MPs approve bailout changes

FOLLOWING a deal between three of the governing

parties and the opposition Smer party that has sent
Slovakia heading for early elections in the spring,
Slovakia on October 13 became the last country in
the eurozone to ratify changes to the European Fin-
ancial Stability Facility (EFSF) scheme. Unlike the
previous vote on the EFSF on October 11, which res-
ulted in the fall of the government of Iveta
Radiov, the re-run vote was virtually stress-free
for supporters of the bailout scheme. Smer leader
Robert Fico pledged his partys support for the pack-
age in return for a constitutional law triggering
early elections inSlovakia that was passed earlier on
October 13. The EFSF changes were then duly ap-
proved, with114 MPs of the 147 present voting yes.
Under the rules now agreed by all 17 eurozone
countries, the volume of guarantees that can be
offered by the EFSF will increase from440 billionto
779 billion and Slovakias share will increase from
4.37 billion to 7.72 billion. The EFSF will also be al-
lowed to purchase government bonds on the sec-
ondary market, help in the recapitalisation of finan-
cial institutions, and issue precautionary credit to
states if there is a possibility that they will be shut
out of private credit markets.
The ruling Slovak Democratic and Christian
Union (SDK), Christian Democratic Movement
(KDH) and Most-Hd parties plus the opposition
Smer party voted for the changes, while all MPs
from the Freedomand Solidarity (SaS) party except
Martin Fecko, who abstained voted against them.
Also voting against were the opposition Slovak Na-
tional Party (SNS), three members of the Civic Con-
servative Party (a faction within the Most-Hd
caucus), and independent deputy Igor Matovi.
Along with Fecko, two other independents ab-
stained fromthe vote.
Aday after the first, failed vote, the presidents of
the European Commission and the European Coun-
cil, Jos Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy,
called for a speedy resolution.
SeeYESpg9
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NEWS
Judges withdrawsuits
Dozens of judges who had
sought compensationfrom
the state, alleging wage
discrimination, have
withdrawntheir cases.
Justice Ministry had criti-
cised the suits as unjusti-
fied.
pg 2
'Taxmix' proposed
The Finance Ministry wants
to change the way local and
regional governments are
funded so that the money
comes froma range of
sources. But municipalities
worry that they will come
off poorer.
pg 4
OPINION
Narcissus mesmerised
Beware of politicians ob-
sessed withtheir ownim-
age: as Slovakia is finding
out, they tend not to notice
the wider effects that their
actions have onsociety as a
whole.
pg 5
BUSINESSFOCUS
Labour Codedivides
Over one monthafter
changes to the Labour Code
came into effect, employers
and unions are still sending
starkly different messages
about its impacts.
pg 6
Includingthejobless
Some unusual solutions to
Slovakia's serious problem
withlong-termunemploy-
ment are being proposed to
cut the scale and costs of
joblessness.
pg 7
CULTURE
Kaplicks vision
The largest-ever exhibi-
tionof the works of vis-
ionary Czecharchitect Jan
Kaplick is onshowat
Bratislava's Danubiana
MeulensteenArt Mu-
seum.
pg 10
AshakenIvetaRadiovleaves the parliamentary chamber onthe eveningof October 11 after MPs failedtopass the
eurozone-bailout mechanism, leadingtothe fall of her coalitiongovernment. Photo: Sme- Vladimr imek
Government falls;
early elections set
UNTIL this month, the plans of al-
most all Slovakias politicians had
been predicated on the next general
election not being held until 2014.
But with the sudden fall of the gov-
ernment on October 11 that election
has suddenly been brought forward
to March 2012. And the implosion of
the four-party coalition means that
unlike in 2010, when the centre-
right parties were focused on deny-
ing Robert Fico the keys to the
prime ministers office, this time
they are likely to be fighting just as
hard among themselves.
The early elections are the price
that three of the countrys four rul-
ing coalition parties had to pay to
Fico, leader of the opposition Smer
party, in return for his support for
enlargement of the eurozones tem-
porary bailout fund after the fourth
coalition party, Freedom and Solid-
arity (SaS), refused give its assent.
Because Radiov, following the
rejection by SaS of her final com-
promise proposal, linked the crucial
vote on the European Financial Sta-
bility Facility (EFSF) with a vote of
confidence in her government, the
no by SaS also meant the fall of her
government. Even a last-minute
appeal from Radiov shortly before
the vote on October 11 failed to sway
SaS deputies.
I am asking you to express con-
fidence in this government, to
demonstrate that you agree it is
handling the public finances re-
sponsibly and would not for a mo-
ment mishandle the money earned
by hard-working taxpayers,
Radiov said, as quoted by the Sme
daily. The trustworthiness of Slov-
akia is the most valuable thing that
we have to offer.
Of the 124 deputies present in
parliament for the vote, only 55
voted in favour of the changes, with
60 mostly opposition Smer MPs
abstaining and 9 deputies voting
against. SaS 21 deputies did not take
part in the vote, in which the gov-
ernment needed 76 MPs in favour to
pass the changes.
SeeOUTpg9
Vol. 17, No. 36 Monday, October 17, 2011 - Sunday, October 23, 2011
On sale now On sale now
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CAREERS
After the fall
IT TOOK one year and four months for
Slovakias four-party centre-right ruling
coalitionto fall apart. The decisive issue on
which the parties could not agree was the
expansion of the eurozone bailout mech-
anism, the European Financial Stability
Facility (EFSF).
As The Slovak Spectator went to print
on October 13, President Ivan Gaparovi
was returning from an official visit to In-
donesia in order to exercise his constitu-
tional role and dismiss the government of
Iveta Radiov after it failed to win the
confidence of parliament in a vote on the
EFSF on October 11. Radiov had deliber-
ately made the EFSF vote a confidence in
her government.
Shortly after the vote, Radiov and
the leaders of three coalition parties made
it clear that they held the fourth party,
Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), responsible
for the fall of the government and called on
its leader Richard Sulk to step down as
speaker of parliament and for all of the
partys ministers to resign their posts: De-
fence Minister ubomr Galko, Economy
Minister Juraj Mikov, Labour Minister
Jozef Mihl and Culture Minister Daniel
Krajcer.
Sulk and his ministers, however,
stated repeatedly that they saw no reason
to leave their posts voluntarily and said
they would instead wait to be dismissed
something which in Sulks case can only
be accomplished via a secret vote in par-
liament.
In the aftermath of the fall of the gov-
ernment the leaders of the other three co-
alition parties were quick to reach agree-
ment with Robert Fico of the opposition
Smer party to secure passage of the EFSF,
but at the price of early elections, which
are nowscheduled for March2012.
It is not yet clear what interim ar-
rangements will apply after the current
government is dismissed.
Seestories onpage3
BYMICHAELATERENZANI
Spectator staff
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
SaS ministers are asked
to resign but they say
there is no reason to leave
MP Frantiek ebej leaves OKS
THE ONLYMP fromthe Civic
Conservative Party (OKS)
who voted to approve the
changes to the European
Financial Stability Facility
(EFSF) has left his party. But
MP Frantiek ebej an-
nounced that he will remain
as a member of Most-Hd
partys parliamentary
caucus, the SITAnewswire
reported. The four MPs from
OKS entered parliament on
Most-Hds slate inthe 2010
parliamentary election.
I made the decisionbe-
cause of important differ-
ences of opiniononseveral
issues, for instance the bail-
out mechanism, ebej
stated, as quoted by SITA,
adding that he has no per-
sonal issues withthe three
remaining MPs fromOKS
and foresees no problemco-
operating withtheminthe
future.
Peter Zajac, the chairman
of OKS, said he respects
ebejs decisioneventhough
he feels very sorry about it
because they have been
working together since 1989.
Some members of Most-
Hd have started questioning
their future cooperation
withthe three MPs fromOKS
who did not vote withthe
government onthe EFSF is-
sue, saying it could nowbe
difficult, the TASRnewswire
reported. Those three MPs
Zajac, Ondrej Dostl and
Peter Osusk did not com-
ment onwhether they will
remaininthe Most-Hd
caucus or become independ-
ent MPs.
We will see who will be
inthe newgovernment, Za-
jac stated, as quoted by TASR.
We have clearly declared
that we wont support any
government featuring or be-
ing supported by [Smer
chairman] Robert Fico.
Trade union protest blocks borders
SIXBORDERcrossings were
temporarily blocked by trade
unionmembers onOctober
11 ina protest against the
economic and social policies
of the Slovak government.
The protests were held at
the border crossing at
Petralka-Berg to Austria, at
the Drietoma and Makov
crossings withthe CzechRe-
public, the ahy and Milhos
crossings to Hungary and the
Tatransk Javorina crossing
to Poland, the TASRnews-
wire reported. The protesters
stopped cars, handed out
leaflets and provided small
gifts to the drivers to serve as
anapology for any travel
delay.
Emil Machyna, the pres-
ident of the KOVOmetal-
workers union, said the
protest had support from
trade unionists from
Slovakias neighbours and
was a way of showing dis-
content over the inability of
Slovakias government to en-
sure a dignified social secur-
ity system.
The way that Freedom
and Solidarity (SaS) leader
Richard Sulk behaves in
connectionwiththe
EuropeanFinancial Stability
Facility (EFSF) canonly be
compared to the Meiar era,
whenSlovakia was excluded
frombothits NATOand EU
integrationefforts,
Machyna stated, as quoted
by TASR.
The unions were also
protesting against changes
made to the Labour Code and
the changes planned for the
income tax and payroll levy
system, including the so-
called super-gross wage and
a proposal made by the Na-
tional Unionof Employers
(RZ) to reduce employers
contributionrates to social
insurance programmes.
It is yet another meas-
ure aimed against
employees, Machyna said
about the RZ proposal,
adding that employers
should be able to raise their
employees salaries without
affecting their social insur-
ance benefits. Machyna ad-
ded that based onSlovakias
labour productivity, the
countrys average wage of
780 should be equal to that
of Malta, whichis 1,200,
stating that it is hightime
the government stopped fol-
lowing the dictates of capit-
alismand started working on
improving the situationfor
its citizens, TASRwrote.
Prosecutor charged with corruption
PROSECUTORDana
Zlehovcov fromLevice will
face criminal proceedings
after she was charged with
accepting a bribe and abuse
of her official powers, the
Sme daily reported.
Zlehovcov allegedly
asked for 20,000 to stop an
investigationinto loan-
sharking. The daily wrote
that she was seenaccepting
5,000 and that she had also
shownaninvestigatory file
prepared by one of her col-
leagues to a personwho had
no right to see it.
Ajudge of the Specialised
Criminal Court inBansk
Bystrica ruled that the pro-
secutor would not be taken
into custody before her trial.
If convicted, she could face
five to 12 years inprison, Sme
wrote.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
Some judges rethink
their wage-claim suits
DOZENS of anti-discrimination
lawsuits that Slovak judges
have filed because salaries
were lower than those of
judges serving at the now-de-
funct Special Court have been
dropped. The reasons for the
judges changes of heart about
their lawsuits remain un-
clear, but their claims of wage
discrimination have been cri-
ticised for undermining pub-
lic trust inthe justice system.
About 50 wage discrimin-
ation lawsuits had been with-
drawn as of October 10, ac-
cording to Justice Ministry
statistics reported by the Sme
daily. However, it is not clear
how many judges had actu-
ally dropped their cases since
many of the lawsuits were
mass complaints involving
several plaintiffs.
Hundreds of judges have
filed wage discrimination
lawsuits since 2007, most of
them following a Constitu-
tional Court ruling in May
2009 which found that the
Special Court, set up by a pre-
vious government to fight
high-level corruption and or-
ganised crime, had not been
established in accordance
with the countrys constitu-
tion. Part of the ruling was
based on the grounds that the
position of judges in different
courts was unequal, includ-
ing in terms of pay. Special
Court judges typically re-
ceived considerably higher
pay thanregular judges.
The Justice Ministry un-
der Lucia itansk, the min-
ister since 2010, has been col-
lating information about
these wage-discrimination
lawsuits. According to min-
istry spokesperson Peter
Bubla, at least 702 judges filed
such a lawsuit, according to
the latest information, with
total damages requested
amounting to more than 70
million. The ministry is a de-
fendant in about 200 of the
lawsuits; the rest have been
brought against other institu-
tions such as the Slovak par-
liament or individual courts
suchas the Supreme Court.
Newpresidents withdraw
Many of the newly-ap-
pointed presidents and vice-
presidents of district and re-
gional courts are among those
who changed their minds and
withdrew their discrimina-
tion lawsuits, the Sme daily
noted.
While itansk denied
that she had made it a condi-
tion that judges drop their
lawsuits in order to be ap-
pointed, she admitted that
she had spoken to the would-
be court presidents about
their actions. Specifically, she
said she explained to them
that if they had filed a wage-
discrimination lawsuit they
could, as court presidents, be
faced with a conflict of in-
terest.
