Slovak SPectator 1703

Vol. 17, No. 3 Monday, January 24, 2011 - Sunday, January 30, 2011

FOCUSof this issue

On sale nowOn sale now FOCUSof this issue

JAPAN ANDREPUBLIC OF KOREA

SSELECT FOREX RATES€ benchmark as of January 20

CANADA CAD 1.35 CZECH REP. CZK 24.42RUSSIA RUB 40.42GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.84

HUNGARY HUF 275.00JAPAN JPY 110.93POLAND PLN 13.91USA USD 1.35

NEWS

An opposition cabinetSix months after RobertFico left the primeminister’s office, his Smerparty has created a shadowcabinet to monitor the cur-rent government's agenda.

pg 2

Election Code plannedThe government says itwants to unify the rulesfor the five different kindsof elections regularly heldin Slovakia – and it's ask-ing the opposition to co-operate.

pg 3

OPINION

Shadow boxingThe role of opposition leadercomes naturally to RobertFico: so much so that hisnew shadow ministers areunlikely to emerge from theshade he himself casts.

pg 5

BUSINESS FOCUS

Koreans in SlovakiaKorean Ambassador SeokSoong Seo spoke with TheSlovak Spectator about hiscountry's rapid rise to be-come one of Slovakia's maininvestors and a significanttrading partner.

pg 8

Technology: our bondJapanese Ambassador Yosh-io Nomoto writes thatshared technological devel-opment in areas like energysaving could be the key tofuture cooperation betweenJapan and Slovakia.

pg 9

CULTURE

Cooking, Korean-styleTteokguk, naengmyeon andbibimbap might seem liketongue-twisters, but forKoreans they mean home –and they are increasinglycommon items on restaur-ant menus here .

pg 12

Czechs fretover Slovak

doctors

QUESTIONS remain over who will treat pa-tients in Czech hospitals if thousands ofprotesting doctors there fail to reach anagreement with the government and leavehospitals en masse come March. This hasrecently become a topic across the borderin Slovakia after rumours began circulat-ing that Czech hospitals might try recruit-ing Slovak doctors to fill in.

Slovak doctors are promising not to actas strike-breakers, but at the same time sayconditions in the Czech health-care systemare far better than they get in Slovakia.

The situation across Slovakia’s westernborder, which is growing serious as the no-tice period for almost 4,000 Czech doctors’resignations approaches, has posed ques-tions about the potential for an exodus ofdoctors from Slovakia too.

In the Czech Republic, the doctors’trade unions have threatened a walkoutsince the middle of 2010, seeking a hike inpay to guarantee them between one and ahalf and three times the national averagesalary, depending upon experience. About3,800 of the country's 20,000 hospital doc-tors handed in their resignations at theturn of the year. These come with a two-month resignation period, meaning thepractical implications of the “Thank You,We’re Leaving” campaign would be felt byearly March, The Prague Post reported.

See MDs pg 2

The health sector came in for scrutiny this week as media reported problems with the 112 emergency number, criti-cism of a decision taken by the health minister (see story below), and fears that Slovak doctors would be lured to theCzech Republic (see story on right). Photo: Sme - Tomáš Benedikovič

BY MICHAELA TERENZANISpectator staff

Health MinisterUhliarik under fire

HEALTH Minister Ivan Uhliarikhas had a rather difficult start tothe new year: first, local media re-ported that Czech hospitals werefishing to hire Slovak physicians enmasse; then reports surfaced aboutUhliarik’s purported preferentialtreatment of a pharmaceutical firmfor which he had previouslyworked; then the Sme daily fol-lowed with a front-page article re-porting that Slovak ambulance ser-vices lacked supplies for urgenttreatment of patients needingtransport.

The Health Ministry de-nounced the Sme report about theambulance services andthreatened to take legal actionagainst the newspaper for“scaremongering”. It stated thatMinister Uhliarik had acted in thepublic interest when he granted

fast-tracked re-categorisation to adrug made by Pfizer, the firm thatwas his previous employer.

Prime Minister Iveta Radičovádemanded explanations from Uh-liarik and after their January 17meeting commented that no lawshad been violated and Uhliarik stillenjoyed her trust. But the next day,the opposition Smer party said itmight seek to sack the health min-ister, a nominee of the ChristianDemocratic Movement (KDH).

See TRUST pg 3

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

Unions initiate petition on code

SLOVAK trade unions are nowwheeling out one of the big guns intheir fight against proposed changesto the current Labour Code, whichthe centre-right government says itintends to make more flexible in or-der to better meet the needs of theeconomy. The Confederation ofTrade Unions (KOZ) is now trying tocollect the 350,000 signaturesneeded to trigger a referendum overthe issue.

The government is scheduled todiscuss the draft Labour Code inApril. Labour Minister Jozef Mihálsays he will not yield to the pres-sure, nor become involved in anyeventual referendum. His ministryalso argues that the unions have theoption to participate in the reviewprocess and put their suggestions tothe working group which is mullingthe new form of the code.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Iv-eta Radičová has said that the gov-ernment is ready for a dialogue withthe trade unions – but not in theform of pressure or threats.

The unionists announced thepetition on January 10, 2011, underthe banner “Preserving the Rights of

Employees” and claim their initiat-ive brings new elements that will‘humanise’ the working environ-ment: a 35-hour week – as opposed tothe current 40 hours – without a re-duction in pay, as well as a limit onovertime work to a maximum of 80hours in one calendar year.

“It is not economicallysustainable,” Radičová said in re-sponse to the demands, as quotedby the SITA newswire. “There is agreat probability that shorteningthe working week would automat-ically mean a reduction of incomefrom work and we would not allowthat risk.”

See LABOUR pg 6


Truckersthreaten to

strike

SLOVAKIA’S system of electronic highwaytoll collection for vehicles over 3.5 tonneswas launched more than a year ago, butcomplaints by truckers are continuing to roilthe road transport industry. In an effort todemand solutions to what they say are ongo-ing problems with the system, disgruntledmembers of the Union of Motor Carriers ofSlovakia (UNAS), declared a one-monthstrike alert in mid January. UNAS is dissatis-fied with what it calls the unfair burdenplaced on road cargo transport in Slovakia.

See TOLL pg 4

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁSpectator staff

But Slovak medics saythey can't or won't leave

Official demoted over lobbying

A SENIOR official in the Gov-ernment Office, Štefan Gr-man, was demoted at the ini-tiative of the prime ministerafter he organised a meetingfor a telecommunications-firm lobbyist with the headof the Parliament Office,Michal Nižňan of the Free-dom and Solidarity (SaS)party.

Grman was dismissed assecretary of the Cabinet Le-gislative Council on January14, after Speaker of Parlia-ment Richard Sulík, who isalso the leader of SaS, com-plained directly to the primeminister about his attemptto arrange the meeting.

Nižňan first mentionedthe liaison with a man from atelecoms company on hisblog, saying that it only tran-spired when the meetingtook place that “the realreason for the lunch was to

mediate a meeting with MrB, which wouldn’t havetaken place under normalcircumstances”.

Sulík later specified in arelated online discussionthat the official at the lunchwas Grman and that the lob-byist – Mr B – was ŠtefanKollarovits of Kapsch, anAustrian company.

He said that Nižňan wasoffered the company’s ser-vices for parliament, andwas invited to Austria for aweekend to see a presenta-tion of Kapsch technologies.

Grman admitted to hav-ing organised the meeting,according to the primeminister’s spokesperson,Rado Baťo, and has now beenmoved to a more junior posi-tion.

He has been working forthe Government Office for 37years, Sme reported.

Fico refuses to defend profit ban

FORMER prime ministerRobert Fico, who is nowdeputy speaker of parlia-ment, has refused to repres-ent parliament before theConstitutional Court in a tri-al over a law that effectivelybans health insurers frommaking profits, and insteadforces them to return anyrevenues to the health sec-tor.

Speaker of ParliamentRichard Sulík asked Fico,who leads the oppositionparty Smer, to fulfil the role,the SITA newswire reported.

Fico, however, refusedthe task, and his spokesper-son said that he would “wel-come if it did not become ahabit in the future that helearns about the content of aletter from the speaker ofparliament from the mediaeven before it is delivered tohim.”

The hearing in the casewill take place on January 26.The fact that Fico serves as

deputy speaker of parliamentand is a lawyer were thereasons Sulík gave for choos-ing him for the task.Moreover, Sulík will be on anofficial trip abroad at thattime. It was Fico’s govern-ment that introduced thelaw in question; it waspassed in 2008.

The Constitutional Courthas now opened proceedingsin the case to examine therestrictions on the use ofhealth insurers’ profits butthe validity of the contestedprovisions has not been sus-pended. Slovakia has beeninvolved in three interna-tional arbitrations as a resultof the disputed law, initiatedby foreign stockholders ofhealth insurers Apollo,Dôvera and Union. Fico de-clared several times that hewas looking forward to thearbitrations and that he was100-percent positive thatSlovakia would win the dis-putes, SITA wrote.

High fines to discipline drivers

POLICE Corps PresidentJaroslav Spišiak says thathigh fines are currently theonly way to force driverswho violate traffic rules toabide by the law.

In January 2009, whenfine rates were low, over4,000 traffic accidents oc-curred on the roads. In Feb-ruary 2009, when tougherfines came into effect, thenumber of accidents droppedsharply to below 2,000, andthe figure remained almostunchanged throughout 2010,Spišiak stated, as reported bythe SITA newswire.

“We have to threatenwith fines to save humanlives, whether people like itor not,” SITA quoted Spišiakas saying. He finds it most

tragic that society in generalthinks that breaching trafficrules is not a serious trans-gression though it oftencosts people their lives.

Spišiak also expects aradical turnaround in thedevelopment of the deathrate on roads once a new sys-tem of assessing individualpolice officers is introduced.

“Each traffic policemanwill be evaluated accordingto whether an accidenthappened in the section hewas entrusted to control,”Spišiak said, adding that po-lice officers will not just finedrivers, but will also preventaccidents.

Compiled by Spectator staff

from press reports

Smer announces itsshadow cabinet

SIX MONTHS after RobertFico left the primeminister’s office and acentre-right governmenttook over, his Smer party hasintroduced a shadow cabinetto present a clear oppositionto the cabinet of IvetaRadičová. Most of Smer’sshadow ministers are exper-ienced when it comes to cab-inet sessions and manage-ment of government de-partments.

Smer’s shadow cabinet,approved by the party pres-idency on January 18, iscomposed of a chairman, histwo deputies (for humanrights and minorities, andfor socio-economic affairs)and 13 shadow ministers.

“I expect the shadowcabinet mainly to monitorthe agenda of the govern-ment, oppose it and proposealternative solutions,” Ficosaid during a presentation

on January 19. Fico also saidhe expects the shadow min-isters to come up with legis-lative proposals, either asMPs or via Smer’s parlia-mentary caucus.

The shadow ministers

For the majority of theseats in the shadow cabinetFico has tapped ex-ministersfrom his 2006-2010 govern-ment. Ján Počiatek, formerfinance minister, takes upthe same agenda in the

shadow cabinet, as doesformer interior ministerRobert Kaliňák, former cul-ture minister MarekMaďarič, former economyminister Ľubomír Jahnátek,former defence ministerJaroslav Baška, formerhealth minister RichardRaši, and former transportminister Ľubomír Vážny.

All of them are currentlySmer MPs; Raši also servesas mayor of Košice.

Dušan Čaplovič, whoformerly served as the

deputy prime minister forhuman rights and nationalminorities, was entrustedwith the post of Smer’sshadow education minis-ter, while Oľga Algayerová,the former state secretaryat the Foreign Ministry, isSmer’s new shadow foreignminister.

Peter Kažimír, who dur-ing the Fico-led governmentserved as state secretary atthe Finance Ministry, willtake up the post of shadowdeputy prime minister forsocio-economic affairs. Theother shadow deputy primeminister, for human rightsand minorities, is formerSmer MP OľgaNachtmannová.

Róbert Madej, one ofSmer’s youngest MPs, be-comes shadow justice min-ister, while Vladimír Faič,another Smer MP, has beenassigned the agenda of shad-ow minister for programmework and strategies, a de-partment which the currentgovernment does not have.

See SMER pg 5

BY MICHAELATERENZANISpectator staff

MDs: Slovak doctors also disgruntledContinued from pg 1

According to The Prague Post, in thethird quarter of 2010 the national averagesalary was Kč23,655 (almost €1,000) permonth, according to the Czech StatisticalOffice. Doctors earn between Kč45,000and Kč50,000 on average but say thesefigures are based on them workingmassive amounts of overtime.

The campaign could result in severalhospitals in the Czech Republic havingto close down, especially those missingdoctors in key departments like intens-ive care, surgery, internal medicine andradiology, according to the idnes.cznews portal.

Slovaks support their colleagues

Czech doctors have found a sympath-etic ear among their Slovak colleagues.The Slovak Medical Chamber (SLK) haswritten an open letter to the Czech primeminister saying that the chamber has ap-pealed to Slovak specialists not to takejobs in Czech hospitals freed up by theirdeparting Czech counterparts.

“Like in the Czech Republic, in Slov-akia we too experience similar feelings offrustration at the declining social statusof a doctor imprisoned in a politicised andbarely transparent health-care system,”the letter reads.

Katarína Zollerová, the spokespersonof the Slovak Health Ministry, told TheSlovak Spectator that at the moment theministry does not have any specific in-formation about any large number ofSlovak doctors intending to leave for theCzech Republic.

“According to our information, the se-lected hospitals in the vicinity of the bor-der have not recorded any resignations inthis connection,” Zollerová said.

But the Sme daily reported that doc-tors from some hospitals located close to

the Czech border have received offers tohelp out at least part-time. For doctors liv-ing in those regions, working in the CzechRepublic is no problem as they would notneed to move and could just commute.

Ladislav Pásztor, the president of thePrivate Physicians’ Association of Slov-akia, remarked that Slovak doctors willnot leave in large numbers, simply be-cause there are none actually able or will-ing to do so.

“Young doctors up to 30 years oldeither don’t have their internship com-pleted, and therefore can’t leave yet, orhave already left,” Pásztor told The Slov-ak Spectator. “Then we’ve got a huge gap,as there are very few doctors agedbetween 30 and 50. And doctors olderthan 50 are not that willing to trysomething new anymore.”

Young doctors already missing

The fact is that salaries offered byCzech hospitals already serve as a strongincentive for Slovak doctors to considerleaving the Slovak health-care system forbetter money abroad. According to MilanDragula, the president of the SLK,monthly salaries are on average €600higher there for young doctors. Pásztorsaid that in the Czech health-care systemsalaries are two to three times higherthan in Slovakia.

However, experts agree that it is notonly money that serves as an incentive,but also better conditions for profession-al growth, working conditions and thesocial status of doctors.

“In Slovakia a doctor is still seen as aclass enemy that anyone can kick as theylike without punishment,” Pásztor said.

Better salaries and better conditionsfor one’s career development are an at-traction for Slovak doctors in other coun-tries too. According to Dragula, Slovakdoctors get offers from hospitals in Ger-

many, the UK, France, Austria, the Nord-ic countries, and also Arab countries. Inthe case of the Czech Republic, a furtheradvantage is its proximity and the factthat there is no language barrier betweenSlovak doctors and Czech patients.

According to data from the HealthMinistry, there are over 15,500 medicaldoctors and 2,550 dentists working inSlovakia at the moment. Representativesof doctors say the situation is critical.

“We already have problems with alack of doctors now, as many, mainlyyounger doctors, have left for abroad,”Dragula said, adding that the con-sequent problem in Slovakia is that theremaining doctors are relatively elderly,with almost 60 percent of all doctorsworking in health-care facilities in Slov-akia over 55 years old.

Some observers have suggestedthat gaps could be filled by graduatesfrom Ukraine or other countries to theeast of Slovakia. But Pásztor dismissesthat option.

“Who would come to Slovakia if [doc-tors] in Romania already earn almost asmuch?” he asked. “Even if they came,they would do their internship – whichis then valid in the whole of the EU – andmove on.”

Pásztor therefore claims that theSlovak health-care system should onlyrely on educating its own doctors, andthen motivate them not to leave.

“The minister has been leading a dia-logue with doctors since he took up hispost and he will do everything in order forthe prepared changes to have a positiveeffect on the motivation of doctors andnurses,” Zollerová said. These changesshould, according to her, include thetransformation of hospitals, introductionof fair rewards for hospitals for their res-ults on the basis of diagnosis-relatedgroups (DRG), and significant savings viathe drugs policy.

Robert Fico (centre) and his new shadow cabinet. Photo: TASR

2 NEWSJanuary 24 – January 30, 2011

Voting laws to be unified

WITH the next regular elec-tion now years away, thegoverning coalition has setout on a path to unify therules for all of Slovakia’s elec-tions and consolidate theminto a single law, an ElectionCode. The move is expectedto be one of the government’smost important reform initi-atives in 2011 and the primeminister has already an-nounced that she will seekagreement across the politic-al spectrum to pass the legis-lation.

Currently, the five differ-ent elections held in Slovakia– parliamentary, presidential,municipal, regional, and forthe European Parliament –are governed by five differentlaws, each with its own ruleswhich differ to a smaller orlarger extent. For example,there are different rules forfinancing election cam-paigns, on election moratori-ums and their length, and inseveral other significantareas. The governing coali-tion announced in earlyJanuary that it will seek newand unified rules in accord-ance with its programmestatement adopted last year.

