Doctors threaten mass resignation

THE FIRST four months of 2011have been challenging forSlovakia’s health-care sector and,with Germany and Austria openingtheir labour markets on May 1,fears of an eventual mass exodus ofSlovak physicians and otherhealth-care professionals have nowintensified. Nevertheless, the Min-istry of Health says that it does notexpect any such flight.

Meanwhile, Slovak physiciansare now warning that they maysubmit mass resignation notices totheir employers to demonstrate

their frustration over poor pay andlow status, following the exampleof their Czech colleagues who useda similar tactic earlier this year.

The idea was initiated by theMedical Trade Unions Association(LOZ), which counts 2,000 mem-bers out of approximately 18,000physicians across Slovakia.

While it is unclear how manyphysicians might submit such no-tices, Michal Polician, the chair-man of LOZ, told the SITA news-wire that he expects physicianswho are not members of LOZ to jointhe protest. Its exact timing,however, is unclear.

“The Ministry of Health doesnot expect there to be mass sub-missions of notice,” Health Min-

istry spokesperson KatarínaZollerová told The Slovak Spectator.

Zollerová said the ministryfound the threat of possible massresignation surprising, noting thatit has been engaged in intense dia-logue with all stakeholders in thehealth-care sector and that duringpast meetings the trade unions hadgiven no indication of a plan tosubmit notice en masse.

Polician said the unions arenot bypassing further dialoguewith the ministry but added thatthe threat of mass resignationcould be ended only if the govern-ment meets the health-care uni-ons’ demands.

See DOCS pg 4

NEWS

Cops shoot 'cannibal'A man from eastern Slov-akia who had apparentlyagreed online to kill andeat a Swiss citizen wasshot by police after at-tempting to meet his in-tended victim.

pg 2

Migrants not welcomeAn international analysis ofnational systems for deal-ing with migrants put Slov-akia in 29th place out of 31European countries. It high-lighted bureaucracy, lan-guage problems and labourmarket discrimination.

pg 3

OPINION

From good to badPeter Paluda's nominationto head the NBÚ has fallenfoul of the SDKÚ, despitethe prime minister's out-spoken support. The partyhas not said why and its si-lence raises many ques-tions.

pg 5

BUSINESS FOCUS

Bank tax idea returnsThe idea of a special tax onbanks is back on the table,but faces fierce oppositionfrom the banks, who saythey should not be subjectto a sector-specific tax.

pg 6

Leasing revivesAfter a wretched 2009, leas-ing firms detected an up-swing in business in late2010 and are predicting con-tinued growth through2011.

pg 7

CULTURE

Airmen as diplomatsThe United States AirForces in Europe Band vis-ited Slovakia recently, per-forming in front of morethan 1,400 people. Its role isas much diplomatic as it ismilitary.

pg 11

After months of anticipation that Team Slovakia might compete for a medal at the first Ice Hockey World Champi-onship staged on home ground, the country’s hockey team failed to advance to the quarterfinals after suffering fourdefeats in a row. For some, such as team captain Pavol Demitra (pictured above, centre), this was their last chanceto represent Slovakia on a hockey rink. Other ageing players say it is unlikely that Slovakia will ever revisit its gloryyears from 2000 to 2003 when the country won a bronze, silver and gold at these championships. Demitra's farewellafter the match with Denmark was an emotional experience for all Slovak hockey enthusiasts. Photo: TASR

Court heads roll asjustice minister acts

THE PRESIDING judges at 14 Slovakcourts have been summarily re-moved in a wide-ranging reshuffleinitiated by Justice Minister LuciaŽitňanská. The dismissals came onthe heels of a promise made byŽitňanská in an interview lastmonth with The Slovak Spectator to“take action” against court presid-ents who were unable to explain orremedy failures in the operation oftheir courts, particularly in terms ofdelays in hearing cases. Such‘procrastination’, as it is known inthe Slovak legal context, has longbeen the subject of complaints from

both Slovak citizens and foreign in-vestors.

Nine presidents of districtcourts and five regional court headslost their senior positions as of May11, with the minister saying thatthe court bosses in question, as theworst performers, had lost hertrust. The chairman of the JudicialCouncil and president of the Su-

preme Court, Štefan Harabin, along-time opponent of Žitňanská’splans to reform the judicial system,described the minister’s move as a“political cleansing” of the judi-ciary and said that loss of theminister’s trust is not sufficientgrounds under the law to fire apresiding judge.

Earlier this year, Žitňanská saidthat she was taking a closer look atthe performance of the courts in or-der to uncover the state of the judi-ciary in Slovakia.

See FIRED pg 2

Vol. 17, No. 19 Monday, May 16, 2011 - Sunday, May 22, 2011

FOCUSof this issue

On sale nowOn sale now FOCUSof this issue

BANKING & LEASING

Court will nolonger dealwith case

THE EUROPEAN Court of Arbitration inStrasbourg will no longer deal with a caseinvolving Slovak legislation which was re-cently ruled unconstitutional by thecountry’s Constitutional Court. HICEE, aDutch company that is a 100-percentshareholder in the Slovak health insurerDôvera was seeking compensation of morethan €500 million in a lawsuit filed withthe European court challenging legislationpassed by the last government that bannedprivate health insurers from using profitsto pay dividends to their shareholders.

See HALT pg 4

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

Censuscauses clash

THE DECENNIAL census of residents andresidences, which many social scientistsconsider one of the most significant eventsof 2011 because of its EU-wide scope, startedin Slovakia on May 13. The actual point ofmeasurement for the 2011 census will bemidnight between May 20 and May 21 andthe deadline for persons to fill out theirhard-copy questionnaires is June 6.

Despite an information campaignamong residents to raise awareness aboutthe census, most of the public campaigningin Slovakia has been centred on attempts byrepresentatives of national minorities andreligious groups to motivate their membersto state their ethnicity and religion, fol-lowed by public clashes between Slovakia’sinterior minister and the country’s Statist-ics Office (ŠÚ) over the country’s prepared-ness for the event.

Minister and ŠÚ trade barbs

The feast of statistics, as some Slovakcommentators are calling the country’smost extensive statistical inquiry, is pro-jected to cost €30.6 million. But even be-fore the first doorbell has been rung tocount residents and find out more abouttheir living arrangements there have beencharges and counter-charges about thepreparation process. The Sme daily repor-ted in early May that the Interior Ministryand the Association of Towns and Villagesof Slovakia (ZMOS) had expressed concernsthat the results of the census might bebiased because the ŠÚ provided municipal-ities with maps to be used in creatingcensus districts that the ministry and as-sociation said were full of errors.

See TALLY pg 3

BY MICHAELA TERENZANISpectator staff

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

SSELECT FOREX RATESbenchmark as of May 12

CANADA CAD 1.37CZECH REP. CZK 24.28RUSSIA RUB 39.69GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.87

HUNGARY HUF 266.08JAPAN JPY 114.54POLAND PLN 3.92USA USD 1.42

Štefanov retains his MP immunity

THE GENERAL Prosecutor’sOffice will not request thatparliament vote to removethe immunity from prosecu-tion enjoyed by MP IgorŠtefanov of the Slovak Na-tional Party (SNS), sayingthat all the facts that wouldjustify making such a re-quest have not been con-firmed, Slovak media repor-ted on May 6.

Štefanov is suspected ofmanipulating a public tenderworth €120 million, knownas the bulletin-board tender,while serving at the Con-struction Ministry in theprevious government.

The acting general pro-secutor, Ladislav Tichý, saidthat he could not find anycriminal intention behindŠtefanov’s actions, the Smedaily reported.

Tichý is reportedly aclose colleague of DobroslavTrnka, the former generalprosecutor, who is runningto return to the post in a re-peat election against thegoverning coalition’s can-didate, Jozef Čentéš, sched-

uled to take place in parlia-ment on May 17.

Interior Minister DanielLipšic said Tichý’s decisionregarding Štefanov is a signalto members of parliamentthat that if the present lead-ership remains at theprosecutor’s office there willalways be someone to protectpoliticians accused of cor-ruption, Sme reported.

Štefanov is one of fourpeople accused in the bullet-in-board tender but is theonly one protected by par-liamentary immunity.

Štefanov became con-struction minister after hispredecessor, MarianJanušek, was recalled by theSNS under pressure fromthen-prime minister RobertFico because of the bulletin-board tender which was‘won’ by a consortium of twocompanies reportedly closeto SNS chairman Ján Slota. Ithas been reported thatŠtefanov was actively in-volved in the tender processas a deputy and was laterforced to resign as minister.

SDKÚ rejects Paluda's NBÚ candidacy

THE LARGEST ruling coali-tion party, the Slovak Demo-cratic and Christian Union(SDKÚ), does not support thenomination of judge PeterPaluda to head the NationalSecurity Office (NBÚ), SDKÚparliamentary caucus chairJozef Mikuš announced aftera caucus meeting on May 11,the TASR newswire reported.Paluda was nominated byFreedom and Solidarity (SaS).

“We had a long and opendebate and I have to say thatMr Paluda did not gain thesupport of a majority of the

caucus,” Mikuš told TASR. Herefused to comment on thereasons expressed by caucusmembers for withholdingtheir support from Paluda,saying only that it would notbe appropriate to make pub-lic statements.

Paluda is an expert in se-curity issues, crime, andcriminal and European legis-lation. He has served as aprosecutor in BanskáBystrica, as a Supreme Courtjudge (since 1994) and asSlovakia's representative atEurojust (2004-07).

Radičová visits London, meets PM

PRIME Minister IvetaRadičová paid a two-day visitto the United Kingdom onMay 10 and 11 and met herBritish counterpart DavidCameron and his deputyNick Clegg to discuss variousmatters including the EUbudget for 2014-2020, theSITA newswire reported.

Radičová told the mediathat she and her Britishhosts agreed on most topics,including budget priorities,potential tax harmonisationand the need to consolidatenational budgets, addingthat she thinks a key changecould be made in the EU’scommon agricultural policy,which traditionally ac-counts for a significant por-tion of the EU budget. Shesaid the current system isnot fair as farmers fromolder member states receivemore in subsidies thanfarmers in newer states.

“It is not fair that the

market and competition arereplaced by higher subsidiesin some countries at the ex-pense of other countries. Itjeopardises our own produc-tion and this model is notreally just,” she said, asquoted by SITA, adding thatthe response to this shouldnot be less money for Frenchfarmers, but less money forlarge farms.

During her trip Radičováalso met Thomas Mirow, thepresident of the EuropeanBank for Reconstruction andDevelopment (EBRD), andgave a lecture at the LondonSchool of Economics andPolitical Science titled FiscalDiscipline in the EU: A Ques-tion of Transparency andCommitment. She referredin her speech to hergovernment's recent rule re-quiring all government con-tracts to be published online.

Compiled by Spectator staff

Would-be cannibal diesafter police shoot-out

IN ONE of Slovakia’s morebizarre criminal cases, Slovakpolice foiled a case of whatthey said was attempted can-nibalism on May 10. An un-dercover team swooped nearKysak, a village in the vicinityof Košice, after learning that alocal man was planning to killand eat a Swiss citizen withwhom he made an onlinepact. The police operationwas not a complete success:the suspect was armed andboth he and a police officerwere seriously injured in theensuing shoot-out. The sus-pect died of his injuries twodays later.

Slovak police were noti-fied about the planned can-nibalism by Interpol. TheSwiss man, who had ex-pressed a desire to be killedand subsequently eaten,found a willing accomplice inSlovakia through the internetand arranged a meeting tocarry out the plan, but lost

his nerve shortly before trav-elling and reported the planto Swiss police.

Police officers thentracked the e-mail commu-nication between the would-be human flesh-eater and theSwiss man.

“He [the Swiss citizen]wanted to die, and agreed tohave his body quartered andsubsequently consumed by aperson whose identity wedid not know,” Interior Min-ister Daniel Lipšic toldjournalists at a briefing atthe crime scene, as quoted bythe TASR newswire.

According to the presidentof the Police Corps, JaroslavSpišiak, the Swiss agreed to bekilled in woodland. Thewould-be cannibal was sup-posed to drug him, stab him inthe heart and then quarterhim. His remains were to behidden – laced with pepper inorder to mask the scent andprevent animals from findingthe body – and subsequentlyeaten over a period of time.

