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NEWS

Party finance debateAfter a series of eye-catch-ing allegations aboutshady financing methods,the issue of how Slovakpolitical parties raisefunds is now open for de-bate, and major changesmight come.

pg 2

Ticking boxesThe four-party coalitiongovernment has fulfilledsome of its promises dur-ing its first six months inoffice but it has stumbledover several other toughissues.

pg 3

OPINION

The first six monthsThe government's pursuitof transparency and itsfight against corruptionhas marked its short ten-ure but much remains to beaccomplished.

pg 5

BUSINESS FOCUS

Strong brand loyaltySlovak consumers are gen-erally brand-loyal and theytend to favour traditionaldomestic brands. But theeconomic crisis has alsomade them more price-sensitive.

pg 6

Slovak design winsPergamen, a small designstudio from Trnava, has col-lected national as well as in-ternational awards for itsbottle and logo design forthe Tatratea drinks brand.

pg 7

CULTURE

Forgotten inventorThe Slovak inventor of theparachute, Štefan Banič,died 70 years ago thismonth but his home townfailed to organise anyevent to commemorate itsnative son.

pg 11

Court andministry atwar – again

ONGOING wage discrimination lawsuitsbeing pursued by hundreds of Slovakjudges have provoked yet another con-flict between the Supreme Court and theJustice Ministry. The latest spat eruptedafter the Supreme Court plenum, con-vened by court president Štefan Harabin,recommended that he should not launchappeals against judges who win lawsuitsagainst the court.

The ministry as well as judges crit-ical of the Supreme Court presidenthave rejected the plenum statement asbeing at odds with the law. Meanwhile,the Justice Ministry has updated itsstatistics and found that the number ofjudges suing the state for wage discrim-ination is considerably higher than ori-ginally thought.

Supreme Court not to appeal

Harabin convened a plenary sessionof the court’s judges on January 10 to dis-cuss the wage discrimination lawsuitsfiled by some of their own number. Thejudges who filed the lawsuits argued thatthey had been discriminated against as aresult of the higher salaries paid to judgessitting on Slovakia’s former SpecialCourt, established by a previous govern-ment to fight high-level corruption andorganised crime.

See SUITS pg 3

Slovak Police Corps President Jaroslav Spišiak (above) announced a new organisational structure on January 13. Itwill bring 1,708 new uniformed officers to the police force following their transfer from other positions. Photo: SITA

BY MICHAELA TERENZANISpectator staff

Parties not charged,but doubts linger

WIDELY publicised claims aboutdubious financing of Slovakia’s twobiggest political parties seemdestined to remain the subject ofconjecture after official decisionsnot to pursue court action. After aprosecutor discontinued a criminalinquiry into the financing of theopposition Smer party in earlyDecember, at the beginning of theyear Special Prosecutor Ján Šantahalted a separate high-profile in-vestigation into a case involving thefinancing of the ruling SlovakDemocratic and Christian Union

(SDKÚ). Transparency and politicalethics watchdogs expressed doubtsabout whether the prosecutors’moves will dispel suspicions arisingfrom the cases.

While Smer boss Robert Ficocalled the allegations of murkyfinancing of his own party a mediabubble and a non-existent case, in

response to the prosecutor’s de-cision on SDKÚ financing Smersaid it respects the decision but“reserves its own opinion” on thematter. SDKÚ has consistentlysaid that it never launderedmoney and that Fico should first ofall clean up his own party.

Nevertheless, the party-finan-cing allegations have strengthenedcalls for stricter control of howpolitical parties in Slovakia arefinanced.

See DROPPED pg 2

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

Private rail firm comes to Slovakia

THOUGH the effects are still to ma-terialise, Slovakia has taken thefirst step on the path to liberalisingits subsidised passenger rail trans-port market. The first state-subsid-ised private train will start runningin March 2012 and will widen thechoices of those travelling betweenBratislava and Komárno.

Transport Minister Ján Figeľsaid he expects the new privateservice to save Slovakia approxim-ately 16 percent of the per-kilo-

metre costs of the operated line andis counting on service on the line toimprove. The company has pledgedto hire Slovak staff, which in thecontext of recently announced lay-offs in the rail sector brings somehope for the newly unemployed.

The ministry signed a nine-year contract with RegioJet, asubsidiary of the Czech firm Stu-dent Agency, which also operatesbus lines, on December 27, 2010.

The ministry said that eventhough it is the first, RegioJetwill probably not be the lastprivate rail operator to enter theSlovak market.

Slovakia’s rail passenger trans-porter, Železničná Spoločnosť Slov-

ensko (ZSSK), says it will try to luremore passengers onto its existinglines, while scrapping those whichare least effective. ZSSK is guaran-teed state support to provide publictransport for the next 10 years.

The new competitor

RegioJet trains will run everyhour, or every 30 minutes duringrush hours, and the present jour-ney time of around one hourbetween Bratislava and DunajskáStreda – which is about half-way toKomárno – should be cut to 43minutes.

See TRAIN pg 4

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

Dioxinscare

subsides

EGGS and poultry from Germany are ap-pearing on the shelves of Slovak super-markets once again after tests conductedby Slovak authorities determined thatthere is no threat of dioxin contaminationin any of the food products imported to theSlovak market from Germany since earlyJanuary. The potential health threat,however, will impose some additionalburdens on importers who must now at-test that their products are dioxin-free.

German authorities said on January 11that dioxin, a highly toxic chemical, hadbeen discovered in pork as well as poultryproducts, widening a public health alertthat had started on January 3.

See EGGS pg 4

BY MICHAELA TERENZANISpectator staff

Vol. 17, No. 2 Monday, January 17, 2011 - Sunday, January 23, 2011

FOCUSof this issue

On sale nowOn sale now FOCUSof this issue

SLOVAK BRAND NAMES IN THE WORLD

Claims fly over botched police sting

TWO weeks after a Czechtruck driver with a full load ofa chemical substance thatcan be used to produce heroinwas detained in Turkey aftera bungled international stingoperation initiated by theSlovak police, the Turkishgovernment has issued itsfirst statement – saying Slov-ak police had made mistakesduring the operation.

“Unfortunately, severalmistakes and deficiencies oc-curred in the conduct of theSlovak security forces,” theTurkish embassy wrote in astatement reported byMarkíza TV.

The embassy statementalso noted that the Turkishgovernment was concerned

about some of the publicstatements Slovak authorit-ies have made concerningthe incident.

The Slovak Interior Min-istry is maintaining its posi-tion that the police actionfailed because the Turkishpolice stopped communicat-ing with Slovak authoritiesand stated there are no spe-cific complaints in theembassy’s statement.

Interior Ministry spokes-person Gábor Grendel toldthe Sme daily that the min-istry will continue a dialoguewith the Turkish authorities,but at the moment considersthe actions taken by Turkishpolice during the sting opera-tion as inexplicable.

Mafia seeks names of new witnesses

THE BRATISLAVA mafia isseeking to learn the namesof new witnesses who haveapparently testified aboutthe murder of student DanielTupý in 2005. TV Markízareported on January 9 thatmoney is being offered forthe names of the witnesses.The purported rewardsfrom the underworld cameafter Slovakia’s InteriorMinistry announced thatnew testimony had beengiven last year in themurder investigation.

Markíza cited two inde-pendent sources saying thatthe underworld in Bratislavais offering €200,000 for thenames of four people whospoke to police in 2010 andwho apparently providednew facts.

Tupý was stabbed todeath when he and a group offriends were attacked on theevening of November 4, 2005on the Tyršovo embankment

in Bratislava. At first it wasthought that the group wasattacked by a gang of skin-heads but the focus laterswitched to members of thecriminal underworld as theattackers. The murder hasprovoked a strong public re-action.

Interior Minister DanielLipšic stated that he truststhe police officers investigat-ing the case and is certainthey cannot be bought forany price.

But the father of the vic-tim, Daniel Tupý Sr, statedthat he regards it as danger-ous that the police are notworking on the case underthe highest level of secrecy,the SITA newswire wrote.

Former interior ministerRobert Kaliňák said that re-ports that the mafia is offer-ing money for the names ofthe new witnesses provesthat the police are on theright track.

Hungary silent over wannabe citizens

HUNGARY has refused to sayhow many Slovak citizenshave applied for Hungariancitizenship.

“Taking the law on pro-tection of personal informa-tion into consideration, theHungarian government doesnot provide information orstatistics about the personswho applied for Hungariancitizenship,” Ákos LukasBencze of the HungarianMinistry for Public Adminis-tration and Justice told theSITA newswire.

The statistics from Serbiaand Romania are known andin each country thousands ofpeople have requested Hun-garian citizenship after thegovernment of Viktor Orbánmade it easier for ethnicHungarians living outsidethe country to apply for cit-izenship. According to theBalkan Insight news portal,the Hungarian government

received 8,000 citizenshipapplications from the Serbi-an autonomous region of Vo-jvodina, which is home tomany ethnic Hungarians liv-ing in that country.

Hungary also receivedapplications from personsliving in Slovakia andUkraine but their exactnumber is not known. SITAwrote that at this time itdoes not appear that thereare a significant number ofapplications from Slovakia.

The citizenship law ad-opted by the Hungarian Par-liament in May 2010 permitsethnic Hungarians livingoutside Hungary to apply forcitizenship if they provetheir Hungarian origin, canspeak the Hungarian lan-guage, and pose no threat tothe general public or nation-al security.

Compiled by Spectator staff

Financing of politicalparties to be overhauled

PARTY financing in Slovakiahas long been a dark room in-to which the public has beenallowed only a very limited,and poorly illuminated, view.Political ethics watchdogshave been calling for years formore transparency and moreeffective control of the finan-cing of political parties.

Now it seems that in re-

sponse to nagging suspicionsabout party financing thathave corroded the credibilityof politicians, the coalitiongovernment is consideringchanging some of the rulespertaining to party financingin Slovakia.

The Coalition Council –comprising the Slovak Demo-cratic and Christian Union(SDKÚ), the Christian Demo-cratic Movement (KDH),Freedom and Solidarity (SaS)and Most-Híd – on January 11discussed some changes tolaws that might affect how

money flows to party coffersfrom the state budget. PrimeMinister Iveta Radičová toldthe public-service broad-caster Slovak Radio that a lawregulating party financingmight be discussed in par-liament during the first orsecond quarter of this year.

But political ethics andtransparency watchdogsalready have a clear idea ofwhat would improve party-financing practices in Slov-akia.

“We have been warningfor years that controls on

party financing in Slovakia donot work at all and that it isnecessary to transfer thisfunction to an independentbody,” Zuzana Wienk of theFair-Play Alliance told TheSlovak Spectator.

“This body, however,should have well-tuned au-thorities – for example the pos-sibility of audits, and close co-operation with criminal pro-secution bodies – along withappropriate staff, finances andexperts,” Wienk said.

See LAW pg 9

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

DROPPED: Watchdogs cry foulContinued from pg 1

Prime Minister IvetaRadičová, a member of SDKÚ,has promised that relevant le-gislation will be ready for dis-cussion by parliament as earlyas this year. The watchdogs saythat supervision of party fin-ancing should be transferred toan independent body, whilethe law regulating politicalparties should be made stricter.

SDKÚ backs its claims,says prosecutor

Special Prosecutor Šantahalted the criminal inquiry in-to the SDKÚ case on thegrounds that, according tohim, the party led by MikulášDzurinda had backed up itsclaims that it received and re-paid a loan in a normal mannerwhile submitting relevant ac-counting documents and an-nual reports. Šanta also saidthat the accounting transfershad been checked by auditors.

“This is suggested by aprinted file of approximately1,500 pages, consisting mainlyof written evidence and testi-monies of all the peopleinvolved,” Šanta said in astatement provided to the SITAnewswire.

Šanta said that it had notbeen substantiated that SDKÚrepresentatives during aprivatisation process had ac-quired some provisions whichcould have been the means tolegalise some illegal activitiesin the way Fico has suggested.

Fico dug up the long-dormant SDKÚ financing caseat the beginning of 2010 andsuggested that the SDKÚ wasinvolved in what the Smer bosscalled money laundering, ficti-tious firms and tax-haven bankaccounts. Fico asserted that theSDKÚ channelled moneythrough foreign accounts su-pervised by its officials.

