Slovakia

taxes banks
ROBERT Fico and his opposition Smer party
had wanted a special tax on banks operat-
ing in Slovakia to be levied at a rate of 0.7
percent of their liabilities and had gone so
far as to make this one of the partys flag-
ship policies. As it turns out, a special bank
levy at 0.4 percent has now been passed by
parliament it was approved by MPs on Oc-
tober 20 but at the initiative of the outgo-
ing centre-right government.
SeeTAXpg10
The battle to pass the budget
PASSING a state budget when
there are fears of a new reces-
sion and there is a need to
bring the public finances into
balance is a thorny undertak-
ing, even for a well-function-
ing government. Now
Slovakias outgoing govern-
ment, which collapsed under
the weight of a two-in-one
vote on changes to the euro-
zone bailout scheme and con-
fidence in the cabinet of Iveta
Radiov, is attempting to
pass its budget plan in par-
liament so that the state will
not need to operate using a
provisional budget in2012.
While the centre-right
parties which shared power
for the past 16 months all say
that they are committed to
approving the budget plan, it
appears that actually passing
the laws required for meeting
the budget targets for next
year will not be easy.
One piece of legislation
that would have brought addi-
tional revenue to the state
was struck down on October
19 when five MPs from the
Freedom and Solidarity (SaS)
party failed to support it.
Party leader Richard Sulk said
the failure to vote in favour
had happened by mistake. It
was SaS MPs refusing to sup-
port the proposed changes to
the European Financial Stabil-
ity Facility (EFSF) on October
11 that led to the fall of the
government in which SaS was
a member.
Opposition party Smer has
said that it will not lend its
support to the budget package
in parliament even though its
leader, Robert Fico, also said
that having an approved
budget is better than going in-
to next year with just a provi-
sional budget.
See PLANpg10
SELECT FOREX RATES
benchmark as of October 20
CANADA CAD 1.40
CZECHREP. CZK 24.90
RUSSIA RUB43.17
GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.88
HUNGARY HUF 296.24
JAPAN JPY 106.07
POLAND PLN 4.35
USA USD 1.38
NEWS
Politics ontheslopes
Winter is a very unusual
seasonfor Slovaks to be
viewing electionbillboards
or watching sharply-drawn
political debates. But that is
what this winter promises.
pg 2
What kindof legacy?
Iveta Radiov and her cab-
inet are leaving after only 16
months inoffice. Time will
tell if this was long enough
for Slovakias first woman
prime minister and her cab-
inet to leave a lasting mark.
pg 3
OPINION
Hostages toreality
The country is ina constitu-
tional fix and needs a wise,
impartial and effective pres-
ident. IvanGaparovi is
having the time of his pres-
idential life but he is un-
able to meet the challenge.
pg 5
BUSINESSFOCUS
Hot logistics market
After a standstill lasting
almost two years, construc-
tionof newdistributionand
warehousing premises has
started againafter vacancy
rates hit a historical low.
pg 6
Bike-friendlycities
Cyclists canoffer a long
list of complaints about
why cycling to work in
most Slovak cities is diffi-
cult and dangerous ar-
rogant Slovak drivers be-
ing one. Bratislava plans
to change that.
pg 7
CULTURE
Drums tothunder
The first-ever Slovak festiv-
al of drums will shake
Bratislavas Petralka dis-
trict at the end of October,
introducing drummers and
percussionists of various
styles fromaround the
world.
pg 11
Slovak President IvanGaparovi andthe leaders of the four parties of the rulingcoalitionreachedagreement ona
constitutional lawtoendthe uncertainty surroundingthe fall of the government. Photo: Sme- Vladimr imek
Deal reached over
interim government
AFTER a period of uncertainty over
who would governthe country until
the next general election in March
2012, the leaders of the centre-right
parties and Slovak President Ivan
Gaparovi agreed on a solution on
October 20. The constitution will be
revised to allow the president to
charge the existing government of
Iveta Radiov, which was defeated
in a confidence vote in parliament
on October 11, with governing the
country until next years elections
onMarch10.
It is now up to the parliamentary
deputies to prepare such a
revision, Gaparovi told the media
after his meeting with the leaders of
the centre-right parties on October
20. After the law is passed, I will
immediately charge this govern-
ment with continuing its operation
until the elections.
On the same day, the leader
of opposition party Smer,
Robert Fico, also proposed revis-
ing the countrys constitution
as a possible solution to the
situation. The government fell
after one of the coalition
parties, Freedom and Solidarity
(SaS), refused to back changes to
the eurozones European Finan-
cial Stability Facility (EFSF)
bailout mechanism.
SeeDEALpg4
Vol. 17, No. 37 Monday, October 24, 2011 - Sunday, October 30, 2011
On sale now On sale now
FOCUS
of this issue
FOCUS
of this issue
LOGISTICS
& TRANSPORT
Elections
draw closer
A FEW weeks ago the next parliamentary
elections in Slovakia were nearly three
years away. But ina blink of aneye the vote
onthe Europeanbailout mechanismtied to
a confidence vote in the government
turned the Slovak political scene upside-
down and politicians and the electorate
now find themselves preparing for elec-
tions that are only 16 weeks away.
The March 10 parliamentary elections
are expected to change the political land-
scape in Slovakia and redistribute power
among the political parties. Many observ-
ers see Robert Ficos return to government
as one of the most likely outcomes, de-
pending mostly on the mood among those
voters who supported the centre-right
parties in 2010 and who for the moment
appear to be quite disappointed with the
four-party coalition they put into power
just 16 months ago.
SeePOLLpg2
BYMICHAELATERENZANI
Spectator staff
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Spectator staff
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Spectator staff
Supreme Court backs Mello release
THE BRATISLAVARegional
Court was correct to release
Karol Mello, a manaccused
of a double murder, frompo-
lice custody, the Supreme
Court ruled onOctober 18.
The ruling marks the rejec-
tionof anappeal by Justice
Minister Lucia itansk,
the SITAnewswire reported.
itansk filed her com-
plaint withthe Supreme
Court onJune 14, seeking to
overturnthe regional court's
decisionthat led to Mellos
release.
Mello is charged with
the 2004 murder of a woman
and her child inMost pri
Bratislave. He had fled Slov-
akia but was arrested inPo-
land last year.
Mello was freed onMay
19, 2011, after the regional
court ruled that his re-arrest
immediately after another
court had released himwas
illegal. The first court ruled
that he should be released
due to mistakes made inhis
extraditionfromPoland.
Mellos release prompted
anoutcry inthe media and
strong criticismby Interior
Minister Daniel Lipic.
After his release, Mello
absconded again. He is be-
lieved to have fled Slovakia
but his current whereabouts
are unknown.
Slovaks join Wall Street protests
HUNDREDS of mostly young
people gathered onHviez-
doslavovo Square onOctober
15 and thenmarched to the
headquarters of the Penta
financial group to protest
against what they called the
undue influence of business
groups onthe distributionof
national wealth, the TASR
newswire reported. The
protest was patterned after
the Occupy Wall Street
demonstrations that started
inNewYork City which have
spread to other cities across
the world.
Regardless of the out-
come of elections inSlov-
akia, it is always the same
people who rule Slovakia
two or three financial groups
and five, maybe six,
businessmen, said Eduard
Chmelr, one of the organ-
isers of the protest, as quoted
by TASR. He added that the
profits of banks inSlovakia
have grownby 60 percent
this year while ordinary
people have needed to tight-
entheir belts inresponse to
austerity measures.
People in1,400 cities
onfive continents are
protesting insupport of the
same basic goals today,
Chmelr stated.
The organisers said one
aimof the protest is to
write a newconstitution
for Slovakia that would
strengthenthe standing of
ordinary people and curb
the influence of political
parties and business groups
that finance them.
Apetitionwas launched
to that effect after the
protest, TASRwrote.
Most police 'pass' newevaluations
THE NEWsystemto evalu-
ate the work of police of-
ficers is good and a newgov-
ernment should not change
it, said Slovakias national
police chief, Jaroslav
Spiiak, as he released in-
formationshowing that 66
percent of Slovakias police
officers were evaluated as
satisfactory, the TASR
newswire reported.
I amconvinced that this
systemis so good, so qualit-
ative that it caneffectively
raise the personal profiles of
police officers; so it is not
very easy to stop it because it
would not meanone step
back, but one hundred steps
back, Spiiak said, as quoted
by the SITAnewswire.
Spiiak believes the most
recent evaluation, conducted
betweenJuly and September
2011, was very good. The
Pravda daily had earlier writ-
tenthat inthe first monthof
the systemnearly 72 percent
of the police officers were
evaluated poorly, while TASR
wrote that the recent evalu-
ationfound the work of only
20 percent of the officers was
unsatisfactory.
The police president
commented that he was the
first chief who openly said
what he expected of his of-
ficers and and howthey were
to do it and stressed that he
was willing to resignif the
officers did not succeed.
The results achieved by
his officers have beenre-
volutionary the best since
independent Slovakia was
established, Spiiak stated,
as quoted by TASR, adding
that the newevaluationsys-
temwas not prepared to pun-
ishunsatisfactory police of-
ficers but to recognise those
doing the best work.
Former national police
chief JnPacka questioned
the evaluationprocess and
said police officers had
learned howto write the
things that Spiiak wanted
themto write, SITAreported.
The systemallows po-
lice officers who deceive to
have better results than
those who work honestly,
Packa stated, as quoted by
SITA.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
Mulled wine, ski slopes and politics
WINTER is a very unusual sea-
son for Slovaks to be viewing
billboards with party slogans
or watching sharply-drawn
political debates on TV. Never-
theless, after the fall of the
four-party coalition govern-
ment on October 11 the leaders
of Slovakias political parties
agreed that the next parlia-
mentary elections would be
held in March, perhaps before
the last snow melts even in
southernparts of the country.
Slovaks will be asked to cast
their ballots on March 10, less
than two years since the last
parliamentary elections. When
the date was announced some
voices argued that the winter
months are less suitable for
political campaigning than
other seasons and that the late
winter balloting, the first in
the countrys history, might in-
fluence voter turnout and in
the end, the results as well.
Winter months in Slov-
akia are usually filled with
various social events, starting
with Halloween parties in late
October, St Nicolas parties for
children in early December
soon followed by Christmas
and New Years Eve events,
and ending with carnival days
filled with balls which cul-
minate next year on February
21. Another calendar high-
light of the official election
campaigning could be Inter-
national Womens Day on
March 8, only two days before
the vote. On that day, politi-
cians, mainly from the Smer
party, have traditionally held
events for women featuring
cultural programmes and
gifts for the guests.
Given that Slovakia has no
historical experience of hav-
ing an election at this time, it
is difficult to predict what
impact it might have on voter
turnout and actual results, so-
ciologist Martin Slosiarik
from the Focus polling agency
told The Slovak Spectator.
Obviously, the political
parties will have to adjust
their campaigning to the
period when the elections
take place, Slosiarik told The
Slovak Spectator, adding that
while much will depend on
the actual weather it is very
likely that there will be no
large, lengthy meetings in the
squares of Slovak towns and
that smaller encounters, with
mulled wine or on ski slopes,
canbe expected.
See2012 pg5
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
POLL: Some MPs may face problems
Continuedfrompg1
Questions also remain about the polit-
ical future of Iveta Radiov, the outgoing
prime minister, as well as several MPs
who left their parliamentary caucuses and
may now find it difficult to gain voters
support. Thetwopolitical parties speaking
for the ethnic Hungarian minority in
Slovakia, one of which, Most-Hd,
emerged prior to the 2010 elections follow-
ing a split in the Hungarian Coalition
Party (SMK), may also find it difficult to
climb above the 5-percent threshold for
enteringparliament.
If elections had takenplace inmid-Oc-
tober, Ficos Smer party would have won
an absolute majority in parliament, cap-
turing 83 seats in the 150-member body,
according to a poll conducted by the Polis
agency. Smer recorded 45.5 percent in the
poll, which was held shortly after the
Radiov government lost the no-confid-
encevoteonOctober 11.
