiguously a business of loc- argued that there had been would result in many smaller
in profitability. al importance, which means negative experiences in the shareholders.
The FNM also stated that that it is not a strategic prop- past in transferring ownership “That could aid the devel-
there was a clear need for ad- erty and it can be successfully stakes to municipalities. opment of the stock market,
ditional investment to make developed only when it is in- The process of selling the as we expect these stocks to be
the heating plants more en- tertwined, in terms of prop- heating plants is expected to listed on the Bratislava secur-
vironmentally-friendly and erty, with the municipalities,” begin in the second half of the ities exchange,” Mikloš said,
reduce their debts. Marián Minarovič, the chair- year when a privatisation ad- as quoted by TASR.
ESM: Wrong solution, says analyst
Continued from pg 1 The finance minister explained that According to Karpiš, the last year and
he is not 100-percent satisfied with the the continuously growing risk premiums
The ESM, which will be launched in agreed solution. show what a bad solution the EFSF has
June 2013, will be backed by €80 billion in “Population numbers shouldn't be been.
cash, paid in directly by member states, included in the distribution key at all, so “It has been constructed as a tool
plus €620 billion in capital that can be a certain amount of illogic remains,” against a liquidity crisis, but this is an in-
called on when a lending requirement Mikloš said, as quoted by the TASR solvency crisis,” Karpiš said. “The EFSF
emerges. Its effective lending capacity newswire. “We respect the fact that we solves only the symptoms and not the
will be €500 billion; the extra €200 billion can't achieve everything. The most im- causes of the current problems and thus
is being raised in order to provide the fund portant thing is to come to an agreement, neither its institutionalisation nor its in-
with a premium credit rating. which is why we were forthcoming and crease will lead to the final stabilisation of
Based on the new rules Slovakia’s made partial concessions.” the eurozone.”
share should amount to 0.824 percent of In order to pay its basic cash contri- It is a tool by which, indirectly, the
the total fund, as opposed to the 0.99 per- bution to the ESM, of €659 million, Slov- European banking sector is being saved,
cent which is Slovakia’s contribution to akia will have to borrow money on the he added.
the existing EFSF. The original scheme of financial markets. The amount will be “I do not think that that re-routing the
contributions was based on countries’ paid in instalments. existing losses of banks through the EFSF
share of capital in the European Central “It will increase our deficit, but it’s to taxpayers is sustainable in the long
Bank, half of which is calculated based on still manageable,” said Mikloš. term,” said Karpiš.
a country’s gross national product and On March 23, Prime Minister Iveta As for alternatives to the EFSF, Karpiš
half on its number of inhabitants. In the Radičová received a mandate from the said that instead of pushing the problem
new scheme gross national income will cabinet to vote for the ESM at an EU into the future and dealing with excess-
have a 75-percent weighting and only 25 summit in Brussels which began on ively high debt by means of further in-
percent of the contribution will hinge on March 24. The country’s participation debtedness, restructuring the debts of af-
the country’s basic capital in the will still be subject to ratification by par- fected countries should be made possible.
European Central Bank, SITA wrote. liament. This would result in a reduction in the real
Mikloš, who raised the issue some The opposition Smer party criticised burden on the affected countries and, by
time ago, said that the compromise the commitment to pay €659 million in realising losses to creditors, also lead to
achieved showed that Slovakia’s argu- cash to the ESM. dissolution of part of the banking sector,
ments had weight. Despite welcoming the change in the he added.
“The negotiated change of the model contribution calculation, Karpiš said he “Systemically important banks could
is positive news for Slovakia,” Juraj considers the European Stability Mech- be saved using public funds,” Karpiš told
Karpiš of the economic think tank INESS anism to be a bad solution overall. The Slovak Spectator. “Non-systemic
told The Slovak Spectator. “Before the “Paradoxically, we already know how banks, which have failed to handle their
entry of Estonia, [now] the poorest coun- the cases will be solved after the summer risk management, would be liquidated
try in the eurozone, Slovakia’s contribu- of 2013 through the ESM but we still do and depositors partly refunded using the
tion per inhabitant was the highest, des- not know how the EFSF will be financed banks [liquidated] property while the rest,
pite the fact that our banks were not be- in case additional countries fall into it in considering the system of deposit protec-
ing rescued.” the upcoming period,” he said. tion, could be paid from public sources.”

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
Independent MP Igor Matovič explains why he voted for an opposition Smer
amendment to the State Citizenship Act that he had planned to vote against.
BY LUKÁŠ FILA
Special to the Spectator
FEW pieces of art have ever
sparked such intense debate in
Slovakia as the anthem of the
upcoming hockey world cham-
pionships.
The public is split roughly
into three groups – there are
those that like ‘Life is a Game’
by Kristína, which will be the
event’s official anthem. There
are those that would prefer
‘Lord, let him score’, the nation-
al team’s song, to be used for the
championships as well. And
then there are all the others.
The two hockey songs paint
two different pictures of the
nation’s psyche. ‘Lord, let him
score’ is in Slovak, ‘Life is a
Game’ is in English. As the
name indicates, the first tune
seems to draw inspiration from
the country’s religious tradi-
tions, and puts victory in the
hands of divine powers. The
other places more emphasis on
the role of the individual, al-
though it too leaves room for
the supernatural:
“Today is your day.
This is the moment when
you’re touching the sky.
Goooly, the mascot of the championship, will perhaps learn to sing the anthem too.
“I didn't want to support it, but my
subconscious moved my finger elsewhere.”
Ey
SLOVAK WORD
OF THE WEEK
On the top of your wave.
No one can stop you from
flying so high.
This is it, it’s your time.
You’ve got the magic when
your stars are aligned.
Fill the world with
your shine.”
The older song doesn’t
forget to mention the hurts of
the past, a typical trait of the
Slovak mentality:
“How often you stood alone,
How many hits you
had to bear,
How often you were in
the losing zone,
OPINION
Lived forgotten and
lost somewhere.”
But in contrast to the in-
dividualistic Kristína, the
chorus clearly emphasises
team spirit:
“Lord, let him score, Lord
let him score,
We’ve got it, you can tell,
Lord let him score, Lord
let him score,
That winning goal.
Lord let him score, Lord
let him score,
We play the game so well,
So that never
Will they forget us all.”
So whether you are a mod-
ern English-speaking indi-
vidualist, or a slightly reli-
gious collectivist, there is a
hockey song that will suit your
needs. It’s almost a shame that
both can’t have the status of
the official anthem. Oh well,
as Kristína sings:
“Ey Ey
Life is a game
Ey Ey
We're all born to play
Ey Ey
Long is the way
Sometimes it's not right
Sometimes it's not fair.”
Photo: TASR
When integrity weighs in
‘COURT procrastination’,
‘disciplinary proceedings’
and ‘Harabin’ are probably
three terms that instantly
spring to the mind of the av-
erage reader of this publica-
tion in connection with the
Slovak judiciary. ‘Integrity’
probably does not, other than
in reference to the lack of it.
But integrity, within or
outside the judiciary, re-
mains a tricky thing. It is not
a seed which can set down
roots in any soil, and one has
to work pretty hard to nour-
ish it. Those who have never
really achieved integrity or
have thrown it away for dif-
ferent reasons produce
ready-made justifications for
its absence. Yet in a system
which is not effectively
opened to public control it is
rather difficult to track
people who do not have any.
The justice system is one
of those environments where
such developments can have
massive societal impact. This
is why the government’s in-
stinct to open the country’s
judiciary to more public con-
trol is the right one. But there
are many who simply do not
like the public peeking over
their shoulders.
A recent decision by the
president of the Supreme
Court, Štefan Harabin, to
pick Snina, a town in the
easternmost part of Slovakia,
as the venue for a crucial ses-
sion of the Judicial Council of
Slovakia has evoked some
controversy. The session
scheduled in this remote
corner of the country was
supposed to elect disciplinary
judges but was attended by
only a third of the 33 nomin-
ated candidates, according to
the SITA newswire.
Justice Minister Lucia
Žitňanská said, as quoted by
the Sme daily, that the move
was a “certain demonstration
of weakness” to negotiate in
the presence of the public.
Harabin promptly dismissed
Žitňanská’s comment and
invited the public to Snina.
Zuzana Wienk of the Fair-
Play Alliance integrity
March 28 – April 3, 2011 5
watchdog accepted his invit- to the Ukrainian border – for
ation and attended the meet- example to Ubľa, Ulič or
ing, which she described as even Vyšné Nemecké – or re-
“catastrophically locate other closely watched
undignified”, adding that the
poor accessibility as well as
the inappropriate venue rep-
institutions to places which
even birds would have diffi-
culty finding.
resented an obstruction to In the end, the current
candidates. state of the judiciary could
have a much deeper impact
than just making a handful
EDITORIAL of ethics watchdogs, diplo-
mats and journalists con-
cerned. International cham-
bers of commerce have iden-
tified the poor enforceability
of laws, slow courts and the
overall state of judiciary as
being significant obstacles
to investment.
Recently, the Justice
Ministry revealed that the
state last year had to pay out
€1,112,000 based on verdicts
by the Constitutional Court.
Most of this sum represented
damages paid for court pro-
crastination, the cost of
which was €355,000 higher
than the previous year. The
data also showed that there
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ are significant differences
Spectator staff between particular courts.
Sme recently pointed to a
case where a father runs a
That is not to put down court where his son and
Snina, which probably offers daughter-in-law are both
more authentic countryside employees, and reported ob-
and fresher air than Bratis- servers pointing out that
lava, but picking it as the family members should in
venue hardly helped open a fact work at different courts
(metaphorical) window to let so that potential conflicts of
fresh air enter the stuffy halls interest are eliminated.
of the judiciary. As of May 2011, judges
Over the past couple of will be appointed to vacan-
years Slovak courtrooms cies in courts only through a
have attracted visitors con- public selection process, as
cerned about the state of opposed to the current prac-
justice here. The hosts do not tice of judicial clerks being
always like the presence of promoted to become judges
ethics watchdogs and, for ex- without any selection pro-
ample, foreign diplomats. cedure. In addition, sitting
Yet, it was precisely the pres- judges will also have to get
ence of the diplomatic com- used to much more personal
munity at certain disciplin- information about them be-
ary proceedings against ing made public.
judges, some of whom just Of course the new rules
happened to be critics of the cannot restore integrity in
state of the judiciary, which judges where there was none
clearly showed that to start with. But they can
something was seriously rot- perhaps create an environ-
ten in the justice system. ment where judges value
One cannot move all Ju- more highly what integrity
dicial Council sessions closer they still possess.
   





     
 

 
      
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6 March 28 - April 3, 2011

ENERGY
Waste as an energy source BUSINESS FOCUS Next issue:
Miners grow tomatoes

Plášťovce rejects hydro plant TRANSPORT

Forging better energy Institutions and organisations

in the energy sector in Slovakia
State bodies:
Ministry of Economy, www.economy.gov.sk

links in central Europe Regulatory Office for Network Industries (ÚRSO),

www.urso.gov.sk
Slovak Electricity Transmission System (SEPS),
ww.sepsas.sk
Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ÚJD), www.ujd.gov.sk
Both natural gas Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA),
www.siea.sk
and electricity
transmission Industry associations:
Slovak Gas and Oil Association, www.sgoa.sk
systems are Association of Entrepreneurs in Waste Management
being expanded (APOH), www.apoh.sk

Think tanks and NGOs:

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
THE IMPORTANCE of energy
security has been increasing
across the world not only be-
cause of the gas shortage faced
by many parts of central
Europe in January 2009, when
Russian natural gas flowing via
Ukraine to Slovakia and beyond
was completely halted, but also
due to many other global de-
velopments far from Slovakia’s
borders. In response, individu-
al countries as well as interna-
tional groupings of countries
and organisations are calling
for better linkages between na-
tional energy systems and
building new transmission
systems to diversify energy
Pressure for change is increasing.
sources and establish addition-
al options in delivering energy
to final consumers. With its
strategic position in the middle
of Europe, Slovakia is an integ-
ral player in all these processes.
“The natural gas crisis in
January 2009 showed that
there was enough natural gas
in Europe but that it was not
available where it was most
needed,” Ján Klepáč, execut-
ive director of the Slovak Gas
and Oil Association, told The
Slovak Spectator.
“There were missing gas
pipeline interconnections.
Storage facilities for natural
gas in western Europe were
three-quarters full but inter-
Photo: TASR
connectors were missing par-
ticularly in central Europe
where, for historical reasons,
gas transmission pipelines
were built to transfer gas from
the east to the west because
this is where the natural gas
originates.”
See LINKS pg 10
Association for Wind Energy of Slovakia, www.zves.sk
Biomasa, www.biomasa.sk
Energy Centre Bratislava, www.ecb.sk
Energy Security Institute, www.energetickyinstitut.sk
Slovak Renewable Energy Agency (SKREA),
www.skrea.sk
Companies in the energy
sector in Slovakia
ČEZ Slovensko, www.cez.sk
Eustream, www.eustream.sk
Nafta, www.nafta.sk
Magna E.A., www.magnaea.sk
Nuclear Decommissioning Company (JAVYS),
www.javys.sk
Pozagas, www.pozagas.sk
Probugas, www.probugas.sk
RWE Gas Slovensko, www.rwegas.sk
Slovak Power eXchange, www.spx.sk
Slovenské Elektrárne (SE), www.seas.sk
Slovenský Plynárenský Priemysel (SPP), www.spp.sk
Stredoslovenská Energetika (SSE), www.sse.sk
Východoslovenská Energetika (VSE),www.vse.sk
Západoslovenská Energetika (ZSE), www.zse.sk

More gas storage capacities planned
Demand for underground
gas storage capacities
increases in Europe
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
ONE could say that the January 2009 gas-
supply crisis, when Russian natural gas
flowing from Ukraine into Slovakia was
completely halted, changed the natural
gas industry in Slovakia forever. The
crisis highlighted questions about the
security of the gas supply and in the pro-
cess brought forward efforts to diversify
sources, prompted a search for new sup-
ply corridors and confirmed the stra-
tegic importance of underground stor-
age facilities.
“During the January 2009 crisis un-
derground gas storage facilities in Europe
contributed significantly to stabilising
the situation,” Ján Klepáč, executive dir-
ector of the Slovak Gas and Oil Associ-
ation, told The Slovak Spectator. “The
situation in Slovakia was similar because
during the first days of the crisis Slovakia
withdrew gas from local underground
storage facilities.”
Existing capacities
All the currently used underground
gas storage facilities, which are actually
depleted deposits of natural gas and crude
oil, are located in western Slovakia in the
Slovak part of the Vienna basin. The gas is
stored in porous underground storage fa-
cilities into which it is injected under
high pressure.
Gas storage is primarily used for
seasonal storage, that is, to balance the
uneven consumption of gas between
the summer and winter seasons. From
May to October, gas is injected under-
ground and during the winter season it
is withdrawn.
But this has now changed somewhat
as more and more gas traders are also us-
ing Slovak gas storage facilities.
According to Klepáč, Slovakia re-
mains the most important transmission
corridor for Russian gas moving to west-
ern Europe.
Slovakia’s transmission system is
one of the biggest in Europe, with an
annual capacity of 94 billion cubic
metres, and many companies that
transmit their gas via Slovakia also use
Slovak gas storage capacities.
The history of gas storage in western
Slovakia dates back to the 1970s, when
construction of the complex of storage
facilities at Láb began. At the end of
1990s its storage capacity was 1.7 billion
cubic metres.
See GAS pg 12
Firms pay 'too much' for power
ELECTRICITY prices for corporate clients in Slovakia are
among the highest in the EU. The end-price depends on
two factors in particular – the price of electricity itself
and fees and tariffs – the Financial Policy Institute, a
think tank within the Finance Ministry, wrote in an
analysis released in mid February.
The document reads that the latter element, which
include fees for distribution, transit losses, system
services as well as the so-called tariff for operation of the
system, hides support for mining, and for private
investors in the sector of renewable energy resources and
combined production of electricity and heat.
“Electricity consumers will contribute as much as €322
million this year to some electricity producers and to
support local coal mining,” states the paper. “That is how
we support areas where private capital operates (solar
power stations, mining, etc). Without these ‘subsidies’,
the price of electricity would decrease this year.”
The tariff for operation, which is also responsible for the
increase in power prices for households in 2011, is
obligatory for all electricity consumers. It currently
makes up about 10.6 percent of the end-price for
households, according to the institute, which further
points out that through it, electricity consumers are
subsidising unecological coal as well as renewable
resources.
According to Eurostat statistics, the price of power for
firms in Slovakia is the second highest over the EU
average. During the first half of 2010, electricity supplied
to a company with an average consumption of between
500 and 2000 MWh cost 26 percent more than the average
for other EU member countries. On the other hand, the
regulated household segment hovers around the EU
average.
Compiled by Spectator staff
 ADVERTISEMENT March 28 – April 3, 2011 7