Then, shortly before the2010 parliamentary election,the Sme daily received and pub-lished an audio recording fea-turing a voice resembling thatof Fico. The conversation on the

recording implied that Smermight have accepted campaigncontributions from sponsorsthat were not properly recordedin the party’s financial ac-counts. The investigation intothe Smer financing was haltedby Special Prosecutor DušanKováčik last year.

But Gabriel Šípoš, cirectorof Transparency InternationalSlovensko, told The SlovakSpectator that the prosecutors’conclusions are unconvincingand said his organisation sus-pects that their investigationswere not conducted independ-ently of politicians.

Zuzana Wienk, head of thepolitical ethics watchdog Fair-Play Alliance, told The SlovakSpectator that “in the longterm there is no will on thepart of the criminal prosecu-tion bodies to honestly pro-secute cases pertaining toparty financing; no one carriesresponsibility for the violationof the rules, which is thegreatest blow to this society.”

The background

Fico re-opened the SDKÚfinancing issue after a four-and-a-half-year lacuna. It in-volved a so-far unexplainedtransaction which helped theparty clear its then-Sk22 mil-lion (approximately €730,000,at current exchange rates) debtand at the same time allowed itto sell its Medená Street prop-erty for Sk27 million (approx-imately €896,000, at currentexchange rates). Fico initially

suggested that unidentifiedowners of Swiss bank accountsand shell firms in tax havenswere involved in the deal.Then, on January 27, 2010, Ficoclaimed that the SDKÚ is con-trolled by shell companiesbased in London, with CEOs op-erating in tax havens and hold-ing accounts in Swiss banks.Fico also claimed that onlySk300 million of the Sk425-mil-lion purchase price of the HotelForum (now the Crowne Plazahotel) had reached thegovernment’s account.

Yet, according to Šanta, hisinvestigation has not revealedany irregularities during thesale of the Hotel Forum in Brat-islava. He said that the pur-chaser paid the whole sum forthe hotel, €14.11 million – a priceset based on expert opinion – ininstalments, and that the wholepayment had been accountedfor in a regular manner.

Nevertheless, the ruckusaround the financing resultedin Dzurinda stepping down asSDKÚ election leader, allow-ing Radičová to climb to thetop of the party’s candidate listand subsequently becomeprime minister.

Dzurinda said last yearthat his party had already paidthe price twice for un-answered questions pertain-ing to his party’s financingbetween 2000 and 2004: oncein 2002, and again in 2006, inthose parliamentary elec-tions. Since then, the party’sfinancing has been completelytransparent, he said.

Responding on January 5,2011 to the prosecutor’s de-cision, Dzurinda told public-service Radio and Televisionof Slovakia: “long-term andvery detailed investigationhas proved what it was pos-sible to prove: simply thetruth, which is that our fin-ancing is and has been legal.”

Regarding the suspicionsinvolving Smer, the mainevidence submitted for in-vestigation was an audio re-cording published by Smeshortly before the election inJune 2010, in which a voiceresembling that of Fico talksabout having secured fund-ing for the party from undis-closed sponsors, bypassing itsofficial accounts.

Fico now claims that therewas never any scandal in thecase of his party.

“It is a bubble; a bubblebrought by the Sme daily twodays before the parliamentaryelection to damage us,” Ficosaid, as quoted by the SITAnewswire, adding that Smer’saccounting has been through all“possible controls that exist”.

He also said that no suspi-cious transactions have everbeen found in Smer’s finan-cing because “only a naive foolcan think that someone takesSk100 million and thus poursit into the financing of a party.It is simply not possible”.

Fico said that Smer’s fin-ancing comes entirely fromthe state budget, noting thatbased on the results of the2010 election in which itemerged as the highest vote-getter, Smer has receivedfunds sufficient to completelycover the needs of the partyplus its campaign expenses.

Sme reported that SpecialProsecutor Kováčik droppedthe criminal inquiry into Smerfinancing on the grounds thatboth Robert Fico and FedorFlašík, whose voice also al-legedly appears on the record-ing, stated that the voices onthe tape were not theirs.

Michaela Terenzanicontributed to this report.

2 NEWSJanuary 17 – January 23, 2011

Mikuláš Dzurinda Photo: Sme - Vladimír Šimíček

Progress in some areas,lack of action in others

WHEN the centre-right coali-tion of four parties, two ofwhich came to the govern-ment as political greenhorns,started ruling Slovakia sixmonths ago, political observ-ers predicted that turbulentdebates and multiple com-promises would be the mosttelling characteristics of thenew government. The pasthalf-year has proved thoseanalysts right, as many issuesthat were expected to behandled quickly remain onthe political agenda just asthey were when Robert Ficoleft the prime minister’schair. But the past six monthshave also provided examplesthat well-crafted comprom-ises can be an effective gov-erning style.

The leitmotif of the cur-rent government of PrimeMinister Iveta Radičová is itswell-publicised focus onpolicies to root out corruptionand to increase governmenttransparency. Both wereprominent points in the pro-gramme statement issued bythe four parties last summer.

Anti-corruption stepslaunched

The most visible anti-cor-ruption measure passed byparliament requires that allinstitutions covered underSlovakia’s Freedom of Inform-ation Act (ministries, agenciesand public organisations,municipal councils, regionalgovernments, and others)must publish on the internetall contracts that they con-summate, beginning January1, 2011. Observers have de-scribed this step and the corol-lary revision to the Civil Code,approved by parliament onDecember 9, as a courageousand revolutionary piece of le-gislation which will offer thepublic more control over theexpenditure of governmentfunds and will potentiallyprevent irregular contractsfrom being negotiated orsigned by state institutions.

“Even the Czechs are dis-cussing whether they shouldpass such a system of publish-ing contracts like the one wehave introduced,” Radičovásaid in an interview with theSme daily evaluating her firstsix months in power.

The government claimsthat it is also ready to fight

against other forms of corrup-tion across society in 2011.Political analyst MiroslavKusý said such a trend hasbeen visible at ministries andviews it positively.

“There are really manyremarkable little things thathaven’t shaken society buthave blown winds of changeinto the individual depart-ments [of government],” Kusýtold The Slovak Spectator,specifically mentioning thework of the defence ministeras an example. Defence Minis-

ter Ľubomír Galko has estab-lished a special ‘anti-corrup-tion hotline’ at 0960 960 960,which anyone can call andleave a message directly forthe minister about possiblecorruption or failures in per-sonnel management. Only theminister has access to the re-corded messages and he hassaid that callers are guaran-teed anonymity.

Some boxes ticked

Radičová assumed thepost of prime minister duringa turbulent time when the EUfinancial bailout of Greece wasin the works and Slovakia’sparticipation in the EuropeanFinancial Stability Facility(EFSF) needed swift govern-ment action. The nationaleconomy as well, still partiallysuffering from the impacts ofthe global financial crisis, wasin need of state attention.

Slovakia refused to parti-cipate in the loan to Greece,stating that irresponsible be-haviour by a sovereign stateshould not be endorsed, as well

as setting forth other objec-tions. By making such a state-ment, the Slovak governmentobliged itself to set a strongerpath of fiscal austerity. As partof the government’s austerityplan, salaries for the highestpublic officials have been cutand a salary freeze was intro-duced for other positions inthe state government. Anothernotable legislative step tobring more revenue to thestate was to increase VAT byone percentage point to 20 per-cent at the beginning of 2011, arather unpopular action withthe public.

Other changes made bythe government during itsfirst six months include therestoration of Slovakia’s En-vironment Ministry, whichhad been abolished by thegovernment of Robert Ficoand a revamp of the office ofthe deputy prime minister fornational minorities and hu-man rights, which was givenstronger powers. Most re-cently, the government andparliament approved the Cul-ture Ministry’s proposal tomerge Slovakia's public-ser-vice radio and televisionbroadcasters into one com-pany. Radio and TelevisionSlovakia, RTVS, began as anew joint institution onJanuary 1 and a call for applic-ants for the RTVS director’sposition was announced onJanuary 10.

“Finally the polemical tonehas disappeared, the atmo-sphere in which the politicalleaders of Smer and the SDKÚhad been throwing dirt at eachother,” Kusý also stated whenasked by The Slovak Spectatorabout the important achieve-ments of the past six months.“That is positive. Both leadersperhaps came to the conclu-sion that it was counterpro-ductive and they seem to havestarted a new line, though notcooperation since Fico is andalways will be a hard oppon-ent; but they exchanged thepersonal tone for a matter-of-fact style.”

Parliament passed morethan 100 laws in the past sixmonths though some of them,such as the law on judges andthe amended State LanguageAct, were vetoed by the SlovakPresident Ivan Gašparovič andare now awaiting another par-liamentary vote.

Still pending

Nevertheless, many is-sues that the new govern-ment was expected to actquickly upon remain in thesame status as when the Fico-led government departedafter the June 12 parliament-ary election.

One such issue is that ofimmunity from criminal pro-secution for MPs and judgeswhich Radičová had presentedto parliament as one of herfirst legislative initiatives.Since stripping MPs of theirimmunity from criminal pro-secution requires a constitu-tional majority (90 of 150votes) and the coalition hasonly 79 MPs it was not success-ful in pushing the measurethrough parliament. But thegovernment is still expected toabolish MPs’ immunity fornon-criminal offences such asmisdemeanours or traffic viol-ations because that change re-quires only a simple majority.

Other measures includedin the coalition’s programmestatement that have not yetbeen acted upon by the gov-ernment or parliament in-clude cancelling the prohibi-tion on private health in-surers making a profit, abol-ishing the National PropertyFund (FNM) – Slovakia’sprivatisation agency and itsprimary holder of state as-sets – and amending thecountry’s Press Code, whichincludes several controver-sial provisions such as politi-cians’ right to reply to state-ments about them in themedia, passed by the previ-ous government.

See SIX pg 9

BY MICHAELATERENZANISpectator staff

The Radičová-led government at the start of its term. Photo: Sme - Vladimír Šimíček

SUITS: 702 countedContinued from pg 1

The plenum agreed thatHarabin should not appealagainst the verdicts in caseswhere the lowest-instancecourt had ruled in favour ofjudges who felt discrimin-ated against, but rather seekagreement with them in or-der not to increase thecourt’s outlay.

“The Supreme Courtpresident should try to ac-commodate the suit throughagreement with the Su-preme Court judges withoutincreasing the court’s outlayand without unnecessarydelays,” Supreme Courtspokesperson Michal Jurčiwrote in a statementprovided to The Slovak Spec-tator. The plenum also re-commended that Harabininitiate the creation of aworking group composed ofMPs from the parliamentaryconstitutional affairs com-mittee, the Judicial Counciland the Supreme Court,which would be assigned toresolve the situationthrough legislation.

Harabin criticised

Critics of Harabin, in-cluding the Justice Min-istry, have rejected the con-clusions of the plenum.

“Agreement or concili-ation is out of question,”Peter Bubla, spokespersonof the Justice Ministry,wrote in response to theplenum’s decision. He poin-ted out that several mem-bers of the Supreme Court’splenum had themselvesfiled anti-discriminationclaims and were thereforepotentially biased.

According to the min-istry, the plenum’s sessionwas not held in line withthe law.

“The statement of theplenum negates the sub-stance of the Supreme Courtas the highest judiciary in-stance, because it is astatement regarding ongo-ing lawsuits that can onlybecome a subject of processat the Supreme Court,”Bubla wrote.

Harabin’s conductprompted reactions fromsome fellow Supreme Courtjudges. Several judges whoare also members of the ini-tiative For Open Justice leftthe plenary session, sayingthat it was not lawful andthat the Supreme Courtpresident and plenum hadexceeded their authority.

“The independence ofthe judiciary as an interna-tionally recognised prin-ciple doesn’t allow any statebody, apart from the actingcourt and the participants inthe process, to take any mo-tivated official stance to-wards the subject matter,because it would necessarilybe understood as an unac-ceptable interference in theindependence of the court,”the judges wrote in a state-ment provided to The Slovak

Spectator by the initiative’sspokesperson, KatarínaJavorčíková.

Hundreds of claimants

Hundreds of judges havefiled wage discriminationlawsuits over the past fouryears, most of them follow-ing a Constitutional Courtruling in May 2009 whichfound that the Special Courthad not been established inaccordance with thecountry’s constitution,partly on the grounds thatthe position of judges in dif-ferent courts was unequal.