The expected victim wassupposed to arrive in Kysak bytrain, wearing clothes previ-ously agreed on with his in-tended killer.

Slovak police swapped theSwiss man for an agent, whothen went to meet the suspectnear Kysak on May 10, asagreed. The agent carried atransmitter to allow other of-ficers to track him.

Policeman and suspect shot

“As soon as we verifiedthat it was the suspect, the po-lice intervened,” Spišiak toldjournalists, as quoted by theSme daily

The shoot-out occurredwhen a police SWAT team at-tempted to arrest the suspect.The man, who possesses fourlegally-held firearms, pulledout a gun and threatened toshoot the agent; in responsepolice snipers opened fire, hit-ting him several times. Des-pite his injuries, he returnedfire and managed to shoot oneof the SWAT unit members be-fore being subdued.

“He [the policeman] wasshot from the side, in an un-protected area; the bulletentered through his shoulderinto the thoracic cavity,”Lipšic said, as quoted by Sme.He praised the officer for risk-ing his life.

See KYSAK pg 9

FIRED: Harabin decries 'political' moveContinued from pg 1

Transparency watchdogs, busi-nesses, the media and the diplomaticcommunity have voiced concern for sev-eral years about the state of justice inSlovakia. Žitňanská said that only afterthe review process was completed wouldshe make personnel changes.

The heads of the district courts inBanská Bystrica, Bratislava’s district III,Čadca, Dolný Kubín, Košice’s districts Iand II, Veľký Krtíš and Žilina, along withheads of the regional courts in Bratislava,Banská Bystrica, Prešov, Trenčín andŽilina were all dismissed. They will re-main at their respective courts, but serveas regular judges.

According to a ministry press release,Žitňanská assessed the courts’ perform-ance by using three criteria: procrastina-tion, i.e. the level of delays in court cases;respect for the principle of random as-signment of court files; and the ability ofeach court head to manage their court inan unbiased way in line with ethicalstandards.

A recently published statistic sugges-ted that last year the state had to paydamages of €1,112,000 based on rulingsby the Constitutional Court related to theoperation of the judicial system, and thatmost of the money was paid out as com-pensation for unjustified delays.

When Žitňanská was asked earlierthis year by The Slovak Spectator wheth-er she was planning any reshuffles, shesaid that first she had to ensure that itwas absolutely obvious that all the stepsshe took were completely legitimate.

“First I want to uncover the condi-tions within the judiciary and show dif-ferences between the performances of

certain courts,” Žitňanská said in the in-terview, published on April 11. “I will thenpay special attention to the courts whicharen’t working in the way they should. Incourts where procrastination is frequentand the state often has to reimburse af-fected citizens it is completely legitimateto demand that the president of the courtexplains the delays and sets out what hasdone to change the situation. If the courtpresident is unable to provide the an-swers then I will have to take action.”

Žitňanská also said she would try toavoid political decisions.

Many of the recalled judges wereclose allies of Harabin. Yet Žitňanská re-jected the interpretation that she first ofall sacked judges close to Harabin.

“I am not dividing judges into thosewho are close to Harabin and those whoaren’t,” said Žitňanská, adding that shewas looking into the results of the courts.

Nevertheless, Harabin, who hasbeen criticised for using disciplinaryproceedings to punish judges who arecritical of him or of the condition of thejudiciary he leads, said that the ministerplans to install “so-called critics” tothese vacant posts.

As for the minister’s argumentsabout the judges’ performance, Harabinpointed to the Regional Court in Prešovand argued that, in terms of its speed ofproceedings, this court has been the bestperformer in Slovakia, SITA reported.

Žitňanská said that she would take acloser look at other courts as well. A re-cent revision to the Act on Judges andJudicial Assistants has made it possiblefor the justice minister to remove judges.

One of the recalled chairs, who spoketo the TASR newswire on condition ofanonymity, said that “these are the most

extensive personnel changes in thejustice system since the times of [formerminister] Ján Čarnogurský” and thatthey are disrupting the course of justice.

“To be credible, justice must be in-dependent, and must also be seen to beindependent,” Žitňanská said, as quotedby TASR. “If a court is headed by some-body who has been publicly reported tobe linked to facts that erode the percep-tion of being trusted, then this couldmean that the justice system as a wholemay not be perceived as trustworthyand independent, and then it’s a prob-lem for justice as such.”

Žitňanská also said that she dis-cussed the performance of the judges inquestion with them about a month ago,and that the ministry later publishedthe results of the analyses on its web-site. She said that this made her de-cisions quite predictable.

The court presidents who were fired

In detail, the following judges weredismissed as court presidents, as repor-ted by the Sme daily: Ján Bobor, BanskáBystrica Regional Court; GabrielaŠimonová, Bratislava Regional Court; Ig-or Burger, Prešov Regional Court; JozefKutiš, Trenčín Regional Court; JurajKrupa, Žilina Regional Court; ĽubomírBušík, Banská Bystrica District Court,Richard Molnár, Bratislava III DistrictCourt; Kajetán Kičuna, Čadca DistrictCourt; Blažena Strašíková, Dolný KubínDistrict Court; Andrej Mitterpák, Košice IDistrict Court; Jozef Pribula, Košice-okolie District Court; Vladimír Kotuš,Košice II District Court; Slavomír Ci-merman, Veľký Krtíš District Court;Daniel Béreš, Žilina District Court.

Minister Lipšic and Police Corps President Spišiak. Photo: TASR

2 NEWSMay 16 – 22, 2011

Suspect diesafter being shot

during arrest; onepolice officer leftgravely injured

Slovakia ranked nearbottom on migration

BUREAUCRATIC barriers, lan-guage problems and a discrim-inatory labour market: theseare only a few of the difficultiesthat migrants experience tosome extent anywhere in theworld. In Slovakia, however,these barriers tend to be worsethan almost everywhere else inEurope or North America, withexpert observers saying this isbecause elected officials andpolicymakers do not considermigration an important orpressing topic.

Slovakia ranked third fromthe bottom among 31 coun-tries evaluated in the recentlypublished Migration Integra-tion Policy Index (MIPEX III),with only Cyprus and Latviagetting worse results. TheMIPEX III report stated thatSlovakia had not made muchprogress in improving its mi-gration policies and new-comers to the country experi-ence weak and incoherentpractices. The MIPEX projectis led by the British Counciland the Migration PolicyGroup, made up of 37 national-level organisations, includingthink-tanks, NGOs, universit-ies, foundations, research in-stitutes and equality bodies.

Laco Oravec of the MilanŠimečka Foundation noted thatthe fact that 28 out of 31 coun-tries are doing better in theirintegration and migrationpolicies than Slovakia is a warn-ing sign, adding that Slovakiadoes not have a clear picture ofits basic values and orientationregarding migration and integ-ration of newcomers.

“That is why the existingpolicies are quite minimalist-ic, or beginner-like, becausenobody has ever said here [inSlovakia] how we want totreat incoming foreigners inthe future,” Oravec told TheSlovak Spectator.

Migration is ignored

It is a fact that Slovakiahas one of the EU’s smallestforeign-born populations,with only about 1 percent ofthe population consisting offoreigners in 2009, accordingto MIPEX, and that is at leastone of the reasons that migra-tion is not a pressing politicalissue. The report stated thatSlovakia was one of the lastEU countries to adopt an in-tegration concept, doing soonly in May 2009.

Oravec noted that the lackof interest in migration and

integration policies is com-mon across the political spec-trum and for that reason thegeneral direction of statepolicy has not changed withdifferent governments.

“It would seem more le-gitimate to me if some politi-cians said that [the country’sintegration policy] should berestrictive and selective,”Oravec said. “But there is noclear decision about that; noclear direction has been set.And that is why the migra-tion office can promote arather restrictive approachand put issues of security andborder controls over issues ofrespect for human dignity,solidarity and social cohesionin society.”

Zuzana Števulová of theHuman Rights League (HRL)agreed with Oravec and saidin an interview with TheSlovak Spectator that policy-makers show only very littleor almost no interest in thetopic of migration, addingthat Slovakia is a countrywith only a very short historyof incoming immigration.

“The concept of integra-tion had been passed but nofinancial resources were as-signed to it and the respons-ible government departmentsweren’t assigned specifictasks,” Števulová said.

According to a report dis-cussed by the Slovak cabineton May 11, the number of for-eigners requesting interna-tional protection in the coun-try has been dropping since2005 and other migration toSlovakia has been at a stablelevel. But the SITA newswirereported that this mightchange due to current politic-al developments and theworsening security situationsin North Africa and theMiddle East.

Slovakia’s Interior Minis-ter, Daniel Lipšic, is soon ex-pected to submit a draftpolicy statement for the

country with an outlook to2020, as he was tasked to doso at a cabinet session inearly February.

Who migrates to Slovakia?

The number of legal mi-grants living in Slovakia wasestimated to be slightly over19,000 according to a studyentitled Economic Aspects ofMigration and Integration ofMigrants from Third Coun-tries in Slovakia that was pre-pared by the Institute for Pub-lic Affairs (IVO). The studystated that the group of mi-grants is not homogenouseven though it is quite small.

The vast majority of mi-grants arriving in Slovakia re-ported that they had left theirhomeland for economic reas-ons, with 42 percent of thosesurveyed stating unfavour-able economic conditions and32 percent stating low livingstandards as their reasons formigrating, IVO wrote.

Two thirds of the surveyedmigrants said they intention-ally chose Slovakia and theydid not perceive it as a transitcountry or an accidentalchoice, with the corollaryfinding that they had come toSlovakia primarily for a jobthey had already arranged, tojoin relatives already livinghere, or to study.

Obstacles for migrants

According to the IVOstudy, many migrants (33percent) perceived bureau-cracy as the biggest obstaclethey had to face in Slovakia.Similarly, 32 percent felt in-security about their resid-ency permit, and 28 percentperceived serious obstacles inbecoming familiar with Slov-ak legislation and thecountry's tax system.

“Slovakia is clearly very re-strictive, conservative and notvery supportive in the integra-

tion of foreigners,” Oravec toldThe Slovak Spectator, addingthat Slovakia’s integrationpolicy is not progressive anddoes not work in practice.

MIPEX III stated that im-migrants can best integrate inSlovak society by establishinglong-term residency withtheir families based on EU law“even if discretionary Slovakprocedures create more prob-lems than in most countries”.

Števulová noted thatSlovak laws give broad lee-way to bureaucrats to decideabout granting, renewing, orcancelling a migrant’s resid-ency permit.

According to MIPEX III,problems in the area of grant-ing citizenship to foreign na-tionals became worse afterSlovakia’s Citizenship Act wasamended in 2007. Slovakianow imposes Europe’s longestwaiting time before makingmigrants eligible for citizen-ship, three years after acquir-ing a permanent residencypermit, while adding that ap-plicants for citizenship mustovercome “some of the mostsubjective and restrictiveconditions”. The report statedthat the citizenship procedurein Slovakia is difficult, poten-tially lengthy (24 months),and is one of the most expens-ive (€663.50), especially forcentral Europe.

A blue card for some

Slovakia’s policies to-wards new non-EU migrantworkers are “nearlyunfavourable” and “couldjeopardise their long-termeconomic integration”, theMIPEX III authors stated.Slovakia was the only countryin the comparative evaluationto receive zero points on thecriteria of access to the labourmarket and targeted supportto migrants.

See NEW pg 9

BY MICHAELATERENZANISpectator staff

The reception at the Border and Foreigners' Police station in Petržalka. Photo: Sme - Pavol Funtál

TALLY: Censusdeadline is June 6

Continued from pg 1

Sme wrote that less thantwo weeks before the censusstarted whole streets, alongwith their houses, weremissing in the census dis-tricts of some towns and vil-lages while other streets andhouses were incorrectlymarked or positioned withina district.

Interior Minister DanielLipšic accused the ŠÚ ofmishandling preparationsfor the census.

“We warned the Statist-ics Office as early as lastyear that its preparation forthe census was unsatisfact-ory, that the census dis-tricts had been created inan odd way, that there wasno methodology and thatthe groundwork was wrongand outdated,” Lipšic said,as quoted by the SITAnewswire.