m’˜•ê œˆ„•–ê „Š’±ê —‹ˆê l˜•’“ˆ„‘ê |‘Œ’‘ê „‡’“—ˆ‡ê Œ—–ê –’¾ê
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—š’ê —‹ˆ•„±ê „‘‡ê £¤ê ‹œ‡•’ê
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SE90525/1
8 March 28 - April 3, 2011
Using waste as a
source of energy
Slovakia is
lagging behind
in managing
waste and using
it for energy
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
MOST developed countries
have recognised that many
kinds of waste can be used as
an alternative fuel for produc-
tion of heat and electrical en-
ergy. Apart from the positive
impact on the environment
from the reduced need to dis-
pose of waste in landfills, us-
ing waste materials as a fuel
brings greater diversification
in energy sources and reduces
dependence on imports of
other fuels. But this realisa-
tion has not yet come to Slov-
akia, where disposal of waste
in landfills prevails over oth-
er kinds of waste treatment
and energy recovery. This
may start to change in the
near future as there are com-
mercial projects planned by
several companies as well as
some efforts to develop a re-
gional waste management
action plan.
“In 2009, out of total
waste amounting to 8.5 mil-
lion tonnes, only 1.8 percent
or 155,470 tonnes was used for
energy recovery,” Ivana
Ďuricová from the Slovak In-
novation and Energy Agency
(SIEA) told The Slovak Spec-
tator, citing a report about
the status of the environment
in Slovakia. “Of this amount,
municipal waste accounted
for 10 percent. As much as 80
percent of municipal waste
produced in Slovakia ends up
in landfills, which is regarded
here as the cheapest way of
waste treatment. Slovakia
has one of the lowest landfill
fees in Europe. To compare,
the fee for one tonne of un-
sorted municipal waste is €10
while the so-called landfill
tax in other EU countries is
several times higher and con-
tinues to grow.”
Many countries have
been endeavouring to recover
energy from waste, Ďuricová
said, adding that some coun-
tries are now able to recover
energy from one third to as
much as one half of their mu-
nicipal waste. These coun-
tries include Sweden,
Switzerland, Belgium, Den-
mark and others.
Ďuricová said Slovakia
still lacks a concept paper and
particularly a vision for waste
management.
“Of course, to create a
brand new system of waste
management based on the
experiences of western coun-
tries is a very time-consum-
Municipal waste can be used to generate heat and electricity.
In 2009 Slovakia
generated 1.46 million
tonnes of municipal
waste, equating to
approximately 322
kilograms per citizen.
As much as 81.8
percent of the municipal
waste ended up
in landfills and only
6.8 percent was used
for energy recovery.
Environment Ministry
report
ing and demanding process,”
said Ďuricová. “One of the
biggest obstacles is the negat-
ive stance and biases of cit-
izens against waste incinera-
tion, even though incinera-
tion plants belong among the
facilities with the strictest
pollution emission limits.
Their placement in operation
is subject to a complex system
of obtaining permits from the
authorities and public com-
ment too. Moreover, the in-
vestment cost to build one in-
cineration plant is 100 times
higher than an investment
into a landfill with compar-
able capacity.”
In 2009 Slovakia gener-
ated 1.46 million tonnes of
municipal waste, equating to
approximately 322 kilograms
per citizen, according to the
environmental status report
for Slovakia. As much as 81.8
percent of municipal waste
ended up in landfills and only
BUSINESS FOCUS
6.8 percent was used for en-
ergy recovery. Ďuricová
stressed that most mixed
municipal waste can be used
for energy recovery via incin-
eration to produce both heat
and electricity.
The heat value of muni-
cipal waste is comparable to
brown coal, at between 8 and
10 MJ/kg, while the heat value
of some particular kinds of
waste is greater than 30
MJ/kg. Municipal waste is
currently burned in two in-
cineration plants, in Bratis-
lava and Košice, with a com-
bined annual capacity of up to
200,000 tonnes.
However, the heat which
these incineration plants pro-
duce is not utilised because
there are no conditions for
their connection to the heat
distribution network or the
electricity grid in Slovakia.
But Ďuricová added that there
is a positive example of energy
recovery from municipal
waste in Slovakia as it is used
as a co-fuel in the cement pro-
duction industry.
Preparing a regional
action plan
To address Slovakia’s low
capacity to use waste for gen-
eration of energy, SIEA has
become a member of the EU’s
Waste to Energy (W2E) project
which is focused on improv-
ing sustainable management
of waste and producing en-
ergy from waste. SIEA is one of
eight partners from seven par-
ticipating countries in this
project, which began in early
2010 and ends in June 2012.
The other partner countries
are Sweden, which is the
project lead, the United King-
dom, Italy, Hungary, Poland
Photo: TASR
and Romania. The project is
co-financed from the
European Regional Develop-
ment Fund under INTERREG
IVC (Interregional Coopera-
tion Programme), Ďuricová
told The Slovak Spectator.
The objective of W2E is to
exchange knowledge and
good practices about regional
policies for sustainable waste
management by changing the
perception of waste materials
so that they are seen as a po-
tential resource and to in-
crease energy recovery from
waste through the develop-
ment of regional action plans
in each partner region.
“Since Slovakia lacks a
concept paper and a vision for
waste management, the
SIEA’s objective in the project
is to create a model using an
example from a foreign part-
ner and to involve all stake-
holders in the region of
Bratislava,” said Ďuricová.
“The project will enable each
of the participating countries
to elaborate a regional action
plan which will be part of a
more extensive strategy for
waste management. For Slov-
akia, attention will be paid to
solving the waste manage-
ment situation in the cities of
Bratislava and Šaľa.”
An elegant energy solution
While some regard waste
as something which they
must dispose of, others see it
as a valuable and profitable
energy source. This is how the
Green Machines company
views waste and it offers a
sophisticated system for
management and treatment
of municipal waste.
See ENERGY pg 10
FOCUS shorts
Plášťovce citizens reject hydro plant
CITIZENS of a Slovak village
close to the border with Hun-
gary have rejected the idea of
constructing a hydroelectric
power station and reservoir
close to their village. In a
March 17 referendum, 811 cit-
izens voted from among 1,300
eligible voters and 464 voted
against the plan.
“Most people were
negative,” said Anikó
Helység, Plášťovce’s mayor,
as quoted by the Sme daily.
“For the village and me per-
sonally this is an unambigu-
ous decision which we will
pursue. We will not release
the construction permit.”
“This is fresh news,” said
Milan Španko, the director
general of Vupex company,
an affiliate of prospective in-
vestor Pow-en. “We accept
the results of the referen-
dum. The investor will de-
cide on the next steps."
The countryside near Plášťovce.
Marking Bratislava's first gas lamp
PRIME Minister Iveta
Radičová lit a replica of a
historical gas lamp in the
courtyard of the Slovak Cab-
inet Office on March 19 to
mark the 155th anniversary
of the gas industry in Slov-
akia. The first gas lamps ap-
peared in Bratislava in 1856,
the TASR newswire wrote.
Radičová noted that a signi-
ficant pipeline now crosses
Slovakia, carrying gas from
east to west.
The president of the
Slovak Gas and Oil Associ-
ation, Pavol Janočko, con-
firmed that Slovakia has
the second highest access
of households and other gas
Marking the gas industry's 155th anniversary.
The state’s Nature Pro-
tection Agency was also
against the project.
Based on its original
plan, Pow-en was to invest
almost €150 million in
construction of an accu-
mulation power station in
the vicinity of Plášťovce
which would have har-
nessed the Litava River.
This specific type of hydro-
electric plant can store
power generated by photo-
voltaic power stations and
later release it according to
the needs of the grid.
The project included
construction of two water
reservoirs. Local citizens ex-
pressed concern that these
would damage the local
countryside, interfere with
the water table and change
the local climate by increas-
ing the amount of humidity
in the local atmosphere.
Photo: Sme - Ján Krošlák
consumers to natural gas in
Europe.
“We have the biggest ca-
pacity in terms of natural
gas transit and we carry the
biggest amount of Russian
natural gas to western
Europe,” said Janočko. He
stressed that in future the
association intends to pro-
mote natural gas as the most
ecological fossil fuel. The
planned connection of Slov-
ak and Hungarian pipelines
may be a driving force for
further development in the
usage of Slovakia’s gas infra-
structure.
Compiled by Spectator staff
Photo: TASR