The head of the Trnava
District Court, Judge Dagmar
Valock, admitted to the Sme
daily that the opinion of the
ministry had played a role in
her decision to withdraw her
lawsuit. In the end she with-
drew it after she was appoin-
ted president of the court.
Court fees disqualifysome
Another reason why the
number of discrimination
lawsuits has thinned recently
may be that the Justice Min-
istry under itansk started
insisting that judges pay
court fees when filing dis-
crimination lawsuits. As
many as 58 cases have been
dismissed due to the fact that
the judges who filed the law-
suits had not paid the relev-
ant court fees. Four of the
cases are not dismissed com-
pletely; in the remaining 54
cases the judges still have the
right to appeal against the de-
cision, Sme reported.
Some of the judges claim
that it is unconstitutional to
demand that they pay court
fees, saying that in lawsuits
directed against the state,
where the Slovak Republic is
the defendant in the case, the
state is not entitled to require
that court fees be paid.
If that were true, judges
who failed in their lawsuits
would not suffer any direct
financial loss if they were to
lose their cases. Conversely, if
they are required to pay court
fees, they risk losing money
as the fees are not refundable
inthe event that a case is lost.
Court fees amount to 66
plus 3 percent of the sum that
is sought in damages. For a
judge who claimed damages
of 186,000 that would mean
their fees would amount to
5,600, Sme wrote.
Under the previous gov-
ernment the Justice Ministry
did not insist on judges pay-
ing court fees. In fact, justice
minister Viera Petrkov had
lodged a wage-discrimina-
tion lawsuit on her own be-
half while working previ-
ously as a judge. It remained
pending during her time as
minister.
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
Alleged leaker failed lie detector test
POLICE have charged one of their ownof-
ficers with leaking to the media two lists
of people alleged to have connections to
organised crime. The lists, containing
names, photographs and detailed per-
sonal information, quickly became
knownas the mafia lists and police have
been busy trying to identify the leaker
since they were published. In mid-Octo-
ber anofficer working for a special organ-
isedcrime unit failedto pass a lie detector
test and was later accused of stealing the
documents.
The prosecution of the police officer
accused of stealing and leaking the so-
called mafia lists is based onthe results of
the polygraph test. During a subsequent
interview, the accused officer admitted
leaking the documents for the most
part, according to Interior Minister
Daniel Lipic. She is now charged with
abuseof power byapublic official.
The so-called mafia lists have been
making news in Slovakia for the past
coupleof weeks.
Two separate lists of people allegedly
connected to various mafia groups have
been published. The first one was repor-
ted by the private TV channel Markza. A
subsequent list, reported by the Nov as
daily in early October 2011, was 10 pages
longandcontainedmorethan300names,
with pictures and detailed personal data
including birth-registry numbers, car li-
cence-plate numbers and gun-licence
numbers.
Investigators believe the policewo-
man, from the polices special depart-
ment against organised crime (BOK),
copied the data onto a USB stick and later
ontothe laptopof another person. The po-
lice are still investigating her motives
andother circumstances of thecase.
It was an individual failure by an
officer, Minister Lipic told a press con-
ference.
The police insist that the leaked in-
formation is only a part of the databases
which BOK officers use in their opera-
tions and in documenting organised
crimenetworks intheBratislavaregion.
Their value is minimal, Police Corps
president Jaroslav Spiiak said, as quoted
by the SITA newswire. This leak of in-
formation did not cause any disturbance
to the activities of the Office for the Fight
against OrganisedCrime.
However, this is not the first time
that so-called mafia lists have appeared
in public. The first time documents of
this kind were published by the media
was in 2005. At that time, the author was
Spiiak himself, then serving as deputy
president of the Police Corps, as he admit-
ted in an interview with the Sme daily in
January2011.
He justified his decision to publish
the 2005 list bysaying journalists didnot
dare write anything about anyone, [or] at
most after his death they called him a
mobster.
This time around, however, Spiiak
denied any connection with the pub-
lished mafia lists and said the police had
not been ordered to create any such lists.
However, he admitted that inMarch2010
a list of so-called groups of interest had
been compiled by the police under his
predecessor as Police Corps president,
JnPacka, Smereported.
Packahas saidhe is not awarethat the
police would have drafted such lists dur-
ing his term in office but did confirm the
existence of lists of persons in whom the
policemight be interested, SITAreported.
After the current lists were pub-
lished, however, Lipic stated that the
police in every country make lists of
criminals and organised groups. This in-
formation, however, is classified, SITA
reported.
ByMichaelaTerenzani
withpress reports
LuciaItansk Photo: Sme- T. Benedikovi
2
NEWS
October 17 23, 2011
Experts: SaS is isolated
NUMEROUS questions and
concerns about the fall of
Slovakias government on the
evening of October 11 contin-
ue to linger in the autumn air,
even after the eurozone bail-
out mechanism was approved
by the Slovak parliament on
October 13 with votes from
the Smer party being provided
in exchange for an agreement
that an early general election
will be held next March.
Uncertainty is palpable
but media and political ana-
lysts have been offering their
opinions on the following
kinds of questions: what does
the future hold for Richard
Sulks Freedomand Solidarity
(SaS) party, blamed by both
the opposition and its former
coalition partners for bring-
ing down Iveta Radiovs
government? Could any party
even consider SaS as a coali-
tion partner in the future?
Does the fall of the govern-
ment necessarily mean a re-
turn to power by Robert Fico
and his Smer party? And what
will Radiovs place be in the
emerging political environ-
ment?
SaSappears isolated
Within hours of the par-
liamentary vote on the
European Financial Stability
Facility (EFSF), and in the
days that followed, the three
coalition parties that suppor-
ted the plan agreed upon by
European leaders in July
the Slovak Democratic and
Christian Union (SDK), the
Christian Democratic
Movement (KDH) and Most-
Hd made it clear that fur-
ther official dealings with
SaS will be limited, leaving
the future of Sulk and his
party somewhat uncertain.
Politically, this party is
practically in isolation,
political analyst Marek Ryb
of the political sciences de-
partment of Comenius Uni-
versity in Bratislava told The
Slovak Spectator, adding that
he does not believe the party
can easily find any other al-
lies because it has lost its co-
alition partners due to its
own actions but asserts that
it has nothing in common
with the two parties cur-
rently inopposition.
Political analyst Grigorij
Mesenikov of the Institute
for Public Affairs (IVO) agreed
that SaS has little potential as
a coalition partner with other
political parties.
The issue of the bailout
and issues that are linked
with the situation in the
eurozone will certainly be im-
portant for the next govern-
ment and entering a coalition
with a partner who has a
clearly defined attitude on the
issue that is unacceptable to
its partners might be rather
problematic, Mesenikov
told The Slovak Spectator. I
do not think SaS will have
open coalition cooperation
with the three other centre-
right parties. And SaS is an
arch-enemy of Smer.
Ryb also does not think
it is likely that SaS can attract
more voter support in the up-
coming elections, arguing
that the only issue the party is
left with is that they are the
ones who have been against
the loan and Ryb doubts
that a political campaign can
be built onthis issue alone.
The analyst added that
even those voters who may
have appreciated the Euro-
sceptic talk coming from SaS
will not vote for the party
simply for that reason and
polls showing a majority of
Slovaks opposed to the euro-
zone support mechanisms are
not a good gauge of voters
perceptions of the issue.
The fact is that people
mostly did not know what
they were talking about since
the discourse was narrowed
down to the claim that Slov-
akia was going to give money
to the Greeks, Ryb stated,
emphasising his belief that
the topic does not have the
potential to help any Slovak
political party to score points
withthe electorate.
Jakub Groszkowski, an
analyst with the central
European department of the
Centre for Eastern Studies in
Warsaw, noted that the
mechanisms agreed upon by
European leaders to protect
the euro are not easy for or-
dinary people to understand.
Richard Sulk made an
effort to clarify that topic
in Slovakia as well as in
Germany, but it seems his
approach towards the
EFSF remained unclear,
Groszkowski said in an in-
terview with The Slovak
Spectator.
What next for Radiov?
SaS is not alone in having
its political future reduced to
a big question mark. The
prime minister of the outgo-
ing government, Iveta
Radiov, is also unlikely to be
among those who will return
to the most important posi-
tions in the government after
the March elections. Some
analysts even believe her fu-
ture in her own political
party, the SDK, is indoubt.
For some time before the
failed EFSF vote the media
speculated about whether
Radiov might seek to estab-
lish her own political party,
particularly after she did not
rule out such a possibility in
an interview with the Trend
economic weekly.
But Ryb said he cannot
imagine Radiov establish-
ing another political party at
the moment and Mesenikov
refused to speculate about
what might come next for
Radiov, saying she had not
transmitted any signals that
would provide a clear idea
about where she sees her own
future or whether she might
pursue another presidential
bid inthe future.
Her campaignfor the pres-
idency, against incumbent
Ivan Gaparovi in 2009,
garnered Radiov about a
million votes and the possibil-
ity of another bid has been
discussed by both the media
and political analysts.
Radiov has a very good
chance of becoming the next
president if she wants to con-
tinue in politics, said Tim
Haughton, a political scientist
and visiting fellow at Johns
Hopkins Universitys School
of Advanced International
Studies inthe United States.
Radiovs position with-
in the SDK has been rather
shaky throughout her term as
prime minister, according to
Slovak political analysts and
the media.
Ryb noted that the re-
ported tension between
Mikul Dzurinda, SDKs
chairman, and Radiov has
not been resolved because
neither of them expected
Slovakia would be holding
parliamentary elections be-
fore 2014.
This suited both
individuals, Ryb stated.
Radiov focused on man-
aging the government and
Dzurinda on controlling the
party and they did not have to
resolve the issue. But this con-
flict will re-emerge very soon
withearly elections coming.
Smer thewinner for now
The parties of the defunct
centre-right coalition are
saddled with several difficult
dilemmas to resolve before
the election campaign starts
next year, while Smer and its
leader Robert Fico emerged
from the political crisis as the
unquestionable winners as
only with Smers votes could
the EFSF legislation be passed
in a repeat parliamentary
vote, putting Smer in the
drivers seat to dictate how
that would be accomplished.
The parliamentary elec-
tions now scheduled for
March 10 next year are a clear
opportunity for Smer to re-
turn to power given that the
party has been polling well
over 40 percent since the last
elections in June 2010. Nev-
ertheless, political analysts
are reluctant to predict that
Fico will resume the post of
prime minister.
SeeNEXTpg5
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
Robert Ficoemergedfromthe EFSF vote as the political victor - at least for now. Photo: SITA
Radiov could
become president
IVETARadiov has served
one of Slovakia's shortest
terms as prime minister,
withonly a year and four
months inthe position. After
parliament failed her cabinet
inthe crucial euro-bailout
vote onOctober 11, her future
as well as the future of the
party that opposed the bail-
out legislation, Freedomand
Solidarity (SaS), are the
biggest questions inSlovak
politics. The Slovak Spectator
sought the opinionof polit-
ical scientist TimHaughton,
currently a visiting fellowat
Johns Hopkins Universitys
School of Advanced Interna-
tional Studies inthe US. He
gave his views onpossible
developments onSlovakias
political scene.
The SlovakSpectator (TSS):
Nowthat the vote is over
and Iveta Radiovs gov-
ernment has fallen, do you
think it was a good idea for
Radiov to link the two
votes the bailout and the
confidence vote inpar-
liament?
TimHaughton(TH):
Everyone canbe wiser with
hindsight, but the bottom
line is that the government
needed to approve the bail-
out and Radiov had to use
all the tools inher toolbox to
try to get her government to
support the measure. Beyond
making a massive conces-
sionto [SaS leader Richard]
Sulk or [Smer leader Robert]
Fico, what genuine alternat-
ive did she have?
TSS: Howdo yousee the fu-
ture of Iveta Radiov onthe
Slovak political scene now?
TH: As she mentioned on
the first anniversary of her
government she has had a
difficult time as prime min-
ister. Running a coalition
government inSlovakia is
not easy at the best of times,
but it is particularly difficult
whena prime minister is not
eventhe leader of her own
party. Radiov has a very
good chance of becoming the
next president if she wants
to continue inpolitics.
TSS: Do youthink the con-
duct of SaS will strengthen
its popularityamong voters,
or are people likely to turn
away fromthemnow?
TH: By opposing the bail-
out Sulk has no doubt
garnered a modicumof sup-
port fromsome eurosceptic
circles. Sulks mainproblem
lies inthe fact that the core
of his partys voters in2010
(excluding those elected un-
der the Ordinary People la-
bel) supported SaS liberal
agenda. Sulk hasnt de-
livered the liberal social
agenda he promised. As Kev-
inDeegan-Krause and I have
argued ina number of aca-
demic articles, newparties
inSlovakia whichgo straight
into government after first
being elected find it difficult
to hang onto their support.