The draft Election Code isexpected to be completed inMay 2011. The Interior Min-istry confirmed that a workinggroup has been established toprepare the draft. The coali-tion hopes to present the legis-lative proposal to MPs at theirSeptember session. Pursuingthe changes now is quite well-timed since there is a consid-erable period before Slovakia’snext regular election takesplace – the regional govern-ment elections due in autumn2013. Then 2014 will see whathas been called a ‘super-elec-tion year’, with four majorelections taking place: parlia-mentary, presidential,European and municipal.

The changes

“Unification of the rulesfor all kinds of elections willmake the situation moretransparent, not only for thepolitical parties but also formedia which inform thevoters [about the elections],”Erik Láštic, a political analystfrom the political science de-partment of ComeniusUniversity’s Faculty of Philo-sophy, said in an interviewwith The Slovak Spectator.

The major changes thatPrime Minister IvetaRadičová announced after the

January 11 session of the Co-alition Council include: in-troduction of equivalent timelimits and equivalent trans-parency and review mechan-isms for all elections; unifiedmoratorium rules; no finan-cial limit for any electioncampaign; and cancellation ofthe financial contributionthat political parties receivefrom the state treasury foreach parliamentary mandate.

Other changes that wouldnot be a part of the ElectionCode but would be introducedvia other laws include mak-ing vote-buying a more seri-ous crime and allowing vot-ing via the internet. The co-alition announced that a spe-cial law will be designed forinternet voting because, ac-cording to the coalition, thematter is very complex andrequires that several technic-alities be dealt with in detail.

Broad support is sought

The coalition has said thatit intends to seek politicalsupport for the new electionrules across the political spec-trum and is hoping for supportfrom the opposition as well.

Robert Fico, the head ofSmer, the biggest oppositionparty, said his party “hasnothing against” a unifiedElection Code but expectsthat there will be a thoroughdiscussion among the politic-al players “because electionsconcern every party”.

Fico, however, stated thathe did not agree with the coali-tion proposal to terminatestate financing of parties basedon a certain contribution foreach parliamentary mandate.

“I am very worried thatthis way they will give thepolitical parties over to [finan-cial] sponsors, because if aparty gets legal money fromthe state for election results itis not entirely dependent ondonors,” Fico said, as quotedby the SITA newswire, addingthat membership dues andstate contributions are suffi-cient for any party to financeall its activities.

Financing cuts questioned

Under current rules, polit-ical parties get three differentkinds of contributions fromthe state: for the level of theiractivities, for the number ofvotes received in elections,and for the number of par-liamentary mandates. To-gether, political parties re-ceived around €34 millionfrom the state over the pastelection term (2006-2010), theSme daily reported.

Láštic noted that the per-mandate contribution is thesmallest of the three kinds ofstate financing that theparties receive.

Lawyer Milan Galanda,who ran in the 2010 nationalelections on the Freedom andSolidarity (SaS) slate and cur-rently serves as an adviser toSpeaker of ParliamentRichard Sulík (SaS), has statedthat the relationship betweenthe state and the politicalparties needs to be redefined.

“The state contributionshould consider not only theparty’s result in the parlia-mentary election, but also theresults in other elections anda certain ‘meritocracy’,”Galanda told The Slovak Spec-tator, adding that partiesshould also be ‘rewarded’ forthe size of their membership,their activities, their abilityto raise funds from othersources, their sympathisersand so forth.

Galanda also believes thatlimits for how much money aparty can get from the stateas well as from individualsshould be strictly set.

“What is necessary is newand detailed regulation ofbookkeeping and controls,”Galanda said. “This [book-keeping] must be open, pub-lic, and in the event there areviolations, sanction mechan-isms must work well.”

Expats call for new rules too

Discussion about a newElection Code has againbrought up the issue of Slov-ak citizens voting from

abroad. According to the lawon parliamentary electionsthat became effective in2004, citizens of Slovakia areallowed to vote in parlia-mentary elections by mail ifthey are not physicallypresent in Slovakia on theday of the election. None ofthe other election lawsprovide this possibility forSlovak citizens who havepermanent addresses outsidethe country.

Ján Bilik, the president ofthe civic association MigráciaSK, said in an earlier inter-view with The Slovak Spec-tator that there are about twomillion Slovaks living abroad,while an estimated 200,000to 400,000 of these still holdSlovak citizenship – mainlythose living temporarily orpermanently abroad whohave retained a permanentaddress in Slovakia.

Despite these significantnumbers, the number ofSlovaks voting by mail in2006 (the first time the pos-sibility was granted) wasonly 3,427.

Bilik said there are nostatistics about which coun-tries the votes came from buthe thought it most likelythat many came from theCzech Republic.

There are several reasonswhy casting an absentee bal-lot has been difficult forSlovaks living abroad. Onefrequently mentioned reasonis that people find the pro-cedure complicated andtime-consuming.

Experts agree that itshould be made possible forSlovak expats to vote atSlovak embassies and consu-lates. If voting via the in-ternet is made possible – al-though there are many crit-ical voices against such anoption, arguing it will makeelections more expensive,less safe and more vulner-able to vote-buying prac-tices – it would present an-other option for Slovaks liv-ing outside the country toparticipate in electing theirrepresentatives.

BY MICHAELATERENZANISpectator staff

2014 is being dubbed a super-election year, with four different votes being held. Photo: TASR

TRUST: Remains?Continued from pg 1

Sme initially reportedthat a competitor of Pfizerhad registered a vaccine sim-ilar to the Pfizer product for alower price, which created asituation in which parents ofchildren in need of apneumococcal vaccinationmight have had to pay an ex-tra charge for the Pfizer drug.Sme wrote that in a last-minute move, Pfizer had re-quested permission from theHealth Ministry to sell a re-categorised product andUhliarik’s ministry promptlyapproved the request. Thedaily reported that othercompanies usually had towait nearly 100 days for suchapproval, including the timespent in proceedings beforethe categorisation commis-sion. Sme noted that Uhliarikhad worked for Pfizer in thepast and that his brother stillworked for the firm.

Uhliarik insisted that theministry acted in the publicinterest. “I haven’t done any-thing wrong; neither I northis ministry or other peoplehere; we proceeded in linewith the law,” he said, asquoted by the SITA newswire.

The minister claimedthat he acted in the best in-terests of patients and eventhe state budget because theministry has saved funds. Hestated that the ministry un-der his leadership scrappedPfizer’s monopoly on thismedication and also secureda lower price for the vaccinethat will save health insurersabout €1 million each year,SITA wrote.

The ministry’s officialnews release also called re-ports that Pfizer’s Prevenarvaccine was approved in asingle day a “myth” andstated that all the documents,which are publicly accessibleon the internet, prove thatthe ministry had been con-tinuously dealing with issuessurrounding the pneumococ-cal vaccine since a September2010 meeting of the categor-isation committee.

The ministry stated thatthe fact that the final applica-tion, “as a result of negoti-ations with the producer andpressure by the ministry toreduce the price, were de-livered to the ministry only inthe month of December andseemingly handled in couplehours” does not change thefact that the whole issue hadbeen resolved in a compre-hensive manner.

Pfizer vigorously rejectedcharges of cronyism or viola-tion of any laws during thecategorisation process forPrevenar.

Uhliarik’s arguments ap-parently persuaded Radičováand the prime minister’sspokesman released a state-ment stating that the min-istry had decided in the pub-lic interest and in accordancewith the law to make bothvaccines available and, whenprescribed, to be fully

covered by Slovak health in-surers while at the sametime lowering health in-surers’ costs for the drugs,the TASR newswire wrote.

The opposition Smerparty is apparently not con-vinced about the propriety ofthe action of the health min-ister and its leader, RobertFico, has suggested that sev-eral deputies from the Free-dom and Solidarity andMost-Híd parties are alsounhappy with Radičová’sstatement of trust in Uh-liarik. The signatures of 30MPs are required to summona parliamentary session todiscuss no-confidence in agovernment minister andFico has said he would like tocall such a session in Febru-ary.

SITA reported that Ficocalled Uhliarik’s action a“textbook example ofcronyism and corruption”,insisting that the ministerhad personally arranged theexemption for the largepharmaceutical firm forwhich he had previouslyworked and which currentlyemploys his brother.

Transparency watchdoggroups said that this particu-lar case reveals a need to ad-dress how drugs are categor-ised in Slovakia and called formuch more light on the en-tire process.

Gabriel Šípoš, the direct-or of Transparency Interna-tional Slovensko and An-gelika Szalayová, an analystwith the Health Policy Insti-tute, both stated that thewhole process of categor-ising drugs in Slovakiashould have more clearlydefined and have legislat-ively-mandated rules, sayingthat several steps in the cat-egorisation process are notcovered by regulations ordirectives but only by someloose professionalguidelines, SITA wrote.

Radičová stated that theactions and procedures of theHealth Ministry should notevoke any doubt in the publicand that a revision to the lawon health care will be pre-pared.

Katarína Zollerová, thespokeswoman of the HealthMinistry, confirmed to TheSlovak Spectator that a pro-posed revision to the law isexpected to undergo interde-partmental review in Febru-ary.

“The main goals of therevision are to increasetransparency within theprocess of categorisation,such as publishing audio re-cordings and [participants’]names and the way thatmembers of the categorisa-tion commission voted,”Zollerová said, adding thatthe ministry is also consider-ing stricter regulation ofdrug prices and new toolsthat should lead to more ef-fective use of public health-care funds as well as assuringaccessibility to the categor-ised drugs.

3January 24 – January 30, 2011NEWS

Governmentseeks to pass asingle ElectionCode this year

Polish poultry repackaged as Slovak

SOME businesses in Slovakiaare repackaging foreign-ori-gin poultry even though theyare not authorised to do this,according to several inspec-tions initiated by the Agri-culture Ministry, the SITAnewswire reported.

Poultry originating in Po-land that had been repack-aged with labels saying itwas of Slovak origin wasfound in two businesses,Hydina Košice andPodtatranská Hydina, based

on special inspections con-ducted in January. Neithercompany had the necessaryauthorisation to do so.

“I'm not saying that con-sumers' health was en-dangered but consumerswere misled regarding whatproduct they were buying,[believing] that they werebuying a Slovak productwhen it was actually a Polishone,” said Agriculture Minis-ter Zsolt Simon, as quoted bySITA.

Unemployment rate up in December

THE UNEMPLOYMENT ratein Slovakia at the end ofDecember rose by 0.24 per-centage points, month-on-month, to 12.46 percent, ac-cording to the Central Officefor Labour, Social Affairs andFamily.

The registered unem-ployment rate fell 0.20 per-centage points in December2010 compared to December2009. Slovakia’s labour of-fices registered 334,903 un-employed people who werewilling and able to immedi-ately take up jobs, the SITAnewswire reported.

The overall number of

jobless persons registeredwith labour offices, includ-ing those not immediatelyable to take up work, was381,209 at the end of lastyear. This was a month-on-month increase of 6,928 per-sons and a year-on-year in-crease of 1,656.

The unemployment ratecalculated from the overallnumber of registered joblesspersons was 14.19 percent,having increased by 0.26 per-centage points from the pre-vious month while droppingby 0.13 percentage pointsfrom the unemployment ratein December 2009.

Radičová halts rail company layoffs

THE PLANNED mass layoffsof more than 4,000 employ-ees in the three state-con-trolled railway companieshave been postponed. TheMinistry of Transport, Con-struction and Regional De-velopment must first elabor-ate and submit to cabinet arecovery plan for the loss-making railway companies,the SITA newswire reported.

Prime Minister IvetaRadičová instructed Trans-port Minister Ján Figeľ tohalt all plans for layoffs ofrailway employees until aplan to revitalise the railway

companies is approved.SITA wrote that Radičová

made her decision after shewas informed by the head ofthe railway trade union,František Petroci, about theunion’s negative attitudetoward the announced re-dundancies unless theTransport Ministry elabor-ated a revitalisation programthat would support the de-velopment of railway trans-port in Slovakia.

“Layoffs are the last re-sort solution,” the TransportMinistry’s spokesperson,Martin Krajčovič, told SITA.

Steel mill in Košicegets new leaders

THE TOP management of thebiggest private employer inSlovakia, steel maker U.S. SteelKošice (USSK), has seen its firstmajor reshuffle in three years.David Rintoul was appointedthe new vice-president ofEuropean operations and pres-ident of USSK, replacingGeorge Babcoke, who is re-turning to the US to serve assenior vice president ofEuropean operations andglobal operation services atUnited States Steel (USS) Cor-poration.

On January 17, USS BoardChairman and Chief ExecutiveOfficer John Surma intro-duced the new USSK presid-ent. At a press conference inKošice Surma thanked Bab-coke for the work he had putin, and expressed his convic-tion that Rintoul, who he de-scribed as an experienced

manager and qualified special-ist, will maintain the excellentwork of the Košice steelworks.Rintoul in turn described hisappointment as an honour.

“I intend to continueachieving outstanding resultswith the company in the fields

of safety, environment andother aspects of business,”said Rintoul. “I am lookingforward to working togetherwith the local community. Iwant to continue with theactivities of my predecessor,and to go on adding to them.”

Babcoke described his al-most three years of work inKošice as a tremendous oppor-tunity.

“Together with the com-pany I survived the period ofworldwide financial and eco-nomic crisis,” said Babcoke,adding that he believes thecompany came out of itstronger and more experi-enced.

Currently USSK, includingits daughter companies, em-ploys 13,500 people. It hired200 workers with special skillsand education during 2010.

Positive outlook

“2009 and 2010 represen-ted the most complicatedperiod in both OECD countriesand North-American opera-tions with regard to the steelmarket,” said Surma, addingthat to date the market has notcompletely recovered from theglobal crisis.

See STEEL pg 6


TOLL: UNAS move dubbed 'political'Continued from pg 1

“Nobody among us knows the officialstance of the Slovak government on tollcollection, or on the dubious tender whichended [with the contract to build and op-erate the e-toll system] in Cypriot hands,”UNAS head Jaroslav Polaček said on Janu-ary 15, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Hewas referring to the fact that former op-position leader and now transport minis-ter Ján Figeľ is having to defend, before theEuropean Commission, the controversialselection under the previous governmentof a consortium – one of whose members isCyprus-registered – to build and operatethe toll system. “Because of this we areannouncing a strike alert until February 15to give the current government room todeal with our requirements.”

UNAS regards the e-toll system as op-erating poorly and fines for truckers forbad setting of their onboard units (OBUs;used to track vehicles by satellite andmeasure their road use) as potentiallybankrupting.

The truckers of UNAS have several de-mands. They want collection of highwaytolls to be halted until the mega-tender –its reported value is around €800 million –is checked by an international auditor; col-lection of the car tax to be moved from re-gional governments to the state to preventregional differences; for the car tax to bedecreased in order to remove internationaldiscrimination; and for the taxes collectedto be used exclusively for the repair andmaintenance of roads.

They are also calling for truckers to becompensated for their increased costs viaa refund of the excise tax on fuels, and for acooperation agreement to be signedbetween UNAS and the Transport Min-istry, according to UNAS’ website. UNASgives the government one month to nego-tiate over their demands. If they do not,the truckers say they are prepared to re-peat the action they took at the beginningof 2010, when they blocked Slovak roads.

A day before UNAS declared its strikealert the Ministry of Transport set outplans to halve fines for violations of the e-toll collection system from July 1. Thecabinet intends to discuss the new legis-lation in late February or early March, theSITA newswire wrote. The ministry isalready working on several proposals toimprove the current e-toll system.

“This process started earlier,” saidArpád Érsek, the Transport Ministry statesecretary, as cited by SITA. “There weremore proposals, but this is one of thosewhich we knew we were able to carry outmost quickly.”

Ľubomír Palčák, director of theTransport Research Institute (VÚD),based in Žilina, interpreted UNAS’ de-mand to halt collection of tolls until thetender is checked by an independent in-ternational analyst as being more politic-al than practical.

“I think that the toll system worksand this is making somebody angry,”Palčák said, as cited by SITA. “After oneyear of its operation it is necessary fromthe viewpoint of the ministry to do properanalyses about the scope of road sectionssubject to payment of tolls [and decide]whether or not to cancel some or to intro-duce the toll on new ones.”

Palčák also called for an analysis of thetoll on business and on the country’s eco-nomy.

“We already know that the impact onthe prices of basic goods with regards tothe toll is minimal or effectively none,”said Palčák, adding that this is in contrastto predictions made by UNAS a year ago.“We are also looking at the impact onbusinessmen-hauliers, but this must beobjective. More than 40 percent of the tollincome is from foreign hauliers. We mustbe interested only in local businessmen.”

According to Palčák, it is necessary tolook at a potential change in the ratesfrom the point of view of variability. Heproposes to increase rates at peak times inorder for the toll to work in a more regu-

latory way. Moreover, he argued, tollrates should be more differentiated fromthe viewpoint of each truck’s environ-mental impact, in order for the toll to mo-tivate truckers to use more environment-ally-friendly trucks.