The lawsuits stirred thealready muddy waters of theSlovak judiciary in February2010, when the first verdictin a wage-discriminationlawsuit, finding for a TrenčínRegional Court judge andawarding him €90,000 indamages, was handed downby another judge who washerself the plaintiff in a sim-ilar complaint. The JusticeMinistry did not react at thattime. The then-justice min-ister, Viera Petríková, herselfhad a wage-discriminationlawsuit pending which shehad filed while previouslyworking as a judge.

The current Justice Min-ister, Lucia Žitňanská, hascriticised the wage-discrim-ination lawsuits.

“The Justice Ministryunder my leadership is act-ing in this matter as a re-sponsible legal representat-ive of its client, that is theSlovak Republic and itscitizens,” Žitňanská said,adding that the ministry isdetermined to use all pos-sible means to defend the in-terests of the state.

The new leadership ofthe ministry has been collat-ing information about thewage-discrimination law-suits. According to Bubla, atleast 702 judges have filedsuch a lawsuit according tothe latest information, withtotal damages soughtamounting to more than €70million. The ministry is a de-fendant in about 200 of thelawsuits; the rest have beenfiled against other institu-tions such as the Slovak par-liament or individual courts,such as the Supreme Court.

The Justice Ministry re-gards the lawsuits as unjusti-fied and has asked the courtsto dismiss them and to dis-qualify those judges whohave filed similar lawsuitsfrom ruling on any of thecases, Bubla wrote. The min-istry has already filed a con-stitutional complaint to theConstitutional Court.

For Open Justice has notissued a statement on thewage-discrimination law-suits, as they are ongoing andmany of the initiative’smembers could be required torule on the cases. However,several judges from the initi-ative, whose members in-clude critics of Harabin, havealso filed wage discrimina-tion lawsuits.

3January 17 – January 23, 2011NEWS

Iveta Radičová’sgovernment

marks six monthsin office

There are many little

things that have blown

winds of change into

individual departments.

Miroslav Kusý

New power plant goes online

ENERGY company E.ONlaunched electricity produc-tion at a newly built com-bined-cycle power plant nearthe village of Malženice, inTrnava Region, on January 10.

The facility, which has agenerating capacity of 430MW, is expected to producemore than 3 billion kWh ofelectricity per year while con-suming approximately 500million cubic metres of natur-al gas as fuel. The facility willprovide 30 permanent jobs.

Construction of the plantbegan in October 2008 andtook 26 months to complete,

in accordance with the ori-ginal plan. Total investmentwas about €400 million, theTASR newswire reported.

“Construction of thecombined-cycle power plantin Malženice willstrengthen the position ofE.ON in the generation ofelectric power in Slovakia,”said Konrad Kreuzer, thechairman of E.ON Slovakia’sboard of directors.

“Thanks to top techno-logy, we supply electricity tothe grid in a way that is notonly effective, but also en-vironmentally friendly.”

Industry surpasses pre-crisis highs

THE GROWTH rate inSlovakia’s industrial outputaccelerated in Novemberand, according to the latestfigures from the StatisticsOffice, industrial output inthe country in the eleventhmonth was 17.3 percenthigher than a year earlierand 3.9 percent higher thanin October.

For the period January toNovember 2010 the index ofindustrial production rose by18.8 percent year-on-year,with a 20.1-percent surge inindustrial manufacturing, a14.8-percent jump in distri-bution of electricity, gas,steam and cool air and a0.8-percent rise in miningand extraction of raw miner-al materials.

“Industrial productionhas overtaken the pre-crisismaximums and at the mo-ment it is about 5 percenthigher than in the first halfof 2008,” Mária Valachyová,an analyst with SlovenskáSporiteľňa, said, as quoted by

the TASR newswire. She ad-ded that Slovakia's industrialsector depends mainly onforeign demand, mostlyfrom Germany.

Dávid Dereník, an ana-lyst with the UniCredit BankSlovakia, stated that Ger-man industrial and financialindicators are fulfilling theoptimistic expectations ofboth German and Slovakfactory owners.

“The expected signific-ant slowdown in industry atthe turn of the years will beless visible in the year-on-year comparison, thanks tothe growing basis from lastyear,” Dereník said, asquoted by TASR. “In themonth-on-month compar-ison industrial productionwill probably keep its grow-ing numbers.”

Valachyová added thatshe expects Slovakia’s indus-trial production to keep mov-ing higher in 2011 based onthe ongoing revival of otherEuropean economies.

Unions seek referendum to cut hours

TRADE unions in Slovakialaunched a public petition onJanuary 11 calling for a refer-endum regarding changes inthe country’s Labour Code.The unions are proposing acut in weekly working hoursfrom 40 to 35 without a loss ofearnings and a reduction ofpermitted annual overtimework from 150 to 80 hours peryear while retaining all otherprovisions of the Labour Codein their present form, theSITA newswire reported.

The Slovak presidentmust call a referendum if atleast 350,000 citizens sign apetition requesting one. Thetrade unions stated thatthey plan to collect signa-tures on their petition untilmid March.

The government has ini-tiated discussion aboutchanges in the country’s La-bour Code but the trade uni-ons have refused to take partin the tripartite meetings,SITA reported.

Prime Minister IvetaRadičová said she does notsupport reducing the work-ing week from 40 hours to35, arguing that it would beeconomically unsustain-able. She said there was astrong probability that ashorter working weekwould automatically resultin lower incomes.

“We will not take thisrisk,” Radičová said, asquoted by SITA.

The largest oppositionparty, Smer, stated it mightsupport the trade unionists’attempt to shorten thework week.

“If the referendum isabout improving the posi-tion of employees, we willsupport it,” said ErikTomáš, the party’s spokes-person, as quoted by theSme daily.

Compiled by Spectator staff

from press reports

TRAIN: A faster trip to Dunajská StredaContinued from pg 1

The new trains should befully air-conditioned and Re-gioJet says it is consideringselling a joint ticket to coverinter-city train travel as wellas local public transportationin Bratislava.

“Slovakia has createdconditions for opening of themarket for railway transportand has had courage that, forexample, regions in theCzech Republic have nothad,” Aleš Ondrůj, StudentAgency’s spokesman, toldThe Slovak Spectator.

Explaining the company’schoice of route, Ondrůj saysthat Bratislava-DunajskáStreda-Komárno is a com-muter line within the Bratis-lava agglomeration wherethere is a relatively densetransportation network. Also,it is the only line around Brat-islava which is not electrified.According to Ondrůj thismeans new train-sets can beintroduced more quickly ow-ing to the faster operationalapproval process for dieseltrains.

He also suggested that thisline in particular offers thebest potential for gaining newcustomers who are currentlycommuting, but not by train.The company aspires to lurepassengers through what itcalls higher-quality services.

The company plans toenter the Slovak market at its

own risk later this year whenit will begin operating an un-subsidised Intercity (IC) Re-gioJet service on the Žilina-Čadca-Ostravsko-Prague line,said Ondrůj.

The arrival of RegioJet inSlovakia will create new jobopportunities for Slovakssince RegioJet will be hiringon-board service personneland train drivers and oper-ators.

The Bratislava-Komárnoline could create about 100jobs. The IC line will alsobring about 100 jobs, withpositions open to both Czechand Slovak citizens, accord-ing to Ondrůj.

RegioJet is also enteringnegotiations with ZSSK.

“We will be cooperating inpassing on passengers, whenpassengers of our lines aretransferring to ZSSK trainsand vice versa,” Ondrůj said,adding that this cooperationwould apply to both the re-gional and the IC line.

ZSSK says it will adjust tothe new environment that thearrival of RegioJet creates.

ZSSK spokesman Alexan-der Buzinkay told The SlovakSpectator that, based on the10-year agreement on trans-port services in the public in-terest which the companysigned last December with

Transport Ministry, transportservices can drop by a max-imum of 35 percent over thewhole decade and by at most10 percent year-on-year.

According to Buzinkay,the plan for this year as-sumes a 5-percent drop to30.3 million train-kilometreswhich ZSSK trains currentlyrun annually.

‘It also means the cancel-lation of some ineffectivelines, optimisation of jobs andalso the need to save €26million,” Buzinkay said.

As to what impact the ar-rival of RegioJet might haveon his company, Buzinkaysaid that the transfer oftransport services within lib-eralisation to other trans-porters will mean that ZSSKhas to adjust to the situationso that the financial man-agement of the company isbalanced and the lines whichthe company receives publicfunds to operate are run ef-fectively. The company alsoaspires to compete success-fully and lure more peopleonto ZSSK trains, which cur-rently enjoy only 28-percentaverage occupancy.

“It is welcome competi-tion which will stir the stillwaters of Slovakia’s passen-ger rail transport [market],”Buzinkay told The SlovakSpectator, adding that ZSSKintends to cooperate withRegioJet, for example inticket sales.

RegioJet's trains will bring new colour to the rails. Photo: RegioJet

EGGS: Temporary ban on imports liftedContinued from pg 1

After news about the potential diox-in threat reached Slovakia the Agricul-ture Ministry on January 5 ordered theState Veterinary and Food Administra-tion to undertake immediate tests in re-tail stores and wholesale repositoriesand temporarily banned the sale of eggsand poultry imported from Germanyuntil the results of Slovak laboratorytests were known.

The ministry reported on January 10that during its inspection it found over356,000 eggs imported from Germany byBayern-Ei GmbH on January 3 inRužomberok in north central Slovakia.Samples were tested for dioxin and theAgriculture Ministry announced onJanuary 12 that the tests were negativeand immediately lifted the ban on Ger-man eggs.

Importers, however, are obliged todeclare that the goods they import donot come from the area of Germanywhere the dioxin feed-contaminationoccurred and that the importedproducts are dioxin-free.

All regional offices of the State Veter-inary and Food Administration in Slov-akia were ordered to regularly monitorall egg warehouses and all final destina-tions for eggs, egg products, fresh poultryand products made from poultry as wellas all fresh pork and pork products. Retailstores are being monitored as well.

German authorities stated thatbased on its currently available inform-ation no contaminated products hadbeen exported to Slovakia, according toa statement on the website of the StateVeterinary and Food Administrationposted on January 4.

German eggs sold in December

According to the Agriculture Min-istry, more than a million eggs producedin Germany were imported and sold inSlovakia during December 2010. Also,more than 42,500 kilograms of freshpork was imported from Germany andsold between January 2 and January 6,2011.

“Minister [Zsolt] Simon therefore re-gards the temporary suspension of salesof poultry and eggs of German origin onthe territory of Slovakia as fully justi-fied, given the need to secure the protec-tion of consumers,” the ministry wrotein a media statement.

The ministry issued a new regula-tion on January 4 that requires import-ers to declare that their imported goodsare suitable for consumption and thattheir meat and eggs have not come fromcontaminated fodder.

Minister Simon also reiterated thatSlovakia will insist that importers markthe country of origin on the productsrather than only showing that they ori-ginated in the European Union.

The possibility that dioxin-contam-inated food products were being sold inthe Slovak market has compelled theministry to consider changing its foodproduct legislation. The ministrystated that it will prepare an amend-ment to Slovakia’s law on foodproducts which would introduce theduty for importers to declare the im-port date, place of origin, producer,content and the names of the pur-chasers of any imported food product.

The ministry noted that it is awarethat the amendment must be in accord-ance with the EU’s principle of freemovement of goods and said theamendment is expected to be presentedfor action during the first half of 2011.

Statements from retail chains

After news reports about the Germandioxin contamination, Slovak super-market chains stated to the media thatthey had not been selling meat or eggsproduced in Germany. Only the Billachain of supermarkets reported that ithad terminated the purchase of 450 eggsbecause the importer was unable to spe-cify the eggs’ country of origin, the Smedaily wrote.

The State Veterinary and Food Ad-ministration refused to specify whichstores had sold the million eggs impor-ted from Germany in December andsaid that it would consider publishingthat list only if dioxin was detected inits tests.

4 BUSINESSJanuary 17 – January 23, 2011

Eggs: safe to eat, for now. Photo: Reuters

The first six monthsPOWER is intoxicating andthis is why in genuinelydemocratic societies peoplehave to wield it while beingstared at by a whole army ofwatchdogs. Being in powerinvolves “enduring” all kindsof “hassles” such as evalu-ations, report cards and as-sessments.

