Slovak Spectator 1730

8/4/2019 Slovak Spectator 1730

1/16

Payroll-levy bill readied for vote

THE CABINET of Iveta Radiov onAugust 21 agreed the changes thatit wants to make from next year tothe way Slovakia calculates man-datory payroll levies, and will nowtake them to parliament. But thereactions so far from associations

representing self-employed peopleand artists and even from someMPs within the parties of the rul-ing coalition suggest that thecabinet's proposed bill will face aroughride.

The government has pitchedits proposals as a reform that willdevelop a unified system for col-lection of income taxes, customsduties and mandatory payrolllevies and that it will ease the ad-

ministrative burden on employersas well as employees. This aspectof the proposal nearly everyoneseems to support but self-em-ployed people are protesting thatthe changes as currently laid out

will result in them having toshoulder a heavier burdenthrough higher income taxes andlevies.

SeeLEVYpg12SELECT FOREX RATES benchmark as ofSeptember 1CANADA CAD 140CZECH REP CZK24.15RUSSIA RUB 4141GREAT BRITAN GBP 0.88

HUNGARY HUF 273.11JAPAN JPY 110.08POLAND PLN 4.14USA USD 143

NEWS

Caseopen5yearsonHedvigaMalinovremainsaccusedof lying butwithnoimmediateprospectofbeing able toclearhername five yearsaftershereported beingassaultedinNitra.

pg 2

Panicover falsealarmAn alarmthat soundedaroundthe JaslovskBohu-nice nuclear power plantinmid-Augustturned outtobefalse, buthardlyanyone

leastof alllocal governmentofficials receivedtimely,official information.

pg 3

OPINION

AlukewarmwelcomeInsteadof lecturing poten-tialmigrants abouthowtheymust assimilate,Slov-ak politicianswoulddo welltothinkaboutwhatSlov-akiaisreallydoingornotdoing toattract them.

pg 5

BUSINESSFOCUS

Germany'sroleInan interviewwithTheSlovakSpectator, GermanAmbassadorAxel Hart-mann talksaboutthe euro-zonedebt crisis, vocationaleducationand theGermanlanguage in Slovakia.

pg 6

Don'tstandstillEconomicties betweenGer-manyand Slovakiaare ex-ceptionally strong,but Slov-akianeedsto pursuefurtherreform toensurethey re-mainso, investorssay.

pg 7

CULTURE

MastersofcultureThefirstweekendofSeptember bringsa celebra-tionof folk artandcraftstoBratislava'sold townthatencouragesSlovaks to em-bracetraditional culture.

pg13

Teachersin Nitra (above)and other regionalcentresusedSlovakia's September1 publicholiday tocollectsignaturesfora petitioncallingformoremoney tobe spentoneducationand forteachers' payfor tobe increased. Photo:TASR

Slovakia trims its

growth forecastsWHILE Europe hopes that the pro-spect of a double-dip recession willremain only a subject of economicdiscourse and not a reality, eco-nomic analysts and state institu-tions in Slovakia have taken offtheir rose-tinted glasses and takena fresh look at the forecast growthof the Slovak economy during theremainderof 2011and in2012.

In its recent flash estimate, theFinance Ministrys Institute of Fin-ancial Policy (IFP) reported that itexpects the Slovak economy togrow at a slower pace than it hadearlier forecast, trimming its pro-

gnosis for annual growth in 2012from4.4 percent to3.4 percent.

The IFP said that uncertaintiesin global financial markets and acooling of the economies ofSlovakias largest trading partnershad prompted to cut its macro-economic prognosis.

Market watchers agreed withthat assessment, suggesting thatthe ministrys earlier forecast was

much too optimistic. Some ana-lysts have chosen to see thingsevenmore pessimistically whenre-leasing their forecasts forSlovakias economic growth next

year.We think the IFP prognosis is

still slightly optimistic, VladimrZlack, chief economist with Uni-Credit Bank, told The Slovak Spec-tator, adding that his bank expectsthe Slovak economy to grow byonly 2.8 percent in 2012, with addi-tional downsideriskspossible.

SeeDOWNpg11

Vol. 17, No. 30 Monday, September 5, 2011 - Sunday, September 11, 2011On sale nowOn sale now FOCUS

of this issue

FOCUSof this issue

GERMANY

Immigrantswanted

SLOVAKIA needs migrants to meet theneeds of its labour market: that was themain message the cabinet sent out bypassing its migration strategy for the

country for the next decade. And althoughthe document suggests several changes inpolicy which migrants might welcome,some cabinet members have already madeit clear that Slovakia will still expect mi-grantsto fully integrate.

The current demographic trendsshow that the Slovak labour market, as

well as the social security system, are sig-nificantly dependent on the inflow of hu-man capital from abroad, the MigrationPolicy of the Slovak Republic with the Out-look until 2020, which the cabinet passedon August 31, states.

SeeINpg3

NB shouldfinally get a

new boss

AFTERmonthsof unsuccessful attempts tofill the post of head of the National Secur-ity Office (NB), the countrys main secur-ity vetting agency, the cabinet has okayedthecandidacyof KamilKrn, makinghimthe first of four candidates to even make ittoa vote inparliament.

The coalition parties agreed that Free-dom and Solidarity (SaS) should nominatethe NB head, but the task proved unex-pectedly challenging as one candidateafter another was rejected by SaS coalitionpartners, stretching the selection processout to more than five months followingthe departure of the previous NB head.Finally, the cabinet approved the candid-acy of Krn on August 24, after he re-ceived the top secret security clearance re-quired for the job. Nothing now seems tostand in his way other that an approval

vote in parliament, which should takeplace soon after at its first post-summer-

breaksessionbegins on September 6.

SeeTOPpg2

BYMICHAELATERENZANISpectator staff

BYBEATABALOGOVSpectator staff


BYMICHAELATERENZANISpectator staff

Butonly if they Slovakise

see pages 6 -10The German communityin Slovakia


2/16

Judges may be allowed to comment

UNLIKE theCzech Republic,

Slovakiasjudges are notal-lowedto comment publiclyonthe verdicts they pass incourtcases. Butnow JusticeMinister Luciaitanskwantsto changethisbyamending thelaw,theSmedailyreported.

I am convincedthatpeople willtrust thecourtsmoreif theyunderstandtheirrulings,stateditansk,as quoted bythedaily.

Sme listed the verdictsinthe casesof thereleaseoftheformerheadof theSlov-ak Intelligence Service (SIS)IvanLexa, the instancesofhigh compensationpay-

mentsawardedto politi-ciansfor libel,andthe ver-dictin thecaseofmedicalstudent udmila Cervanov

ashaving ledto publicbe-

wilderment.The latterwas discussedrecently on tefanHrbs talkshow Podlampou(Under theLamp),broadcast by SlovakTelevision(STV). The GeneralProsecutorsOffice criticisedtheshowbecauseHrbin-

vitedthemen whowerefoundguiltyof murderingCervanov to appear.

JudgeKatarnaJavorkovfrom theinitiat-iveFor OpenJustice suppor-teditansksproposalandsaid that itis theconstitu-tionalrightof judgesto ex-press freelytheiropiniononcases.

However, she saidthat

judgesshould beabletocomment onlyon closedcases,noton thosewhicharestillongoing.

Slovakia recognises Libyan rebels

SLOVAKIAbecameone of60countries to haverecog-nisedLibyasNationalTransitionalCouncilas theonlylegitimategovernmentofthatcountry,the TASRnewswire reported.

The Ministry of ForeignAffairs is convinced thattheNational Transitional Coun-

cilwillguaranteethe ob-servance of laws,justice andhuman rightsfor allLibyas

citizens, the ministry saidina writtenstatement re-leasedon August30, addingthat suchan approachinLibyawill receivebroadsupport fromSlovakiasgovernment.

Theministryalsoex-pressedits condolencestothe country in connection

withthe largenumberof ci-vilian victims who havediedduring recentclashes.

Smer youth wing criticises PM

MEMBERSof theYoung So-cialDemocrats(MSD),theyouthwingof theoppositionSmer party,havelaunchedacampaign against PrimeMinister IvetaRadiov.MSDis usinga billboardad totargetRadiovssilenceover thecontroversial rentalofa buildingfor taxofficesinKoice, theTASR newswirereported.

The billboard,which is

displayedon a car, depictsRadiov sweeping dirtun-dera carpetbearingthe logoofher party,the SlovakDemocraticand ChristianUnion(SDK).It resembles a

caricatureby MartinShootytovec publishedin the Smedailyin May, when thecon-troversyovertherentaldealfirst began.MSDleaderAn-drej Koleskdeniedthathehadcopied Shootys cartoon,sayinghe only readsthenewspaper, Sme reported.

Meanwhile, RadiovsspokespersonRado Baoan-nounced thatshe wouldnotcomment onthe current

dealuntil Finance MinisterIvanMikloreturnedfromvacation.

Compiledby Spectatorstaff

frompressreports

Amended Press Code takes effect

ANAMENDMENT tothePress Code passedby parlia-menton May31 willcome in-toforceas ofSeptember1. Itisintendedto softensomeofthe codesmore controver-sialaspects, theSITAnews-wirereported.

The mostsignificantchangepertainsto therightof replyfor publicofficials,whowillno longerbe able to

insiston a publishedreplyto factually correct storiesthatare published aboutthem in theirperformanceof publicfunctions.

However, theywill still

have a right ofreplyto art-icleswritten aboutthemasprivateindividuals,in ac-cordance withthe SlovakConstitution. Also,peopleinvolved in criminal cases

willbe able toinsiston pub-lication ofa reply.

The amendmentalsocancels penaltiesfor pub-lishers whorefuse to pub-lisha reply, theresponsibil-

ityof publishersto reply,correct or add additionalin-formation, andcomplain-ants rightto demand pub-licationof both a replyand acorrection.

Five years on, Malinovcase remains unresolved

FIVE years have passed sinceHedviga Malinov, an ethnic-Hungarian Slovak citizen, re-ported that she was assaultedon her way to an exam at her

university in Nitra on August25, 2006. Since then, her casehas become notoriously con-troversial and some observerssay that it reflects malfunc-tions in the Slovak justice sys-tem. It is also considered as athorn in relations betweenSlovakia andHungary a mat-

terof concern expressedby USdiplomats in documents re-cently published by whistle-

blowing websiteWikiLeaks.Slovak society has been

divided over what happenedto Hedviga Malinov sinceshereported topolicethatshe had

been attacked and suggestedit might have been becauseshe was heard speaking Hun-garian. The police say theirinvestigation into the case in-

volved over 250 officers andinterviews with 600 people,and led them to conclude thatan assault neveroccurred.