The poll indicated that the only other
parties that would have made it into par-
liament are the members of the outgoing
coalition: the Slovak Democratic and
Christian Union (SDK) received 14.3 per-
cent support in the poll, enough for 26
seats; the Christian Democratic Move-
ment (KDH) had 8.8-percent support, res-
ulting in 16 MPs; Freedom and Solidarity
(SaS) would have gained 15 seats with
8.3-percent support; and Most-Hd party
would have finished just over the 5-per-
cent threshold at 5.3 percent, gaining 10
seats inparliament.
Comeandgo?
Several MPs currently sitting in par-
liament who have left their parties since
2010 could now face an early end to their
parliamentary careers. They include Anna
Belousovov and Rudolf Puk, who
resigned from the Slovak National Party
(SNS) this year and who have recently re-
gistered a new political party, Nation and
Justice(NaS).
Similarly, several MPs who entered
parliament in 2010 on the candidate lists
of parties other than their own might
struggle to gainenoughvotes in2012. Igor
Matovis Ordinary People movement was
able to attract enough preferences for its
four candidates, who appeared at the bot-
tomof the SaS slate in2010, to get into par-
liament. However, SaS expelled Matovi
from its caucus in February. He has an-
nounced that Ordinary People will estab-
lish a political party that will help inde-
pendent candidates reachparliament.
Two other current MPs Andrej
urkovsk, formerly of KDH, and Igor
tefanov of SNS are currently the subject
of criminal investigations and could face
prosecution. Although the current par-
liament is not likelytowithdrawtheir par-
liamentary immunity they will automat-
ically lose it if they are not re-elected.
urkovsk has already announced that he
will not be a candidate for parliament in
2012, while tefanov has said he will run
ontheSNSslateif heis offeredaslot.
The future representation of
Slovakias ethnic Hungarian minority in
parliament may also change, with Most-
Hd hovering around the 5-percent
threshold and the Hungarian Coalition
Party (SMK), which is not currently rep-
resented in parliament, polling around 4
percent. The leaders of these two parties
have not commented directly on the
forthcoming elections but sources within
the SMK have reportedly said that the
parties should unite so as to provide eth-
nic Hungarians with strong representa-
tioninthe next parliament.
But Gbor Gl of Most-Hdtoldthe Sme
daily that he was not keen on the idea of
joint representation with SMK, saying
that the party still includes people with
opinions close to those of Mikls Duray, a
politician known for his Hungarian na-
tionalist rhetoric and for advocating
autonomy for Hungarians living in south-
ernSlovakia.
Radiovs future
Outgoing Prime Minister Radiov
has not commented directly about her fu-
ture political plans. But her party, the
SDK, needs her among its leading figures
and would likely lose many supporters
without her, according to Jn Barnek, an
analyst withPolis.
If she doesnt head the SDK[candid-
ate list] it could be reflected in the partys
result, BarnektoldThe SlovakSpectator,
adding that the decision depends on her
personal desires as well as her discussions
withMikul Dzurinda, the partys leader.
Inher recent interviewwiththe Sme
daily Radiov did not answer questions
about whether she would seek to head
the SDKs candidate list or whether she
wants tobeonthepartys list at all.
What of thecentre-right voters?
Because most political analysts be-
lieve Smer has a fairly stable voter base,
they are predicting that the outcome of
the March elections will depend to a
large extent on the willingness of past
supporters of the centre-right parties to
vote for themagaindespite the fall of the
coalitionformedafter the2010election.
Surely some centre-right voters will
remain disappointed or apathetic but
centre-right voters are characterised by
great flexibility and the ability to close
not one but even two eyes [over the mis-
haps of their politicians], Barnek told
The Slovak Spectator. So I think they
will come to vote even if that means
grinningandbearingit.
Barnek added, however, that his
current assumptions could be chal-
lenged once the campaign actually
starts.
It is difficult to predict at this time
whether disappointment among those
who voted for the centre-right parties in
2010 will be more compelling than their
desire to prevent Ficos return to power,
Slosiarikbelieves.
It will depend on how the centre-
right parties communicate, he said,
adding that if they concede there is the
possibility of forming a government
composed of Smer and one or more of
their parties, this might discourage
someof their supporters.
For the centre-right parties it would
be better if they made a clear distinction
and kept using the threat of the returnof
Robert Fico, Slosiarik said. In that case
they could maintain fear among their
voters that could lead to voting for the
centre-right parties despite their
disappointment. But the sociologist
added that the centre-right parties are
facing a much more difficult challenge
now in motivating potential supporters
thantheydidin2010.
For a longer version of this story
please go to www.spectator.sk.
Politicians might take tothe slopes toreachvoters. Photo: Sme
2
NEWS
October 24 30, 2011
Ready for a
wintertime
campaign?
What legacy does the
Radiov cabinet leave ?
IVETA Radiov and her
cabinet are leaving after
only one year and four
months in their posts. Time
will tell whether this was
long enough for Slovakias
first woman prime minister
and her cabinet to have left
a lasting mark on the coun-
try and be remembered as
they wanted to be seen: as a
government bringing
transparency to public af-
fairs and managing the
economy responsibly.
Though Radiov and her
cabinet had not been form-
ally dismissed as The Slovak
Spectator went to print on
October 20, and it remained
quite possible that she would
continue as prime minister
until the election next
March, it is unlikely that she
and her cabinet will be able
to undertake any further re-
forms or implement ground-
breaking measures during
the interim period. The end
came for some ministers be-
fore they managed to initiate
any major changes in their
areas of responsibility, while
others were able to use their
brief time in power to im-
plement several elements of
the programme statement
adopted in 2010.
Thefirst womanPM
History will surely re-
member Iveta Radiov as
the first woman to head a
Slovak government and the
first academic to occupy the
chair of prime minister.
Both these factors are
immensely important be-
cause they helped the office
to acquire some seriousness
when compared to
[Radiovs] predecessors in
the post, political analyst
Miroslav Kus told The Slov-
ak Spectator.
But the Radiov gov-
ernment had too little time
to leave a strong impression
on voters, Kus added. That
opinion was shared by Dar-
ina Malov, the head of the
Political Sciences Depart-
ment at Comenius Uni-
versity in Bratislava.
Another thing is that
clearly-defined reforms were
absent, Malov said, adding
that the changes the gov-
ernment started, including
the tax reform, health-care
reform, and reforms in high-
way construction, brought re-
latively few concrete results.
Some of what the gov-
ernment enacted, such as
the increase in the VAT rate,
was not positively perceived
by citizens, as the govern-
ment took office during a
period still affected by the
global economic crisis and
an increase in global com-
modity prices.
But Grigorij Mesenikov,
the head of the Institute for
Public Affairs (IVO), was
more sanguine about the im-
pression Radiovs cabinet
has made on voters.
After some time passes,
the evaluation will be more
sober, Mesenikov told The
Slovak Spectator. For the
moment, emotions prevail
and the impression at first
sight is that the government
fell due to its inherent
instability.
A more analytical ap-
proach will show that the
government of Iveta
Radiov stabilised the coun-
try economically and intro-
duced elements of transpar-
ency, Mesenikov argued.
After all, it was a gov-
ernment that with the excep-
tion of one issue although
that was an important issue
reached agreement on all
programme points [of its
statement], Mesenikov
stated, adding that the ap-
proach of all four parties was
similar: towards more trans-
parency and liberalisation of
the economy.
Democracymeans conflicts
Analysts concede that
Radiov lacked strong back-
ing within her own party but
at the same time rejected the
criticism that she was a
weak prime minister, as the
opposition has claimed
throughout her term.
Mesenikov called her
position within the coalition
untraditional. It would
surely have been stronger if
she had led the party she
represented, Mesenikov
stated, noting that given
everything Radiovs gov-
ernment had achieved her
position was not weak, as
Robert Fico of Smer party
had attempted to convince
the public.
History will remember
this government via political
factors, mainly the conflicts
within the coalition, Malov
told The Slovak Spectator.
But Mesenikov rejected
the idea that a clash of opin-
ions was behind the cabinets
failure to rule for longer
something that Fico began
suggesting as early as July
2010, when the new govern-
ment was formed.
The constant disputes
within the coalition are typ-
ical for broad alliances such
as the one that Radiov led,
Kus commented.
Democracy is a hard way
of ruling when it is carried
out sincerely, Kus said.
But we know nothing better
than that. [Democracy] brings
along the need to debate and
to debate really hard. There is
no way to go on unless an
agreement is reached.
For that reason Kus ar-
gues that the need to con-
stantly discuss everything
and struggle to find agree-
ment within the ruling coali-
tion was not a minus for the
government, as Fico had tried
to make it appear.
It proves that they were
equal partners and not pup-
pets on strings that just did
what they were told, Kus
said.
Transparencytoremain?
When the media and
political analysts evaluated
Radiovs first year in power
this June, the measures that
were most often praised in-
cluded the requirement that
public institutions publish all
their contracts online and
the enactment of several
changes in the judicial sys-
tem, such as the amended
laws on judges and public
prosecutors offices. Observ-
ers of the Slovak political
scene also mentioned the
anti-corruption and trans-
parency measures introduced
by the Defence Ministry as
significant pluses for the
government.
Four months later, as the
government ends its rule,
most observers are of the
opinion that Justice Minister
Lucia itansk was among
the most successful ministers
in making marked changes,
while the education minister
and the health minister were
the two most widely-criti-
cised members of the cabinet.
Kus strongly believes the
most significant reform made
by the Radiov cabinet was
its unprecedented transpar-
ency: there was open debate
about various issues and
these issues were discussed
in public rather than being
kept behind closed dooors.
Regardless of what gov-
ernment takes power after
the March elections, analysts
believe it will not be easy to
do away with the pro-trans-
parency measures introduced
by the outgoing cabinet, par-
ticularly the obligation for
public bodies to publish their
contracts online.
I believe that in a way it
will have to be preserved be-
cause civic movements,
NGOs and activists would
criticise it [if these measures
were cancelled altogether]
but I presume there will be
some minor modifications,
Malov told The Slovak
Spectator.
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
IvetaRadiovwas Slovakia's first womanprime minister. Photo: Sme- Vladimr imek
Doctors vow to
continue protest
NEITHERthe fall of the gov-
ernment of Iveta Radiov
nor the desire of the main
oppositionparty Smer to halt
the transformationof hos-
pitals into joint-stock com-
panies has changed the
minds of doctors about their
current mass protest. Hos-
pital doctors submitted their
resignations enmasse in
September to demonstrate
their oppositionto the
HealthMinistrys planto
change the legal formof
state-runhospitals. They are
also demanding more
health-care funding, higher
salaries and adherence by
hospitals to the Labour Code.
HealthMinister IvanUh-
liarik and representatives of
the doctors trade unions
failed onOctober 19 inyet
another attempt to find a
compromise. Nevertheless,
Smer has offered the protest-
ing physicians some consola-
tionby submitting a parlia-
mentary proposal to halt the
transformationof hospitals
a process whichwas ap-
proved by parliament earlier
in2011 and should be com-
pleted by the end of the year.
The fall of the govern-
ment does not change any-
thing we still insist onour
four demands and the need
for urgent steps to secure a
functioning systemof
health-care provisionin
Slovakia, said Marian
Kollr, chairmanof the
Medical Trade Unions Asso-
ciation(LOZ). Since the
health-care systemis ina
critical conditioninSlov-
akia it is crucial, regardless
of who will be our partner
onthe other side, to find
constructive solutions and
take prompt steps to repair
the current situation,
whichis endangering cit-
izens health.
Another round of negoti-
ations to resolve the situ-
ationcreated by the decision
of 2,411 doctors working in
hospitals across Slovakia to
submit their resignations on
September 29 is scheduled
for the last week of October.
Nevertheless, onOctober 17
the doctors unionsaid that
it was continuing to seek
resignations fromdoctors.