SaSs support is not as deeply
rooted as the support for,
say, KDH[the Christian
Democratic Movement]. I
would expect a large slice of
those who voted SaS in2010
not to support the party
againinany early elections;
the real questionis whether
this drop insupport will be
outweighed by more euro-
sceptic voters who admired
Sulks stance onthe bailout.
3 October 17 23, 2011
NEWS
The legacy of the
outgoing government
THE FALL of the Radiov
government means that vir-
tually all the reforms that it
had proposed but whichhad
not beenadopted by parlia-
ment are likely to stall.
While the ruling coalition
will not realise all its plans, it
did pass several key legislat-
ive measures during its short
term.
The requirement to pub-
lish all contracts involving
expenditure of public funds
onthe internet is a flagship
measure secured by the
Radiov administration.
This measure, according to a
survey of political comment-
ators by the Sme daily at the
end of 2010, has helped to in-
crease the transparency of
the state administration.
Moreover, it helped to reveal
several dubious contracts,
including those inthe so-
called Hayek case that later
resulted inthe resignationof
two deputy ministers.
Under the law, all insti-
tutions whichfall under the
Freedomof InformationAct
ministries, state offices and
their budgetary organisa-
tions, public organisations,
towncouncils, village coun-
cils and regional govern-
ments must publishtheir
contracts online.
Changes inthe judicial
systemwere also priorities
for the Radiov govern-
ment. One of the first
changes was to establisha
newsystemfor the selection
of judges by commissions
composed of representatives
of courts, the Justice Min-
istry and parliament.
Similar changes were re-
cently passed for prosecutors
as well but have beensus-
pended by a Constitutional
Court ruling.
SeeFALLpg9
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
Political analysts
are uncertain
about what might
happen next
Layoffs at TV component plant
MORE than1,400 people were
laid off froma factory in
Voderady, near Trnava, owned
by Hansol, a Koreanproducer
of components for television
sets, the Hospodrske Noviny
daily reported.
Our company termin-
ated productionof back lights
and LCMpanels onAugust 31
because of a long-termad-
verse situationinworld
markets, said JnMikul,
the firms PRspecialist, as
quoted by the daily.
Miroslava Navrtilov
fromthe Trnava labour in-
spectorate office told the
daily that her office had not
received any complaints
about the layoffs and the la-
bour office located inTrnava
reported that it did not know
about any mass layoffs and
registered only 103 people
who had previously worked
for the company.
The facility opened in
2007 to produce components
for the nearby Samsung fact-
ory. Mikul announced that
the company plans to stay in
Slovakia but will focus ondif-
ferent products, according to
Hospodrske Noviny.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
Employment and salaries increase
WHILE the unemployment
rate inSlovakia remains con-
siderably higher thanthe av-
erage across Europe, the Stat-
istics Office recently released
data indicating that em-
ployment incertaineconom-
ic sectors is increasing.
The number of employ-
ees inthe IT and communic-
ations sector was 13 percent
higher inAugust 2011 com-
pared withAugust 2010,
while employment inmis-
cellaneous market services
grewby 6.9 percent and in-
dustrial employment rose by
3.7 percent year-on-year.
But employment inthe
constructionsector fell by 3.8
percent, the number of em-
ployees working inaccom-
modationservices dropped by
0.3 percent and total employ-
ment inthe wholesale sector
was downby 0.1 percent.
The average nominal
salary inAugust 2011 was 6.6
percent higher thanAugust
2010, the TASRnewswire
wrote. Nominal salaries of
employees inthe informa-
tionand communications
sector increased by 22.1 per-
cent fromAugust 2010 to Au-
gust 2011, the Statistics Of-
fice reported. Nominal salar-
ies also rose inthe construc-
tionsector by 6.8 percent, in
industry by 6.6 percent, in
transport and warehousing
by 3.9 percent and inmiscel-
laneous market services by
3.2 percent.
Fate of budget unclear
THOUGH it was not the immediate state
of the national finances that brought
down the government of Prime Minister
Iveta Radiov, its fall means the next
state budget covering 2012 to 2014 is
nowinsome doubt.
A day after the junior coalition
member Freedomand Solidarity refused
to support changes to the eurozone
bailout mechanism, thereby precipitat-
ing the fall of the government, the
Radiov cabinet still managed to agree
on a modified version of the draft
budget. It presents a deficit of 3.3 bil-
lion, with income at 15.4 billion and
expenditure at 18.7 billion.
The overall public finance deficit is
estimated to decrease from 4.9 percent
of GDP in 2011 to 3.8 percent in 2012,
with the 3-percent threshold required
by European budgetary rules due to be
achieved in 2013, the TASR newswire
reported.
If parliament fails to approve the
state budget by January 1, 2012, Slovakia
will have to operate on a provisional
budget, which in effect means follow-
ing the contours of the 2011 budget. The
lawstipulates that the cabinet is obliged
to submit a draft state budget to parlia-
ment by October 15.
Ruling coalition members said they
would strive to reach accord over the
state budget despite the current political
turbulence. Slovak Democratic and
Christian Union (SDK) chair Mikul
Dzurinda said he expected SaS to vote for
the draft, the SITAnewswire reported.
Agreement on the state budget was
reached with SaS on October 12, accord-
ing to Finance Minister IvanMiklo.
I would consider any conditions
[by SaS] for fulfilling this agreement to
be inappropriate, he said, as quoted by
TASR.
However, the draft budget partly
assumes revenue from a reform of tax
and levy collection that had been mak-
ing its way throughparliament.
Labour Minister Jozef Mihl, a
nominee of SaS, expressed optimism
on October 12 about the prospect of get-
ting the payroll-levy reform approved
by MPs.
As far as the tax-levy overhaul goes,
Im proceeding as if nothing has
happened, Mihl said, as quoted by
TASR, adding that talks with represent-
atives of the self-employed and artists,
who had criticised the reform for what
they described as its negative impact on
certain groups of self-employed people,
had beengoing well.
But the next day, October 13, Mihl
was forced to concede that the reform
would be dropped after all, citing in-
formation he had received from
Radiov. Mihl said he regretted the
decision to abandon the reform, and
noted that he had spent more then a
year working onit.
Mihls own position as minister is
now uncertain, as Prime Minister
Radiov and the ruling coalition lead-
ers have called for the resignation of all
SaS-nominated ministers.
Any failure to push through changes
to the financing of local governments
the so-called tax mix or changes to
taxes on banks might also take a toll on
Miklo budget, whichprioritises spend-
ing oneducation, transport and health.
Opposition leader Robert Fico has
already said that his Smer party will not
support a budget drafted by the centre-
right parties.
During the approval of the state
budget we will behave as a typical left-
wing party, Fico said onOctober 12.
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
The future of of IvanMiklo's draft state budget for 2012 is nowuncertain. Photo: Sme
Changes proposed in local government revenue sources
THE FINANCE Ministry has prescribed a finan-
cial vaccination for local and regional govern-
ment against what it calls the Greek path,
with Finance Minister Ivan Miklo arguing
that in challenging economic times all recipi-
ents of public finances, local governments in-
cluded, should start tightening their belts. Ac-
cording to the ministry, this should involve a
change in the tax mix the range of sources
from which local government derives its fund-
ing but the idea has failed to impress muni-
cipalities and has provoked criticism from the
mainoppositionparty.
The Finance Ministry proposes that local
governments no longer be financed entirely
from personal income tax revenues, but instead
from a mix of taxes: personal income tax, cor-
porate income tax, value added tax and excise
taxes. However, the recent developments res-
ulting in the fall of the government on October
11 mean the changes are now unlikely to be
passed by parliament before an early election
due inMarch.
The Association of Towns and Villages
(ZMOS), which represents 96 percent of muni-
cipalities, wants to preserve the current sys-
tem of financing, which is linked solely to per-
sonal income tax. ZMOS argues that revenues
from this tax are justly distributed among
towns, villages and regional governments.
The Union of Towns of Slovakia (MS), an-
other body that represents municipal govern-
ments, says that while it understands the
macro-economic problems of the state and
does not deny the need for local government to
participate in their solution, it also believes
that the proposed change in financing will
have a negative impact on local governments,
Marin Minarovi, secretary general of the
MS, told The Slovak Spectator.
Miklo has defended his plan, suggesting
that the scheme is much better for the muni-
cipalities themselves since they are likely to
receive 3 percent more in2012 thanthis year.
The basic point of the proposal is that
while currently the local governments have
been getting 93.8 percent of the income tax of
individuals, as of next year they would be get-
ting 12.97 percent of all tax revenues, the so-
called tax mix, Miklo said, as quoted by the
SITAnewswire. The method of calculating tax
revenues changes, yet nothing really changes
inthe principle of fiscal decentralisation.
According to Miklo, even after the change
towns and villages will see, on the 18th day of
the month, a sumsent to their accounts which
they will then be able to spend based on the
same principles that now apply. The finance
minister said he understands that the municip-
alities want more money, but that in the light
of the immense insecurity linked to economic
developments in the world economy and at a
time of threatening recession Miklo says he
considers three-percent year-on-year growth as
appropriate, SITAreported.
In response to municipalities misgivings,
Miklo noted that they also protested in 2004
when then-prime minister Mikul Dzurinda
was trying to push through the original fiscal
decentralisationplan.
Some regional governments, however, say
that the changes could threaten their very ex-
istence. The presidents of Bansk Bystrica,
Koice, ilina and Nitra Regions Vladimr
Maka, Zdenko Trebua, Juraj Blanr and Milan
Belica say that in 2012, regional governments
would see 62 million less than they might ex-
pect based onthe current model, SITAreported.
They argue that the move might result in
increased prices at nursing homes, utilities
and social services, unrepaired local roads,
cancelled local buses, higher taxes on cars, and
problems co-financing projects covered from
Europeanfunds.
However, the MS says that if a set of ac-
companying laws is passed, the situation could
be made more acceptable for local governments.
We negotiated to ensure that an addition-
al law be adopted to guarantee the necessary
minimum funds for the performance of the
original powers of local administrations,
Minarovi told The Slovak Spectator.
Minarovi stressed that the goal is that in
the event of any kind of crisis local govern-
ments are still able to fulfil their mission.
Personal income taxes present for us a cer-
tain high degree of independence because they
are set by law when the state budget is pro-
posed, i.e. the criteria do not change,
Minarovi said, adding that this system is quite
advantageous intimes of positive development.
He said that this was part of the official
reasoning for why the state now prefers the tax
mix, made up of four different types of taxes, as
well as solidarity, since at the same time as the
income of the state drops, local government
would also experience a fall in income.
Minarovi added that some mayors and heads
of local government evenaccept this argument.
In the event that the new model of fiscal
decentralisationis applied, we demand a cut in
spending caused by legislation and at the same
time an increase in the incomes of local ad-
ministrations, without an impact on the state
budget, Minarovi said.
The leader of the opposition Smer party,
Robert Fico, criticised the government of Iveta
Radiov for what he called cutting finances
for local governments.
An extraordinarily critical situation is
emerging within the municipal and regional
governments, Fico said, as quoted by SITA.
Mayors are turning to us and demanding that
we prevent the adoption of measures that the
government is preparing which would bank-
rupt local governments.
Fico has restated that his party will not
support the tax mix and argues that local gov-
ernments would lose approximately 250 mil-
lion in 2012, allowing the state government to
use the money for its ownpurposes.
Smer instead proposes higher taxes, at 25
percent, for people whose annual income ex-
ceeds 33,000, along with heavier taxes on
banks. The current flat tax rate on income is 19
percent. Corporations with profits exceeding
1 million might also face higher taxes, ac-
cording to Ficos proposals to direct funds to
municipalities.
The total revenues of local governments in
the first six months of 2011 reached 1.843 bil-
lion, representing a 3.77 percent increase year-
on-year. Total spending by local governments
stood at 1.599 billion, up 1.4 percent year-on-
year, based on an analysis by the Slovak Credit
Bureau, which operates two Slovak loan regis-
tries, SITAreported.
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
4
BUSINESS / NEWS
October 17 23, 2011
Kokan
PRIME Minister Iveta
Radiovs spokesman Rado
Bao said his brief comment
that "decisions about Slovakia
shouldnt be made by cocaine"
that he posted on Facebook
right after parliament
brought down the govern-
ment was meant as a "scorch-
ing metaphor about the state
of local politics. The choice of
metaphor is rather unusual
but okay, lets examine
whether the recent actions of
SaS resemble those of a person
oncocaine inany way.
What does Wikipedia say
are the main effects of co-
caine?
Increased alertness and
feelings of competence. SaS'
Richard Sulk certainly does
like to repeat that he sees
truths hidden to others.