The police findings werereleased on September 12,2006, at a press conference by

then interior minister RobertKalik and then prime min-ister Robert Fico, withKalik stating it is beyonddoubt that the case did nothappen. He presented sever-al pieces of alleged evidence,including DNA samples, tosupporthis assertion.

Lawyeraccusesprosecutorsof bias

Malinov, who has sincemarried and is called kov,

was then charged in May 2007with perjuryand makingfalseclaims. However, the chargeshave never been laid before acourt andaftermorethanfour

years the case remainspending with the GeneralProsecutorsOffice.

Malinovs lawyer, Ro-man Kvasnica, said on August24, 2011 that he thinks thatnobody will ever properly in-

vestigate who attacked hisclient. The state of the affairclearly shows that since 2006,

when the attack on HedvigaMalinov happened, the Slov-ak state bodies have abso-lutely failed, he said, asquotedby theTASRnewswire.

Kvasnica recently filed anaction against several prosec-utors, including former gen-eral prosecutor Dobroslav

Trnka and his subordinates,claiming that they have beenbiased in their handling of theMalinov case. He stated thatthere are close ties among theprosecutors that jeopardisethe prosecution of those re-sponsible. He further claimedthat Trnka is not independentfrom political influence, theSme dailyreported.

Interior Minister DanielLipic also recently concededthat it is unlikely that thepublic will learn the truthabout what happened toMalinov.

The problem is that fromthe beginning it was politi-cised and then it gets hard to

look for the truth, especiallyafter some time has passed,Lipicsaid,as quotedby TASR,adding that it is up to theGeneral Prosecutors Office tonow close the case, as it haspromised to do severaltimes.

SeeWIKIpg5

BYMICHAELA

TERENZANI

Spectator staff

TOP: Krn denies conflict of interestContinued frompg1

Krn, who has a background in theITbusiness, iscurrentlyan SaSMP.

IamnotgoingtotheNBfromapos-ition in the IT business, but from a posi-

tion as an MP, Krn said in a recent in-terviewwith theSmedaily, inresponsetoconcerns that a conflict of interest mightarise from the NBs role in organisingtendersforstate ordersinthe ITsphere.

Animportantpost

The top job at the NB has provedproblematic in the past as well. The cred-ibilityof theoffice wasbroughtintoques-tion after Frantiek Blanrik, who heldthe post untilearlier this year, was repor-tedto have been anagentinthe commun-ist-era counter-intelligence service.

Blanrik, who was nominated by theMovement for a Democratic Slovakia(HZDS)and appointed by thepreviousrul-ing coalition led by Robert Ficos Smerparty, garnered much criticism from

parts of the then-opposition most ofwhich now makes up the current rulingcoalition because of his alleged links tothecommunistsecretservice.

Nine months after last years changeof government, media commentatorsnoted that Blanrik had remained in hispost even though the leaders of SaS had

boasted that their party would not acceptformercommunistsas members.

On March 7 Blanrik announced hisresignation, statingthat he didnot intendto become a victim of political games-manship.

The NB is an important componentof Slovakias power structure because ithas the authority to issue security clear-ances. The coalition kept stressing thatthey were searching for someone with aflawless moral and professional back-

ground, who would be acceptable to allcoalition partners. SaS chairman RichardSulk said that since the benchmark hasnow been set so high SaS will act accord-ingly when it comes to other parties fu-ture nominations.

Threepreviouscandidates

Krn was approved by all coalitionparties only after three previous candid-ates hadbeennominatedbySaS butthen

rejected by one or other of its coalitionpartners.The ruling coalition is now placing

much hope in Krns candidacy, andobservers have warned that a continuedfailure tofillthe post couldprompt moretension and risk further loss of trustamongthecoalitionparties.

After facing criticismfor itsfailuretoremove Blanrik earlier, SaS first pro-posed Jn Stano as his replacement in

April 2011. However, Stano did not satis-fy the other ruling parties because of hisprevious employment, albeit in a juniorposition, at the Slovak Information Ser-

vice (SIS), Slovakias main spy agency,during its period under Ivan Lexa. Lexa

wasthe right-handman of controversialformer prime minister Vladimr Meiarand it was under Lexas leadership that

the SIS was accused of involvement innumerous criminal activities.SaS then, in May 2011, proposed Su-

preme CourtjudgePeterPaluda,and fora brief period it seemed that he enjoyedbroad approval. Paluda has a long re-

cord as a senior judge, served asSlovakias representative to the EU'sjustice organisation Eurojust, and hasbeen a staunch critic of controversialSupreme Court head tefan Harabin.

Nevertheless, the Slovak Democraticand Christian Union (SDK) pouredcold water on Paludas chances by vot-ing to oppose his nomination, citing alegal action he had launched againstthestate,among otherreasons.

The latest SaS nominee beforeKrn, Supreme Court judge Juraj Kli-ment, withdrew as a candidate in June2011 after learning that he didnot enjoythe support of all parties in the rulingcoalition.

The Civic Conservative Party (OKS),a faction of four MPs who were electedto parliament on the Most-Hd partysslate, raised objections to Klimentscandidacy. OKS pointed to his involve-ment in the reconfirmation of a com-munist-era verdict in the Cervanovcase. OKS stated that Kliment, along

with the other judges hearing the case,failed to consider new evidence.Withoutthe four votes ofthe OKSdepu-ties, the ruling coalition would nothave had enough votes to confirm Kli-ment inthe job.

2 NEWSSeptember 5 11, 2011

US diplomatswere interested

in case, had

source, leakedcables reveal

KamilKrn,the fourthcandidatefor thetopNBjob. Photo:Sme -TomBenedikovi


3/16

False alarm causes panic

ITIS NOTmuch ofan exaggera-tion to say that televised im-ages of Japans Fukushimanuclear disaster were amongthe first thoughts in the mindsof residents of villages aroundSlovakias nuclear power plantin JaslovskBohuniceafter thesounding of a sharp alarm in-terrupted their peaceful mid-August evening. It turned outto be a false alarm but it re-vealed a disturbing fact: hardlyanyone least of all local gov-ernment officials receivedtimely, official information.

An interrupted alarm,known as a sharp alarm,sounded throughout the re-

gion surrounding theJaslovsk Bohunice nuclearpower plant for a minute atabout16:40onAugust17,2011.

I was at home and I ranout to the street, MiroslavRemen r, the mayor of Radoovce, told The SlovakSpectator. His village is aboutthree kilometres from thepowerplant.

People living there and inother towns and villages nearthe plant, including Trnava,are accustomed to the two-minute-long constant tone ofa test-alarm sounding once amonth, always on a Friday.But August 17 was a Wednes-day and the sound was an in-

terrupted tone, a sharp alarm,indicatingthat somethinghadhappened at the nuclearpowerplant.

Slovensk Elektrrne (SE),the operator of the powerplant, later stated that its V2nuclear facility was operatingnormally and that the its acci-dent warning system had notbeenactivated thealarm wasfrom a new electronic sirensystem under constructionand it had been set off due to amistake by a worker employedbyKoice-basedTelegrafia,thecompany installing the sys-tem, as he was configuring itssoftware.

Informationcameslowly

I ran to my office where Ihave all the phone numbersand contacts and I was tryingto call someone, Remenrsaid, describing his actions inthefirst minutes followingthealarm. He called the police but

they were not able to provideany information. Nobodyanswered the phone in thepower plants office in chargeof civil protection, Remenradded.

Then I called my friendwho works at the power plantand it was he who gave me thefirst information that, mostlikely, nothinghad happened,Remenr said. With this unof-ficial information, he consul-ted via telephone with mayorsfrom the nearby villages oflkovce and Madunice who

were going through similartribulations in an attempt toget official information theycouldpass onto theircitizens.

Its a shame that weshould be calling each otherthis way, Remenr stated,adding thatinstructions about

what to do came neither fromthe power plant nor from thecivil protection office of theTrnava Borough Office, cover-ing the districts of Trnava andHlohovec,on thatday.

The civil protection officeinTrnava told TheSlovakSpec-tator that official informationdid not come to it on a timely

basis either. Even though acompany that causes a threatto the environment or to thecivilian population, in thiscase Slovensk Elektrrne, is

required by the civilprotectionlaw to inform the local civilprotection office immediately,this was not done, said JozefKlokner, the head of theTrnava Borough Office.

They are obliged to do soaccording to the law, and theydid notdo it oractually didit,

butlate, morethan 30 minutesafter [the alarm sounded],Klokner told The Slovak Spec-tator, adding that the civilprotection office was not ableto take further action beforereceiving the official informa-tion.

His office, according toKlokner, was making efforts toget any kind of information,even via unofficial channels,like the mayors in the region

were doing. But he said hisoffices attemptsto contact thepowerplant failed,adding thatit was notpossible to reach thefacility bytelephone.

We did realise that not allthe conditions [for an actual

alarm] were fulfilled since thealarm only lasted a minute in-steadof theusual twominutesand information [from thecompany] did not come simul-taneously with the alarm as itis supposed to, according tothe accident plan of the powerplant, Klokner stated, addingthat unofficially they believedit to be a false alarm about 10minutes after it sounded butthat further information wasnot officially provided to hisoffice untillater.

Slovensk Elektrrneclaims that it immediately in-formed Slovakias NuclearRegulatory Authority and the

Civic Information Commis-sion Bohunice composed ofmayors of some of the sur-rounding villages, represent-atives of Slovensk Elektrrne

and JAVYS (Slovakias Nuclearand Decommissioning Com-pany) as well as the civil pro-tection offices of regional au-thorities, the Interior Min-istryand themedia.

Nonews isgoodnews?

In the event of a so-calledsharp alarm, sirens are one ofthree systems of communica-tion, supplemented by theHados system of communica-tion consisting of special re-ceivers at municipal officesand at mayors homes as wellas notification via cell phonesor landlines.

There are clear rules that

all mayors must know well, re-quiring that the signal aboutthe occurrence of an accidentin a nuclear facility is trans-mitted to mayors via threechannels: cell phone, Hados,and a two-minute-long siren,Slovensk Elektrrne wrote ina statement, adding that thesechannels were not used on Au-gust 17 because there was noaccidentat thenuclearfacility.