Any new government isassessed by the media fromthe moment of its inception: itis panned for picking the in-experienced or for recyclingburned-out politicians whoseem to have been lingeringfor eternity. Then comes thesymbolic 100-day grace periodwhen the media gives the newgovernment time to acclimat-ise – although this does notmean that if the watchdog no-tices something it will barkmore quietly. If the govern-ment now thinks that thecommentaries and analysesdeconstructing its first 100days are the last checks for awhile, it is mistaken.

That the local media hasnow started looking at thefirst six months’ performanceof the government of IvetaRadičová might be attributedto the quiet post-Christmasperiod, but it is also becauseexpectations attached to thisgovernment have been quitehigh: being somewhat moretransparent and more re-sponsible than Robert Fico andhis coalition, which includedVladimír Mečiar and Ján Slota,is simply not enough.

By now, some of the polit-ical greenhorns have learnedto push the voting buttons inparliament at the right time,and have learned some pony-tricks to fake activity and in-volvement. Meanwhile thelong-established one-trickponies, such as Ján Slota of theSlovak National Party (SNS),have already proved that theywill remain monothematic foranother term, making verylittle contribution to publiclife other than occasional en-

tertainment for those wholinger at their mental level.

The government of theSlovak Democratic and Chris-tian Union (SDKÚ), ChristianDemocratic Movement (KDH),Freedom and Solidarity (SaS)and Most-Híd has set a com-

pletely different tone andbrought a different symbol-ism into the public discoursein comparison with its pre-decessor.

Cronyism and corruptionhave been defined as new en-emies – as opposed to journal-ists and the Hungarian minor-ity in Slovakia, whom theformer ruling parties oftendepicted, albeit indirectly, as agroup of frustrated outsiderswho still dreamed about therevision of Trianon. Yet thechange in the political orderdoes not mean that cronyismand corruption have been de-feated – or that they have evenlost a battle in the grand cru-sade of the new government.

All the cabinet has done isit to pick its weapons and draftsome strategy, although this

is already more than the pre-vious government managed todo in its term. This is partlybecause cronyism was noteven defined as a problem, butrather was wrapped into anexplanation of why it wouldbe wrong for people close tothe former ruling party,which according to the Smer’sdefinition constituted half ofthe nation, to be discrimin-ated against in tenders or stateorders. And loyalty, of course,has to be rewarded somehow.

One of the newgovernment’s weapons ofchoice is to oblige state insti-tutions to publish all con-tracts and invoices that in-volve state money.

Radičová, in an interviewwith the Sme daily, said “evenin the Czech Republic they aretalking about the need to ad-opt a system of publishingcontracts like the one we haveinstalled. Isn’t that a result?”

Predictably enough, out-side the transparency dis-course, the reality is that thepublic administration andmunicipalities have not wel-comed the decision with anyenthusiasm and are diligentlyworking out how to cover upthe cracks through whichlight may now filter into areasthey prefer dark.

Besides, the murky partyfinancing baggage that theSDKÚ has been loading onto itsparty carriage for many yearsand the not-very-convincingwrap-up of the investigationinto it, not to mention the con-voluted statements surround-ing it, will remain a thornwhich will continue to festerwhen it is touched. It appearsSDKÚ can neither remove norabsorb the thorn. Of course, allthe concurrent claims of aSmer financing scandal sug-gest that financing of partiesin Slovakia requires a seriousclean-up. If this governmentdoes not manage the task itcannot portray itself as a goodcustodian of the nation.

5January 17 – January 23, 2011OPINION

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

EDITORIAL

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

The Slovak Spectator is an independent newspaper published every Monday by The Rock, s.r.o. SSubscriptions: Inquiries should be made to The Slovak Spectator’s business office at (+421-2) 59 233 300. Printing: Petit Press a.s. Distribution: Interpress Slovakia s.r.o., Mediaprint-kapa s.r.o., Slovenská po‰ta a.s. Mail Distribution: ABOPRESS. EV 544/08. © 2010 The Rock, s.r.o. All rights reserved. Any reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited by law. The authors of articles publishedin this issue, represented by the publisher, reserve the right to give their approval for reproducing and public transmission of articles marked ©The Slovak Spectator, as well as for the public circulation of reproductions of these articles, in compliance with the 33rd article and 1st paragraph of the Copyright Law. Media monitoring is provided by Newton, IT, SMA and Slovakia Online with the approval of the publisher. Advertising material contained herein is the responsibility of the advertiser and is not a written or implied sponsorship, endorsement or investigation of such commercial enterprises or ventures by The Slovak Spectator or The Rock s.r.o. ISSN 1335-9843.Address: The Rock, s.r.o., Lazaretská 12, 811 08 Bratislava. IâO: 313 86 237.

JÁN PALLO - Publisher

EDITORIALBEATA BALOGOVÁ - Editor - In - Chief JAMES THOMSON - Assistant EditorDONALD SPATZ - Assistant EditorJANA LIPTÁKOVÁ - Staff Writer

MICHAELA TERENZANI - Staff WriterDOMINIKA UHRÍKOVÁ - Staff Writer

ZUZANA VILIKOVSKÁ - News Researcher

LAYOUT, WEB & IT TATIANA ŠTRAUCHOVÁ - Graphic Designer

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MARTINA ŠMATLÁKOVÁ - PR and Marketing ManagerMARTA FUKASOVÁ - Advertising AssistantDÁŠA REHÁKOVÁ - Circulation Manager

Transparentnosť

THAT transparency is not ex-actly a local concept is best il-lustrated by the borrowedterm Slovaks use to describeit – transparentnosť. But itsprinciples are slowly creep-ing into Slovak public life,and the new government, inparticular, is doing a lot tomake transparency feel moreat home, by demanding thatall public contracts be pub-lished online and through itsplans to put all court de-cisions on the web.

However, there are atleast two major obstacles tosolid progress.

The first is the scant en-thusiasm for openness with-in the political class. It isfashionable to supporttransparency, but when itcomes to actions, things getmore complicated. Whenlast week the Košice citycouncil voted on a plannedloan, it was without know-ing what the interest ratewould be. Mayor RichardRaši would not say. No mat-

ter, the loan passed, suppor-ted by left and right, leavingonly a few independentswondering how on earth youcan vote on something youhave no idea about. AndRaši’s lawyers are already“looking into” what parts ofthe final loan agreementthey will publish, althoughthe law tells them clearly topublish it all. Not to mentionthat the municipality doesnot even want to say whatits total debt is. And Košice is

hardly the only city wherethey are not crazy aboutfrankness. The rules abouthow much municipalitiesand state institutions canget away with are being re-defined now, and the coali-tion has to stay tough.

The other big problem isthe sorry state of the judi-ciary. No laws in the worldcan guarantee transparencyunless they are properly en-forced. As many as 700 out ofa total of 1,200 judges havefiled lawsuits demandingthat the state compensatethem for alleged discrimina-tion they say they sufferedbecause they had lowerwages than their colleaguesat the Special Court, set up todeal with most difficult casesof organised crime and cor-ruption. According to newdata from the Justice Min-istry, total claims surpass€70 million. The same judgesthat filed these charges haveno qualms about ruling onsimilar complaints filed bytheir colleagues, seeing noconflict of interest. Thatsomething is terribly wrongwith the Slovak courts istransparent enough.

“Persecuting someone for their opinion is an exampleof totalitarianism in the 21st century.”

Supreme Court President Štefan Harabin reacts to criticism of judges’wage-discrimination lawsuits by SDKÚ chairman Mikuláš Dzurinda

SLOVAK WORDOF THE WEEK

BY LUKÁŠ FILASpecial to the Spectator

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Protected traditional Slovakfood products

The EU tries to protect the reputation of regional foodsand eliminate unfair competition and the deception ofconsumers by non-genuine products, which may be ofinferior quality or of a different flavour, through theProtected Geographical Status (PGS) framework. Underthis scheme the names of regional foods receiveindications: Protected Designation of Origin (PDO),Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and TraditionalSpeciality Guaranteed (TSG). Slovakia has takenadvantage of this EU framework and has sought listingsfor its traditional products on the EU register.

Slovakia has a total of six products with the final‘registered’ status and eight products with ‘published’status. The latter means the country has applied forone of the three labels but that the application is stillsubject to appeals from other countries.

Slovak traditional products – registered

Skalický trdelník – A fine bakery product of hollowcylindrical shape originating from the town of Skalica.Trdelník was registered as Slovakia’s first product in 2007and holds PGI.Slovenská parenica – A steamed, lightly smoked cheesewound into two rolls connected in an ‘S’ shape. It has adelicate taste, the odour of sheep’s milk and a smokysmell. It is known for the characteristically pronouncedfibrous structure of the curd. It got its PGI in July 2008.Slovenská bryndza – A natural, white, mature,spreadable cheese in granular form, manufactured bymilling a lump of matured sheep’s cheese or by milling amixture of lump sheep’s cheese and lump cow’s cheese.It has a delicate odour and taste and has a pleasantly soursheep’s cheese taste that is slightly spicy and salty. Itcontains a broad range of naturally occurring micro-organisms. It received its PGI in July 2008.Slovenský oštiepok – A half-fat semi-hard cheese whichmay be steamed or unsteamed, and smoked orunsmoked. It is characterised by its special shape, that ofa large egg, pine cone or ellipsoid with decoration. Itreceived its PGI in September 2008.Ovčí salašnícky údený syr – One of two Slovak productsholding the TSG label. This cheese is produced from freshsheep’s milk, processed in shepherd’s huts, smoked andoften formed into specific shapes (hearts, cockerels orother animals, or hemispheres). It received its TSG statusin October 2010.Ovčí hrudkový syr - salašnícky – The second Slovakcheese with a TSG label. It is produced from fresh sheep’smilk and derives its characteristic taste as a result of thetraditional technology used during its fermentation, andfrom being shaped by hand into a lump. It received itsTSG label in November 2010.

Slovak traditional products – published

Tekovský salámový syr – A natural semi-hard, ripenedfull-fat cheese, smoked or unsmoked, in the shape of acylinder (PGI).Zázrivský korbáčik – A steamed cheese product, smokedor unsmoked, in the shape of a little whip (korbáčik inSlovak), originating from Zázrivá, a village in the Oravaregion (PGI).Oravský korbáčik – A steamed cheese product, smokedor unsmoked, in the shape of a little whip, originatingfrom the Orava region (PGI).Liptovská saláma / Liptovský salám – A meat productwith a delicate taste and an aroma imparted by the spicesused and the smoking process (TSG).Lovecký salám / Lovecká saláma – A long-life fermentedmeat product (TSG).Spišské párky – A wurst-like product, typically pinkish-red in colour owing to the paprika seasoning, which has aslightly piquant taste (TSG).Špekáčky / Špekačky – A plump wurst-like heat-processed meat product, golden-brown in colour (TSG).Bratislavský rožok / Pressburger Kipfel / Pozsonyikifli – A fine, crescent-shaped pastry with a poppy-seedor walnut filling and a glossy and marbled surface (TSG).

Source: Official Journal of the EU

Compiled by Spectator staff

Brand loyalty continuesto reign among Slovaks

SLOVAKS, in general, arebrand-oriented and their de-sire for branded products iseven stronger than consumersin other countries as manyhere still remember the dec-ades during which they couldnot buy many internationalbranded goods. Marketing ex-perts say the economic crisishas had some effect on the re-ceptiveness of Slovaks tobrands, strengthening theirtraditionally strong cravingfor the quality of certain brandnames but also making themmore price-sensitive.

“The crisis rather madestronger the relation of Slov-aks to traditional, establishedbrands,” Marian Timoracký,marketing expert and man-aging partner of United Con-

sultants, told The Slovak Spec-tator. “Like everywhere in theworld, people here are alsolooking for a certain guaranteeof quality and certainty. And‘good old' brands provide ex-actly such a guarantee.”

Dušan Pleško, the execut-ive officer of the Slovak Asso-ciation for TrademarkProducts (SZZV), shared thatopinion particularly about thesector of non-durable con-sumer goods.

“It is remarkable that thecrisis has almost not changedthe perception of brandednon-durable consumergoods,” Pleško told The SlovakSpectator.