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‘ˆšê †Œˆ‘—–±ê „Œ‘œê ‰’•ˆŒŠ‘ê
—•„‡ˆ•–ê’“ˆ•„—Œ‘ŠêŒ‘ê—‹ˆê–“’—ê
„•Žˆ—–ꉒ•êŠ„–­êêê
uˆšê “•’‡˜†—–ê „•ˆê ‡ˆ™ˆ¾
’“ˆ‡ê …ˆ„•Œ‘Šê Œ‘ê Œ‘‡ê —‹ˆêê
‘ˆˆ‡–ꒉꗋˆêŠ„–ꐄ•Žˆ—–­êm’•ê
—‹ˆ–ˆê“•’‡˜†—–±ê„‘ꌐ“’•—„‘—ê
“„•„ˆ—ˆ•êŒ–ê—‹ˆê–—’•„Šˆê†’‘¾
—•„†—ê —ˆ•­ê ê {‹ˆ•ˆ‰’•ˆ±ê —‹ˆê
uhm{hê “’•—‰’Œ’ê †’“•Œ–ˆ–ê
’‘Š¾—ˆ•±ê ˆ‡Œ˜¾—ˆ•±ê „–ê
šˆê „–ê –‹’•—¾—ˆ•ê “•’‡˜†—–­êê
j˜••ˆ‘—œ±ê uhm{hê “•ˆ“„•ˆ–ê
Œ—–ê ’‰‰ˆ•ê ’‰ê –ˆ•™Œ†ˆ–ê ’‘ê …’—‹ê
„ê ‡„Œœê „‘‡ê ’‘—‹œê …„–Œ–±ê
“„•—Œ†˜„•œê šŒ—‹ê •ˆ–“ˆ†—ê
—’ê Œ‘‡Œ™Œ‡˜„ê Œ‘ˆ†—Œ’‘ê „‘‡êê
šŒ—‹‡•„š„ê•„—ˆ–­êê
uhm{hê ‹„–ê „–’ê –—„•—ˆ‡ê
‡ˆ™ˆ’“Œ‘Šê –ˆ•™Œ†ˆ–ê ’‘ê „‘ê
Œ‘—ˆ••˜“—Œ…ˆê…„–Œ–²ê—‹ˆ–ˆê„•ˆê
„ê †’‘™ˆ‘Œˆ‘—ê –˜““ˆˆ‘—ê —’ê
—‹ˆê‰Œ•ê†’Œ—ˆ‘—–­
n„–ê –—’•„Šˆ¾•ˆ„—ˆ‡ê –ˆ•¾
™Œ†ˆ–ê ’‰‰ˆ•ˆ‡ê …œê uhm{hê
†’“•Œ–ˆê Š„–ê Œ‘ˆ†—Œ’‘±ê Š„–ê
–—’•„Šˆê „‘‡ê –˜…–ˆ”˜ˆ‘—ê Š„–ê
šŒ—‹‡•„š„­ê uhm{hê †’‘¾
–—„‘—œê ˆ‘‹„‘†ˆ–ê —‹ˆê –„‰ˆ—œê
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—‹ˆê ”˜„Œ—œê ’‰ê —‹ˆê —ˆ†‹‘’’¾
ŠŒˆ–ꘖˆ‡­ê
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’‰ê–—’•„Šˆê†„“„†Œ—œ
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„™„Œ„…ˆê–—’•„Šˆê†„“„†Œ—œ±êŒ‘¾
†˜‡Œ‘Šê •ˆˆ™„‘—ê “ˆ•‰’•„‘¾
†ˆê “„•„ˆ—ˆ•–ê “„•—Œ†˜„•œê
—‹ˆê „™„Œ„…ŒŒ—œê ’‰ê Œ‘ˆ†—Œ’‘ê
„‘‡ê šŒ—‹‡•„š„ê •„—ˆ–Ãê ‰’•ê „ê
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—‹ˆê “•’‡˜†—ê —’ê …ˆê ’‰‰ˆ•ˆ‡ê Œ‘ê
—‹ˆê “˜…Œ†ê Œ‘™Œ—„—Œ’‘ê —’ê —ˆ‘¾
‡ˆ•­êêm’•ê“•Œ†ˆê•ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ꓘ•¾
“’–ˆ–±ê˜“’‘ꇈ—ˆ•Œ‘Œ‘Šê—‹ˆê
Žˆœê“•’‡˜†—ê“„•„ˆ—ˆ•–ê„êl˜¾
•’“ˆ„‘ê „•Žˆ—ê “•Œ†ˆê …ˆ‘†‹¾
„•Žê Œ–ê ‡ˆ™ˆ’“ˆ‡±ê š‹Œ†‹ê
•ˆ“•ˆ–ˆ‘—–ê—‹ˆê…„–Œ–ꉒ•ê“•Œ†ˆê
”˜’—„—Œ’‘–ê ‰’•ê –—’•„Šˆê –ˆ•¾ê
wŒ“ˆš’•ŽêŒ‘ê—‹ˆê†ˆ‘—•„ê„•ˆ„ê’‰êww­
™Œ†ˆ–­êê{‹ˆê“•’†ˆ‡˜•ˆê‰’•ê‡ˆ—ˆ•¾
Œ‘Œ‘Šê —‹ˆê “•Œ†ˆê …ˆ‘†‹„•Žê
„‘‡ê —‹ˆê “•Œ†ˆê ”˜’—„—Œ’‘ê „•ˆê
†’‘—Œ‘˜’˜–œê’‘Œ—’•ˆ‡ê…œê—‹ˆê
yˆŠ˜„—’•œêv‰‰Œ†ˆê‰’•êuˆ—š’•Žê
p‘‡˜–—•Œˆ–­êê
{‹ˆê “•ˆ“„•ˆ‡ê “•Œ†ˆê ”˜’—„¾
—Œ’‘ê Œ–ê –˜…Œ——ˆ‡ê ‰’•ê „““•’¾
™„ê …œê —‹ˆê nˆ‘ˆ•„ê h––ˆ…œê
„‘‡ê –˜…–ˆ”˜ˆ‘—œê –˜…Œ——ˆ‡ê
—’ê —‹ˆê yˆŠ˜„—’•œê v‰‰Œ†ˆê ‰’•ê
uˆ—š’•Žê p‘‡˜–—•Œˆ–²ê —‹ˆê „—¾
—ˆ•ê ‡ˆ†Œ‡ˆ–ê ’‘ê —‹ˆê “•Œ†ˆê …œê
Œ––˜Œ‘Šê „ê ‡ˆ†Œ–Œ’‘­ê ê z˜†‹ê „ê
“•Œ†ˆê ‡ˆ†Œ–Œ’‘ê –“ˆ†Œ‰Œˆ–ê —‹ˆê
„›Œ˜ê“•Œ†ˆê„““Œ†„…ˆê—’ê
—‹ˆê“•’‡˜†—–ê…ˆŒ‘Šê–’‡­êê
{‹ˆê “˜…Œ†ê —ˆ‘‡ˆ•ê “•’†ˆ––ê
„œê—‹ˆ‘ꅈꖗ„•—ˆ‡­êê{ˆ‘‡ˆ•ê
‡’†˜ˆ‘—„—Œ’‘ê Œ–ê “˜…Œ–‹ˆ‡ê
’‘êššš­‘„‰—„­–Ž­êê
|‘—Œê —‹ˆê ‡ˆ„‡Œ‘ˆê ‰’•ê “•ˆ¾
–ˆ‘—„—Œ’‘ê ’‰ê —ˆ‘‡ˆ•–±ê uhm{hê
„†—Œ™ˆœê †’˜‘Œ†„—ˆ–ê šŒ—‹ê
—‹ˆê Œ‘—ˆ•ˆ–—ˆ‡ê “„•—Œˆ–ê —‹•’˜¾
Š‹ê „ê –’¾†„ˆ‡ê µiŒ‡‡ˆ•Ø–ê j’‘¾ê
‰ˆ•ˆ‘†ˆ´êš‹ˆ•ˆê—‹ˆêŒ‘—ˆ•ˆ–—ˆ‡ê
“„•—Œˆ–ꐄœê’…—„Œ‘ê„‘œê„‘‡ê„ê
Œ‘‰’•„—Œ’‘꓈•—„Œ‘Œ‘Šê—’ê—‹ˆê
“˜…Œ†ê—ˆ‘‡ˆ•­êê
{‹ˆê•ˆ–˜—ꒉꗋˆê“•’†ˆ––ꌖê
†’˜‘Œ†„—ˆ‡ê —’ê „ê “„•—Œ†Œ¾
“„‘—–±ê „‘‡ê –—’•„Šˆê †’‘—•„†—–ê
March 28 – April 3, 2011 9
„•ˆê–˜…–ˆ”˜ˆ‘—œê–ŒŠ‘ˆ‡êšŒ—‹ê
–˜††ˆ––‰˜ê…Œ‡‡ˆ•–­
n„„•œ¾i5‡ˆ‘ê“•’ˆ†—
uhm{hꋄ–ê„ê–—’•„Šˆê†„“„¾
†Œ—œê’‰ê¢­¢ê…ŒŒ’‘ꐣ­êêp‘ꢪª¨±ê
uhm{hê –—„•—ˆ‡ê ˆ›—ˆ‘‡Œ‘Šê Œ—–ê
–—’•„Šˆê †„“„†Œ—œê …œê “˜——Œ‘Šê
Œ‘—’ê ’“ˆ•„—Œ’‘ê z—„Šˆê ¡ê ’‰ê —‹ˆê
n„„•œ¾i5‡ˆ‘ê ˜‘‡ˆ•Š•’˜‘‡ê
Š„–ê–—’•„Šˆê‰„†ŒŒ—œ±êš‹Œ†‹êšŒê
Œ‘†•ˆ„–ˆê–—’•„Šˆê†„“„†Œ—œê…œê
„““•’›Œ„—ˆœê ¥ªªê ŒŒ’‘ê
£ê—’ê„ê—’—„ê’‰ê¢­¥ê…ŒŒ’‘ꐣê
šŒ—‹Œ‘ê–ˆ™ˆ•„êœˆ„•–­êp‘ꆒ¾
“„•Œ–’‘Ꚍ—‹ê—‹ˆê†˜••ˆ‘—ꆄ¾
“„†Œ—œê—‹Œ–ꌖꄑꌑ†•ˆ„–ˆê’‰ê
„““•’›Œ„—ˆœê¡¤ê“ˆ•†ˆ‘—­ê
z—„Šˆê ¢ê ’‰ê —‹ˆê n„„•œ¾i5¾
‡ˆ‘ê“•’ˆ†—ꌖꆘ••ˆ‘—œê‡˜ˆê—’ê
…ˆê†’Œ––Œ’‘ˆ‡êŒ‘ꢪ¡¡­
{‹ˆê ˆ›“ˆ†—ˆ‡ê †’‘–—•˜†—Œ¾
’‘ê †’–—–ê „’˜‘—ê —’ê l|yê ¡¦¦ê
ŒŒ’‘­ê{‹Œ–ꌑ™ˆ–—ˆ‘—ꌖꅈ¾
Œ‘Šê‰Œ‘„‘†ˆ‡ê…œêuhm{h±ê‰•’ê
„ê †’…Œ‘„—Œ’‘ê ’‰ê †’“„‘œê
‰˜‘‡–ê„‘‡ê’„‘–­êê
l‘ŠŒ‘ˆˆ•–ê’™ˆ•–ˆˆŒ‘ŠêŠ„–ê–—’•„Šˆê’“ˆ•„—Œ’‘–­
n„–ꐄ•Žˆ—ꇈ™ˆ’“ˆ‘— „‡Œ‘Œ–—•„—Œ™ˆê ’…–—„†ˆ–ê
‹„™ˆê …ˆˆ‘ê Œ‘—•’‡˜†ˆ‡ê —‹„—ê
n„–ê „•Žˆ—ê Œ…ˆ•„Œ„—Œ’‘ê “•ˆ™ˆ‘—ê –—’•„Šˆê ’“ˆ•„—’•–ê
„‘‡ê–“’—ꐄ•Žˆ—ꇈ™ˆ’“ˆ‘—ê ‰•’ê •ˆ–“’‘‡Œ‘Šê —’ê „•Žˆ—ê
•ˆ–˜—ê Œ‘ê —‹ˆê ‘ˆˆ‡ê ‰’•ê ‘ˆšê •ˆ”˜Œ•ˆˆ‘—–ê Œ‘ê „ê “•’“—ê
“•’‡˜†—–­ê ê p‘ê —‹ˆê Š„–ê –—’•„Šˆê „‘‡ê‰ˆ›Œ…ˆê„‘‘ˆ•­ê
Œ‘‡˜–—•œê —‹Œ–ê ˆ„‘–ê „Œ‘œê j’‘–ˆ”˜ˆ‘—œ±ê „–ê „ê •ˆ–˜—ê
–‹’•—¾—ˆ•ê –—’•„Šˆê †’‘—•„†—–ê ’‰ê“•Œ†ˆê•ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘±ê—‹ˆê’™ˆ•¾
„‘‡ê’•ˆê‰ˆ›Œ…ˆê“•’‡˜†—–­êê „ê“•’†ˆ––ꒉꒉ‰ˆ•Œ‘Šê–—’•„Šˆê
–ˆ•™Œ†ˆ–ꌖꓕ’’‘Šˆ‡ê…œê—‹•ˆˆê
uhm{hê Œ–ê †’‘–—„‘—œê „‡¾
˜–—Œ‘Šê Œ—–ê “•’‡˜†—–ê —’ê ˆˆ—ê ’‘—‹–­ê
„•Žˆ—ê •ˆ”˜Œ•ˆˆ‘—–ê „–ê šˆê {‹ˆêˆ–—„…Œ–‹ˆ‘—ê’‰ê„ꉏˆ›¾ê
|“’‘ê †’“ˆ—Œ’‘ê ’‰ê —‹ˆê „–ê—‹ˆê‘ˆˆ‡–ꒉꌗ–ꆏŒˆ‘—–­ê Œ…ˆê „‘‡ê „•Žˆ—¾…„–ˆ‡ê •ˆŠ˜¾
Œ‘™ˆ–—ˆ‘—±ê z’™„ŽŒ„ê šŒê {‹Œ–ê –‹’˜‡ê „–’ê …ˆê –˜“¾ „—’•œê‰•„ˆš’•Žê„‘‡ê„††ˆ––ê
‹„™ˆê’‘ˆê’‰ê—‹ˆê‹ŒŠ‹ˆ–—ê•„—Œ’–ê “’•—ˆ‡ê …œê „““•’“•Œ„—ˆê •ˆŠ˜¾ —’ê –—’•„Šˆê ˜–Œ‘Šê —•„‘–“„•ˆ‘—ê
…ˆ—šˆˆ‘ê ˆ›Œ–—Œ‘Šê –—’•„Šˆê †„¾ „—’•œê ˆ†‹„‘Œ––­ê {‹ˆê „‘‡ê‘’‘¾‡Œ–†•ŒŒ‘„—’•œê“•Œ‘¾
“„†Œ—œê„‘‡ê„†—˜„ê‘„—˜•„êŠ„–ê †˜••ˆ‘—œêˆ‰‰ˆ†—Œ™ˆê•ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ê †Œ“ˆ–êš’˜‡ê…ˆê…ˆ‘ˆ‰Œ†Œ„ê—’ê
†’‘–˜“—Œ’‘­ê ‡’ˆ–ê‘’—ꐈˆ—ê—‹ˆ–ˆê•ˆ”˜Œ•ˆ¾ „ê “„•—Œˆ–±ê Œ‘ê “„•—Œ†˜„•ê —’ê
ˆ‘—–±ê …ˆ†„˜–ˆê „ê ‘˜…ˆ•ê ’‰ê ’˜•ê†Œˆ‘—–­
l”˜Œ“ˆ‘—ê…ˆŒ‘Šê„––ˆ…ˆ‡ê„—ê—‹ˆên„„•œ¾i5‡ˆ‘ê–—’•„Šˆê‰„†ŒŒ—œê‘ˆ„•ê—‹ˆê™Œ„Šˆê
’‰ên„„•œ­
30551
10 March 28 - April 3, 2011
LINKS: New connections considered
Continued from pg 6
Slovakia’s current gas
transmission interconnections
with neighbouring countries
reflect the historical fact that
central Europe served as the
point for transmission of nat-
ural gas between gas-producing
countries such as Russia to con-
sumers primarily in western
Europe, Peter Ševce from the
Energy Security Institute told
The Slovak Spectator. The
transmission routes are linear
in one direction and gas
pipelines between countries of
central Europe have never been
interconnected.
“In a situation when the gas
supply is halted on one of these
routes, that country is more af-
fected than if it is able to use
other interconnections,” Ševce
said, adding that the first step
in improving Slovakia’s posi-
tion was to make it possible for
gas to flow in reverse in the ex-
isting pipeline. “For the next
development of trade in gas and
further enhancement of energy
security it is also necessary to
build vertical interconnections.
The planned interconnector
between Slovakia and Hungary
is its basic component.”
Klepáč highly praised the
current Slovak government as
well as Prime Minister Iveta
Radičová for personally push-
ing to create this linkage that
will allow gas to flow between
north and south. Ševce believes
that this north-south intercon-
nection will enhance Slovakia’s
energy security because the
country will have the oppor-
tunity to tap into more diversi-
fied sources of natural gas. He
added that this will also sup-
port creation of a more integ-
rated natural gas market in
central Europe, which cur-
rently lags behind the more
unified market being estab-
lished in western Europe.
Prime Minister Radičová
and her Hungarian counter-
part Viktor Orbán signed an in-
tergovernmental agreement
on January 28 to build a Slov-
ak-Hungarian natural gas
pipeline, the SITA newswire
reported. The new pipeline
will connect Veľké Zlievce near
Veľký Krtíš in Slovakia with
Vecsés in Hungary as part of a
broader north-south energy
project. The signatories
pledged to cooperate in con-
structing, operating and
maintaining the pipeline.
“It is a step that means
more energy independence for
Slovakia. It is an important
part of EU energy security,”
Radičová said at a press con-
ference, as quoted by SITA.
“After the agreement [was
signed] talks with Poland will
continue on that north-south
interconnection.”
The Slovak-Hungarian
project is part of the north-
south interconnection which
plans to link LNG (liquefied
natural gas) terminals in Po-
land and Croatia. The goal of
such an interconnection is to
bring LNG from the north into
central Europe, Klepáč said.
Currently, only countries with
Slovakia has adequate electricity links.
access to the sea are able to re-
ceive LNG, as it is brought to
Europe by tanker ships.
“It is in the vital interest of
Slovakia to diversify its [en-
ergy] portfolio,” said Klepáč.
“Alas, it is not possible to re-
move our dependence on Rus-
sian gas completely, but it is
possible to lessen it.”
Klepáč explained that nat-
ural gas produced in Qatar, Ni-
geria, Trinidad and other coun-
tries is converted to LNG under
high pressure and at a temper-
ature of minus 161 degrees
Celsius. This lessens its volume
for transportation because 580
cubic metres of gaseous natural
gas occupies only one cubic
metre in LNG form.
According to Eustream, the
gas transmission company in
Slovakia that signed a memor-
andum of understanding on
building the pipeline between
Slovakia and Hungary in June
2009, the political support of
both countries for this project
confirms its importance for the
Visegrad Group (V4) region and
its energy security.
“In the future this inter-
connection could secure
Slovakia’s access to new
sources of gas supplies,” Dan-
ica Beharková, spokesperson
for Eustream, told The Slovak
Spectator, adding that this
may be done by future connec-
tions to either of the planned
projects known as Nabucco
and South Stream.
The Slovak-Hungarian
pipeline will be about 115 kilo-
metres long, with about 19
kilometres within Slovakia,
and will join the high-pressure
transmission system between
Veľké Zlievce in south-central
Slovakia with Vecsés on the
outskirts of Budapest. Eu-
stream considers this project to
be feasible based on the results
of a market survey analysing
interest in usage of its trans-
mission capacities.
Eustream said investment
cost will far exceed €100 mil-
lion. This will be covered by the
operators of the transmission
systems along with the
European Commission, which
has promised to allocate €30
million from the European
Economic Plan for Recovery.
Currently, Eustream is
working to obtain the required
permits and licences so that it
can start construction in early
2012 and have the pipeline in
use by 2014.
“Eustream is prepared to
BUSINESS FOCUS
Photo: Jana Liptáková
adopt immediately the decision
about implementation of the
project; however, for now it is
waiting for a definitive decision
by our Hungarian partners,”
Beharková said, adding that
apart from the mentioned en-
ergy security and reliability of
supplies, new gas interconnec-
tions may enhance the compet-
itive environment and help in-
crease liquidity in the market
through additional transmis-
sion capacities.
Eustream noted that it is
too early to specify an actual
route for the Slovak-Polish in-
terconnection or estimate its
costs because there are several
possible alternatives.
“Eustream and the Polish
operator of its transmission
system, Gaz-System, earlier in
2011 signed a Letter of Intent as
a demonstration of their inten-
tion to cooperate on the project
for a gas interconnection
between Poland and Slovakia,”
said Beharková. “A working
group consisting of represent-
atives from both companies is
preparing technical, economic,
environmental and legal ana-
lyses of the project. Whether
implementation of the project
will go forward should be de-
cided next year.”
Ševce said it is necessary to
assess this project in terms of
the interest of the market in
additional transmission capa-
cities “but it is also necessary to
take into consideration the
factor of energy security, which
is difficult to calculate”.
Electricity interconnections
Apart from interconnect-
ing natural gas transmission
systems, interconnecting
Slovakia’s national electricity
grid with those in neighbour-
ing countries is another chal-
lenge.
“Slovakia, in comparison
with several other EU member
countries, is relatively densely
interconnected with the [elec-
tricity] transmission systems
of neighbouring countries,”
Igor Gallo from Slovenská
Elektrizačná Prenosová
Sústava (Slovak Electricity
Transmission System, or SEPS)
told The Slovak Spectator. “Ex-
isting interconnections are
also satisfactory from the
viewpoint of the direct needs
of supplying Slovakia with
power from abroad.”
But with regards to expec-
ted future export of excess elec-
ENERGY: Biogas
tricity generated in Slovakia –
for example when the two addi-
in the spotlight
tional reactors of the Mochovce Continued from pg 8 struction of a number of bio-
nuclear power station go into gas stations in Slovakia using
service in 2012 and 2013, and to “Green Machines offers municipal waste that it ex-
allow SEPS to fulfil the interests towns and villages an integ- pects to launch later this
of third parties for power rated system of usage and year. Jirkovský said a num-
transmission – SEPS has in- processing of municipal ber of municipalities have
cluded construction of a num- waste and energy recovery shown serious interest in us-
ber of new interconnections in from waste,” Vácval ing one of the company’s
its development plan for Jirkovský from Green Ma- biogas plants.
2012-2021. However, whether chines told The Slovak Spec-
they are actually constructed tator. “The main benefit for Other projects
will depend on the opinions municipalities is a radical in the pipeline
and options of grid operators in reduction of waste disposal
neighbouring countries, on en- by as much as 80 percent and The Hornonitrianske
vironmental issues and other reduction of landfill fees.” Bane Prievidza (HBP) mining
factors, Gallo stated. There are several meth- company is working on a
Slovakia is currently inter- ods to recover energy from project for energy recovery
connected with the electricity waste, for example ferment- from waste together with
transmission systems of all its ation to produce biogas or Slovenské Elektrárne (SE),
neighbouring countries ex- direct incineration. the dominant electricity
cept Austria, which has said Jirkovský said Green producer in Slovakia, the
that environmental reasons Machines’ facilities gener- TASR newswire reported.
prevent this from being done. ate biogas from municipal Adriana Siváková, the
According to Gallo, SEPS is car- waste by the so-called dry spokesperson for HBP,
rying out measures to assure fermentation method, which supplies brown coal
that this missing interconnec- adding that the biogas from to SE’s Elektráreň Nováky
tion does not have any negat- these stations can be fur- thermal power station, told
ive influence on Slovakia’s en- ther purified and used as a The Slovak Spectator that
ergy security. motor fuel or for genera- the project should have be-
SEPS views the need to tion of heat and energy. neficial impacts not only on
construct new interconnec- The heat produced is the environment but also on
tions with neighbouring grids used by the biogas plant for the general development
as closely related to the further its own operation while elec- level of the region.
development of Slovakia’s tricity can also be generated The plan is to build a fa-
transmission system, espe- in the biogas plant for its cility for energy recovery
cially from the viewpoint of own operation or be de- from sorted municipal
energy-producing sources and livered to the electricity grid. waste and biomass gener-
consumption. At the same Part of the Green Ma- ated by the Horná Nitra re-
time, Gallo said this need will chines system also in- gion, Siváková said, adding
depend on the condition and cludes sorting of various that energy will be re-
development of its neigh- kinds of waste. covered from solid municip-
bours’ transmission systems Even though the devel- al waste and also partially
and economies, the interests opment of biogas stations is from non-hazardous indus-
and attitudes of transmission just starting in Slovakia and trial waste, particularly
system operators, support for many towns and villages do from Trenčín Region.
electricity exchange between not yet have enough in- HBP will supply biomass
countries, and more trade in formation, Jirkovský noted made up of biologically de-
electricity within the EU. He that “the interest shown by gradable waste and wood
stated that there are plans for towns and villages as well biomass. Project details
three new electricity inter- as private individuals is such as technological solu-
connections with Hungary by escalating”. tions, the construction term
2021 or 2026. Green Machines is pre- and total costs still needs to
Because Slovakia and the paring a pilot project for con- be prepared.
Czech Republic were one coun-
try in the past, the intercon-
nections between the electri-
city grids of the two countries
are the strongest of Slovakia’s
linkages, Gallo said, adding
that even though some inter-
connections may cease operat-
ing in the period from 2020 to
2025, SEPS does not see a need to
build new interconnections.
With regard to intercon-
nections with Ukraine, Gallo
stressed the importance of the
Veľké Kapušany-Mukachevo
connection as this is one of
only a few connections
between Ukraine’s so-called
Burshtyn Island generating fa-
cilities, which are currently
connected to the synchronous
electricity grid of continental
Europe. According to Gallo, the
existing 1x400kV Veľké
Kapušany-Mukachevo inter-
connection is nearing the end
of its physical life and under
certain development scenarios
it might become overloaded in
the horizon of 2015-2020.
Therefore, SEPS has included in
its development plan the pos-
sibility of building a 2x400kV
interconnection in Veľké
Kapušany in Slovakia, which is
close to both the Ukrainian and
Hungarian borders. The Elektráreň Nováky thermal power plant. Photo: TASR
 LEGAL VIEW March 28 – April 3, 2011 11