But the fact that their Ha-dos receivers remained silentand no warning arrived via atelephonecallor a textmessage

was not enough for mayors inthe vicinity to rest assured thatno nuclear accident was hap-pening close to their com-

munities. Several mayors toldThe Slovak Spectator they didnot dare announceinformationto their citizens that nothingserious was occurring withouthaving first-hand, official in-formation. Tibor Stanko, themayor of lkovce located justfive kilometres from the powerplant receivedno informationuntil he found a short an-nouncement on SlovenskElektrrnes website more thanan hour after the alarm wentoff. Only then did he make anannouncement viathe villagesannouncement system.

SeeSEpg13

BYMICHAELATERENZANI

Spectatorstaff

TheBohunicepowerplant'scoolingtowers. Photo:J. Liptkov

IN: 'Culturalproximity' sought

Continuedfrom pg1

Torespondto thechal-lenges of thelabourmarket,

theSlovak government de-claresit wantsto beactiveandflexible in welcomingforeigners to thecountry,fo-cusing on migrants withhigh qualifications, particu-larly in thoseprofessions

where a lackof qualifiedla-bouris hinderingthe inflowof newinvestments intothecountry.

Foreignerstoldto adjust

To supportthe strategy,thecabinetproposesseveralmeasuresintendedto allowSlovakiato become moreat-tractiveand welcomingtoqualifiedmigrants, among

them a Slovak Card,a modi-fication of theEUs BlueCardformigrants.The cabinetalsopledges to redefinetheconditionsfor recognition offoreigndiplomasand quali-fications,in order to avoidskills beingwasted.

Integration of migrantswho decideto live andworkin Slovakiareceivesconsid-erable attentionin themi-gration policy, whichreadsthatSlovakialeans towardsan integrationmodelbasedonthe full acceptanceof thereality of theSlovak Republic

by migrants.The pro-claimed aimof theintegra-tion policyis topreventthe

emergenceof economically,socially,and culturallyex-cludedcommunities, i.e.ghettos.

Weve gotenoughse-gregatedshantytowns,wedontneedto createnewse-gregatedcommunities, In-terior MinisterDanielLipiccommentedafterthe cabinetsession.

Lipicrepeatedhis pre-viousstatement thatmulti-culturalism as a project hasfailed, andsaidthatthisisthereason whySlovakiaisorientingits migrationpolicy towardsqualifiedpeoplefrom countrieswithcloseculturalproximity.

Thecondition of legalmigrationshouldbe fullin-tegration;that is, accept-anceof Slovak cultureandtraditions, Lipicsaid.

Fullintegrationalso in-cludes masteringthe Slovaklanguage.The migrationpolicy documentreads thatthegovernment wantstomake Slovak-languageles-sonsand classes in socio-culturalorientationmoreaccessible. Thedocumentalso refersto thecreation ofa unifiedmethodology fortesting Slovak-languageskills in migrantswith lowqualifications.

Naturalisationtobecomeeasier?

Thenewly-passedinteg-rationpolicyalso promisesthatthe governmentwill

considerchangesto thenaturalisation process,

which could speed upinteg-ration. In practice,the cab-

inetwill considermakingtheprocessof grantingper-manent residenceand statecitizenshipmoretranspar-entand simpler.

Accordingto theinterna-tionalMigration IntegrationPolicy Index(MIPEX III),in

which Slovakiarankedthirdfrombottom among31 coun-tries, Slovakianow imposesEuropeslongestwaitingtimebeforemakingmi-grants eligiblefor citizen-ship,threeyears afterac-quiringa permanentresid-encypermit,whileaddingthatapplicants forcitizen-shipmust overcomesomeof themost subjectiveand

restrictive conditions.Thereportstates thatthecitizenshipprocedureinSlovakiais difficult, poten-tially lengthy(24 months),andis oneof themostex-pensive (663.50), especiallyin central Europe.Problemsinthe area ofgrantingcit-izenship to foreignnationals

became worseafterSlovakiasCitizenshipAct

wasamendedin 2007,MIPEXstated.

Stillnotattractive

Statistically, Slovakiahasoneof thelowestnum-

bersof incoming migrantsof

any EUcountry.TheSlovakStatisticsOf-ficereported thatthere were62,882 foreigners withresid-encepermitslivingin Slov-akiain 2009,representingjust over 1 percentof thecountrystotal population.Inaddition, twooutof everythreeforeignerslivinginSlovakiawere citizens ofotherEU countries,mostlyCzechs, RomaniansandPoles.

To date,Slovakia hasbeenprincipallya countryofemigrationratherthan im-migration,but thissituation

willslowlychange, expertssay.

The country isnot yetattractive for foreigners,despite thefactthatsinceEUaccessionthe situationhas

beenchanging,MartinaSekulov,an experton mi-gration affiliatedwith theInstituteof Public Affairs(IVO), toldThe SlovakSpec-tator.

Accordingto Sekulov,being a foreignerin Slovakiais notan easyundertaking.Shepointedout thatSlov-akiastill lacks an adequateconceptof multiculturaleducationand humanrightseducation,whichleads to anethnically-focusedpercep-tionof thepublicspace:

meaning thereis a percep-tion that Slovakiais a coun-tryfor Slovaks only.

Thereis a lack ofper-ceptionofthe state oncivicprinciples,Sekulov said.

3September 5 11, 2011NEWS

Should I stay or should I go?

SLOVAKIA might not be the first-choicedestination for students seeking an in-ternational experience during their stud-ies but nevertheless a fair number of stu-dents from all parts of the world are liv-

ing, studying, and sometimes also stay-ingto workin oneof Slovakias cities.

Statistics provided by the Institute ofInformation and Prognoses of Education,a unit of the Ministry of Education, showthat the number of international stu-

dents attending Slovak universities hasbeen increasing. In 2003 the number ofinternational students was only 1,633 but

by 2010 the number had more thandoubled and 3,759 students were enrolledin full-time bachelors, masters or doc-toral degree study programmes at publicandprivateuniversitiesin Slovakia.

Thanakon Tiwawong, a 22-year-oldfrom Thailand, is one of them. He is theonlyThai student to receive a scholarshipfrom Slovakias Education Ministry in2008. Thanakon has successfully finishedthesecond yearof hisbachelors degree atthe University of Economics in Bratis-lava.

Thetransition

Coming from abroad to a differentcountry can cause a cultural shock butTiwawongs previous high school experi-

ence living and studying in t he Czech Re-public as an exchange student for 10months made his transition to Slovakiaeasier.

Having had a good experience of liv-ing in Europeand acquiringknowledgeoftheCzech languageturned outto behelp-ful when attending a Slovak languagecourse to prepare for an examination be-fore entering the university. Neverthe-less, Tiwawong quickly realised that hiscourse modules taught in Slovak werego-ing to be a challenge and that additionalhelp from his classmates would be re-quired.

Having some international class-

mates and knowing that I was not theonly one who did not comprehend what ateacher said or wrote can make you feellessstressedsometimes, Tiwawong said.

See STUDENTpg 12

BYZUZANAPOPRENDOVSpecial to the Spectator

Slovakia could be a

permanent home for

foreigners studying here


4/16

Mood of business leaders worsens

THEMOODofSlovak com-panies andconsumers fell

by2.4 percentage pointsinAugustmonth-on-monthandreachedits lowest levelsincethebeginningof thisyear. Slovakiarecordedworse resultsin economicsentimentonlyduringtheeconomiccrisisin 2008and2009,theHospodrskeNov-inydaily reported.

Theworsemoodhasbeensupportedby thebadsituationin financialmarkets,said PotovBanka analystEva Sadovsk,asquotedby thedaily,adding thatpeopleandcompaniesare alsoscaredoftheword crisis,whichisbecomingmore frequent.

UniCreditBankanalystVladimrZlackaddedthateconomicsentimentcouldworsen furtherwhenup-comingGDPgrowthfigures

areannounced forthebiggestEuropeaneconom-

ies.Theonly sectorwherethemood isbetteris in-dustry,whereproducersex-pectincreasedproduction ofcomputers,electronics andcars.However,KIAMotorsSlovakiaspokespersonDuanDvoksaidthathiscompanysproductionwoulddepend ondevelop-ments inworldmarkets.

TheoptimismofSlovakcompaniesgrewfrom2009until thebeginningof thisyear,whentherulingcoalition'sausteritymeas-urescameintoforce.

Zlack commented thatSlovakiahad topass the

measures;otherwise thefinancialmarkets wouldhavepunishedSlovakiaandwould have listedit asacountrywithdebtproblems.

Pension firms might invest in goldPRIVATE pensionfund man-agementcompanies(DSS)operating in theso-calledsecondpensionpillar couldgetthe chanceto investtheirclients moneyin gold.

udovt Kank, an MPfrom the Slovak Democraticand C hr istian Union(SDK), is preparing a draftamendment to the old-agepension savings law to al-

low this, the Sme daily re-ported.

TheMinistryof Laboursaiditagreedwiththe pro-posal,addingthat allowingclientsof DSSto investinprecious metalscouldmeanpreserving the value of theirmoneyas well asinterestingreturns, Sme wrote.

The suggestionhas alsobeenwelcomedby theheadofthe Associationof DSS,Peter Socha.He saidthat thestateshoulddefine whetherthe investmentswould becompulsoryand whenthey

would start.The ruling coalitionhas

arguedthatDSS currentin-vestmentsare too conservat-iveandthatthe returnson

client'sfundsare toolow.Itplansto changetheex-

istinglawto abolish there-quirementfor guaranteedre-turnson allfunds,exceptforthe conservativefund.Moreover,it plansto estab-lish a newindexfundwhich

willtrack thedevelopmentof stockprices.

Doctors start preparingquit notices

TRADEunion activistsfromthe state-run RooseveltHos-pitalin BanskBystricabegancollecting resignationnotices fromdoctorson Au-gust 30,sayingtheythink

mostnotices willbe providedafter September5 whenthedoctors get specific forms,the SITAnewswire reported.

Thedeadlinefor collect-ing notices is beingacceler-atedinorderfor themtobesentto themanagementofthehospitalby theendofSeptember,said JozefValky,

theheadphysician oftheOncology andIntensiveMedicineWard,whois man-agingthe collectionof physi-cians'resignation notices, asquotedby SITA.