Uhliarik restated that
the lawwhichstipulates
the change of legal formfor
hospitals is still valid and
his ministry has to follow
it, despite the fall of the
government following its
failure to secure the confid-
ence of parliament ina vote
onOctober 11.
The unions and Uhliarik
did make some progress
whenthey agreed to estab-
lishanexpert group consist-
ing of representatives of the
unionand ministry to assess
the unions proposal for
salary increases.
The chairmanof the par-
liamentary healthcommit-
tee, ViliamNovotn of the
Slovak Democratic and
ChristianUnion(SDK), said
that doctors should follow
the example of teachers and
suspend their protest activit-
ies inlight of the current
political situation.
Kollr responded that the
transformationof hospitals
is continuing and that a halt
to this process is a pre-condi-
tionfor meeting the doctors
other demands as well.
Inearly October, Uh-
liarik, who was nominated to
his post by the Christian
Democratic Movement
(KDH), said that some doc-
tors were withdrawing their
resignations and that the
ministry would continue en-
couraging others to do so.
The ministry also said that
hospital directors would ac-
cept the withdrawal of
resignationletters only until
the end of October.
Kollr has repeatedly
denied that any doctors have
withdrawntheir resigna-
tions, whichare due to come
into effect at the end of
November.
We are continuing to
collect terminationnotices
evenfromthose colleagues
and those hospitals which
for various reasons did not
joinus inthe first wave,
Kollr told The Slovak Spec-
tator, adding that the num-
ber of resignations is in-
creasing every day and that
he did not knowof anyone
who had withdrawntheir
resignationbecause of the
fall of the government.
SeeDOCSpg4
Doctors seek tohalt hospital transformations. Photo: Sme
3 October 24 30, 2011
NEWS
Analysts evaluate
the departing
government
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
FNMsuspends privatisations
THE NATIONAL Property
Fund (FNM), Slovakias
privatisationagency, will
indefinitely suspend the
planned privatisationof
several companies inwhich
the state holds anowner-
ship interest, the TASR
newswire reported onOcto-
ber 14.
Currently, the privat-
isationprocess of most of
these companies is only in
the initial phase of announ-
cing international tenders
for privatisationadvisers,
said Miloslav Homola of the
FNM, as quoted by TASR.
He added that for the
previously planned sale of
six state-owned central heat-
ing companies, the process
of selecting anadviser for the
sale had not gone beyond
evaluationof submitted bids.
Homola said that the
FNMs decisionto suspend
these sales would have no
impact onits legal or finan-
cial commitments.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
EBRD slashes GDP growth forecast
THE LATEST GDP-growthes-
timates released by the
EuropeanBank for Recon-
structionand Development
(EBRD) for countries incent-
ral and easternEurope with
strong ties to the eurozone
indicater a major economic
slowdown, especially for
Slovakia and Hungary, the
SITAnewswire reported.
The EBRDnowpredicts
that Slovakias economy
will growby only 1.1 per-
cent in2012, compared to its
July prognosticationof 4.1
percent.
The EBRDalso reduced
its estimate of economic
growthinSlovakia for 2011
fromits previous forecast of
3.7 percent to 3.1 percent.
The forecast for econom-
ic growthinHungary this
year was reduced to 1.1 per-
cent and was cut for 2012 to
0.5 percent.
For the entire regionthe
EBRDis nowpredicting GDP
growthof only 4.5 percent in
2011 compared to its July es-
timate of 4.8 percent, and it
predicts that economic
growthfor the countries of
central and easternEurope
will average only 3.2 percent
in2012 compared to its
4.4-percent growthpredic-
tioninJuly.
The EBRDsaid that the
mainreasonfor cutting its
growthestimates is Europes
sovereigndebt crisis, which
the bank said is preventing
countries inthe regionfrom
fully recovering fromthe
global economic crisis of
2008-2009.
Moodys warns about deficit targets
THE FALL of Slovakias four-
party coalitiongovernment
could endanger the credit
rating of the country and in-
crease the cost of servicing
state debt, according to ana-
lysts fromMoodys rating
agency. It commented that
the uncertainpolitical situ-
ationcould threatenfiscal
consolidationof the state
budget, the SITAnewswire
reported.
The coalitiongovern-
ment had promised to lower
the public finance deficit to
less than3 percent of GDP in
2013. Moodys wrote that re-
cent polls indicate that Smer
party could winthe early
parliamentary elections
scheduled for March10 and
considers that possibility a
potential risk because the
past government led by Smer
had accelerated the countrys
indebtedness.
Smer still has not con-
firmed its intentionto ob-
serve these commitments to
reduce the deficit under 3
percent if it gains power
again, stated Moodys, as
quoted by SITA.
Moodys stated that a
newgovernment must reject
loosening its fiscal policy if it
wants to eliminate what the
rating agency called fiscal
imbalances and negative ef-
fects of the sovereigndebt
crisis inEurope.
Eurostat reports on inflation
THE RATE of inflationin
Slovakia grewfaster in
September thanthe aver-
age across the eurozone
and all countries of the
EuropeanUnion, according
to a Eurostat report onthe
Harmonised Index of Con-
sumer Prices, the SITA
newswire reported.
The average inflation
rate inthe eurozone in
September was 3 percent
year-on-year and 3.3 per-
cent inthe entire EU, while
Slovakia's inflationrate
was reported at 4.4-per-
cent.
The National Bank of Slov-
akia (NBS) predicted that prices
will continue rising inOctober,
the TASRnewswire reported.
The NBS expects the higher in-
flationrate due to increasing
energy prices and services
linked to the beginning of the
school year, TASRwrote.
Nevertheless, Jozef
Makch, the governor of the
NBS, expects Slovakias infla-
tionrate to drop below2 per-
cent in2012.
DEAL: Parties agree to
revise constitution
Continuedfrompg1
The agreement between
the ruling coalition parties
the Slovak Democratic and
Christian Union (SDK), the
Christian Democratic Move-
ment (KDH), Most-HdandSaS
and the president also meant
that Prime Minister Iveta
Radiov would be able to rep-
resent Slovakia at an October
23 European Council summit
involvingeurozoneleaders.
Thecentre-right solution
The party leaders presen-
ted the president with an
agreement supported by 78
MPs to support an interim
government, which could still
act even if the plan to revise
theconstitutionweretofail.
Nevertheless, SaS chair-
man Richard Sulk told the
media that the agreement on
October 20 came after Fico had
a day earlier rejected the idea
of revising the constitution,
which is why his party was
willing to negotiate with the
other right-wingparties.
Most-Hd leader Bla Bugr
also stressed that the coalition
parties had reached agreement
without the helpof Smer.
Based on the deal, SaS
should, following approval of
the state budget, be able to
push through parliament the
abolition of MPs immunity
from punishment for non-
criminal offences and the
scrapping of so-called conces-
sionary fees that electricity
users pay to fund the public
service television and radio
broadcasters. Both these were
among the subjects of a refer-
endum that SaS launched
ahead of the 2010 parliament-
ary elections, but which was
ruled invalid due to low
turnout. The last condition of
SaS was passage of legislation
that would allow the public to
enter military forests. The
party will also see its nominee
Jozef Kollr getting one of
parliaments deputy speaker
seats, the SITA newswire re-
ported. Sulk was ejected from
his job as speaker soon after
the government lost the con-
fidence vote.
KDH chairman Jn Fige
applaudedthefact that his col-
leagues on the right had
committed themselves to
supporting the state budget,
saying this was positive not
onlyfor the stabilisationof the
economy and public finances
but also for the development
of theregions.
SDK leader Mikul
Dzurinda said that the agree-
ment reached on October 20
was in fact the culmination of
efforts he had begun the pre-
vious week, when he first met
Fige, Bugr andSulk.
As early as Friday [Octo-
ber 14], when I heard that
there was a constitutional
problem, it was clear to me
that we had to overcome the
past andthat it was our dutyto
attempt to reach agreement,
Dzurinda said, adding that
such agreement offers Slov-
akiagreater stability.
Ficos take
After presenting his offer
of support for a constitutional
amendment, Fico said that re-
vising the countrys funda-
mental law via a fast-tracked
legislative procedure would
not testify to the stability and
certainty of the parliamentary
and constitutional system, but
that inthe current situationhe
consideredit the best solution.
The constitution after all
has certain legislative holes
that must be filled, Fico said
onOctober 20.
Fico restated that until
March 10, his party would not
be interested insharing power
and intended to operate until
the elections solely as an op-
positionparty.
Radiovgoes to
eurozonesummit
The agreement among the
political parties and Gaparovi
on who should govern the
country in the interim period
until the March 10 elections
also provided an answer to a
question which had been oc-
cupying politicians, analysts
and the media since the
Radiov government fell: who
should represent Slovakia at
the eurozone summit in Brus-
sels onOctober 23?
While the leaders of the
coalition parties wanted
Radiov to go to the summit,
Fico hadinsistedthat the pres-
ident should represent Slov-
akia instead. Inthe end, it was
agreed that Radiov would
attend the summit, as was
planned before the govern-
ment crisis erupted.
Before agreement was
reached, however, Gaparovi
repeatedly stated that he was
ready to represent Slovakia at
the summit himself. He cited
the constitution, which says
that the president represents
the state and negotiates and
ratifies international treaties,
with the option to delegate
the negotiation of treaties to
the cabinet. The cabinet can-
not decide who should attend
the summit if it does not have
the confidence of parliament,
Gaparovi said on October 19,
the SITAnewswire reported.
Gaparovi always uses
English-language interpreters
in international settings and
there were concerns among
observers that he might have
trouble representing Slovakia
at the closed meeting of euro-
zone leaders inBrussels.
There are several prime
ministers and presidents who
dont speakEnglisheither, he
said, as quotedbySITA.
Radiov asserted that the
eurozone negotiations are led
exclusively by prime minis-
ters, that their posts are not
replaceable and that no other
officials are allowed into such
meetings.
The working language is
English, and there is the op-
tion to use French, German or
Spanish, which are translated
into English, she toldthe Sme
daily. It is always conducted
at the level of prime minis-
ters, with the exception of
France, whose president ful-
fils different functions.
Michaela Terenzani
contributed to the report
Smer chairmanRobert Ficohas promisedtostay inopposition. Photo: TASR
DOCS: Hospitals debts to be cleared
Continuedfrompg3
Haltingthetransformation
Meanwhile, the opposition has
been arguing that the transformation
of hospitals should not go ahead as the
interim government of Radiov is
what Smer leader Robert Fico called
non-existent.
It is a harsh intervention in the
health-care system and decisions about
such steps should be made by a
government, Fico said, as quoted by the
SITA newswire.
Uhliarik has argued throughout the
dispute, as he did in the lead-up to the
parliamentary vote that authorised the
transformation of the hospitals into
joint-stock companies, that the process
will stop waste and the ineffective use
of public funds.
Endless indebtedness is the road to
perdition and this is also the case with
hospitals, Uhliarik stated, as quoted
by SITA in early October. The condi-
tion of some state hospitals is bad. This
is because of debt and ineffective fin-
ancial management. And we want to
change this.
The revision to the law on health
insurance companies assumes the
transformation of 31 hospitals, and par-
liament has already approved 350 mil-
lion to clear their debts. The sole
shareholder in the joint-stock compan-
ies will be the state.
LOZ leader Kollr commented that
the poor financing of health care and
what he called the bankrupting limits
set by health insurers on how much
they pay hospitals to perform treat-
ments and procedures cannot be ad-
dressed just by clearing hospitals debts.
For the hospitals which under
present circumstances will be trans-
formed to joint-stock companies this
step would only mean additional in-
debtedness and the related threat of
closure or bankruptcy, Kollr told
the media.
4
BUSINESS / NEWS
October 24 30, 2011
It happens
SHIT happens is becoming a
standard political phrase.
Prime Minister Iveta
Radiovs spokesperson Rado
Bao used it in his Facebook
status after the government
was brought down. Former
speaker of parliament Richard
Sulk drew on it to explain
why, despite previous agree-
ments, his SaS party failed to
support a bill proposed by the
Finance Ministry.