yˆ‘ˆš„…ˆêl‘ˆ•Šœêz’˜•†ˆ–êÂylzÃêÀêÂ|‘Ãzœ–—ˆ„—Œ†êê
j‹„‘Šˆ–ꌑêsˆŠŒ–„—Œ’‘ê„‘‡ê{‹ˆŒ•êp“„†—–ê’‘êh†‹Œˆ™Œ‘Šê
—‹ˆê{„•Šˆ—–êzˆ—ꅜꗋˆêl˜•’“ˆ„‘ê|‘Œ’‘­
p‘ꌗ–êkŒ•ˆ†—Œ™ˆê¢ªª©½¢¨½ljꒉꢣêh“•Œê¢ªª©ê’‘ê—‹ˆê
“•’’—Œ’‘ꒉꗋˆê˜–ˆê’‰êˆ‘ˆ•Šœê‰•’êylz±ê—‹ˆêl˜•’¾
“ˆ„‘ê |‘Œ’‘ê ˆ–—„…Œ–‹ˆ‡ê „ê †’’‘ê ‰•„ˆš’•Žê ‰’•ê
—‹ˆê “•’’—Œ’‘ê ’‰ê ˆ‘ˆ•Šœê ‰•’ê ylz­ê {‹ˆê kŒ•ˆ†—Œ™ˆê
–‹’˜‡ê‹ˆ“ꗒꄆ‹Œˆ™ˆê—‹ˆê’…ˆ†—Œ™ˆ–ꒉꗋˆêj’˜‘†Œê
’‰êt„•†‹ê¢ªª§±ê‡ˆ‰Œ‘ˆ‡ê„–ê„ꢪÜꕈ‡˜†—Œ’‘ꌑꈐŒ–¾
–Œ’‘–±ê „ê ¢ªÜê –‹„•ˆê ’‰ê ylzê ’‘ê —’—„ê ê †’‘–˜“—Œ’‘ê
’‰êˆˆ†—•Œ†Œ—œê„‘‡ê„ꡪÜꖋ„•ˆê’‰ê…Œ’‰˜ˆ–ꌑꗕ„‘–¾
“’•—Ꚍ—‹Œ‘ê—‹ˆêl|ꅜꢪ¢ª­êêh—ê—‹ˆê–„ˆê—Œˆ±ê—‹ˆêê
kŒ•ˆ†—Œ™ˆê„œ–ꇒš‘ꐄ‘‡„—’•œê‘„—Œ’‘„ê—„•Šˆ—–ꉒ•ê
—‹ˆê’™ˆ•„ê–‹„•ˆê’‰êˆ‘ˆ•Šœê‰•’êylzꌑꊕ’––ꉌ‘„ê
†’‘–˜“—Œ’‘ꒉꈑˆ•Šœê„‘‡ê‰’•ê—‹ˆê–‹„•ˆê’‰êˆ‘ˆ•Šœê
‰•’êylzꘖˆ‡ê‰’•ê—•„‘–“’•—­