The threatenedresigna-tionsare intended to achievea rangeof objectivesinclud-ingimprovementof em-ployment conditionsandsalaries in thepublic health-caresystem.


frompressreports

Tying up the loose endsof coupon privatisation

MANY Slovaks have alreadyforgotten their participationin thecountryscouponprivat-isation of the early 1990s. Onlyafter issuing their annualmoney order to pay adminis-trative fees for the securities

they received at that time arethey reminded that they ownsomething, somewhere. Butafter realising that they may

be holding nothing more thana continuing obligation to payhefty annual administrativefees, many Slovaks havesought to rid themselves ofthese securities and foundthat many of them no longerhadany actualvalueor that noone was interested in purchas-ingthem.

To assist people in endingtheir continued ownership of

valueless coupon privatisationsecurities, Slovakia enacted le-gislation to allow the freetransfer of unwanted securit-

ies to the countrys NationalP rop erty F und (F NM).However, nobody expectedthat this state body whichhad the primary task of trans-ferring state-owned assets intoprivate hands after the fall ofthe communist regime

would have valuable securitiestransferred back to it. But thatis what has happened and theFNM does not know what it

will do with either the valu-able shares or those that areactually worthless.

Transferringcouponsecurities

The option to transfer un-

wanted shares to the FNM wasimplemented by the Slovakgovernmenton October 1, 2009in reaction to citizens con-cerns about having to pay ad-ministrative fees for securitiesthat they no longer wantedand could not sell. Some Slov-akswho arestill holding secur-ities from the coupon privat-isation could be paying annualadministrative fees of up tonearly 200. The lowest annu-al administrative fee for secur-itiesheldin apersonsnamebySlovakias Central SecuritiesDepository (CDCP) is currently9.60.

The fee is calculated as0.055 percent of the nominal

value of the securities held onthe account of their owner,stated Rastislav Pavlk, theCDCP director general, asquoted by the Pravda daily. Headded that the administrative

fee is calculated on the basis of

the price when the securitieswereissued even ifsome ofthecompanies are now bankruptand the shares are currently

worthless. Only owners of ac-counts with securities with anominal value of up to 35 orempty accounts will be ex-empt from payment of thefees, Pavlksaid.

When a person holding se-curities received throughcoupon privatisation decidesto transfer them to the FNM,that agency will pay the trans-fer fee as well as the fees foradministering the securitiesfor the year during which thesecurities were transferredandfor thetwo previous years.

Miloslav Homola fromFNM told The SlovakSpectatorthat by June 30, 2011 almost238,000 people had enquiredhow they could transfer theirsecurities without charge andover 127,000 of them had actu-ally signed an agreementtransferring their securities totheFNM free-of-charge.

However, by using thisprocess some people have alsoinadvertently transferred

valuable securitiesto theFNM,apparently believing theirshares had no value. Up to theend of 2010 the FNM had re-ceived marketable shares intheSlovnaft oilrefinery aswellas shares in profitable banks

such as VB, UniCredit BankSlovakia, OTP Banka Slov-ensko, TatraBanka,insurer Al-lianz-Slovensk Poisova,andcompaniessuch as Zentivaand Biotika. The SITA news-

wire reported in January this year that someone had trans-ferred three shares in TatraBanka that had a market valueofabout 36,000tothe FNM.

Individuals who still holdsecurities from the couponprivatisation scheme mustcarefully research whethertheir shares have any current

valuebeforemakingany trans-fers to the FNM because it isnot possible to reverse such atransfer.

Experts say that holders ofsecurities acquired throughthe coupon privatisation pro-gramme should contact astockbrokeror theissuerof thesecurities to obtain current in-

formation about the market

value of the securities theyhold.The FNM has stated that it

is the responsibility of the per-son holding shares to assess

whether they have any valueand that after the securitiesare transferred to the FNM theprevious ownercannot reversethe transaction. Homolastressed to SITA in Januarythat, based on current legisla-tion, theFNMis requiredto ac-cept any and all securities thata shareholder decides to trans-fer.

The FNM regularly pre-pares statistics about securit-ies it has obtained based on

various criteria, but primarily

about the condition of thecompany and the value of theshares, Homola told The Slov-ak Spectator. An upcoming

valuationof the securitiesheldby the FNM will be prepared asof December 31, 2011 and res-ults should be released inJanuary 2012.

The FNM has not decidedwhat it will do with the valu-able securities it has receivedor with other securities it hasobtained under this securitiestransfer programme.

The capital market de-partment of the FNM is monit-oring the status of such ob-tained securities, HomolatoldThe SlovakSpectator. The

FNM has already initiated achangein thelawto seta dead-linefor transfer of securities. Itproposes December 31, 2012.The reason is the need for fol-low-through, effective hand-ling of securities obtained inthis way. The FNM ExecutiveCommittee will decide what todo with the securities after theFNM Supervisory Board nego-tiates thematter.

Couponprivatisation

After the fall of the com-munist regime in 1989, Slovakcitizens had an opportunity toacquire a portion of the wealth

they had helped to create dur-ing the totalitarian regimethrough a coupon privatisa-tion scheme that enabledthem to obtain shares in someof the flagship companies in

the state-owned economy. Along with the possibility ofdirect purchase of companies,citizens were offered particip-ation in two waves of couponprivatisation but only the first

wave, which started in 1991,was completed and led to cit-izens actually receiving secur-ities.

The stated goal of couponprivatisation was the speedytransformation of state-ownedcompanies into joint-stockcompanies. The core idea wasto transfer shares of compan-iesin exchange for investmentcoupons rather than for cash.Each citizen aged 18 or olderhad the right to obtain for

1,000 Czecho-Slovak crowns(Ks)one coupon bookcontain-ing coupons with 1,000 in-

vestment points. In total, 8.5million citizens of the Czecho-Slovak Republic joined thescheme, of whom 2.5 million

were Slovaks. Shares in 1,492companies with a nominal ag-gregate value of Ks 300 billion

were offered and these in-cluded 504 Slovak companies

with a nominal aggregatevalue of Ks 80 billion. Thoseholding coupon booksinvested28 percent of all their pointsdirectly into certain compan-ieswhile theremaining72 per-cent of the points went to so-called investment privatisa-

tion funds, according to asummary review prepared bythe Trend economic weekly in2006.

There are differing opin-ions on whether the Czecho-Slovak coupon privatisationprogramme was successful ornot. Some analysts view it asan exceptionally swift transferof state-owned firms intoprivate handswhile others callit the fraud of the century.Some have arguedthatit wasamistake to include certaincompanies that were essen-tially weak because they didnot have forward-looking pro-duction plans or had lost theirmarkets in the former Eastern

Bloc in the coupon privatisa-tion.As well, there was limited

experience with analysing thevalue of company shares andSlovakia lacked effective legalrules governing the capitalmarket, enabling individualsto tunnel out assets fromsomeof theinvestmentprivat-isation funds. Consequently,some individuals who had in-

vested their coupon pointswith investment privatisationfundsended up holding worth-less shares. This may havecontributed to some peoplesopinion, particularly those

with limited knowledge aboutthe stock market, that all se-

curities acquired duringcoupon privatisation havelittleor no value,leadingthemto transfer shares to the FNMthat do have a current market-ablevalue.

BYJANALIPTKOVSpectatorstaff

ACzecho-Slovakcouponbook. Photo: Sme- T.Benedikovi

4 BUSINESSSeptember 5 11, 2011

NEW INDUSTRIAL HALLS IN VRBLE ww

w.cehip.eu

New (16.000 m)

in sections

Existing (6.000 m)

rented

FOR RENT SP90570/2

Some Slovakinvestors gotmore (or less)

than expected


5/16

kola vol

ITS time to park the pedalboats, pick a few more mush-rooms, and drink the last ofthe holiday Kofola. Septemberis here and school is calling(kola vol).

But one person who is notpicking up is Eugen Jurzyca.There seems to be broad polit-ical consensus that the educa-tion minister, a thoughtfuland likeable figure with noprevious experience in polit-ics, is underperforming. Theeducation minister is like In-

spector Colomboswife. We allknow he exists, but no onehas ever seen him. I swear toGod I cant remember when Ilast saw him in parliament. IfI werent in politics for 20years, I wouldnt have a cluethere is such a person, saidopposition leader Robert Ficowhenhe talked recentlyaboutthegovernmentsfirst year.

Even Prime Minister IvetaRadiov said that she is notsatisfied: I give him a badmark, because of the non-re-

form. Not that he did any-

thing wrong. He just didnt dowhatwas expected.She wenton to say that Jurzyca is ahighly intelligent, educatedand responsible man, but didnot forget to stress that hehimself would probably ac-knowledge that the PM washisstarter.

There are innumerableproblems troubling the Slovakeducation system element-ary schools lack textbooks,universities are suspected ofhanding out undeserved de-

grees, European funds arenot being used properly,there is a lack of money andteachers at all levels, and thecountry doesnt come out

well in international com-parative studies.

It is true that manyfactors limit what any minis-ter could do. Universities en-joy a high degree of independ-ence,so its difficultto imposeany change on them from theoutside. Finding additionalfunds at a time of cuts is noeasy task. The country doesnthaveenoughgood pedagoguesand high schools to catch up

with the West in the numberof people with university

titles without compromisingon quality.But even today, there are

things a minister can do. Andas Justice Minister Luciaitansk proves, if a systemis not working one can evengo as far as to try to change itsfoundations.

For the sake of the coun-try lets hope Jurzycas slowstart will be followed by amore convincing perform-ance. The holidays are over,work is calling.

WIKI: Hungarians worried, cables saidContinuedfrompg2Meanwhile, the fifth an-

niversary coincided with theAugust 26 publication byWikiLeaks of diplomatic

cables from the US Embassyin Bratislava to Washingtonregardingthe case.

The alleged skinhead at-tack on an ethnic-Hungarianuniversity student in Nitra inAugust might have happenedafter all, the embassy wrotein a cable on October 6, 2006,nearly a month afterMalinov was accused of ly-ing. The embassy referred to

a contact with ties to theMinistry of the Interior' asthesourceof itsinformation.

The young woman mayhave received a light beatingbut then tried to make her in-

juries appear worse than theyactually were because she be-lieved that a few punches

were'not enough' to make hercase to the police, the Em-

bassy wrote, giving the ex-planation it said it had re-ceived fromthe source.

CablesspotlightethnicHungarian concerns

TheUS Embassyin Bratis-lava sent several cables to

Washington on the issue ofSlovak-Hungarian relationsafter Robert Ficos Smer partycame to power in the 2006

election and invited the na-tionalist Slovak NationalParty (SNS) to join the rulingcoalition, a step that was

widely criticised by the in-ternational community at

that time because of SNSleader Jn Slotas previousxenophobic and racist state-ments.