And they are right. In fact,
it is surprising just how much
can go wrong in a country.
Earlier this month the cabinet
fell, early elections were
called, and the door was
opened for the return of
Robert Fico. But anyone who
thought that was the end of it
was terribly mistaken.
This week, local politi-
cians pushed the country to
the brink of anarchy on three
different fronts opposition
party Smer says that the
former ruling coalition has
no legitimacy to pass laws in
parliament. That, of course,
is nonsense since MPs still
have their mandates and
there is nothing to prevent
them from working until the
election. But there seems to
be no general rule for which
legislation will be approved
and which not, since even
laws drafted based on the
government manifesto, such
as the tax and levy reform,
are being excluded. A dead-
lock may yet arise.
The second problem is
that of the government. The
countrys constitution is
vague about what precisely
should happen after a vote of
no confidence. The president
appeared keen to appoint a
non-partisan caretaker gov-
ernment, the SDK, KDH,
and Most-Hd wanted
Radiov to continue, but
without SaS, which in turn
wanted to stay, and although
Fico helped create the chaos,
he said it was not for him to
help cleanup the mess.
Then there was the ques-
tion of who should represent
Slovakia at the EU summit on
October 23. Radiov said she
was in charge for now. But in
European affairs, which cost
her the premiership, she has
no mandate to negotiate any-
thing. President Ivan
Gaparovi said he could step
in to take charge. But given
that during his years in office
he has been seen mainly at
football and hockey games,
sending him to Brussels
would have been a risky en-
terprise. Its far from certain
that Sarkozy and Merkel could
converse about the NHL at a
level befitting the Slovak head
of state. Gaparovi proudly
declared that his right to go to
the summit was prirne (a
word he invented, which
nicely highlights the qualities
he is ready to bring to the ne-
gotiating table), but as The
Slovak Spectator went to print
it emerged that Europes lead-
ers would be spared the pleas-
ure of his company, at least on
this occasion.
Considering the circum-
stances, the foul language of
local politicians, normally in
itself a cause for concern,
seems a mere trifle. Its just
something that happens.
2012: Choosing how to address voters
Continuedfrompg2
Campaigningonline
It is definitely an unfor-
tunate date but all the parties
will have to adjust to it, Jn
Barnek of the Polis polling
agency told The Slovak Spec-
tator, noting that many tradi-
tional campaign methods
might not work well in the
winter season and that the
parties will be forced to use al-
ternative methods.
Its a good opportunity for
them to make use of virtual
space, Barnek said, citing
the example of Freedom and
Solidarity (SaS), which intens-
ively communicated via the
internet, blogs and various so-
cial networks prior to the 2010
elections.
Social networks, blogs and
the internet will play an im-
portant role in the 2012 cam-
paign, Slosiarik agreed.
But that doesnt mean
the parties will completely
give up their billboard cam-
paigns because that is im-
portant too; they need to
make themselves visible,
Slosiarik stated.
Several months remainbe-
fore the official campaign
period starts but unofficial
campaigning began essen-
tially the day after the fall of
the government. The fact that
the parties recognise a need to
be online and to communic-
ate with their supporters was
illustrated by the numerous
blogs and posts on social net-
works in which politicians
explained their positions on
the euro bailout mechanism
and blamed each other for the
fall of the government. Even
Jn Slota, the chairman of the
nationalist Slovak National
Party (SNS), has started a blog
even though he has not previ-
ously used this method of
communication.
Even though the internet
might be of more importance
in the 2012 elections, the suc-
cess of the parties will not de-
pend entirely on how skilled
they are in this area since
each party must adjust its
communication style to dif-
ferent kinds of voters.
It would be useless for a
party to communicate only on
the internet if 80 percent of its
[traditional] voters do not have
internet access or do not use
the internet at all, Slosiarik
said, noting that while SaS can
count on more success in us-
ing the internet, the Christian
Democratic Movement (KDH)
must take a different approach
involving a more standard
face-to-face campaign.
Slosiarik added that face-
to-face meetings with voters
are a very powerful campaign
tool whose value should not
be underestimated.
Sometimes it works in a
peculiar way. You might think
that a certain political party
has no support ina little village
somewhere in Slovakia but the
sole fact that a politician of
that party appears there in
person can harvest some votes
just because the people appre-
ciate that he or she left Bratis-
lava and came to meet them in
person, Slosiarik said.
Hostages to circumstance
IVAN Gaparovi is having
the time of his presidential
life. If the government had
not fallen, the rest of his term
in office would probably have
been occupied with ribbon-
cutting ceremonies, attend-
ing folk festivals and cheering
at sporting stadiums an out-
come with which the many
Slovaks who have long since
given up any hope of detect-
ing even a hint of statesman-
ship or political wisdominhis
actions would have been
more thanhappy.
But now the country is in
a constitutional fix and actu-
ally needs a wise, impartial
and effective president. Un-
fortunately, Gaparovi is
unable to meet the challenge.
Some fairly serious defi-
ciencies have nowemerged in
the countrys fundamental
laws in terms of what proced-
ure should be followed in the
event that the government
loses a no-confidence motion,
as happened on October 11.
Into the breach has stepped
the president. The drawback
is that this is a man who has
consistently owed his politic-
al success to others; during
his 2009 re-election, for ex-
ample, he relied heavily on
the support of the then-ruling
Smer party.
The president can now
enjoy a sudden rush of im-
portance even more intense
than the one he experiences
when booting laws back to
parliament by denying his
signature something he
took to doing increasingly
frequently after Iveta
Radiovs government took
office. After lecturing
Radiov about the nuances
of dismissing governments,
Gaparovi was toying with
the idea of representing
Slovakia at the crucial
summit of eurozone leaders
on October 23. The leaders
will address in English,
French, German and Span-
ish, none of which he speaks
the existential challenges
facing the elite economic
club as well as the global
economy.
The very thought of
Gaparovi negotiating on be-
half of Slovakia at such a high-
level meeting sends a chill
down the spines of his critics
and it is not a frisson of ex-
citement.
Many voters now find
themselves hostage to a polit-
ical situation that they never
desired. They will now have to
endure another season of polit-
ical campaigning with the
populist parties presumably
aiming their pitches at the
basest instincts of the elector-
ate, while the parties targeting
the intellectual high ground
repeat slogans that even they
themselves no longer believe.
Armies of SaS-sympathising
bloggers and cyber-soldiers
have loaded their guns to take
down, by delivering verbal
barrages assembled by their
leaders and parroted ad
nauseam into cyberspace,
anyone with the temerity to
suggest that SaS chose party
politics over the fate of the
Radiov government.
Radiov is still trying to
recover from the blow she
suffered when her govern-
ment collapsed, and it cannot
be helping her much to hear
already the blare of campaign
trumpets. She too is a hostage
to the situation. It might be
too late, with less than half a
year before the elections, for
her to establish a political
party, meaning that she will
also have to answer some
tough questions about her po-
sition within the SDK: will
she again serve as the partys
election leader? Will she run
under the SDKflag at all?
Some observers promptly
noted that they can envision
Radiov in the presidential
palace, where her work
would not hinge on the de-
fects of ruling coalition part-
ners. Yet, an eventual presid-
ential candidacy will not be
an issue for Radiov for at
least two years or so and
since she obviously does not
have the rhinoceros-like hide
or the inflated ego of some of
her colleagues she will face a
toughtime until March.
Unlike Radiov, the am-
bitions of Smer boss Robert
Fico are flowering again. So
much so that on October 20
he backed a solution to the
political deadlock: Smer
would be willing to support a
revision to the constitution
which would make it pos-
sible for Gaparovi to recall
Radiovs government but
then re-appoint it to govern
until the elections inMarch.
Anyone who attempts to
seek signs of statesmanship
or political generosity in
Ficos act will search in vain:
it simply works much better
for Fico to let the Radiov
government wrap up its term
and deal with the increas-
ingly threatening economic
climate while watching the
coalition partners woo each
others potential voters and
engage in the political com-
bat that shared-ruling during
a stressful time will inevit-
ably bring.
Fico wants to run his
campaign from the conveni-
ent position of opposition and
then, of course, to win pos-
sibly with enough votes to al-
lowhimto rule alone, or with
the help of a mute partner.
But being taken hostage by
Fico for the next four years is
not an outcome that at least
half the nationwants to see.
5 October 24 30, 2011
OPINION/ NEWS
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
I will get in the car on Tuesday [October 18] and,
metaphorically speaking, Ill be back on March 9.
Smer leader Robert Fico on his plans to hit the road
and campaign before the March 10 general election.
SLOVAK WORD
OF THE WEEK
EDITORIAL
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYLUK FILA
Special to the Spectator
Inthe end, President Gaparovi will not represent SlovakiainBrussels onOctober 23. Photo: SITA
The Slovak Spectator is an independent newspaper published every Monday by The Rock, s.r.o.
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Organisations supporting cycling
as a means of transport
Cyklokoalcia, www.cyklokoalicia.sk
- a coalitionof individuals and organisations supporting
the development of urbancycling inBratislava.
Mulica, www.mulica.sk
- anindependent, voluntary group promoting
sustainable mobility inilina. Its name is derived from
a shortened versionof moja ulica (my street).
CompiledbySpectator staff
Institutions and organisations in
transport in Slovakia
Ministryof Transport, Constructionand Regional
Development, www.telecom.gov.sk
Associationof Road Transport Operators of the Slovak
Republic (ESMAD), www.cesmad.sk
SlovakUnionof Motor Carriers (UNAS),
www.uniadopravcov.sk
Transport ResearchInstitute (VD), www.vud.sk
Air transport companies
active in Slovakia
ABS Jets, www.absjets.cz
Air Transport Europe, www.ate.sk
Belle Air, www.belleair.it
SACzechAirlines, www.csa.cz
Danube Wings, www.danubewings.eu
El Al (Sund'Or International), www.elal.co.il
Opera Jet, www.operajet.eu
Ryanair, www.ryanair.sk
SmartWings, www.smartwings.net
Travel Service, www.travelservice.aero
UTair, www.utair.ru
VRJET, www.vrjet.biz
Air transport sector
hopes for calmer skies
IT IS said that budget airline
SkyEuropetaught Slovaks tofly.
In the early 2000s the now-de-
funct low-cost carrier showed
Slovaks, who were thenenjoy-
ing the fruits of their nations
rapid economic growth, that
an air ticket did not need to
cost a fortune and helped to
make air travel a much more
popular means of transport.
However, the economic crisis
helped push SkyEurope and
other airlines from the Slovak
skies and hit the domestic air
transportsectorhard.
Air transport, as one of the
little-number sectors, is very
closely linked to economic
growth, Antonn Kazda, head
of the Air Transport Depart-
ment at the University of
ilina, told The Slovak Spectat-
or as he explained the current
challenges facing the air trans-
port business. Business air
travel is directly linked to the
growth of the economy and
leisure air transport or package
tours are luxury products, and
therefore one of the first items
to be deleted from the family
budget. The challenge of all air-
line companies in Europe now
is to survive and many airline
companies that have not man-
aged their finances reasonably
or did not create reserves over
the summer will not live to see
thespring.
In terms of passenger air
transport, Bratislava Airport
accounts for the country's
biggest share. But despitesome
positive developments, suchas
thelaunchbyCzechairlineSA
of a base in Bratislava earlier
this year, the airport reported
a drop in the total number of
passengers it handled and the
number of take-offs and land-
ings this year compared with
thefirst half of 2010, according
to Kazda. The only increase
was in the area of charter
flights. Domesticair transport
(from Bratislava to Koice)
also registered a significant
fall, by22percent.
Bratislava Airport believes
finding a concessionaire to
lease the airport is its biggest
current challenge. The Trans-
port Ministry is now selecting
an adviser for the process,
which should then find an in-
vestor to lease what is the
countrys biggest airport by
summer 2012. According to the
current plan, the concession-
aire will be offered a contract to
operatetheairport for30years.