In assessing Slovaks’ per-ceptions of branded consumergoods, Pleško said that sincethere are various goods in eachcategory, Slovaks can compareindividual products. And evenif some consumers choose an‘exceptional’ offer of a non-branded product, Pleško saidthey often discover that the ra-tio between the utility valueand the price of the product isbest for the branded productand that the guarantee of qual-ity and the care of the brandmanufacturer can be acceptedas a matter of course.

Ľubomír Drahovský, amarket analyst with the Ternomarket survey agency, poin-

ted out that the role of the finalretail price has been accentu-ated by the economic crisis.

“The crisis has had a largeinfluence over the perceptionof brands or the names of re-tail companies,” Drahovskýtold The Slovak Spectator.“The crisis has resulted inprice becoming the decisivefactor. The drop in the pur-chasing power of Slovakhouseholds and individualshas now brought about asituation in which price is thetop priority.”

According to Drahovský,this price-sensitivity, espe-cially in the food sector, makesSlovaks less loyal consumersof certain brands.

Nonetheless, Slovakbrand names such as Kofola,Vinea, Jar, Zlatý Bažant andHoralka remain popular andSlovaks have been buyingthese brands for dozens ofyears even though their pro-ducers have changed owner-ship and in some cases arenow foreign-owned. But mar-keting experts do not see nos-talgia alone as being behindthe continuing popularity ofthese Slovak brands.

See PRICE pg 8

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁSpectator staff

Slovaks now have a broader choice of brands. Photo: TASR

Still going strong after all these years

SLOVAKIA, since becoming part of theworld market, has been flooded withglobal brands and products originatingfrom every corner of the world. In spite ofthis there remains an impressive array oflocal brands, labels and products whichstill attract Slovak customers and whosepopularity has not faded. This is espe-cially visible in the food sector, in whichlocal brands continue to claim the loyaltyof consumers. But this would not be pos-sible without the money and effort inves-ted by their producers. The story of eachof these products is interesting and rep-resents part of the wider picture thatmakes up Slovakia.

A 30-percent-plus shareof the tea and coffee market

Poprad-based company BaliarneObchodu enjoys the position as the biggestlocal supplier of coffee and tea to the Slov-ak market. Its history dates back to 1955

and it is one of a few food firms in Slovakiawhich have remained in Slovak hands.

The traditional products of BaliarneObchodu are Popradská káva (Poprad cof-fee) and Pigi čaj (Pigi tea). The latter, whichhas been immortalised in the lyrics of aSlovak song, is something of a legend inthe industry: the company has been sup-plying it for more than 40 years. It was thefirst tea in bags to appear on Slovak storeshelves. The name Pigi is actually a‘Slovakised’ abbreviation of P.G., the Eng-lish initials for Pekoe Golden. According toJán Zeman, the marketing manager of thecompany, Slovaks fill more than 55,000cups each year with this popular black tea.

But the company is not only about Pigičaj and Popradská káva, which dates backto the 1990s, as the company has extendedits product portfolio with Mistral teas. Intotal, Baliarne Obchodu sells about 500tons, or 12.5 million packages, of tea eachyear, including the Pigi brand.

“Pigi is one of the food legends,” ViliamMatušek, the marketing director at Bali-arne Obchodu, told The Slovak Spectator.“It is something like Horalka [traditionalwafers]; something that we have notspoiled but rather enhanced.”

According to Matušek, BaliarneObchodu is one of two or three old foodproducing companies which have re-mained in Slovak hands and, instead ofdisappearing or being taken over, have de-

veloped dynamically. He believes that it isbecause of the ability and skills of thecompany’s management that during thisperiod of globalisation a local company hasretained such a strong position and thatpeople still have a product from a Slovakcompany whose quality successfully com-petes with foreign brands.

With regards to it sales, BaliarneObchodu has maintained market sharesexceeding 30 percent for both commodit-ies, coffee and tea, according to Matušek.

Matušek sees further growth potentialin Slovakia. The company has grown signi-ficantly over the last two or three years. Itchanged its assortment and became moreinvolved in development, something thathas already been positively mirrored in thecompany’s results. Its goal is to keep itsdominant position in the coffee as well asthe tea segment, and is planning to in-crease its market shares further.

In foreign markets Matušek sees achance to succeed with its Mistral tea la-bel. Under this brand the company offersa ranking of mixtures which cannot befound on the markets of neighbouringcountries. With regards to the future,the company want to stick to its corebusiness, coffee and tea, but it has anumber of new ideas and has preparedmany new products.

See BRANDS pg 8

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁSpectator staff

6

BUSINESS FOCUS

JAPAN AND

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Next issue:

SLOVAK BRAND NAMESJanuary 17 – January 23, 2011

But consumerspinched by the

crisis areincreasingly

price-sensitive

Some Slovak companiesand brands are thriving

Slovak design firmgarners top awards

Eset reshuffles itsmanagement

Slovak design firmgarners top awards

IT IS a truism confirmed bythe market: the success of aproduct depends greatly onhow it is packaged and wheth-er customers perceive it as at-tractive. After the grey years ofcommunism, during whichpackaging was typically plainand uninteresting, Slovak de-signers can now create inter-esting and eye-catchingdesigns. And collect awardsfor them. One of them is Per-gamen, a small design studiofrom the western Slovak townof Trnava, which has garnerednational as well as interna-tional awards for its design fora new bottle and logotype forTatratea, a strong Slovak spir-it. The design for the bottle,which resembles a traditionalthermal flask, and its distinct-ive ‘T’ logo, created from ele-ments of folk artwork, in Maywon Pergamen the ZlatýKlinec 2010 national creativeadvertising competitionaward in the category of pack-aging design; later in 2010 italso picked up a gold Pent-award and Reddot Designaward.

The Slovak Spectatorspoke to Juraj Demovič, one ofdesigners and owners of Per-gamen, about the work on thewinning design as well as theprocess of creation in general.

The Slovak Spectator (TSS):Do you regularly enter yourdesigns in competitions?

Juraj Demovič (JD): Relat-ively rarely. We did not entermany in the past and it was ac-tually by agreement with theclient that we entered thisdesign in several contests. Itturned out that we succeededin almost all of them. Amongthe awards, we appreciatemost the Pentaward and Red-dot Design award becausethese are prestigious interna-tional contests where a lot ofvery good works meet.

TSS: Could you describe theprocess of creating the newbottle and logotype forTatratea?

JD: Its producer, Karloff, adistillery from eastern Slov-akia, addressed our designstudio first with a small as-signment to facelift the labelof its leading product,Tatranský čaj, a strong tea-based liquor with herbs. Atthat time the idea was only to

update the label, which wasalready known and recognisedamong buyers. Right at thebeginning the initial T oc-curred in our sketches, but itdid not fit into the original la-bel. As the client liked it andsaw potential in the newdesign the work continued ontwo tracks. We prepared anupdate of the original pack-aging and simultaneouslyworked on a completely newbottle and logotype. With re-gards to the bottle, we wantedto create a distinctive and pro-portionally balanced bottleand were inspired by thethermal flask as a traditionalholder of warm tea when ski-ing in the Tatras. With regardsto the initial T, at first it was astern T and only later did wefill it with ornaments. Hereornaments used in Slovak folkwood-carving, embroideryand jewellery-making servedas inspiration.

TSS: Was the client open toyour ideas?

JD: Yes, he was very open.Probably also because fromthe very beginning he wantedto make from this liquor anexport-type product, somekind of ‘Slovak Becherovka’,which foreign visitors buy andtake back to their home coun-tries. Later during the process

the product got a new name tobe recognisable also for for-eign buyers, Tatratea. The cli-ent also merged milder andstronger liquors under thisbrand name. Now the bottleand the logotype is the same,and liquors with different al-cohol content are packaged inbottles of different colours.

TSS: There are two namesunder this new design,yours and that of LíviaLörinczová...

DJ: It is rather a coincid-ence that there are only twonames. In our design studio,which in total consists of ninepeople, of whom five work ondesign, we work on projects asone team. We start with a gen-eral talk about the assign-ment, the type of the product,its name, etc. We sit next toeach other, making sketchesand also copying the ideas ofour neighbours. Even thoughwe know how to be very critic-al of the work of the others, inthis way we get a lot of inspir-ation. As the project goes on,we meet with the client and itsometimes happens that onlysome of us remain working onit. Or they later return to workon it again. Actually this is oneway to get the best from eachof us. It also sometimes hap-pens that those from ‘outside’,

i.e. those who are not directlyinvolved in the creative pro-cess, can see, I would say, dis-turbing things which can belater improved. But this is of-ten about details and smallthings. In the case of Tatrateait was Lívia and me who final-ised the whole process.

TSS: You said that in thisproject the client wasopen...

JD: Here I have to say thatwe have in general had a luckyhand in the case of our clientsto date. This may be also be-cause most of our clients arecompany owners or peoplewho are very close to theproduct or the brand and whoare apparently interested inthe whole project. They arenot just employees of a com-pany filling in a column in amarketing plan, as sometimeshappens.

TSS: How do you checkwhether your new design‘works’?

JD: In our works weprimarily endeavour to createa design which is simple, re-cognisable and with a recog-nisable quality. But we do notobject to returning to our workand enhancing something.The market and buyers keepdeveloping, too.

For us the main criterion isthe satisfaction of the client. Itmay sometimes happen thatthe new packaging does notwork as was originally hoped,but the mistake can also beelsewhere. For example, wecreated new packaging and abrand name for sandwiches. Itlooked like it was not workingwell, but when we looked atthe market it turned out thatother producers had an evenbigger package even thoughthe weight of the sandwich it-self was the same. If such aproduct was even cheaper,there was no chance that thenew packaging would work.So, the package was enlargedand the problem was solved.

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁSpectator staff

The winning design. Photo: Courtesy of Pergamen

The wedding cake as art. Photo: Courtesy of TIK Skalica

7January 17 – January 23, 2011BUSINESS FOCUS

Špekáčky to get EC designation

SLOVAKIA and the Czech Re-public are jointly seekingprotection from theEuropean Commission for atraditional sausage which isknown as špekáčky in Slov-akia and špekačky in theCzech Republic. There is agood chance that this heat-processed sausage productwill receive the highly desir-able “Traditional SpecialityGuaranteed” label since theEuropean Commission hasnot received any objectionswhich could have reversedthe success of the proceedingbefore its deadline, the ČTKnewswire wrote last October.

A špekáček bearing thedesignation will be guaran-teed to contain at least 56percent pork and beef.

There is a long traditionin Slovakia of roastingšpekáčky, essentially short

plump sausages, over anopen fire while out in nature.They are traditionally eatenwith a slice of bread to catchthe fat dripping from theroasted špekáčky, along withmustard.

Another very popularrecipe is to make thešpekáčky as ‘utopenci’,which in literal translationmeans as ‘drowned men’. Inthe traditional recipe uncutšpekáčky are put into a jarwith a pickle, spices andpieces of onion. After twoweeks the špekáčky areready for eating.

But nowadays there areplenty of varied recipes en-riched with chilli, mustardseeds, horseradish, pickledcucumbers, Worcestershiresauce, olives and more. Beeris the traditional beverageserved with utopenci.

FOCUS shorts

Skalica’s sugary new weapon

THE TOWN of Skalica will in-troduce ‘a younger sister’ ofthe traditional trdelník cakeat Bratislava’s biggest touristfair, being held betweenJanuary 20 and 23. It is theso-called tall Skalica weddingcake (skalická vysoká torta),which was once ever-presentat Skalica weddings, accord-ing to Renáta Fasurová fromthe local municipal office,the SITA newswire reported.

The cake is about 130centimetres tall and takesabout one week to produce.At the fair, cake-makingcouple Petra and Jozef

Hránek will demonstrate theprocess of decorating theunique edifice. According toHránková, the cake is more awork of art than a delicacy,but it is edible.

During the first half ofthe 20th century the tallwedding cake was a staple atweddings in Skalica but theskills used to make it laterdied out. The Hránek familydecided to revive the tradi-tion and have since learnedto create the exceptionalwedding centerpiece.