Embassy contacts con-tend that the vast majority ofSlovakias ethnic Hungariansare dissatisfied and disap-pointed with the ruling coali-tion, mainly due to the pres-ence of SNS, a cable dated

August 21, 2006, stated, sug-gesting that there werealready ominous signs re-garding future Slovak-Hun-gariantension.

The very n ames of Meiar and especially of Slota

carry with them very negat-ive associations, as the gen-eral point of view within theHungarian community isthat the latter did all he couldto destroy Hungarian-lan-

guage education and Hun-garian culturallife during the1990s.

The embassy also noted inits comments that with Slov-akia being a member in 2006of NATO, the EU and OSCE,and having adopted a numberof new legal frameworks toprotect minority rights, thatit would be unlikely thatRobert Ficos term would re-sembletheMeiaryearsin the1990s.

Nonetheless, ethnicHungarians worry that thegovernment will find ways tocurtail minority life through

more clandestine measures,such as decreases in fundingfor education,culturalactivit-ies, and municipalities withHungarian population, thecablestated.

Laying out the welcome matA GOOD migrant should be-havelikeaguest:thisishowaleading Slovak ChristianDemocrat politician envi-sions Slovakias new migra-tion policy. Interior MinisterDaniel Lipic recently out-

lined the rules for what hecalled legal and qualifiedmigrants, those who aresupposedly welcome in Slov-akia now that its politicianshave finally realised that nocountry in todays Europe isimmune to migration, or canremain so if it cares about itsfuture.

In Lipicshousethe goodguest, who by the way comesonlyfrom countrieswith cul-turally similar backgroundsand values, becomes fully in-tegrated while fully respect-ing the traditionsand cultureofthe host andlearnsthe lan-guage as soon as they can. Inthis house it is unaccept-

ableforthegueststocreateal-ternativecommunities since,Lipic says, Slovakia hasenough segregatedsettlements an obvious ref-erence to those inhabited bytheRomacommunity.

AwhilebackLipicsharedhis vision of who might be

welcome in Slovakia, sayingthey would be from coun-tries that are culturally closeto us. One of them could be,for instance, Ukraine. Today

we already have doctors andexperts in other areas fromUkraineineasternSlovakia.

Lipics guest metaphorfor migrants is seriously

wanting, if for no other reas-

on than that Slovakia wouldalso need to learn how to be agood host if its desiredguestsdo notend up feelinglike unwanted visitors whocouldatanymomentbeaskedorchoosetoleave.

Butwhatactuallygetslostin all this guest discourse isthat Slovakia is going to needqualified workers and thushas to open its doors to mi-grants. Some large investorshave been warning about alackof qualifiedlabour,whichif not addressed promptlymight make some of them

look further east. One way ofcourse would be or wouldhave been to reform thecountrys education systemso as to place more emphasison vocationaltraining,whichover the past decade has been

hugely under-valued, with

some universities trying toartificiallypump up theirstu-dent numbers by admittingapplicants who would have

been far better off learninganother profession that couldhave secured them a good liv-ing for the rest of their lives.Butthesethoughtsbelongtoadifferentstory.

Lipic was commentingon a draft for Slovakias mi-

gration policy submitted byhis own Interior Ministry tothe cabinet, which approvedthe document on August 31.The draft policy partly sug-gests that the basic criterionfor accepting economic mi-grants istheirpotential to de-

velop Slovakias economy andsociety. It expresses a prefer-ence for qualified or highly-qualified migrants with anemphasison those fromcoun-tries thatare culturally close.

Nevertheless, Lipic andallthosewhokeep parrotingtheir belief that multicul-

turalism is dead does notseem to understand thatmigrants comehere becausethey want to live here andthat most of them want tofeel at home. Declaring theconcept of multiculturalism

a failure will not change thefact that migrants are stillhumanswho,fora variety ofreasons many of whichmight be difficult for thoseluckyenoughto be born intocomparatively wealthy andstable societies to compre-hend are seeking a newhome.

Most of them, extremistfanatics aside, want to prayto their god and respect thetraditions of their grandpar-ents, things which cannot

be forgotten simply becausetheyhavecrosseda borderortwo. Yet, Slovakia, whichalso has demographic reas-ons to open up to migrants,

has to learn to become amore welcoming and opencountry and not only spellout the dutie s of theguests.

Those who want to livehere in the long term willeventually have to learn atleast some of the local lan-guage, unless they are nat-ive English-speakers andlive in Bratislava, wheremore and more people areable to speak at least one ofthe world languages. ButSlovaks as well will have to

work harder to make theirhouse more welcoming,and in some of its rooms

weed out expressions of ra-

cismandxenophobia.Because just like everysociety, Slovakia also has itschoices and can either lookat migration as unwanted

baggage, hoping thatsomeone else in the region

will carry it away or look atmigrants as people who can

bring benefits to its society.Itis always a two-waystreet,

with the majority learningthat the difference betweenintegration and assimilationisthatonlytheformer ismu-tually beneficial to both thehostandtheguestaswell.

5September 5 11, 2011OPINION / NEWS

QUOTEOFTHEWEEK:Migration must be conditional on full integrationand acceptance of Slovakias culture and traditions.

InteriorMinisterDanielLipic, on his ambitionto attract qualifiedimmigrantsto Slovakia.

SLOVAKWORDOFTHEWEEK EDITORIAL


BYLUKFILASpecial to the Spectator

Slovak pupilsreturnto schoolafterthe summerbreakon September5. Photo:Sme

The Slovak Spectator i s an independent newspaper publi shed every Monday by The Rock, s .r .o.Subscrptions: Inquiries should be made to The Slovak Spectatorsbusiness office at (+421-2) 59 233 300.Printing: Petit Press a.s. Distributon: Interpress Slovakia s.r.o., Mediaprint-kapa s.r.o., Slovensk pota a.s.Mai Distribution: ABOPRESS. EV 544/08. 2010 The Rock, s.r.o. All rights reserved. Any reproductionin whole or in part without permission is prohibited by law. The authors of articles published in this issue,represented by the publisher, reserve the right to give their approval for reproducing and public transmissionof articles marked The Slovak Spectator, as well as for the public circulation of reproductions of these articles,in compliance with the 33rd article and 1st paragraph of the Copyright Law. Media monitoring is providedby Newton, IT, SMA and Slovakia Online with the approval of the publisher. Advertising material contained hereinis the responsibility of the advertiser and is not a written or implied sponsorship, endorsement or investigation of suchcommercial enterprises or ventures by The Slovak Spectatoror The Rock s.r.o. SSN 1335-9843.Address: The Rock, s.r.o., Lazaretsk 12, 811 08 Bratislava. IO: 313 86 237.

J N P A L L O - PublisherEDITORIALB E A T A B A L O G O V - Editor - In - ChiefJ A M E S T H O M S O N - Assista nt EditorD O N A L D S P A T Z - Assista nt EditorJ A N A L I P T K O V - Staff WriterM I C H A E L A T E R E N Z A NI - Staff WriterZ U Z A NA V I L I K O V S K - Staff WriterR A D K A M IN A R E C H O V - Staff Writer & Project Manager

LAYOUT, WEB & ITT A T IA N A T R A U C H O V - Graphic DesignerR O M A N K R - ITT O M P AL L O - Online PublishingSALES - FINANCESB E A T A F O J T K O V - Sales ExecutiveM A R T I N A M A T L K OV - PR and Marketing ManagerT O M K E LL E Y - Circulation Manager


6/16

German, Slovak archaeologists dig

FIDVR, aBronzeAge set-tlement near Nitra,is againbringingGermanand Slovak

archaeologists together andinSeptembertheywillbeginfurtherarchaeologicalre-searchof thisuniqueforti-fiedtown. TheSITAnews-wirewrotein late Augustthat theGerman sidewillfinance almost theentirein-ternationalproject,which isexpected tolastfor severalyearsand bringvaluablesci-entificdiscoveries.

MatejRuttkay,the dir-ectorof theArchaeologicalInstituteof theSlovakAcademyof Sciences toldSITA that this yearwill bemostlyaboutpreparing fortheresearchandthatthe ac-tualarchaeologicalworkwill

bemoreintensiveduring fu-tureyears.Theresearcherswill re-

searchthe localityof Fidvrbyallmethodsusedin ar-chaeology,such as archaeo-

botanics, archaeozoologyandothers. Theresearchshould advance knowledge

aboutBronzeAgesociety andhowit operated.The territory of present-

daySlovakiawasone oftheplaceswherecopper,fromwhich bronzeis produced,wasmined andexported.Thearchaeologistsbelievethat Fidvrwasone ofthedistributioncentresfor thismetalintothe rest ofEurope.Byprocessingand usingbronze, thedevelopmentofhumankindwas movedfor-wardsignificantly,but sci-entists haveonly limitedknowledgeabouthow thisprocessworked inthe cent-ralDanube region.

Archaeologicalwork was

undertakenat Fidvrinspringand summer2007through a Slovak-Germancooperationproject.


frompressreports

Some companieswith German

investors in Slovakia

Allianz- Slovensk Poisova,www.allianzsp.skBayer, www.bayer.sk

ContinentalMatador Rubber,www.matador.skHenkelSlovensko, www.henkel.skPrvStavebnSporitea,www.pss.skRajo,www.rajo.skSAPSlovensko,www.sap.skSiemens,www.siemens.skSlovakTelekom,www.slovaktelekom.skSPP,www.spp.skT-SystemsSlovakia, www.t-systems.skVolkswagenSlovakia, www.volkswagen.skVchodoslovenskEnergetika,www.vse.skZpadoslovenskEnergetika,www.zse.sk

Source:TheSlovakSpectatordatabases,companywebsites

German institutions in Slovakia

Embassyof theFederalRepublicof GermanyAmbassador:Axel Hartmannwww.pressburg.diplo.de

German-SlovakChamberof Industryand Commerce(Deutsch-SlowakischeIndustrie- undHandelskammer)President:VladimrSlezkwww.dsihk.sk

Goethe-Institutin BratislavaDirector:WolfgangFranzwww.goethe.de/ins/sk/bra/deindex.htm

Museumof Carpathian German Culturewww.snm.sk

Carpathian German Societyin Slovakiawww.kdv.sk

Carpathian German Association inSlovakiawww.kda.sk

Germany: General facts

Politicalsystem: federalparliamentaryrepublicCapital:BerlinTotalarea:357,104 square kilometresPopulation:82millionOfficial language:GermanCurrency: euro

Germany's major role

THOSE in this region whostudytheGermanlanguagearemaking a good investment intheir education and their po-tential future employmentwith German companies, AxelHartmann, Germanys ambas-sador to Slovakia argues, ex-plaining that his country in-

vests considerable funds inGerman-language training inSlovakia. The German ambas-sadorisnotonlyafierceadvoc-ate of studying German butalso of telling the story of thefall of the Berlin Wall to the

younger generation who,though they have no real-lifeexperience of living with theartificial separation of Europe,stillneedtobeawareoftheim-portance of those historicalchangesfortheirlives.