m’•ê z’™„ŽŒ„ê —‹Œ–ê ˆ„‘–ê Œ‘ê ‰’•†ˆê …ˆ‰’•ˆê £ªê h“•Œê

—‹„—ꌑꢪ¢ªê—‹ˆê–‹„•ˆê’‰êylzê
Œ‘ê Š•’––ê ‰Œ‘„ê †’‘–˜“—Œ’‘ê
’‰ê ˆ‘ˆ•Šœê –‹’˜‡ê …ˆê „—ê ˆ„–—ê
¡¤Ü­
ê {‹ˆê ™ˆ•œê …„–Œ†ê •ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ê
’‰êylzꌖꏄŒ‡ê‡’š‘ꌑêh†—ê‘’­ê
¦¥¦½¢ªª¤êj’­ê’‘ꈑˆ•Šœê—‹ˆê
l‘ˆ•Šœê h†—Ãê „‘‡ê Œ‘ê h†—ê ‘’­ê
£ª©½¢ªª©ê ’‘ê —‹ˆê “•’’—Œ’‘ê
’‰ê •ˆ‘ˆš„…ˆê ˆ‘ˆ•Šœê –’˜•†ˆ–ê
„‘‡ê ‹ŒŠ‹¾ˆ‰‰Œ†Œˆ‘†œê †’Šˆ‘¾ê
ˆ•„—Œ’‘ê —‹ˆê w•’’—Œ’‘ê h†—íê
iˆ–Œ‡ˆ–ê —‹ˆ–ˆê …„–Œ†ê Œ‘–—•˜¾
ˆ‘—–ꕈ„—ˆ‡ê—’ê—‹ˆê†’‘–—•˜†¾
—Œ’‘ê „‘‡ê ’“ˆ•„—Œ’‘ê ’‰ê ˆ‘ˆ•Šœê
Œ‘–—„„—Œ’‘–ê ˜—ŒŒŒ‘Šê ylz±ê
•ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘–ê ‰’•ê —‹Œ–ê „•ˆ„ê „•ˆê
„–’ê Œ‘†˜‡ˆ‡ê Œ‘ê ’—‹ˆ•ê „š–±ê
Œ“ˆˆ‘—Œ‘Šê •˜ˆ–±ê ‡ˆ†•ˆ¾
ˆ–ê …œê |yzvê —‹ˆê yˆŠ˜„—’•œêê
v‰‰Œ†ˆê‰’•êuˆ—š’•Žêp‘‡˜–—•Œˆ–Ãê
„‘‡êŒ‘ê—‹ˆê’“ˆ•„—Œ‘Šê•˜ˆ–ê„‘‡ê
•ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘–ê ’‰ê —‹ˆê Œ‘‡Œ™Œ‡˜„ê
Š•Œ‡ê’“ˆ•„—’•–­
~‹ˆ‘ê Œ‘™ˆ–—Œ‘Šê Œ‘ê ylzê
‘’—ê Œ‘†˜‡Œ‘Šê ‹’˜–ˆ‹’‡–±ê
š‹Œ†‹ê ˜–ˆê ylzê „Œ‘œê „–êê
„ê–˜““ˆˆ‘—„•œê–’˜•†ˆÃ±êšˆê
‹„™ˆê —’ê †’‘–Œ‡ˆ•ê Œ‘™ˆ–—ˆ‘—ê
†’–—–ê ’‰ê —œ“Œ†„œê ŒŒ’‘–ê ’•ê
—ˆ‘–ê ’‰ê ŒŒ’‘–ê ’‰ê ˆ˜•’–±ê ‰’•ê
š‹Œ†‹ê —‹ˆê “„œ…„†Žê “ˆ•Œ’‡ê
•„‘Šˆ–ê ‰•’ê –ˆ™ˆ•„ê œˆ„•–ê
—’ê –ˆ™ˆ•„ê ‡ˆ†„‡ˆ–±ê ‡ˆ“ˆ‘¾
‡Œ‘Šê ’‘ê —‹ˆê –“ˆ†Œ‰Œ†ê “•’ˆ†—­êê
{‹ˆ•ˆ‰’•ˆê—‹ˆê–—„…ŒŒ—œê’‰ê—‹ˆê
ˆŠ„êˆ‘™Œ•’‘ˆ‘—ꌖ±ê‰’•êylzê
Œ‘™ˆ–—’•–±ê„–ꌐ“’•—„‘—ê„–ê—‹ˆê
“•’’—Œ’‘ê’‰êylzꌗ–ˆ‰­ê
uˆ™ˆ•—‹ˆˆ––ê —‹ˆê ˆŠ„êê
ˆ‘™Œ•’‘ˆ‘—ê •ˆŠ„•‡Œ‘Šê
ylzê Œ‘ê —‹ˆê z’™„Žê yˆ“˜…Œ†ê
Œ–ê –‹’šŒ‘Šê „ê †’‘–Œ‡ˆ•„…ˆêê
‡ˆŠ•ˆˆê ’‰ê ˜‘†ˆ•—„Œ‘—œê „‘‡ê
˜‘“•ˆ‡Œ†—„…ŒŒ—œ±ê š‹Œ†‹ê „œê
…ˆê Œ˜–—•„—ˆ‡ê …œê ‘˜ˆ•’˜–ê
ˆ›„“ˆ–­ê
k˜ˆê—’ê—‹ˆêŒŒ—ˆ‡ê–†’“ˆê’‰ê
—‹Œ–ê „—ˆ•Œ„±ê šˆê šŒê ‰’†˜–ê
’‘œê ’‘ê —‹ˆê ’–—ê Œ“’•—„‘—ê
’‘ˆ–­ê
ê …˜Œ‡Œ‘Šê “ˆ•Œ––Œ’‘ê „‘‡ê „‘ê
¡­êy„“Œ‡ê’‡Œ‰Œ†„—Œ’‘ê
’‰ê—‹ˆêl‘ˆ•Šœêê
h†—ꌑꢪ¡ª
h–ê „ê •ˆ„†—Œ’‘ê —’ê —‹ˆê „•Šˆê
‘˜…ˆ•ê’‰êŒ“ˆˆ‘—ˆ‡ê„‘‡ê
ˆ™ˆ‘ê Š•ˆ„—ˆ•ê ‘˜…ˆ•–ê ’‰ê „‘¾
‘’˜‘†ˆ‡ê ’•ê ˜“†’Œ‘Šê “•’¾
ˆ†—–ê ‰’•ê —‹ˆê †’‘–—•˜†—Œ’‘ê ’‰ê
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“„‘—–±ê„ê•„“Œ‡ê„ˆ‘‡ˆ‘—ê’‰ê
—‹ˆê l‘ˆ•Šœê h†—ê š„–ê „‡’“—ˆ‡ê
„–ꈄ•œê„–ꢪ¡ªêš‹Œ†‹ê„‡ˆê
–˜†‹ê “•’ˆ†—–ê –˜…–—„‘—Œ„œê
’•ˆê†’“Œ†„—ˆ‡­
h††’•‡Œ‘Šê —’ê —‹ˆê ™ˆ•–Œ’‘ê
’‰ê —‹ˆê l‘ˆ•Šœê h†—ê –ˆ†­ê ¡¡Ãê
¢ª¡ª±ê „ê jˆ•—Œ‰Œ†„—ˆê ’‰ê j’‘¾
‰’•Œ—œê šŒ—‹ê —‹ˆê s’‘Š¾—ˆ•ê
j’‘†ˆ“—ê ’‰ê l‘ˆ•Šœê w’Œ†œê ’‰ê
—‹ˆê zyê Âjˆ•—Œ‰Œ†„—ˆÃê ‰•’ê
—‹ˆê tŒ‘Œ–—•œê ’‰ê l†’‘’œê ’‰ê
—‹ˆê zyê š„–ê •ˆ”˜Œ•ˆ‡ê ‰’•ê —‹ˆê
†’‘–—•˜†—Œ’‘ê ’‰ê „‘ê ˆˆ†—•Œ†ê
“’šˆ•ê ‰„†ŒŒ—œê ˜‘‡ˆ•ê ¡ê t~­ê
hêjˆ•—Œ‰Œ†„—ˆêš„–ꑈˆ‡ˆ‡ê‰’•ê
„ê ’‘Œ‘Šê ‡ˆ†Œ–Œ’‘±ê …˜Œ‡Œ‘Šê
“ˆ•Œ—ê “•’†ˆˆ‡Œ‘Š–ê „‘‡ê —‹ˆê
Š•Œ‡ê†’‘‘ˆ†—Œ’‘ê“•’†ˆ‡˜•ˆ­êê
h††’•‡Œ‘Šê —’ê —‹ˆê „ˆ‘‡ˆ‡ê
—ˆ›—ꒉꗋˆêl‘ˆ•Šœêh†—ꌑꉒ•¾
†ˆê‰•’ê¡êt„œê¢ª¡ª±ê„êjˆ•¾
—Œ‰Œ†„—ˆêŒ–ê‘’—ꕈ”˜Œ•ˆ‡êŒ‰±êŒ‘—ˆ•ê
„Œ„±ê —‹ˆê ‰„†ŒŒ—œê …ˆŒ‘Šê †’‘¾
–—•˜†—ˆ‡êŒ–ꉒ•ê—‹ˆê“•’‡˜†—Œ’‘ê
’‰êˆˆ†—•Œ†Œ—œêꉕ’ê–’„•êˆ‘ˆ•¾
Šœ±êŒ–ê“’–Œ—Œ’‘ˆ‡ê’‘ê„ê…˜Œ‡Œ‘Šê
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iˆ–Œ‡ˆ–ê —‹ˆê ‰„†—ê —‹„—ê —‹Œ–ê
„ˆ‘‡ˆ‘—ê š„–ê „‡’“—ˆ‡ê Œ‘ê
„ê ‹˜••œ±ê Œ—ê „–’ê †„˜–ˆ–ê “•’…¾ê
ˆ–ꌑꓕ„†—Œ†ˆê‡˜ˆê—’ꌗ–ꏈ¾
ŠŒ–„—Œ™ˆê„‘‡ê—ˆ†‹‘Œ†„ê–‹’•—¾
†’Œ‘Š–­ê k˜ˆê —’ê „‘ê „…–ˆ‘†ˆê
’‰ê —•„‘–Œ—Œ’‘„ê “•’™Œ–Œ’‘–ê ‰’•ê
—‹ˆê „ˆ‘‡ˆ‘—ê „–ê ’‰ê ¡ê t„œê
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–ˆ——ˆ‡ê ’“Œ‘Œ’‘–ê •ˆŠ„•‡Œ‘Šê
Œ‘—ˆ•“•ˆ—„—Œ’‘ê ’‰ê —‹ˆê „ˆ‘¾
‡ˆ‘—­ê {‹ˆê ’‘œê —‹Œ‘Šê —‹„—ê
Œ–ê ‹ˆ“‰˜ê —’ê –’ˆê ‡ˆŠ•ˆˆê Œ–ê
—‹„—ê—‹ˆêtŒ‘Œ–—•œê’‰êl†’‘’œêê
Œ––˜ˆ‡ê „‘ê ’“Œ‘Œ’‘ê „††’•‡Œ‘Šê
—’ê š‹Œ†‹ê “•’™Œ–Œ’‘–ê ’‰ê —‹ˆê
l‘ˆ•Šœê h†—ê Œ‘ê —‹ˆê ™ˆ•–Œ’‘ê Œ‘ê
‰’•†ˆê …ˆ‰’•ˆê £ªê h“•Œê ¢ª¡ªêê
„““œê—’ê„““Œ†„—Œ’‘–ꉒ•ê“„‘¾
‘Œ‘Š½…˜Œ‡Œ‘Šê “ˆ•Œ—–ê ‰Œˆ‡ê
…ˆ‰’•ˆê ¡ê t„œê ¢ª¡ªê –˜†‹ê „‘ê
’“Œ‘Œ’‘ê ‡’ˆ–ê ‘’—±ê ‹’šˆ™ˆ•±ê
‹„™ˆê—‹ˆê†‹„•„†—ˆ•ê’‰ê„ꊈ‘ˆ¾
•„œê…Œ‘‡Œ‘Šê•˜ˆÃ­
p‘ê —‹Œ–ê •ˆ–“ˆ†—±ê —‹ˆê “•’¾
ˆ†—–ê †„‘ê …ˆê ‡Œ™Œ‡ˆ‡ê Œ‘—’ê £ê
Š•’˜“–®ê ŒÃê “•’ˆ†—–ê ‡ˆˆ¾
ˆ‡ê ‰ˆ„–Œ…ˆ®ê šŒ—‹ê „ê ™„Œ‡ê
„‘‡ê ˆ‰‰ˆ†—Œ™ˆê “„‘‘Œ‘Šê „‘‡ê
„““Œ†„—Œ’‘ꉒ•êŠ•Œ‡ê†’‘‘ˆ†—Œ¾
’‘ê –˜…Œ——ˆ‡ê “•Œ’•ê —’ê ¡ê t„œê
¢ª¡ª²ê ŒŒÃê “•’ˆ†—–ê ‰’•ê š‹Œ†‹ê
—‹ˆê “„‘‘Œ‘Šê „‘‡ê …˜Œ‡Œ‘Šê
“•’†ˆˆ‡Œ‘Š–ê šˆ•ˆê –—„•—ˆ‡ê ’•ê
•ˆ”˜ˆ–—–ꉒ•ê†’‘‘ˆ†—Œ’‘Ꚉ•ˆê
‰Œˆ‡ê …ˆ‰’•ˆê ¡ê t„œê ¢ª¡ªê „‘‡ê
…ˆ†„ˆê ™„Œ‡ê „‰—ˆ•š„•‡–ê „•ˆê
‡ˆˆˆ‡ê—’ꅈꐒ•ˆê•Œ–Žœê‰•’ê
—‹Œ–ê “’Œ‘—ê ’‰ê ™Œˆš±ê …˜—ê Šˆ‘ˆ¾
•„œê •ˆŠ„•‡ˆ‡ê „–ê –—Œê ‰ˆ„–¾ê
Œ…ˆ²ê ŒŒŒÃê “•’ˆ†—–ê ‰’•ê š‹Œ†‹ê
—‹ˆê“„‘‘Œ‘Šê’•ê…˜Œ‡Œ‘Šê“•’¾
†ˆˆ‡Œ‘Š–Ꚉ•ˆê–—„•—ˆ‡ê’•ê—‹ˆê
„““Œ†„—Œ’‘ꉒ•êŠ•Œ‡ê†’‘‘ˆ†—¾
Œ’‘ê š„–ê –˜…Œ——ˆ‡ê „‰—ˆ•ê ¡ê
t„œê¢ª¡ªê„•ˆê‡ˆˆˆ‡ê˜‘‰ˆ„¾
q|k•­êt„•’Oê{I—‹êtih±êêt„‘„ŠŒ‘Šêêw„•—‘ˆ•±ê
yH‡êÆêw„•—‘ˆ•êh‡™’Ž5—Œê–­•­’­ê
–Œ…ˆ±ê „–ê ê ˜‘‡ˆ•ê †˜••ˆ‘—ê †’‘¾
‡Œ—Œ’‘–ê „ê jˆ•—Œ‰Œ†„—ˆê †„‘‘’—ê
„†—˜„œê…ˆê’…—„Œ‘ˆ‡­ê
v‘ˆê ’‰ê —‹ˆê ’–—ê –ˆ•Œ’˜–ê
“•’…ˆ–ê †„˜–ˆ‡ê …œê —‹ˆê •ˆ¾
–“ˆ†—Œ™ˆê „ˆ‘‡ˆ‘—ê Œ–ê —‹ˆê
Œ‘—ˆ•“•ˆ—„—Œ’‘ê ’‰ê —‹ˆê ê —ˆ•ê
ׅˆŠŒ‘‘Œ‘Šê ’‰ê “„‘‘Œ‘Šê „‘‡ê
…˜Œ‡Œ‘Šê “•’†ˆˆ‡Œ‘Š–³­ê p‘ê
“•„†—Œ†ˆê Œ—ê Œ–ê ”˜Œ—ˆê †’’‘ê
‰’•ê „‘ê „““Œ†„‘—ê —’ê …ˆê „–Žˆ‡ê
…œê—‹ˆê†’“ˆ—ˆ‘—ꄘ—‹’•Œ—Œˆ–ê
—’ê ’‡Œ‰œê „‘ê „““Œ†„—Œ’‘ê ’•ê
†’“ˆ—ˆê ‡’†˜ˆ‘—–ê –˜…¾
Œ——ˆ‡ê Œ‘ê —‹ˆê †’˜•–ˆê ’‰ê —‹ˆê
“•’†ˆˆ‡Œ‘Š–­ê ê {‹ˆ•ˆ‰’•ˆê —‹ˆê
Œ‘—ˆ•“•ˆ—„—Œ’‘ꘑ˜–—Œ‰Œˆ‡êŒ‘ê
’˜•ê™ŒˆšÃꗋ„—ê—‹ˆê„…’™ˆê†’‘¾
‡Œ—Œ’‘–ê„•ˆê’‘œêˆ—ꅜꄓ“Œ¾
†„—Œ’‘–êš‹Œ†‹êšˆ•ˆê†’“ˆ—ˆê
„‘‡êŒ‘†˜‡ˆ‡ê„ê—‹ˆê•ˆ”˜Œ•ˆ‡ê
†’“’‘ˆ‘—–ê „‘‡ê ’“Œ‘Œ’‘–ê „—ê
—‹ˆê —Œˆê ’‰ê ‰ŒŒ‘Š±ê Œ­ˆ­ê …ˆ‰’¾
•ˆê £ªê h“•Œê ¢ª¡ª±ê †„‘‘’—ê …ˆêê
•˜ˆ‡ê’˜—­
¢­êp‘–—„…ŒŒ—œê’‰ê“•Œ†ˆê
•ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘êê
p‘ê •ˆ–“ˆ†—ê ’‰ê ylzê “•’ˆ†—–ê
„ê “„‘‘Œ‘Šê „‘‡ê †’‘–—•˜†—Œ’‘ê
“ˆ•Œ’‡ê ’‰ê „—ê ˆ„–—ê ¡¾¢ê œˆ„•–ê
–‹„ê˜–˜„œê…ˆê†’‘–Œ‡ˆ•ˆ‡­êê
m•’ê —‹Œ–ê “’Œ‘—ê ’‰ê ™Œˆšê
—‹ˆê ‡ˆ™ˆ’“ˆ•–ê ’‰ê ylzê “•’¾
ˆ†—–ê ‰„†ˆê ”˜Œ—ˆê †’“ˆ›ê •Œ–Žê
„––ˆ––ˆ‘—ê …ˆ†„˜–ˆê ’‰ê “•Œ†ˆê
•ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ê …ˆ†’Œ‘Šê †’‘–Œ¾
‡ˆ•„…œê˜‘–—„…ˆ­ê
h††’•‡Œ‘Šê —’ê —‹ˆê w•’’¾ê
—Œ’‘êh†—êÂzˆ†—Œ’‘ꦱêw„•„Š•„“‹ê
¦Ã±ê —‹ˆê “•Œ†ˆê ’‰ê ˆˆ†—•Œ†Œ—œê ‰’•ê
—‹ˆê–˜††ˆˆ‡Œ‘Šê꓈•Œ’‡ê‘’—ꈛ¾
†ˆˆ‡Œ‘Šê £ê œˆ„•–ê „œê ‘’—ê …ˆê
’šˆ•ê —‹„—ê ©ªÜê ’‰ê —‹ˆê “•Œ†ˆê
„““Œ†„…ˆêŒ‘ê—‹ˆê“ˆ•Œ’‡êš‹ˆ‘ê
—‹ˆê ‘ˆšê “•Œ†ˆê Œ–ê ‡ˆ—ˆ•Œ‘ˆ‡ê
…œê —‹ˆê yˆŠ˜„—’•œê v‰‰Œ†ˆ­ê
{‹ˆêŠ’„ê’‰ê—‹Œ–ꕈŠ˜„—Œ’‘ꌖê
—’ê “•’™Œ‡ˆê —‹ˆê ‡ˆ™ˆ’“ˆ•–ê ’‰ê
ylzê šŒ—‹ê –’ˆê Š˜„•„‘—ˆˆê Œ‘ê
•ˆ–“ˆ†—ê ’‰ê –—„…ŒŒ—œê ’‰ê “•Œ†ˆ–±ê
—‹˜–ꊌ™Œ‘Šê—‹ˆê—‹ˆêŒ“ˆ—˜–ê
—’ê “„‘ê „‘‡ê †’‘–—•˜†—ê ylzê
“„‘—–ê „‘‡ê ˆ‘„…Œ‘Šê —‹ˆê —’ê
†„†˜„—ˆê —‹ˆê “•’‰Œ—„…ŒŒ—œê ’‰ê
—‹ˆŒ•êŒ‘™ˆ–—ˆ‘—–­êê
p—ê Œ–ê ‘’—ê –˜•“•Œ–Œ‘Šê —‹„—ê
—‹ˆê ˆŠŒ–„—Œ™ˆê •ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ê Œ–ê
‘’—ê “ˆ•‰ˆ†—±ê …˜—ê Œ—ê Œ–ê ”˜Œ—ˆê
…ˆšŒ‡ˆ•Œ‘Šê —‹„—ê —‹ˆê Œ¾ê
“ˆ•‰ˆ†—Œ’‘ꌑꗋˆê•ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ꌖê
…ˆŒ‘Šê —„Žˆ‘ê „‡™„‘—„Šˆê ’‰ê …œêê
—‹’–ˆê ™ˆ•œê ’•Š„‘–ê —‹„—ê „•ˆê
–˜““’–ˆ‡ê —’ê “•’’—ˆê ylz­ê
{‹ˆê …„–Œ†ê Œ‘„††˜•„†œê ’‰ê —‹Œ–ê
Œ“’•—„‘—ê •ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ê Œˆ–ê Œ‘ê
—‹ˆê „…–ˆ‘†ˆê ’‰ê ˆ›„†—ê ˆŠ„êê
‡ˆ‰Œ‘Œ—Œ’‘ê ’‰ê —‹ˆê —ˆ•êê
µz˜††ˆˆ‡Œ‘Šê꓈•Œ’‡´­êh††’•‡Œ‘Šê
—’ê—‹ˆê“•„†—Œ†ˆê’‰ê—‹ˆêyˆŠ˜„—’•œê
v‰‰Œ†ˆê Â|yzvÃê —‹Œ–ê —ˆ•ê š„–ê
˜‘‡ˆ•–—’’‡ê „–ê „ê —Œˆê “ˆ•Œ’‡êê
’‰ê ’‘ˆê †„ˆ‘‡„•ê œˆ„•­ê uˆ™ˆ•¾ê
—‹ˆˆ––±ê —‹ˆê „—ˆ–—ê ˆŠŒ–„—Œ™ˆê
‡ˆ™ˆ’“ˆ‘—–ê ‹„™ˆê –‹’š‘ê
–—•’‘Šê —ˆ‘‡ˆ‘†Œˆ–ê —‹„—ê „Œê —’ê
˜‘‹Œ‘Šˆê—‹Œ–ê“•„†—Œ†ˆ­ê
h††’•‡Œ‘Šê —’ê —‹ˆê h†—ê ’‘ê
•ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ê Œ‘ê ‘ˆ—š’•Žê Œ‘‡˜¾
–—•Œˆ–ê u’­ê ¢§¦½¢ªª¡ê j’­êê
Âh†—ê’‘êyˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ÃꗋˆêyˆŠ¾ê
˜„—’•œê i’„•‡ê Àê y„‡„ê “•ˆê
•ˆŠ˜5†Œ˜ê Àê ˆ„…’•„—ˆ–ê yˆŠ¾ê
˜„—’•œê“’Œ†Œˆ–ꉒ•êˆ„†‹ê•ˆ–“¾
ˆ†—Œ™ˆêµyˆŠ˜„—’•œê“ˆ•Œ’‡´ê—’ê
…ˆêꄓ“•’™ˆ‡ê…œê—‹ˆêtŒ‘Œ–—•œê
’‰ê l†’‘’œê „‘‡ê tŒ‘Œ–—•œê ’‰ê
l‘™Œ•’‘ˆ‘—íê|yzvꖈ—–ê—‹ˆê
•˜ˆ–ê„‘‡êˆ›—ˆ‘—ꒉꗋˆê“•Œ†ˆê
•ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ê ‰’•ê —‹ˆê •ˆ–“ˆ†—Œ™ˆê
µyˆŠ˜„—’•œê“ˆ•Œ’‡´­ê{‹ˆêh†—ê
’‘ê yˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ê ‡’ˆ–ê ‘’—ê ‡ˆ‰¾
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yˆŠ˜„—’•œê “ˆ•Œ’‡­ê h††’•¾
‡Œ‘Šê —’ê zˆ†—Œ’‘ê ¡¢±ê w„•„Š•„¾
“‹ê¢±ê—‹ˆêyˆŠ˜„—’•œê“’Œ†Œˆ–ê
–‹„ê…ˆê„““•’™ˆ‡ê…œê£ªêh“•Œê
ˆ„†‹êœˆ„•ê„‘‡ê—‹ˆêyˆŠ˜„—’•œêê
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“•Œ†ˆê •ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ê …œê £¡ê t„œê
ˆ„†‹ê œˆ„•­ê {‹ˆê yˆŠ˜„—’¾
•œê v‰‰Œ†ˆê –ˆ—–ê …œê ‡ˆ†•ˆˆê —‹ˆêê
q|k•­êq5‘ê|•…5‘ˆŽ±êh––’†Œ„—ˆêw„•—‘ˆ•±êê
yH‡êÆêw„•—‘ˆ•êh‡™’Ž5—Œê–­•­’­
ˆ›—ˆ‘—ê„‘‡ê•˜ˆ–ꒉꓕŒ†ˆê•ˆŠ¾
˜„—Œ’‘ê ‰’•ê —‹ˆê ‘ˆ›—ê yˆŠ˜„¾
—’•œê “ˆ•Œ’‡ê …œê £ªê q˜‘ˆê ˆ„†‹ê
œˆ„•­ê {‹ˆ•ˆ‰’•ˆê —‹ˆê “•ˆ™Œ’˜–ê
“•„†—Œ†ˆê ’‰ê |yzvê š„–ê —’ê –ˆ—ê
“•Œ†ˆ–ê ‰’•ê ˆˆ†—•Œ†Œ—œê ‰’•ê ’‘ˆê
†„ˆ‘‡„•êœˆ„•­ê
v‘ê —‹ˆê „–—ê ’††„–Œ’‘ê šˆê
šŒ—‘ˆ––ˆ‡ê—š’ê…„–Œ†ê‡ˆ™ˆ’“¾ê
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˜‘†ˆ•—„Œ‘—œê Œ‘ê —‹ˆê ‰Œˆ‡ê ’‰ê
“•Œ†ˆê•ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘®ê
ŒÃêh††’•‡Œ‘Šê—’ê—‹ˆê„–—êk•„‰—ê
’‰ê —‹ˆê yˆŠ˜„—’•œê w’Œ†Œˆ–ê
Œ––˜ˆ‡ê …œê —‹ˆê yˆŠ˜„—’•œêê
i’„•‡±ê —‹ˆê yˆŠ˜„—’•œêê
“ˆ•Œ’‡êŒ–ê…ˆŒ‘Šê–ˆ—ꉒ•ê¥êœˆ„•–±ê
ˆ„‘Œ‘Šê‰•’êª¡­ª¡­¢ª¡¢ê—Œê
£¡­¡¢­¢ª¡¦­êê{‹Œ–꓈•Œ’‡ê’‰ê¥ê
œˆ„•–ꈛ†ˆˆ‡–ê—‹ˆê„›Œ˜ê
‡˜•„—Œ’‘ê ’‰ê —‹ˆê z˜††ˆˆ‡Œ‘Šê
“ˆ•Œ’‡ê’‰ê£êœˆ„•–ꄖꇈ‰Œ‘ˆ‡ê
…œê—‹ˆêw•’’—Œ’‘êh†—­ê
ê ‹„•ˆ‡ê…œê—‹ˆê˜‘–—„…ˆêˆŠŒ–¾
ŒŒÃê {‹ˆê „–—ê „ˆ‘‡ˆ‘—ê ’‰ê
—‹ˆê h†—ê ’‘ê yˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ê Œ‘ê
uˆ—š’•Žêp‘‡˜–—•Œˆ–ꄐˆ‘¾
‡ˆ‘—ê ¥¥¨½¢ª¡ªê j’­Ãê
–—„—ˆ–ê —‹„—ê |yzvê –‹„ê –ˆ—ê
—‹ˆê“•Œ†ˆ–ꉒ•êˆˆ†—•Œ†Œ—œêŠˆ¾
‘ˆ•„—ˆ‡ê…œêylzꚌ—‹êˆ‰‰ˆ†—ê
‰•’ê¡êq˜œê¢ª¡¡­
{‹ˆ–ˆê „–—ê ‡ˆ™ˆ’“ˆ‘—–ê
„•ˆê …„–ˆ‡ê ’‘ê —‹ˆê „––˜“—Œ’‘ê
—‹„—ê—‹ˆê‡˜•„—Œ’‘ꒉꗋˆê—ˆ•ê
z˜††ˆˆ‡Œ‘Šê “ˆ•Œ’‡ê „‘‡½’•ê
µyˆŠ˜„—’•œê“ˆ•Œ’‡´êŒ–ê‘’—ꇈ¾
‰Œ‘ˆ‡ê„—ꄏ­êp‰êšˆê„††ˆ“—ê—‹„—ê
—‹ˆê —ˆ•ê z˜††ˆˆ‡Œ‘Šê “ˆ•Œ’‡ê
„‘‡êµyˆŠ˜„—’•œê“ˆ•Œ’‡´ê„œê
’•ê „œê ‘’—ê …ˆê –‹’•—ˆ•ê —‹„‘ê
’‘ˆê †„ˆ‘‡„•ê œˆ„•±ê ’•ê Œ‰ê šˆêê
„††ˆ“—ê—‹„—ê—‹ˆê‡˜•„—Œ’‘ꒉꗋˆê
“ˆ•Œ’‡ê„œê…ˆê†‹„‘Šˆ‡ê„—Ꚍê
…œê—‹ˆêyˆŠ˜„—’•–ê—‹ˆê“’––Œ…Œ¾
Œ—œê †„‘‘’—ê …ˆê ˆ›†˜‡ˆ‡ê —‹„—ê
—‹ˆê“•Œ†ˆêˆ™ˆ–ꒉꈏˆ†—•Œ†Œ—œê’‰ê
ylz꒕ꈙˆ‘ê—‹ˆê“•Œ†ˆêˆ™ˆ–ê’‰ê
ˆˆ†—•Œ†Œ—œê Œ‘ê Šˆ‘ˆ•„ê „œê …ˆê
†‹„‘Šˆ‡ê–ˆ™ˆ•„ê—Œˆ–Ꚍ—‹Œ‘ê
’‘ˆê †„ˆ‘‡„•ê œˆ„•±ê ˆ„™Œ‘Šêê
„’–—ê ‘’ê –“„†ˆê ‰’•ê ‡ˆ™ˆ’¾
“ˆ•–ꗒꄇ„“—­ê
p‘ê ’˜•ê ™Œˆšê —‹Œ–ê Šˆ‘ˆ•„ê
—ˆ‘‡ˆ‘†œêŒ–ꌑꖈ•Œ’˜–ê…•ˆ„†‹ê
’‰ê—‹ˆê’ŠŒ†ê’‰ê—‹ˆê•ˆŠ˜„—Œ’‘ê
’‰ê zˆ†—Œ’‘ê ¦±ê w„•„Š•„“‹ê ¦ê ’‰ê
—‹ˆê w•’’—Œ’‘ê h†—±ê —‹„—ê ’‰ê
ŠŒ™Œ‘ŠêŒ‘™ˆ–—’•–ê–’ˆê‡ˆŠ•ˆˆê
’‰ê –ˆ†˜•Œ—œê Œ‘ê •ˆ–“ˆ†—ê ’‰ê —‹ˆê
‡ˆ™ˆ’“ˆ‘—ê ’‰ê “•Œ†ˆ–ê „‘‡±ê
—‹„—ê Œ—ê ˆ™ˆ‘ê ‡ˆ‘Œˆ–ê Œ‘™ˆ–—’•–ê
—‹ˆê ™ˆ•œê …„–Œ†ê –—„…ŒŒ—œê ‘ˆˆ¾
‡ˆ‡ê‰’•ê“„‘‘Œ‘Šê„‘‡ê†„†˜„¾
—Œ‘Šê—‹ˆŒ•ê“•’ˆ†—–­êê
j’‘†˜–Œ’‘–
w„•„‡’›Œ†„œ±ê „’–—ê „ê
—‹ˆê †‹„‘Šˆ–ê „‡ˆê Œ‘ê —‹ˆêê
ˆŠŒ–„—Œ’‘ê †„˜–ˆ‡ê ‘’ê ‰„†Œ¾
Œ—„—Œ’‘ê ’•ê Œ“•’™ˆˆ‘—ê ’‰ê
—‹ˆê“•’’—Œ’‘ê’‰êylz²ê’‘ê—‹ˆê
†’‘—•„•œ±ê†’‘‡Œ—Œ’‘–ꉒ•ê…ˆŒ‘Šê
ˆŒŠŒ…ˆê ‰’•ê –˜““’•—ê …ˆ†„ˆê
’•ˆê ŒŒ—ˆ‡ê ’•ê †’“Œ†„—ˆ‡ê
„‘‡ê…ˆ„•ê—ˆ–—Œ’‘œê—’ê„ꏄ†Žê
’‰ê „ê †’‘†ˆ“—ê Œ‘ê ˆŠŒ–„—Œ™ˆêê
ˆ„–˜•ˆ–ꌑꗋŒ–ê„•ˆ„­ê
l™ˆ‘—˜„ê ê †„Œ–ê „Š„Œ‘–—ê
—‹ˆêz’™„Žêyˆ“˜…Œ†ê…œêŒ‘™ˆ–¾
—’•–ê—‹„—Ꚉ•ˆê’•êˆ™ˆ‘Ꚍê…ˆê
„—Œ™ˆêˆ‘™Œ•’‘ˆ‘—ꆄ‘‘’—ê…ˆê
ˆ›†˜‡ˆ‡êˆŒ—‹ˆ•­ê
{‹ˆ•ˆ‰’•ˆêŒ—ꌖꑈ†ˆ––„•œê—’ê
‡ˆ‰Œ‘ˆê “•Œ’•Œ—Œˆ–ê „‘‡ê ˆ‘–˜•ˆê
—‹ˆê –—„…ŒŒ—œê ’‰ê —‹ˆê ˆŠŒ–„—Œ™ˆê
ˆ‘™Œ•’‘ˆ‘—ꌑꗋŒ–ê„•ˆ„­êv‘œê
Œ‘ê —‹ˆ–ˆê †Œ•†˜–—„‘†ˆ–ê Œ—ê Œ–ê
†’‘†ˆŒ™„…ˆê —‹„—ê Œ‘™ˆ–—ˆ‘—–ê
Œ‘ê ylzê šŒê Žˆˆ“ê †’Œ‘Šê Œ‘ê
„‘‡ê —‹„—ê Œ—ê šŒê –˜…–ˆ”˜ˆ‘—¾
œê …ˆê “’––Œ…ˆê —’ê „†‹Œˆ™ˆê —‹ˆêê
—„•Šˆ—–ê–ˆ—ꉒ•êylzꅜꗋˆêl|­ê
h˜—‹’•–®ê
q|k•­ê t„•’Oê {I—‹ê tih±êê
t„‘„ŠŒ‘Šê ê w„•—‘ˆ•±ê yH‡êê
Æêw„•—‘ˆ•êh‡™’Ž5—Œê–­•­’­
q|k•­ê q5‘ê |•…5‘ˆŽ±ê h––’†¾ê
Œ„—ˆê w„•—‘ˆ•±ê yH‡ê Æê w„•—‘ˆ•êê
h‡™’Ž5—Œê–­•­’­
{‹Œ–ê„•—Œ†ˆêŒ–ꒉꄑꌑ‰’•¾
„—Œ™ˆê ‘„—˜•ˆê ’‘œê „‘‡ê ˜‘‡ˆ•ê
‘’ê „††’˜‘—ê †„‘ê Œ—ê …ˆê †’‘–Œ‡ˆ¾
•ˆ‡ê—’ê…ˆê„ꏈŠ„ê’“Œ‘Œ’‘­ê
z‹’˜‡ê œ’˜ê ‘ˆˆ‡ê „‘œê ‰˜•¾
—‹ˆ•ê Œ‘‰’•„—Œ’‘ê ’‘ê —‹ˆêê
Œ––˜ˆ–ꄇ‡•ˆ––ˆ‡êŒ‘ê—‹Œ–ê„•—Œ†ˆ±êê
“ˆ„–ˆê†’‘—„†—ê’˜•ês„šêv‰‰Œ†ˆ®ê
yH‡êÆêw„•—‘ˆ•êh‡™’Ž5—Œ±ê–­ê•­ê’­ê
{ˆ­®êФ¢¡êªâꥧꢪªê¤¤¤
l¾„Œ®ê…•„—Œ–„™„Í•’ˆ‡­–Ž
ššš­•’ˆ‡­†’½–Žê