Ľudmila Benkovičová,the head of the ŠÚ, reacted tothe minister’s accusationsby saying that the census ismore threatened by whatshe called his inaccurate in-formation and dramaticclaims, as these could dis-courage people from parti-cipating in the census.Benkovičová said she be-lieves any problemsstemmed from insufficientrevision of urban maps andshe blamed that on the In-terior Ministry, which shesaid refused to provide theresults of changes in muni-cipal unit borders to the ŠÚ.

The census districts wereto be established based onrevised maps of urban areas.The Environment Ministrywas assigned to prepare therevisions based on an agree-ment with the ŠÚ but the In-terior Ministry ordered itsdistrict offices to stop theprocess. In December, theInterior Ministry developedits own project, but accord-ing to Benkovičová it did notharmonise the outputs.Moreover, Benkovičová saidat that time the ŠÚ alreadyhad an ongoing contractwith IBM for eight months tocover all stages of the censusand that IBM had created anapplication for the ŠÚ basedon maps provided by the Of-fice of Geodesy, Cartographyand Cadastre. The problem,Benkovičová said, was thatthe Interior Ministry had re-fused to provide her officewith the results of itschanges to the borders ofmunicipal districts.

The conflict has not hadany consequences forBenkovičová so far, butLipšic stated that high-rank-ing officials might be askedto take responsibility forwhat he called mishandledpreparations for the census.

After receiving com-plaints from mayors, the ŠÚordered an analysis of errorsin the documentation thathad been sent to municipal-

ities. The SITA newswirewrote that 100,000 discrep-ancies had been found whenthe registers of people andhouses provided by the ŠÚwere examined.

Technical details

Apart from the fact thatthis is the first census thatis being synchronisedacross the EU, it is also thefirst time that Slovakia willallow residents to completecensus forms electronic-ally. The electronic censussheets are available atwww.scitanie2011.sk, andthe ŠÚ says that the web-site is ready to handle a po-tentially high number ofvisitors.

While the hardcopyquestionnaires can be com-pleted anytime between May21 and June 6, the windowfor online submissions is re-stricted to between May 21and May 29. Those interestedin completing an electroniccensus form should an-nounce that desire to theircensus taker when first vis-ited; if they fail to do so thenthe census taker must visitonce more and fill out ahardcopy questionnaire.

The obligation to com-plete census forms appliesalso to foreigners living inSlovakia, with the exceptionof those with diplomatic ad-vantages and immunity. Aforeigner residing in Slov-akia for less than 90 days isobliged only to answer threequestions: sex, date of birthand citizenship.

Pumping up the numbers

As the period to fill outthe census questionnairesapproaches, representativesof national minorities andreligious groups are cam-paigning to encouragepeople to state that they be-long to a particular religiousgroup or to a national minor-ity when completing thequestionnaire.

Representatives of theethnic Hungarian minorityhave expressed concern thatthe number of ethnic Hun-garians living in Slovakiamight drop significantly inthis census and both politic-al parties representing eth-nic Hungarian citizens,Most-Híd and the HungarianCoalition Party (SMK), arerunning campaigns.

The Roma Media Centre(MECEM) launched an in-formation campaign direc-ted toward Roma residentsin March. According to thedirector of the Centre,Kristína Magdolenová,Roma have received inform-ation about their census-re-lated rights and duties andhow to communicate withthe census takers via a pro-gramme broadcast on pub-lic-service television anddistributed via DVDs.

3May 16 – 22, 2011NEWS

Analysis finds itspolicies amongthe worst in EU

Cabinet outlines future budget plans

THE CABINET approved thedraft budget outlines for thenext three years at its regularsession on May 11. Based onthe Finance Ministry draft,the amount allocated forwages in the public sectorwill remain frozen in 2012,with the exception of pay forteachers. The ministry alsoproposes other measures,such as increases in exciseand property taxes, the SITAnewswire reported.

The ministry fears thatthe measures included in thedraft budget will not be suffi-cient to reduce the deficit tothe planned 3.8 percent ofGDP next year, and that addi-tional measures to raise rev-enue or cut spending willhave to be adopted. Thebiggest cuts are to be achievedby freezing the public-sector

wage bill, saving €172 million.The wages of teachers,

meanwhile, will increase by3 percent in 2012. Accordingto Finance Minister IvanMikloš, the coalition partieshad already agreed to thisstep and it was directly in-cluded in the budget out-lines, SITA reported.

The budget outlines alsoinclude a 5-percent cut in theoperating costs of the state,which should save €105.3million, and a reduction inother state spending, whichshould improve the balanceby €157.8 million.

The ministry proposessome 30 other measures toachieve an additional €200million in savings which itbelieves will be necessary tosqueeze the 2012 budget defi-cit to 3.8 percent GDP.

Road tender scrapped over lawsuit

SLOVAKIA’S NationalHighway Company (NDS)has cancelled a tender forthe construction of thesecond stage of theJánovce-Jablonov stretchof the D1 motorway in east-ern Slovakia, NDS headAlan Sitár told the TASRnewswire on May 9.

He said the decision hadbeen taken because one ofthe participants in thetender may seek a court re-view of a decision by the Pub-lic Procurement Office(ÚVO), adding that this mayultimately lead to a court in-junction halting the tenderand future construction. TheNDS head stated that cancel-lation was the only way toaddress the issue.

A new competition forthe highway section couldprobably be announced with-in three weeks, with the bidenvelopes opened some timein late summer, Sitár said,while adding that the NDSremains committed to itsstrategic objective of com-pleting individual highwaystretches of the Bratislava-Košice D1 highway link.

The overall timeline forcompleting the projectshould be announced soonafter the Transport Ministrypublicly releases its strategyfor highway construction,TASR wrote, adding that theministry has stated thatquality, transparency and ef-ficiency will be the overarch-ing principles.

Tax revenue lagging by 8.2 percent

STATE tax revenues in thefirst four months of 2011were €2.668 billion, 8.2 per-cent behind expectations.Non-tax revenue represented€81.6 million at the end ofApril, the Tax Directorate re-ported, according to the SITAnewswire.

Revenue from incometax, profit and capital gainswas €541.5 million, whichrepresented 84.18 percent ofthe budgeted level. Domestictaxes on goods and servicesof €2.113 billion also laggedprojections, by 6.13 percent.

Collection of excise taxestotalled €616.3 million andreached 88.69 percent of thebudgeted level.

Value added tax raised€1.497 billion, 3.8 percentshort of the plan. Tax andcustoms offices are expectedto collect a total of €8.717 bil-lion this year.

Last year, the tax andcustoms revenues of thestate totalled €7.962 billion,down 0.8 percent from 2009.Non-tax revenues dropped17.7 percent year-on-year in2010 to €681.3 million.

DOCS: More protests in the pipelineContinued from pg 1

These include observanceof the restrictions on workinghours in the Labour Code and ahalt in the government’s cur-rent plans to transform state-owned hospitals into joint-stock companies as well as agradual increase in health-careworkers’ salaries so that theyreach between 1.5 and threetimes the average wage by 2013,depending on qualifications.

Anton Szalay, the chair-man of the Trade Union ofMedical and Social ServicesEmployees (SOZZaSS), told TheSlovak Spectator that his uni-on will hold talks with Poli-cian on May 19 to discuss theprotest action. Szalay statedhe considers the option ofsubmitting notice en masse asa very last resort but addedthat his union will survey itsmembers about their atti-tudes towards the tactic.

Szalay said that all the 10organisations associated withhis trade union support thedemand that financing issuesin health care are resolved.

“We see the greatestshortcoming in the fact thatthe government’s budget hasapproved payments from thestate for insurance policyholders at 4.32 percent [of thecalculation base] as comparedwith the previously applied4.78 percent,” Szalay said.

He stated that it is neces-sary for the government to

find an additional €126 mil-lion for health-care institu-tions, saying this is theshortfall caused by the reduc-tion in the state’s contribu-tion on behalf of those indi-viduals it insures.

The Ministry of Healthsaid it considers it to be uneth-ical and inappropriate forphysicians to use patients ashostages during negotiationsover resolving the vexing is-sues in the health-care sector.

“The physicians are late byat least four years when underthe previous government noprogress was made within thehealth-care ministry,” saidZollerová, adding that the cur-rent government had takenover a sector laden with debtsexceeding €200 million.

The time for negotiations

is over, said Milan Dragula,the president of the SlovakChamber of Physicians, inevaluating the outcome of aMay 10 meeting between rep-resentatives of medical organ-isations and trade unionswith the Slovak parliament’scommittee on health care.

The health-care repres-entatives said they wantedto discuss methods to coverthe debts of health-care in-stitutions but were dissatis-fied with the results of themeeting. Dragula said thenext steps taken by health-care workers should bemore resolute.

“There are many issuesinvolved and it also dependson the moods of the health-care employees,” saidDragula.

Both physicians andnurses are demanding morefunding from the statebudget and they have pro-posed that the resources canbe found from programmesfor accident insurance andsick leave insurance, or fromexcise taxes on alcohol andtobacco. They are also pro-posing that beginning in2012, monthly payments forhealth insurance should beset at the level of 5.5 percent,SITA reported.

Zollerová said the HealthMinistry agrees with most ofthe demands by health-careemployees, such as respect forthe Labour Code, resolution ofthe debts of hospitals andhigher salaries. But she notedthat paying off the debts ofthe hospitals goes hand inhand with their transforma-tion into joint-stock compan-ies, which she said the tradeunions keep rejecting forsome reason.

“The bad management ofthe hospitals can be blamedon the fact that these work asbudgetary organisations,lacking transparency andeffectiveness,” Zollerová said,adding that hospitals thatwere transformed into state-run, joint-stock companies in2006 are functioning withbalanced budgets becausethey must maintain trans-parent accounting, publishtheir closing books and un-dergo audits.

Will Slovak doctors leave? Photo: Sme

HALT: Long-running cases likely to go onContinued from pg 1

The legislation, which became one ofthe most criticised laws advanced by thegovernment of Robert Fico, also attractedthe attention of the European Commis-sion. The present cabinet of Prime Minis-ter Iveta Radičová has already agreed adraft amendment to deal with the issuebut the legislation has not yet been con-sidered by parliament.

HICEE is owned by Penta Interna-tional Investment Group and its spokes-person said the arbitration court’s de-cision was of a technical-proceduralnature and did not address the essence ofthe issue, which Penta said is whetherthe 2007 revision to Slovakia’s health in-surance legislation was legal or whetherit violated international agreements onthe protection of investments.

“Certainly, we do not consider thedecision of the arbitration tribunal to befavorable,” Martin Danko, spokesman forPenta Investments, told The Slovak Spec-tator. “On the other hand, our main goalis not to be involved in arbitrations but tooperate in a stable and predictable legis-lative environment.”

According to a report in the Smedaily, the court is continuing to reviewthe same issue in a dispute between theDutch Eureko company, the majorityshareholder in Slovakia’s Union healthinsurer, which also filed an arbitrationclaim seeking around €160 million.

An arbitration case involving a thirdprivate health insurer, Apollo, whichmerged with Dôvera in 2010, is still beingassessed by the court to determinewhether it has jurisdiction over it, theSITA newswire reported.

Danko told The Slovak Spectator thatHICEE representatives will study the

written decision, which they should re-ceive in a couple of weeks, before decidingon next steps, adding that once they un-derstand the court’s exact reasoning, thelawyers may propose further proceedings.

Danko stated that Penta is positiveabout the recent decision of Slovakia’sConstitutional Court that ruled the legis-lation unconstitutional.

The Constitutional Court found thatthe legislation, which became effective in2008, restricted the property rights ofhealth insurers’ shareholders and that thegovernment had interfered in the insurers’right to do business by depriving them oftheir right to make autonomous decisionsover how to use their profits. It ruled thatthis restriction was unconstitutional.

In defending the legislation in 2007,Fico, then prime minister, told publicbroadcaster Slovak Radio that the previ-ous centre-right government’s aim hadbeen “to allow someone, mainly foreignfirms, to access public resources andgradually carve off huge profits fromthese resources. People are now requiredto pay money for insurance premiums tothe insurers and it is absolutely unac-ceptable to us to allow someone to keeppart of this money.”