“It is necessary to work actively withinteroperability in order that haulierswithin the EU have only one onboard unitand one contract,” said Palčák. “These arethemes with which it is necessary to deal;here hauliers should be active and notbring additional politics into the matter.”

According to Palčák, as quoted by SITA,the toll will be used increasingly as an in-strument of European transport policies inorder to employ its regulatory function andsimultaneously harmonise conditions forroad transport with less burdensome al-ternatives, especially rail transport.

Tolls collected

SkyToll, the operator of the electronictoll system, collected almost €141.6 mil-lion last year. Out of this, tolls collectedfor use of highways and dual carriage-ways accounted for €87.5 million and tollscollected on selected first-category roadstotalled €49.6 million. Transit ticketing,used when a foreign trucker buys a passjust for one-way transit via Slovakia, ac-counted for €4.5 million. Of the total tollscollected, foreign firms paid over 42 per-cent, the SITA newswire wrote.

At the end of 2010 over 188,885 activeOBUs, of which over 66 percent were usedby vehicles from abroad, were registeredin the e-toll system. Vehicle operatorsprefer the pre-paid toll system. This sys-tem is more popular with foreign truck-ers and as many as 88 percent of all re-gistered vehicles use it. In the case ofSlovakia, the proportion of truckers opt-ing to prepay was 66 percent.

The e-toll system covers over 2,400kilometres of highways, dual carriage-ways and selected first-category roads inSlovakia.

4 BUSINESSJanuary 24 – January 30, 2011

Social insurer to lay off hundreds

THE STATE social insurancecompany, Sociálna Poisťovňa(SP), is planning to lay off 600of its current 5,900 employ-ees by the end of July, SP’sgeneral director, ĽubošLopatka, told the TASRnewswire on January 17.

Lopatka said that SP isnot doing this primarily tocut its expenditures.

“We're not reducing the

number of people because it'sin the budget, because some-body ordered us to do so, ordue to the crisis. This is rightand it is necessary to do thisso that the institution func-tions properly,” Lopatkasaid, adding that the changeswould improve client focus.

SP should save around €8million overall, with initialsavings of €2 million.

Bratislava connects with Yerevan

ARMENIAN airline Armaviabegins operating new weeklyflights between Bratislavaand the Armenian capital ofYerevan on January 24. Theflights will operate onMondays.

The company will fly

Airbus A319s with 134 seats.The current price for a one-way ticket ranges from €137to €563, depending on seatcategory.


from press reports

(From left) David Rintoul, John Surma and George Babcoke atthe press conference. Photo:TASR

112

IT SEEMS the Slovak counter-part to the American 911 emer-gency line could use some life-support itself. On one weekendin January, many ambulancecrews complained that theywere slowly running out ofsupplies, thanks to new distri-bution rules introduced by theHealth Ministry.

Once that problem was re-solved, the 112 emergency linecrashed in the Žilina Region,forcing the Interior Ministry torelease a list of regular cell-phone numbers that peoplewere to call when in need. Andthen finally came news thatduring that system collapse awoman died – not because shecouldn’t reach an ambulance.

Doctors were informed. Butcurrent legislation doesn’t al-low them to leave their sta-tions without explicit com-mands from the operationcentre – whose line was dead.

So within just a week wesaw a failure of leadership,

technical infrastructure, le-gislation and individual de-cision-making.

So far, no one seems to beaccepting responsibility for theabsurd situation – Health Min-ister Ivan Uhliarik refused toeven acknowledge there was aproblem with supplies, thestate blamed Slovak Telekomfor the dead line, the firm inturn blamed everything on“human error”, and ambulancecrews said going out withoutexplicit orders would meansanctions against them.

Wondering who to call in asituation when the emer-gency system is showing signsof serious illness makes nosense. Even if there was anumber, it would not work;the person on the other endwould not care; and therewould be some law forbiddinghim to do anything anyway.

SMER: Enviro ministry? No need.Continued from pg 2

The other big difference in structure com-pared to the current government is the absenceof an environment brief. The Environment Min-istry was cancelled shortly before the end of Ficogovernment’s term, along with the Construc-tion Ministry, only to be restored by the newcentre-right government after the elections.

“We’re convinced that joining the Envir-onment Ministry with the agriculture depart-ment, which we did in the last term, was right,”Fico said, as quoted by the TASR newswire.

Thus, in his shadow cabinet the environ-ment agenda will be monitored by the shadowagriculture minister. This post is taken by an-other former minister, Stanislav Becík, whoserved as agriculture minister for a short timeas a nominee of Smer’s then-junior coalitionpartner, the Movement for a Democratic Slov-akia (HZDS). The HZDS is no longer represen-ted in parliament. Becík became known to theSlovak public partly thanks to his journeyacross Slovakia in the summer of 2009 in ahorse-drawn carriage festooned with bannersin support of rural development.

The other non-partisan member of Fico’sshadow cabinet is Zuzana Zvolenská, who willoversee labour and social affairs. VieraTomanová, who served for the whole of theprevious term under Fico as his labour minis-ter, is thus the only Smer former minister to beleft out of the shadow cabinet.

“Mrs Tomanová has always had my trust,”Fico said, when asked why she had been over-looked by the Sme daily. “She is a person withincredibly strong social feeling.” Despite that,she was not selected as his shadow minister be-cause Smer, according to Fico, needs someonewho can deal with social policy from a distance.

Zvolenská is a board member of the privatehealth insurer Dôvera and also its director forrevisions. “I don’t see it as a conflict [of in-terests], it absolutely doesn’t interfere with mywork duties,” Zvolenská said, as quoted by TASR.

Observers, however, pointed out thatZvolenská now is a member of the shadow cab-inet of Fico, whose government passed a lawwhich banned private health insurers frommaking a profit. The insurers, including Dôvera,have criticised Fico for this step and several ofthem have taken legal action against the state.

Dancing in the shadowsROBERT Fico has introducedhis 16-member shadow cab-inet to the public. Neverthe-less, its shadow ministerswill also live in Fico’s shadowand it is unlikely that any ofthem will independently putcounterproposals on the ta-ble in response to initiativesby the governing coalition.The boss of Smer is perfectlysuited for the post of shadowprime minister and he willfully use this opportunity tocreate the impression that ifanything unpopular hap-pens, he and his shadow min-isters are ready to take over.

Fico is perhaps even bet-ter suited for the post ofshadow prime minister thansitting prime minister sinceeven when he sat in the PM’schair between 2006 and 2010he never shook off some ofthe manners of an oppositionpolitician, maintaining aconfrontational tone that di-vided rather than unitedSlovak society.

Does Fico’s new shadowcabinet represent any signsof self-reflection after Smerwas forced to move into op-position? Not many.

It is true that not all ofFico’s past darlings andprotégées have made it intothe shadow cabinet and willthus remain in the darkenedcorners of political life. Forexample, former labour min-ister Viera Tomanová – themother of Slovakia’s infam-ous social companies, ques-tionable enough to motivateauditors from Brussels tocome to Slovakia to have acloser look – is not part of theshadow crew. But whenasked about his formerguardian of social policies,Fico said that he still trustsher even though she left of-fice having to explain whyshe signed a lavish contractwith one of the institutionsoperating under her ministrythat would have guaranteedher extra income of up to€60,000 until 2013.

“Ms Tomanová has al-ways had my trust,” Fico toldthe Sme daily, saying that

“she has incredible sympathyfor social issues” but that henow needs someone who cancoordinate social policiesfrom a certain distance.

But Fico did decide tobring back a short-lived agri-culture minister from his

government – StanislavBecík, who will forever beremembered for travellingaround Slovakia by horse-drawn carriage while writingnaive poetry in praise of thecountry’s farmers.

Most members of the“good old team” from 2006 to2010 are now part of theshadow cabinet. MarekMaďarič, the father ofSlovakia’s internationally-criticised Press Code willwatch over cultural issues.Dušan Čaplovič, who afterhis less-than-inspiring per-formance as deputy primeminister for minorities andhuman rights, will keep hiseye on the education agenda.And Fico’s former financemaster, Ján Počiatek, returns– along with his almost for-gotten little story of yachtingin Monte Carlo with a finan-cial tycoon in the run–up tothe introduction of the euroand the subsequent buzz thattheir chats might have been

about something more thanthe colour of the sea or thequality of the champagne.

Under certain conditionsa shadow cabinet can be ahealthy counterbalance thatexercises oversight on thepolicies of the sitting gov-ernment and provides ex-pertise from those who havehad previous ministerial ex-perience. We will see wheth-er that will be the outcomehere in Slovakia between 2011and 2014.

If one is to trust Fico’swords then one of the first is-sues facing his new shadowlabour minister, ZuzanaZvolenská, who according toSme daily serves as a man-ager for a private health in-surer, will be changes inSlovakia’s Labour Code thathave been advanced by thegoverning coalition. Fico de-scribed this issue as being asimportant for Smer as abor-tion would be for the Christi-an Democratic Movement.

Fico, indeed, seems tohave sympathy for the peti-tion started by the trade uni-on confederation againstchanges to the Labour Code, apetition that may lead to areferendum vote some timethis year. The unions are de-manding a 35-hour workingweek, down from 40 hours,with no reduction in pay andthey expect hundreds ofthousands of people to signtheir petition. Though Ficohad some kind of deal withthe unions which garneredpast support for his party, hecan now simply wait and seewhat kind of mass appealthe petition will find andhow he might use the “voxpopuli” in various ways inthe coming years.

Certainly changes in thelabour legislation offer Fico ahuge playground for rhetor-ical exercises and perhapsthe only thing he might beregretting right now is thatthe Radičová government didnot choose to pursue thesechanges just a couple ofmonths before the next par-liamentary election.

5OPINION / NEWS

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:“Fico lied to me so many times about essential things thatI have no reason to seek him out now. He made mistakesthat sprang out of his self-conceit and his thirst for power.”

Vladimír Mečiar on Robert Fico, his former coalition partner

SLOVAK WORDOF THE WEEK EDITORIAL


BY LUKÁŠ FILASpecial to the Spectator

€€€

€

€€€

€€€

€€€

€€€ 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 published in 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 suchcommercial 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.

J ÁN PALLO - Publisher

EDITORIALBE ATA BALOGOVÁ - Editor - In - Chief J AM E S THOM SON - Assistant EditorD ONALD SPATZ - Assistant EditorJ ANA LIP TÁKOVÁ - Staff Writer

M IC HAE LA TER ENZANI - Staff WriterDOM INIK A UHRÍKOVÁ - Staff Writer

ZUZANA VILIKOVSK Á - News Researcher

LAYOUT, WEB & IT TATIANA ŠTRAUC HOVÁ - Graphic Designer

ROM AN K RÁ Ľ - ITTOM Á Š PALLO - Online Publishing

SALES - FINANCESB EATA FOJ TÍKOVÁ - Sales Executive

M ARTINA ŠM ATLÁKOVÁ - PR and Marketing ManagerM ARTA FUK ASOVÁ - Advertising AssistantD ÁŠA R EHÁKOVÁ - Circulation Manager

January 24 – January 30, 2011

STEEL: Prospects lookmuch better for 2011Continued from pg 4

With regards to the out-look for 2011, Surma said thatthere is an indication thatEuropean and Americanmarkets have begun to re-cover and grow, especially inthe automotive industry,and this year is therefore ex-pected to be better than thepreceding two.

“We expect improve-ment on the market in 2011in order to reach a pointwhere we will be able to in-vest in new capacities,maybe in a tinplating line,conti-annealing lines,” saidSurma. “Everything dependson market development in2011; we are so-called carefuloptimists.”

With regards to capacityutilisation, the period2004-2008 was a good one forthe steelmaking industry,with 85-90 percent of capa-city in European Unionmember countries being util-ised, compared to approxim-ately 50 percent in 2009, ac-cording to Surma. Currently,70-75 percent of EU capacityis being used.

“Our corporation hasreached slightly better fig-ures because of the product-mix, since the market hasrevived,” said Surma, addingthat round steel producers,for example, are still suffer-ing because of partial stagna-tion in civil engineering.“We have ascertained, Ihope, that the situation hasbeen slowly getting better.We are optimistic with re-gard to USS performancefrom the long-term point ofview both here in Slovakiaand in the US since we seegrowth in the EU, a focus onproduction and industry aswell as governmental actionsthat should support theeconomy.”

At the press conferenceSurma also denied rumoursthat his company was con-sidering selling U.S. SteelKošice, calling this purespeculation.

“What you have heardtoday should indicate to youthat such intentions wouldbe unreasonable; all theplans in Slovakia are of along-term nature,” he em-phasised.

6 NEWS / BUSINESSJanuary 24 – January 30, 2011

LABOUR: Fico backs unions' stanceContinued from pg 1

KOZ spokesman Otto Ewiaksaid that the petition is a re-sponse to what unionists see asthe “threat” of large-scale revi-sion of the current Labour Code.They claim that the plannedchanges would significantly re-duce the protection of employ-ees during hiring and firing,prolong the probationary periodfor new employees from three tosix months, shorten the noticeperiod to one month, cancel thecombination of severance pay-ment and notice period, worsenthe working conditions of em-ployees and weaken their pro-tection during mass layoffs.

The unions say a 35-hourworking week and reducedovertime might ultimately de-liver new jobs and humanisework “while employees couldbetter organise their personallives and reduce the level ofaccidents and healthproblems,” Ewiak told TheSlovak Spectator.

Ewiak explained that whencitizens sign the petition it doesnot mean that they are agreeingwith all of KOZ’s proposals; in-stead, it means that they agreethat the questions should be setout in the referendum.

Opposition Smer partyleader Robert Fico said that thefight over the new form of theLabour Code will be very signi-ficant politically.

“This is as important for usas perhaps abortion is for theChristian Democrats,” Fico saidon January 9, in an interviewwith SITA. “We will take a veryprincipled stand behind the pro-tection of the form of the LabourCode and we reject the interven-tions that today the rightistgovernment is talking about.”

According to Fico, his partywill not organise demonstra-tions or support strikes,however the party would sup-port peaceful demonstrationsorganised by the unions to ex-press their stand.

Meanwhile, Radičovápointed out that the trade uni-ons had signed a cooperationagreement with Smer and hadalso rejected an invitation toparticipate in the workinggroup.

The unions responded thatthe government, despite sever-al calls not only by KOZ but alsoby the Association of EmployerUnions of Slovakia (AZZZ), hadstill not submitted a compre-hensive proposal for changes tothe Labour Code.

Ewiak argued that the ref-erendum is a legitimate tooland a legal way to achieve theunions’ goal, which will showthe degree of citizens’ in-terest. He said that unionistsmight collect as many as onemillion signatures.

Overall, the unions wantthe existing Labour Code toremain in its present form:such a proposition is in factpart of the first petition ques-tion. Ewiak argues that theLabour Ministry has not for-mulated specific proposals forthe changes it intends tocarry out and is thus limitingthe space for compromise.

“We learned about thethreats of the prepared La-bour Code from thegovernment’s programmestatement, from statementsby Mihál at the cabinet sit-ting, parliament, press andalso from coalitionpoliticians,” Ewiak said.

Business cautious

Some organisations arenot so keen on the idea of areferendum. The Food Cham-ber of Slovakia (PKS) employ-ers’ organisation, for in-stance, has objected to the pe-tition proposal and called onthe unions to halt it.

Employers united in theNational Union of Employers(RÚZ) condemned the peti-tion, and suggested that theunions’ efforts to preventchanges to the Labour Code,and their proposals to cutworking hours and overtime,would “repel foreign investorsand damage Slovakia’seconomy”. RÚZ also said thatthe decision by KOZ to sign anagreement with Smer meansit has lost its independenceand its status as a social part-ner, and has instead become asatellite of the oppositionparty, SITA wrote.

The AZZZ said last weekthat it believes strikes or ref-erendums over social issueswould not contribute to therevival of the economy andthe creation of new jobs.

However on January 18,the AZZZ met representativesof KOZ and found there weresome Labour Code issues overwhich they were able to agree.

“We agreed that it is neces-sary to preserve the flexi-ac-count in the revised LabourCode, nevertheless specificconditions of its functioningshould be elaborated in a waythat its wider and problem-freeuse is possible,” said AZZZ vice-president Rastislav Machunka.

Employers and unions alsoagreed on the need to harmon-ise legislation governing em-ployees’ working time in fire-fighting units in the publicand private sector.

Employers say one of thebiggest problems with thecode is the issue of the en-

forceability of labour laws,something which will have tobe addressed by the JusticeMinistry.

“In association with theelimination of labour-relatedlegal disputes we consider itimportant, among otherthings, to legally define basicrules governing serious viola-tions of labour disciplinewhere in practice there arefrequently conflicts, mainlyover the issue of the validityof ending labour relations,”Machunka said.

There are neverthelessmultiple issues over which theAZZZ and the unions continueto differ.

The American Chamber ofCommerce in Slovakia(AmCham), which groups over300 companies doing businessin the country, contributed todiscussion of the country’s la-bour law by calling for changeswhich AmCham said wouldtake into consideration thespecific nature of Slovakia’seconomy and social systemand support growth in em-ployment while preservingthe basic preconditions ofSlovakia’s competitiveness.