SP90520/1
12 March 28 - April 3, 2011
GAS: Rising demand
for storage sites
Continued from pg 6
There are two companies
operating gas storage facilities
in Slovakia with an aggregate
capacity of 2.8 billion cubic
metres, according to Klepáč.
The dominant company, Naf-
ta, operates the underground
natural gas storage facilities in
the vicinity of the village of
Láb. In 2008 it launched con-
struction of a new storage fa-
cility, Gajary-Báden. Pozagas
operates an underground gas
storage facility known under
the name Láb 4, which has a
capacity of 0.62 billion cubic
metres. Its strategic import-
ance is its direct connection to
the rapidly developing gas hub
in Baumgarten, Austria.
“Since 2003, when Nafta
set out on the path of restruc-
turing, it has managed to
augment, by optimisation
and new investments, the ex-
isting storage capacity to its
current 2.2 billion cubic
metres,” Martin Hollý, direct-
or general of Nafta, told The
Slovak Spectator.
Nafta launched the three-
phase, €166-million Gajary-
Báden project, to turn a de-
pleted hydrocarbon deposit
into a modern gas storage fa-
cility in 2008, before the Rus-
sian gas crisis. The total stor-
age capacity of the facility is
projected to be 500 million cu-
bic metres, increasing Nafta’s
aggregate storage capacity to
2.5 billion cubic metres (200
million cubic metres of new
capacity is already in use). The
company expects to complete
the second, most important
phase of the project later this
year. This phase includes con-
struction of a gas distribution
centre for the Gajary-Báden
facility as well as gas treat-
ment facilities. Nafta plans to
wrap up the project in 2014.
“After the investment is
complete, Slovakia will be
among those countries with
the highest ratio of existing
storage capacity to actual
natural gas consumption,”
said Hollý.
Klepáč confirmed the
strong position of Slovakia in
gas storage, which after Ga-
jary-Báden is completed
should increase to 3.2 billion
cubic metres.
“Slovakia has a very good
position in terms of natural
gas underground storage
capacities,” said Klepáč, given
that in theory it can store as
much as 45-50 percent of its
annual consumption of natur-
al gas – between 5.7 billion and
6 billion cubic metres. But he
pointed out that since the
storage facilities are used not
only to store gas for consump-
tion in Slovakia but also by gas
distributors and gas trading
companies renting gas storage
capacity on a commercial
basis, this simple calculation
should not be applied.
Part of the new Gajary-Báden facility.
Slovakia is not the only
country in the Vienna basin,
which also comprises south-
ern Moravia in the Czech Re-
public and eastern Austria, to
use its suitable geological
conditions to build gas stor-
age facilities.
“Currently there are a
number of underground gas
storage facilities, with an ag-
gregate storage capacity of
about 7.5 billion cubic
metres,” said Klepáč, adding
that conditions exist to allow
this volume to be increased
by as much as 100 percent
within the next five to eight
years.
“This would be a really
very important step for the
whole region for security of
gas supplies,” said Klepáč.
Slovakia also holds a
strong position in gas storage
within the Visegrad Four
countries of Poland, Hun-
gary, the Czech Republic and
Slovakia.
“The aggregate storage
capacity in Visegrad Four
countries is about 13 billion
cubic metres,” said Klepáč.
“Of this, Hungary accounts
for the biggest share, 5.3 bil-
lion cubic metres, followed
by the Czech Republic with
3.2 billion cubic metres, Slov-
akia with 2.8 billion cubic
metres and Poland with just
1.6 billion cubic metres.”
Klepáč expects the ag-
gregate capacity to increase in
future years as Poland and the
Czech Republic, as well as
Slovakia, are also extending
their facilities.
More underground storage
facilities in Slovakia?
After the gas crisis ended,
the Robert Fico government
discussed building a state-
owned underground storage
facility to establish a state gas
reserve, but later abandoned
the plan as too costly.
With respect to gas stor-
age, Klepáč distinguishes
between seasonal, i.e. com-
mercial gas storage, and stra-
tegic reserves. The latter are
used only in the event of a
crisis, as happened in Janu-
ary 2009.
BUSINESS FOCUS
Photo: J. Liptáková
“In Spain or Hungary
such strategic reserves are in
the ownership of the state
and can be used only in event
of a crisis,” said Klepáč. “In
Slovakia such reserves do not
exist.”
To avoid complications in
the event of a potential gas
crisis, the Fico government
tightened the rules for gas
suppliers. They are now ob-
liged to follow a so-called se-
curity standard requiring that
they guarantee gas supplies to
their clients for up to 30 days
in the event of a crisis.
Moreover, there are some
depleted deposits in Slovakia
which could be turned into
new storage facilities, even
though not all their condi-
tions are ideal and many tech-
nical questions need to be
answered.
As Ladislav Goryl, director
of Nafta’s underground gas
storage division, told The
Slovak Spectator in an earlier
interview, the basic condi-
tions for turning a depleted
deposit into a gas storage facil-
ity are its permeability and its
porosity. The porosity of the
site determines the amount of
natural gas that it can hold,
while its permeability determ-
ines the rate at which natural
gas flows through it. This in
turn determines the rate of in-
jection and withdrawal of gas.
Other factors taken into con-
sideration are the overall
volume of such a depleted de-
posit, as well its tightness and
retentive qualities, which de-
termine how much stored gas
might be lost.
According to Hollý, better
conditions exist in western
Slovakia and that is why all ex-
isting storage facilities so far
are in this region, adding that
his company will also analyse
other opportunities.
According to Klepáč, one
possible place where a new
storage facility could be built
is near Láb, the site of the ex-
isting facilities. He regards the
location as promising, offer-
ing further capacity of
between 0.925 billion and
1.250 billion cubic metres.
“The problem is that it is
located at a depth of 2
kilometres,” Klepáč noted,
adding that this would mean
significant costs.
Other potential storage
capacities are located near
Sereď, according to Klepáč. He
sees the locality as very at-
tractive because it is very
close to the pipeline trans-
porting Russian gas into the
European Union. However,
again, there is a fly in the
ointment: about 75 percent of
the site’s capacity is currently
filled with CO2. This is a
greenhouse gas and no effect-
ive solution has yet been de-
veloped to deal with the large
volume that would be ex-
pelled if the site was filled
with natural gas.
According to Klepáč, one
of the possible solutions is to
use CO2 as the so-called base
gas or cushion gas, which re-
mains as permanent invent-
ory in a storage reservoir to
maintain adequate pressure
and prevent underground wa-
ter from flooding it. But, ac-
cording to Klepáč, some ex-
perts warn that the very high
pressure required to do this
might lead to the destruction
of the whole reservoir.
The third place where a
storage facility could be built
is in eastern Slovakia, close to
the Slovak-Ukrainian-Hun-
garian borders, near the vil-
lage of Ptrukša.
“This would be a relatively
small facility, with estimated
capacity of about 210 million
cubic metres,” said Klepáč.
“Nevertheless, during the
crisis we realised that it would
have helped Slovakia very
much if it had had an under-
ground storage facility in the
east of the country because all
the existing facilities are in
western Slovakia and the
transit system was built to
move gas from east to west.”
Whether new storage fa-
cilities are built in Slovakia is
a question of finding reason-
able technical solutions, the
amount of investment neces-
sary, and the level of demand
for gas storage. But current
indicators suggest the mar-
ket for gas storage will con-
tinue to grow.
“The trend in Europe is
that the share of domestic gas
production is decreasing, gas
consumption is rising and
thus dependence on imported
energy is increasing,” Hollý
said. “This results in an in-
creased demand for gas stor-
age capacities, to which oper-
ators of gas storage facilities
are responding with devel-
opment investments. Simul-
taneously, gas storage facilit-
ies are being used more and
more to support the trade in
gas, which further increases
demand for storage. Nafta
identified this demand and
prepared its investment in
Gajary-Báden in 2003, which
is now being carried out.”
FOCUS shorts
Miners grow lots of tomatoes
ANTICIPATING a decline in
demand for brown coal,
Hornonitrianske Bane
Prievidza, the biggest produ-
cer of this raw material used
to generate electricity in
Slovakia, is diversifying its
buiness model.
After starting to use its
former underground mining
tunnels for growing oyster
mushrooms, the company
has now built greenhouses to
grow tomatoes. In mid March
its workers, some of whom
are former miners, started to
pick the first harvest, the
SITA newswire wrote.
In March alone they plan
to harvest as much as 15,000
to 20,000 kilograms of toma-
toes. Depending on the
weather, daily production is
expected to rise to between
2,500 and 3,000 kilograms in
April. The mine already has
orders for 60 percent of its
production from around
Slovakia.
The greenhouse, which
covers 1.59 hectares, now
‘houses’ 52,000 tomato plants,
which were planted in
December. Agro Gtv, a subsi-
diary of Hornonitrianske
Bane, which shelters the
project, grows the tomatoes
using hydroponic technology.
Miners are now harvesting tomatoes.
Plant's seismic resistance reviewed
SLOVENSKÉ Elektrárne (SE),
Slovakia’s dominant power
producer, is planning to up-
grade the seismic resistance
of the first two blocks of its
nuclear power station in
Mochovce. The company has
already promulgated a pub-
lic tender with the Public
Procurement Office. The
tender refers to the project's
first stage, i.e. elaboration of
the concept, calculations
and project documentation
for upgrading the seismic
resistance of the first two
blocks of the Mochovce nuc-
lear power station, which
are already in use. The res-
ults of the calculations will
also be taken into considera-
tion with respect to the
second two blocks, which
are currently under con-
struction. Potential suppli-
ers can show an interest up
to June 3, according to in-
formation released in the
“This is Dutch-Israeli
technology whose result, in
combination with the work
of our people, should be ex-
cellent tomatoes of much
higher quality than those
imported to Slovakia,” Adri-
ana Siváková, the mine’s
spokesperson told SITA.
The greenhouse is
heated by residual heat as
well as local geothermal
energy, enabling it to grow
tomatoes year-round. The
cost of the project is €3.3
million and, according to
Siváková, this should be
paid back within seven
years.
Apart from tomatoes,
the mine grows oyster
mushrooms in its under-
ground tunnels. It started
growing this tasty variety of
mushroom 300 metres un-
derground in 1990. Annual
production is now between
12,000 and 15,000 kilograms.
The mine excavates 2.2
million tons of brown coal
per year. Elektráreň Nováky,
a thermal power station op-
erated by Slovenské
Elektrárne, is its biggest cus-
tomer. Elektráreň Nováky
provides 8 percent of
Slovakia's annual electricity
consumption .
Photo: TASR
bulletin of the Public Pro-
curement Office.
SE spokesperson Jana
Burdová told The Slovak Spec-
tator that the seismic resist-
ance upgrade project for
Mochovce dates back to 2009.
According to Slovakia’s
Nuclear Regulatory Authority
(ÚJD), for the time being the
nuclear power station in
Jaslovské Bohunice is more
resistant to earthquakes: it
should be able to survive an
earthquake of 8 intensity de-
grees, according to the MSK64
scale, the ČTK newswire
wrote. The nuclear power
plant in Mochovce should res-
ist an earthquake of 7.4 intens-
ity degrees on the same scale.
But Slovakia, according to ex-
perts, is not located in as seis-
mically active area as Japan
and thus there is no danger of
an extreme earthquake.
Compiled by Spectator staff