Compiled by Spectator staff

from press reports

A small designstudio succeeds

in majorinternationalcompetitions

Photo:

Lívia Lörinczová (centre left) and Juraj Demovič (centre right) accept their Pentaward.Photo: Courtesy of Pergamen

Slovaks to produce sterile tsetse flies

SLOVAKS are helping to re-duce numbers of tsetse fliesand thus also the spread ofsleeping sickness in Kenyavia a sterile insect technique.In December, Slovak Ambas-sador to Nairobi MilanZachar officially opened a labin the Kenyan capital built aspart of a project to fightsleeping sickness. Theproject reduces the occur-rence of tsetse flies and thushampers the spread of thecontagious disease. The lab,at the premises of the KenyaAgricultural Research Insti-tute in Nairobi, was con-structed with the coopera-tion of the Institute of Zo-ology of the Slovak Academyof Sciences (SAV), the SITAnewswire wrote.

Under the project, thelab will produce sterilemales, which, after being letout, will be not able to fertil-ise female tsetse flies. Slov-aks hope to use this methodto eradicate dangerous dis-eases like human sleepingsickness and animal tryp-anosomiasis, also known asnagana. The lab should re-

lease its first sterile tsetsemales this summer.

The SAV Institute of Zo-ology has maintainedSlovakia’s biggest colony oftsetse flies since 2002. It cur-rently comprises 100,000flies, but the institute plansto double this. They seeKenya as an ideal country toput into practice the experi-ence they have gathered todate.

“We do not want to erad-icate flies, but the disease,”said institute director MilanKozánek, as quoted by theSITA newswire.

The eradication project,which is expected to be98-percent effective, shouldsignificantly improve thenourishment of local people.Local African cows, whichare resistant to the disease,produce only two to threelitres of milk per day, whileEuropean and south-Americ-an breeds are 30 times moreproductive. Eradication ofnagana will enable the breed-ing of cows from these moreproductive types.

Compiled by Spectator staff

Eset reshuffles its management

THE BEGINNING of 2011 wit-nessed a reshuffle of the toppositions at one of Slovakia’smost internationally well-known companies, Eset. Asof January 1, most of the co-owners of Eset, which devel-ops and sells IT securitysoftware, left the company’stop management. The de-parting managers wereMiroslav Trnka, RudolfHrubý, Maroš Grund andAnton Zajac. Another co-owner, Richard Marko, whopreviously worked as chieftechnology officer, becamedirector-general, the SITAnewswire reported.

“This step is part of a re-organisation of thecompany,” said Trnka.“The current owners, ex-cept Richard Marko, areleaving the operating man-agement. This re-organisa-tion will not touch uponthe ownership structure.”

Trnka is not leaving Es-et completely as he re-mains a member of the

board of trustees and thuswill continue to have an in-fluence on the company’sstrategic direction. Accord-ing to the Trend weekly,Trnka may be involved inthe future in searching forand fostering new ideas, aswell as by lecturing.

Eset, which has appearedseveral times in the DeloitteTechnology Fast 50 CentralEurope ranking as one of thefastest growing technologycompanies in central Europe,was established in 1992. Inaddition to developing IT se-curity software it is part ofthe global fight against newcomputer threats.

The company, which isexclusively Slovak-owned, isbased in Bratislava, and hasbranches in Prague, SanDiego, Buenos Aires andSingapore. It is representedin over 180 countries. In 2008Eset opened a developmentcentre in Krakow, Poland. Ithad global sales of €115 mil-lion in 2009.

PRICE: A brand name is still importantContinued from pg 6

Instead, a lot of hard workand investment in recent yearshas paid off.

“Excellent and systemicwork by all those who workwith these brands has bornefruit,” said Pleško. "They wouldreach such success among con-sumers only with difficultywithout innovation, enhan-cing the products, quality con-trol in production and otherimportant attributes of thebranded product. These andmany more brands are proof ofit.”

Drahovský sees consumertrust in the quality of these tra-ditional brands as responsiblefor their continuing popularityand Timoracký believes thatmany of these brands remainpopular thanks to well-pre-pared marketing.

“These are brands whichthrough their communication– from the visual aspect of theproduct, via advertising, andthe way in which they makecontact with the consumer –sensitively link them withtheir past,” said Timoracký.

He believes that even fur-ther globalisation of the Slovakmarket will not push aside do-mestic brands.

“Especially in the food pro-ducing industry, local brandswill always have a stronginfluence,” said Timoracký.“International concerns alsounderstand this natural affin-ity and in their portfolio in a

particular country not onlykeep, but also actively develop,local brands. It is possible tomention Heineken, which inSlovakia supports Zlatý Bažantas well as Corgoň. SimilarlySAB [another global brewer]goes even one level lower –which I evaluate very posit-ively – as it is developing one ofits brands, Šariš, not as a Slovakbeer but as a regional beer.”

Slovak consumers also con-sider the country of origin forcertain products.

“It is possible to say aboutbranded goods that Slovaks,with regard to the country ofthe origin, distinguish amongseveral categories,” saidTimoracký. “In the ‘foreignhigh-quality’ group Slovaksrank, for example, Germancars, French perfumes, and Ja-panese electrical appliances;the ‘foreign-lower quality’

group includes Korean andChinese products, but the per-ception of goods from thisgroup has been becoming bet-ter. Then there are ‘our tradi-tional local brands’ which in-clude several Czech-Slovakbrands like Kofola, Jar, Prim,Botas and others.”

Timoracký added thatthere are also other Slovakbrands about which Slovaks arerightfully proud. In addition totraditional brands like Figarochocolates and Zlatý Bažantbeer he mentioned some newercompanies such as softwaredeveloper Eset. According tohim, Double Cross Vodka andthe Penta private equity groupmay also belong here.

Regarding the question ofdomestic or foreign ownership,Drahovský pointed out thatafter the fall of the communistregime many traditional do-

mestic producers were ac-quired by foreign companiesand that many foreign firmsalso launched their branches inSlovakia. But he does believethat Slovaks pay more andmore attention to whethergoods are produced in Slovakiaor elsewhere.

Drahovský perceives cam-paigns to support the sale ofgoods produced in Slovakia in avery positive way.

“Without question I per-ceive this as an important mar-keting tool so that people real-ise that when they buy goodsproduced in Slovakia they areproviding employment oppor-tunities, payment of taxes, andso forth and this means thatrunning these campaigns andrepeating them are extremelyimportant,” he said.

Drahovský noted,however, that informationabout the effectiveness of thesekinds of campaigns is notavailable – data about the ex-tent to which the sales of goodshave increased because of suchcampaigns.

But Timoracký does not seemuch impact on Slovakproducts as a result of suchcampaigns.

“According to my informa-tion, these campaigns have anegligible, if even any, effect,”Timoracký said. “If a Slovakproduct is really good it will es-tablish itself by its own attract-iveness and by its own market-ing. It does not need to add aSlovak flag.”

Seeking the best price has become more common. Photo: Sme

BRANDS: Local brew marks 540 yearsContinued from pg 6

“2010 was interesting, because we re-designed almost 100 products and intro-duced about 17 novelties,” said Matušek.“But 2011 will be even more vibrant.”

Bubbles from Sereď

The production of sparkling wine bythe original French method spread beyondthe borders of France only in the 19th cen-tury. The first such factory in Europe wasfounded in Bratislava in 1825. Later thecompany moved to Sereď, where it is stilllocated today. Its current name is HubertJ.E. and it belongs to the Henkel group.

The company sees the long history ofHubert J.E. as one of the reasons behindthe long-standing popularity of its spark-ling wines. On the other hand, the con-sistently high quality of its products,which is one of the company’s key priorit-ies, is another factor to which it ascribesits success.

Peter Krúpa, executive director ofHubert J.E and director for controlling, didnot specify the current market share ofHubert J.E., while describing its positionas “significantly dominant and stabilised”.With regards to growth he sees particularpotential for Slovakia to gradually catch upwith western and southern Europe in theculture of drinking sparkling wine.

“In these countries sekt is drunk atvarious occasions over the whole year,”Krúpa told The Slovak Spectator. “InSlovakia the habit of drinking sekt in thecontext of Christmas and New Year’s Evestill prevails.“

Hubert J.E., whose sister companiesfrom the Henkel group are present in

neighbouring countries, focuses on theSlovak market, even though it exports itsproducts to the Czech Republic and someother countries. But for the company, ex-ports are more of a pleasing extra, accord-ing to Krúpa.

The company is not limited to the pro-duction of sparkling wines.

“After the acquisition of Vitis Pezinokin 2008 we considerably broadened theextent of the labels offered,” said Krúpa.“We offer in our portfolio, apart from tra-ditional sekts, also quality still winesunder the Vitis label, and the brandeddistillate Karpatské Brandy Špeciál. Wesee our potential especially in uncom-promising quality, in the complexity ofour portfolio and in the communicationof our branded products.”

More than 500 years of making beer

The brewery in Vyhne, a small town inthe mining region around BanskáŠtiavnica, was established in 1473, 20 yearsbefore Columbus discovered America. Beerhas been brewed here to this day, or for al-most 540 years. Over the years it haschanged hands – as well as its name – manytimes and is now called Pivovar Steiger.The name Steiger represents an affinity tothe region as the function of the steiger,which in German meant the master ofmining, used to be one of the most import-ant functions in the mine.

The history behind the local produc-tion of beer is also one of the reasons whichJaroslav Vysloužil, the current director-general of the brewery, sees for maintain-ing the beer-brewing tradition in Vyhne.According to him, some places have their‘genius loci’, i.e. spirit of a place, and the

Štiavnické Vrchy mountains which arehome to Banská Štiavnica are studded withsuch places.

“500 years is an unimaginable period oftime for one generation and this traditionand the passing of it from one generationto another is, according to me, the reasonthat has propped up the brewery even dur-ing times which were not very favourablefor this craft,” Vysloužil told the Spectator.

For the time being Pivovar Steiger isamong the small and medium-sized brew-eries of Slovakia. According to Vysloužil,historically the market share of the brew-ery used to be around 5 percent and, aftersome fluctuation during the last decade,the situation has stabilised. During thelast three years the market share of PivovarSteiger has even increased. And with re-gards to the huge changes through whichthe Slovak beer market is currently going,“keeping the present share we can basic-ally perceive as a success”, said Vysloužil.

Exporting is not a core business for thebrewery, even though each exported hec-tolitre of beer pleases the brewery.

“Nowadays we are exporting about 4percent of our production and we expectexports to grow,” said Vysloužil, addingthat especially its dark beer, for which cus-tomers have been found in such beerpowers as the Czech Republic and Ger-many, has proved successful.

With regards to its future plans, thebrewery has announced a halt to its recentinvestment of more than €4 million overthe last four years.

“We are now waiting for the finalshape of the tax policy in Slovakia,” saidVysloužil, referring to recent efforts by theSlovak government to increase the excisetax on beer.

Miroslav Trnka Photo: SITA

8 January 17 – January 23, 2011 BUSINESS FOCUS

FOCUS shorts

LAW: Ideas abound,but does political will?

Continued from pg 2

Moreover, she says thatthe main problems of finan-cing lie in avoidance of the lawand in money that never ap-pears in official party ac-counts; hence she argues thatpenal legislation should alsobe changed.

Wienk specified that thelaw on political parties shouldbe made stricter so that, for ex-ample, bookkeepers are madepersonally responsible for viol-ations of the rules in order toensure that money flowsthrough a single account.

Independent auditoffice sought

“We have long called for anindependent office based onthe example of western coun-tries: a variation of the Su-preme Audit Office (NKÚ),which would oversee partyfinancing,” Gabriel Šípoš, pres-ident of Transparency Interna-tional Slovensko (TIS), told TheSlovak Spectator.

“Not to mention the factthat there is no control what-soever over municipal elec-tions; they do not have anyduty to report expenditureseither, which should bechanged at the soonest pos-sible opportunity.”

Interior Minister DanielLipšic, from the KDH, agreesthat an independent bodyoutside parliament shouldbe in charge of checkingparty financing.

“It will be necessary to dis-cuss whether it should be theNKÚ or a new institution,”Lipšic said, as quoted by theSITA newswire. “However, al-ways creating a new institutionis not any big win, since wealready have enough of them.But MPs from parliamentaryparties should not be in charge.”

According to Lipšic, be-ginning this month a workinggroup will meet to develop anew model of party-financing

control that would be morethorough, independent andtransparent.

Though the situation hasimproved, there is still no ef-fective control of party finan-cing in Slovakia, said TIS.

“The situation has im-proved moderately in thesense that the parties are re-porting gifts quarterly on theirwebsites, while amounts de-clared in the last election,based on our rough estimates,were closer to real spendingthan they were, for example,in 2002 and 2006,” said Šípoš.