When asked why the rest of
Europe and his former coali-
tion partners support the
euro bailout fund which he
knows is a road to socialism
and the beginning of eco-
nomic serfdom, he implied
the others are manipulated,
or just thoughtlessly going
along with the crowd. On the
other hand, the actual col-
lapse of the coalition and the
swift agreement on early
elections does seem to have
caught SaS by surprise.
Feelings of well-being
and euphoria. Right after
bringing down the govern-
ment, SaS had a party in their
Liberal House. Just a few
moments earlier they had
global investors and political
leaders watching and the
countrys prime minister
begging them for mercy
and they showed them all!
What better time to have a
little fiesta.
Increased sexuality. No
idea just how liberal their
house is but sticking to the
metaphorical nature of our
analysis, the SaS did pick a
sexy topic to build their repu-
tation on or at least the sex-
iest currently available. The
party has tried to lure voters
by several agendas oppos-
ing mandatory concession
fees for public broadcasting,
decreasing the size of par-
liament, setting a limit on
the price of government lim-
ousines, decriminalizing
weed, legalising gay partner-
ships and so on.
But nothing came of any
of them. Seeing their support
decline, they needed to find
something big and catchy to
boost their appeal. Saving
taxpayer money before it was
stuffed down the throats of
fat Greeks was the best they
could come up with.
Anxiety, paranoia, and
restlessness. SaS members
keep repeating that Radiov
is the best imaginable head of
government. So why did they
vote against her? Their an-
swer: because she tied the
votes together. Why did she do
it? Some dark forces appar-
ently forced her to do so. SaS
MP Martin Poliaik is known
as Shaman, so voodoo may
be involved. The often demon-
ised SDK boss Mikul
Dzurinda is probably also as-
signed some role. But just
what those demons did to
Radiov remains unclear, as
does when they will let go of
her soul which still seems
obsessed by the crazed notion
that it really was best to ap-
prove the eurozone bailout.
Occasional cocaine use
does not typically lead to social
problems. Causing the fall of
the government and early
elections did not make SaS
many friends. But it seems to
have united the party and it
has given Sulk his fifteen
minutes of fame abroad. The
real problem is that what just
happened has the potential to
cause enormous social prob-
lems in Slovakia. Much needed
reforms remain unfinished,
the country has lost a govern-
ment in the middle of huge
economic turmoil, the doors
are open for the return of
Robert Fico, whose adminis-
tration was known for corrup-
tion, incompetence and intol-
erance. The EFSF has passed.
Fico is onhis way back.
After the vote Radiov
said SaS achieved nothing by
its actions. As Eric Claptons
lyrics to Cocaine say: She
dont lie. She dont lie. She
dont lie.
Mesmerised by their
own reflections
POLITICS can easily serve as
a pool for the would-be Nar-
cissus to marvel at his own
image. Along with the op-
portunity to exercise real
power, this is what draws
him into politics: the power
of his image and the love he
thinks it will arouse. But
what makes politics differ-
ent from Greek mythology is
the fact that the poses and
gestures of the political Nar-
cissus have a real impact.
There is a type of politi-
cian who will never accept
that politics is not about
how cool and brave they ap-
pear in the roles they play
for their loyal supporters,
but about the consequences
their decisions bring for all
of society. But when they
pine away and sink into
political oblivionit is society
that has to live with the
consequences they leave
behind.
Politics should not be
about politicians euphoria
over what they regard as
brave decisions but about
the cold reality of their con-
sequences. Politics should
not be just an adrenalin-
sport with a minor headache
the morning after, followed
by the possibility of another
ride 12 hours later.
Slovakia saw its centre-
right pro-reform govern-
ment collapse on October 11,
after one of its members,
Freedom and Solidarity
(SaS), refused to vote for the
extension of the eurozone
bailout mechanism.
Since Prime Minister Iv-
eta Radiov, following sev-
eral failed attempts to reach
a compromise with SaS,
made the issue a vote of con-
fidence in her cabinet, SaS
failure to support her led to
the fall of the government.
Slovakia will certainly
vote for the bailout, but this
time with the help of Smer
boss Robert Fico. What is the
price for Ficos helping
hand? The bill has already
been delivered: early elec-
tions inMarch2012.
Perhaps those who con-
tributed to the fall of the
current government should
ask the judges who were
brave enough to call for
more transparency and were
hoping for reforms to
breathe fresh air into
courtrooms how much they
appreciate this liberal face-
saving exercise.
Robert Fico is not known
for his passionfor judicial re-
form and now the doors are
wide open for him to return
to government: in recent
opinion surveys his Smer
party has consistently polled
around 40 percent.
They should perhaps
also ask the businesses that
have invested in Slovakia
whether they are willing to
contribute to the bill for
this hefty publicity stunt,
given the prospect of yet
another revision to the La-
bour Code or a full stop to
reforms designed to bring
more transparency to pub-
lic procurement.
There is always more at
stake than Facebook entries
inflated by self-importance
and responses from virtual
groups proclaiming Good
job, boys! Not all of Slovakia
is on Facebook and people
live their real lives outside
the simulacra of internet
communication. The de-
cisions the next government
makes will affect them more
than any cool political poses
by now-marginalised politic-
al parties.
It is likely that even Fico,
that grand master of popu-
lism, was taken aback by the
sudden opportunity he was
given to return to power his
bombastic statements pre-
dicting that the right-wing
coalition would never be ma-
ture enough to rule the coun-
try notwithstanding. His
sponsors are now starting
their engines and lining up
for state orders.
Where does the hope lie
in all this? Perhaps with
those who do not turn their
back on the coalition parties,
but more carefully consider
who is worthy of their trust.
This is not any easy under-
taking. Part of the paradox is
that Slovakia is in urgent
need of new faces in politics,
ones that are not burdened
by the old Meiar-style of
ruling. But during this gov-
ernment the new faces used
their matches to set the
whole house on fire instead
of lighting candles to bring
more light. Some of themare
still clapping their hands as
though they have witnessed
an amazing and entertain-
ing bonfire, arguing that the
accelerant was put out there
by someone else, not them.
Some critics of SaS now
comfort themselves that the
party might just have dug its
own grave. But for anyone
who voted for the centre-
right parties in Slovakia this
will come as cold comfort, as
they see their hopes fading
away too.
5 October 17 23, 2011
OPINION/ NEWS
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
If we got the trust of the nation, we would even rule alone.
Nationalist leader Jn Slota comments, somewhat optimistically,
on his partys chances in the election set for March.
SLOVAK WORD
OF THE WEEK
EDITORIAL
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYLUK FILA
Special to the Spectator
NEXT: Smer's return assured?
Continuedfrompg3
It is of course a political
victory for Fico but whether
he is coming back as prime
minister, I am not sure,
Mesenikov stated, adding
that his partymight againwin
the most seats in the upcom-
ing parliamentary elections
but it could happen again that
Smer cannot find a coalition
partner or partners to secure a
majority.
None of the three leaders
of the SDK, KDH or Most-
Hd, speaking at a press con-
ference on October 12 after the
date of the next general elec-
tion was announced, ex-
pressly ruled out future co-
operation with Smer.
Dzurinda responded that such
a questionwas premature.
Mesenikov noted that
the situation could become
very complicated because the
three parties are not likely to
seek a coalition with SaS after
the election, adding that pos-
sible post-election configura-
tions will depend on what
political parties enter the
campaign, how their cam-
paigns resonate with the
voters and whether new
parties might be established
betweennowandthe election
that could affect Ficos level of
support and ability to form a
government.
Groszkowski, on the other
hand, sees no other possibility
thanFicos returnto power.
Smer is going to com-
promise the centre-right co-
alition during the five
months left until the
elections, he said, adding
that Fico also might be able to
take advantage of anti-reform
sentiments that Groszkowski
believes have developed re-
centlyinSlovaksociety.
The reluctance of the
three centre-right parties to
cooperate with SaS makes the
return of Smer and Fico even
more probable, according to
Groszkowski.
Every conflict among the
centre-right political groups
reinforces Smer, he told The
SlovakSpectator.
Groszkowski added that
from the broader European
perspective the current
situation in Slovakia shows
that there are no significant
differences between the
three former coalition
parties and Smer in the
arena of European and euro-
zone issues.
For some Visegrad
Group politicians, Robert
Fico, with his clear support
for the idea of further EU in-
tegration, might be a better
political partner as prime
minister than a right-wing
politician with inconsistent
support in parliament,
Groszkowski stated.
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others or learnnewinformationand knowledge, and
acts as a clearing house where firms or individuals can
find specific kinds of coaches.
International CoachFederation, SlovakChapter
www.icf.sk
has the missionto provide top-quality coaching by
serving coaches and those interested inthis profession
withlong-termand systemic growthat the international
level througheducationleading to anICF certificationin
the Slovak language.
CompiledbySpectator staff
Institutions and organisations
in the labour market
The Ministryof Labour, Social Affairs and Family
www.employment.gov.sk
Minister: Jozef Mihl
Central Office of Labour, Social Affair and Family
(PSVAR), www.upsvar.sk
Employment Institute (IZ), www.iz.sk
a non-profit organisationstudying problems of
employment and unemployment that undertakes
researchonthe Slovak labour markets inareas suchas
regional differences and employees qualifications.
The Employment Institute examines issues such
as active labour market policies, lifelong learning, and
prepares mid-termand long-termstrategies and
forecasts of labour market developments.
Central EuropeanLabour Studies Institute (CELSI)
www.celsi.sk
a non-profit Bratislava-based researchinstitute
fostering multidisciplinary researchabout the labour
market and its institutions, work and workplace
organisations, business and society, and ethnicity
and migrationinsociety.
Institutions and organisations
in the education sector
Ministryof Education, Science, Researchand Sports
www.minedu.sk
Minister: EugenJurzyca
Centre of Recognitionof Documents onEducation
www.minedu.sk
this centre, under the EducationMinistry, deals with
applications for recognitionof various diplomas, assesses
educationundertakenabroad and related educational
issues.
SlovakAcademic InformationAgency(SAIA)
www.saia.sk
Academic Ranking and Rating Agency(ARRA)
www.arra.sk
Fulbright CommissioninSlovakia, www.fulbright.sk
State Vocational EducationInstitute (IOV)
ww.siov.sk
Labour Code still divides
employers and unions
A LITTLE over one month has
elapsed since Slovakias re-
vamped Labour Code became
effective. While this may be too
short a time to assess its full
impact, the newlegislationhas
already moved Slovakia into
the top 10 OECDcountries with
the most flexible labour codes.
When the Slovak Parlia-
ment adopted the revised legis-
lation on July 13, Jozef Mihl,
the minister of labour, social
affairs and family, welcomed it
as goodnews for Slovakia.
It is a huge andverystrong
signal to anyone pondering in-
vestments [here, whether they
are] in Slovakia, elsewhere in
Europe, or anywhere in the
world, Mihl said, as quoted
by the SITAnewswire, after the
final voting. He forecast that
the changes that it heralded
would create some tens of
thousands of jobs.
Employers have been
mainly positive in their reac-
tion to the new Labour Code,
which became valid on
September 1; they certainly
perceive it to be a step towards
making the legislative frame-
work governing relations
between employers and em-
ployees more flexible. But they
say that their expectations
were originally higher.
The final wording [of the
new Labour Code] does not
solve all the requirements of
employers and all the problems
of the labour market, Martin
Hotkof the National Unionof
Employers (RZ) told The Slov-
akSpectator.
Meanwhile, trade unions
are not disguising their dis-
satisfactionwiththe law, say-
ing that employers will
mostly use the new code to
get rid of employees rather
thanhire newones.
Experience so far, based
on signals from individual
trade unions within the Con-
federation of the Trade Uni-
ons of the Slovak Republic
(KOZ), which received them
from some companies and or-
ganisations, are that employ-
ers are using the new Labour
Code as well as the crisis to bid
farewell to employees or keep
them in a state of uncertainty
[about whether they will re-
main employed], KOZ
spokesperson Otto Ewiak told
The SlovakSpectator.
The changes introduced by
the amendment to the Labour
Code include, in a nutshell:
cancellation of parallel enti-
tlement to a layoff notice peri-
od and severance pay; longer
periods for fixed-term em-
ployment, which can now be
agreed for up to three years,
withextensions or renewals al-
lowed three times in a three-
year period; a longer layoff no-
tification period for employees
with long service in the same
job; and greater protection for
mothers andpregnant women.
The amendment also re-
stricts the voice of a small uni-
on within a workplace and sets
a 3-percent limit on the profit
margin for companies selling
meal vouchers.
SeeCODEpg8
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Employers say more labour flexibility brings jobs. Photo: Sme
Business coaching captures interest
WHILE coaching is still not widely used
in Slovakia as a tool for staff develop-
ment, the economic crisis has provided
an impetus for its greater usage, with
managers as well as companies now
looking for new ways and approaches to
face the challenges brought by the eco-
nomic downturn. An increasing interest
in the services of coaches, as well as
growing sales, suggest that Slovakia is
following the global trend towards wider
use of the technique.