The private health insurers operatingin Slovakia retorted that the legislationwas hostile to the investments made bytheir major shareholders. HICEE filed thelawsuit against Slovakia in January 2009,claiming some €500 million in compens-ation. Fico called the action blackmail.

Slovakia’s Association of Health In-surers (ZZP) had stated several times thatthe legislation would conflict with inter-national agreements on the protection ofinvestments, as well with EU law andSlovakia’s constitution. ZZP’s EduardKováč told The Slovak Spectator when

the legislation was in the pipeline that itinterfered with the ownership rights ofshareholders and that the state is per-mitted to interfere with ownershiprights only if certain conditions are met:if intervention is unavoidable; if it isdemonstrably in the public interest; andif there is adequate compensation.

In 2008, 49 members of the Slovakparliament asked the ConstitutionalCourt to review the law, arguing that theamendment contradicted the constitu-tion as well as international laws. Later,Fico, who now serves as a deputy speakerof parliament, refused to represent theSlovak parliament in front of the Consti-tutional Court in the hearing regardingthe health insurance legislation.

Citing dissatisfaction with marketconditions in Slovakia, private health in-surer Európska Zdravotná Poisťovňa leftthe market in 2008. Dôvera and Apollomerged in 2010, leaving only one otherprivate insurer, Union. The two state-run health insurers, VšeobecnáZdravotná Poisťovňa (VšZP) and SpoločnáZdravotná Poisťovňa (SZP), also mergedin 2010.

Danko told Sme that one possiblereason why the arbitration court decidedthat the case does not come under its jur-isdiction is that HICEE is not the directowner of Dôvera: Dôvera Holding is an in-termediary company between HICEE andthe Dôvera health insurance company.

Former health minister Richard Raši,a nominee of Fico's Smer party, welcomedthe court’s decision and told Sme that hehopes that this will also be the outcome inthe other shareholders’ case, adding that“resources of public health insurance arein question. If you pay obligatorily as ahealth tax, it is absurd that someone isdrawing that money in the form of profit.”

4 BUSINESSMay 16 – 22, 2011

Bratislava-Warsaw flights cancelled

AFTER one year of opera-tion Bratislava will lose itsdirect air link withWarsaw. LOT Polish Air-lines announced on itswebsite that it is haltingthe regular service betweenWarsaw and Bratislava asof May 17, the SITA news-wire reported.

The company explainedits decision by referring tolower-than-expected interestin the service. The route willbe scrapped exactly one yearafter LOT resumed flights toBratislava following a previ-ous one-year break.

Compiled by Spectator staff

Kanibal

IF YOU regard central Europeas the region of Count Drac-ula and The Blood CountessErzsébet Báthory, the topnews of this week will comeas no surprise – Slovakiacame close to having its firstcannibal (kanibal) in recenthistory. What does this sayabout the country?

First, it has huge touristpotential. The hockey worldchampionship has failed to at-tract the large numbers of vis-itors businesses and municip-alities had expected. But noneed to worry: with storiessuch as this one Slovakiacould yet turn into a top des-tination for thrill-seekingtourists. Whether you yearn

to be eaten, or just have a tastefor places of horror, don’t hes-itate to come.

Second, the bad reputa-tion of Slovak services is notdeserved. The cannibal ar-

rived at the agreed meetingwith his victim well prepared– he had all his equipment,drugs and black pepper tokeep away the animals whilethe body was stored in theholes which he had alreadydug. Although experiencewith many locals is torturous,you can find quality profes-sionals in Slovakia when youtry hard enough.

Third, shooting seems tobe becoming a regular part oflocal life. Last August therewas the mass murderer inBratislava; now comes anoth-er standoff between the policeand a lunatic. Sure, guns arenot new to Slovakia, but pre-vious killings usually in-volved the mafia. Now, in-creasingly, it’s regular peoplegone berserk that useweapons to harm others. Andwith them, central Europe isbecoming a bit more scary.

The 2011 World Ice Hockey Championship continued in Slovakia with quarterfinals in Bratislava onMay 11 and 12. As The Slovak Spectator went to press the Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland hadqualified for the semifinals, while Russia and Canada were still to play. The Czech team dispatchedthe US team 4:0 on May 11, with Czech star Jaromír Jágr (pictured above) scoring a hat trick.

Photo: ČTK

A good nomination goes badIT HAD seemed that Free-dom and Solidarity (SaS) hadfinally picked the right can-didate to replace yet anotherstate security chief who hadbeen found to have a less-than-squeaky-clean his-tory. Peter Paluda, a sterncritic of Supreme Court pres-ident Štefan Harabin, ini-tially appeared to be accept-able to all those who makeup the country’s rather fra-gile ruling coalition: thatrare public figure withoutany heavy or malodoroushistoricalbaggage.

When Prime MinisterIveta Radičová describedPaluda as a good nomina-tion, observers assumed thather party, the Slovak Demo-cratic and Christian Union(SDKÚ), would follow herlead. But SDKÚ MPs’ de-cision to reject Paluda’snomination has left observ-ers wonderingexactly why.

When SDKÚ caucus lead-er Jozef Mikuš told the mediaabout the party’s decision herefused to specify any reason,stating only that it would ‘notbe appropriate’ to make pub-lic statements on the matter.As of May 12 the SDKÚ re-mained silent. This silencesounds much worse than astraightforward explanationof the rejection. But that, ofcourse, assumes that there isa straightforward reason,rather than murky partypolitics or fears among SDKÚMPs that the party would nothave sufficient control overthe job or its holder.

The Sme daily noted thatthe deputies had received – asit also had – an anonymousletter about Paluda’s ‘familyties’ (Sme did not expand) andthe allegedly communist pastof his family. The daily alsoreported that the SDKÚ mayconsider Paluda to be too closeto Interior Minister DanielLipšic, even though his party,the Christian DemocraticMovement (KDH), is one of itscoalition partners.

Given the initial supportthat Paluda received, if theSDKÚ does not provide an ac-

ceptable reason for its rejec-tion of him it could be easilyinterpreted by the public tomean: we have our reasons,but they are none of yourbusiness. If they found ablemish in Paluda’s recordthat suddenly put all the pre-vious information publishedabout him in a different light,

then they have a duty to tell uswhat it is.

Interestingly, Radičováon May 12, one day after herparty had rejected his nomin-ation, restated her own sup-port for Paluda: “I considerhim a principle-drivenpersonand it [the rejection] does notchange my attitude at all,”SITA reported her as saying.

Of course, there is specu-lation that the SDKÚ rejec-tion was partly intended as asnub to Radičová. In someways that interpretation isalmost irresistible, followingthe controversial tax officerental deal involving a localSDKÚ official that ledRadičová publicly to crossFinance Minister IvanMikloš. In that case, Radičováprevailed only after refusingto show up for a cabinet meet-ing and indirectly threaten-

ing to resign unless one ofMikloš’ appointees left office.

Allowing party in-fight-ing to influence appoint-ments to crucial posts –Paluda was nominated tohead the National Security Of-fice (NBÚ), Slovakia’s mainsecurity vetting agency –could deal another seriousblow to the image of theSDKÚ. And to the many whowant this government to dealwith serious issues – such asmaking public procurementmore transparent and clean-ing up the judiciary – such ascenario would come as a ma-jor disappointment.

All this is happening oneweek before a crucial secretballot of MPs to select the nextgeneral prosecutor. If formerincumbent Dobroslav Trnka,who has clearly stated his de-sire to return to the job for an-other seven years and is beingbacked by the opposition, ischosen then Radičová saysshe will resign.

This makes not only mostof the ruling coalition butalso those who had hoped fora stable government dis-tinctly edgy. Her threat maynot deter every ruling coali-tion deputy from voting forTrnka: on the contrary, itmay serve the interests ofthose who could benefit fromthe chaotic fall of the gov-ernment and encouragethem to vote for him.

There are two answers tothe question of who wouldbenefit from such a situation,one obvious and the othermore complicated. The easyanswer is Smer leader RobertFico; the more complicatedone is those who want to see aweakened Radičová and whothink that even if she resignsthere will be some way to re-vamp the present govern-ment in order to secure great-er prizes than they currentlyenjoy. It is a very tricky situ-ation, because if they do votefor Trnka, they could find thatthey lose out completely, aswould all those voters whopaved their way to parlia-ment, undeservedly so.

5OPINION

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “This sport brought fame to Slovakia and the competent peopleshould build on it. People got to know our country thanks to hockey.”

Pavol Demitra, the captain of Team Slovakia, after his last match in the national jersey.

SLOVAK WORDOF THE WEEK

EDITORIAL

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

BY LUKÁŠ FILASpecial to the Spectator

€€€

€

€€€

€€€

€€€

€€€

May 16 – 22, 2011

Some banks active in Slovakia

Československá Obchodná Banka (ČSOB), www.csob.skDexia Banka, www.dexia.skING Bank, www.ing.skJ&T Banka, www.jt-bank.skOberbank, www.oberbank.skOTP Banka Slovensko, www.otpbank.skPoštová Banka, www.pabk.skPrivatbanka, www.privatbanka.skSaxo Bank, http://sk.saxobank.comSlovenská Sporiteľňa, www.slsp.skTatra Banka, www.tatrabanka.skUniCredit Bank Slovakia, www.unicreditbank.skVolksbank Slovensko, www.volksbank.skVÚB, www.vub.sk

Direct banksmBank, www.mbank.skZuno, www.zuno.sk

Housing savings banks in SlovakiaThree banks, called housing construction savings banks,specialise in support for purchase of housing in Slovakia:ČSOB Stavebná Sporiteľňa, www.csob.sk/spPrvá Stavebná Sporiteľňa, www.pss.skWüstenrot Stavebná Sporiteľňa, www.wustenrot.sk

Institutions and organisations in thebanking and leasing sectors

Ministry of Financewww.finance.gov.skMinister: Ivan Mikloš

National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), www.nbs.skSlovak Banking Association, www.sbaonline.skBank ombudsman, www.bankovyombudsman.skAssociation of Leasing Companies of Slovakia (ASL),www.lizing.sk

Special tax on banksput on the table again

THE IDEA of a special bank taxhas been put back on the tablein Slovakia. While the opposi-tion has revived a previouslyrejected proposal to impose aspecial tax on banks, the Fin-ance Ministry has now comeup with its own proposal in-spired by the EuropeanCommission’s work on an EUframework for crisis manage-ment in the financial sector.And even though Slovakbanks, unlike those in severalother EU countries, survivedthe financial crisis that startedin summer 2007 without stateaid, the ministry wants tomove quickly and introducethe tax as early as of the startof 2012.

Finance Minister IvanMikloš opposed a special banktax last year when the opposi-

tion wanted to introduce it in-stead of the 1-percentage pointhike in value added tax to 20percent. Later he agreed to theintroduction of such a tax in acoordinated way within theEuropean Union. Now that ithas become clear that theEuropean Commission mayfail to agree the introductionof such a tax by 2012, as origin-

ally planned, Mikloš has pro-posed introducing one in Slov-akia anyway, with effect fromthe start of next year. Banks inSlovakia are opposed.

The Finance Ministry an-nounced the introduction ofthe special tax on banks in its2011-2014 Stability Programme,which Slovakia was obliged tosend to the European Commis-

sion by the end of April. Ac-cording to this document, thenew tax will be calculated onthe aggregate liabilities ofeach bank after taking into ac-count their own capital re-sources and deposits alreadyprotected by the national de-posit protection scheme.

See SBA pg 8

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁSpectator staff

Banks say customers will at least partly bear the costs of a special tax. Photo: Sme

‘Mestská’ card includes banking services

WHILE a card granting discounts ontickets to museums, galleries and othervenues used especially by tourists is nolonger a novelty in major cities, Bratis-lava has now taken it a step further byintroducing a similar card, but this timeto residents – and has included bankingservices on it too. This extra feature hasmade the Bratislavská mestská karta, asit is officially known, a popular productamong locals, with almost 18,000 ac-quiring one since January. So far, fourbanks have joined the project and one,inspired by the success of pre-paid mo-bile cards, is even issuing cards to resid-ents who are not existing customers.