AmCham representativesmet Labour Minister JozefMihál on October 26, 2010, andsuggested that making thelegal definition of ‘dependentwork’ more specific, and mak-ing termination of work con-tracts more flexible, wouldbenefit the labour market.Slovakia’s Labour Code gener-ally only covers those employ-ees with ‘dependent work’ es-tablished through an em-ployment relationship anddoes not apply to business ortrade activity based on con-tractual civil-law or commer-cial-law relationships.

More flexibility for em-ployers to regulate workinghours including overtime ornight shifts, along with re-moval of what the chambercalled the unjustified powersof representatives of tradeunions, also appear onAmCham’s list of suggestions.The chamber also proposedexpanding the possibility foremployers to use temporaryemployees.

Labour unions protested before Christmas. Photo: TASR

REAL ESTATE

CLASSIFIEDS

OFFER!Holiday Country House in a spatown of Turčianske Teplice providesaccommodation in a cottage environment. On disposal: 2 flat units. Suitable for the groupsof 4-18 persons, minimum 2 nights.More details: www.slovanet.sk/rekreacnydom,contact: [email protected].

REAL ESTATE

C 3664

C3665

Take yourchanceand place your

classified advertisement.For information call:

02 / 59 233 311,or e-mail:

[email protected]

Private Bilingual School with Kindergarten in Trnava is looking for a part-time NATIVE SPEAKER.

• teaching experience – essential• primary teaching qualification can lead to a full time possition• starting asap or in feb 2011• salary negotiable

for further details please contact us on +421 907 607 635 or [email protected]

Frequency discounts:● 3x - 10x 5%● 11x - 19x 7,5%● 20x and more 15%NOTE:Prices do not include value added tax(VAT 19%)!DEADLINE: Wednesday, 12:00, for publication that week; otherwise,the advert will be published the following Friday.FOR MORE INFORMATION: email:[email protected]: +421 2 59 233-311fax: +421 2 59 233-319or write: The Slovak Spectator, Lazaretská 12811 08 Bratislava, Slovak ia.

11//4488 ppaaggee

44 x 41 mm

€ 25

1/12 page

91,5 x 87 mm€ 100

1/24 page

44 x 87 mm91,5 x 41 mm

€ 50

Advertising rates for business classifieds

or

2. Prices for business classified ads (according to size):

1. Prices of classified ads

(according to no. of words)● Up to 20words - € 10

● Up to 50 words - € 20

● Up to 70 words - € 30

● Up to 100 words - € 40

● Up to 150 words - € 60

Additional options● Logo or picture ins ertion

+ € 7

● Bold or capital bold letters + € 0.3/word

● Box + € 3

● Box with shading + € 7

C 3634

RELIGIOUS SERVICES

ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORSHIPBratislava International Church

Sundays, 9:30 at historic Small Lutheran Church

(Malý evanjelický kostol) in central Bratislava (near Hodzovo namestie); on Lycejna at intersection

with Panenska 26/28.Children's Sunday School provided.

Everyone Welcome.Information at 02-5443-3263

Web Site: www.bratislavainternationalchurch.org

C 3573

APARTMENTS + HOUSESfor rent:

• city center – 2-room large furnishedapartment

• Koliba – brand new 2-,3-, 4-roomapartments

• Drotárska ul. – large 4-roomapartment, 150 sqm + garage

• family and town houses – Polusarea, Kramáre, Koliba, Horský park,...

www.madison.sk, 0905 - 659 [email protected]

C 3655

Steel production at U.S. Steel Košice. Photo: TASR

Temptations of the photographer

“IT’S like from the movie LastYear at Marienbad,” says YuriDojc as, en route to an inter-view, he takes a picture of acourtyard covered with snow,unable to resist the tempta-tion that a window at thestaircase of a Bratislava gal-lery offers. Dojc, a prominentCanadian photographer withSlovak roots, was referring tothe black-and-white moviefrom 1961.

Yet ‘Temptation’ is alsothe title of the exhibition thatbrings Dojc back to Bratislavatwo years after he presentedhis People, Cemeteries andFragments display in theSlovak National Museum.This time, Dojc has brought tothe Slovak capital over 60 im-ages in seven series present-ing the extensive scope of hiswork from Nudes, which se-cured him worldwide fame,via Portraits, Books, CityScapes, Rwanda, AmericanDreams, up to Surreal. Manyof the exhibited photos havecollected major awards, mostrecently the moving Rwandaseries. Though Dojc visitedRwanda more than 10 yearsafter the genocide there, hisphotos convey the continuingfeeling of fear and loss.

The Slovak Spectator spoketo Dojc about his work, the roleof images, history and the in-volvement of the photograph-er in the affairs of the world.

The Slovak Spectator (TSS):Why Temptation?

Yuri Dojc (YD): The nameof the exhibition resulted fromdiscussions with its curator,Marián Pauer. It was a sort ofping-pong. First we did notknow what to call it and then

we somehow settled forPokušenie. However, themeaning of the Slovak wordpokušenie has a more sexualundertone, while temptationin English is more general.Perhaps Slovak is a sexier lan-guage than English.

Most of the exhibited im-ages are my latest works. Somenudes date back to the 1980sbut, thank God, they do notappear that old. The seriesAmerican Dreams are probablythe oldest images exhibitedhere. I created these in a naive,playful way. The fact that I didthem in an old-fashionedmanner does not make thembetter or worse, but almostevery image has to be donewith a certain emotion, oth-erwise the whole work turnsSalieri-like: which means thatit is fine, though it misses thesoul. The soul comes only with

emotions when something isreally pushing the man. Un-fortunately, most photographsare soulless.

TSS: Why do you think thatit is important to recall his-tory, for example in theseries Books, in which youdepict old, crumbling Jew-ish books?

YD: But this is not history;it is the present since this ishow those books look today. IfI had wanted to remindpeople of history, I wouldhave to be a writer. Almosteverybody knows about thathistory and those who don’tcan Google it or check it out onWikipedia. But there mustalso be a different way to tellthe story, a more universalone. And art should be a uni-versal language, a non-specif-ic and abstract language.

Even though the books areJewish the project is univer-sal. Actually, its biggest fansaren’t Jews but, for example,a Muslim Iranian writer. Ifthis project was only Jewish,it would be very narrow. Thebooks are Jewish but theseare books nevertheless: abook is a book, it is made of atree and the tree does nothave any religion. The prob-lem of loss and decay is uni-

versal. Those people have dis-appeared and when you talkabout this loss you are veryspecific. Then you look at thebooks which are slowly dy-ing, in the same way aspeople are dying, but whenyou show this decay you aremore global. Those peopleperished in a different deaththan others. These are uni-versal truths and it does notmake any difference whetherthis happened during theSecond World War or inRwanda. But when you showthe decaying books you areshowing the mirror of decay.

TSS: Are you still working onthe Books project?

YD: The Books project hasled me to those Canadian sol-diers, which was a fully nat-ural transition. This is what Ilike the most about my work:that things start to inter-twine. You are working onone project and then you startto think: Who were behindthe salvation of at least someof those people? I live inCanada and there are stillsome people alive who helpedto save those people. When Iam portraying them I want toturn them into heroes, in a

way I see them or want themto be seen.

TSS: In such portraits thephotographer is oftendeeply ‘involved’. But in im-ages from the City Scapesseries you are a distantobserver…

YD: Yes, the cities series isa sort of flying around theworld while depicting theuniversality of world cities. Itmakes no difference whetheryou are in Paris or New York.It actually can be any city;they all are ‘human anthills’where we all live. That’s why Iam not saying where I tookthese photos. This made sensewhen people didn’t use totravel but today they travel alot. These photos, where I amout of the crowd, are com-pletely opposite to those fromthe Surreal series, where I amvery close and involved. Thereis a sole individual in eachphoto and I am involved withthat individual. There is a re-lationship there.

TSS: Your way into photo-graphy was not straight-forward. You attended sec-ondary technical school inBratislava and then studiedpsychology at university.Would you have become aphotographer without allthe random chances whichdirected you to photo-graphy?

YD: Absolutely not, it wascompletely unthinkable; therehadn’t been even a crack to getclose to becoming a photo-grapher. If one believes infate; then it was the work offate. My parents picked thesecondary school for me and atthat time I did not care, I wastoo young. I did not have anyclue what I wanted to do withmy life. At that time therewasn’t much choice: electro-technology, chemical engin-eering or machine engineer-ing. I didn’t even know thatthere was a school of appliedart in Bratislava. If you did notmove in certain circles, yousimply did not know.

During my universityyears, I went for a language

course to Great Britain. Afterthe invasion [of Czechoslov-akia] by Warsaw Pact troopsin August 1968, I did not re-turn and went to Toronto.Here, by mere chance, Iwalked into the RyersonPolytechnical Institute and Imet a guy there while I wasobserving the photos. Hetold me I had an accent andasked about the invasion and[Alexander] Dubček, andnothing about photography.Today, I cannot even recallour whole conversation,only that I asked him whatkind of school it was becauseI did not know where I was.He told me it was a photo-graphy faculty. Then Ithought I could actuallystudy there. I did not evenhave a camera. But the guydecided to accept me.

At that time I had nothad the urge to find myself; Iwanted, in the first place, tosurvive, which actuallymeant to have a job that ful-filled me. It came only muchlater.

Yet, nowadays a photo-grapher can give a man only abit of joy, or move or stop aman for a while when seeingan artwork in a gallery; allthe people are so busy andhanging on mobile phonesmost of the time.

TSS: Do you think that thetime when photos wereable to change the world isover?

YD: There are iconic pho-tos, which changed the worldby conveying certain mes-sages. Nowadays we knowthat many of them are actu-ally ‘fakes’ and that some-body was playing on our emo-tions. The images of the Flagon the Reichstag, Raising theFlag on Iwo Jima, the Kiss inParis, all these are actuallystaged photos, not real snap-shots. But it does not matterat all. We want to believe thatthose important momentsexisted. In my photos I try topay tribute to importantmoments or recall them.

See YD pg 14


Yuri Dojc Photo: Courtesy of Yuri Dojc/Henkel

7January 24 – January 30, 2011FEATURE / CULTURE

From the Books series. Photo: Yuri Dojc From the City Scapes series. Photo: Yuri Dojc

World-famousphotographer

Yuri Dojcpresents his

works

A nice photo is a

completed sentence. You

see a postcard of

Bratislava with the

bridge. It is a completed

sentence. There is

nowhere to walk further.

Korean companies or companieswith investors from the Republic of

Korea in Slovakia

Donghee Slovakia, www.donghee.co.krDong Jin Precision, www.dongjin.skGlovis Slovakia, www.glovis.skHyundai Motor Czech, www.hyundai.skHYSCO Slovakia, www.hysco.comKia Motors Slovakia, www.kia.skKOAM Elektronik, www.koam-dca.skMobis Slovakia, www.mobis.co.krSEHWA SK, www.sehwa-sk.comSamsung Electronics Slovakia, www.samsung.comSeong Ji Slovakia, www.seongji.co.krTaegu Tec Slovakia, www.taegutec.co.krYURA Corporation Slovakia, www.yura-corp.sk


Institutions of the Republicof Korea in Slovakia

Embassy of the Republic of KoreaAmbassador: Seok Soong Seohttp://svk.mofat.go.kr

The Republic of Korea: General facts

Political system: Presidential republicCapital: SeoulTotal area: 99,720 square kilometresPopulation: 49 millionLanguage: KoreanCurrency: Won

Source: www.cia.gov/library, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea

The changing of the guard in front of Gyeongbok Palace inSeoul. Photo: Viera Šramková

8 BUSINESS FOCUSJanuary 24 – January 30, 2011

Korea's growingimportance for Slovakia

A GOLDEN circle inlaid in thepath under Michael’s Gate, inBratislava’s old town, displaysthe distances of 29 world met-ropolises from the Slovak cap-ital. Two decades ago Seoul,located 8,138 kilometres awayfrom Bratislava, was not there.

At that time Slovaks didnot have much reason to knowabout the Republic of Korea,but today the name of Seoul isrightly there, says Seok SoongSeo, the ambassador of the Re-public of Korea to Slovakia,who among others has a greatpassion for Slovak spas andcould name most of them,along with their water tem-peratures.

The Slovak Spectator spoketo Ambassador Seok Soong Seoabout trade and investmentprospects and related chal-lenges, the presence of theKorean community in Slov-akia, the lack of qualified la-bour, and the appeal that Slov-akia has for Koreans.

The Slovak Spectator (TSS):Trade between the Republicof Korea and Slovakia hasbeen intensifying and Koreahas become the fourthlargest importer into Slov-akia. What are the factorsbehind this growth?

Seok Soong Seo (SSS): Thisdevelopment does not come asany surprise to me. The 2010statistics represented a recordin our trading history withSlovakia; $4.5 billion, withimports from Korea standingat $4.4 billion. It is Korean in-vestment in Slovakia whichhas generated these develop-ments. If we only look at thecar producer Kia in Žilina,they are producing five typesof cars with one car rolling offthe production line almostevery minute. In order tomaintain such high-tech pro-duction they need not only thelarge engines but also thou-sands of small components. Inshort, the more Korean in-vestment there is, the higherthe imports from Korea are go-ing to be. Also, as of July 1,2011, the Free Trade Agree-ment (FTA) between theEuropean Union and Koreawill become effective, whichwill definitely boost tradevolumes in both countries.

TSS: Part of your missionhere in Slovakia is also to fo-

cus on new business oppor-tunities. Where do you seesome new potential andwhich branches of the Slov-ak economy are interestingfor your homeland?

SSS: My task involves notonly searching for new oppor-tunities but also strengthen-ing and intensifying what wealready have here. For ex-ample, companies like Kia andSamsung have increased theirfacilities and their numbers oflocal employees. Starting anew greenfield investment isnot usually an easy thing butif a country has success storiesand investors in Slovakia aresatisfied it is always a goodmessage for other potentialinvestors. When we look atthe map, our investments arein the northern and westernpart of the country, in Žilinaand Galanta. The central andthe eastern part of the countryis still an unexplored area. Wemight also try to look at newfields of industry, includingresearch and development,agriculture, power generationor even tourism. But if we de-cide to go somewhere likePrešov, Košice and BanskáBystrica, we need good infra-structure for such kinds of in-vestment. Another issue is thepotential lack of qualified la-bour. Even if an investor is tocreate high-quality jobs insome parts of Slovakia the la-bour market might not havethe available resources there.Of course, low labour mobil-ity, for example, is not onlySlovakia’s problem.

TSS: Prime Minister IvetaRadičová said she wants tohelp Kia by improving

study programmes at ŽilinaUniversity. What is your re-sponse to the primeminister’s initiative? AreKorean investors happywith the level of educationin Slovakia?

SSS: I am glad that PrimeMinister Radičová showedher concern and interest. Shealso visited the Samsungplant in Galanta and the Kiaplant. Korean investors arealready grateful for all thepromises given in terms ofimproving the business en-vironment. As for the labourmarket, I would like to pointout two types of problems:Slovakia has good universit-ies but sometimes the stu-dents’ connection with voca-tional training is not at satis-factory level.

The graduates might bewell educated in theory butfrom the viewpoint of busi-nesses they are not ready to beinvolved in the operation ofthe company. They often needre-training and re-qualifica-tion, which always takes timeand money. Another problemis that we desperately needmanual workers at conveyorbelts with common sense andaverage job skills. But this iswhy we are very appreciativeof the intentions of the gov-ernment to address the issueof education and vocationaltraining in Slovakia. Also,Samsung and Kia are, in manyways, not Korean companies;they are Slovak companies.They have investments andtechnologies from Korea, butthey are no longer Koreancompanies, so the govern-ment would be doing it for theSlovak employees. Samsung

and Kia need more than 70supply chains to support thesetwo big companies, employingmore than 20,000 Slovakworkers in their factories. TheKorean investors are ready torespect the rules and regula-tions implemented by theSlovak government, as well associal and environmentalpractices and customs, andeven the way of thinking andculture of Slovaks.

TSS: What are the chal-lenges that Korea faces nowin the post-crisis period?Has the economic down-turn changed the appetiteof Korean investors for in-vesting abroad?

SSS: Sixty years ago, afterthe war in Korea, it was one ofthe poorest countries in theworld. At that time Korea ac-quired an instinct for surviv-al. Also during the globaldownturn, Korean businessesneeded to survive. We alsoneed foreign investments,just like Slovakia does:without these investmentsthe Korean economy couldnot perform in the way it doesnow. Korean businesses arefacing a lot of challenges onthe Korean domestic market,but also the growing compet-itive markets. It is one thingto survive in the domesticmarket; it is another to sur-vive in the global market.

For example, the Kiaplant in Slovakia has an an-nual capacity of 300,000 cars,but produces 230,000vehicles. More than 25 per-cent of these cars are now go-ing to Russia and less than 5percent are being sold here inthe Slovak domestic market.Samsung is in a similar situ-ation. Korean business lead-ers do not look at the map ofEurope in terms of geographybut rather see it as a globalEuropean market.

In order to do well inglobal markets, investorshave to be offered a goodbusiness environment.

Why do Korean busi-nesses have to search for em-ployees outside the countryof their actual investments?

My appeal to decision-makers is that they makegood business-friendly de-cisions because if they are notsatisfied, even with all theircommitment for a givencountry, they will go some-where else to seek a betterbusiness environment.