Another challenge Bratis-
lava Airport faces is the current
economicsituation.
We continue to feel the
consequences of the current
economic situation the fluc-
tuating euro, companies ongo-
ing problems, reduced house-
hold budgets and the resulting
lower interest in flying, Dana
Madunick, spokesperson of
Letisko M. R. tefnika Bratis-
lava Airport, told The Slovak
Spectator. She added that
companies are using new
technology to save on corpor-
ate travel and households are
more cautious with their
spendingandtendnot togoon
weekend breaks or second or
third holidays. So probably
the second biggest challenge
we face is to revive interest in
flying, of course with the help
of other parties involved in
tourism, so as to return to the
level from2008, when our air-
port served over 2.2 million
passengers [compared to 1.67
millionin2010].
Assessing the perform-
ance of Bratislava Airport,
Madunicksaidthat inspite of
the factors she outlined, the
airport had just experienced
its most successful half-year
since the departure of several
significant carriers
(SkyEurope, SeagleAir, andAir
Slovakia) from the market.
Apart from a 16-percent in-
crease in cargo transport,
which she described as a his-
torical success, Madunick
highlighted the arrival of two
new carriers with almost 30
newroutesperweek.
At the beginning of the
summer season, SA connec-
ted Bratislava withalmost the
whole world, Madunick
said, adding that Bratislava
had direct flights to European
hubs suchas Paris, Rome, Am-
sterdam, Barcelona, Larnaca
and Brussels during the sum-
mer season. The arrival of
traditional Russian carrier
UTair Aviation with a daily
flight to Moscows Vnukovo
airport proves that the airport
in Bratislava cannot be la-
belledlow-cost.
Irishbudget airlineRyanair
has maintained its most popu-
lar routes from Bratislava and
added flights to Gran Canaria,
which according to Madunick
are popular not only among
Slovaks but also Austrian and
Hungarianpassengers.
Ryanair remains the
biggest carrier operating out of
Bratislava. Between January
andSeptemberit carried797,700
of the airport's total of 1.32 mil-
lion passengers, based on data
fromtheairportswebsite.
SeeSKYonpg9
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
BratislavaAirport's newterminal openedin2009. Photo: Sme
Market for logistics facilities revives
AFTER a standstill lasting almost two
years, construction of new distribution
and warehousing premises has started
againinSlovakia. Nowthat vacancy rates
have reached critically low levels the
owners and developers of distribution fa-
cilities have begun building new
premises and are even talking about con-
struction on a speculative basis, that is
without pre-leasecontracts.
There are huge prospects before
Slovakia as [the country has] the lowest
vacancyrate withinthe central andeast-
ernEuropean(CEE) region, Peter Jnoi,
the head of the industrial department at
CBRichardEllis (CBRE), a global provider
of corporate and institutional services in
the real estate industry, told The Slovak
Spectator, adding that demand and sup-
ply might potentially increase along
with construction of infrastructure, es-
peciallyinregionsoutsideBratislava.
The industrial stock vacancy rate in
central Europe (the Czech Republic,
Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) stood at
an average of 11.8 percent for the first
half of 2011, Cushman &Wakefield Prop-
erty Services reported inlate August. Va-
cancy rates between 10 and 12 percent
areconsideredhealthy.
Slovakia and its 2.5 percent vacancy
rate represents an absolutely unique
situation within Europe, said Ferdinand
Hlobil of Cushman & Wakefield, as
quotedinapress release.
CBRE put the vacancy rate at the end
of June at 4.4 percent, out of a total of
1,040,000 square metres of modern ware-
house and distribution premises in Slov-
akia. Of this space, 85 percent is inBratis-
lavaandits vicinity.
Jnoi expects that future develop-
ment will be affected in particular by the
willingness of banks to finance such
projects, as well as by the courage of de-
velopers to respond to actual market de-
mand by building speculatively or partly
speculatively. He view the current low
vacancy rate in Slovakia as stemming
fromadropinprices duringthecrisis.
SeeNEWpg8
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
6 October 24 30, 2011
A record lowin
vacancies is encouraging
newconstruction
NewSlovak airline
plans to launch
operations
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Next issue:
BUSINESS FOCUS
LOGISTICS & TRANSPORT
Encouraging cycling to work is
nowa goal for Bratislava
Freight transporters face
much market uncertainty
Cyclists lament unfriendly cities
WHEN discussing transport prob-
lems in Slovakia, finishing the
countrys highway connections is
probably the first thing that jumps
to many peoples minds. But the
missing stretches of the backbone
highway between Bratislava and
Koice are not the only problem in
the transport system because usable
cycling routes are also lacking in
most parts of the country. Though
more has been accomplished in
promoting cycling as a tourism
product in Slovakia, the opportunit-
ies that regular commuting by bi-
cycle can bring to cities and towns
have mostly been overlooked. Many
cities in other parts of the world
have encouraged the use of bicycles
to overcome recurrent traffic jams
and inadequate parking for cars.
Though it has mostly been non-
profit organisations that have been
pushing for better cycling possibilit-
ies in Slovakia, some positive signals
have recently come from state insti-
tutions and Bratislavas city council
has declared its intention to aug-
ment cycling as part of the citys
overall transport system.
Cyclists can offer a long list of
complaints about the current situ-
ation, such as a lack of concept plan-
ning at local and national levels to
support cycling as a transport meth-
od, missing cycling routes or routes
with little logic, and arrogant Slovak
drivers who often place cyclists in
life-threatening situations.
The current situation for cycling
in Slovakia is critical particularly be-
cause systematic support is lacking
from the Ministry of Transport,
Marin Gogola of the ilina-based
NGO Mulica told The Slovak Spectat-
or. Because of this we are lagging
behind in legislation and technical
norms as well as in building a cyc-
ling infrastructure in Slovakia. The
Czech Republic and Germany, for ex-
ample, have comprehended that cyc-
ling is not only a sport but also an
ecological means of transport that is
particularly usable in cities; this has
been missed here in Slovakia, but
things are slowly moving forward
thanks to civic activists.
Gogola said the Ministry of
Transport has declared its support
for cycling, at least on paper, in its
Transport Policy for the Slovak Re-
public through 2015, but added that
nothing tangible has been accom-
plished at the state level. Gogola re-
ported that some regional govern-
ments such as those in ilina, Koice
and Bratislava have become more
active but this is mostly limited to
cycling tourism because the regional
governments have limited powers
within cities and towns. Some cities
such as Pieany, Preov and
Liptovsk Mikul have realised that
by building cycling infrastructure
they can help to improve mobility
within their towns, Gogola said, but
added that other towns such as
Trenn and Bansk Bystrica have
totally ignored cycling as a means of
urban transport.
Canbikes beasolution
for Bratislava?
While the development of cyc-
ling routes and encouragement of
cycling as a means of transport is
limited in nearly all parts of Slov-
akia, the impact of this is particu-
larly apparent in Bratislava, as a
strong pro-cycling policy could bring
the capital city some relief from its
over-burdened transport system and
reduce the number of cars jamming
its streets and using its pavements as
parking areas.
We are lagging behind by 30 to
40 years, Daniel Duri from
Cyklokoalcia, an association that
supports urban biking in Bratislava,
told The Slovak Spectator. In nearby
Vienna, as well as in Poland and
Slovenia, attention has been paid to
development of cycling over the long
term, while cycling as a transport
means has been absolutely ignored
for 20 years in Slovakia Even Tirana
and Bucharest are further ahead than
Bratislava as they have bigger net-
works of cycling paths.
Roman Bahnk, a Bratislava-
based architect, told The Slovak Spec-
tator that the capital citys entire
transport system is in a dismal state,
not limited to its failure to encourage
greater use of bicycles for transport.
The transport system has been
collapsing in Bratislava for years,
Bahnk stated, adding that Bratislava
has failed to build city bypass routes
to eliminate transiting vehicles from
travelling through the city centre.
We have not solved the backbone
transport system here, not to men-
tion cycling transport.
Bahnk sees the capitals under-
developed cycling infrastructure as
only one part of a wider transport
planning problem, arguing that the
citys priority thus far has been to
support the interests of property de-
velopers to the detriment of con-
struction projects which would be
in the public interest. He believes
that this approach has resulted in an
insufficient number of parking
places for cars, undersized roads and
failure to conceptualise plans for
cycling routes as well as rest areas
and public parks.
SeeRIDEpg9
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Bratislavasays it will seek toimprove its cyclinglanes andpaths. Photo: TASR
7 October 24 30, 2011
Encouraging more
cycling could improve
transport in towns
and cities
BUSINESS FOCUS
SP90627/3
hk}ly{pzltlu{
Freight transporters face uncertainty
ALMOST the entire European
freight market, including the
Slovak market, is suffering
frominsufficient capacity
and that is pushing up trans-
port prices, according to a
press release issued by the
Slovak branchof DHL Freight
inearly October.
The company wrote that
eventhoughincreased de-
mand is commontowards the
end of a year, the current
situationdiffers fromprevi-
ous years and is to a large ex-
tent anoutcome of the per-
sisting economic crisis as
well as a poor outlook for the
Europeanand global eco-
nomy. It specified that the
economic climate inthe
eurozone worsened during
the third quarter of 2011 for
the first time since 2009 and
that the complicated debt
situationinthe eurozone and
the slowdownineconomic
activity does not indicate
anything positive for the
foreseeable future.
This year the impacts of
the crisis ontransporters are
fully manifested, Rastislav
Breni, managing director of
DHL Freight inSlovakia and
Romania, stated inthe press
release. These [impacts]
were extremely harshand
their consequence was an
over 30-percent drop in
[transport] capacities. Many
transporters were forced to
wind downtheir businesses
during the first post-crisis
year and eventhoughthe
second half of 2011 brought
some revival, newcapacities
are arriving very slowly and
cautiously because of scepti-
cismand distrust infuture
developments.
Breni also sees some
additional problems: insuffi-
cient imports, a large fluctu-
ationintransported volumes,
bad payment discipline, prob-
lematic access to financing,
and rising prices for diesel
fuel and highway tolls. He
added that the current situ-
ationis complicated because
transporters need to raise
their prices due to increased
costs and a mismatch
betweensupply and demand.
It is difficult to say which
of these factors has a bigger
impact onprice growthbut it
is certainthat until uncer-
tainty stops ruling the market
we cannot expect a significant
increase invacant capacities
and thus a drop inprices,
Breni stated.
CompiledbySpectator staff
NEW: More warehouse space coming
Continuedfrompg6
The prices of existing
premises decreased to a his-
torical low during the crisis
years, Jnoi said, adding
that prices have not decreased
any further for some time. For
new developments, prices are
slightly higher compared to
space offered in projects that
were built on a speculative
basis. The location of the
premises, the duration of the
lease and the size of the leased
space are the three factors
that continue to have the
most effect on price. Cur-
rently, build-to-suit construc-
tion prevails, which is sup-
plemented by sporadic, smal-
ler speculative developments.
Prologis, which domin-
ates the Slovak market for
leased warehouse premises, is
reporting a zero vacancy rate.
We are fully leased [in
Slovakia], Martin Polk, Pro-
logis director for the Czech
Republic and Slovakia, told
The Slovak Spectator. Due to
the low vacancy rate across
the country, we have been fo-
cusing on build-to-suit
projects this year.
Polk, who sees the low
vacancy rate in Slovakia as
exceptional given that the
neighbouring countries
have vacancy rates of around
10 percent, puts this down to
fewer speculative develop-
ments.
There have been fewer
speculative developments
compared to other countries
in the region and also not all
the big players entered the
market at the right time, or
lets say soon enough, said
Polk. Slovakia is a market
with little new demand,
which is kept in balance by a
few dominant and discip-
lineddevelopers.
Comparisonwithabroad
Jnoi of CBRE sees Slov-
akia as occupying a middle
position in the central and
easternEuropeanmarket.