The current economic situation is
precisely whencoaching canbe aneffect-
ive way to support managers to find new,
creative and unique solutions suitable for
unpredictable situations, Zlatica Mria
Stubbs, a member of the presidiumof the
Slovak Association of Coaches (SAKO)
and the Slovak Chartered Chapter of the
International Coach Federation (ICF),
told The Slovak Spectator.
Coaching is a practice that helps
people identify and achieve personal
goals. Stubbs explained that coaching is
not training but a means of personal de-
velopment for individuals or teams in
handling the unique situations in which
they find themselves.
These situations cannot be pre-
dicted; they are addressed as they
happen, said Stubbs. During the cur-
rent economic situation this approach is
very effective.
Dagmar Kryov, an internationally
certified coach who works in Slovakia,
pointed out that the current turbulent
and uncertain environment, with its
wide range of possibilities and informa-
tion, presents managers with different
kinds of challenges compared to the past.
There is not a single, well-tested solution
any more and each company and each
manager needs to find a specific solution.
More than 20 years after the re-
volution, we have in Slovakia managers
and company owners with long
experience, said Kryov. They
already have so much knowledge that
they just need to distil from it the most
effective essence and also to have a look
at approaches they have not used so far.
And here a coach, by questioning and
challenging, canhelp.
Companies inSlovakiatakeaninterest
Coaching still belongs among the
practices which are seeking to establish
themselves in the minds of Slovak com-
panies and businesspeople. Coaches here
see interest especially from large com-
panies, which hire them to coach top
managers, as these companies are aware
of the benefits coaching can bring. But
smaller companies remain cautious
partly because of mistrust, but also by a
lack of information and money. But prac-
titioners see anupward trend.
In general we can say that foreign
companies [when coming to Slovakia]
bring with them something of their own
culture, in which coaching is a common
tool and so foreign companies are using
coaching more than Slovak ones, Mar-
tin Prodaj, chairman of SAKO, told The
Slovak Spectator.
Jarmila Kurhajcov, deputy chair of
SAKO, confirmed that large international
companies in particular are interested in
coaching in Slovakia, either because the
approach has been transferred from par-
ent companies or because it is being
provided as a benefit to top managers.
She named Slovak Telekom, Orange, VB
or SOB as some of the companies using
the services of coaches.
When comparing the situation in
Slovakia with that found abroad, Prodaj
points to the higher number of life
coaches found elsewhere. In Slovakia, he
says, coaching occurs mainly in the
business sphere.
SeeUPpg8
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
6
LOGISTICS
& TRANSPORT
Next issue:
BUSINESS FOCUS
CAREERS
October 17 23, 2011
One month on,
the newlawis
still welcomed
and reviled
Good experience
inspires some firms
Helping the unemployed
through inclusive enterprises
Barflies at Kemaroks
job office
Barflies at Kemaroks job office
THE JOBoffice inKemarok
ineasternSlovakia has onits
rolls persons who have been
unemployed since the office
opened more than20 years
ago and the head of the office
blames the current social as-
sistance systemfor the low
interest among what he
called barflies to go out and
seek jobs.
These people have been
registered withthe office
since 1991, fromwhenthe job
offices were launched and
whenregistering of jobless
people began, said IvanKo-
tora, the head of the Office of
Labour, Social Affairs and
Family inKemarok inearly
October, as quoted by the
SITAnewswire.
The current unemploy-
ment rate inKemarok is
29.2 percent; 8,827 people are
registered as job seekers
there. Kotora said there are
more than1,000 people who
have beenregistered at the
job office for more than10
years and individuals with
only vocational certificates
or withoftenincomplete ba-
sic educationcomprise the
largest group. Kotora added
that many of these individu-
als have no working habits
and only minimal knowledge
and work capabilities, es-
timating their number at 75
percent of those registered at
his office.
Kotora told SITAhe be-
lieves that the current social
assistance systemis respons-
ible for the highlong-term
unemployment inthe com-
munity because the long-
termunemployed withlow
educationand skills will earn
only a little more if they take
a job. Moreover, he said the
individuals would lose a
number of social benefits
suchas state assistance for
their childrento attend
school, transport benefits,
food allowances, housing as-
sistance, activationbenefits
and others if they found a
job. Kotora estimated that
the income of a family with
three childrenwould be only
65 per monthhigher if both
parents got a job.
According to Kotora an-
other reasonwhy the long-
termunemployed are not
eager to take a job are over-
due insurance payments that
they owe, specifying that
fines or claims cannot be re-
covered fromindividuals
who are inmaterial need.
Kotora gave as anex-
ample a recruitment cam-
paignby a Trnava-based car
factory held inKemarok in
whichthe firmoffered pro-
ductionline jobs at a net
monthly salary between
500 and 600 as well as free
accommodation, one hot
meal per day and two trips
home per month.
We invited 300 people to
attend the selection[in
Kemarok], said Kotora. El-
evenjobless people showed
interest.
CompiledbySpectator staff
Helping the unemployed
SLOVAKIA is not currently a
leader in economic competit-
iveness or in the quality of its
business environment within
the EUbut it does topthe rank-
inginanareathat it is not very
proud of the proportion of its
citizens who have been un-
employed for a year or longer.
Some individuals in Slovakia
have nowbeenjobless for over
20 years a marked change
from the situation under
communism, when being
without work was a punish-
able offence. It is clear that
many attempts to deal with
the problem have been inef-
fective and that there is really
nofast or cheapsolution.
The Employment Insti-
tute, a non-profit organisation
based in Bratislava, is putting
forth some new ideas to com-
bat Slovakias long-term un-
employment problem, while
admitting that there is no
silver bullet. But it emphat-
ically argues that the prob-
lems caused by long-term un-
employment are an urgent
matter for Slovak society to fo-
cus on and that all of its insti-
tutions bear some responsibil-
ityfor findingandimplement-
ingremedial efforts.
Slovakias level of long-
term unemployment, defined
as being out of work for 12
months or longer, was 9.2 per-
cent in 2010 and topped the
rankings within the European
Union, with Eurostat report-
ing that the average long-term
unemployment rate across
the EU27 was 3.9 percent.
The Central Office of La-
bour, Social Affairs and Family
(PSVaR) recorded 384,220
people as being unemployed
inAugust, and 185,001 of these
had been unable to find a job
for 12 months or more.
Because Slovakia ranks
among the countries with
higher long-term unem-
ployment, the Ministry of La-
bour, Social Affairs and Fam-
ily perceives this situation as
a problem for the whole of
society, ministry spokesper-
son Mria Rakov told The
SlovakSpectator.
MartinKahanec, scientific
director of the Central
European Labour Studies In-
stitute (CELSI) in Bratislava,
believes long-term unem-
ployment in Slovakia has de-
veloped from a mismatch in
labour supply and demand
that was caused by the
workforces education and
skills and its geographical dis-
tribution failing to keep pace
with the changing structure
of the economy over the past
two decades.
Workers who did not ad-
apt and did not obtain newly-
requiredabilities andskills are
finding jobs only with great
difficulty, Kahanec told The
Slovak Spectator. The in-
creased competition for jobs
also led to marginalisation
and exclusion of endangered
groups in the labour market,
especially Roma but older
people as well.
He added that after mul-
tiple unsuccessful attempts to
find a job, some of these indi-
viduals lost their working
skills as well as their motiva-
tionto lookfor another job.
Inclusiveenterprises
A significant proportion of
those who are long-term un-
employed in Slovakia have a
very low chance of success in
the standard labour market,
according to the Employment
Institute, because their very
low level of labour productiv-
ity is not interesting to most
employers. The institute be-
lieves that for this group to
have success in finding jobs,
some type of positive discrim-
ination is needed. It has
presented the idea of a so-
called inclusive market, with
inclusive enterprises which
means two separate but paral-
lel markets for services and
employment, i.e. standard
and inclusive. The institute
states that its version of posit-
ive discrimination is not ac-
complished through govern-
ment subsidies but rather by
creating sufficient demand for
certain types of services, and
hence employment providing
those services.
The institute introduced
its inclusive market scheme
this past summer and is now
seeking support for the idea
from the state government
andother institutions.
The institute proposes the
development of inclusive en-
terprises to employ those who
have been unemployed for a
long time, people who have
beenreleasedfromprison, and
those individuals who are cur-
rently economically inactive
for one reason or another.
These inclusive enterprises
would compete to supply ser-
vices procured by state and
public organisations.
Michal Plenk, the dir-
ector of the Employment In-
stitute, told The Slovak Spec-
tator that the idea of inclusive
enterprises incorporates mar-
ket principles and contrasted
this with the current ap-
proach to supported employ-
ment, for example via so-
called social enterprises, in
which a company receives a
per capita subsidy to employ
an unemployed or disadvant-
agedperson.
Orders are allocated
based onthe market principle
as inclusive enterprises will
compete for them, with the
condition that the social goal
is also met, stated Plenk,
adding that this scheme is
workable only if there are
enough services allocated by
the government that inclus-
ive enterprises can compete
for within standard public
procurement procedures.
Here it is important to
realise that when an unem-
ployed person gets a job, the
state saves quite a bit of
money, Plenk added. In
the inclusive market, when
the [government] order is for
1,000, 70 percent of this
amount is immediately re-
turned to the general budget
in the form of collected taxes
and mandatory insurance
premiums as well as unpaid,
and thus saved, social
benefits.
Plenks conception is
that the state would encour-
age state and public institu-
tions to allocate their orders
for certain services to suit-
able inclusive enterprises
that employ individuals with
lower levels of education
who may have poor working
habits andlower skills.
Inpreparing its proposals
for Slovakia the institute was
inspired by similar employ-
ment schemes in Italy and
France but Plenk stressed
that the target groups in
those countries are a bit dif-
ferent and are smaller and
moreconcentrated.
Slovakia is different in
that the target group in half
of the country is very big,
Plenk told The Slovak Spec-
tator.
For this scheme to work
Plenk said both labour legis-
lation and public procure-
ment legislation must be
modified, adding that having
enough orders for the inclus-
ive enterprises and maintain-
ing their cash flow at a suffi-
ciently high level will be the
most difficult task. He said
certain current projects such
as reconstructing castles or
building flood defences could
easily be transformed into in-
clusiveenterprises.
One issue is to make the
legislative changes and the
second issue is to persuade the
public sphere that this [long-
term unemployment] is a
problem not only for the La-
bour Ministry but for the
whole public sphere and that
the Labour Ministry alone has
no chance to solve it and all
others must get involved,
stated Plenk, adding that if
eachministryandstate organ-
isation was involved and
provided orders and work op-
portunities to the long-term
unemployed, the number in
that category would fall signi-
ficantlyover afewyears.
The Labour Ministry
views the inclusive market
idea as one possible concept to
tackle long-term unemploy-
ment and Rakov said the
ministry is currently review-
ing the proposal to assess its
benefits andrisks.
Kahanec of CELSI sees sev-
eral strong aspects to the in-
clusive market idea but also
pointed to parts that he views
as problematic.
On one hand it creates a
systematic demand for ser-
vices from the long-term un-
employed while maintaining
market principles in this
market, said Kahanec. This
gives a precondition for cre-
ation of jobs for the long-term
unemployed. On the other
hand, it can lead to inefficient
public procurement and can
segregate the long-term un-
employed outside the stand-
ardlabour market.
The Labour Ministry is
already using a number of
tools to reduce long-term un-
employment, with Rakov
specifying that state assist-
ance for launching a business
and covering commuting
costs are among the most-
used active labour market
measures. She added that the
ministry also gives employers
financial incentives to employ
job seekers and is also provid-
ingsupport for jobs incarrying
out anti-flood measures and
resolving extraordinary situ-
ations. The ministry also sup-
ports so-called activation
activities through which the
ministry seeks to maintain
the working habits of those
who are receiving material-
need benefits or those who are
long-termunemployed.
But the Labour Ministry
is currently analysing the ef-
fectiveness of these
instruments, Rakov said.
On the basis of the findings
the ministry will decide
whether to reassess individual
instrumentsor cancel them.
To readalonger versionof this
story, go to www.spectator.sk.
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Castle reconstructionprojects couldbecome 'inclusive
enterprises'. Photo: Courtesyof Peter Horansk
7
FOCUS short
October 17 23, 2011
Proposal floated
for inclusive
enterprises to
develop work
skills and habits
BUSINESS FOCUS
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ProfessIonaIs
In human
resources
Average salaries of graduates online
THE EDUCATIONMinistry
has started publishing vari-
ous kinds of statistics about
the salaries of graduates of
Slovak universities withthe
intentionto help future stu-
dents choose the university
where they want to study.
The ministrys website,
www.absolventi.iedu.sk,
was launched inlate
September, the SITAnews-
wire reported. The ministry
stated that the salary data is
not necessarily related to the
quality of the education
provided by the university.