“The Bratislavská mestská karta is acommon project by the city and thebanks which have joined the project,”Ľubomír Andrassy, the spokesperson ofBratislava Mayor Milan Ftáčnik, toldThe Slovak Spectator. The card waslaunched in mid January after twoyears of preparation.

The multifunctional card is issuedto bank clients with permanent resid-ence in Bratislava upon their request.Cardholders can enjoy, along with tra-ditional banking services, other ad-vantages and discounts.

Since its launch, four banks havejoined the project: OTP Banka, VolksbankSlovensko, VÚB Banka and UniCreditBank Slovakia. Poštová Banka andSlovenská Sporiteľňa are expected to jointhe scheme next, according to Andrassy.

Not all banks regard the city cardproject as sufficiently attractive, though.Tatra Banka, for example, is one of thebigger banks that has not joined and hasno plans to do so in the near future.

“We decided not to join theBratislavská mestská karta project fornow because at the beginning the projectwas not unambiguously defined from ourpoint of view, and we started working onother projects and preparing other newproducts for our clients,” Tatra Bankaspokesperson Boris Gandel told The Slov-ak Spectator. “Of course, we don’t rule outthe possibility that Tatra Banka mightjoin the project later.”

He said Tatra Banka would monitordevelopments and is prepared to respondto demand from clients.

The card works as a traditional inter-national debit card and includes PayPasscontactless technology allowing pay-ment of small amounts of up to €20 via asimple swipe of the card.

UniCredit Bank Slovakia is the onlybank that issues the card to people whodo not hold an account with it. It doesso in the form of a pre-paid re-chargeable card.

“Pre-paid cards caused a revolution inthe telecoms sector some years ago,”Jozef Barta, director-general of UniCreditBank Slovakia, who previously worked inthe telecoms business, said in mid Febru-ary. He believes that it was pre-paidcards’ freedom, simplicity and the facil-ity to keep spending under control thatlay behind their success.

See CARD pg 8

Bratislava residents often use their citycard to buy transport passes. Photo: Sme

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁSpectator staff

6

Leasing companies in Slovakia

ČSOB Leasing, www.csobleasing.skMercedes-Benz Financial Services Slovakia,www.dcfs.skOberbank Leasing, www.oberbank.skS Slovensko, www.sslovensko.skTatra-Leasing, www.tatraleasing.skUniCredit Leasing Slovakia, www.unicreditleasing.skVB Leasing SK, www.vbleasing.skVolkswagen Financial Services Slovakia, www.vwfs.skVÚB Leasing, www.vub-leasing.sk

Compiled by Spectator staff

Banks' profits soar

PROFITS in the Slovak banking sector grew by almost 50percent year-on-year to €175 million over the first threemonths of 2011. Net interest income grew by 8.2 percentto €437 million based on figures released by the NationalBank of Slovakia (NBS). Net income from fees andcommissions increased 8.7 percent to €114 million. Thevolume of reserves and provision for losses shrank 60.7percent to €38 million, the SITA newswire reported inlate April.In 2010, the banking sector improved its profits by 101.4percent from 2009, making €503.65 million, accordingto preliminary data from Slovakia’s central bank.The Slovak banking sector revived last year as itsprofitability increased and its overall financial positionimproved, SITA wrote, with the better performancebeing driven primarily by the household sector andparticularly by a recovery in the market for housingloans. The central bank also wrote that the entire sectorbenefited from low interest rates, adding that there isnow some risk of future interest rate increases.The market for corporate loans was different, accordingto the central bank, and there was only a very moderaterevival in demand in this sector.

Compiled by Spectator staff from press reports

Banks opposeintroduction ofany selectivesectoral tax

May 16 – 22, 2011

HUMAN RESOURCES

Next issue:BUSINESS FOCUS

BANKING & LEASINGFico-era basic bankingrequirement is scrapped

Banks pushed to reducecharges on housing products

Banks pushed toreduce charges

FINANCE Minister IvanMikloš is pushing banks toreduce their fees for housing-related products. On May 9he unveiled a plan to intro-duce tougher rules for thestate bonus paid on housingconstruction savings con-tracts and at the same timeproposed to reduce fees forsuch products. The proposedlegislative changes wouldalso affect mortgages.

“The fundamental prob-lem of housing constructionsavings products, accordingto an analysis from February2011, is the low effectivenessof state contributions thatamount to some €40 millionper year, and the extremelyhigh charges for theseproducts, despite the exist-ence of such a significantstate contribution,” Miklošsaid, as quoted by the TASRnewswire, when he intro-duced the draft amend-ments to the Banking andHousing Construction Sav-ing Acts. The Finance Min-istry submitted the draftsfor inter-departmental re-view on May 10.

According to Mikloš, theproblem is that “a consider-able portion of the state con-tribution has gone towardscovering the charges of hous-ing construction savingsbanks. At the same time, theshare of interim loans com-pared to classical construc-tion loans [provided to ap-plicants after six years of sav-ing with a housing construc-tion savings bank] has beenrising.” Mikloš noted that in-terim loans are a type ofcommercial loan provided byhousing construction sav-ings banks.

The proposed legislationcaps charges at a lower levelthan at present. The monthlycharge for administration ofa housing construction sav-ings account would be €1 or€12 per year. Currently theannual limit is €18. Thecharge for closing a housingconstruction savings con-tract would equal 0.9 percentof the target sum, down fromthe current 1 percent. Miklošalso proposed cancelling thecharge to process a loan,which is now €80.

The Finance Ministryalso wants to remove the op-portunity of savers to receive

an entire annual state bonuswhen a savings contract issigned on the last day of theyear. Each client of a housingsaving bank is qualified toget the annual state bonusafter signing a six-year sav-ing contract. The maximumbonus is currently set at€66.39, with savers who de-posit at least €663.90 per yearwith the bank qualifying forthe whole amount.

Housing constructionsavings banks oppose thechanges, some of which theysay are disadvantageous forclients. Imrich Béreš, thehead of the board of directorsof Prvá Stavebná Sporiteľňa,said, as reported by the SITAnewswire, that if the pro-posed legislation is adopted,clients will not have anychance to get the full annualbonus during their first yearof saving.

The Wüstenrot housingconstruction savings bankalso opposes the changes.

“We agree with savingsin charges and interim loans,but I do not see the sense inthe state interfering in theamount of the bonus,” saidKarl Peter Giller, the bank'shead, as quoted by theHospodárske Noviny daily.

The changes proposed inthe legislation would also af-fect Slovak mortgages, theprices of which, Mikloš says,are among the highest in theEuropean Union.

“Changes to the Act onBanks should also touchupon mortgage loansprovided in the past; this isthe case when the rate is re-fixed after the new legisla-tion becomes effective, i.e.after January 1, 2012,” hesaid, adding that this willalso affect other loans for ac-quisition or reconstructionof housing in which real es-tate is used as collateral.

According to Mikloš, abank will be obliged to tell aborrower what its rate iswhen it provides a loan andalso when it re-fixes the rate.The rate will consist of twoitems: the basic rate set bythe National Bank of Slov-akia and the so-called clientmargin, reflecting thebank’s margin and theclient’s risk surcharge.

Compiled by Spectator staff

Leasing market revives

AFTER 2009, a year in whichthe Slovak leasing market re-corded a brutal fall of 45 per-cent from its record high in2008, the sector began toshow signs of revival in 2010,especially in the final fewmonths of the year. The leas-ing market reported annualgrowth of 7 percent over all of2010 and prospects for 2011are even more promising.Leasing companies estimatethat due to the revival inSlovakia’s economy, the leas-ing market will grow by 10percent or more this year.Leasing companies hope theturbulent times are finallyover, but the aggregatevolume of leasing contracts in2010 amounted to €1.615 bil-lion, putting it at 2004 levels,still significantly less thanpre-crisis highs.

“As in 2010, businesseswill be the main driving forcefor the leasing market in themovable assets sector in2011,” Juraj Ebringer, presid-ent of the Association of Leas-ing Companies of Slovakia(ALS), said in mid Februarywhen discussing the devel-opment of Slovakia’s leasingmarket in 2010 and expecta-tions for 2011. “Last year,deals in this sector rose by10.2 percent. The typicalcommodity will be trucks.”

In describing the effectsof the economic crisis,Ebringer said that it hit smalland medium-sized businesseshardest. These did not haveenough money to bridge thecrisis period: he mentionedparticularly truckers whonormally use leasing to fin-ance purchase of theirvehicles. After demand fortheir services decreased, theywere unable to maintainlease payments and manyleasing contracts were ter-minated prematurely. Thisincreased the volume of re-serve provisions, the amountof money leasing companiesput aside to compensate forpossible losses. Moreover, henoted that many failed leas-ing deals have ended or willend in the courts, meaningthat it will take some time forleasing companies to recovertheir losses.

2010 – A positive turn

Leasing companies regarddevelopments in 2010 as hav-ing been much more positive,with the market returning togrowth after the 2009 crash,even though it was still af-fected, either directly or in-

directly, by the effects of thefinancial and economic crisis.Dušan Keketi, a member ofthe board of directors at Uni-Credit Leasing Slovakia, listedamong the main factors be-hind the continuing diffi-culties in 2010 a drop in newinvestments, a reduction inoperating costs, poor pay-ment discipline, restructur-ing, and the failure of com-panies to fulfil obligationsstemming from leasing con-tracts, resulting in the re-moval of leased items.

According to VolkswagenFinančné Služby Slovensko(VWFS), which specialises inleasing passenger and com-mercial vehicles, the markethas partly revived and over40 percent of purchasers usedfinancial leasing, operativeleasing or a specialised loanto finance acquisition of a carin 2010.

Bohumil Sák from VWFStold The Slovak Spectator thatin 2009 the sale of vehiclesfinanced via leasing and spe-cialised loans decreased dueto the state’s so-called car-scrapping bonus scheme,from which leasing was omit-ted. But, as Sák pointed out, itwas still possible to apply forthe scrapping bonus when us-ing a specialised loanprovided by a leasing com-pany to buy a new car, a pos-sibility which the media of-ten failed to mention. Theboom in purchase of cars byprivate buyers in 2009 was re-flected in lower sales to thesame customers in 2010; as aresult, corporate clients pre-vailed in 2010, he said.

A sound first four months

The Slovak leasingmarket’s positive trend fromthe last months of 2010 hascontinued in the first thirdof 2011.

“Positive expectations ofthe Association of LeasingCompanies of Slovakia interms of the development ofthe leasing market in Slovakiawere met during the first fourmonths of 2011,” Marián

Horváth, the head of thecommittee for statistics andmedia at ALS, told The SlovakSpectator. The association issticking to its original pro-gnosis for 2011 – of growthabove 10 percent – but expectsyear-on-year growth to slowin the second half as the com-parison basis becomes theimproved figures from thelatter half of last year.

Horváth pointed to thepositive development of theleasing market by highlight-ing the growing sales of newpassenger and commercialvehicles, especially to busi-nesses, and in particular oftrucks and trailers, for whichyear-on-year growth hittriple digits during the firstfour months of this year.Horváth specified that thepenetration of leasing in salesof new vehicles in the corpor-ate sector is about 56 percentand in commercial vehiclesabove 3.5 tonnes it is as muchas 80 percent.

Along with vehicles,companies have also startedto acquire new equipment vialeasing. According toHorváth, this sector had de-creased or stagnated over thelast two years, especiallyamong large and medium-sized companies.

According to StanislavJaššák from ČSOB Leasing,which led the Slovak leasingmarket in 2010 based on thevalue of financing provided,developments in 2011 are inline with the company’s ex-pectations and predictions:the market reports a year-on-year increase and a steep re-vival in competition.

Keketi, of UniCredit Leas-ing Slovakia, which is num-ber three in the businessbased on 2010 results, regardsthe January-April figures asvery positive, adding that hiscompany is meeting its tar-gets. During this period itmanaged to increase its mar-ket share in almost all sectors.

“We register the highestincreases in transportvehicles and passenger carsas well as real estate,” said

Keketi. “We also assess pos-itively the development inthe renewable resourcessector, in which we alreadysee and further hope forhigh dynamics.”