See SSS pg 10


Ambassador Seok Soong Seo Photo: Jana Liptáková

A cityscape in the Republic of Korea. Photo: Viera Šramková

BETTING, GAMBLING

AND GAMING

Next issue:BUSINESS FOCUS

REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Japanese environmental andtrade organisations

Japan Business Alliance for SmartEnergy-Worldwide, www.jase-w.eccj.or.jpKansai Economic Federation, www.kankeiren.or.jp

9January 24 – January 30, 2011

Technology: our bondin the future

SINCE Slovakia gained inde-pendence, Japan and Slovakiahave developed fairly good re-lations, although there havebeen ups and downs in thepast. Our trade reached $675million in 2008. Although itdecreased to $493 million in2009 due to the economiccrisis, it started recoveringagain in 2010. Forty-five Ja-panese companies are operat-ing in Slovakia and have cre-ated about 9,000 jobs.However, taking account ofJapanese economic power andthe potential of both coun-tries, these achievements arenot enough. We have moreroom to develop in the future.

Japan is seven times largerthan Slovakia, but with a popu-lation 25-fold greater; it there-fore has a very high populationdensity. We have hardly anymineral and energy resources.Japan is a country totally de-pendent upon its people’s wis-dom and its relations with oth-er countries.

After World War II, Japanre-started its nation-buildingprocess from the position ofdevastation. Thanks to ourpeople’s diligence and theirhigh level of education, whichwas historically cultivated,the country eventually grew

into the second largest eco-nomic power by the end of the1960s. At the same time, in theprocess of development, wewent through severe trials ofenvironmental pollution, ofboth air and water, as well aspollution-triggered diseases.With deep regret and reflec-tion, we developed non-pollut-ing technologies and havelargely improved our envir-onment. Now you can take adeep breath in the centre ofTokyo without any concern.

We were also faced with ser-ious energy crises in the 1970sand overcame these by great ef-fort and persistence in the de-velopment and innovation ofenergy-saving technologies.Now Japan’s energy efficiency

is about twice the OECD aver-age, and 7 to 10 times higherthan that of newly emergingcountries in Asia.

When we think about Ja-panese-Slovak future relations,the introduction of Japanesetechnology to Slovakia or jointresearch and development ofthese technologies may be thefield which we should pursue.

One Japanese companyhas developed a state-of-the-art technology for sewage dis-posal which, using a specialfilm, can turn sewage contam-inated with chemical materi-als into drinkable water. In or-der to solve the problem of airpollution, Japan has developedsmall efficient engines, hybridcars and electric cars. Japan is

proud of its desulphurisationtechnology used at thermalpower plants. This is part ofour economic cooperationwith developing countries,where coal is often used togenerate power.

Last November, a Japaneseexpert on saving energy cameto Bratislava and lectured atthe Economy Ministry on thetopic “Energy conservation ofJapanese building-related in-dustry against globalwarming”. According to him,Japanese thermal power-plant efficiency is one of thetop technologies in the worldand he emphasised, amongother things, the usefulness ofthe natural refrigerant (CO2)heat pump water heater,which is a high-efficiency hot-water heater developed to saveenergy. It uses natural CO2 as arefrigerant and therefore doesnot destroy the ozone layer. Itcan produce heat five timesgreater than the input electri-city. It can use cheap night-time electricity, so it is family-budget-friendly. This system isalready used in half of newly-built houses in Japan. Slovakiahas a longer and colder winterthan Japan. How about usingthese technologies, equipmentor systems in houses andcommunities in Slovakia?

Yoshio Nomotois Japan's ambassador

to Slovakia

BY YOSHIO NOMOTOSpecial to the Spectator

Ambassador Yoshio Nomoto Photo: Jana Liptáková

Japan eyes the Visegrad Four

THE VISEGRAD region is clearly markedon the map of many Japanese diplomats,business leaders, academics and tourists,who are carefully exploring the businessand landscape details of the region, in-cluding those of Slovakia.

While Slovakia is looking towards Ja-pan with expectations of gaining addi-tional investments, developing more ex-ports to Japan or luring more Japanesetourists to visit Slovakia, Japan is seekingEuropean partners to cooperate in areassuch as development aid, energy securityand conservation, nuclear technology forpower generation, and even sharing thetechnology of Japan’s bullet trains.

Japanese companies have startedviewing Slovakia as an optimal gatewayto enter European Union markets as wellas Ukraine and Russia, Dagmar Hlavatá ofSlovakia’s Economy Ministry told TheSlovak Spectator.

Hlavatá said last year’s visit to Slov-akia by representatives of NipponKeidanren, the Japan Business Federa-tion, which has 1,600 member compan-ies, confirmed the interest of Japanesecompanies in Slovakia. The representat-ives of Nippon Keidanren, who not onlyinfluence trade and investment decisionsbut also societal developments in Japan,met Slovak state officials as well as rep-resentatives of the Slovak Trade and In-vestment Development Agency (SARIO).

Peter Bohov, the chairman of theSlovak-Japanese Chamber of Commerce,told The Slovak Spectator that the globaleconomic downturn has changed the wayJapanese firms are planning their in-vestments in central Europe.

“Before it was more typical that Ja-panese companies were planning theirinvestments independently within theirsupplier and buyer relationships andmostly greenfield and brownfield in-vestments prevailed,” Bohov said.“Today, in their efforts to eliminate pos-sible negative risks linked to turbulencein the global market they are instead try-ing to find local partners. Through such

partner firms, they continue securingsupplies for their own customers. Suchcooperation is regularly linked with in-vestment from the Japanese side, mainlyto the technological side of the firm,which of course brings along know-how.”

Bohov added that Japanese firms arealso becoming more interested in thepossibility of purchasing firms that havewell-developed customer networks andin creating joint-venture projects. Healso noted that a couple of small tradingcompanies have come to Slovakia and heexpects this trend will accelerate.

Japanese firms which are already op-erating in Slovakia in the electro-tech-nical and automotive industry are expec-ted to focus on preserving their positionsas key suppliers, Bohov said.

Slovakia regularly organises businessseminars and presentations to introduceSlovakia to potential Japanese partners.

“The Japanese market is very specif-ic but it represents an interesting andpotential market for Slovak firms,”Hlavatá stated.

See V4 pg 11


Japan: General facts

Political system: Parliamentary democracy withconstitutional monarchyCapital: TokyoTotal area: 377,915 square kilometresPopulation: 127 millionLanguage: JapaneseCurrency: Yen

Source: www.cia.gov/library, the Embassy of Japan

Japanese institutions in Slovakia

Embassy of JapanAmbassador: Yoshio Nomotowww.sk.emb-japan.go.jp

Slovak-Japanese Chamber of CommerceChair: Peter Bohovwww.sjok.sk

Japanese companies or companieswith Japanese investors in Slovakia

Meiki Slovakia, http://www.meikisk.com/contact.htmlMitsui Sumitomo Insurance (Europe)Branch Slovakia, www.msi-europe.skPanasonic Electronic Devices Slovakia,www.panasonic.skRyoka Global Europe, www.ryokakogyo.co.jpSony Slovakia, www.sony.skSummit Motors Slovakia, Summit Motors Bratislava,and Summit Finance Slovakia, www.summit.skYushin Precision Equipment, www.yushin.sk


Mount Fuji is the highest peak in Japan. Photo: TASR

Central Tokyo Photo: TASR

Next issue:

BETTING, GAMBLING

AND GAMING

BUSINESS FOCUS

JAPAN

Korean flagships

IT HAS TAKEN only a fewyears for the Republic ofKorea to become one of thebiggest investors in Slovakia.Its flagships are the car-maker Kia Motors Slovakia inTeplička nad Váhom nearŽilina and the electronicscompany Samsung Electron-ics, with production units inGalanta and Voderady. Theseinvestors have alreadydrawn their subcontractorsto Slovakia, for example YuraEltec Corporation Slovakia,producing cable harnessesfor cars, Mobis Slovakia inŽilina, and Dong Jin Preci-sion Slovakia in Sereď.

Both companies are con-tinuing to grow, employingthousands of people directly,with thousands more work-ing for their subcontractors.

“For Kia Motors Slovakia,2010 was a breakthroughyear,” Dušan Dvořák, thecompany’s spokesperson,told The Slovak Spectator.“We launched production oftwo new SUV models, theKia Sportage and Hyundaiix35. We began manufactur-ing the new diesel engineand launched constructionof the second engine-manu-facturing plant.”

Last year 229,000 carsrolled off the productionlines at Kia Motors Slovakia,an annual increase of 52percent.

“We did not feel a signi-ficant impact from the crisisbecause thanks to thelaunch of the production ofthe two SUV models we re-gistered an increased num-ber of orders over the wholeyear,” said Dvořák.

The carmaker is optim-istic with regards to the out-look for 2011.

“This year we plan to goon developing our activitiesin Slovakia,” said Dvořák.“During the first quarter weshould wrap up constructionof the new engine-manufac-turing plant. We havealready started installingproduction technologies andmachines and after it is fin-ished we will test the produc-tion process. Serial produc-tion should be launched dur-ing the second half of 2011.”

The new engine plantwill increase the annual ca-pacity of the company from300,000 engines currentlyto 450,000.

With regards to morelong-term plans, the com-pany plans further invest-ments in production techno-logies and preparation for theproduction of other models.

Kia Motors Slovakia isalso responding to drivers’increasing interest in greentechnologies.

“Since July 2009 we haveoffered installation of ourISG stop&go driving systemin our cars, which helps savefuel by automatically switch-ing the engine off when thecar is stopped at a junction,"said Dvořák, adding thatpeople’s interest in it isgrowing. “In 2010 about 15percent of cars were orderedwith the ISG system.”

According to publishedinformation, Kia MotorsSlovakia exports 99 percentof the cars it manufactures.

“Russia remains ourmain market,” said Dvořák.“Its share of the company’sproduction increased butsales of cars in westernEurope, for example in Eng-land and Germany, revivedtoo. We expect that the com-position of the main exportmarkets will not change sig-nificantly during 2011; weexport cars into all countriesof Europe.”

Investment in the Kiaproject in Slovakia hasalready exceeded €1 billion.Kia is currently investingabout €100 million in thesecond engine plant. Thesuccess of the company hasalso been reflected in the sizeof its labour force, with thehiring of an additional 250people at the turn of the year.As a result, the total numberof employees at Kia MotorsSlovakia now exceeds 3,000,according to Dvořák.

Kia cars are popular inSlovakia, with a total of 4,267sold here last year. This madeKia the fourth best-sellingcar brand in the Slovak mar-ket, on a share of 6.66 per-cent. Kia’s cee’d model, pro-duced in Slovakia, is its mostpopular here: Slovak con-sumers bought a total 2,026of them in 2010.

See LCD pg 12

New horizons forcooperation

THE INFLOW of investmentsfrom the Republic of Koreafirst began only in the earlyyears of the 21st century butsince that beginning this dy-namic Asian country has be-come one of Slovakia’s mostimportant investors and trad-ing partners. The aggregateinvestment of Kia Motors intoits greenfield car assemblyplant in Teplička nad Váhomhas already exceeded €1 bil-lion and along with a large in-vestment by Samsung Elec-tronics, these two companies,plus the dozens of subcon-tractors they have drawnhere, provide jobs for thou-sands of Slovaks. Cooperationbetween the two countriescurrently focuses on industryand commerce but there arealso opportunities for jointactivities in science and re-search as well as tourism onthe horizon.

“The Republic of Korea isone of the most importanteconomic partners of Slovakiaoutside of Europe, with a hugepotential for further develop-ment of bilateral economicand commercial cooperation,”Dagmar Hlavatá of the SlovakEconomy Ministry told TheSlovak Spectator, adding thatthe level of cooperation hasbeen assessed very positivelyfrom both sides.

“Korean companies havebeen creating a significantgroup of foreign investors inSlovakia,” Lucia Guzlejová,the head of the foreign directinvestments section at theSlovak Investment and TradeDevelopment Agency (SARIO),told The Slovak Spectator.Adding up the individualprojects, Korean entrepren-eurs rank as high as second inthe total number of investors

which have established opera-tions in Slovakia with the helpof SARIO during recent years.Korean investment projectsfocus especially on facilities inthe automotive and electron-ics industries.

In total, about 70 Koreancompanies have operations inSlovakia and they employ al-most 20,000 people, with KiaMotors Slovakia and SamsungElectronics employing thelargest numbers.

“The presence of these keyplayers has helped draw manyother companies which fol-lowed their customers andsimultaneously this presencekeeps contributing to the at-tractiveness of Slovakia ineyes of potential Koreaninvestors,” said Guzlejová. “Asatisfied Korean businessmanoperating in Slovakia is thebest reference.”

Based on discussionbetween SARIO experts andestablished as well as poten-tial investors, Guzlejová saidSlovakia is perceived not onlyas a business-friendly envir-onment but also as a verypleasant place to live.

At the current time SARIOis working on several con-crete Korean investmentprojects even though, like

many other countries, SARIOregistered a slowdown in for-eign direct investmentbetween 2008 and 2009 be-cause of the economic crisis.

“Investors were insteadchoosing a wait-and-see ap-proach and have been think-ing over their decisions signi-ficantly longer; but 2010already brought signals of arevival of investment activit-ies and more significant in-terest from businesses in in-vesting in Slovakia, not onlyfrom Korea,” said Guzlejová,adding that current projects inSARIO’s pipeline deal withmanufacture of electrical andelectronic appliances, rubberand plastic products, car com-ponents and similar products.

Between 2002 and 2010SARIO successfully handled 39Korean investment projectswith a total value of €1.7 bil-lion which had the potentialto create over 16,000 jobs.

Guzlejová said Korean en-trepreneurs very much es-teem personal contacts and itis ideal if they are able tocommunicate directly in theirnative language becausecommunicating in English issometimes problematic. Thisis why part of SARIO’s websiteis in the Korean language and

some informational materialsabout Slovakia's business en-vironment are available inKorean versions. SARIO plansto continue widening thescope of information availablein the Korean language asGuzlejová said these effortsare perceived very positively.

SARIO representativeshave been regularly attendingevents designed to present theinvestment environment inSlovakia and the VisegradGroup region (Slovakia, theCzech Republic, Hungary andPoland) that were organisedby various chambers of com-merce and investment agen-cies in Seoul over the past sev-eral years. Unfortunately, ex-perts from SARIO were notable to attend an event likethis in 2010 but plans are un-derway this year to intensifyexisting contacts as well to es-tablish new ones.

Seminars like these, notonly in the Republic of Koreanbut also in other countries,serve as a way of introducingSlovakia and its attractivenessas well as a vehicle for net-working and making new con-tacts. The seminars are oftenfollowed by personal meetingswith representatives of inter-ested companies andGuzlejová considers these per-sonal contacts to be more ef-fective than just communica-tion via e-mail.

When quoting potentialinvestors from the Republic ofKorea about Slovakia’s mainadvantages Guzlejová speaksabout a qualified and availablelabour force, a strategic geo-graphic location, low incometaxes, developed commercialcontacts with western as wellas eastern countries, mem-bership in the Schengen andeuro zones as well as in signi-ficant international organisa-tions in Slovakia.

See TIES pg 10



SSS: Koreans living here love SlovakiaContinued from pg 8

In terms of the influx of foreign cap-ital to Korea, we have quite strong com-petitors, especially China and Japan, butalso other Asian countries like Indonesiaand the Philippines. The same goes forSlovakia, which has strong competitorsas well: Poland, Hungary, the Czech Re-public and even Ukraine. The new gov-ernments in the surrounding countriesalso proclaim the goal of attracting moreforeign capital to their countries.

TSS: Your embassy last year organiseda cooking competition, among otherevents. What has been the response ofSlovaks to Korean culture and thechance to learn more about theKorean community?

SSS: The Korean community is quitebig here, already around 2,000 peoplewith almost 80 factories. We have been

trying to introduce the Korean com-munity through something other thanthe manufacturing sector. We would liketo share with Slovaks also our culture,food traditions and even some of ourphilosophies. We organised the KoreanFood Contest and I was happy to see pro-fessionals from five-star hotels attend-ing as well. So we now expect a Koreanmenu to appear on the menus of somehotels and restaurants also here in Slov-akia. We do plan to run a Korean cookingcourse which might start in February.We have been trying to build bridgesthrough music and I also thought thatKorean movies could be a good way of in-troducing more of Korea to Slovakia. TheKorean movie industry is already quitewell-known in many countries. I think itis their content and way of story tellingwhich makes this segment interesting.

In addition to the large investorssome small and medium-sized busi-

nesses are also here. If one really wantedto get a sense of how large the Koreancommunity is in Slovakia, one wouldhave to visit the international schools inBratislava, where quite a large numberof children are from Korea.

TSS: What would you recommend agroup of Korean visitors to see here inSlovakia?

SSS: I would like any Korean visitorto see Slovakia the way it is, without anyexaggerations, and perhaps focus alsoon the friendly nature of Slovak people. Iwould advise them to see the HighTatras and some of the beautiful cathed-rals, and charming towns like Levoča.Members of the Korean community dohave a deep love for this country andthis is why they are here and not some-where else. Those 2,000 Koreans want towork and live here and contribute tothis country.