The website has informa-
tionabout the monthly salar-
ies earned in2010 and the
first quarter of 2011 for those
who graduated fromall 20
state universities and one
private university in2009.
The data shows that those
withtechnical educations
earnthe most.
Uponcompletionof a test
period for the website, the
ministry plans to add data
about the salaries of those
who have graduated witha
bachelors degree or a PhD
degree. The data canbe dis-
played according to uni-
versity and field of study, and
allows comparisonbetween
the graduates average salary
and the average salary inthe
universitys locality.
For more short news, please
go to www.spectator.sk
CompiledbySpectator staff
'Blue Cards' advance in parliament
QUALIFIEDforeigners who
are interested inworking in
Slovakia may soonbe able to
apply for anEUBlue Card as
the Slovak parliament ad-
vanced a revisionto the law
onborder controls and resid-
ence of foreigners to its
second reading onSeptem-
ber 8, the SITAnewswire re-
ported. The EUBlue Card
would allowqualified for-
eigners to work and live in
any EUcountry.
The revised legislation
prepared by Slovakias In-
terior Ministry will permit
individuals witha university
degree or more thanfive
years of professional experi-
ence that is comparable to a
university educationto qual-
ify for the admissioncard.
Applicants must also
provide evidence of a job of-
fer that guarantees a salary
at least 1.5 times the average
monthly salary inSlovakia in
their particular economic
sector. The legislationstates
that the card will cost
165.50 and will be issued for
a three-year period.
Interior Minister Daniel
Lipic said the legislation
should also make the lives of
Slovaks living abroad easier
as well facilitate the reunit-
ing of families. It should also
make illegal migration, hu-
mantrafficking and illegal
work inSlovakia muchmore
difficult. The legislation
mandates that employers
whichillegally employ for-
eigners will be required to
pay the costs of their deport-
ationfromSlovakia.
CODE: Institute says rigidity is reduced
Continuedfrompg6
Furthermore, the revision
removesarestrictiononlonger
overtime hours; eases drawing
of compensatory leave; sets
lower premium payments for
overtime work and allows
more night shifts; mandates a
longer probationary period for
managers; establishes five
weeks of annual holiday for
employees aged 33 and older;
eliminates special advantages
held by state managers; and
gives the go-ahead for employ-
ers to share one job among two
or more employees. Six differ-
ent minimum salary or wage
levels are maintained in the
Labour Code, based on the
natureof eachjobandits quali-
fications. The amended code
requiresthat at least 30percent
of employees in a particular
firm must be members of a
unionfor it to have the right to
negotiateontheirbehalf.
Thelabour market
is moreflexible
According to the Financial
Policy Institute, part of the
Finance Ministry, the reform
of the Labour Code improves
the flexibility of the labour
market. It makes temporary
employment more flexible
and reduces the strictness of
rules when using temporary
employees.
The more flexible Labour
Code should contribute to the
creation of new jobs, the in-
stitute wrote in late Septem-
ber. It should have a positive
impact, especially during ex-
pansions. The flexibility of the
labour market helps especially
low-incomegroups.
Accordingtotheinstitutes
calculations, the reform re-
duces the rigidity of the labour
market, as measuredby the so-
called Employment Protection
Legislation Index elaborated
by the OECD, by 0.3 points to
1.94 points. Thus, compared
with other countries, it will
fall significantly below the
OECDaverageof 2.24percent to
become the tenthlowest inthe
club of industrialised coun-
tries. But the institute points
out that the data from other
countriesdatesbackto2008.
Hotk, of the RZ, points
out that neighbouring coun-
tries have not been idle either
and are now making their la-
bour codes more flexible too.
This is currently true of the
Czech Republic and Hungary,
and means that Slovakia must
continue to improve its com-
petitiveness, saidHotk.
The trade unions warnthat
flexible may also mean that
employers may flexibly get
ridof their employees.
It is necessary to look at
the law in practice, said
Ewiak. The provisions of the
Labour Code that employers
along with the cabinet pushed
through are not a guarantee of
higher employment; this is
created by a complex of several
economicandsocial factors.
Pros andcons
The RZ saidit perceives in
a positive light those changes
which have contributed to
more flexible and transparent
working relations. Here
Hotk listed the cancellation
of compulsory severance pay,
and the introduction of the
possibility to provide money
instead of all or part of a layoff
notice period; the extension of
the possibility to use fixed-
term employment; and the in-
troduction of the so-called
flexi-account, i.e. working-
timeaccounts.
As well as these changes,
the Federation of Employers
Associations (AZZZ) also per-
ceives as positive the change in
philosophy for negotiations
regarding labour conditions,
where the Labour Code nowal-
lows, within collective bar-
gaining but also as part of an
agreement with an employees
board, for working conditions
to be adjusted ina way that dif-
fers fromthe regulations of the
Labour Code.
This places morestress on
social dialogue, whereas be-
fore the focus was almost ex-
clusively on wage growth,
Rastislav Machunka, vice-
president of AZZZ, told The
SlovakSpectator.
KOZ has not recognised any
positive impacts from the new
Labour Code, but reported that
it has made it easier for employ-
ers to force employees, for ex-
ample, toworkmoreovertime.
Also, we at KOZ receive e-
mails describing practices by
some employers who force
their employees to work dur-
ing holidays without extra
payment, or in extended shifts
which are unsupported by the
Labour Code, but at the threat
of being sacked, said Ewiak.
This is difficult to prove be-
cause people are really scared
of losing their jobs. Many of
themhave previous bad exper-
iences. Even when they turned
to the trade unions they failed
to wait for a proper solution
due to the weak enforceability
of thelawinSlovakia.
Unions see little positive inthe newLabour Code. Photo: Sme
UP: Coaches see an optimistic future
Continuedfrompg6
This is also because coaching is relat-
ively costly and life coaches are hired es-
pecially by private clients, said Prodaj,
who sees coaching as an above-average
personal development tool which not
everyone canafford.
Stubbs sees big differences when
comparing the situation, for example, in
England, noting that top managers there
have an opportunity to develop and grow
when their company helps them to find a
coach. In Slovakia coaching is used more
often when a manager needs to improve
in some specific area. Slovakia is far be-
hind inthe life coaching field compared to
other countries, according to Stubbs.
According to Kryov, there is a
marked difference in the goals of coaching.
Sometimes I see in Slovakia that the
goal is to reach some targeted economic
results or improvement in some kinds of
behaviour, said Kryov. Firms that are
more developed focus more on their sense
of work and long-termsolutions.
But Kryov added that coaching is
not a cure-all and that it should be used in
a sensitive way so that people do not feel
manipulated.
In Slovakia, the most in-demand ser-
vices by coaches focus on the business
sector and clients hire coaches to boost
their performance, improve managerial
skills, and motivate people. Kurhajcov as
well as Stubbs said individual coaching is
one of the most sought-after services
coaches provide in Slovakia, while
Kurhajcov added coaching in commu-
nicating withclients.
Sales upby35percent
A recent survey among members of
SAKO and the ICF in Slovakia showed an
increase of more than 35 percent in sales
of coaching services. The experience of
individual coaches confirms this up-
ward trend.
During a period of crisis companies
often reach for new tools with the hope
that they will help them, and coaching is
meeting this task better than most, said
Prodaj. He added that as firms first ex-
perience of coaching is typically good
they tend to widen their use of the ap-
proachthereafter.
The experience of Kurhajcov con-
firms the upward trend. She sees more ex-
tensive and targeted promotion, and the
growing community of coaches, as lying
behind this trend.
There is a lot of information about
coaching available on the market,
Kurhajcov said, adding that conveying
information about results achieved from
one company to another is working very
well. Firms are realising that classical
forms of education are not the most ef-
fective any more. They are looking for
other forms for the effective development
of their employees under existing condi-
tions. On the other hand, employees feel
re-trained.
Stubbs believes that this increase also
indicates that coaching is becoming more
respected as an effective means of per-
sonal development.
Companies are beginning to realise
that during the current rushed times
they need to find an effective way to sup-
port managers in order for them to
handle better and faster the challenges
they face, said Stubbs.
Kryov believes that coaching is an
approach which reflects the current
situation.
It helps people to return back to the
essence, the sense of things and via self-
reflection be able to choose better from all
the available opportunities and life values
about which we often do not even have
time to think.
Optimistic expectations
Coaches expect the increase in in-
terest intheir services to continue.
I believe that the upward trend that
has begun will continue, said Prodaj.
Coaching is something new, with huge
potential for companies and thus they
will continue to use it more and more.
Kurhajcov points out that coaching
brings new ways of solving tasks and situ-
ations, plus creativity and uniqueness.
Coaching can start a change in the
approach and the way of thinking of
people, creating space for new solutions
how to survive or move forward and
develop, said Kurhajcov. It is a mana-
gerial method that secures long-term de-
velopment of humanresources.
According to Kryov, coaching helps
to decode events and their meaning for
leaders and thus also for their companies.
It is said that change is [characterist-
ic of] life, said Kryov. Coaching is es-
pecially about accepting this and working
with change. And this is what current
leaders need.
8
BUSINESS FOCUS
October 17 23, 2011
hk}ly{pzltlu{
Next Start:
October 25
SP90549/2
FOCUS shorts
YES: Financial markets reacted calmly
Continuedfrompg1
We call upon all parties in
the Slovak Parliament to rise
above the positioning of short-
termpolitics and seize the next
occasion to ensure a swift ad-
option of the new agreement,
said Barroso and Van Rompuy
in a statement quoted by the
Reuters newswire on October
12. During the October 11 vote
not just the future of the bail-
out mechanism was at stake
but also the fate of the Slovak
government, since after failing
to strike a compromise with
SaS Prime Iveta Radiov
turned the bailout vote into a
vote of confidence in her own
government.
We have to take prompt
action, Radiov said shortly
before her government col-
lapsed, as quoted by the Sme
daily. If we expect responsib-
ility from our European part-
ners, we have to behave re-
sponsibly as well.
Finance Minister Ivan
Miklo argued that rejecting
the bailout mechanism would
have immense consequences,
great economic and social
costs, and could pose a threat
to the European common cur-
rency. On several occasions he
dismissed what he described
as the myths surrounding the
EFSF.
The myths about the EF-
SF are just a tool of populist
politics, which harms not
only Slovakia, but causes
problems all around the
world, Miklo told MPs,
adding that the good name of
Slovakia had already been
harmed and that parliament
should prevent more damage
frombeing done.
SaS boss Richard Sulk ar-
gued during the debate over
the bailout that supporting it
contradicts the programme
statement of the government,
and that it generally contra-
dicts commonsense.
Id rather be a pariah in
Brussels than have to feel
ashamed in front of my own
children, Sulk said.
Themarkets (dont) react
The October 11 failure to
pass the bailout did not have
any dramatic effect on the
financial markets since they
already assumed correctly,
as it turned out that Slovakia
would ultimately produce a
yes vote, according to market
watchers.
In general it was as-
sumed that the bailout fund
will be approved by the end of
the week, but with the sup-
port of Smer, Mria
Valachyov, senior analyst
with Slovensk Sporitea,
Slovakias largest bank, told
The Slovak Spectator. The
vote has much graver impacts
on domestic politics rather
thanEurope.
Vladimr Vao, chief ana-
lyst with Volksbank Slov-
ensko, also expressed confid-
ence on October 12 that
Slovakias parliament would
not break ranks with those of
the 16 other eurozone member
states.
The immediate reaction
of global financial markets is
commensurate with the un-
derstanding that because of
the linking of the EFSF vote
and the confidence vote, the
opposition party could not
vote affirmatively, purely for
political reasons, Vao told
The Slovak Spectator. Finan-
cial markets at this point are
waiting for agreement on an-
other vote, which is expected
to also win the support of the
main opposition party, which
has repeatedly demonstrated
its support for the EFSF.
According to Vao, all re-
sponsible politicians capable
of reading the geographic and
economic map of Europe, as
well as understanding all the
benefits that the euro has
brought to Slovakia in just the
first two years of its use, and
being aware of all the risks
that non-euro neighbours are
facing even now, fully com-
prehend that it is absolutely
not in the interests of the
Slovak Republic to obstruct
the unanimously approved
conclusions of the July sum-
mit of EUleaders.
I personally find it aca-
demically offensive when
even some foreign publica-
tions take over the demagogic
populismof a tiny, albeit well-
organised and loud, group of
EFSF opponents in Slovakia,
Vao said. First of all, Slov-
akia is today significantly bet-
ter off economically than it
was a decade ago. A crucial
stone in the mosaic of the
Slovak economic turnaround
has been integration into the
EU, as well as integration into
the eurozone.