Sák of VWFS expects de-clining concern among po-tential private buyers ofnew cars to lead to more in-terest in financing new carpurchases through leasingor specialised loans.

“2011 is characterised, inSlovakia too, by growing glob-al demand for new cars andthus also an extension in thetime it takes for an orderedcar to be supplied,” Sák said,adding that because of this,impatient clients who are un-used to such a situation maychange their mind and choosean alternative, or even a usedcar. Sák therefore believes thesupply of cars from producersis among the factors affectingthe leasing market and notesthat this is something im-porters cannot affect.

Horváth, of the ALS, ex-pects that mainly economicfactors will continue to affectthe development of the Slovakleasing market. These includethe post-crisis restart of west-ern European economies, es-pecially that of Germany,which is mirrored in thegrowth of industrial produc-tion and GDP in Slovakia too.Among secondary factors heplaced legislation currently inforce, as well as new laws inthe pipeline, either at theSlovak or European level.

“Frequent changes to legalnorms related to financial in-stitutions as well as corporateentities, or excessive protec-tion of certain kinds of cli-ents, prevent leasing compan-ies, as well as other firms,from setting proper mid-termbusiness plans,” said Horváth,adding that the ALS has beentrying to lead a discussionwith various state bodiesabout this issue. “Eventhough we consider protec-tion of consumer rights asimportant, we think thatsome steps in this field simul-taneously lead to worseningof law enforcement, not onlyin leasing but also in other,unrelated sectors.”

Comparing Slovakia

“Slovakia did very wellwhen comparing the devel-opment of its leasing marketin 2010 with neighbouringcountries, as well as againstcountries in westernEurope,” Horváth said. “Thegrowth in Slovakia’s leasingmarket was about 7 percent,comparable with France,Great Britain, Italy or Aus-tria. Higher growth wasachieved only in Poland (19percent), Estonia (17 percent)and Sweden (14 percent).”

With regards to Slovakia’sneighbours, the Czech leasingmarket grew by less than 4percent, while Hungary re-ported a steep fall of as muchas 34 percent.

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁSpectator staff

Commercial trucks are often financed via leasing. Photo: Reuters

7BUSINESS FOCUS

After a steepdecline in 2009,

leasing inSlovakia is

growing again

May 16 – 22, 2011

Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš Photo: TASR

Solus reports on deadbeats

SOLUS, a registry and report-ing service on customers’payment discipline estab-lished by several banks andother businesses, reportedthat in late January its data-base included more than115,000 records about 84,000customers who had seri-ously violated their pay-ment obligations, the SITAnewswire wrote, addingthat the total due amountexceeded €100 million inearly 2011 but that some cus-tomers had already settledtheir debts.

Solus has been collectinginformation about custom-ers who fail to pay on timemoney owed to any of Solus’member companies.

“The record in the re-gister complicates thedebtor’s ability to [receive]further services from mem-bers of the association,” Zuz-ana Krajčovičová of Solussaid, as cited by SITA. “Thus,it is obvious that it motiv-

ates many debtors to settletheir obligations.”

Solus said that in January2011 over 10,000 customershad settled their overdue ob-ligations. A debtor’s record isautomatically deleted fromthe registry after they settletheir overdue bills and after acertain period has elapsed:three months or three years,depending on the type ofcontractual violation.

Solus was established inSeptember 2005 to monitorand protect financialproducts offered by banksand businesses to customers.Its members currently in-clude mBank and Zuno bank,mobile operator TelefónicaO2 Slovakia, financial insti-tutions such as CetelemSlovensko, Cofidis, HomeCredit Slovakia and Santand-er Consumer Finance, andother businesses.

Compiled by Spectator staff

from press reports

mBank joins Slovak Banking Assoc.

THE SLOVAK Banking Asso-ciation (SBA) has acceptedmBank as one of its mem-bers, the SITA newswire re-ported in early May. At firstthe association was reluct-ant to accept the bank as amember, questioning whatit called a confrontationalcommunication campaignwhen mBank entered theSlovak market. The bank'sfirst application to become amember was rejected in2008 but mBank submittedanother application inJanuary 2011.

“Our membership hasnow extended to 30 financialentities and represents 100percent of the Slovak bankingsector,” said SBA executive

director Ladislav Unčovský,as cited by SITA.

SBA's spokeswomanMonika Kuhajdová said thatthe position of the associationhad changed since 2008,adding that the long-termgoal of SBA has been to posi-tion itself as the comprehens-ive representative of the Slov-ak banking sector and thatthe association unanimouslydecided to accept mBank.

mBank officially beganoffering services in Slovakiaon November 25, 2007, and isan electronic retail bankingdivision of one of the largestPolish financial institutions,BRE Bank SA, which is also amember of the GermanCommerzbank group.

Basic banking requirement scrapped

THE SO-CALLED basic bank-ing product introduced bythe previous government ofRobert Fico is no longer re-quired as of April 1. PresidentIvan Gašparovič signed a re-vision to the Bank Act ter-minating the requirement inmid February.

Ivan Štefanec, an MPfrom the Slovak Democraticand Christian Union (SDKÚ)initiated the change in thelaw, arguing that limitedpublic interest, as well asdisadvantages to banks fromthis mandated product, wasadequate reason to scrap therequirement. Štefanec statedthat only five customers hadsubscribed to one of the basicbanking products offered bythe various banks and thatthis was proof enough thatthe previous government’sintervention made no sense,the SITA newswire wrote.

The idea of a basic bank-ing product mandated bystate regulations was adop-ted by the Fico governmentand required banks to offeridentical services under their‘basic banking product’ as ofOctober 1, 2010. Former fin-ance minister Ján Počiatekstated his aim was to 'heatup' competition in the bank-ing market. Banks com-plained that the mandatedproduct was unnecessary andpoorly designed.

The low success found bythe basic package amongSlovaks was blamed on itshigher fees compared to sim-ilar packages of servicesoffered by the banks. Thebanks claimed the higherfees connected to the basicbanking product were neces-sary based on the costs of theservices that were requiredto be part of the package.

SBA: 'Against any selective sectoral tax'Continued from pg 6

This means that mainlycorporate deposits will be sub-ject to the tax. The rate is pro-posed to be 0.2 percent of relev-ant liabilities.

“The SBA is against any se-lective sectoral tax whose in-comes will flow into the statebudget,” Marcel Laznia,spokesman for the Banking As-sociation of Slovakia (SBA), toldThe Slovak Spectator. “We be-lieve that the efforts of the Fin-ance Ministry should be direc-ted, when it comes to consolid-ation of the public finances,more towards to the side ofstate budget expenditures.”

The SBA is aware that theEuropean Commission is pre-paring a draft directive aboutcrisis management of banks,including sections on specialnational funds and bank levies.

“However, for the time be-ing we do not see any reasonother than a political reasonfor individual introduction ofa bank tax or levy, much lessone which takes a form whichwe believe is not in line withEC plans,” Laznia said, refer-ring to the initiative of theFinance Ministry.

The EC plan is for banks tobe required to contribute to na-tional resolution funds andthat money from these fundswould be used to finance thecosts of rescuing or liquidatingfailing banks.

According to Laznia, one ofthe main problems with theFinance Ministry plan is thatincome from the levy would gointo the government’s budget.

SBA can foresee a levy onbanks in the form proposed bythe European Commission,which flows into a special na-tional resolution fund to beused to finance the costs ofdealing with failing banks, ac-cording to Laznia. The SBA’sprecondition is the existence ofthe same conditions across thewhole EU and precisely definedrules under which money fromsuch funds can be used.

Juraj Karpiš, an analystwith the Institute of Economicand Social Studies (INESS), athink tank, does not see anyreason to impose a special taxgiven that banks in Slovakiadid not need state assistanceduring the crisis. He regardsthe EC efforts to introduce aspecial bank tax as the intro-duction of the principle of col-lective blame, in which allbanks are punished irrespect-ive of their risk profile.

“This tax creates moralhazard and punishes conser-vative banks which did notneed assistance from publicresources,” Karpiš told TheSlovak Spectator. “Introduc-tion of this tax would amountto a confession by the regulatorthat it is not able to regulate thesector allocated to it. The mar-ket approach used in any othersector would be a better solu-tion: cessation of state assist-ance and bankruptcy of prob-lematic subjects.”

Laznia as well as Karpiš be-lieve that the special tax willreduce banks’ profits and thatin the end it will be clientswho at least partly will pay thefinal bill.

“The bank levy would notonly affect the profitability ofbanks in a negative way, butmay also endanger theirstability,” said Laznia, addingthat corporate deposits inparticular will be the basis for

the levy. These can quicklymove to other eurozone or EUcountries where such a levydoes not exist or where itsrate is lowest. The rate pro-posed by the Finance Ministryis one of the highest of anycountry where such a levy hasbeen introduced.

The impact on differentbanks may differ, but thosefocusing on corporate clientswill be hit hardest, accordingto Laznia.

The tax will increase banks’costs; they will then pass part ofthat burden to customers viacharges or interest rates, ac-cording to Karpiš.

“Thus the private spherewould have at its disposal lessfunds, which would curb futureeconomic growth,” said Karpiš.

Igor Vida, the SBA’s presid-ent and director-general ofTatra Banka, wrote in theHospodárske Noviny financialdaily on May 11 that eventhough the bank-tax proposalhas not yet been prepared forinterdepartmental review, in-tensive discussion about it isalready taking place. He poin-ted out what he saw as two ma-jor problems with the proposal.The first is that while 10 EUmember countries have alreadyintroduced a bank tax in oneform or another, the remaining17 have not. This means that ifSlovakia introduces the tax be-fore it is applied in all countries

in the same form, Slovakia willeffectively be discriminatingagainst its own banking sectorin favour of other countries’.The second snag Vida identifiedwas a lack of clarity about thecircumstances under whichthe funds raised by the taxcould be used.

“Even when terms for useare set, the money will be stillin the account of state financialassets and could thus be usedfor anything, for example pay-ment of Christmas pensions,”wrote Vida, adding that oneresolution by the cabinet wouldbe enough to make this happen.

Opposition proposes

its own bank tax

In late April, oppositiondeputies from the Smer party –chairman Robert Fico, formerfinance minister Ján Počiatekand former deputy financeminister Peter Kažimír – sub-mitted a draft amendment tothe law on value added tax toparliament introducing a spe-cial bank tax. Smer had submit-ted a similar law last year. Thistime, Smer has again sought toreverse the hike in value addedtax from 19 to 20 percent, effect-ive as of January 1, 2011, and re-place it with a special tax im-posed on banks’ selected liabil-ities. The proposed rate in theSmer bill is 0.73 percent and therevenues would flow into thestate budget until the public de-ficit falls below 3 percent.

Karpiš and Laznia also op-pose this special bank tax.

“The impact of the oppos-ition proposal on the bankingsector and its clients wouldbe devastating and wouldleave it close to the situationwhich is now seen inHungary,” said Laznia. “Also,because of [such a] tax banksin Hungary reported an80-percent drop in profits in2010 and will probably not beable to create enough capitaland thus support demand forloans and the country’s eco-nomy in the future.”

CARD: A discount on transport passesContinued from pg 6

UniCredit Bank Slovakia has appliedthe same principles to this project. Inearly May UniCredit Bank Slovakia re-ported that it had issued a total of 5,080city cards, of which 3,560 were pre-paidcards, more than half, UniCredit BankSlovakia spokesperson Zuzana Ďuďákovátold The Slovak Spectator.

“The pre-paid card represents asimpler way for a client to get a citycard without the need to open an ac-count in a bank or use other bankingproducts,” said Ďuďáková. She addedthat the basic condition for obtaining apre-paid city card is the requirement todeposit at least €20 on it. The holdercan use the card until the balance de-creases to €5 and must then ‘recharge’it. The holder pays an annual charge of€3 for the card.

In mid April VÚB Banka reportedthat it had issued over 10,000 city cards.

The total number of city cards issuedby all the banks involved is now almost18,000, according to Andrassy. He said

that many residents were just waitingfor ‘their’ bank to join the scheme. Thecity council expects a further significantincrease in interest once another bankjoins the scheme and develops a moreattractive version of the card for chil-dren and senior citizens.