Slovakia, when com-
pared to the Czech Republic
in modern warehousing
premises close to the capital,
is about 10 percent cheaper,
said Jnoi. On the other
hand Poland continues to of-
fer existing premises for bet-
ter prices compared to
Slovakia.
Polk reported that, in
general, Prologis parks in the
CEE region have had a good
year so far.
In Poland, for example,
Prologis parks signed lease
agreements totalling 110,000
square metres in July and
August, he said. Prologis in
the CEE region extended
lease agreements totalling
more than 300,000 square
metres in the second quarter
of 2011.
Prologis currently has
three distribution parks
with a total area of 387,000
square metres in Slovakia,
all of them located around
Bratislava (in Senec,
Galanta and Nov Mesto
nad Vhom), which togeth-
er represent 36 percent of
the Slovak market, accord-
ingto Polk.
Newdevelopments
Market watchers expect
a rise inconstructionsoon.
So far this year about
30,000 square metres were
built and another space will
be finished by the end of the
year, Martin Bal from
Cushman & Wakefield Prop-
erty Services Slovakia told
the Hospodrske Noviny
daily in mid October, noting
that in contrast to the pre-
crisis period, when new con-
struction was focused in
western Slovakia, attention
is now being paid to central
andeasternSlovakia.
For example, CTP Invest,
which operates in Preov,
Trenn and ilina Regions,
is preparing for the con-
struction next year of a
7,000-square metre ware-
house in Preov, according
to Hospodrske Noviny.
Immorent Delta has also
announced the launch of
construction of new ware-
house premises inKoice.
Experts see new invest-
ments in industrial produc-
tion as being behind the con-
struction of warehouse facil-
ities.
We see especially high
potential in Koice and
ilina, said Peter Ber, man-
aging director of PointPark
Properties (P3) for the Czech
Republic and Slovakia, as he
introduced his companys
plans in mid October. These
are natural logistics hubs.
PointPark Properties is
currently building around
40,000 square metres of in-
dustrial property, of which
25,000 square metres will be
in PointPark Bratislava, a
build-to-suit project for
Schnellecke Slovakia located
in Lozorno, 25 kilometres
from Bratislava. P3 is also
building a new 15,000-square
metre production hall for the
American companies Wash-
ington Penn and Uniform
Color Company inTrnava.
Prologis is currently
building 18,126 square metres
of additional space for an ex-
isting client at Prologis Park
Galanta-G (DC4), which it
expects to complete in the
fourth quarter of 2011. The
expansion will leave the DC4
facility with a total of 93,590
square metres of modern
warehouse space, making it
one of the largest distribu-
tion buildings in Slovakia,
according to Polk.
8
BUSINESS FOCUS
October 24 30, 2011
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SP90619/1
hk}ly{pzltlu{
SP90619/1
Revitalisation of rail firms continues
ALL three of Slovakias state
railway companies are con-
tinuing their revitalisation
programmes despite the fall
of the Iveta Radiov gov-
ernment. Together, the
companies have so far laid
off over 3,000 employees
fromanaggregate total of
31,000, the SITAnewswire
reported onOctober 17.
The layoffs are part of an
extensive planto stabilise
the finances of all three rail-
way companies adopted by
the Radiov cabinet on
March16. Inadditionto the
dismissal of thousands of
employees, the planenvis-
ages passenger routes being
reduced and a strategic part-
ner being found for freight
operator Cargo. Transport
Minister JnFige, speaking
whenthe planwas adopted,
said that the existing situ-
ationwas unsustainable,
withthe overall indebted-
ness of the three companies
climbing towards 1 billion.
It isnt about layoffs but
about rescue, Fige stressed
at the time, as quoted by the
TASRnewswire.
Cargo Slovakia con-
firmed inmid October that it
had dismissed 1,224 employ-
ees during the first nine
months of 2011, reducing its
staff to 8,104 as of October 1,
SITAreported.
The planned number of
employees as of December 31,
2011, is 7,507, inline withthe
adopted business plan, said
Cargo spokespersonMonika
Schmidtov, as quoted by
SITA. This means that the
cargo company intends to
shed another 597 people by
the end of the year.
Next year Cargo is ex-
pecting that staff departures
will be restricted to natural
attritionthroughretirement
or employees leaving the
company by choice.
Reductionof its labour
force is not the only revital-
isationmeasure Cargo is car-
rying out. It has implemen-
ted financial measures that
affect all its activities.
The half-year results as
well as the current develop-
ment inthe economic results
of the company showthat it
is pursuing the right path,
said Schmidtov. The com-
pany ended the first half of
2011 withanoperating profit
of 29.1 million, 3 million
more thanenvisioned inthe
original plan. Compared
withthe first half of 2010 this
marked animprovement of
28.8 million. Inspite of
this, the company still repor-
ted anoverall loss during the
same period of 6.2 million,
althoughthis was also an
improvement onthe 36.3
millionit lost inthe first half
of 2010.
The year-on-year
growthinoperating profit
and the reductionof overall
losses by 83 percent is a clear
signthat the company is
headed towards a balanced
economic performance and
financial stabilisation, said
Schmidtov.
eleznice Slovenskej Re-
publiky (SR), Slovakias
railway infrastructure oper-
ator, also continued inits re-
vitalisationprogramme.
Over the first nine months it
laid off 1,806 people, redu-
cing its labour force to 15,194
as of October 1.
SRhas fulfilled most of
the reductions planned for
2011 withinthe approved
programme of revitalisation
so far this year, Marina
Pavlkov, SRspokesperson
said, as quoted by SITA,
adding that another 100
people will leave the com-
pany by the end of the year.
eleznin Spolonos
Slovenska (ZSSK), Slovakias
passenger railway company,
dismissed 116 people up to
the end of September, redu-
cing its staff to 4,793 em-
ployees.
The revitalisationis con-
tinuing inline withthe set
parameters, company
spokespersonJana
Grenerov told SITA, adding
that it is not knownwhat po-
sitionthe next government
will take towards the pro-
gramme. ZSSKestimates that
it will end 2011 witha loss of
about 7.5 million, and that
the results of revitalisation
will only become visible in
early 2012.ZSSKwill continue
laying off employees next
year following a reductionin
the routes it serves.
CompiledbySpectator staff
SKY: Trying to attract business flyers
Continuedfrompg6
A bigger range of destina-
tions and more frequent
flights may help Bratislava
Airport to retain business cli-
entele, as in the past such pas-
sengers have tended to leak
away to Vienna.
Especially inthe sector for
scheduled flights, most busi-
ness passengers do not have
any other alternative but to fly
from Vienna, said Kazda.
Apart from the direct connec-
tion, a business passenger also
prefers more daily connections
to a destination, while the
price of the ticket is not always
the most important factor.
Having most of its sched-
uled routes operated by Ry-
anair puts Bratislava at a dis-
advantage compared to Vienna
when it comes to attracting
lucrative business travellers,
Kazda said.
The growth in charter
flights up by 15 percent year-
on-year during the summer
July-August season gave
Bratislava Airport a very posit-
ive surprise, according to
Madunick.
Apart from extending the
list of destinations offered
from Bratislava the airport is
constructing the second part
of its terminal, with plans for
it to be completed in June
2012. This 96-million project
will increase the annual capa-
city of the airport to 5 million
passengers. The first part was
opened inJune 2009.
Bratislava Airport is also
preparing, in cooperation
with global logistics company
DHL, the construction of a
ground base for servicing air
shipments to Slovakia, the
Czech Republic, Austria and
Hungary.
Bratislava is not the only
airport in Slovakia to see the
arrival of new airlines. As of
December 8, Polish airline
Eurolot will add two regular
routes, to Gdansk and Warsaw,
to the one route currently op-
erated fromthe Poprad airport,
Letisko Poprad-Tatry, by SA
to Prague. The SITA newswire
reported on October 17 that
these should serve Polish tour-
ists heading to the High Tatras
for skiing, but there is also a
plan to keep the routes in
summer inorder to take Slovak
tourists to the Baltic coast. The
Poprad airport also hopes to at-
tract winter charter flights
fromUkraine and Russia.
Koice Airport agrees that
the current economic situ-
ation is having a direct impact
on air transport and the intro-
ductionof newroutes.
Basically, it is not such a
problem to open a new route,
but it is very complicated to
keep the route from the view-
point of occupancy rates,
Marta Horvthov, a member
of the board of directors of
Koice Airport, told The Slovak
Spectator. This is also why
airline companies are being
extraordinarily cautious when
expanding."
Three airlines currently
operate scheduled flights from
Koice: Danube Wings, which
flies to Bratislava; SA, to
Prague; and Austrian Airlines,
to Vienna.
According to unofficial in-
formation, Koice Airport
served 266,000 passengers in
2010, a drop of over 24 percent,
the SITA newswire reported in
early September. The airport
reported its biggest number of
passengers, almost 591,000, in
2008, but has not released offi-
cial figures for 2010, according
to SITA.
With regards to the main
challenges facing air trans-
port, Horvthov and Tom
Janu, another member of
Koice Airports board of dir-
ectors, told The Slovak Spec-
tator that airline companies
and airports are often key act-
ors in the economy of the re-
gion in which they operate.
Making more remote regions
accessible via air transport en-
ables the development of tour-
ism and enhances the local
economys performance. Air
transport follows internation-
al rules and regulations which
airports as well as airline com-
panies have to meet. This re-
quires extensive investment
by both airports as well as air-
line companies. At the mo-
ment pressure from competi-
tion is having a direct impact
on the prices that can be
charged and thus the returnon
investment is long, according
to Horvthov and Janu.
AnewSlovakairline
Slovakia does not have any
national carrier, but Kazda
does not see this as a problem.
A new carrier, Slovakian Air-
lines, plans to launch opera-
tions by the end of this year,
adding to a group of local com-
panies that includes Air
Transport Europe, VR Jet, Op-
era Jet and others.
Under the current deregu-
lation of air transport the term
national carrier is obsolete,
said Kazda, adding that most
former national carriers are
loss-making. Thus he believes
that the arrival of any carrier
in Slovakia and the courage of
any investor willing to develop
the local market should be
welcomed.
Kazda highlighted three
basic factors for an airline
company to be successful: the
market, financing, and the in-
ternal systemof the company.
The growth of air trans-
port in Slovakia stems, as in
other countries, from the
richness of the nation, and
rises along with GDP per
capita, Kazda said. Thus, un-
til Slovaks get wealthier the
market will not be interesting.
On the other hand, insuffi-
cient or poorly accessible net-
works of scheduled routes
covered by traditional airline
companies created opportunit-
ies for the launchof companies
inthe business jet segment.
Kazda believes that a
decent airline with a base in
Bratislava might revive the
Slovak market.
A carrier with a base
providing scheduled transport
for a reasonable price to a suf-
ficient number of destinations
would fit the profile of the
Slovak passenger and his or
her needs the most, said
Kazda. Simultaneously it
should be a contribution for
Bratislava Airport. Thus, Ry-
anair is not the best solution. A
decent low-cost airline com-
pany with a model similar to
Air Berlin, Norwegian or Niki,
with its main base in Bratis-
lava might be able to revive
the market. But I consider
political influence and inter-
ference in the air transport
market to be the main problem
of Slovakia.
Slovakia's rail firms are tryingtocut their losses. Photo: Sme
9
BUSINESS FOCUS
October 24 30, 2011
RIDE: Bratislava plans new bike routes
Continuedfrompg7
Bahnk also believes there is another
phenomenon at play: many Slovaks cur-
rently perceive owning and driving a car
as astatus symbol.
If a car continues to be one of the
status elements among citizens here, our
movement towards cycling as a means of
transport will be slower, Bahnk stated.
Cycling as a means of transport in Brat-
islava as well as in the rest of Slovakia
faces a shortage of biking routes, non-
conceptualised planning, insufficient
bike stands at buildings and, last but not
least, aggressivecar drivers.
The Bratislava city council appears to
agree with that assessment and has re-
solved to improve the situation in the
capital.