TheSlovak Spectatorspoketo Ambassador Hartmannabout Germanys role in seek-ing solutions to the sovereigndebt crisis, the change in Ger-man policy towards nuclear

power, the challenges facingthe German and Slovak labourmarkets, as well as businessandculturallinks.

The Slovak Spectator (TSS):EU leaders are searching forways to calm the marketsand resolve the eurozonesovereign debt crisis. Whatrole is Germany playing inthisprocess?

Axel Hartmann (AH):Germany endeavours togetherwith its European partners toshowawayoutoftheEuropeandebt crisis. I remember verywell the establishment of theeuro in the late 1990s whenHelmut Kohl was still the

chancellor of Germany. Thecommon currency in principlewas a European answer to

German re-unification, whileKohl and [Frances PresidentFrancois] Mitterand wanted tomakethe unificationof Europeirreversible,whichwas indeedone of the main points behindthe euro. Germany of coursehas economic advantages,sincethe eurobrings addition-alexportstoGermany,andthisiswhywehaveaspecialroleinthe process and a special in-terest in having a strong euroas opposedto weakeningof theeuro. All eurozone partnersmustfulfil theircommitmentsandtrimtheirdeficitstobelow

3 percent of their GDP: this isthemainpointoftheeurotalk.Yet it is not only Slovakiawhereopposingpoliticalviewsarebeingpresented;thereisanintense debate also in Ger-

many. But there is no real al-ternative to the euro and weareall inthe same boat.It can-not work in a way that onestate makes a special detourandotherswillpayforit.

TSS: As its major tradingpartner, Slovakia carefully

watches the condition ofGermanys economy. Whatarethe majorchallengesthat

yourcountryfaces?AH: The German economy

was running very well for thelast two years: we came out ofthe economic crisis together

withSlovakiain2009.Thisalsoindicates how tight our eco-nomic links are. Slovakia sup-plies a lot of products whichGermany needs for its auto-motive sector, butalso inothersectors German companiesactive in Slovakia producehigh-quality products such asthe systems provider Scheidt& Bachmann in ilina orTatramat in Poprad. The Ger-

man economy neverthelessowes its success to invest-mentsintoresearchand devel-opment. If a country does notinvest in its own research itcan still cooperate with strongpartnersbutitsdependencyonthem grows to be enormous.Currently, our economy isslightly slowing down, but wesee this as it regaining some

balance, a kind of normalisa-tionratherthanrecession.

TSS: Germany has decided tounplug its nuclear powerstations by 2022. What chal-lenges does this decision

bring and what will be theimpact on the countrys eco-

nomyandenergypolicies?AH: The nuclear debatestarted in Germany as early asthe1970s,soithasalreadybeengoing on for more than 40

years. A considerable part of

the country was against nuc-lear energy. Inthe 70sa stronggreen movement emerged inGermany,and in2000the gov-ernment decided to abandonnuclear energy. The new gov-ernment of Mrs [Angela]Merkel and Mr [Guido] West-erwelle [who in the 2009 Ger-

man elections was the leaderof the Free Democratic Party, which joined MerkelsCDU/CSU to form the currentruling coalition; he steppeddown as party leader earlierthis year but remains foreignminister] originally extendednuclear energy production formore than 10 years, until wellafter 2030. But then theFukushima catastrophe againmodified these plans and MrsMerkel, who in fact is a physi-cist, made what was publiclyperceived as a U-turn and saidthat her country would turnoff the nuclear plants muchsooner. Germany has an ad-

vantage in that it has been us-

ing renewable energies formore than 30-40 years and hasdeveloped some leading tech-nologies in these areas. Never-theless, even renewable en-ergy, such as solar or windpower,bringschallenges sincethe sun does not shine everyday, nor does the wind blowregularly. But now we have 10

years to address these chal-lenges. As for the current en-ergy mix in Germany, in 2010

we had 78.2-percent fossil-fuel-basedenergy,10.9percentnuclear and 9.4 percent re-newable. Also, renewable en-ergy production is more ex-pensive. If you comparetodays tariffs for energy: one

kilowatt-hour in Germanycosts 0.24 , while theEuropean average is 0.17 andin France, which uses nuclearenergy, it is only 0.11. It is aneconomic disadvantage not to

use nuclear energy, but it is apoliticaldecisionGermanyhasmadesinceFukushima.

TSS: Slovak citizens are nowable to work in Austria andGermany under the sameconditions as local workersafter the two countriesopened their labour marketson May 1 to citizens fromeightmemberstates in cent-ral and eastern Europe, in-cluding Slovakia. What im-pact hastheend ofthe trans-

ition period had onGermanys labour marketand what challenges has it

brought?AH: Germany was among

those states which extendedthe transition period for its la-

bour market, and in my coun-try this was predominantlythe position of the trade uni-ons,who worried thatmillions

wouldfloodthe German labourm arket. The numb ers,however,haveshownthat itisa rather moderate movement.

Altogether we have about10,000 workers from Poland,the Czech Republic, Hungaryand Slovakia, which is a relat-ively small number when

compared to the fact that weneedaround100,000engineersin Germany. Thus we are nowlooking to other countries intheEUarea,forexampleSpain,

where there is high unem-ployment. Germany is facingtheproblemof ageingand alsoa lack of special-skilled work-ers. I understandthat Slovakiais facing similar challengesand your country needs moreskilled workers, which is ofcourse a challenge for the edu-cation system. The gap

between salaries in Germanyand Slovakia has been gradu-ally narrowing, though forSlovakiait willbe verydifficultto keep a nurse at home for

600oraphysicianfor1,200.

TSS: Prime Minister IvetaRadiov has said that Slov-akia will have to create at-tractive conditions in itsown labour market in orderto keep its best brains athome. Observers also sug-gest that further, well-tar-geted investments areneeded in Slovakias educa-tion sector. What approachdo youthink Slovakia shouldtake in reforming its educa-tionsystem?

AH: In Germany we havethe so called dual system:after finishing elementaryschool, students learn a pro-

fession in a factory and at thesametimealsostudyatschoolthe theoretical aspects oftheirprofession.

SeeAHpg9


GermanAmbassadorAxelHartmann Photo:Jana Liptkov

6 September5 11,2011

HEALTH CARE

SERVICES

Next issue:BUSINESS FOCUS

GERMANY'Standstillis a stepbackwards',German investorswarn

Language skills buildmanybridges


7/16

SlovakTelekom opens data centre

ONEof thebiggesttelecom-

munication companiesinSlovakiathat providesbothfixed-lineand mobile ser-

vices, Slovak Telekom(ST), isnotlimitingits businesstotelephony.On June 1,it offi-ciallybeganoperationsat itsnewdata centre inBratislava,

whichinvolved aninvest-mentexceeding 15million.

Slovak Telekom is notabeginnerin theICTsectorwehave longexperience withoperationof several datacentres in Slovakia, Ruedi-gerSchulz, chiefoperating of-ficer,Networkand IT,forSlovak Telekom, inwhichDeutsche Telekomholds a51-percentshare,told The

Slovak Spectator.We expectfromTelekomDataCenter astrengtheningof ourpositionin themarketfor businesssolutions.

Schulzexplained thatfirmsthat buildand adminis-tertheir owndata centresandsecure therequiredcon-

tinuous availability of data

take ona demanding jobintermsof timeand finances,andbecauseof thenever-end-ingexpansion of IT systemssuchdata centres oftenreachtheircapacity, securityandquality limits within a few

years. Headdedthattheloweffectivenessof suchinvest-ments, undercurrentpres-sure toreduce ITcosts,is nolonger acceptableto manyfirmsand,coupled withtrends incloud computingandgreenIT,hasledtoasig-nificantincreasein demandforoutsourced datacentres.

Thecentre consistsofthreeIT hallscovering a totalareaof 1,200squaremetres.

STclassifiesit asa Tier III,based onthe UptimeInstitutes scale,whichmeansin practicethatit has99.982-percentof technolo-giesavailable andthat somecomponents evenmeet thestandardsfor TierIV.


Standstill is a stepbackwards

SLOVAKbusinesspeopleas wellas economic analysts are look-ing with slight concern at theGerman economy, when itsgrowth slowed markedly dur-ing the second quarter of 2011.

While the German-SlovakChamber of Commerce sug-

gests that it would be wrong toplacetoomuchemphasis onre-centfigures,fearson theSlovakside are understandable asGermany is the countrysbiggesteconomicpartner.

The dip in the secondquarter should not beoverestimated, Guido Glania,the managing director of theboard of the German-Slovak

Chamber of Commerce, toldTheSlovakSpectator.

Compared with the firstquarter, whenthe Germaneco-nomy grewby 4.6percentyear-on-year,thesecondquartersawyear-on-year growth of 2.8 per-cent but that figure maskedreal growth of only 0.1 percent

duringthequarter.Investment decisions arebased on long-term expecta-tions," said Glania. "Thereforewe do not see any automaticimpactonplanninginSlovakia.At the same time everybodyknows that there are huge eco-nomic risks and challenges inEurope, the US and, as a con-sequence, for the entire worldeconomy.

Reinhard Wiemer from theGerman Embassy in Slovakiaagreed, citing the latest fore-cast by the German Bundes-bank which still predicts

growth of around 3 percent forGermanyin2011.

Growth will be lower in

2012, but Germany will remainthe fastest-growing large eco-nomy in the EU, Wiemer toldThe Slovak Spectator. SincetheGermanandthe Slovakeco-nomiesare tightlyintertwined,growth in Germany generatesgrowth in Slovakia. The fastre-coveryof theSlovakeconomyisalso a result of the good eco-nomic performance of Ger-many."

Wiemer believes thatsince the German economywill remain on a course of

growth albeit not as strong asin 2010 and 2011 it will con-tinue to provide positive im-pulses forthe Slovakeconomy.