Vao restated that EU
entry, together with econom-
ic reforms, acted as the key
magnet that attracted the
massive inflow of foreign dir-
ect investment (FDI) that not
only turned Slovakia into an
economic tiger in terms of
output, but also played a cru-
cial role inlowering the rate of
registered unemployment
from close to 20 percent in
2001 to 7.36 percent in August
2008, before the global reces-
sion hit. It was this FDI and
export-driven improvement in
labour market conditions that
significantly improved aver-
age wages, Vao said. The pur-
chasing power of Slovak wages
and savings during the global
recession were protected sig-
nificantly better within the
eurozone over the past two
years, at a time when neigh-
bouring countries faced signi-
ficant exchange rate turbu-
lence, as well as notably elev-
ated inflation due to more ex-
pensive imports, according to
Vao.
Hence, the argument
about income inequality as a
reason to contribute to ex-
acerbation of the sovereign
debt crisis in the eurozone is
completely misplaced, Vao
told The Slovak Spectator.
Failure to stabilise the credib-
ility of the euro and sub-
sequent deepening of eco-
nomic woes in the eurozone
would badly hit the export-
dependent economy of Slov-
akia and its labour force. Such
an adverse scenario would not
make Slovaks better off, but
on the contrary, the adverse
scenario would further hit the
process of convergence of
Slovak income and living
standards with the level of
older member states.
Economic risks from
thefall of government
In terms of the economic
risks stemming from the fall
of the government, Vao said
that the major one is the cred-
ibility of the deficit-reduction
plan, which is of the utmost
priority not only for the Slov-
ak government, but also for
the rating agencies and finan-
cial markets.
One should keep in mind
that the sovereign risk premi-
um of Slovak state T-bonds of
benchmark maturity 2019 has
already notably exceeded the
levels seen in the spring of
2009, during the culmination
of the global turmoil in the
financial markets. In the
short-term, the most costly
risk for Slovakia stems from a
weakening of the credibility of
its fiscal consolidation plan,
which could feed into higher
sovereign debt spreads, and
possibly cast doubt on
Slovakias rating, Vao said.
Major medium-term risks
are connected withthe percep-
tion of political stability and
predictability, which is one of
the major elements of assess-
ment for FDI investors. Espe-
cially after what is going on in
Hungary, potential FDI in-
vestors would have increased
their weighting on the politic-
al stability and predictability
criterion, Vao explained.
Valachyov also sees the
budget as the main risk, sug-
gesting that willingness to
save money and pass unpopu-
lar measures might weaken in
the run-up to next Marchs
general election.
The scene inparliament on
October 11. Photo: TASR
OUT: Blame
game begins
Continuedfrompg1
The outcome made Slov-
akia the only eurozone coun-
try not to approve the en-
largement of the bailout fund
onthe first attempt. With
the governments fate
sealed, Smer and the three
pro-EFSF coalitionparties
were quick to agree onthe
next steps: parliament on
October 13 passed a constitu-
tional law, using a fast-
tracked legislative proceed-
ing, to shortenthe current
electionterminSlovakia and
schedule anearly electionon
March10, 2012.
Slovakia will ratify the
bailout mechanismwithout
any problems, Fico said
whenannouncing the deal.
He had previously made
clear he would support the
EFSF only inreturnfor an
early election. He added that
there was consensus among
the parties that Slovakia
must back sucha mechan-
isminthe eurozone.
Fico made good onhis
promise onOctober 13, when
a second vote onEFSF en-
largement passed by an
overwhelming majority of 114
to 30. Regarding the func-
tioning of the cabinet and
parliament inthe period be-
fore the election, Fico stated
that Smer will remainan
oppositionparty until the
very last day of this election
term and will not try to
strengthenits positionin
parliament. The functioning
of the cabinet is aninternal
affair of the coalition
parties, Fico affirmed.
Whois responsible?
Shortly after the failed
bailout vote, SaS and the other
ruling coalitionparties star-
ted offering their owninter-
pretations of who was to
blame for the governments
demise. While the Slovak
Democratic and Christian
Union(SDK), Christian
Democratic Movement (KDH)
and Most-Hd all said that
Richard Sulks SaS had
brought it down, SaS blamed
Radiov for making the EFSF
vote a confidence issue and
thereby raising the stakes so
high. SaS' leaders also sugges-
ted that someone had pushed
Radiov into the decision.
Sulk stated after the vote
that he regretted that it had
takenso long for his ruling
coalitionpartners to realise
that his party would keep to
what he called its principled
stand against the European
bailout fund.
Marek Ryb, a political
analyst fromthe political
sciences department of
Comenius University, told
The Slovak Spectator that the
two-in-one vote was a last-
ditchsolutionsince the rul-
ing parties had beennegoti-
ating relatively intensively
since May and that over the
past three weeks some com-
promise solutions that
would have allowed SaS to
save face had beenput onthe
table but were rejected.
Linking the votes came
as a last resort, whenall the
other possibilities were used
up, Ryb said. I do not
think that this was the reason
why the government fell. The
government could not have
meaningfully existed while
there were suchfundamental
differences, whichwould also
be reflected inour public fin-
ances and our international
obligations. Thus it was the
last chance to force all the
parties to support the
bailout.
Grigorij Mesenikov,
president of the Institute for
Public Affairs think tank,
said that the situationde-
veloped to a point where the
prime minister considered it
to be the last possible solu-
tion.
Relations withSaS
worsened to the point that
she was not able to imagine
that she would continue co-
operating withthe party
that had refused to support
sucha significant issue,
Mesenikov told The Slovak
Spectator. It is a problemat-
ic step, but understandable.
9
BUSINESS / NEWS
October 17 23, 2011
FALL: Some reforms may stick
Continuedfrompg3
Justice Minister Lucia itansk regularly
defended the measures, presenting themas an
attempt to openthe previously opaque court sys-
temto public scrutiny, but the opposition, to-
gether withthe president of the Supreme Court,
tefanHarabin, criticised the changes and ac-
cused her of trying to politicise the judiciary.
The Radiov government was praised for
improving relations withSlovakias southern
neighbour, Hungary. The government was
largely successful inreversing the deteriora-
tioninties that had occurred under the previ-
ous government of Robert Fico. Fico, together
withhis ruling coalitionpartner the national-
ist Slovak National Party (SNS), had beenin-
volved inseveral international disputes which
culminated inamendment of the State Cit-
izenship Act, stripping any Slovaks who seek
citizenship of another country of their Slovak
citizenship. It was passed after Hungary star-
ted allowing ethnic Hungarians inneighbour-
ing countries, including Slovakia, to more eas-
ily obtainHungariancitizenship.
Among the other measures passed by the
government were the establishment of a new
public broadcaster, Radio and Televisionof Slov-
akia (RTVS), whichabsorbed Slovak Radio and
Slovak Television, and changes to the Labour
Code, whichwere welcomed by employers but
denounced by trade unions. The cabinet also re-
established the Environment Ministry, which
had beenabolished by the previous government.
The fall of the government has halted sev-
eral further reforms proposed by the govern-
ment, suchas anlarge-scale changes inthe tax
and payroll-levy systemand partial reversal of
the amendment to the State Citizenship Act.
ByRadka Minarechov
withpress reports
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Kaplick in Danubiana
FANTASTICAL, genius. These
are some of the words coming
from visitors to the Danubiana
Meulensteen Art Museum in
unovo near Bratislava about
the largest-ever exhibition of
worksbyarchitect JanKaplick
(1937-2009). Thearchitectsreal-
ised and unrealised works are
both displayed on large poster
boards on the walls of the mu-
seum, along withthree-dimen-
sional buildingmodels, cutlery,
tableware and jewellery de-
signed by this world-renowned
architect of Czechorigin.
Jan Kaplick is rightly
consideredtobeoneof themost
influential visionaries of mod-
ern architecture, wrote Eva
Jiricna, the curator of the ex-
hibition as well as his long-
term collaborator, in the text
accompanyingtheexhibition.
That hewasatruevisionary
might also be provedby the dis-
proportionate number of un-
realised works initiated by his
studio, whose name, Future
Systems, also reflects his for-
ward-looking perspective. But
as Kaplick wrote in one of his
books, Album, inthe past they
laughed at my projects; now
they are copying them and the
world might yet see more
works completed that have
beeninspiredbyhisvisions.
The exhibition Jan
Kaplick: His Own Way
presents the personality and
works of the artist in their
broadest context, from archi-
tectural models to jewellery
andfashion.
By philosophy and nature,
Kaplick, who immigrated to
Great Britain in 1968 and later
established Future Systems in
London, was mainly an archi-
tect but his creative touch can
be seen in many other artistic
disciplines. He was often in-
spired by natural forms cob-
webs, butterfly wings, and
evenfishscales.
These inspirations, as well
as his fascinationwithnewma-
terials and technologies, are
mirrored in the project for the
unrealised building of the
Czech National Library in
Prague. Kaplicks project won
a competitionin2006 to choose
the design for the new library,
but Czech President Vclav
Klaus unleasheda wave of criti-
cismagainst the designandthe
project was halted completely,
with little chance that it will
nowbecompleted.
Apart from this project
known, because of its shape, as
the octopus or blobinthe Czech
Republic as well as inSlovakia
the exhibition presents many
completed works, for example
the iconic Lords Media Centre
at the famous London cricket
ground, for which Future Sys-
tems was awarded the prestigi-
ous Stirling Prize for Architec-
ture, and Kaplicks sub-
sequent big project, a new
shopping centre building for
Selfridges department store in
Birmingham, which was listed
as one of the most important
buildings in the world by the
Independent Newspaper and
receivedinternational acclaim.
The exhibition of
Kaplicks works came to
Danubiana from Prague where
a smaller version had been dis-
played at the Dox Centre for
ContemporaryArt in2010.
The exhibition presents
Kaplicks works in such a way
that visitors can track the pro-
cess of creation from the very
initial inspiration, like the
wings of abutterflyor thehipof
awoman.
The exhibition, which is
open until December 4, also
includes among its three-di-
mensional models the blob,
known as a free-form mono-
coque (single shell) structure
that Kaplick designed in 1985,
which Jiricna described as a
kind of breakthroughproject in
thearchitects career.
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
JanKaplick always went his ownway. Photo: JanaLiptkov
Books in English
Freakonomics. StevenD.
Levitt &StephenJ. Dubner.
PenguinBooks, first pub-
lished in2005.
The authors write that
Freakonomics is at the
heart of everything modern
people do and the things that
affect themdaily. It is about
using informationfromthe
surrounding world to get to
the heart of what is really
happening under the surface
of everyday life. Levitt, a pro-
fessor of economics at the
University of Chicago, and
Dubner, a writer for the New
York Times and the New
Yorker magazine, joined
forces to release a book that
reads like a detective novel,
according to the Wall Street
Journal, and has become a
cult bestseller. This newedi-
tionincludes the authors
columns and blog entries.
The Phoenix and the Carpet.
EdithNesbit. WithanActiv-
ity Book. ThomsonHeinle,
2000.
This fantasy novel for
children, writtenin1904 by
EdithNesbit as the second
volume of a trilogy, has be-
come a tool for learning Eng-
lishina funway. Books ap-
pearing inthe EnglishLan-
guage Teaching series are
ranked from1 to 6 according
to their level of difficulty and
this novel has beenretold by
Diana Kordas and adapted to
Level 3. It includes anActivity
Book that further assists chil-
dreningrasping the language
and the content of the book.
ARoomof Ones Ownand
Three Guineas. Virginia
Woolf. Oxford Worlds Clas-
sics, reissued in2008.
Inthese two essays, the
renowned writer develops an
innovative and politically-
challenging analysis of the
causes and effects of womens
exclusionfromBritishcul-
tural, political and economic
life. Starting froma consider-
ationof the troubled relations
betweenwomenand fiction
inARoomof Ones Own
(1929), Woolf moves onto a
muchbroader analysis of the
political and cultural implica-
tions of womens oppression
inThree Guineas (1938). The
first is perhaps her best-
knownessay while the latter
is the result of tenyears of re-
searchby Woolf, building on
the arguments she developed
inARoomof Ones Own.
This column is a selection by
The Slovak Spectator of English-
language books recently released
in Slovakia; it does not represent
an endorsement of any of the
books selected. The column is
prepared in cooperation with the
Oxford Bookshop, Laurinsk 9,
Bratislava.
10
CULTURE
October 17 23, 2011
hk}ly{pzltlu{
SP90607/1
OPENS NOVEMBER 11, 2011
NOV SCNA THEATRE
www.baletbratislava.sk
MUSIC
SERGEI PROKOFIEV
CHOREOGRAPHY
MRIO RADAOVSK
Partners: Principal media partners: Media partners:
SLOVENSK TLAOV AGENTRA
S L O V A K N E W S A G E N C Y
US Major General Martin
Umbarger, a friend to Slovakia
MAJOR General Martin Roy
Umbarger, commander of the
US National Guard in Indiana
and since September 26 an
honorary citizen of Bratislava,
discussed his career and his
15-year involvement with
Slovakias armed forces by
praising the changes the Slov-
ak Army has undergone and
stating that its current opera-
tions mark a high point in the
armyshistory.