UP: German, Austrian markets to open
Continued from pg 1
“Companies have rational-
ised their processes during
the crisis and they no longer
need as many employees.
They are also more cautious
since their orders are leaner
than before the crisis.”
Along with the regular
seasonal influences, the un-
employment rate has been in-
fluenced by a decline in the
number of people who are
considered to be economically
active, Eva Sadovská, an ana-
lyst with Poštová Banka, told
The Slovak Spectator.
The registered rate of un-
employment is calculated by
setting the number of jobless
people who are immediately
ready to accept work against
the number of people who are
economically active – those
who are considered to be part
of the labour force. Although
the number of economically
active people changes during
the year, ÚPSVAR only estim-
ates the number at the begin-
ning of the year and then uses
that figure for the rest of the
year, Sadovská explained.
Last year the number of
economically active persons
was calculated at 2,687,048
and this year it is 2,667,708,
Sadovská said, adding that
“regardless, the actual num-
ber of people without jobs is
the highest since the begin-
ning of 2005”.
“Despite the rather
gloomy start, we expect the
unemployment rate to de-
cline during the year,”
Sadovská said, noting that 12
percent might be the lowest
level that the country
reaches. “The pre-crisis levels
cannot even be thought of. It
will only be in three to five
years that Slovakia will be
able to reach those levels.”
Páleník expects the jobless
rate in March and April to be
very similar to February but
added that seasonal jobs in
May and June could increase
the level of employment.
“It is difficult, however, to
predict when [business] or-
ders will be high enough and
last for a longer term so that
employers start hiring many
more people,” Páleník said.
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The construction industry is not adding jobs.
Sadovská agreed that sea-
sonal jobs that traditionally
emerge during the summer
should help to some degree
but that there are more fun-
damental possibilities.
“This year the country re-
lies mostly on revival in in-
dustry and investments
planned within that sector to
create new jobs,” Sadovská said.
She added, however, that
current and future layoffs in
the public sector will have a
negative impact on the un-
employment rate.
Regarding the types of ini-
tiatives that the state might
use to reduce unemployment,
Páleník said that the long-
term steps are clear: an im-
proved business environment,
better law enforcement, re-
duced corruption and less ad-
ministrative burden.
In the short-term, Páleník
said only very effective, active
labour market policies could
help to bring supply and de-
mand into better balance.
Slovakia should launch
various structural reforms to
the labour market to push
down the unemployment rate,
said László Andor, the
European commissioner for
employment, social affairs and
inclusion, when speaking to a
ministerial conference about
the impacts of the global eco-
nomic crisis on employment
held in Bratislava on March 22.
Andor also stated that
Slovakia should create better
opportunities for people who
are now excluded from the la-
bour market, the SITA news-
wire reported.
In terms of the structure of
those who are unemployed,
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Páleník said that during the
economic crisis a higher num-
ber of people ended up in the
pool of unemployed but its
core composition remained
the same. He added that many
school graduates, who must
usually depend on new job
openings, are becoming stuck
in persistent unemployment.
The number of jobless
people who had previously
worked in the trade or ser-
vices sectors increased by 330
in February compared to
January. The number of job-
less people without qualifica-
tions grew by 160 month-on-
month while the number of
unemployed who had previ-
ously worked in administrat-
ive jobs, for example as clerks,
increased by 155, said
Sadovská. Additionally, 3,154
people who were not classi-
fied in any particular job cat-
egory became unemployed in
February, she noted.
On a brighter note, 371
people who had been previ-
ously employed as machine op-
erators found jobs in February
and Sadovská said this confirms
other statistics released by the
Statistics Office which show
that only the industrial sector
has created new jobs while the
trade, services and construc-
tion sectors employ fewer em-
ployees than a year ago.
Restrictions on working in
Germany and Austria to end
Germany and Austria will
fully open their labour mar-
kets to Slovak citizens when
the 7-year transition period
that these countries negoti-
ated with the EU at the time
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or e-mail:
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of Slovakia’s accession ex-
pires on May 1, 2011.
“The delay in the full
opening of the [labour] mar-
ket on the part of Austria and
Germany germinated from
fears of an excessive influx of
cheap labour,” Sadovská told
The Slovak Spectator. “Thus
both countries have been
working on measures that
would reduce the eventual
invasion of cheap labour.”
Based on analysis of the
Slovak labour force, Sadovská
said approximately 127,000
Slovaks are working abroad.
“If we add approximately
25,000 students and various
illegal workers, we would
probably get the number up
to somewhere about 200,000
people [abroad],” Sadovská
said. “So about 9 percent of
the total Slovak workforce is
working abroad; one of the
highest rates in Europe.”
Of the Slovaks who are
legally employed abroad, the
largest proportion, 41.4 per-
cent, work in the Czech Re-
public and another 18.9 per-
cent have jobs in Austria,
Sadovská said, adding that
most of the Slovaks legally
working abroad hail from the
Prešov and Nitra regions.
Sadovská said Slovaks do
not have much difficulty
travelling abroad to take up
jobs, particularly since Aus-
tria and the Czech Republic
are Slovakia’s neighbours.
While some Slovaks might
have been waiting a long
time for the expiration of the
labour market restriction,
Sadovská noted that those
individuals who wanted to
work in Austria or Germany
probably had already found a
way of doing so.
The lure of jobs in Austria
or Germany might be very at-
tractive for both employed
and unemployed Slovaks
since the average wage in
these countries is four times
higher than in Slovakia.
But Páleník does not ex-
pect a mass exodus. “It cer-
tainly will not be any funda-
mental change,” he said. “I
assume that a couple of hun-
dred or maximally a couple of
thousand people will be
involved.”
1. Prices of classified ads
(according to no. of words)
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March 28 – April 3, 2011
NATO: No direct impact
on Slovakia expected
Continued from pg 2
NATO activated its ships
and aircraft in the central
Mediterranean to conduct
operations to monitor, report
and, if necessary, interdict
vessels suspected of carrying
illegal arms or mercenaries.
NATO members,
however, have not formally
agreed to direct military in-
tervention by the alliance, a
decision that would require
no dissenting voices.
“If such a consensus is
reached, that is that the
countries that are against
NATO joining [the interven-
tion] go for the option of con-
structive absence to not
block the alliance, Slovakia
will be expected to show
political solidarity,” Ivo
Samson, an international se-
curity analyst at the Slovak
Foreign Policy Association
(SFPA) think tank, told The
Slovak Spectator.
Rastislav Káčer, the head
of the non-governmental
Slovak Atlantic Commission
(SAC), noted that, in hypo-
thetical terms, if such an
agreement was reached, op-
erations planning would
then take place within NATO
to generate the necessary
military forces.
“Member states contrib-
ute according to their possib-
ilities and obligations which
they declare within the
‘Force Goals’,” Káčer told The
Slovak Spectator, adding that
Slovakia’s contribution
would depend on the conclu-
sions of the planning process
and other circumstances.
Káčer said that although
there is currently no con-
sensus among NATO mem-
bers about joining the milit-
ary intervention in Libya, it
is also true that there is “an
effective coalition to enforce
the decision of the UN Secur-
ity Council which is suppor-
ted by several NATO member
states”.
He added his opinion
that the international com-
munity had waited too long
and that the large military
operation and loss of lives
+ €7
+ €3
+ €7
5%
7,5%
15%
13
might have been spared if
the EU and NATO members
in the UN Security Council
had clearly stated that
Gaddafi’s use of brutal force
against the Libyan people
would not be tolerated.
“Here we can see clearly
that value-based politics is
more effective than an un-
boundedly utilitarian and
mercantile approach,” Káčer
said.
Slovakia’s capacity is low
Slovakia’s ability to fulfil
its obligations towards NATO
were recently criticised by
the alliance’s high repres-
entative, Frank Boland, who
said after a visit that the
Slovak army is lagging be-
hind in modernisation due to
underfunding since 2007.
Slovakia has been a NATO
member since 2004.
Slovak Defence Minister
Ľubomír Galko announced
on March 18 that Slovakia did
not possess capacities to
provide effective assistance
at this stage of the military
intervention.
“We will support all the
steps towards restoring
peace and towards creating a
free society in Libya,” Galko
said, as quoted by the Sme
daily, adding that this sup-
port included not vetoing de-
cisions made by NATO and
potentially opening
Slovakia’s skies for NATO op-
erations.
Slovakia has contributed
to past and current NATO
military operations primar-
ily with engineering units,
demining experts and per-
sonnel for infrastructure
construction.
Political and economic
analysts do not expect the
military intervention in
Libya to have any particu-
larly strong impact on Slov-
akia other than witnessing
higher petrol prices or Slovak
companies that had operated
in Libya being affected.
For the full version of
this story please go to
www.spectator.sk.
2
14 March 28 - April 3, 2011
Risky travel in Hochwald
IN THE Middle Ages the Great
Hungarian state was created.
As there were several rivals
interested in the territory of
today’s Slovakia, the Hun-
garian state decided to fortify
its borders through a system
of border guard posts. In the
north, the state was protec-
ted against invasions from
Poland by the Spiš border
county.
At the state’s western
boundary stood the village of
Mengusovce and nearby was
the legendary municipality
of Hovaldy, a name gradually
deformed by locals from the
original German name,
Hochwald – meaning wooded
areas closely watched by the
army. Actually, there were
several Hochwalds in the ter-
ritory of Slovakia: the one
near Mengusovce, then Štrba
and, bordering it, Važec.
Today only fields and pas-
tures cover the ter-
rain of Mengusovce
Hochwald, but as
late as the beginning
of the 18th century
this region was
densely wooded.
Here, a smugglers’ path lead-
ing from the foot of the
Tatras went through Ždiar to
the Polish town of Halič. The
royal road from Liptov to Spiš
also led here.
Tradesmen did not like
Febiofest opens for 18th year
FEBIOFEST has established
itself over past years as the
most extensive festival of
Czech and Slovak films, TV
programmes and videos. It
takes place each year simul-
taneously in the Czech Re-
public and Slovakia and this
year will extend six days in
Bratislava and then visit
eight other Slovak cities.
The festival features
dozens of movies in 14 differ-
ent sections, ranging from re-
stored gems of global cinema-
tography – such as films star-
ring Audrey Hepburn as well
as a series of Mafia and God-
father films – to a retrospect-
ive of movies made by 18
Slovak directors of several
generations who had worked
for the Febio company, such
as Fero Fenič, the founder of
the festival, Dušan Trančík,
Jožo Horal, Ján Piroh, Matej
Mináč, and others. The fest-
ival also screens the most cur-
rent Czech, Slovak and Italian
films. The themes spread
from topical issues involving
minorities, new Czech TV
productions, films for chil-
dren and films dedicated to
moviemakers who are celeb-
rating special anniversaries
such as Eduard Grečner (Slov-
Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia
can now be found at www.spectator.sk.
In cooperation with the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute
this part of the route as they
usually finished their travels
much poorer – if they were
HISTORY TALKS
lucky enough to emerge at
all. Soldiers were unable to
stop bandits who ambushed
and robbed the travellers.
The desperate authorities
finally permitted the whole
forest to be logged, which
Fenič at a press conference on March 18.
akia), Fero Fenič (Slovakia
and the Czech Republic) and
Andrzej Munk (Poland).
The festival’s offerings
will be screened in Bratislava
between March 25 and 30 at
the Zrkadlový háj House of
Culture, Mladosť cinema,
35mm VŠMU cinema club,
Nostalgia cinema club,
Archive Cinema of the Slovak
Film Institute, A4-Nultý
priestor as well as at the Uni-
versity Pastoral Centre in
Mlynská Dolina. After finish-
ing its run in Bratislava the
festival travels to Košice
(March 31-April 3), Nitra
(April 4-5), Banská Bystrica
(April 4-8), Martin (April
9-13), Prešov (April 11-15),
Poprad (April 12-15) and fin-
ishes in Trenčín (April 13-17).
CULTURE
proved to be an effective
solution.
The feared robbers could
no longer hide so
they moved to
higher altitudes
and the route
under the Tatras
became safe –
maybe for the
first time in its history.
In this postcard from the
1930s, we see two merry
Mengusovce farmers heading
to a Sunday church service.
By Branislav Chovan
Photo: TASR
Fero Fenič was born in
1951 in the territory of
present-day Slovakia. While
studying at the Film
Academy in Prague he started
to shoot short films and doc-
umentaries. He was perse-
cuted during the communist
era and could not make
movies. He worked as a tour-
ist guide and while he made
some films, like his first fea-
ture film Džusový román in
1984, they could not be
screened for the public. In
1992 he founded the Febiofest
festival. His films stress gen-
eral tolerance, social issues
and personal freedom. More
information about the festiv-
al can be found at
www.febiofestsk.sk.
Compiled by Spectator staff
Western SLOVAKIA
Bratislava
l LIVE JAZZ: Chick Corea &
Gary Burton Duet – It took 28
years for the team of ingeni-
ous pianist Chick Corea and
vibraphone virtuoso Gary
Burton to return to Bratislava.
Within the “Stars of World
Jazz” series, the duo offer new
pieces.
Starts: April 2, 20:00; In-
cheba Arena Expo, Viedenská
cesta 3-7. Admission: €29-€69.
Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.
ticketportal.sk.
Bratislava
l LIVE MUSIC: Nouvelle
Vague – The French band led
by Marc Collin and Olivier
Libaux is known for adjusting
tunes to the bossa nova style.
This concert is the opening
event of a new cultural venue,
“Dunaj”, in the capital city.
Starts: March 30, 20:00;
Dunaj department store, SNP
Square. Admission: €19-€21.
Tickets from: www.tixy.sk;
www.kcdunaj.sk.
Bratislava
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Quas-
ars Ensemble String Trio – P.
Mosorjak on violin, P.
Zwiebel on viola and A. Gál on
cello play Beethoven, Al-
brecht, Bokes, Webern and
Francaix at the Slovak Na-
tional Gallery.
Starts: March 30, 18:00;
SNG-Vodné kasárne,
Rázusovo nábrežie 2. Admis-
sion: €1.50. More information
at www. quasarsensemble.sk.
Bratislava
l EXHIBITION: Istoty and
00:41:20-00:41:21 – The
Istoty/Securities exhibition
by Emöke Vargová shows her
objects, installations and soft
plastic artworks that seem to
playfully exceed their own
form.
The 00:41:20-00:41:21 ex-
hibition by Ľudmila Pohlová
shows the interaction
between the artist's work and
its audience within a single
second.
Open: Tue-Sat 14:00-18:00
until April 3; Cyprián Ma-
jerník Gallery, Zichy Palace,
Ventúrska 9. Admission: free.
Tel: 02/5920-1605; www.
kamdomesta.sk.
THE LEGENDARY “alternative” band formed in 2006 from the
original Dlhé Diely group which now performs under the name
Longital offers a concert on March 31 at 20:30 in the brand-new
Štúdio tanca venue in Banská Bystrica at Komenského 12, next
to the Na Kačici secondary grammar school. Tickets cost €6 to
€8 and can be purchased through www.studiotanca.sk. For
more information on the band, visit www.longital.com.
Photo: Karel Šuster, Courtesy of Slnko Records
N A M E
Monday Tuesday
SoÀa Miroslav
March 28 March 29
A Slovak’s name day (meniny) is as important as his or her birthday. It is traditional to present friends or co-workers with a small gift,
such as chocolates or flowers, and to wish them Všetko najlepšie k meninám (Happy name day)
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
KAM dovidíš /As Far as You Can See is an exhibition by painter
Roland Neupauer featuring his most recent works at the GUBA
Gallery at Galvaniho 15 B in Bratislava until April 15. His works
feature direct, impulsive reflections of sensual perceptions in an
expressive modern art form. The exhibition is open daily from
8:00 to 19:00 and neighbouring spaces within the gallery offer
several additional free exhibitions. For more information, please
visit www.guba.sk.
Bratislava
l EXHIBITION: Tomáš Hulík –
The photos and documentar-
ies of this young Slovak nat-
ural scientist, movie-maker
and photographer offer a re-
view of his work, focused es-
pecially on beavers and lynx
in the Slovak context.
Open: Mon-Sat 12:00-
18:00; Galéria Z, Zichy Palace,
Ventúrska 9. Admission: free.
Tel: 0903/468-776; www.
galeria-z.sk.
Trenčín
l EXHIBITION: The Legend of
Omar and Fatima – This popu-
lar romantic legend as it is
envisioned by young artists R.
Hornák, L. Horňáková Če-
mayová and others.
Open: Tue-Fri 10:00-17:00,
Sat-Sun 13:00-18:00 until April
3; Art Centrum Synagóga,
Hviezdoslavova Street. Ad-
mission: free. Tel: 0902/911-
353; www.trencin.sk.
Central SLOVAKIA
Banská Bystrica
l CELTIC MUSIC: “Yelen” by
Gwenael Kerleo and Goulven
Kervizic – The concert of this
D A Y M A R C H
Wednesday Thursday
Vieroslav Benjamín
March 30 March 31
Photo: Courtesy of GUBA
duo on Celtic harp and cello
takes place within the Month
of Francophony.
Starts: March 30, 18:30;
Bohéma klub of the State Op-
era, Národná 11. Admission:
€2-€4, advance sale in Alli-
ance Française. Tel: 048/4154-
105; www.afbb.sk.
Banská Bystrica
l DANCE: PoOtvárame! / We
Will Open! – The Štúdio tanca
theatre focusing on contem-
porary dance has opened new
studio rooms and a series of
events will symbolically
“open the doors” to visitors to
see how backstage actions
work and what types of artist-
ic performances can be
offered in the new building.
Starts: March 26-31, 18:00-
late night; Na Kačici, Ko-
menského 12. Admission:
some events are free; some
cost €4-€8. Tel: 048/4146-540;
www.studiotanca.sk.
Eastern SLOVAKIA
Prešov
l WINE TASTING: Šťastný
súdok 19. predstavenie / The
Happy Keg 19th Presentation –
A tasting of 10 wines from the
Karpatská Perla winery in the
western Slovak town of
Šenkvice.
Starts: March 31; Wine
Museum, Floriánova Street.
Admission: €8. Tel: 051/7733
-108; More information at
www. muzeumvin.sk.
Prešov
l EXHIBITION/MUSEUM:
Cestami Rómov / On the Roma
Routes – This exposition offers
a review of the history of
Roma in the Carpathian
Basin. Another exhibition in
the same museum shows 20
years of the Roma newspaper
Romano Nevo Ľil in photo-
graphs.
Open: Tue-Fri 9:00-17:00,
Sun 14:00-18:00 until April 15,
Krajské museum, Hlavná 86.
Admission: €2. Tel: 051/7734-
708; www.muzeumpresov.sk.
By Zuzana Vilikovská
- A P R I L 2 0 1 1
Friday Saturday Sunday
Hugo Zita Richard
April 1 April 2 April 3
 CULTURE March 28 – April 3, 2011 15