Withregards tothe current

state of economic cooperationbetween Germany and Slov-akia, Glania said that German-Slovaktradeandinvestmentre-lationsare developingvery pos-itively, with exports, imports

aswell asinvestmentsgrowingat a rapid pace this year andGerman companies creatingnewjobsinSlovakia.

Wiemer added that Ger-man-Slovak economic rela-tionsareexcellent.

Germany is the most im-portanttrading partnerof Slov-akia and a major investor.

Wiemer told The Slovak Spec-tator. German-Slovak tradehas reached its pre-crisis levelthis year and is growing. There

is a positivebalance of trade forSlovakia, which clearly signalsthe competitiveness of Slovakindustriesandbusinesses.

Intertwinedeconomies

The chief analyst with Volksbank Slovensko, VladimrVao, sees the size of the coun-try as being behind the strongrelations between the econom-iesofSlovakiaandGermany.

Slovakia is a small, openeconomy, which meansthat itsindustry is predominantlyexport-driven, Vao told TheSlovakSpectator. Manufactur-ing, which employs over onequarter of the Slovak labour

force,couldnotbesupportedbythe meagre 5-million-strongdomesticmarket; itdependsonexportingitsproduction.

The importance of Ger-manyinthatrespectexceedsitsone-fifth share of exports, ac-cordingto Vao.As fortheSlov-ak trade balance alone, one-fifth of its exports go to Ger-many, but the second largestexportpartnerofSlovakiaistheCzech Republic (14 percent ofexports), and over one-half ofSlovak exports go to countriesusing the euro. The EU is thedestination for over 85 percentof Slovak exports. Germany isalso the Czech Republics

biggesttradingpartner.

Moreover, as the worldssecond largest exporter, afterChina, Germany is rightly la-

belled the engine of the euro-zone economy, said Vao.That explainswhythe correla-

tion coefficient between thereal economic growth of Slov-akia and Germany has in-creasedto 0.72,whenlooking ata timeseriesbeginningin 2001.That, in other words, meansthat about 72 percent of thechange in the direction of theSlovak economy can be ex-plainedby developmentsin theeconomyofGermany.

Germaninvestments

inSlovakia

The German-Slovak Cham-berof Commerceestimatesthatthere are a total of 450 compan-ies with a substantial Germanshare in their ownership inSlovakia.Theyaccountfor morethan 15 billion in sales andemploy more than 90,000people.Suchcompaniesincludehighly visible investors in theautomobile, energy, electron-ics, lighting systems and tele-communications sectors. ButGlania addedthatmost Germaninvestors are typical examplesof the German Mittelstand:highly innovative, medium-sized, family-run industrialcompanies. Most of these man-

ufactureindustrialgoods.The Slovak Investment andTrade Development Agency(SARIO) hascontinuedto recordsignificant interest in SlovakiafromGermaninvestors.

Germany, along with theUS, is the country from whichmost enquiries arrive, SARIOspokesperson Richard DrertoldThe SlovakSpectator.Cur-rently we are working on 13projects from Germany, whichare in various phases, with atotal volume of about 1 billionandthepotentialto createupto4,000new workingpositions.

So far SARIO has wrappedup 55 German investmentprojects with an aggregate

volumeof868millionthathadthe potential to create 10,500 to13,000 jobs. These investors in-clude Continental, DeutscheTelekom, T-Systems, ZF, Leoni,Siemensand others.

Accordingto datafrom theNational Bank of Slovakia, ag-gregate direct foreign invest-ments from Germany to Slov-akia amounted to 4.75 billionup to the end of 2009; addi-tional investments of 66.55millionarrivedin2010.

SARIO itself is active indrawing German investors toSlovakia.In Septemberit isor-ganising an investment road-show to be held in Dsseldorfand Munich that will be at-

tended by Economy MinisterJuraj Mikov.Both these towns are in-

dustrial centres, said Dreradding that SARIO plans tocombine investment sem-inars with individual meet-ings with firms that may beinterested in the investmentenvironmentinSlovakia.

With regards to sectors ofSlovakias economy that aremost attractive for Germaninvestors, SARIO considersthose in which German com-panies are already well-estab-lished: automotive, electro-technical, production ofplastic components, service including shared service

centres, but also biotechno-logy and R&D. Wiemer seesrenewableenergy as oneof thefieldsthatmightbecomemoreimportantinthefuture.

The Slovak media recentlyreported that industrial groupThyssenKrupp is eyeing east-ern Slovakia. But even thoughthis investment has not yet

been officially confirmed, theresults of the chambers sur-

veys confirm Slovakia's posi-tionasanattractivelocation.

We are regularly contac-ted by Germaninvestors, saidGlania.Weprovidethemwithinformation about the busi-ness climate and investmentopportunities. According to

ourlatestsurvey, 88percent ofthe German companies whohave investedherewoulddosoagain.Thisisastrongfigure.

SeeECONpg8

BY JANALIPTKOVSpectator staff

Slovakia'senergysector remainsof interestto Germaninvestors. Photo:Jana Liptkov

7

FOCUSshort

September 5 11, 2011

Slovakia is stillbarely known by

many Germanexecutives

BUSINESS FOCUS

SP90612/1

SP90620/1

SP90590/1

Slovak Telekomthe largest Slovak multimedia operator with many years of experienceand responsible approach to doing business. The company is a memberof the multinational De utsche Telekom Group.

Contact:

Slovak Telekom, a. s., Karadiova 10825 13 Bratislava, Slovak RepublicPhone: 00421 2 588 11 111Website: www.slovaktelekom.skE-mail: [email protected]


8/16

Moving carsat VW'splantin Bratislava. Photo:Courtesyof VW

VW in Bratislava celebrates 20 years

THEGERMANcarmaker

Volkswagen is marking20years sinceits arrivalin Brat-islava. In 1991,the Slovakgovernment, carmakerBAZandVolkswagen signedagreementspreceding thestartof what isnow called

Volkswagen Slovakia(VWSK)andsincethen thecom-panyhas manufacturedmorethan 2.5millioncars, 5million gearboxesand 200million components,becom-ingSlovakias biggestex-porter.

AndreasTostmann,thechiefexecutiveofficerof VWSK,met Slovak PresidentIvanGaparovion August31,2011,to briefhim about

thecompanysplansto as-semble 400,000 carsin Brat-islavanext year.The com-pany isadding toits currentproductionof sportutility

vehicles(SUVs)by launchingproductionof theUp! model

within itsNew SmallFamilyof cars.

Thisshowsthetrustweputinto ourinvestments,Tostmann stated, as citedbytheSITA newswire.

After hismeetingwiththeVW SK representatives,PresidentGaparovi high-lightedthe importanceof thecarmakerto thecountry,sayingthat Volkswagen

broughtproduction to Slov-

akia andshowedthatit iscapable of manufacturingthemost advanced cars.Healsopositivelyevaluatedthecarmakersoperations dur-ingthe recent economiccrisisandits plansfor thefu-ture.

VWSK produced94,600vehiclesduringthe firsthalfof 2011,45 percentmorethanduringthe sameperiodof 2010. Thecompanysturnoverrose33.3percentto2.4billion in thesame

period.

Serial productionof thefirstVolswagen carin Bratis-lava,the VW Passat Variant,

waslaunched in February1992.The plants productionpalette graduallyexpandedover theyears.In 1994 the

VWGolfwasadded,as wellasthe VWBoraand VWPolosomewhat later. ProductionofSUVsstartedin 2002 withtheVW Touaregand bodiesforthe Porsche Cayenne.The

AudiQ7 model completedthepalette of high-endSUVs in2005.

SEATcars,specificallytheIbiza model, wereas-sembledin Bratislava

between2003 and2005 and

VWSK manufacturedkodaOctaviasbetween2008 and2010. In 2010,the Bratislava-

basedplant wasthefirstofVolkswagens61 plantstostartproduction of theVolk-swagen TouaregHybrid.

After VW SK launchesproductionof its NewSmallFamily carsunderthe VW,koda andSEAT brands, VWSKwillbecomethe onlyplantin theworldwithfive

brands producedunderoneroof,said VladimrMachalk,

VWSK spokesperson,asquoted by theTASR news-

wire.In1991VW SKemployed

112people.The currentla-

bourforceexceeds7,000people, withthe prospect ofevenmore beinghiredonceproductionof theUp! model

begins itis expectedto add1,500jobsin total.

MachalksaidVW SKiscurrentlySlovakias biggestexporter,with morethan 99percentof its productionex-ported to 148countries. VWSKsshareof Slovakiastotalexports in2010was 8.2per-cent.

CompiledbySpectatorstaff

ECON: No longer a low-wage countryContinuedfrompg 7

But Wiemer and GlaniasharetheopinionthatGermanentrepreneurs in Germany donot yet have sufficient in-formation about the advant-

agesofSlovakia.One has to be clear aboutthe fact that unlike its neigh-bours, Slovakia is still hardlyknown by many Germanexecutives, said Glania.Many of them are even sur-prised to learn from us thatSlovakia has introduced theeuro. I think that most poten-tial investors are small andmedium-sized companiesthatwish to expand in a geograph-ically well-located, stable EUcountry with moderate labourcosts, well-trained people andgoodinfrastructure.

Glania believes that cur-rently, Slovakia is scoring

ratherwellonthesepoints.But aswe sayin Germany

standstill is a step back- wards, so constant effortshave to be made to improve,saidGlania.

In the past Slovakia drew

investors with the prospect oflower wage costs, but accord-ingto WiemerSlovakia cannolongerbe categorisedas a verylow-wagecountry.

While in 1993, the wagedifference for industrialwork-ers between Slovakia andGermany was 1:12, today it isroughly 1:4 and narrowingfurther, Wiemer said, addingthat this is a very positive de-

velopment and a result ofSlovakiasintegration into theEU.

In spite of this increase,according to Wiemer, Germaninvestors still appreciate thecompetitive wage levels in

Slovakia. He sees many otheradvantages: a reliable andgoodlabourforce, centralloca-tion, political stability, clearand relatively low taxes and,ofcourse,theeuro.

Increasingly, German

companies open up R&D de-partments in their Slovakbranches, saidWiemer.Thisshows that German compan-ies also value the intellectualpotentialofSlovakia.

Similar to the Slovak busi-ness community, German

businesspeople also hoped forpositive changes in the busi-ness environment after theIveta Radiov governmenttookofficeoneyearago.