If transport trends continue in an un-
changed way, tens of thousands more cars
will flood Bratislava, ubomr Andrassy,
spokesperson for Bratislava Mayor Milan
Ftnik, told The Slovak Spectator. To re-
verse this trend, we are starting to prefer
an alternative to motor vehicles such as
publictransport, cyclingandwalking.
Andrassy concedes that cycling routes
built in the capital so far were almost ex-
clusively for recreational purposes, but
said the city council is seeking to change
that approach.
We will orient much more towards
urban cycling paths so that Bratislavans
can use bikes to commute to work as
well, Andrassy stated, adding that it is
necessary to build infrastructure such as
cycling paths and bike stands, while at
the same time to start changing peoples
way of thinking, particularly getting
drivers to understand that bicycles also
haveaplaceontheroad.
Andrassy said Vienna can serve as
great inspirationfor Bratislava, as 20 years
ago it had less than 200 kilometres of cyc-
ling routes but now has more than 1,100
kilometres. Bratislava currently has about
100 kilometres of cycling paths, of which
about 25 kilometres were built over the
past five years, accordingtoAndrassy.
The large difference in the availability
of cycling routes is at least part of the reas-
on why only about 2 percent of Bratis-
lavans use a bicycle to commute to work
compared to about 30 percent of Vienna
residents, the TASRnewswire reported.
Bratislava wants to follow the same
direction as other modern cities," An-
drassy stated. "Our goal is to increase the
share of cycling in the mix of transporta-
tion methods. This cannot be carried out
in any way other than by a strategic de-
cision that the city will significantly sup-
port cycling as a means of transport."
Earlier this year Bratislava's city coun-
cil created a cycling commission as an ad-
visory body to the mayor in order to in-
volve those who are concerned about the
issue into moving the development of urb-
an cycling forward. Employees of the city
council, representatives of individual city
districts and members of civic cycling as-
sociations serve onthe commission.
The task of the cycling commission
is to define a strategy for development of
cycling transport and to propose imple-
mentation of specific routes, Andrassy
toldThe SlovakSpectator.
The commission has thus far pro-
posed five priority cycling routes. One of
these routes has already opened and the
remaining four are in various phases of
preparationor implementation.
The aim is to build main radial cyc-
ling routes within the next few years,
Andrassysaid.
Cyklokoalcia has prepared and pro-
posed a number of steps for Bratislava,
such as allocating 5 percent of the citys
transport budget for bicycle transport
infrastructure, about 3 million annu-
ally. The association has developed its
proposals based on the experiences of its
members and by monitoring the beha-
viour of cyclists within the city. It has
presented the city council with a list of
11 priority routes that are currently
most-used by cyclists that lack lanes for
cyclists or separate cyclingpaths.
We are proposing bike paths for
city districts; we are holding talks with
the Ministry of Transport, which has
promised to designate a national cyc-
ling coordinator, said Gogola, adding
that the Environment Ministry also
promised to create a grant scheme for
the development of cycling paths in vil-
lages and towns. We will see how the
current [political] changes will affect
these plans.
FOCUS short
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ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORSHIP
Bratislava International Church
Sundays, 9:30 at historic Small Lutheran Church
(Maly evanjelicky kostol) in central Bratislava
(near Hodzovo namestie); on Lycejna at
intersection with Panenska 26/28.
Children's Sunday School provided.
Everyone Welcome.
Information at 02-5443-3263
Web Site: www.bratislavainternationalchurch.org
PLAN: 'Tax mix' for cities draws fire
Continuedfrompg1
If the Slovak Democratic
and Christian Union (SDK),
the Christian Democratic
Movement (KDH), and Most-
Hd party pass the budget
with the help of SaS deputies,
Fico has nevertheless said
that the budget priorities will
change if Smer is returned to
power inthe Marchelections.
Smer has stated its op-
position to the changes pro-
posed by the Finance Min-
istry to the way local and re-
gional governments would
be financed in the future.
Smer, as the largest party in
parliament, has said it fa-
vours a new tax on banks as
advanced by the coalition,
but Fico wants to see the levy
tripled from what parlia-
ment approved on October
20, a special tax calculated on
0.4 percent of a banks liabil-
ities, less the banks equity
capital and its deposits
covered under Slovakias de-
positor protection system
(see storyonpg 1).
SaSprevents overrideof veto
Parliament made an at-
tempt to override a presiden-
tial veto on a revision to the
law on construction savings
accounts which would have
brought additional annual
revenue of 33 million to the
state beginning in 2013 by re-
ducing the bonus that the
state pays to those saving for
a home from 66 a year to 15
a year, tied with a reduction
in banking fees associated
withthe savings programme.
Sulk responded to the
failed vote by saying, Some-
times shit happens, in Eng-
lish, as quoted by the SITA
newswire, to explain the
votes of the five deputies from
SaS. We are very sorry about
it. We will seek an agreement
with the finance minister on
how to solve the shortfall it
causes.
Sulk insisted that the
failure of five SaS deputies to
vote for the override was not
intentional. Parliament must
now wait six months before it
can try to override the presid-
ential veto again.
During the demanding
political negotiations about
the future form of state sup-
port for construction savings,
SaS repeatedly raised the issue
of completely cancelling the
subsidies [for these savers],
said Martin Jaro, spokesman
for the Finance Ministry,
adding angrily that todays
vote in parliament, when the
presidential veto was not
overridden due to the actions
of some deputies from this
party, shows how [poorly] SaS
observes its principled
approach.
SaS MPs Juraj Droba and
Stanislav Fot voted against
the override while Martin
Fecko, Peter Kalist and Erika
Jurinov abstained.
The Sme daily reported on
October 19 that Fot, who had
supported the legislation in
its initial vote, said that at
that time he did not want to
undercut the fragility of the
governing coalition but that
under the current condi-
tions, professional arguments
prevailed. The daily also
wrote that until 2010 Fot had
worked as a manager at one of
the construction savings in-
stitutions in Bratislava. The
SaS MP claimed that this did
not influence his vote.
In vetoing the law, Presid-
ent Ivan Gaparovi stated
that the legislation retroact-
ively intervenes into already
concluded contracts and af-
fects those currently holding
construction savings ac-
counts, the SITA newswire
wrote. The construction sav-
ing companies welcomed
parliaments failure to over-
ride the presidential veto.
The Finance Ministry has
argued that paying state bo-
nuses to savers in the con-
struction savings scheme has
very low effectiveness while
the construction savings
companies said the state bo-
nus was an incentive for
people to save for the pur-
chase of a home, SITAwrote.
Taxmix: another thornyissue
The Finance Ministry also
recently proposed a change
in how Slovakias local and
regional governments would
be financed in the future, ar-
guing that in challenging
economic times all recipients
of public finances, including
municipalities, should
tighten their belts. Smer re-
acted by calling the
ministrys plan only a piece
of paper based on incorrect
assumptions and demanded
that the proposal be with-
drawnfromparliament.
The proposal presented by
Finance Minister Ivan Miklo
would no longer fund muni-
cipal governments solely by
revenues coming from per-
sonal income taxes but begin-
ning next year through a mix
of taxes: personal and corpor-
ate income taxes, value added
tax and excise taxes. Smer ar-
gued that the ministry is only
seeking to channel funds from
municipalities to the state
and Smer MP ubomr Petrk
asked on October 18 that the
draft be withdrawn from
parliaments agenda.
The Association of Towns
and Villages of Slovakia
(ZMOS), which represents 96
percent of the countrys mu-
nicipalities, called for preser-
vation of the current finan-
cing system based solely on
personal income tax. ZMOS
further argued that revenues
are distributed fairly among
towns, villages and regional
governments under the cur-
rent system.
The Union of Towns of
Slovakia (MS), another body
representing local govern-
ments, has said that it under-
stands the macro-economic
problems of the state and does
not deny the need for local
governments to participate in
their resolution. But Marin
Minarovi, secretary general
of MS, told The Slovak Spec-
tator that his organisationalso
thinks the proposed changes
will negatively impact local
governments.
Miklo, supported by the
ruling parties, has argued that
the current financing model
for local governments is un-
sustainable, but also added
that his proposed plan would
likely provide 3 percent more
for municipalities in 2012 than
they will receive this year.
The basic point of the
proposal is that while local
governments currently have
been getting 93.8 percent of
the income tax paid by indi-
viduals, as of next year they
would be getting 12.97 percent
of all tax revenues, the so-
called 'tax mix', Miklo
stated, as quoted by SITA. The
method of calculating tax rev-
enues [going to municipalit-
ies] changes, yet nothing
really changes in the fiscal de-
centralisationprinciple.
On October 20 parliament
adopted several changes to
locally-based taxes that,
among other things, will unify
tax reports for various local
taxes that are assessed on an
annual basis, such as taxes on
real estate, domestic pets and
vending machines.
Smer announced that if it
is successful inthe March2012
parliamentary elections it will
modify what it called non-
systemic tax changes adopted
by the outgoing government.
SaS leader RichardSulk (secondfromright). Photo: TASR
TAX: Among EU's
highest, say banks
Continuedfrompg1
The rate was set at 0.4
percent of banks liabilities
after equity capital and de-
posits covered under
Slovakias deposit protection
systemare deducted.
While the Finance Min-
istry says that the bank levy
will provide a healthy bite
for the state coffers, the
Slovak Banking Association
(SBA) says the measure rep-
resents a potential threat to
the stability of the countrys
banking sector.
The ministry expects
the levy to channel anextra
80 millionto the state
budget. If the state had gone
for the Smer versionof the
tax at 0.7 percent thentotal
revenues, at least according
to Smer, would have been
189 million, the SITA
newswire reported.
The Finance Ministry
said that the rate proposed
by Smer could have dis-
turbed the business envir-
onment inSlovakia. But the
banks say that eventhe
governments lower rate
will have the same effect.
Slovakia did not have to
rescue its banking sector,
whichwas one of the reasons
for instituting the levies in
some other EUcountries,
the SBAwrote inanearlier
response to the levy plan,
adding that there is cur-
rently no reasonfor Slovakia
to implement the tax.
The SBAalso argued that
the higher rate might result
inmore expensive products
and services for clients,
while the president of the
SBA, Igor Vida, onOctober 18
called it a short-sighted step.
Vida claimed that the
0.4-percent rate would make
it the second highest such
tax inthe EuropeanUnion,
and that if the Smer proposal
were adopted the tax would
be the highest inthe EU, the
TASRnewswire reported.
Originally, the Finance
Ministry proposed a 0.2-per-
cent special levy for next
year, while the SBAlobbied
for a rate of 0.02 percent, ar-
guing that this was the level
set inGermany, a country
that was forced to shore up
its banks during the turmoil
inthe financial markets.
The SBAalso proposed
that the central bank, the
National Bank of Slovakia, be
givenresponsibility for set-
ting the rate inagreement
withthe Finance Ministry
after taking into account the
forecast financial situation.
The Finance Ministry
said earlier inOctober that
eventhoughthe rate is high-
er thaninother EUcountries
whichhave imposed a simil-
ar tax, the levy would take
only 7.9 percent of the expec-
ted profits of the banking
sector. The ministry argued
that the proposed rate would
be lowenoughto not cause
negative impacts, suchas
banks passing the cost of the
levy onto customers through
higher fees, SITAwrote.
Banks inSlovakia paid
266.90 millionindirect and
indirect taxes to the state in
2010, the SBAreported on
April 26, of which173.40
millionwas inthe formof
income tax and the rest from
indirect taxes and VAT.
Whenarguing for a
higher rate, Smer, which
considers itself the originat-
or of the bank tax idea, also
proposed that the state sim-
ultaneously prohibit banks
fromincreasing their fees.
The government, however,
did not endorse this proposal
fromSmer.
International Womens Club turns 20
The International Womens Club of Bratis-
lava (IWCB) celebrated its 20th birthday
on October 7. Through the past 20 years
over 2,500 women from a wide variety of
nations have been members of the IWCB,
promoting friendship and cultural under-
standing within the international com-
munity and putting humanitarian effort
into raising money to help charities with-
in Slovakia. Since 1991, the IWCB has
provided over 742,000 in support of those
inneed inSlovakia.