Korean investments in Slovakia have grown rapidly. Photo: Sme


Kia Motors Slovakia in Teplička nad Váhom. Photo: SITA

V4: Japan has extensivebusiness presence here

Continued from pg 9

“The Japanese market ischaracterized by its high con-sumption of food products,machines, raw materials, andconsumer goods and there areprospective export items onSlovakia’s side in all theseareas.”

Bohov said that Japaneseinvestors, like those fromother countries, perceivebureaucracy as one of thedrawbacks of the Slovakbusiness environment and asa real obstacle to dynamicdevelopment of business. Headded that the process of ar-ranging some of the requiredpermits in Slovakia is frus-trating not only for foreignbusinesses but for domesticones as well.

Last year Sony's LCD TVassembly factory in Nitra,which had been the largestJapanese investment in Slov-akia, was purchased by Fox-conn, a Taiwan-based firm, henoted. Bohov also said themost important Japanese in-vestments in Slovakia at thistime are the facilities ofBrother Industries inKrupina, SEBN-SK in Nitra,Dia Moulding in Nitra,Yamagata in Šurany andPanasonic in Krompachy.

According to LuciaGuzlejová of SARIO, there areapproximately 50 companieswith a Japanese presence op-erating in Slovakia, employ-ing about 9,000 people. Theestablished Japanese com-panies operate primarily inthe electro-technical industryand in production of plasticand plastic components. LastNovember, SARIO co-organ-ised its third investment sem-inar in Japan, which was alsoattended by representativesof Japanese companies cur-rently operating in Slovakiawho shared their practicalexperience of the Slovakbusiness environment.

“Unlike the other sem-inars which were focused onthe electro-technical industryand research and develop-ment, this meeting was de-voted to the general invest-ment environment in Slov-akia and to a comparison ofthe performance of the Slovakeconomy before the eruptionof the economic crisis and thecurrent situation, along withpredictions for the comingyears,” Guzlejová told TheSlovak Spectator.

The Japanese perspective

When reflecting on Slov-ak-Japanese relations,Daisuke Yamashita of the Ja-panese Foreign AffairsMinistry’s European AffairsBureau in the Central andSouth Eastern Europe Divi-sion, pointed out that in thearea of development assist-ance, Japan contributed toSlovakia’s developmentwhen the independent coun-try emerged two decades ago,while noting that Slovakia is

now an EU member and adonor country itself.

“We want to look into thepossibility of cooperation[with Slovakia] in the area ofdevelopmental aid providedto other countries since weshare common values in thisarea,” Yamashita told TheSlovak Spectator.

Yamashita confirmedthat Japan is interested inextending its cooperationwith countries of theVisegrad Group (V4), ofwhich Slovakia currentlyholds the presidency. Re-cently representatives fromJapan attended a joint sem-inar on energy saving withV4 countries and a year agoanother joint Japan-V4 sem-inar focused on climatechange.

“The V4 countries sharemany characteristics andthey are Japanese-friendlycountries,” Yamashita ex-plained. “When Japan as-pired to become a perman-ent member of the UN Secur-ity Council the V4 countriessupported its candidacy andwe share the same values inmany foreign policy areas.”

Yamashita noted that theJapanese business presencein this region is extensive:there are 253 Japanese com-panies operating in Poland,240 companies in the CzechRepublic and Hungary hasbecome home to 120 Japan-ese companies.

He explained that therehad been a trend for Japan-ese manufacturing compan-ies to invest in this regionbut said the situation is nowchanging as V4 countries arereshaping their investmentpriorities and are trying toattract different types of in-vestments. Yamashitastressed that there are sev-eral additional areas whereV4 and Japanese businessinterests could intersect.

“Japan is geared towardscooperation in the area ofenergy security,” Yamashitasaid, adding that Japanesecompanies are seeking op-portunities to export notonly technology for nuclearpower plants but also forthings like high-speedtrains. “When we talk aboutexports we do look at neigh-bouring Asian countriesfirst, but we are now lookingfor opportunities in other re-gions as well.”

Yamashita noted that V4countries have already ab-sorbed a considerable amountof foreign investment whichhe said indicates that the in-vestment environment ofthese countries is attractiveenough for investors.

“I believe that if the eco-nomic climate in Europe isstable and predictable Ja-panese companies will con-sider additional investmentsin the region,” he concluded.

(Beata Balogová visited Japanlast year through the Japanese For-eign Affairs Ministry’s programmefor visiting foreign journalists)

Saving energy is a global challenge

SEEKING to improve the qual-ity of life does not justify eitheran individual or a nation gratu-itously increasing energy con-sumption – energy experts aswell as ecologists say humanprogress can be pursued evenwhile putting the smallestpossible burden on our fragileenvironment.

Meeting the challenges ofprotecting the environment,conserving energy, reducinggreenhouse gases and usingrenewable sources are nolonger only the agenda ofgreen organisations and en-vironmental watchdogs buthave made it onto the to-do listof nations and citizens. Non-etheless, energy security, en-ergy conservation and energyefficiency are promising to be-come existential issues press-ing not only on nations thatlack easily-tapped energysources. They are truly globalchallenges.

The Slovak challenges

According to Eurostat data,Slovakia has one of the highestenergy intensities, as it uses ap-proximately three times moreenergy – based on fixed pricesper gross domestic product unit– than the European Union av-erage, said Kvetoslava Šoltésováof the Slovak Innovation andEnergy Agency at the SlovakMinistry of Economy. She addedthat when compared in non-fixed prices, Slovakia is 30 per-cent worse than the EU average.

“The high share of energy

consumption by industry con-tributes to Slovakia’s energyintensity,” Šoltésová told TheSlovak Spectator. “When com-paring the final energy con-sumption of households, Slov-aks consume approximately40 percent more energy persquare metre of an apartmentthan the European average,but when calculated as the fi-nal energy consumption perperson, we are 30 percent bet-ter than the EU average.”

Šoltésová pointed out thatSlovakia’s energy intensityhas been gradually improvingthanks to measures taken to-wards energy efficiency.

The Japanese challenges

Two major oil crises in Ja-pan in the 1970s pushed thatcountry towards the road of en-ergy conservation. Neverthe-less, Japan still faces chal-lenges since in recent years en-ergy consumption has in-creased in the commercial, res-idential and transport sectors.Energy consumption in the in-dustrial sector remains around

the same level as in the pastdespite economic expansion,according to data from theAgency for Natural Resourcesand Energy at the JapaneseMinistry of Economy, Tradeand Industry.

Nippon Keidanren, the Ja-panese Business Federation,which consists of 1,281 mem-ber companies and 129 indus-trial associations, has been fol-lowing an action plan to re-duce energy consumption. As-pects of the plan include strictmanagement of air condition-ing and frequent adjustment oftemperature setting in offices,lights switched off duringlunch breaks and reduced useof elevators as well as energy-saving models of equipment,lighting fixtures and light-fil-tering glass.

A voluntary prohibition onthe use of privately-ownedvehicles for commuting as wellas encouragement to employ-ees to keep a household envir-onmental account book areother parts of the action plan,said Masami Hasegava of theEnvironmental Policy Bureauof Nippon Keidanren.

Hasegava said additionalefforts to save energy in Japaninclude: more fuel-efficientcars, electric cars, cars poweredby natural gas, and other kindsof energy-saving vehicles; theuse of larger and more efficientships and vehicles; a modalshift to transporting goods byrailroad and ship; and direct de-liveries to customers.Hasegava explained that Ja-panese industry prefers intro-ducing energy conservationsteps into factories rather thanreducing economic activity forthe sake of cutting greenhousegas emissions.

Energy-saving strategies inJapan are developed throughcooperation between privatefirms and the government andwhile the government sup-ports the development of newtechnologies and new sourcesof energy, the country’s energysupply remains in the hands ofthe private sector.

Slovakia is now evaluat-ing its Energy EffectivenessAction Plan for 2008-2010 thatwas intended to save 12,405 TJ(terajoules) in final energyconsumption, about 3 percentof the average energy use inthe period 2001-2005. The out-come of the assessment willbecome part of the country’sEnergy Effectiveness ActionPlan for 2011 and 2012 that the

Economy Ministry is expec-ted to submit to the Slovakcabinet by April 30.

Slovakia has not managedto accomplish most of itsprojects to improve heatingtechnology conditions in Slov-ak buildings, Šoltésová said.Though these projects could befinanced from EU StructuralFunds she added that to a largedegree the failure to followthrough was caused by theadministrative burden of us-ing EU funds.

Šoltésová stated that thebest possibilities for reducingSlovakia’s energy intensity areenergy-saving measures direc-ted mostly toward improvingthe heating technology of build-ings and decreasing energy de-mand from public lighting.

Efficient homes?

Andrej Fáber of the Bratis-lava Energy Centre told TheSlovak Spectator that Slovakhouseholds have been thinkingabout how to reduce their an-nual bills for heating and hotwater and that in addition toreplacing inefficient windowsor adding thermal insulationSlovak households are in-stalling supplementary heat-ing systems, such as solar sys-tems, heat pumps and wood-burning fireplace heaters.

Satoshi Takakusa, a Japan-ese expert on energy conserva-tion in the building industry, be-lieves that Slovakia is an evenmore suitable locale for a zero-emissions building project thanJapan due to its cooler climate.Takakusa toured the region ofcentral and eastern Europe lastNovember to explain the Japan-ese government’s energy-sav-ing policies, particularly in theconstruction of buildings as wellas the introduction of variousenergy-saving technologies.

Takakusa, who works forJapan Facility Solutions, gave alecture in Slovakia co-organ-ised by the Ministry of Eco-nomy and the Slovak-JapaneseChamber of Commerce. Hestated that when an energy-saving building is beingplanned, it requires expertsfrom different fields, startingfrom design, through construc-tion, and to maintenance of thebuilding after it is completed.

“It is necessary to integ-rate the capabilities of all thesepeople involved in theproject,” he said. “What Iheard here in Slovakia wasthat the road towards makingit happen would be difficult –particularly the training ofhuman resources who wouldbe capable of doing thesethings. As for the difficulty intraining human resources, itis the same in Japan.”

As for where Takakusa seesopportunity for cooperationbetween Slovak and Japanesecompanies in the area of en-ergy-saving technology, hesaid his impression is that itmay be necessary to start fromthe foundations of energy-sav-ing structures since the road toenergy saving is rather tough.

See GLOBAL 14


Showcasing the latest eco-technologies. Photo: AP/TASR

11January 24 – January 30, 2011BUSINESS FOCUS

Mottainai: more than just a wordA RAINDROP can be an expressive symbol and Mottainai can bea powerful word, as proven by Mainichi, the oldest newspapercompany in Japan, with a daily circulation of 4 million, whichhas been promoting the “Mottainai concept” to reduce waste,reuse finite resources and recycle whatever can be recycled.The Tokyo-based newspaper has a strong advocate for theconcept on its side – Wangari Maathai, a 2004 Nobel Peace Prizewinner and a United Nations Messenger of Peace, who after vis-iting Japan in 2005 decided to popularise this Japanese wordacross the world.

Kazuyoshi Sanada of the Mottainai campaign office withinthe newspaper explained that Mottainai, which is actually aBuddhist term meaning that objects do not exist in isolationbut are intrinsically linked to one another, is now being used inmany phases of the daily lives of Japanese to make them moreenvironmentally aware.

“We encourage people to switch off the lights when theyleave the room,” Sanada told The Slovak Spectator. “For ex-ample, we use a lot of ceramics as we put rice in ceramic bowls;but these shouldn’t be just thrown away when they break, weshould try to reuse the material.”

The campaign encourages people to use energy-conservinghome appliances, reusable shopping bags and avoid using theircars when travelling distances that can be covered on foot. Inthe 1990s the newspaper started a special section to report onenvironmental issues and since then it has been involved in amassive tree-planting project, a campaign to improve the en-vironment around Mount Fuji, and has exposed those whohave illegally disposed of construction waste materials. Thenewspaper has also organised a trash collecting tour, withabout 400 readers participating, which collected about threetonnes of trash.

When the newspaper began facing difficulties in securingsponsors for its environmental campaigns, it registered theMottainai logo as a trademark and other organisations who usethe symbol pay a licence fee to the publishing house, whichthen uses these resources to help cover its ongoing campaigns.

Beata Balogová

LCD: Leadingplants in EuropeContinued from pg 10

Of the two Samsung Elec-tronics plants in Slovakia,the older one is in Galanta.The company says on itswebsite that Samsung Elec-tronics Slovakia launchedproduction in Galanta in2002. It took only a few yearsto become Samsung’s biggestproduction plant in Europe.It manufactures LCD andLED TV sets, LCD monitors,HDD and Blu-ray players,and satellite receivers. Its la-bour force amounts to almost3,000 people and its revenuesrank it among the threebiggest non-financial com-panies in Slovakia.

Late last year the com-pany hinted at an expansion

in production and the pos-sible hiring of 1,000 new em-ployees. Last year the com-pany manufactured 6 millionTV sets and plans to exceedthis level in 2011, theHospodárske Noviny dailywrote in mid January.

The second SamsungElectronics plant in Slovakiais sited in the industrial parkin Voderady, close to Trnava.Samsung Electronics LCDSlovakia launched opera-tions there in 2008. It is theonly Samsung plant inEurope producing LCD (Li-quid Cristal Display) mod-ules. LCD modules are thebasic components of TV setsand monitors using LCDscreens; producing them istechnically very demanding.

TIES: New chancesContinued from pg 10

She admitted, however,that investors also see somelimiting factors such as anunfinished highway net-work, increasing labour costsalong with high payrolltaxes, a brain-drain and age-ing of the population, andrising energy prices.

Trade between Slovakiaand the Republic of Koreahad been increasing steeplybefore 2009 when its furthergrowth was stopped by theglobal economic crisis. Im-ports as well as exports weregrowing but imports domin-ated because of Korea’s posi-tion as one of Slovakia’smost significant investorsand the corollary imports ofKorean technologies intoSlovakia for facilities produ-cing car components andelectronic devices.

“However, productsmade by companies withKorean capital are to a largeextent destined for exportfrom Slovakia into thirdcountries,” said Hlavatá, ex-plaining that Slovakia’s tradebalance with the Republic ofKorea looks unfavourableonly when bilateral tradealone is considered.

The Republic of Koreawas in fourth place in thevalue of its imports intoSlovakia in 2008 and 2009 aswell as in the period fromJanuary to August 2010. Inthe category of total bilateraltrade the Republic of Koreawas second among Asiantrade partners, followingChina, but ahead of Japanand India in both 2008 and2009. For the first eightmonths of 2010 the Republicof Korea was first in this cat-egory, with a trade turnoverof €2.446 million, accordingto the Economy Ministry.

The Economy Ministrysees additional cooperationpossible via joint venturesand in pursuing joint sci-entific research projects.Koreans are particularly in-

terested in projects in-volving modern technolo-gies in the environmental,nuclear and conventionalenergy, chemical and ma-chinery sectors.

The Republic of Korearanks high in the fields ofscience and applied techno-logies. In a 2009 OECD evalu-ation of innovation capacitythe Republic of Korea placed12th and Slovakia was 28th.As much as 3.5 percent of theRepublic of Korea’s GDP hasgone towards research anddevelopment and the coun-try has the fourth biggestshare of high-tech industryexports, with as much as 32percent of its total produc-tion in this sector exported.

The Slovak EconomyMinistry views the signingof the Free Trade Agreementbetween the European Uni-on and the Republic ofKorea that becomes effect-ive on July 1, 2011, as a sig-nificant step that will leadto further development ofmutual relations.

“Last but not least it isnecessary to pay attention topromotion of Slovakia as anattractive destination fortourists,” said Hlavatá.“Korean tourists travel a lotand Europe with its history,culture and art is attractivefor them. Annually, 20,000 to30,000 Korean tourists arrivein Slovakia and with respectto the distance between thetwo countries this is a veryfavourable figure.”

Korean tourists are will-ing to spend a large amountof money when travellingbut their stays tend to beshort, the Economy Ministryreported, with an averageKorean tourist visitingEurope for only around fivedays and seeking to visit sev-eral countries during thetrip. For this reason the Eco-nomy Ministry said Slovakiamay need to seek more co-operation with otherVisegrad Four countries inpromoting the entire region.


Koreans fighthomesickness with food

TTEOKGUK, naengmyeon,bibimbap: for some, they areterrible tongue-twisters; forKoreans, they mean home.But lately, these traditionalKorean dishes have started tofind their way into Slovakia –to the apparent delight of ex-pats and locals alike.

According to an estimateby the Korean embassy, thenumber of the Republic ofKorea's expatriates residingin the country has increasedfrom a few dozen to 2,000,following the advent in Brat-islava, Trnava, Žilina and Ni-tra Regions of a string offirms such as Samsung, LGand Kia Motors.

And it seems the Koreangiants have boosted not onlySlovakia’s industry, but alsoits service sector, as thegrowth of the Korean com-munity was followed by theestablishment of smallerKorean businesses thatquickly seized this new oppor-tunity to help Korean expatsovercome homesickness byproviding them with originalKorean products.

Among these, the vast ma-jority are restaurants, canteensand grocery stores.