Most German companies were hopeful that the newgovernment would improvethe business environment,Glaniasaid.The reformof theLabourCodeis clearly goingin

the right direction. The new bankruptcy law can even beseen as a milestone. However,

we encourage the Slovak gov-ernment to be bolder as re-gards infrastructure develop-ment andreformof theeduca-

tionsystem.He added that many ofchambers members have dif-ficulty finding well-trainedtechniciansandengineers.

We are pleading for a re-form of vocational trainingsystems, said Glania. Thisshould follow an integratedapproach combining schoolsand companies. In Germany

wecallthisthedualsystem.Such a system can ensure

that trainees learn with state-of-the-art technologies andthat the development of theirskills and knowledge is gearedto the real needs of thecompanies.

8 BUSINESS FOCUSSeptember 5 11, 2011

FOCUSshort

SP 90621/1


9/16

SP90519/1

AH: Slovakia's education system needs to be reformedContinuedfrompg6

This is a very efficient sys-tem and all our special-skilledworkers come out of this sys-tem. Skilled workers earn a lotof money in Germany since

these professions are very wellpaid. Skilled workers are in amuch better position during arecession since at these timesunskilled workers are laid offfirst. Germany has a very flex-i ble lab our ma rke t an dSlovakias labour minister Mr[Jozef] Mihl did apply some ofthe German elements in therevision of Slovakias LabourCode.

However, some Germaninvestors are already finding itdifficult to hireskilled workersand the state must take somesteps to reform the educationsystem. Along with the Ger-man-Slovak Chamber ofCommerce,we havesubmitted

some proposals and we hopethat the government will ex-amine them.

TSS: Starting this month,English will be mandatoryfor all incoming third-gradepupils. In response to the le-gislation, which was passedlast year, the German Em-bassy in a press release sug-gested that along with Eng-lish other world languagesshould also be taken intoconsideration, and called forthe creation of the best pos-

sible access to several for-eignlanguages. Do you thinkthe decision to make onlyEnglish mandatory will putthe study of German at a dis-

advantagein Slovakia?AH: The German languagein Slovakia is a traditional lan-guage, and this region was of-ten influenced by German tra-ditions. Before WWI about 50percent of Bratislavas popula-tion was German-speaking.The times have changed butthe German language is stillimportant, especially throughthe prism of the economy,since there are more than 400German companies workinghere in Slovakia, giving jobs tomore than 90,000 people.

Theseemployees needto speaksome German. Yet if you makeEnglish an obligatory first lan-guage, we wonder why thestudents are not given the

choice between English orGerman as the first language,since even those who are ofGerman origin will now haveto learn English instead ofGerman. We feel that if youlook two decades ahead, there

will be a younger generationwho will not be able to speakGerman any more since theclasses will be reduced to onlya couple of hours per week. Inthe end only a very limitednumber of young people willspeak German. If we look atoureconomicrelationsand the

need for young employees ableto speak German, then diffi-culties will emerge. But we are

very much engaged here; weinvest considerable funds intoGerman education here, hav-ing almost 30 teachers from

Germany working all aroundSlovakia. It is expensive butwe are doing it gladly becausewe want to increase the qual-ity of German education. Ofcourse we also have lecturersinthe Germanlanguage.

As for the figures, last yearthere were around 40,000 Eng-lish final exams taken atschool and about 15,000 Ger-man exams, which is a clearsignal that the German is thesecond most spoken languagehere.

TSS: As of September, therewill be a continuation of lec-tures about the constructionand fall of the Berlin Wall in

schools in Slovakia. Whatlessons can the youngergeneration learn from thefall ofthe BerlinWall?

AH: For people of my gen-eration the fall of the Berlin

Wall still marks one of themost outstanding events ofthelast 30-40 years. Beingbornand raised in West Germanyduring the so-called cold war I

would not have dreamt thatSlovakia and many othercountries of the former

WarsawPact wouldtodayrankamong Germanys closest al-

lies in NATO and the EuropeanUnion. Yet the younger gener-ation today, those aged under25,do notrememberthe exper-ience of living under dictator-ship. They are used to freedomof movement, freedom of

s pee ch; they can wo rkwherever they chose to. It isimportant that they are awarethat these freedoms are notnaturally granted to all people.The uprisings in many coun-tries of the Arab world that wesee today are, in the first in-stance, motivated by exactlythe same reasons. The lessonthat the young generation canlearn is that two decades agothere was a border close toBratislava that could not becrossed. Today, when peopletravel to Austria they do noteven realise that they are go-ing abroad. The young genera-tion must understand that themost important value is free-

dom for everybody; freedom was more important thanpeace.

TSS: German investors arewell established in Slovakia,for example in the automot-ive and ICT sectors. Wheredo you see other opportunit-ies for German investmentsin Slovakia? Are there anyunexplored areas?

AH: Our business contactsare on a very high level. Themain challenge now is tomaintain this level and not to

sink below it. Volkswagen isnow expanding production ofits Up! car and other compan-ies are also thinking about ex-pansion. I do not think,however, that there will beany new big companies com-

ing, so we have to concentrateonwhatis here nowandmain-tain thelevelof businesslinks.The business environment isfriendly, and the new LabourCode brings some more flexib-ility. Investors are facing theproblem of a lack of skilled

workers, which is one of themain challenges of the labourmarket.

TSS:Traditionally, whicharethe strongest cultural

bridges between SlovakiaandGermany?

AH: There is a small Ger-manminority, whichhas beenin Slovakia for more than 800

years. We are supportingthem

as much as we can, but it is astory that is slowly runningout because it is mostly theolder generation that is in-

volved. The German presidentplans to visit Slovakia at theend of September also to meet

with the German minority inKemarok. He will deliver aspeech to mark the tradition,history and future of the Ger-mans still living in Slovakia.Thisall showsour engagement

with this minority,evenif it isa very small minority of only afewthousandpeople.

AmbassadorHartmannat hisresidence. Photo:Jana Liptkov

9BUSINESS FOCUS September 5 11, 2011


10/16

Language skillsbuild many bridges

AN OLD Slovak proverb saysthat the more languages youspeak, the more times you arehuman, meaning that they

make you a better person. Des-pite its antiquity, this saying isechoed in the modern trend forlearning several foreign lan-guages.As a recent study by theInstitute for Public Affairs(IVO) found, half of all peopleliving in Slovakia claim tospeak atleast tosomeextenttwo or more foreign languages;and only 19 percent speak noneof the six most widely-spokenforeignlanguages.

The six most widespreadforeign languages in Slovakiaare Russian (54 percent), Ger-man (49 percent), and English(46 percent), followed byFrench (7 percent), Italian (4percent) and Spanish (3 per-

cent).From the point of view oflevel of knowledge, English isthe most prominent language,followed by German. The studywasinitiated by theGoethe-In-stitut and supported by theGerman Foreign Ministry.

The Goethe-Institut (GI) isan institution of the GermanFederal Republic which pro-motes and spreads not only theGerman language, but alsoGerman history and cultureabroad, including in Slovakia.The German language has al-ways had a strong presence

here, thanks to this countrysgeography and history. Duringthe Austro-Hungarian Empire,

it was one of two official lan-guages, but both before andsince this period the closenessof Austria has strongly influ-enced the country, especiallyits western part. In central andeastern Slovakia, waves ofGerman immigrants many,but not all of them miners have left noticeable traces, inlocal names as well as inpeoples lifestyle and tradi-tions.

During the communist era,listening to Austrian radio andwatching Austrian TV broad-casts was one of the few waysto obtainaccurate information,given the propaganda broad-cast via the official media. Cur-

rently, of course, these influ-enceshave diminished, buttheprominentpresenceof Germanand Austrian companies andthe opening of the labour mar-kets of these two countries

have highlighted the import-ance of learning the language.

The GI also supports multilin-gualism (by organising theLanguage Caf event andthrough cooperating with oth-er cultural institutions in Slov-akia) and early teaching of for-eign languages.

According to data provided by the Goethe-Institut, thenumber of students on Ger-man-language courses is con-tinuing to grow, as is the num-

ber of people undergoing testsaimed at getting an interna-tionally-recognised certificate.

Also, many students of second-aryschoolsseek toobtain somekindof German-language certi-ficate, be it a school-leavingexamor someothertype.

For those who have alreadylearned some German and whowant to enhance their know-ledge the Language Caf rep-resents one opportunity. Everyfirst Wednesday in the month,several embassies organise anexchangein variouslanguages,including German. Competi-tions for young learners, likeGerman forClever Minds, a sci-entific contest for German be-ginners, are designed to attractstudentsto thelanguage.

The Goethe-Institut alsoseeks to bring German artiststo Slovakia. Examples in-clude: Gisbert Stach fromMunich, at Hommage ErnaMasaroviov; eight artists

from Munich who will takepart in the Collaboration 4mobile project at 'Bansk St anica' in Bansk tiavnica;Danica Daki and her multi-sensual works; and EinarTurkowski and his creative

workshops at the Biennial ofIllustration Bratislava(BIB).

The Koice Artist-In-Resid-ence project within the Koice,European Capital of Culture2013 programme, has broughtUrbanartist (an artistic duo)and Maya Schweizer fromGermany to the eastern Slovakcity for three months to create,cooperate with locals and in-

volve the public. Visual artsneed no translation, like mu-

sic, soit isalsoeasiertopresentmusiciansfromGermany,suchas Marc Jaquet, who will play

within the Ivan Sokol Interna-tional Organ Festival; TillBrnner, at the Bratislava Jazz

Days; and Friedrich Gauwerkyfrom Cologne, at the Orfeus

studentmusical festival.On the other hand, literat-ure needs some language skills or a good translator but ex-changes in this sphere are

vivid, too, and popular amongSlovaks. In September and Oc-tober, Daniela Seel and TomSchulz will participate in the

Ars Poetica International fest-ival and Christina Viragh willtour Slovakia and discuss herown works and translations.Some new literary translations

will also be launched and theLiterature In Flux project fuelsdiscussions about literature intheregionof theDanubeRiver.

Another popular artisticform is film, which incon-

spicuously promotes foreignculture and language. TheCinematikinternational moviefestival taking place inPieany in September willscreen a film by a legend of ex-pressionism, Fritz Lang's M (AMurderer Among Us) datingfrom1931.The Inakosgay- andlesbian-themed film festival

will show 3 (Drei) by Tom Tyk-wer (2011), Romeos by SabineBernardi (2011) and FremdeHaut (Strange Skin) by An-gelina Maccarone(2005).

In 2011, the institute hasco-organised or taken part inseveral musical projects (e

Slovak Spectator 1730

Documents

Transcript of Slovak Spectator 1730