While only banks can monitor whatholders use their city card for, the firstreported results indicate that people useit to buy city transport passes, swim-ming pool season tickets, as well asgoods in shops, according to Andrassy.

“From the viewpoint of the city itwill be important to monitor the usageof the card over a longer time frameand especially [see] how the card sup-ports the interests of Bratislavans interms of regular usage of public trans-port or visits to cultural and sportsvenues administered by cityorganisations,” said Andrassy.

The experience of UniCredit Bankconfirms that many cardholders usethe card for purchase of public trans-port passes, at over 40 percent; about 17percent use it to buy cut-price tickets

for the city’s swimming pools; and ap-proximately the same percentage use itto purchase food, according toĎuďáková. About 16 percent use thecity card to pay for cinema and mu-seum tickets, or when paying for medi-cines in selected pharmacies.

Cardholders get a 10-percent dis-count on monthly, quarterly and annualpublic transport passes, and the card it-self serves as a transport pass. The cardalso brings 20 percent discounts atsporting venues administered by thecity-owned organisation STaRZ, and atthe zoo, selected galleries and museums,among others.

Retailers and service providerswhich have joined the scheme includeshops, restaurants, language schools,taxi firms, and others. Andrassy expectsothers to join, further fuelling interestamong city residents.

“There was large interest amongbusinesses in joining the scheme whenwe were preparing the project,” saidAndrassy. “Extension of the network ofretailers is now our priority.”

8 BUSINESS FOCUSMay 16 – 22, 2011

FOCUS short

A special tax could reduce banks' profits. Photo: Sme

NEW: Blue cards in JulyContinued from pg 3

The report noted thatthese migrants cannot accesspublic employment servicesand in principle must leaveSlovakia if they become un-employed. The jobs they canbe hired for can also be wellbelow their actual skills be-cause non-EU qualificationsmight not be recognised,MIPEX III states.

Števulová stated that ac-cess to the labour market alsodepends on the type of resid-ency permit a migrant isgranted and that landing ajob matching a migrant’seducation, qualifications andexperience can prove chal-lenging. She noted that an-other negative aspect ofSlovak legislation is the de-pendence that a migrantworker has on his or her em-ployer, since obtaining awork permit and residence

permit are connected withhaving a specific employer.

Experts say more effectiverules covering migration andintegration of migrants areneeded as Slovakia can expect

a more significant inflow ofmigrants in the future.

According to the LabourMinistry, the Slovak labourmarket will need highly-qual-ified workers, mainly in the

health sector – both physi-cians and nurses – but tech-nical and IT professionals,teachers, pharmacologists,biochemists and professionalsin the machinery and auto-motive industries as well.

The migration process forpeople with professional skillsshould become easier for thoseseeking to work in Slovakiaafter the country starts issu-ing so-called blue cards tothose who have secured, inadvance, a job in Slovakia thatis equivalent to a highly-quali-fied position in EU terms andcarries a salary at least 1.5times the average monthlysalary in that particular field.

Daniela Šulcová of the La-bour Ministry’s press depart-ment told The Slovak Spectat-or that these blue cards will beissued on the basis of the lawon illegal work and illegalemployment that will becomeeffective on July 20, 2011.

Intent foreigners learning Slovak. Photo: Sme - V. ŠImíček

C3678

Do you know how many of us are there, where and how we live? Your answers are important. The results of the census will have an impact on various aspects of life in Slovakia. The more accurate are the answers, the more precise may be the prognoses, mainly regarding politics. Let us make use of the census in order to provide a sound basis for future decisions. Make sure you take part.

21. may 2011 ANSWERS TO

OUR FUTURE

HOW MANY HOSPITALS DO WE NEED?

NOW ALSO AVAILABLE ONLINE > www.scitanie2011.sk

9NEWS

KYSAK: Policeman in critical conditionContinued from pg 2

Both the policeman andthe suspect were taken tothe Louis Pasteur Hospital inKošice.

The 37-year-old officer’scondition had stabilised bythe evening of the shooting,although he was reported tobe in a critical condition. Ac-cording to hospital spokes-person Jaroslava Oravcová,his injuries required urgentsurgery and he was laterplaced in the department ofanaesthesiology and intens-ive medicine.

The 43-year-old suspectwas shot five times, sufferingwounds to several internalorgans, as well as to his armsand face. After being admit-ted to hospital he underwent

five hours of surgery but diedof his injuries on May 12.

First attempt?

The police were not able tointerrogate the suspect due tohis serious condition. The onlyinformation that was con-firmed by Minister Lipšic wasthat he was a man from anearby village.

The day after the incidentlocal media reported that thesuspect was Matej Č., an ITexpert who had recently losthis job. He had two childrenand lived with his family in anew house in Sokoľ, a villagenear Kysak.

The Sme daily describedhim as a blogger who wascritical of materialism and alack of values in society, and

that he was an active sportshooter who had even com-peted in the Slovak nationalchampionships.

People from the sur-rounding villages confirmedto the media that they hadseen police helicopters circ-ling the location in the morn-ing and then heard shootingat around 10:00.

When asked whether thesuspect had already commit-ted any similar crimes beforeor whether this was the firsttime he had attempted to killand eat anybody, Lipšic didnot answer.

Upon his arrest, the can-nibal-manqué was reportedlyfound to be carrying pills todrug the victim, knives,plastic bags and black pepperto sprinkle on the body in or-

der to prevent wild animalsfrom eating it while it washidden in the forest.

In the aftermath of the in-cident Lipšic again mentionedthe law on firearms, whichwas recently amended –among other things, to nowinclude psychological tests forgun ownership –after a loneshooter killed seven peoplethen himself in an incident inDevínska Nová Ves in Augustlast year.

Lipšic said the case of thecannibal from eastern Slov-akia proved that it is import-ant to require such tests forfirearms-licence applicants,Sme reported. He said that ifthere was scope to make thelaw stricter, he would do so.

By Michaela Terenzani

CCLASSIFIEDS

REAL ESTATE

NEW.....for..... RENT:• 1-2-room apartments – Vajnorská,

Ružinov, Karlova Ves...• 3-4-room apartments – Drotárska,

downtown, Ružinov,Koliba, Bôrik...• family houses – Koliba, Bôrik

area, Polus area, Horský park,Ružinov...

madison@nextra.sk, 0905 659156,www.madison.sk

C 3655 C 3677

REAL ESTATE

Rent: new house, Bratislava III, located in a quiet street, with6 rooms, 3 bathrooms, garage for 2 cars, gardenwith grill. Price: 1800 EUR + E0903 234 999, 0903 471 999

C 3675

REAL ESTATE

Family HomeFor Sale in Bernolakovo

• L-shaped living, dining, kitchen• 5 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms + WC• House 260m² + Garage 49 m² + Lot 5.4a• 6 years old• Sprinkler system, automatic gate• Custom-built with 40cm block• Located in beautiful new subdivision• Near golf course• Reduced price 265,000 €

Call 0904-363-747

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

C 3673

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:marta.fukasova@spectator.sktel: +421 2 59 233-311fax: +421 2 59 233-319or write: The Slovak Spectator, Lazaretská 12811 08 Bratislava, Slovak ia.

1/48 page

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. Pr ices of classif ied 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

May 16 – 22, 2011

Nový Smokovec’s small lake

THE BEGINNINGS of theNový Smokovec spa settle-ment in the High Tatras dateback to 1875, whenMikuláš Szontaghbought a 20-hec-tare wooded plotfrom the municip-ality of VeľkýSlavkov to foundhis own sanatorium.

The sanatorium was builtto cure tuberculosis andBasedow’s disease (Graves’disease) primarily throughclimatotherapy, which wasvery popular at that time. Thefirst building of the new set-tlement was finished in 1876.

A small artificial lake wascreated within the gardenand park area – an accoutre-

ment that was important inmany villages and towns inthe Tatras.

That lake still exists andbears the name of the founderof Nový Smokovec. The villawith a turret that can be seenin the background also standsin the same place today and is

also named after DoctorSzontagh. It is now the prop-erty of his heirs. The small

villa on the rightwas called Gen-ciana and it stoodthere until 1933,when it gave wayto construction ofthe Palace nursing

home. However, Genciana’sstructure did not perish – itwas carefully dismantled,moved and reassembled inPekná Vyhliadka.

This colourised postcardis from the 1920s.

By Branislav Chovan

HISTORY TALKS

WesternSLOVAKIA

Bratislaval LIVE MUSIC: A double concertby EA BAND and MAOK bringsambient chill-out music. EAconsists of Róbert Borodajkevyčand Sisa Latková and plays elec-tronic jazz and chill-out; MAOK,aka Martin Tesák, plays music“full of emotion”. The perform-ance also includes Marek Škop’saward-winning documentaryIné svety.

Starts: May 19, 19:00; KlubZa zrkadlom, Rovniankova 3.Admission: €4 (in advance) -€5 (on the door). Tel: 02/6381-1328; www.kzp.sk.

Bratislaval CLASSICAL MUSIC: RomaRhapsody – As part of a sci-entific musicological confer-ence, this concert brings Hun-garian and Gypsy music byFranz Liszt, performed by pi-anist Paul Gulda andrenowned Roma bandCigánski Diabli.

Starts: May 18, 19:00;Dvorana Concert Hall, Zocho-va 1. Admission: free. Tel: 02/5930-1533; www.rakusko.eu.

Bratislaval CLASSICAL MUSIC: Cello-mania v galérii – The cycleHudba a obrazy / Music andPaintings brings concerts or-ganised by the Slovak Phil-harmonic to the Slovak Na-tional Gallery. This time thechamber ensemble Cello-mania, comprising four Slovakcellists, performs works by P.Šimai, L. Kupkovič, W. Fitzen-hagen, M. Novák, M. Markow-icz, V. Godár and Ľ. Čekovská.

Starts: May 17, 19:00; SNG,Vodné kasárne. Admission:€5. Tel: 02/2047-5233; www.filharm.sk, www.eventim.sk.

Bratislaval EXHIBITION: ZuzanaRudavská - Šperk / objekt /kresba (Jewel / Object/ Draw-ing) – This is an intimate ex-hibition of Rudavská’s fragile,imaginative jewellery andartworks crafted from pearls,jade and other materials.

Open: weekdays 13:00-18:00 until May 27; K-Gallery,Ventúrska 8. Admission: free.Tel: 02/5443-3927; www.kgallery.sk.

Piešťanyl TRADITIONAL CRAFTS:Tradičné ľudové remeslá / Tra-ditional Folk Crafts – The 3rdyear of this internationalmeeting and presentation offolk craft workers and theirproducts.

Starts: May 20-22; Kúpeľnýostrov (Spa Island). Admis-sion: free. More info: 033/7757-733; www.kupelepiestany.sk.

CentralSLOVAKIA

Žilinal FOLKLORE MUSIC ANDDANCE: Mladosť a krása /Youth and Beauty – Even afterhaving celebrated its 60th an-niversary, the Lúčnica folkloretroupe embodies a combina-tion of ancient traditions andyouthful energy.

Starts: May 20, 19:00; Domodborov (House of Unions), Ľ.Štúr Square 1. Admission: €11.

Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.ticketportal.sk.

Zvolenl FILM FESTIVAL: Envirofilm2011 – A festival of movies fo-cused on the environment,this event brings a host of doc-umentary movie screenings, acompetition for children, dis-cussions, and more.

Starts: May 16-25, from10:00 until late; various ven-ues. Admission: free. Tel:048/4374-182; www.sazp.sk.

EasternSLOVAKIA

Košicel EUROPEAN VOLUNTEER-ING TOUR: Deň Európy /Europe Day – The day to celeb-rate the continent fell on May9, but five Slovak towns andcities will now receive a travel-ling exhibition called EuropeDay 2011 – European Volun-teers’ Tour. It comprises lec-tures, discussions, and manyaccompanying events.

Starts: May 16, 10:00-18:00;Main Street /Hlavná, Dolnábrána. Admission: free. Moreinfo: erd.dobrovolnictvo.sk/Karavana.