“Koreans are very muchconcerned about what they eatand cannot survive longwithout Korean food,” ex-plained Yooni Suh, a Koreanwith British citizenship whomoved to Bratislava from theUK three years ago to openSeoul Plaza, a supermarketselling Asian food.

Although his original ideawas to supply the expatriateSouth Korean community,Suh reckons that todaybetween 60 and 70 percent ofhis customers are Slovak.

Encouraged by the successof his business, the retailer isnow planning to venture intonew projects, but he remainstight-lipped about them.

“We are consideringlaunching a franchise busi-ness as well as expanding ourretail business, plus some ex-citing things I can’t talk aboutright now,” he said.

Bumil Park, second sec-retary and consul at theKorean embassy, confirmedthat Koreans love Koreanfood. He said he believes thatthe success of the Korean-oriented dining industry inSlovakia can be explained bythe fact that Korean peopleare particularly attached totheir cuisine, and want toeat Korean food whereverthey are.

On the other hand, he ad-ded that food, apart from mak-ing expats feel less homesick,can also serve as a tool forbridging cultures.

“Food plays a very signi-ficant role in every single so-ciety and it is therefore agood point of departure forgetting to know a nation andits lifestyle,” he told TheSlovak Spectator.

It was out of this convic-tion that, as part of its effort topromote Korean cultureamong Slovaks, the embassy

last year decided to start a newtradition: it held the first edi-tion of its Korean Food Con-test, a cookery competitionopen to both professionalchefs and amateur cooks.

“The purpose of the eventis to popularise Koreancuisine in Slovakia,” said theconsul. “I hope it will encour-age local restaurants andcanteens to start offeringKorean dishes in their menus,and I also hope to see coursesin Korean cuisine included inthe curricula of hospitalitymanagement schools."

Around 35 participants,divided into twelve teams in-cluding both Koreans andSlovaks, competed in the con-test, which took place inChorvátsky Grob near Bratis-lava in September 2010.

Each team was required toprepare two different Koreandishes. These were thenmarked by a jury chaired byH.E. Nicolaos D. Kanellos,Greece’s ambassador to Slov-akia. A typical team was com-posed of a Korean chef, aKorean housewife, a teacher ata Bratislava hospitality man-agement school and even afew children from expatriateKorean families.

One of the main awardswent to Hum Jae Park, whoruns a hotel with restaurant

just outside Galanta, as well asa canteen in the town forKoreans working in the Sam-sung Electronics plant there.

For the first course, sheprepared a surprising combin-ation of bulgogi, a traditionalKorean dish made from mar-inated beef, and mozzarella.The second course was lightbean curd with vegetables.

“The prize still fills mewith enormous pride,” saidthe chef, who graduated fromthe prestigious Institute ofKorean Royal Cuisine. “Notonly because it was a flatter-ing appreciation of my culin-ary skills, but also because Iwas able to make Slovaks tastea bit of Korea.”

Peter Janík, manager atHum Jae Park’s Merci Hotel,said tasting Korean food canindeed be a very special ex-perience for a Slovak. “WhenI first went to a Korean res-taurant, I was very surprisedby both the character of thefood and the way it isserved,” he told The SlovakSpectator. “What surprisedme the most was the fact thatKoreans eat rice, soup andkimchi [a traditional Koreandish made of seasoned veget-ables] at almost every meal,including breakfast.”

See COOK pg 14

Korean cuisinefinds its wayto Slovakia

BY DOMINIKAUHRÍKOVÁ

Spectator staff

A wide selection of tasty morsels were prepared for the Korean Food Contest. Photos: Courtesy of the Korean Embassy

The contestants and judges in Chorvátsky Grob. Photo: Courtesy of the Korean Embassy

Slovaks discover Japan on the screen

DO YOU KNOW what a deaf teen-age surfer, a World War II kami-kaze pilot and a private eye mighthave in common? If you don’t, itmeans you probably did not attendthe mini-film festival recentlybrought to Bratislava by the Japan-ese Embassy in Slovakia and theJapan Foundation.

Between January 12 and 14,cinema fans in the Slovak capital hadthe opportunity to discover Japanesefilms they would not have seenelsewhere – provided they arrivedearly enough to get seats, as all ses-sions held at the popular Mladosťcinema were so crowded that late-comers had to sit on the floor.

“The audience consisted mostlyof young people,” said ZuzanaŽelinská from the cultural section ofthe embassy, “and we are particu-larly happy that we managed todraw a mix of regulars and freshfaces.”

The festival opened in the pres-ence of H. E. Yoshio Nomoto, Japan’sambassador to Slovakia, with AScene at the Sea, a film by Takeshi“Beat” Kitano about a hearing-im-paired teenage garbage collector whoone day happens upon a brokensurfboard and goes on to become afirst-rate surfer.

The film line-up also featuredJunji Sakamoto’s An Angel withMany Scars, based on a televisionseries from the 1970s of the sametitle, relating an odd journey by aprivate detective and a boy whom adying mobster entrusted to the gum-shoe. Other features were The Blos-soming of Etsuko Kamiya, a wartime

love story between a country girl anda kamikaze pilot directed by KazuoKuroki, and The Dagger of Kamui, ananime coming-of-age saga by Shi-geyuki Hayashi, alias Rintaro.

Because the Bratislava festivalwas part of a world-touring present-ation of Japanese cinema, the actualselection of movies was made at theTokyo headquarters of the JapanFoundation, one of the co-organisersof the event.

“We have deliberately selectedfilms that deal with various themesyet show modern Japanese societyfrom various points of view, hopingthat they will invite people to opentheir eyes to Japanese culture,” To-moe Tanaka from the foundation’sFilm, TV and Publication Sectiontold The Slovak Spectator.

Though some of the selectedmovies are set in different periods,they were all released after 1980.They therefore comprise features ofmodern cinema, differing substan-tially from traditional works byprominent Japanese authors suchas Akira Kurosawa or Yasujiro Ozu,Tanaka added.

“Our cinema has been evolvinga lot recently and the countryboasts many award-winning filmsenjoying international acclaim,such as Departures by YojiroTakita, which received theAcademy Award for Best ForeignLanguage Film in 2009,” she said. “Ithink that the success of our filmculture dwells particularly in therich variety of themes Japanesemovies depict.”

Yuki Wakasugi, third secretary atthe Embassy of Japan in Slovakia,said she believed that cinema is agood means of showcasing acountry’s identity to foreigners.

“Though some Slovaks surprise usfrom time to time with their accurateknowledge of Japanese culture, mostof them still have limited access to in-formation about our lifestyle or haveonly vague ideas about it,” she told TheSlovak Spectator. “The embassy in-tends to improve this by introducingSlovaks to various aspects of Japanesesociety, both traditional and modern.”

Wakasugi added that the effortsappear to be bearing fruit, as turnoutat Japan-related programmes hasbeen increasing consistently.

The most popular event re-mains the Anime Show Interna-

tional Festival, prepared by theAnime Crew Association.

Attended last year by almost6,000 people, it featured anime,comics and manga presentationsas well as lectures on Japan and itsculture. The fourth edition of thefestival will be held in Bratislavabetween March 18 and 20.

In the meantime, fans of classicfilms can look forward to anotherattractive event, the Akira Kur-osawa Film Festival, brought toSlovakia by the Japanese Embassyon the occasion of what wouldhave been the famous director’s100th birthday.

Between February 28 andMarch 2, seven of Kurosawa'smovies will be screened at theMladosť cinema.

Ancient stories told entirely through a gesture

THE ACTOR walks to the stage with long-drawn-out motions as though he is subordin-ated to a completely different time and space.His face is motionless. A single frail gesture isexpected to tell stories of passion, loss andhope. That particular evening the actor is play-ing Minamoto Yoshitsune who, disguised as aservant, is escaping from the anger of hisbrother, the shogun, in a play called Ataka. Butthe next day, the same actor could very well bea ghost on the stage of the Kyoto Kanze KaikanNoh Theatre.

Without proper preparation Noh theatrecan be quite challenging to an audience outsideof Japan since one needs to transcend time,perception and values, as this is not only an artform from a very different culture but also onethat is at least 650 years old, Petko Slavov, aBulgarian scholar who studies Noh at OsakaUniversity,told The Slovak Spectator.

As to whether Noh could find an approvingaudience in central and eastern Europe, IdaHledíková of the Theatre Faculty of theAcademy of Performing Arts (VŠMU) in Bratis-lava, said that traditional Japanese theatre –whether it is Noh, Kabuki or Bunraku – are well-received in this region, as proven by full houseswhenever Japanese theatre, dance or music isperformedin the region.

“Today, in times of technical progress it ispossible to transfer Asian theatreperformances,” Hledíková told The Slovak Spec-

tator, adding that bringing such performancesinto a culturally different environment has itsappeal but is also very demanding. “It is pos-sible, for example, to sensitively shorten theplay in terms of dramaturgy since we know thatthe traditional performances last several hours,sometimes even the whole night.”

Slavov noted that in modern-day Japan,the traditional Noh play can no longer be per-formed as it used to be in ancient times, whenit was developed to celebrate a deity.Throughout the 15th and 17th century theatresperformed as many as five Noh plays in oneday, so it took from morning till sunset to seethe complete performance.

Hledíková said that watching a several-hours-long Noh performance without know-ledge of the elements of the set of signs mightbe the most demanding aspect for a Europeanviewer since Asian theatre first of all is atheatre of symbols and signs and at least someof those signs and their meaning must be de-coded. Nevertheless, she added that the per-formances are interesting through their col-ourfulness and musicality alone.

According to Slavov, the means of expres-sion in Noh have many levels of impact, so evenif one does not understand the language, aviewer can still grasp the mood of the play bywatching the gestures.

Hledíková said that neither Noh nor anyother forms of traditional Japanese theatre arecurrently taught in Slovakia. However, duringthe class on the history of puppet theatre atthe Department of Puppet Art of the TheatreFaculty of VŠMU, students can devote twoterms to the study of Asian theatre, addingthat in Asian cultures many forms of puppet

and non-puppet theatres are closely inter-twined, if not in terms of techniques, then indramaturgy.

“We devote several lectures to Noh theatresince it is the oldest form of the three basickinds of Japanese theatre,” said Hledíková.“Our students show great interest in Japaneseand Asian theatre in general.”

Five schools of Noh theatre emerged overthe centuries and continue to exist today. Ac-cording to Hledíková, a positive turn in pre-serving traditional Noh theatre emerged inthe second half of the 20th century when theNational Noh Theatre was established in Ja-pan in 1983.

“Japanese say that Noh theatre hasstopped evolving, which is partially true, be-cause the actors don't accept new means ofexpression and stick to the established ones,”Slavov explained. “After all, what we call‘Noh’ is the whole compendium of ancientmeans of expression and forms and if wechange any of them it will stop being Noh inthe strictest sense.”

According to Slavov, Noh is a demandingart form and one needs to put in much effort tobe able to completely enjoy it – something thatsome members of the younger generations arenaturally reluctant to do.

“But I'm sure Noh will always keep its placein the hearts of the people. In a way it plays therole of an anchor for the cultural identity of allJapanese,” Slavov said. “Noh is an art not onlyto watch, but also to experience and learn from.More and more Japanese come to the theatre totry to learn to sing and dance like the actors. Inthis way they train not only their voices andbodies but also learn proper manners, develop

an interest for poetry, and can be in a space-time so different from their own.”

The penetration of Noh into our culturalcontext would be very interesting as with alloriginal cultural traces from the Asian contin-ent, Hledíková said.

“An example could be the performance oftraditional puppet theatre by the Tokyo-basedgroup Shinnai Joruri and that of Hachioji Kur-uma Ningyo in November 2009 at the SlovakNational Theatre,” said Hledíková.

Nishikawa Koru and Turuga Wakasanojo,two masters of puppet and music animation,during their visit to Bratislava supported bythe Japanese Embassy and the Department ofPuppet Art of VŠMU organised a two-dayworkshop for students of VŠMU, Hledíkovásaid, adding that the workshop – where thestudents actually touched the Asian culturewhen they animated the Japanese puppets –was very successful and both sides showed en-thusiasm and interest in further cooperation.

After returning to Bulgaria, Slavov, who islearning to perform Noh and has a very strongbond with his master, Yamamoto Akihiro sen-sei, with whom he is planning a series of work-shops and performances in Bulgaria as well asother countries in eastern Europe, plans to buildfurther bridges through Noh theatre.

“Maintaining a connection with the artmeans maintaining a connection with thepeople who sustain it,” Slavov emphasised.

(Beata Balogová visited Japan last year throughthe Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry’s programmefor visiting foreign journalists.)

Dominika Uhríkovácontributed to this report


13January 24 – January 30, 2011BUSINESS FOCUS

BY DOMINIKA UHRíKOVáSpectator staff

Slovaks are getting more chances to see Japanese films, partly thanks to the Japanese Embassy in Bratislava. Photos: Courtesy of the Embassy of Japan

COOK: Rice andchopsticks differContinued from pg 12

Another differencebetween Slovak and Koreandining habits Janík men-tioned is the use of chopsticks– a sticking point for many –and the attitude to rice.

While Slovaks usuallythink there are at most two orthree varieties of rice,Koreans are able to discrim-inate between a huge num-ber of rice varieties, he said,adding that rice seems to beas important for Koreans asbread is for Slovaks.

In spite of these dissimil-

arities, Korean cuisine is ob-viously becoming increas-ingly popular in Slovakia.

“Both our Korean andSlovak customers have beensuggesting we should extendour business to the capital,”Janík stated. “We have there-fore decided to open a newrestaurant in Bratislava inMay 2011.”

The new eatery will thusjoin Bratislava’s two existingKorean restaurants, SeoulGarden and Maehwa, andseveral other places thatserve Korean food as part oftheir Asian fusion menus.

YD: Photos depict the photographerContinued from pg 7

TSS: In the past you did a lotof work for advertisingagencies…

YD: Yes, my poster best-seller from the 1980s comesfrom that time. It was one ofthe most successful posters atthat time. A simple image; Ido not say it was art; I did itfor a company as a shoe ad,but in the end the client didnot want it. I took it and madeit into a poster.

It turned out a huge com-mercial success and I soldhundreds of thousands of cop-ies. The poster was eventaught at universities as sub-liminal seduction. When youlook at it from a certain angle,it reminds the observer of fe-male genitalia. But I did notthink about the image thatway; all I was doing was anadvertisement for shoes. Lateron the client deeply regrettedthe rejection.

But the times in advert-ising have changed com-pletely. In the past it wasabout total freedom. For ex-ample, I got two models andthe product and went toHawaii and did what Iwanted. The 1980s were such acreative era: advertising com-panies completely trustedpeople like me; that I wouldreturn with good photos.

There were also a lot of photo-graphers able to follow pre-cisely the given lay-out, butthe companies gave me thework and said: he will cer-tainly come up withsomething. This has com-pletely changed andeverything is planned. I donot say that this is bad, butthis is not my style.

TSS: What do your photossay about you? It is saidthat photography speaksmore about the photo-grapher than about the de-picted object…

YD: Probably yes, and thisis very scary for many photo-

graphers. I had a classmateand he was incredibly dull.His photos were incrediblydull as well. In fact I con-sidered him an artist becausehis work was a true reflectionof the dullness that resided inhim. I can tell about myselfwhatever I want; but it doesnot matter. What my photostell you is the true mirror.Perhaps in the world my pho-tos are seen as quirky. Hu-mour is very important inboth life and photography. If Icannot laugh, what is it allabout? Then there is surreal-ism, which in fact works andan unfinished sentencewhich invites people to walk

further. A nice photo is acompleted sentence. You see apostcard of Bratislava withthe bridge. It is a completedsentence. There is nowhere towalk further.

Yuri Dojc was born on May12, 1946, in the eastern Slovaktown of Humenné. In 1954 hemoved with his parents to Bratis-lava. There he studied first at sec-ondary technical school and aftercompleting it, continued his stud-ies at Comenius University, wherehe took psychology. In 1968 hewent to England and stayed thereafter Warsaw Pact troops invadedCzechoslovakia in August 1968.After relocating to Canada hestudied photography at the Ryer-son Polytechnical Institute inToronto between 1971 and 1974. In1975 he opened his own photo-graphy studio and launched a suc-cessful career working for majorcompanies and advertising agen-cies around the world.

The exhibition in the Bratis-lava City Gallery at the MirbachPalace, Františkánske námestie11, lasts until the end of Janu-ary. On February 1, at 18:00, thegallery will hold, in cooperationwith the SOGA auction house, acharity auction of 22 images byDojc. The bid price for an imageis €500. Money raised will bedonated to people who suffereddamage during the 2010 floodsin Slovakia.

GLOBAL: Reducing the burdenContinued from pg 11

He said that statistical dataon Slovakia and other V4 coun-tries shows that the region hasless heat insulation than thecold climate requires.

“The insulating materialsare thinner and since your cli-mate is colder than in Japan,Slovakia should enforce heatinsulation of its buildings,”Takakusa stated.

Takakusa added that oneof the technologies that couldbe used in Slovakia is the heatpump, because high-effi-ciency heat pumps are recog-nised in the EU as a energy-saving source. He noted thatuse of heat pumps in colderregions has been increasing.