Today the club represents over 178
members from 44 different countries. On
the occasion of the 20th birthday, the elec-
ted board members for 2011 approved the
largest one-time donation that the club has
ever given, a donation of up to 40,000 to a
medical institution in Slovakia to purchase
medical diagnostic and treatment equip-
ment. Applications for this award are cur-
rently being reviewed by the clubs Charity
Coordinator, Kerstin Wandel, and her team.
The chosen recipient will be announced at
the annual IWCB Christmas Bazaar.
The birthday celebrations on October
7 were opened by the clubs president,
Crystal Marie Pavelcik. A presentation
given by Lenka Peugniez described the
history of the IWCB, enlivened by a night-
long photo presentation by Marta Novot-
na which evoked many memories for the
watching club members. A number of en-
tertainers brought music and dancing to
the night, including the Kremienok
Childrens Folk group, the Funkadelic
brothers DJ Koki and Matthew Sax, an
African Drum Show from the group Ja-
madan, and the musical talents of
Rochann.
The club is now preparing to raise
funds for its next year of charitable giv-
ing, with its annual 21st Christmas
Bazaar taking place on November 20 in
Star Trnica. The bazaar is made pos-
sible by a joint effort between the IWCB
and the City of Bratislava, Casa Mia, and
over 40 embassies who will participate
by selling food and other items related to
their countries.
All profits from the bazaar will go to
the IWCB charity fund to be distributed
to charities throughout Slovakia. The
annual Christmas Bazaar has grown into
the largest fundraising event within
Bratislavas international community
and last years event had over 4,000 visit-
ors and raised over 87,000.
For more information visit the club
website at www.iwc.sk. or facebook fan
page, IWCB.
ByCrystal Marie Pavelcik
10
BUSINESS / NEWS
October 24 30, 2011
Igor Vida Photo: TASR
Film festival tours Slovakia
A SPECIALISEDfilmfestival
presenting environmental
documentaries and promot-
ing sustainable develop-
ment is currently celebrat-
ing its 38th year. Ekotop-
film is showing a host of
movies this year, including
documentaries about
dancing deer and the first
solar aeroplane. This year,
the leitmotif is each
persons individual re-
sponsibility for the future of
the world, and the shape in
which we choose to leave it
for our descendants.
The festival opened at
Cinema City Aupark inBratis-
lava between October 17 and
21 and is now moving on to
Koice, ilina and Trnava,
with more than one hundred
films being screened in these
cities up to the end of
November. Part of the festival
is the Honour of Ekotopfilm
Prize. This year the award
went to US filmmaker and
Emmy winner Allison Argo,
who came to personally ac-
cept it and commented that
she tries to think globally and
achieve a global impact with
her documentaries. Her film
Frogs The Thin Green Line is
shown at the festival. The
festival attracted more than
70,000 people last year. Its
purpose is to educate and
make changes in mindset.
Admission is free and more
information is available at its
website: www.ekotopfilm.sk.
CompiledbySpectator staff
The wooden church of Zboj
THE TRADITION of wooden churches in Slov-
akia goes far back into history. It is knownthat
Celts and Slavs constructed their religious
buildings from wood. After Christianity came
to this region, churches made of stone became
more common. So even though the region was
rich in wood resources, churches began to be
constructed of stone as early as the Great
Moravian period. Wooden churches were built
even later because their construction was
cheaper and simpler. But they were more
prone to quick destruction as well, and that is
why so fewof themare preserved.
The largest group of wooden churches is in
eastern Slovakia but only a few of them still
stand at their original sites. The church of St
Nicolaus, the Bishop of Zboj, pictured in this
postcard, was moved in 1966 to the open-air
museuminBardejov.
This log church with three naves dates
back to 1706 and like many other sacred build-
ings of that time has Baroque architectural
features. This postcard from the early 1920s
was made by famous Czech photographer Ka-
rol Plicka.
ByBranislavChovan
HISTORY TALKS
WesternSLOVAKIA
Bratislava
l LITERARY VOYAGE: Liter-
ature In Flux A voyage on
board a literary boat along
the Danube River, fromRuse
(Bulgaria) to Vienna, arrives
in Bratislava, bringing a
panel discussion, recital of
prose and poetry, and a read-
ing night. The countries ex-
changing literary experi-
ences via the voyage are Bul-
garia, Romania, Serbia, Croa-
tia, Hungary, Slovakia and
Austria.
Events: Oct 24 18:00
(Goethe Institut); Oct 25
15:00, 18:00, 19:30 (boat). The
boat, the MS Stadt Wien,
will be anchored at Pontoon
15, close to the Old Bridge.
Admission: free. Tel: 004930/
9788-2578;
www.literature-in-flux.eu.
Bratislava
l DANCE SHOW: Lord of the
Dance The famous dance
show, combining classical Ir-
ish dance and the innovative
choreography of Michael Flat-
ley, returns toSlovakia.
Starts: Oct 24, 20:00; NTC
Sibamac Arna, Prkopova 6.
Admission: 27-50. Tel: 02/
5293-3321;
www. ticketportal.sk.
Bratislava
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Cantico
delle Creature This concert
of modernclassical music will
present the works of young
Slovak composer Luk
Borzk, and includes the
multi-media work Cantico
delle Creature. The concert
will feature the Quasars En-
semble and soloists Eva
ukov (soprano), Angelika
Zajcov (alto), Maro Kltik
(tenor) and Mat Trvniek
(bass).
Starts: Oct 26, 19:00; Dvor-
ana concert hall, VMU, Zo-
chova 1. Admission: free.
More info:
www. kamdomesta.sk.
Bratislava
l EXHIBITION: Ji Thn Ba-
sic Studies This exhibition
by the Czechartist, curated by
K. Uhlov, goes under the
surface of photography with
the help of photo-grams, in-
stallations andvideos.
Open: Tue-Sun 14:00 -19:00
until Oct 30; OPEN gallery,
Batov 5. Admission: free.
More info: www.ncsu.sk.
Bratislava
l EXHIBITON: Alternatvna
slovensk grafika / Alternative
Slovak Graphic Art A retro-
spective exhibition of Slovak
graphic art since the end of
the 1950s including works by
Marin underlk, Milo
Urbsek, Jlius Koller, Jana
elibsk, Dezider Tth, Daniel
Fischer, Otis Laubert, Marin
Mudroch, Vladmr Havrilla,
Peter Kalmus, Milan Sokol,
Blaej Bal, Erik Binder,
Marek Kvetn, Svtopluk
Mikyta and others, is curated
byA. Vrbanov.
Open: Tue-Sat 14:00-18:00
until Nov 5; Galria Cyprina
Majernka, Ventrska 9. Ad-
mission: free. Tel: 02/5920
-1605.
Bratislava
l EXHIBITION: Scanning
Jana Hojstriov presents her
photographs and Pavol Mach
his suspended glass objects in
a combined exhibition, a
unique project combining two
different art genres.
Open: Tue-Sun 13:00-18:00
until Nov 2; Galria NOVA,
Batov 2. Admission: free.
Tel: 02/5443-3039; www.
galeria-nova.sk.
Central SLOVAKIA
Slia
l LIVEMUSIC: Cignski diabli s
Vanessou / Gypsy Devils with
Vanessa This Gypsy band has
earned much fame since it
formed in 1993, bringing new
and bold arrangements to fam-
ous, popular, and sometimes
folk musical pieces.
Starts: Oct 27, 19:00; Palace
Cinema, Slia Spa. Admission:
8-10. Tel: 045/5442-202;
msks.sliac@gmail.com.
Zvolen
l EXHIBITION: Tvre ud
stratench / Faces of People
Lost An exhibition of black-
and-white photographs that
brings together portraits of lost
people in the beautiful setting
of ZvolenCastle.
Open: Tue-Sun 10:00-17:30
until Oct 30; Zvolen Castle, SNP
Square 1. Admission:
0.80-3.30. Tel: 045/5321-903;
www.sng.sk.
EasternSLOVAKIA
Preov
l MUSICAL FUSION: Preov-
sk hudobn jese Within the
45th year of the Preov Musical
Autumn series, the Con tu
Amor, Igor Kucer & Emotion
Group project, combines clas-
sical music with jazz and pop.
The performers include Igor
Kucer (tenor), and the Emotion
Group (O. Micik on guitar, M.
Ferenk onpiano, P. Hajduk on
bass andM. Janoko ondrums).
Starts: Oct 26, 19:00; PKO
ierny orol, Hlavn 50. Admis-
sion: 1-4. Tel: 051/7723 -741/2;
www.pkopresov.sk.
Koice
l FOR CHILDREN: Halloween
2011 An event for children
presenting the tradition of Hal-
loween, its characters and
myths. Children who come in a
mask can compete for various
prizes.
Starts: Oct 27, 16:00; OCGa-
lria shopping centre, Torysk
5. Admission: free. More info:
www.kamdomesta.sk.
ByZuzana Vilikovsk
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
BRATISLAVSK mdne dni / Bratislava Fashion Days brings in-
spiration for the autumn/winter season, presenting designers
Zlatica Hujbertov (winner of the New Faces project), Jana
Pitejov, Veronika Hlonkov, Paulna Polonyov, Iveta Leder-
er, KatarnaHalsov, Luk Kimlika, andCzechdesigners Libor
Komosn and Denisa Nov. On October 24-26, fashion shows at
the Holiday Inn Bratislava, Bajkalsk 25/A, will offer the best in
thelatest fashiontrends andideas. For moreinformation, please
go to www.bmd.sk. Tickets can be purchased through
www.ticketportal.sk. Thisphotoisfromthespringevent.
Photo: SmeVladimr imek
Longital &Zapaska 2 X2 Tour is a joint tour across the Czech Re-
public and Slovakia by Longital, a well-known alternative rock
and electronic band from Slovakia, and Zapaska, a duo from
Ukraine. On October 26, at 20:00, they will play in the Stanica
Zrieie cultural venue inilina, at Zvodsk cesta 3. Tickets cost
3-5. For more information, go to www.longital.com,
www.myspace.com/3apaskaandwww.stanica.sk.
Photo: Sme- Pavol Funtl
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
Kvetoslava
October 24
Tuesday
Aurel
October 25
Wednesday
Demeter
October 26
Thursday
Sabina
October 27
Friday
Dobromila
October 28
Saturday
Klra
Klarisa
October 29
Sunday
Klarisa
October 30
Drums to thunder in Petralka
THE FIRST-EVER Slovak fest-
ival of drums will shake
Bratislavas Petralka district
at the end of October. It aims
to introduce drummers and
percussionists of various
styles from Slovakia and
around the world. The hot
and, at least by Slovak stand-
ards, exotic rhythms promise
to warm visitors coming in
from the cold central-
Europeanautumn.
The participating musi-
cians include Abhijit Banerjee
(India/US), Hearn Gadbois &
Learned Hands (US/Czech Re-
public), Amirkasra Zandian
(Iran/Austria), Patrycja Napi-
erala (Poland), Tubabu (Czech
Republic) and local percus-
sionists Eddy Portella
presenta El Poderoso 5tet,
Batatimba, tefan Bugala,
Roman Kozk, La3no Sessions,
and others.
Genres will include clas-
sical Indian music, Oriental,
Latino, Central-Asian, Afric-
an, Celtic and other types of
indigenous music. The two-
day festival, which takes place
on Friday and Saturday, Octo-
ber 28-29, includes concerts,
workshops for more advanced
percussionists, discussions,
dance performances, a drum
circle, jam sessions, ethno-
disco and other accompany-
ing events including sale of
instruments, CDs and books.
For more information
about the festival, please go to
www.shiraz.sk or www.kzp.sk.
CompiledbySpectator staff
11 October 24 30, 2011
CULTURE
Tubabu, Czechpercussionists. Photo: Courtesyof Shiraz agency
12
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October 24 30, 2011
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