On the other hand, Šípošsays that there is not any ef-fective means to checkwhether the declared num-bers match actual party finan-cing and whether parties keeprecords of all contributions,even non-financial ones likein-kind billboards and cars.

Formal reports arechecked by the Finance Min-istry and then parliamentarydeputies, a method whichŠípoš says is inefficient.

As for public oversight,Wienk says that the public canpresently rely only on annualreports, which in her words“aren’t very credible”.

TIS is supporting a propos-al to finance parties through asystem of matching funds,where the state matches thefunds that a party generateson its own.

The transparency watch-dog is also contributing to thedebate over a proposal to fin-ance political parties througha scheme analogous to thatunder which taxpayers cancurrently assign 2 percent oftheir annual taxes to charity –under the proposal, they coulddonate to a chosen party.

“It would force the partiestowards greater activity andresponsibility towards thevoter, though populism mightbe a disadvantage,” Šípoš said.

Parties currently receivefunding based on their elec-tion results, which meansthat smaller but growingparties get no money,something which, accordingto Šípoš, does not support thecompetitiveness of parties.

Subsidycuts proposed

As part of the discussionover the new election law,which among other things

aspires to unify rules for allelections in Slovakia, thecoalition on January 11agreed to cancel the statesubsidy paid to parliament-ary political parties based onthe number of MPs’ man-dates gotten in the election.However, the decision hasalready evoked some strongcriticism.

Lipšic, for example, saidthat he would reconsiderthe coalition’s plan sincesuch a move could motivatepolitical parties to secureany resulting shortfall fromother, possibly illegal,sources, TASR newswire re-ported.

“It’s a big risk and thestate may lose a lot moremoney over this if the can-cellation is passed,” he said.

Opposition Smer partyleader Robert Fico said thatthe coalition’s proposalwould in fact mean throw-ing the political parties onthe mercy of sponsors.

“I am really concernedthat in this way they arerendering the politicalparties to sponsors becauseif a party gets money fromthe state in a legal way itdoes not depend on gifts,”Fico said, as quoted by SITA.“It is enough if the party col-lects membership fees andgets money from the state,and [with this] can legallyfinance all its activities.”

According to the Smedaily, political parties lastyear received €34 millionfrom the state budget, get-ting funds from the statebased on the votes they col-lected in the parliamentaryelection and contributionsper each mandate. Cur-rently, the parties get €7.20per voter, representing onepercent of Slovakia's averagemonthly wage.

Michaela Terenzanicontributed to this report.

The financing of political parties is now under debate.Photo: Sme

SIX: Some discordin the coalition

Continued from pg 3

Coalition stumblesover choice of prosecutor

Selecting a new personfor the job of Slovakia’s gen-eral prosecutor has been adifficult challenge for theruling coalition. Since thecoalition did not initiallyput forth a joint candidate,none of the original candid-ates independently nomin-ated by parties of the rulingcoalition were successfulafter several secret ballotvotes in parliament in de-feating the incumbent gen-eral prosecutor, DobroslavTrnka, who was endorsed bythe opposition parties. Itwas even more of a surprisefor coalition leaders when itbecame clear that up to sixMPs from their parties hadvoted with the opposition infavour of Trnka.

In an atmosphere of mis-trust and blame, the topleaders of the coalitionparties agreed once again tonominate a joint candidatebut to first change the selec-tion procedure for the gener-al prosecutor so that it willbe subject to a recorded par-liamentary vote. The coali-tion leaders reported aftermeeting on January 11 that anew general prosecutorshould be nominated, elec-ted and take office in four tofive months’ time.

Kusý labelled the failureto select a new general pro-secutor as the most notablestumble of the ruling coali-tion in its first six monthsand added that it is particu-larly unfortunate that the is-sue will continue to stretchover several months.

“The crisis of the[prosecutor’s] election willkeep popping up and ofcourse the Fico-led opposi-tion will use it very skil-fully all the time; they willkeep digging into it to showthat the coalition isincapable,” he said.

Kusý said the coalition isnow deliberately changing

the rules for selection of thegeneral prosecutor becausethe parties failed so demon-strably at the end of 2010 andhe does not particularly viewthis approach as positive.

“For that reason, theywill plough through thewhole system of elections,to turn them into directelections,” Kusý said. “Theyare turning this single prob-lem into a [general] rule. Ifthey said the system doesn’tsuit them because they hadfailed and they will prag-matically change the elec-tion of the prosecutor, thatwould be alright. But theyare trying to pour a sauce ofideology on it, saying thatdirect election is the bestway and so forth.”

Democracy isdiscussion

Kusý views hesitation,which has resulted in thegovernment’s programmeobjectives being accom-plished more slowly thanexpected, as a negative,though understandable,characteristic of the govern-ing coalition.

“It [the government] isalways somewhat slow, hes-itant, half-hearted, and thatis how it will be, because thedecisions come from com-promise, and the comprom-ise always trims the originalproposal,” Kusý stated.

He believes that for thisreason tensions within thecoalition and problems incommunication will con-tinue but added that this iswhat the art of politics isall about.

“A four-party coalitionis an enormously complic-ated undertaking, and as aheterogeneous coalitionthey are destined for [suchproblems],” Kusý saidwhile adding that it can beconsidered a positive polit-ical feature in that whatthe coalition finally agreesupon has been the result ofdebate, negotiation andcompromise.

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9January 17 – January 23, 2011NEWS

The Jews of Šaštín

THE TOWN of Šaštín inZáhorie, in western Slovakia,emerged thanks to the castlewhich stood there in theMiddle Ages. The marshylocation where the fortifica-tion used to standgave the smalltown its name:“sás” means reedgrowth or rushesin Hungarian.Today, no trace of the castleremains.

However, Šaštín is fam-ous as a pilgrimage destina-tion and has a beautiful ba-silica. A lesser known

monument in this Záhorietown is its synagogue. LocalJews built it in 1852 and untilthe 1960s it was preserved ingood condition. However, thebuilding is now very dilapid-

ated and its future is uncer-tain. The Jewish communityin Šaštín was first mentionedin 1400 AD. Jews in Šaštínmade their living as in othersmall towns – by trading. In

Záhorie they traded mainlyin grain and geese.

Among the worst mo-ments for the local Jews wasthe year 1739, when a pogromtook place. The pretence was

fabricated and ab-surd: a Jewish to-bacco merchantwas falsely accusedof stealing themonstrance from a

Catholic church.In this postcard from the

beginning of the 1920s wecan see the synagogue on theright side of the street.

By Branislav Chovan

HISTORY TALKS

Western SLOVAKIA

Bratislaval TRAVELLERS’ CINEMA: Ces-tovateľské kino horáreň / TheTravellers’ Cinema Game-keeper’s Lodge – Held in theForest School building, a seriesof films introduce exotic coun-tries. This documentary is byJakub Jajcay, and entitledSýria, zabudnutý klenotBlízkeho východu / Syria, theForgotten Gem of the MiddleEast.

Starts: January 23, 19:00;Horáreň / Gamekeeper’s Lodgein Horský park. Admission: €1.Tel: 0903/455-103; www.horaren.sk, www.cestoklub. sk.

Bratislaval CLASSICAL MUSIC: Galamladých umelcov u Zichyho /Gala of Young Artists at Zichy –A concert by students of theDepartment of Singing of theAcademy of Performing Arts.

Starts: January 18, 18:00;Musical Salon of the MKC Zi-chyho Palace, Ventúrska 9.Admission: €1-€2. Tel: 02/5920-1603, www.staremesto.sk.

Bratislaval EXHIBITION: She has theSense of Limited Time – Thisjoint exhibition by Cyril Blažo,David Ray Conroy and MartinVongrej is introduced by PetraFeriancová, who is also exhib-iting. The presentation of in-dividual exhibitions com-prises several counterpointsand several connecting points.

Open: Wed-Fri 13:00-18:00until February 5; amt_project,Baštová 1. Admission: free.Tel: 02/5441-0998; www.amtproject.sk.

Bratislaval PHOTO EXHIBITION: AnnaFabricius - Jazdci a jazdkyne /Cavalrymen and Equestri-ennes – This photo exhibitionshows the diploma work of ayoung woman photographerfrom Budapest; focusing onhorses as seen through theeyes of their masters.

Open: Wed-Mon 10:00-17:00 until January 31; Múzeumkultúry Maďarov na SlovenskuMuseum of Hungarian Culturein Slovakia, Žižkova 18. Admis-sion: €5-€10 (includes entry to 7museums). Tel: 02/5441-2021;www. snm.sk.

Nitral EXHIBITION: Inter-View –The Harmonia Seraphica civicassociation presents a sum-marising exhibition of con-temporary Slovak and Czechfemale artists focusing on theleitmotif of body, corporeality,relations and family.

Open: Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00until February 20; Nitrianskagaléria, Župné námestie 3. Ad-mission: €0.50-€0.70. Tel: 037/6579-641; www.nitrianska-galeria.sk.

Central SLOVAKIA

Breznol LIVE MUSIC: Richard Scheu-fler Solo Project – A concert bythe bass-guitar soloist andmember of the legendaryPražský výběr II band com-bines pop, rock, modern jazz,and classical music.

Starts: January 22, 20:00;Bombura Klub, M.R. ŠtefánikSquare 16. Tel: 0905/347-415;www. bombura.sk.

Žilinal EXHIBITION: Divočinazachráni svet / WildernessWill Save the World – TheForest Protection Association

VLK (Wolf) tells a story aboutforests through photographsand panels with texts.

Open: Mon-Fri 11:00-18:00, Sat 9:00-13:00 untilJanuary 30; Krajská knižnica,Bernolákova 47. Admission:free. More info: www.zilinska-kniznica.sk, www.wolf.sk.

Eastern SLOVAKIA

Popradl LIVE MUSIC: Andrej ŠebanLive – This congenial guitarplayer and key personality ofSlovak rock music, a multi-in-strumentalist and musical vis-ionary, gives a concert inPoprad.

Starts: January 21, 19:00;Theatre Hall of House of Cul-ture, Štefánikova 99/72. Ad-mission: €5 (in advance), €7(on the door). Tel: 052/7722-255; www.poprad.sk/dom-kultury.

Košicel EXHIBITION: ZbigniewNišponský - Gut: Inšpirácie zjaskýň / Inspirations fromCaves – This exhibition bringsceramic and bronze plastic artmade by a speleologist whohas been inspired by thenature and atmosphere ofcaves.

Open: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00,Sun 13:00-17:00 until January30; Múzeum Vojtecha Loef-flera, Alžbetina 20. Admission:€0.33-€0.66. Tel: 055/ 6223-073;www.cassovia.sk/ vlmuzeum.

Veľký Šarišl EXHIBITION: Magický svetcirkusu / The Magic World ofCircus – This exhibition wasre-installed thanks to cooper-ation with the Bibiana Houseof Art Children and aims to in-troduce the world of the circusto all those who are fascinatedby it.

Open: Tue, Thur 10:00-12:00, 14:00-16:00, Sun 15:00-18:00 until January 31; Mest-ské Múzeum a Galéria, Sv. Ja-kub Square 33. Admission:€50-€1. Tel: 051/7762-300;www. muzeum.sk.

By Zuzana Vilikovská

EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE

THE ART of Livin’ project returns to its very beginning with anevening combining theatre and music. First, young actors willperform improvised sets within the Tri tvorivé tvory, 3T, IM-PROLIGA show (with J. Tabaček, L. Puchovský and S. Staško);then The Illusion Trio (A. Karlík, M. Fedor and J. Cingeľ) will playtheir characteristic mix of jazz-rock and nujazz. At the Klub zaZrkadlom, Rovniankova 3, Bratislava, on January 20 at 20:00.Tickets (www.ticketportal.sk, www.kzp.sk) cost €4 in advanceand €6 at the door. Photo: Courtesy of KZP

THE FORESTRY and Timber Museum in Zvolen has organised, incooperation with Prague’s Náprstkovo Museum, the exhibitionPoslovia mágie - Africké bábky a masky / Heralds of Magic -African Figurines and Masks. It presents a collection of examplesof sub-Saharan traditional culture and lifestyle; mainly fromwood but with the addition of other locally-sourced materials. Itcan be seen until the end of January at the Lesnícke a DrevárskeMúzeum, SNP Square 23, Mon to Fri 9:00-17:00. For more info,please visit www.ldmzvolen.sk. Photo: Courtesy of LDM

10 January 17 – January 23, 2011 CULTURE

MON 17.1.