He said in his lecture thatpeople now live in an age when“we have to choose betweendesire and [our actual] energyrequirement. In the past therewas no quantitative way to de-termine which is more im-portant … even though theyknew some of those rulesinstinctively.”

When designing a build-ing today, Takakusa saidcomputers can be used tomake calculations and build-ing drawings, to determine,for example, the materialsthat should be used in thebuilding and other designcriteria. He says that by us-ing this technology, Japan,the United States and theUnited Kingdom do not regu-late the absolute volume ofenergy saving but insteadcompare the ratio between

the improvement in the qual-ity of life and the environ-mental burden.

“In that way you can set acertain target value and see ifit is higher than that target,”Takakusa said. “You can con-trol the quality of the spaceand the environmental bur-den it creates. In using thisconcept it is very important tofully consider the environ-mental burden. While seekingto improve quality of life youshould not also increase en-ergy consumption.”

Takakusa said technologyhas not yet been developed toreach the concept of a zero-emission building but that therequired technologies toachieve reduced energy con-sumption exist.

“It may surprise you whenI say that it might be neces-sary to triple efficiency toachieve that goal. However,equipment efficiency is im-proving very rapidly. So I be-lieve in 10 years, if we do itright, we will be able toachieve that goal,” he said.“Having said that, in the cur-rent kinds of buildings wheretechnological improvementsare required, even if we man-age to reduce energy use bytechnological improvementswe will, at most, be able to re-duce 50 percent of the energyuse – we will not be able toachieve zero-emission use.”

Takakusa is particularlyworried about the growing useof PCs since as the demand forcomputers increases as well asthe desire for faster comput-

ing speeds, more energy isconsumed.

Fáber said the use of heatpumps in Slovakia had beenretarded in the past due to thecountry’s low energy priceswhich meant using a heatpump was not cost-effectiveand its purchase price and op-erating costs did not yield anadequate return on invest-ment when compared withother sources of heat. Henoted that after 1990 heatpumps began to be sporadic-ally installed and since theprice of all kinds of energyhave increased over the pasttwo years heat pumps aregradually becoming cost-ef-fective devices that are find-ing a place in the Slovak mar-ket as a source of heat.

Both the professional andthe general public are betterinformed about measures inthe area of energy effective-ness, said Šoltésová.

As of last year, the SlovakInnovation and EnergyAgency provides free profes-sional energy counsellingabout possible energy saving,effective energy measures andthe use of renewable energysources within the project“Live with Energy” which isco-financed from theEuropean Regional Develop-ment Fund.

(Beata Balogová visited Japanlast year through the Japanese For-eign Affairs Ministry’s programmefor visiting foreign journalists.)

Jana Liptáková contributedto this report

From the City Scapes series. Photo: Yuri Dojc

A winning dish. Photo: Courtesy of the Korean Embassy

●

●

●

●

●

●

14 January 24 – January 30, 2011 BUSINESS FOCUS / FEATURE

The big Choč

PAINTER Jozef Kuska created apainting in 1920 that depicts analmost ideal landscape. Theview from the Liptov town of

Ružomberok towards LikavaCastle and, in the background,the impressive Choč hill en-chanted many viewers.

People enjoyed thisbreathtaking panorama longbefore the castle appeared.Historically, a trading routeled through this area, con-necting the Danube regionwith the Baltic region. Mer-chants either sailed on thenearby Váh River (whichcannot be seen in the post-card), or went overland.

The intensity of life inthis place has been confirmedby many local archaeologicalexcavations and it is no coin-cidence that the medievalLikava Castle – the mostmassive of the castles guard-ing Liptov – was built here.Choč served as a good orient-ation point for ancient travel-lers. Today it is a popular des-tination for tourists,something which may also bedue to the fact that the routeleading to this beautiful hillis not very demanding, andthe view from Choč is re-garded by many to be themost beautiful in Slovakia.Deservedly, this hill is alsocalled “Viewing Mound No 1”.

By Branislav Chovan

Western SLOVAKIA

Bratislaval CLASSICAL MUSIC: A con-cert by Austrian musiciansFlorian Kitt, on violoncello,and Aima Maria Labra-Makk,on piano, presenting works byRobert Schumann, AnthonyPayne, Benjamin Britten andJohannes Brahms.

Starts: January 28, 18:00;Mozart Hall of the AustrianEmbassy, Ventúrska 10. Ad-mission: free. Tel: 02/5464-1337; www.rakusko.eu/sk/kultura.aspx.

Bratislaval ICE SKATING: The tempor-ary ice rink that opened onthe Main Square on January15 will remain for six weeks,thanks to both the city coun-cil and private sponsors.Skating on the rink is free,and skates can be borrowedonsite.

Open: daily 10:00-22:00until February 28; Hlavnénámestie. Admission: free.More info: www.bratislava.sk.

Bratislaval CLASSICAL MUSIC: A fest-ive concert by students of Pro-fessor Stefan Kamilarov, whohails from Bulgaria but nowlives and works in Vienna. InBratislava, works by W.A.Mozart, O. Messiaen, M.Bruch, J. Sibelius and H.Wieniawski will be offered.

Starts: January 25, 18:00;Pálffy Palace, Zámocká Street.Admission: free. Tel: 02/5441-0140; www.bulkis.sk.

Bratislaval EXHIBITION: Monopoly –This monographic exhibitionby young artist Jana Zatvar-nicka, a student of theAcademy of Arts in Bratislava,focuses on the counter-actionand inter-action betweenidentity and entity.

Open: daily 16:00-24:00 un-til February 1; Hopkirk chill-out& culture bar, Karpatská 2(former YMCA), 1st floor. Ad-mission: free. Tel: 0903/663-538;www. hopkirk.sk.

Trnaval MUSEUM: Maroko / Mo-rocco – An exhibition offeringphotographs, minerals, fossilsand artefacts from this exoticcountry.

Open: Tue-Fri 8:00-17:00,Sat-Sun 11:00-17:00 until Feb-ruary 28; Západoslovenskémúzeum, Múzejné Square 3.

Admission: €1.25. Tel: 033/5512-913; www.muzeum.sk.

Central SLOVAKIA

Banská Bystrical EXHIBITION:Architecture.sk 05/10 – An ex-hibition of works by Slovakarchitects and students of ar-chitecture selected via a na-tional project. It reviews Slov-ak architecture between 2005and 2010, from family villas tocivic projects and reconstruc-ted buildings.

Open: Tue-Fri 10:00-17:00,Sat-Sun 10:00-16:00 until Feb-ruary 28; Stredoslovenskágaléria, Dolná 8. Admission:€0.50-€1.50. Tel: 048/4701-615;www.ssgbb.sk.

Martinl EXHIBITION: Obrazom asochou k srdcu - Zimné im-

presie / Through Painting andStatue into the Heart - WinterImpressions – An exhibitionof the works of amateurartists from the Turiec region.

Open: Mon-Fri 8:00-18:00,Sat 8:00-13:00 until January 31;Turčianska knižnica, Di-vadelná 3. Admission: free. Tel:043/4133-590; www.tkmartin.sk.

Eastern SLOVAKIA

Šumiacl FOLKLORE DANCING:Veselička s Muzičkou a FSŠumiačan / Jamboree withMuzička and FS Šumiačan –Folklore ensembles Muzičkaand Šumiačan have organiseda folklore dance, both per-forming and inviting parti-cipants to dance themselves.

Starts: January 29, 18:30;Culture and Education Centreon the Main Square. Admis-sion: €2. Tel: 0905/213-638;www.muzicka.sk.

Spišská Nová Vesl EXHIBITION: Sacral Ele-mentum v tvorbe umelcov /Sacral Elements in the Worksof Artists – A collection ofworks by Spiš artists (Š.Hudzík, J. Kopnický, O.Korkoš, B. Kopnická, A.Mikulíková, and others) whouse sacral motifs in theirworks. 2010 was the Year ofChristian Culture in Slovakia,and its influence can still befelt in this exhibition.

Open: Mon 8:00-16:00, Tue8:00-17:00, Sat 9:00-13:00, Sun12:00-16:00 until January 31;Galéria umelcov Spiša, Zimná46. Admission: €0.50-€1. Tel:053/4464-710; www.gus.sk.

By Zuzana Vilikovská

EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE

THE SLOVAK National Gallery in the Esterházy Palace in ĽudovítŠtúr Square in Bratislava has prepared a comprehensive exhibi-tion entitled Maľba po maľbe / Painting after Painting, compris-ing the work of contemporary Slovak artists including A.Bartošová, R. Bielik, M. Blažo, L. Dovičáková, M. Czinege, M.Gerboc, Ľ. Hrachovinová, O. Chrenková, J. Kollár, D. Lehocká, M.Mališ, J. Mrvová, D. Sadovská, M. Sedlák, E. Šille, V. Šramatyová,Umelá skupina Debili (J. Ballx and P. Stax), and E. Vargová. UntilJanuary 31, the works can be seen Tuesdays to Sundays between10:00 and 18:00, for €1.30 to €3.50. For more information, pleasevisit www.sng.sk. Photo: R. Bielik's self-portrait, Courtesy of SNG

THE ORIGINAL Slovak musical František z Assisi / St Francis ofAssisi shows in an attractive way the life of the charismatic saintwho stubbornly insisted on the truth, winning out over pain,humiliation and injustice. Written by M. Kákoš, G. Dušík and M.Sarvaš, and directed by M. Kákoš, the piece has become a popu-lar one at the J. Záborského Theatre in Prešov. On January 28,there will be another performance; tickets cost €9-€11. For moreinformation, please visit www.djz.sk. Photo: Courtesy of DJZ

CULTURE

ADVERTISEMENT

Grand iose h igh l igh t o f t he ba l l season in S lovak i a!

March 5th, 2011, 7pm

The new building of SND

Krištáľovékrídlo

Organizátori: Slovenské národné divadlo v spolupráci s organizátorom Krištáľového krídlaP r e s t i g i o u s c u l t u r a l e v e n t

w i t h t h e w o r l d s t a r s o f op e r a!

M o s t p o p u la r and g l amo r o u s d i v a , op e r a t i c s op r ano Anna Ne t rebkoG r e a t op e r a t i c ba s s - b a r i t one Er w in S chro t tA p r om ine n t op e r a t i c t e no r José Cura

SND Box offices and www.ticketportal.skTickets available at: HOTLINE: +421 2 204 72 297

SP 90250/6

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

TimeaTimotej

January 24

Tuesday

Gejza

January 25

Wednesday

Tamara

January 26

Thursday

Bohu‰

Januaury 27

Friday

Alfonz

January 28

Saturday

Ga‰par

January 29

Sunday

EmaEmma

January 30

15January 24 – January 30, 2011

HISTORY TALKS

Teamsters showoff their horses

TEAMSTERSor draymenwere (often)men whodrove wagonsor carriages

first pulled by oxen, and laterby horses, to transport goodsand sometimes people alongancient trading routes. Theywere the predecessors oftoday’s truck drivers. Theworkhorses that pulled thesecarriages were always far dif-ferent from full-bloodedracehorses, and on January 8their descendants testedtheir skills and strengthalong with their masters atthe annual TurčianskaPodkova / Turiec Horseshoecompetition held in the vil-lage of Turčianske Kľačany.

Twenty-three men andtheir horses competed inskills like timber-pullingwhere, in addition to requir-ing strength, the competi-tion called for good commu-nication between the horsesand their masters. Thesecond discipline also in-volved handling wood andthe third involved “heavypulling” Lenka Mahútová,the founder of the competi-tion and a teamster herself,told the TASR newswire.Mahútová explained whythis year’s competition in-volved only men, saying“one regular contestant ishaving a baby, another is

pregnant and me, as themain organiser, I had notime. So I just made an ex-hibition show for theaudience”. She added thatshe plans to compete againstmen later this year as she hasbought a new harness for hermare Nirvana and hasalready had it engraved.

Drayman ĽubomírChromec and his horse Maťoare regular participants inthe competition andChromec said he and hishorse did not mind thewarmer than usual weather.“If everything is frozen,things go more easily. Whenit is thawing, the snow sticksto the horse’s shoes. But inthe pulling, it does not makesuch a big difference. Themain thing is good coopera-tion. When the owner givestime and energy, his horseobeys his every word. Hedoes not even need to scold.If there is contact on a dailybasis, the horse will listenand obey,” Chromec said.

Chromec views thesecompetitions as get-togeth-ers between old friends. “Toshow off our animals we tryto decorate them as muchas possible so that otherpeople can see as well thatour horses do not onlystand somewhere in astable. We want to showthem off to the public,”Chromec said proudly.

Nirvana in action in Turčianske Kľačany. Photo: TASR

Dogs await new owners at an animal shelter in Košice. Photo: TASR

Prešov to turn a militarybase into a rescue centre

THE MAYOR ofthe easternSlovak city ofPrešov is con-cerned abouthow stray an-

imals as well as pets that havebeen abandoned by their own-ers are treated.

For that reason MayorPavol Hagyari has been dis-cussing ways to improve thetreatment of these animalswith representatives of theRegional Veterinary andFood Administration (RvaPS)and a local animal-care civicassociation.

Currently, stray dogs andcats in Prešov are trapped bycity police officers and placedin a quarantine station onBajkalská Street. “The quarant-ine complex has a capacity of20 animals and if this is notenough it is possible to placethem in Košice. After the re-

quired treatments are made,we look for its owner,”Valerián Kvokačka, the head ofthe RvaPS Department of An-imal Health in Prešov told theTASR newswire.

Hagyari said that eventhough financing and operat-ing the animal shelter is not alegal duty of the city, he intendsto seek a better solution andhopes that several institutionswill join his efforts to do so. Hesaid one solution could be to re-locate the animal shelter to anunused former military com-pound near Cemjata that isowned by the city, adding thatthis property offers enoughspace for housing the animalsas well as organising events.The mayor added that he seesgrant schemes as the bestsource of money for renovationand operation of the shelter asthe city has other crucialbudget priorities. The shelter

would have a capacity severaltimes larger than the quarant-ine station in Bajkalská andafter initial renovation the mil-itary compound could welcomeits first animals in 2011.

The head of a dog shelter inKošice, Romana Šerfelová, toldTASR that her shelter had no-ticed an increased interest inadopting abandoned animalsin the pre-Christmas periodbut that most people were onlyinterested in pure-bred dogs.

“This year, there wasenormous demand for York-shire terriers, so they are prob-ably 'in' right now,” Šerfelovásaid, adding: “most people findinformation on our websiteand then contact us with ques-tions about a specific animal".

She noted that capacity inKošice was also a problem.“The shelter’s capacity is 60animals and we regularly have130 to 140 animals.”

Bratislava City Card offers discountsTHOSE withpermanentresidence inSlovakia’s cap-ital can applyfor a Bratislava

City Card that can be used topurchase goods or serviceswhile qualifying for specialdiscounts.

The card, issued by severalbanks, can be used for inter-national payments, as a lib-rary card and as an electronicticket for galleries and mu-seums as well. The card can beused to purchase a pre-paidticket for city transport, calledan “električenka” and the carduser receives a 10-percent dis-count on transport.

Users of the BratislavaCity Card can additionally re-ceive a 20-percent discountwhen visiting cultural attrac-tions and other venues oper-ated by the city such as the zoo

and the city’s art gallery andmuseum as well as the Pasi-enky indoor swimming pool

or summertime outdoor pools.Bratislava’s Cultural and

Information Service is also

involved in the programmeand offers discounts for someother cultural, social andsporting events.

The Bratislava City Carduses the contactless techno-logy called PayPass to substi-tute for cash and the electron-ic transaction itself takes lessthan five seconds and does notrequire a special terminal orentry of a PIN.

On the day of the project’slaunch Bratislava Mayor Mil-an Ftáčnik applied for his cardand other cardholders havebeen able to acquire and usetheir cards since mid January.

OTP Bank, UniCredit Bankand VÚB Bank are currentlypart of the project but recentnegotiations undertaken bythe city may result in addi-tional banks participating be-fore the end of 2011 ĽubomírAndrassy, spokesman for thecity, told the TASR newswire.

‘Yummyspinach’

intoxicatesA MARRIEDcouple innorthernSlovakia hadan unexpec-ted experi-

ence: after eating whatthey thought was cookedspinach for their lunch,they needed to call an am-bulance.

The Sme daily wrote onJanuary 14 that the58-year-old woman and her60-year-old husband wereadmitted to the UpperOrava hospital after havingingested what the policebelieve may have beenfrozen marijuana.

The wife took a frozen,green package from herfreezer and believing it wasspinach cooked it forlunch. She said thatneither the different smellnor the strange foam dur-ing cooking made herquestion what was in thefreezer bag.

The local police were in-formed about the situationby hospital staff, JanaBalogová of the regional po-lice corps told Sme, andafter investigating the po-lice have started prosecu-tion against an unknownperpetrator for putting thepackage of the intoxicatingweed into the freezer underthe misdemeanour chargeof preserving “toxic andpsychotropic substances”.

“We are awaiting fur-ther results from an expertopinion and the doctor’sreport,” Balogová added.

1

2

4

3

AROUND SLOVAKIAcompiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports

16 FEATUREJanuary 24 – January 30, 2011

Bratislava's mayor uses his new card. Photo: TASR

Slovak SPectator 1703

Documents

Transcript of Slovak SPectator 1703