After receiving his citizen-
ship from Bratislava Mayor
Milan Ftnik, the major gen-
eral affirmed his great pleas-
ure and pride in the coopera-
tion between the Indiana Na-
tional Guard and the Slovak
Army. This cooperation began
in 1994, a decade before
Slovakias 2004 entry into
NATO. The major generals
own involvement in the rela-
tionship started two years
later, in 1996, when he visited
Slovakia for the first time. He
recalls being struck on this oc-
casion by vivid first impres-
sions of the Slovak Armed
Forces, seeing a huge, old-
fashioned army, with almost
no professional non-commis-
sioned officers working along-
side officers and military ser-
vicemen.
He witnessed the changes
the Slovak forces underwent
over the next few years as it
became more professional, en-
listed more women, and parti-
cipated in military actions
abroad. Together, Umbarger
averred, these changes consti-
tutedagreat leapforward.
The current period, he ad-
ded, marks a high point in the
achievements of the Slovak
Army. He singled out the ISAF
operationinAfghanistanas an
example of a mixed team of
Slovak soldiers and the Na-
tional Guard.
Under the command of
Slovak officers, the team par-
takes in the training of Afghan
soldiers. This work is crucial to
help the Afghan government
and its security forces gradu-
ally take over security for their
country without the need for
assistance from ISAF soldiers,
Umbarger stressed. Inthis con-
text Umbarger stated his ap-
preciation for the excellent co-
operation he has enjoyed with
the outgoing chief of the Gen-
eral Staff of the Armed Forces,
ubomr Bulk. Umbarger
praised Bulks staff for doing a
superb job in spite of downsiz-
ing and budget reductions. He
alsopraisedSlovaksoldiers.
Ina meetingonSeptember
23, Defence Minister ubomr
Galko and Umbarger agreed
that the Indiana National
Guard and the Slovak Armed
Forces would help each other
tocontinuallyimprove. As one
possible field of cooperation,
Galko stated that we would
like to continue the activity of
jointly training teams within
the ISAF operation into the
future.
Umbarger has been wear-
ing the National Guard uni-
form since 1969, when he
joined as a private. He gradu-
ally worked his way through
the ranks, assuming com-
mand of the Indiana National
Guard in 2004. He is married,
withtwodaughters, ason, and
five grandchildren. He stated
that he and his fellow soldiers
in the Indiana National Guard
are proud of their cultural her-
itage, their country, com-
munity and family these are
the values US soldiers fight to
protect andpreserve.
The US state of Indiana has
about 6.3 millionresidents and
its National Guard comprises
more than 14,700 soldiers and
as many as 600 employees.
Less than 13,000 guard mem-
bers are in the army; the rest
are air force personnel. Only a
small core of officers and non-
commissioned officers are
professionals; the rest are vo-
lunteers who also have civil-
ianjobs.
Apart from military train-
ing, members of the National
Guard are summoned in the
event of natural disasters, in-
dustrial accidents, and so on.
They are also deployed in mil-
itary operations abroad such
as in Kosovo, Kenya and Afgh-
anistan.
ByPavol Vitko, editorof the
militarymagazineObrana
Kremnica in 1742
QUITE a lot of literature about Slovak mining
towns has been preserved as many educated
people took an interest in these towns be-
cause of their enormous wealth. Adescription
of Kremnica and its vicinity dating back to
1742 mentions several interesting facts about
the life of the town and the times in which it
was written.
For example the tall hill above the town,
now called Kremnick tt, used to be called
Male Rock as the top part of the rock re-
sembles a phallic symbol. Another of the hills
bore the name Revolta, but this meant only
Roe Deer Forest fromRehWlder inGerman.
The hill currently named turec came to
exist in 1443 after a massive earthquake caved
in the middle part of the hill along with un-
derground mining areas. The 1742 text also
mentions Galgenberg, meaning Gallows Hill,
which very probably was situated there dur-
ing the Middle Ages as served as the place
where the towns accused criminals met their
maker.
Another period notation is interesting: it
said that precious stones of many colours
could be found around Kremnica and its sur-
roundings and claimed they had been created
by evaporationof gases inthe town.
The description from nearly three centur-
ies ago also mentions vast suburbs that were
reportedly bigger than the town itself. One of
these suburbs, called Horn ulica (Upper
Street), can be seen in this colourised post-
card from the times of the Austro-Hungarian
Empire.
ByBranislavChovan
HISTORY TALKS
WesternSLOVAKIA
Bratislava
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Cikker v
Plffyho palci / Cikker at the
Plffy Palace This cycle of
four concerts brings the fam-
ous Moyzes Quartet and sets
Slovak composer Jn Cikker
(who was born exactly 100
years ago) in context with
other composers. The per-
formances feature guest Ant-
on Jaro on double bass, play-
ing the works of Jn Ktitel
Vahal, Jn Cikker and Franz
Schubert.
Starts: October 19, 19:00;
Plffy Palace. Admission: 2-
4 (on the door). More info:
www.kamdomesta.sk.
Bratislava
l LIVE MUSIC: Gipsy Kings
The popular Spanish band,
who plays typical Andalusian-
Roma songs, visits Slovakia to
performafter a3-year absence.
Starts: October 20, 20:00;
Sports Hall Pasienky. Admis-
sion: 28-60. Tel: 02/5293
-3321; www.ticketportal.sk,
www.gipsykings.com.
Bratislava
l ART OF MIME: Andy Andy
Famous Slovak mime Milan
Sldek, who lives in Germany,
presents the life story of Andy
Warhol in the form of panto-
mime comedy, dance, clown-
ing and drama. The perform-
ance presents a full-scale
study of the artists work and
soul.
Starts: October 23-24,
19:00; Nov Scna Theatre,
ivnostensk 1. Admission:
11-17. Tel: 02/5293-3321;
www.ticketportal.sk.
Bratislava
l EXHIBITION: Dva roky Ac-
centus Musicalis / Two Years
of Accentus Musicalis The
musical project Accentus Mu-
sicalis has created a bilateral
Slovak-Austrian platform
aimed at reviving and inter-
preting old music in this re-
gion. The second year of the
project is marked by a travel-
ling exhibitionintroducing its
activities.
Open: workdays 9:00
-16:00 until October 31; Aus-
trian Cultural Forum, Zelen
1. Admission: free. More info:
www.rakusko.eu/sk/kultura.
aspx.
Nitra
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Cithara
aediculae 2011 This interna-
tional festival of classical gui-
tar music brings a cycle of six
representative concerts by
renowned performers of this
musical genre from Italy, Bul-
garia, Romania, Poland and
New Zealand. The festival is
accompanied by an exhibi-
tion.
Starts: October 17-22; Ni-
tra Synagogue, Pri synagge
3. Admission: 2 (booking via
Nitra information service).
More info: 037/7410-906;
www. nisys.sk.
Central SLOVAKIA
BanskBystrica
l LIVE MUSIC: Uriah Heep
The legendary British rock
band visits a local music club
to play songs from their latest
two CDs.
Starts: October 18, 19:00;
Ministry of Fun, Na Troskch 25.
Admission: 25-45. Tel: 02/
5293-3321; www. ticketportal.sk,
www.ministry.sk.
ilina
l LIVE MUSIC: Ve nejlep
tour 2011 The last tour by
Czech pop singer Marie
Rottrov, who turns 70 this
year and says she wants to end
her career and retire. She will
sing a selection of her most
popular songs and has invited
Petr Splen, Jaroslav
Wykrent, Vt Szavsk and
others to joinher.
Starts: October 19, 19:00;
Doxxbet arena, ice hockey
stadium. Admission: 16-28.
Tel: 052/7887-081; www.
ticket-art.sk.
EasternSLOVAKIA
Humenn
l LIVE MUSIC: Komajota
Elektro Tour 2011 The popu-
lar Preov band Komajota has
invited Dano piner to play
synthesizer and sing vocals
and Miro Szirmai to play elec-
tronic drums, thus creating a
more electronic sound.
Starts: October 22, 20:45;
Nostalgia Music Pub, tef
nikova 27. Admission:
2. More info: www.
nostalgiamusicpub.sk,
www.komajota.sk.
Koice
l CZECH FESTIVAL: Dni
eskej kultry 2011 / Days of
Czech Culture 2011 - This fest-
ival commemorates the Octo-
ber anniversary of the founda-
tion of the commonCzech and
Slovak state, comprising a
host of exhibitions, concerts,
a festive meeting, literary
evening, andmore.
Starts: until October 27,
various sites inKoice. Admis-
sion: various. Tel: 055/6255217;
www.cske.sk (in Czech only),
www.kamdomesta.sk.
ByZuzanaVilikovsk
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
STAND-UPcomedy is relatively newtoSlovakia, but it is develop-
ing fast. The KC Dunaj culture centre in Bratislava presents
stand-up comedy in English once a month. The next gig, featur-
ing an Englishman (Dave Thompson), an American (Toby
Muresianu) and an Irishman (Kevin Hayes, above), is on
Thursday, October 20, at 19:30 in KC Dunaj, Nedbalova 3. The
host will be Milan Sedliak.Tickets cost 9 in advance (bookings
through reservations@babybluebanana) and 10 on the door.
For more information, please go to www.kcdunaj.sk or
www.BabyBlueBanana.com. Photo: Courtesyof BabyBlueBanana
THEMOONRIDEfestival of contemporaryarts is nowinits sixth
year. It offers music, theatre, dance, visual arts and multi-media
projects mainly (but not exclusively) from Visegrad Group coun-
tries, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary.
Between October 19and22, various events takeplaceat Tabaka
Kulturfabrik in Gorkho 2 in Koice. Admission varies and is
sometimes free. A ticket for the whole festival costs 19. For
moreinformationcall 0907/089-711 or visit www.tabacka.sk.
Photo: Soap&Skin(AT), Courtesyof TabakaKulturfabrik
Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia
can be found at www.spectator.sk/weather.
A Slovaks name day (meniny) is as important as his or her birthday. It is traditional to present friends or co-workers with a small gift,
such as chocolates or flowers, and to wish them Vetko najlepie k meninm (Happy name day)
N A M E D A Y O C T O B E R 2 0 1 1
Monday
Hedviga
October 17
Tuesday
Luk
October 18
Wednesday
Kristin
October 19
Thursday
Vendeln
October 20
Friday
Urua
October 21
Saturday
Sergej
October 22
Sunday
Alojzia
October 23
Bratislava's Charlie's cinema
re-opens as Kino Lumiere
A ONCE-POPULAR film com-
plex comprising several
cinema screens and an un-
derground disco has partially
re-openedinthecentreof the
Slovak capital. The former
Charlie's Centrum club is
now called Kino Lumiere
(Cinema Lumiere) and is
showing films daily on two
of the complexs ground-
floor screens. The presenta-
tions are mainly arthouse
films, including Slovak and
Czech productions. Among
the Slovak films being
screened in the near future,
with English subtitles, is the
successful Dom (House) by
ZuzanaLiov.
In September we [star-
ted] to screen films from the
largest non-commercial
travelling filmfestival called
Project 100 2011, so audi-
ences in this cinema [would]
have the chance to see films
awarded the Grand Prix at
the most prestigious inter-
national festivals, Peter
Dubeck, the general direct-
or of the Slovak Film Insti-
tute (SFI), which now runs
thecomplex, statedinapress
release. The premises should
later be used to premiere Slov-
ak and European films. In the
future, we would like to ad-
dress children, seniors andwe
will focus on film education.
Wewouldliketomount Little
History of Cinematography
sessions with lectured intro-
ductions. There are already
several festivals that would
like to perform part of their
activities here Archives in
the neighbouring countries
have expressed their interest
in cooperation on represent-
ative screenings, of national
cinematographies. We would
like to make room for all
those films, activities and
events whichdonot haveany
other space.
The history of the
premises, which are owned by
the state, is complex. Charlie
Centrumwas a well-knownen-
tertainment venue inthe 1990s
and early 2000s but it closed in
late 2009. According to the SFI,
the previous operators lease
expired in 2007, but it contin-
ued to operate for more than
two years. The SFI says it acted
to close the venue when the
operator failed to pay for the
electricityit was using.
The new Kino Lumiere
opened its doors to the public
on September 5 and it is the
first time that the SFI has op-
erated in its own premises.
Only the two biggest screens
are currently being used, but
the SFI plans to re-open the
ground-floor caf soon and
then gradually renovate and
re-open the whole building,
Dubecksaidat the opening.
CompiledbySpectator staff
11 October 17 23, 2011
CULTURE
The entrance hall of KinoLumiere incentral Bratislava. Photo: TASR
12
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October 17 23, 2011
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