Giuseppe Verdi: 19:00Nabucco O

TUE 18.1.

Giuseppe Verdi: 19:00I Due Foscari O

WED 19.1.

W. A. Mozart: 19:00The Magic Flute O

THU20.1.

G. Puccini: 19:00Turandot O

FRI 21.1.

P. I. Tchaikovsky, M. Petipa, L.I. Ivanov: 19:00Swan Lake B

SAT 22.1.

19:00Carmen B

Vincenzo Bellini: 19:00I puritani O

SUN 23.1. MON 24.1.

Georges Bizet: 19:00Carmen O

TUE 25.1.

Giuseppe Verdi: 19:00La Traviata O

WED 26.1.

G. Puccini: 19:00La Bohéme O

THU 27.1.

P. I. Tchaikovsky, M. Petipa, L.I. Ivanov: 19:00Swan Lake B

FRI 28.1.

Ch. Guonod: 19:00Faust O

SAT 29.1.

Giuseppe Verdi: 19:00I Due Foscari O

SUN 30.1.

V. Patejdl, L. Vaculík: 11:00, 17:00Snow White and the Seven Racers B

THU 3.2.

1 9:00Juan Diego Flórez in SNT O

FRI 4.2.

SAT 5.2.

A. Adam, O. Šoth, Z. Mistríková, J. Kubánka: 19:00Giselle B

Gaetano Donizetti: 19:00The Daughter of the regiment O

PROGRAM Slovak National Th eatreOPERA and BALLET

JANUARY 17 – FEBRUARY 5 SND New Building SND Historic Building Opera and Ballet Hall

SP 90250/6

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Tickets available at: SND Box offices: Historic Building, Hviezdoslavovo Square, Bratislava, 00421 2 204 94 290 www.ticketportal.sk New Building, Pribinova 17, Bratislava, 00421 2 204 72 298, 204 72 299, e-mail: rezervacie snd.sk www.snd.sk HOT LINE: +421 2 204 72 297, information and offer for tickets MON - FRI 9:30 - 17:30

V. Bellini: I puritani

Photo: C. Bachratý

SPECIAL OFFER ONLY IN JANUARY!IF YOU BUY ONE TICKET ON SELECTED PERFORMANCE IN SLOVAK

NATIONAL THEATRE, WE WILL GIVE YOU THE SECOND FOR FREE!!!

ENJOY: I due Foscari, Magic Flute, Turandot, Swan Lake,Carmen, La Traviata, La Bohéme, Faust

and more great performances.

For more information call the HOT LINE: +421 2 204 72 297, or e-mail: rezervacie@snd.sk.

O opera, B ballet

Guest performance

Guest performance

Chuan Diego Flórez

Georges Bizet

Carmen Guest performance Győri Balett on January 22, 2011, at 19:00

New BuildingCarmen, a French opéra comique by George Bizet has been

also a strong isnpiration for a diff erent medium – dance. Passionate Carmen performed by Hungarian Győri Balett

company founded in 1979 is considered to be the most groundbreaking and exceptional perfmormance. Enjoy it in Bratislava´s Slovak National Th eatre.

Photo: Győri Balett

I n c o o p e r a t i o n w i t h t h e S l o v a k H y d r o m e t e o r o l o g i c a l I n s t i t u t e

Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakiacan now be found at www.spectator.sk.

A Slovak’s name day (meniny) is as important as his or her birthday. It is traditional to present friends or co-workers with a small gift, such as chocolates or flowers, and to wish them Všetko najlepšie k meninám (Happy name day)

N A M E D A Y J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 1

Monday

Nata‰a

January 17

Tuesday

Bohdana

January 18

Wednesday

DrahomíraMário, Sára

January 19

Thursday

DaliborSebastián

Januaury 20

Friday

Vincent

January 21

Saturday

ZoraZara

January 22

Sunday

Milo‰

January 23

Slovaks help inAfghanistan

WITHIN a year a brand newSlovak-funded building willappear in the Afghan city ofKunduz. It will house a multi-functional centre providingseveral services to citizens: alibrary, access to the inter-net, educational lectures, ex-hibitions, and other culturalevents. Iveta Liberková, thehead of the Spoločnosť ľudídobrej vole (Association ofPeople with Goodwill), an as-sociation of volunteersproviding humanitarian aid,explained the project’s devel-opment goals to the SITAnewswire.

The project received sup-port amounting to almost€240,000 from Slovak Aidfunds. This is already theorganisation’s third devel-opment project in Afgh-anistan. The establishmentof such a multifunctional cul-tural-educational centre isintended to boost and develop

the city and the whole region.Liberková also sees it as achance to support the devel-opment of leisure activitiesfor children and youngpeople and reduce criminal-ity among young Afghans.

The project will also bringmore jobs to the province.The library will include vari-ous books and audio andvisual offerings and the in-ternet centre will have 8computers with internetconnections. Users of theservices will be charged just asymbolic fee and studentsand teachers will have freeaccess. The offices of the localgovernor and mayor willsupport the centre and its op-eration financially and ma-terially, together with theAfghan Information and Cul-ture Ministry. More re-sources are expected fromuser fees and from grants bystate and foreign donors.

Family’s holiday home is torched bytheir own New Year's Eve fireworks

A FAMILY from Čadcawho celebrated the arrivalof 2011 at their vacationcottage in Olešná-Potôčkyin Kysuce may recall thejust past New Year’s Eve

with less than fond memories. Duringtheir celebration, they placed an array ofpyrotechnics about ten metres awayfrom the cottage. But soon after the firstrockets were lighted, the launch plat-form toppled over and instead of firingthe rockets high into the sky, the rocketsflew straight at the cottage attic.

One rocket shot inside through asmall open window and immediatelystarted a fire. The cottage was made ofwood and had been bought ten years agoby the family, who had insulated it andused it as a weekend house.

The fire brigade was called at 25

minutes after midnight but encounteredproblems. “There was a lot of smoke anddue to the low temperatures black icewas created and access was difficult,”František Prívara, from the Čadca Dis-trict Office of the Fire and Rescue Corps,told the SITA newswire. Firefightersfrom Čadca and Turzovka fought theblaze using three units.

Further trouble was caused by threegas containers that were stored in thehouse. Firefighters managed to get two ofthem out, but the third remained inside.Prívara said they used one nozzle to cooldown the gas containers and the remain-ing two to extinguish the fire. They failedto save the cottage but at least managedto prevent a nearby farm building frombeing devastated. Total damage has beenassessed at €50,000 but property worth€100,000 was saved.

11January 17 – January 23, 2011FEATURE / CULTURE

Štefan Banič Photo: TASR

1

Afghans will benefit from Slovak help. Photo: Reuters

Slovak parachuteinventor forgotten

THE SLOVAKinventor of theparachute,Štefan Banič,died 70 yearsago this month

in his native town ofSmolenice, but the municipal-ity failed to organise any eventto commemorate its mostfamous native and citizen.

Mayor Pavlína Hor-náčková said that the recentchange in the mayoralty mightbe one of the reasons. She saidthe previous town leadershipdid not plan any event inBanič’s memory and that sinceshe had taken up her post justshortly before Christmas, shetold the SITA newswire thatshe had no time to prepare anappropriate event to mark theinventor's anniversary.

Banič invented not onlythe parachute but was also oneof the discoverers of the Drinycave near Smolenice. He ac-quired the patent document

for the parachute in the USA inAugust 1914 and discoveredthe Driny cave 15 years lateralong with a group of villagers.

Štefan Banič was born onNovember 23, 1870 inSmolenice. He trained to be amason and in 1907 left to workin America.

In 1913 he completed theprototype of a parachute witha new construction which hepersonally tested. Even thoughhe received the patent for in-venting the parachute he didnot get rich from it and afterreturning to his hometown heworked as master mason.

He died on January 2,1941 and is buried at a localcemetery with a gravestoneportraying a parachute overhis grave. There is a me-morial plaque on the housewhere he was born and in2006 a monument featuringa bust of Banič was erectedin front of the building of hisformer school.

Books in Englishnow available

Cryptography, A VeryShort Introduction. FredPiper & Sean Murphy. Ox-ford Books, 2002.

Part of the Very ShortIntroduction series whichintroduces concise know-ledge on various topics suchas Intelligence, LiteraryTheory, Cosmology, andothers, this book focuses onhow the hiding of informa-tion – in Greek, “cryptos”means hidden and “graph”means writing – has beenused, elaborated and stud-ied in the past as well as inmodern times. Startingwith basic concepts, thebook then presents histor-ical algorithms like Caesarciphers, Vigenere ciphers,and transposition ciphersand continues with“unbreakable” ciphers thatcan, for sure, be broken, andwith modern ciphers suchas stream ciphers and blockciphers. The last chaptersdescribe practical use ofcryptography in moderneveryday life.

3,096 Days. NataschaKampusch. Penguin,2010.

On March 2, 1998, ten-year-old Natascha Kam-pusch was snatched off astreet in Vienna by astranger and bundled into awhite van. Just an hourlater she was lying on a coldcellar floor, rolled up in ablanket. When she emergedfrom captivity in 2006, hav-ing endured one of thelongest abductions in re-cent history, her childhoodwas gone. Her captor com-mitted suicide by throwinghimself under a train on theday she broke free. In thisbook, Kampusch gives herown account of whathappened during her diffi-cult childhood, from thefateful morning of her kid-napping and the long im-prisonment in a tiny dun-geon, as well as the physicaland mental abuse shesuffered from her captor,Wolfgang Priklopil. 3,096Days is a story about thetriumph of human spirit,about how the young victimlearned to manipulate herjailer and how, in the end,she managed to escape withher spirit intact. Kam-pusch, now in her 20s, livesin Vienna and is a student.

Aunt Julia and theScriptwriter. Mario Var-gas Llosa. Faber and Faber,re-issued in 2002.

Mario Vargas Llosa, aNobel laureate from Peru,has written a comic, ima-ginative, lively novel thathas been praised by news-paper reviewers as witty

and wise, and full of im-mense vitality and imagin-ation. Mario, an 18-year-oldlaw student and radio newseditor, falls for his Aunt Ju-lia, the 32-year-old divorcedwife of his cousin, and theirlove story is interwovenwith episodes from a seriesof radio soap operas writtenby his friend Pedro Ca-macho. Apart from theamusing content, the bookalso offers a remarkablefeeling for the book’s ori-ginal language that can befelt in the English transla-tion as well.

Arabian Nights’ Enter-tainments. Edited with anintroduction and notes byRobert L. Mack. OxfordWorld’s Classic, 1998.

The tales with whichScheherazade nightly post-poned the murderous in-tent of the sultan have ini-tiated a pattern of literaryreference and influencewhich today remains aspowerful and intense inEnglish literary history as itwas throughout the 18thand 19th centuries. Thisedition reproduces theearliest English translationof Antoine Galland’s Lesmille et une nuits, origin-ally published by theFrench Orientalist from1704 to 1717. This remainedfor over a century the onlyEnglish translation of thestory cycle, influencing anincalculable number ofwriters, and no other edi-tion offers the completetext supplemented by fulltextual apparatus. This edi-tion is complete with theintroduction, textual notes,a biography of Antoine Gal-land, bibliography, chrono-logy of the appearance ofArabian Nights’ Entertain-ments in Europe, appen-dices and explanatory notesthat all help readers inter-pret the stories and setthem in their historical andliterary context. Characterslike Sinbad, Aladdin, AliBaba, and Caliph Harun al-Rashid are all generally no-torious or often cited in allartistic genres; in this book,they are revived andbrought to consciousnesswith all their beauty, ad-venturous spirit, comical-ity, and enlightening andeye-opening moral lessons.

This column is a selectionby The Slovak Spectator of Eng-lish-language books recently re-leased in Slovakia; it does notrepresent an endorsement ofany of the books selected. Thecolumn is prepared in coopera-tion with the Oxford BookshopBratislava, located atLaurinská 9.Risky amateur fireworks . Photo: Sme

2

LITERARY CORNERAROUND SLOVAKIAcompiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports

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