Levočal MUSEUM/EXHIBITION:Levočská biela pani / TheWhite Lady of Levoča – JulianaKorponay-Géci, responsiblefor the capitulation of thetown of Levoča during theFrancis II Rákóczi uprising,but later accused of treasonand executed, is popularly be-lieved to have returned tohaunt the town. This exhibi-tion comprises artefacts anddocuments and seeks to ex-plain her role in history.

Open: daily 9:00-16:00 untilMay 30; Spišské Múzeum,Majster Pavol Square 40. Admis-sion: €3.50. Tel: 053/4512- 786;www. spisskemuzeum.com.

By Zuzana Vilikovská

EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE

THE KONVERGENCIE / Convergences music festival opens its12th year in Bratislava with three concerts on May 19, starting at18:00 in the Aréna Theatre: Ida Kelarová and Škampa Quartet(both from the Czech Republic) will play the Rómska balada(Roma Ballad); Bratislava Rabbi Baruch Myers will perform theChassidic Songs programme with cellist Jozef Lupták, accordi-onist Boris Lenko and violinist Miloš Valent; and the AfterPhur-ikane project to revive old Roma songs will conclude the con-cert, bringing together Roma amateurs and non-Roma profes-sional musicians. Afterwards, Konvergencie will travel acrossSlovakia with programmes combining classical chamber music,tango and jazz, visiting Ružomberok, Liptovský Hrádok, Levočaand finally Košice. For more information, please seewww.konvergencie.sk and www.ticketportal.sk.

Photo: Courtesy of Konvergencie

THE VOJTECH Löffler Museum in Košice is marking the IceHockey World Championship with an exhibition of local artists’works (including installations, drawings, paintings, videos, pho-tos, plastic art, and more) focused on the motif of hockey. Morethan 20 authors have provided works. Until June 12, the exhibi-tion, entitled Hokej v súčasnom výtvarnom umení / Hockey inContemporary Art can be seen Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10:00to 18:00 and on Sunday afternoon in the museum, at AlžbetinaStreet 20. For more information, please call 055/6223-073 or visitwww.lofflermuzeum.sk. Photo: Courtesy of VFM

10 CULTURE

Slovak director wins big prizeSLOVAK film director PavolBarabáš received the GrandPrize 2011 of the Internation-al Alliance for Mountain Filmon May 5 at a festival in theItalian town of Trento.

The jury, representing 19international festivals from17 countries, honouredBarabáš for his global contri-bution to the documentaryfilm genre and for his workas a cameraman in docu-mentaries with mountain,climbing and discovery mo-tifs in extreme locationsworldwide. He has also shotmany films about travellersand adventurers.

“In his films, he presentsfor the audience not justunique pictures of our envir-onment, but also offers evid-ence about life in less access-ible locations and as-yet un-known cultures; thus evok-ing something deeper, therespect of a human towardshimself or herself and to-wards the environment,”said Martina Straková of theK2 Studio, as reported by theTASR newswire.

The history of the awardis closely connected to thefounding of the Internation-al Alliance for MountainFilm (IAMF) in 2000. TheIAMF comprises 17 Europeancountries, 19 festivals of

mountain movies and onemuseum. Annually, itsmembers honour one film-maker who can be creditedwith contributing markedlyto the development of docu-mentary movies, Strakovátold The Slovak Spectator.

Barabáš has made a hostof movies, often depictingspecial, barely accessibleplaces around the world, orathletic performances border-ing on the very limits of hu-man endurance. In his works,he not only records unique,

often isolated ecological sys-tems but also unfamiliar andthus intriguing cultures.

He has already receivedseveral awards for hismovies. He recently took partin Envirofilm 2011, a Slovakfestival of environmentalmovies that is currently tak-ing place in several Slovaktowns and cities. Barabáš willpresent his films with SteveLichtag in Banská Bystrica onWednesday, May 18.

Compiled by Spectator staff

May 16 – 22, 2011

A scene from Pavol Barabáš's Mongolia. Photo: Courtesy of K2S

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 M A Y 2 0 1 1

Monday

Svetozár

May 16

Tuesday

Gizela

May 17

Wednesday

Viola

May 18

Thursday

Gertrúda

May 19

Friday

Bernard

May 20

Saturday

Zina

May 21

Sunday

JúliaJuliana

May 22

'US Ambassadors ofGoodwill' tour Slovakia

“A SQUARE peg in a roundhole” – this is how the mem-bers of the United States AirForces in Europe (USAFE)Band, one of the US militaryensembles, are sometimes de-scribed in their concurrentroles as musicians and milit-ary officers. But after attend-ing one of the five gigs theband recently gave in Slovakia,one would say “a fish in water”is a much more fitting epithet.

Stationed at SembachKaserne, Germany,“America’s Ambassadors ofGoodwill” perform live con-certs for more than 1.2 millionpeople each year throughoutEurope, Southwest Asia andAfrica. The 45-member squad,with a performance traditionnow spanning six decades, isthe only Air Force band sta-tioned in Europe.

In line with their aim to“communicate Air Forceexcellence” and “enhance pub-lic trust and support”, the en-semble toured Slovakiabetween May 4 and 9, visitingBratislava, Nitra, Prievidza,Lučenec and Banská Bystrica,and drawing around 1,400 ap-preciative people in all.

According to Chris Scharf,public affairs officer at the USEmbassy in Bratislava, whichsupported the USAFE tour,military bands are a very im-portant part of US culture.

“At major holidays tens ofthousands of people gather inour nation’s capital to hear one

of the military bands play pop-ular and patriotic music fol-lowed by spectacular fire-works over the WashingtonMonument,” he told The Slov-ak Spectator. “Military bandscontribute to national unityand members of these bandsoften come from prestigiousconservatories and schools ofmusic in the United States.”

Scharf further explainedthat “the Air Force Bands pro-gramme will always be associ-ated with the name of the fam-ous band leader and a major inthe US Army Air Force – GlennMiller – whose plane disap-peared while flying over theEnglish Channel to Paris toplay for soldiers there”.

Of course, the USAFE’sSlovak show also included apiece by Miller: his famous Inthe Mood was the closing per-formance in the two-hourprogramme.

But the music offered bythe ensemble encompassedmany different styles, fromclassical music to Americanbig-band jazz, pop and famousBroadway tunes.

The programme includedpieces such as SymphonicMetamorphoses by PaulHindemith, an aria from TheBarber of Seville by

Gioachino Rossini, selec-tions from West Side Story byLeonard Bernstein, and Defy-ing Gravity by StephenSchwartz, the signature songfrom the musicalWicked.

“We try to bring as wide avariety of music to our audi-ences as we can,” said MajorMatthew Henry, command-er and conductor of theUSAFE band. “My concept isthat the first half is usually ofa more formal, ‘European’style, though we still try tofeature American music, theconsensus being that this iswhat people are looking for.Then in the second half wetry to do more of a Broadwayshow concert, where musicjust keeps coming and ismore pop-oriented.”

Though many people mayfind the combination of musicand the military as a little odd,working as a musician in theUS Air Forces Band has manyadvantages compared to a ci-vilian orchestra, Henry toldThe Slovak Spectator.

“I think that I have great-er latitude with my folks thanI would if this was a civilianorganisation: if, for example,we need an extra rehearsaltime for whatever reason, wesimply get it, while in a civil-

ian orchestra, there would beextra pay involved, I wouldhave to contact the unions,and so forth,” Henry re-marked.

And he added that beingin a military band involvesresponsibilities that are morevaried, with only around one-fifth of an officer’s time spenton the musical side and four-fifths on the military leader-ship side.

“I am not sure in nearlyfifteen years that I’ve had anaverageday,” he added.

Staff Sergeant RachelTrimble, a vocalist with theUSAFE band, said that milit-ary ensembles are also veryparticular with regard totheir mission.

“The reason we performis not for profit,” she told TheSlovak Spectator. “It is forbuilding partnerships, deliv-ering the Air Force messageand enhancing a relation-ship between the UnitedStates and other countriesthrough music, which is theuniversal language thatbringspeopletogether.”

According to DanaPolčíková from the US Em-bassy, the musicians followedthis mission in Slovakia on-and off-stage alike.

“Every time we arrived inour venues both male and fe-male members of the orches-tra put on their working glovesand helped unload the trucksthat carried their instrumentsand equipment; then each ofthem sat behind their musicstands, gave outstanding per-formances, and, after the con-cert, again loaded the trucks asif this was completelynatural,” she said.

“I think that what theybrought to Slovakia was notonly gorgeous music but also amessage of goodwill andfriendship.”

BY DOMINIKAUHRÍKOVÁ

Spectator staff

The shows also featured soloists. Photo: Courtesy of US Embassy

Migration: as oldas mankind

MIGRATION is as old as thehistory of mankind. Groupsof people have always beenmoving in search of a safer ora better home and it is onlythe historical context and thescale of migration that hasbeen changing, said JoséÁngel López Jorrín, Ambas-sador of Spain to Slovakia,during a discussion with highschool students in Bratislava.

Some countries mightstill feel that the pressing is-sues of migration and immig-ration do not directly concernthem but López Jorrínstressed that in the 21st cen-tury no country is untouchedby the phenomenon and forthat reason it should betreated as a shared global chal-lenge and not as an issue lim-ited to particular countries.

Students of the DunajskáStreet secondary school inBratislava, where mostclasses are taught in Hun-garian, also learned thatSpain has the highest immig-ration rate in the world andthat in January 2011 immig-rants made up 14 percent ofSpain’s population, 5.7 mil-lion, which is around thetotal population of Slovakia.Ambassador López Jorrínmet the students as part ofthe Bringing the World to theClassroom project developedby The Slovak Spectator, sev-eral foreign embassies inSlovakia and Sugarbooks, adistributor of textbooks.

With the help of theSpanish diplomat the stu-dents explored differentmodes of living abroad: be-ing a foreign student, hav-ing temporary residence in aforeign country, or takingup a job somewhere outsideone’s home country. But headded that the most difficultway of arriving in a foreigncountry is when people areforced to leave their home-land because of war andfears for their lives or thesafety of their children. Henoted that much migration

is often forced by economicreasons as well.

“People sometimes re-spond negatively to migrants– driven by fear of theunknown,” Jorrin said.

Though it was not pos-sible to explore all the com-plex questions that immigra-tion poses today, LópezJorrín explained that immig-rants often evoke negativesentiments among locals be-cause of concerns about thepressure they might place onthe labour market. But hestressed that immigrants areoften the most vulnerablegroups in their adoptedcountry since they are will-ing to work for much lowersalaries than locals, some-times are afraid to join tradeunions, and often lack properhealth insurance and socialbenefits. López Jorrín saidmigrants who are searchingfor a new home must make aserious effort to be openenough to the majority soci-ety in which they now liveand that it negatively affectsan immigrant community ifit becomes tightly lockedaway from interaction withthe majority society.

David Vojtko, one of thestudents, pointed out in anessay prepared for the meet-ing with the ambassadorthat the only way to achievesocial integration is to learnthe language spoken in thehost country. Vojtko alsowrote that cultural differ-ences are even more difficultto bridge but that “by learn-ing the language the chancesare increased”.

Andrea Menyhárt, an-other student, wrote that an-other difficulty migrantsmight face is learning thecustoms and traditions of anew country, but that theymust learn them if they donot want to insult or embar-rass the majority residents.

The students also learnedthat even though Spain gavethe world the word “siesta”the custom is no longerwidely practised there andthat around 500 millionSpanish-speaking people liv-ethroughout the world.

The USAFE Band's show in Bratislava offered more than just great music. Photo: Courtesy of US Embassy

11CULTURE May 16 – 22, 2011

Ambassador José Ángel López JorrínPhoto: Courtesy of the Dunajská Street secondary school

US Air ForcesBand draws

crowds

BY BEATA BALOGOVÁSpectator staff

12 May 16 – 22, 2011

SP90269/1

What do you get from being close to Vienna Airport? The world on your doorstep.

Bratislava is just 35 minutes from Vienna Airport. Our optimal transport links ensure a smooth and easy start to your

journey, enabling you to reach over 180 direct destinations world-wide even faster.

www.viennaairport.com

Stefan Ehrengruber

Tariffs & Business Development

ADVERTISEMENT