Equal opportunities for all The “A” Train rolls

MICHAELA ŠUTKOVÁ
Special to the Spectator
A WORLD draped in the cloak of
darkness. On dark roads
without a sparkle, he has been
guided by his loyal partner, the
white stick, and at the end a
committed friend – a guide dog
for the blind.
The enthusiasm of Juraj –
who has been losing sight
since his early childhood –
and his courage to achieve his
goals as well as his determin-
ation to live fully every single
day of his life can be inspiring
for everyone, not only those
who live their lives with a dis-
ability. However, even his
most patient smile can disap-
pear from time to time.
The life of impaired people
can be made harder by certain
groups of people and absurd
legislation, regulations and
orders, which instead of mak-
ing their lives smoother make
their full integration into so-
ciety impossible. Juraj has
well-tasted the bitterness of
discrimination which has be-
come an integral part of daily
life. The impacts, however,
cannot be easily erased from
the memory.
On his way to Nitra re-
cently, Juraj experienced a
set of bizarre situations: right
at the start, a driver from the
yellow-bus transportation
company refused to let Juraj
on the bus with his guide dog.
The driver was required to
adhere to the basic transport-
tariff terms as well as the
conditions of his employer,
which state that the carriage
of animals is prohibited. The
same terms and conditions of
the bus company include a
statement pertaining to in-
dividual rights of specific
groups of passengers. To add
a cherry to the top of the cake,
the general transport order
permits the transport of spe-
cially-trained dogs used as a
guide for visually-impaired
persons.
A guide dog: Not welcome on all buses.
The driver explained
away the contradictions in
the different guidelines by
arguing that the rules of his
employer have a stronger
weight for him than the gen-
eral transport order. Juraj de-
scribed the whole situation
by saying that this is “the
land of the absurd”.
He then turned to the dir-
ector of the transport com-
pany: the director arranged a
one-off ride for him along
with his dog. However, he
also said that if a ride during
rush hours would be in ques-
tion, he would rather not take
Juraj on. His arguments
sound rather comic: allegedly
other passengers might
complain that the dog is
snuffling. Is this not clear
evidence of discrimination?
Juraj has encountered
another example of rough-
ness and unwillingness at
the office that deals with so-
cial problems. Here the em-
ployee “welcomed” him by
asking why he had not come
with a personal assistant
since what he needed to do
was to fill out a form.
One would get upset and
angry at the same time when
listening to such absurdit-
ies. Tolerance and willing-
Photo: SITA
ness to help those in need
seems to vanish in the wind
these days.
Likewise, the unpleas-
antly constructed facilities
for visually-impaired persons
cannot be ignored. The gov-
ernment and municipalities
are trying to make it easier for
disabled people by laying spe-
cial paving so that visually
impaired citizens have better
orientation in the space.
However, this work is
usually assigned to non-ex-
pert suppliers. The paving is
laid without considering its
actual purpose. Visually-im-
paired people are in most
cases confused by this incor-
rectly-laid paving and are
sometimes even put into life-
threatening situations.
The new square built in
Senec is a good example of such
dangerous guiding pavements.
Instead of guiding visually-im-
paired people straight to the
other side of the pedestrian
crossing, it guides them into
the middle of the crossroads.
A pedestrian crossing at
the crossroads near May 1st
Square in Bratislava, leading
towards Kollárovo Square, is
similarly made.
It is designed sidelong,
slightly to the right, whereas
the guiding line for the visu-
ally impaired directs straight
ahead. Due to this irrespons-
ibly-laid paving, a visually
impaired person can hit a car
standing at the crossroad in
front of the pedestrian cross-
ing.
Among other defective
obstacles, Juraj considers
street drains where the stick
for visually-impaired persons
can get caught when crossing
the road because of wrongly
laid grid lines.
In this regard Juraj thinks
that our state should take an
example from facilities built
in neighbouring Austria.
There the guiding and alerting
lines are being built so they
lead around slopes but addi-
tionally are also located inside
underground stations.
The European Comi–
ssion's Directorate-General
for Employment, Social Af-
fairs and Inclusion’s com-
prehensive campaign “For
Diversity, Against
Discrimination” has started
to combat these impedi-
ments.
Since 2003 the campaign
has been trying not only to
raise awareness about visu-
ally-impaired people’s rights
but also to stress the values of
diversity within the profes-
sional environment as well as
within society.
There is a need to inform
people about discrimination
based on age, disability,
sexual orientation, religion
or faith, race and ethnic ori-
gin at the workplace and in
other areas such as educa-
tion, health care, social se-
curity and access to goods
and services.
After observing specific
cases of discrimination, one
should contact the Slovak Na-
tional Centre for Human
Rights. Everyone has a right
to equal opportunities and
equal treatment.
Michaela Šutková is a student
at the Department of Journalism of
Comenius University’s Faculty of
Philosophy in Bratislava.
into Bratislava
BY DOMINIKA
UHRÍKOVÁ
Spectator staff
ONE OF the most eagerly
awaited events on the 2011
cultural agenda of Bratis-
lava is only days away. For
a few hours on April 3,
Bratislava will become the
capital of jazz virtuosity, or
so it would seem, with the
legendary Duke Ellington
Orchestra visiting Slovakia
for the first time.
Organisers are warning
that time is quickly running
out to decide whether to at-
tend because 700 of the 860
available seats have already
been sold.
Similar news is coming
from the other American and
European cities that the or-
chestra is visiting this spring,
confirming that 36 years after
his death the “grand duke of
swing” has not left the hearts
of his millions of fans.
“It is not an exaggeration
to say that Ellington is an
American jazz legend,” Chris
Sharf from the US Embassy
in Bratislava told The Slovak
Spectator. “He was one of the
most important composers
and band leaders in the his-
tory of jazz.”
Edward “Duke” Elling-
ton, born in 1899, is credited
with over 1,000 composi-
tions spanning many genres
including pop, blues, classic-
al, gospel, and, most import-
antly, jazz. Among his best-
known songs are Take the
“A” Train, Sophisticated
Lady, It Don’t Mean a Thing
(If It Ain’t Got That Swing)
and Mood Indigo.
Ellington founded his or-
chestra in 1923 and remained
its leader until his death in
1974. Now under the direc-
tion of his grandson, Paul
Mercer Ellington, the en-
semble keeps the Duke’s
genius alive with dozens of
performances worldwide
every year, including gigs at
prestigious events such as
the Tokyo Jazz Festival and
the orchestra performs
Ellington’s evergreen tunes.
So after a successful ap-
pearance in the Czech Re-
public last spring when
Prague’s Lucerna concert
hall was completely sold-out,
the Duke Ellington Orchestra
decided to give a show in
Slovakia as well.
The concert will be held
under the auspices of the US
Embassy in Bratislava.
“We are aware that it is
difficult to produce high-
quality jazz performances in
a relatively limited market so
we are happy to support, if
only in a symbolic way, such
a landmark event as the
Duke Ellington Orchestra’s
first visit to Bratislava and
we are very pleased to help
bring this extraordinary mu-
sical experience to Slovak
jazz fans,” said Sharf.
And to ensure that the
concert is even more of an
“extraordinary musical
experience” the organisers
have invited a strong sup-
porting line-up to join the le-
gendary American big band.
“We wanted to offer the
Slovak audience something
really special,” said Pavel
Tesař from the Brnokoncert
agency that is the promoter
of the concert. “That is why
we have asked the fantastic
Peter Lipa and the marvel-
lous Juraj Bartoš to come and
play a couple of songs with
the orchestra.”
Peter Lipa is an award-
winning Slovak singer-
songwriter, considered by
some journalists to be the
“father of Slovak jazz”. For
many years, he has worked
as the programme director
for the Bratislava Jazz Days.
Trumpeter Juraj Bartoš,
no less renowned than Lipa,
is famous for both his jazz
and classical-music skills. He
is the founder and director of
the Bratislava Hot Seren-
aders ensemble.
The Duke Ellington Or-
chestra, supported by Peter
Lipa and Juraj Bartoš, will
perform in the New Building
of the Slovak National

Editor's note the Cape May Jazz Festival.

DISCRIMINATION can take various
forms and can cause unimaginable harm
to minorities living among a dominant
majority – a majority that does not en-
counter obstacles in getting an educa-
tion, finding a job or simply boarding a
bus or expressing an opinion.
Discrimination does not simply fade
away when undemocratic regimes
metamorphose into democratic ones,
and it does not disappear under the
march of time unless its manifestations
are confronted by remedial legislation,
better education of younger generations
and effective awareness campaigns.
The maturity of a modern democratic
nation should be partly measured by the
availability of equal opportunities for dif-
ferent groups within society in accessing
various life needs as well as greater
awareness in society about why some
people could be totally left out if only the
‘law of the jungle’ is applied: only those
who are stronger and part of the larger
group survive.
Many Slovaks of the post-November
1989 generation have shared a rather un-
usual perception when they first trav-
elled abroad: they were surprised how
many physically-impaired people lived
in the United States or Great Britain. The
unusual perception was certainly not be-
cause there were no disabled people in
communist Czechoslovakia – instead, it
was because these citizens simply did
not have the chance to use the streets or
ride on public transport. They were
locked in home prisons, hidden from
society’s view.
Many would say that things have
changed here. Yes, they are changing
slowly but Slovakia still has a long way to
go in learning its equality lessons so that
the voices of those who are not part of the
But until now Slovak jazz
enthusiasts have not had the
Theatre on April 3 at 20:00.
Tickets range from €49 to
€99. For more information,
opportunity to experience see www.brnokoncert.cz or
majority are heard and they are given the the virtuosity with which www.peterlipa.com.
same keys to access that the majority
population enjoys.
The Slovak Spectator believes the me-
dia should play a leading role in raising
awareness about unequal opportunities
and different kinds of discrimination and
for that reason it supported the idea of an
essay competition among journalism stu-
dents. The competition emerged as a res-
ult of cooperation between the Slovak Na-
tional Centre For Human Rights, the De-
partment of Journalism of Comenius
University’s Faculty of Philosophy as well
as The Slovak Spectator.
The Slovak Spectator agreed to print
the best piece and the essay above by Mi-
chaela Šutková has been translated from
its Slovak original and edited in accord-
ance our style guide.
Beata Balogová The orchestra in action. Photo: Courtesy of the US Embassy
16 March 28 - April 3, 2011 ADVERTISEMENT

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