Slovak Spectator 1735

8/3/2019 Slovak Spectator 1735

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State debt to be 'capped' by law

FISCAL irresponsibility mightbringdown futuregovernments inSlovakia if a new constitutionallaw to cap state debt is approved

by parliament. The draft legisla-tion, presented on October 4,

would set an initial limit on publicdebt at 60 percento f gross domest-

ic product (GDP), with a gradualreduction in the ceiling from 2018of 1 percentage point peryear untilit reached 50 percent of GDP. If agovernment were to hit the60-percent debt ceiling, it would

face an automatic no-confidencevotein parliament.

Observers said the initiative,which is rare in uniting the rulingcoalitionand theopposition,is theright move but should be only afirst step to achieving responsiblefiscal policies.

Theauthors ofthe idea saythatthe draft was created as a prevent-ive measure and that it would be

better if debt were never to ap-proachthe limits.

The debt brake is being draf-ted as a draft constitutional law sothat we never have to use it, saidudovt dor, one of those behindthe law and an adviser to theprime minister on financial af-

fairs, as quoted by the SITA news-wire.

The law would also trigger aseries of preliminary steps as debtapproached thelimit.

Thefinanceministerwould haveto table a sound explanation whendebt reached 50 percent of GDP,along with proposed solutions for itsreduction. Ifthe debt then grew to53percent, the government would beobliged to adopt a package of meas-ures to reduce it, as well as to freeze

state salaries. At 55 percent, spend-ingwould befrozen inthe next fiscalyear.If thedebt reached57 percent ofGDP, the government would be ob-ligedto tablea balancedbudget.

See60%pg4

SELECT FOREX RATES benchmark as ofOctober 6CANADA CAD 139CZECH REP CZK24.85RUSSIA RUB43.13GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.87

HUNGARY HUF 296.55JAPAN JPY 10187POLAND PLN 4.38USA USD 133

NEWS

Doctors'disputeDoctors' unions andtheHealth Ministryare facingoffafter thousandsof hos-pitaldoctorshandedinresignationnoticesin a dis-puteover reorganisationofstatehospitalsand pay.

pg 2

ProjectplugpulledPlanet of Knowledge, a ma-jor digital learningprojectplanned tobe rolledoutinSlovakschools, willnot goforwardafter it wascan-

celled by theEducationMinistryamid claims of er-rorsand duplication.

pg 3

OPINION

AbreathoffreshairPresidentGaparovi isnothing if notpredictable.After MPselecteda newgeneralprosecutor here-fusedto appointhim andhe is stillstalling.

pg 5

BUSINESSFOCUS

BuildinggascapacitySincethe joltdeliveredbythe2009 gas supply crisis,Slovakiahas beenbusybuildingextra gas storagecapacityand newpipelinesto neighbouringcountries.

pg 6

Solaron themarginsMarginalland in swamps,wastedumps,airportsandquarriesis increasingly be-ingusedas thesitefornewphotovoltaicpowerplants.

pg 7

CULTUREExercisingartMarcSands fromBritain'sTate Gallery recently gavetwo lectures in Bratislava.Ashe tellsThe SlovakSpec-tator,attracting morevis-itorsto galleriesis notasexpensiveas onemightthink.

pg13

HealthMinisterIvanUhliarik(l) looksonasLOZunionleaderMarinKollrspeaksto journalists followingan incon-clusivemeetingonOctober5 todiscussthe demandsmadebyLOZmembers(seestoryonpg 2). Photo:TASR

SaS tables proposal to

break EFSF deadlockONLY a couple of days remain forPrime Minister Iveta Radiov to ne-gotiate a compromise with her coali-tion partners in the Freedom andSolidarity (SaS) party over their op-position to changes to the European bailout scheme or to find somewhere else the votes she needs to getthe changes approved. But the onlyalternative source of votes is thelargest opposition party, Smer andits leader Robert Fico says it will notsupport changes to the bailoutmechanism on October 11, the datethe ruling coalition has chosen tohold the crucial vote in parliament.

Fico, however, stated on October 5that he would be willing to vote in

favour of the changes in a later vote,which he said could be held on Octo-ber 17. The Smer boss has made clearheaimsto extract a heftypriceby thelatter date: reconfiguration of thegovernmentor earlyelections.

However, developments on Oc-tober 6 raised expectations amongthose who hope that the Radiovgovernment will be able to both rat-ify the changes to the temporary

European Financial Stability Facil-ity (EFSF) and continue to rule in its

present form. The source of thesehopes was an offer made by SaS. Inreturn for its support for an en-larged EFSF it demanded an ad-dendum to the ruling coalitionagreement to create a special com-mittee with the authority to decideon the use of money from the bail-out fund, on which all parliament-ary parties would have a nominee

with the right of veto. The ad-dendum would also oblige all thecoalition partners to vote againstthe EFSFs eventual permanent re-placement, the European StabilityMechanism (ESM).

SeeDEALpg10

Vol. 17, No. 35 Monday, October 10, 2011 - Sunday, October 16, 2011On sale nowOn sale now FOCUS

of this issue

OCUSof this issue

ENERGY

Court blockslaw on

prosecutors

SEPTEMBER was not a very successfulmonth for Slovakias Ministry of Justice.Changes the ministry is seeking in the lawon judges garnered criticism from an in-ternational judges association; and re-forms passed by MPs that should have be-come effective in October, changing vari-ous aspects of the prosecution system tomake it more transparent and open, were

blockedby theConstitutionalCourt.Nevertheless, Justice Minister Lucia

itansk maintains that her ministrys

actions have been in line with thegovernments programme statement andpledges to continue pursuing furtherchanges in thecountrysjudicial system.

SeeLAWpg 11

Last obstacleto entremoved

BOTH public and secret ballots are legit-imate methods for the Slovak Parliamentto use to select the prosecutor general, andare in linewith the countrysconstitution,according to a ruling by Slovakias Consti-

tutional Court. The long-awaited decisionshould mark the end to a lengthy tug-of-war betweenopponents and advocatesof achange to the parliamentary rules thatgovern how one of the countrys mostpowerfulpositionsis filled.

Acting general prosecutor LadislavTich and a group of 35 opposition MPsfrom the Smer party had challenged thechange in the parliamentary discussionorder, which was approved by MPs in Maythis year. Slovak President IvanGaparovi has been using the court caseas a reason to refuse to formally appointJozef ent, who was chosen to serve aseven-year term as general prosecutor byparliamenton June17.

After long-running problems gettingits candidate selected via a secret ballot including a vote in December last year in

which several coalition MPs anonymouslyvoted with the opposition, almost bring-ing down the government the ruling co-alition went to considerable lengths toturn the previously-used secret ballot forchoosing general prosecutors into a recor-dedvote.

SeeENDpg2

BYMICHAELATERENZANISpectatorstaff

BYBEATABALOGOVSpectatorstaff



European judicial group

alsocriticises itansk


2/16

SMK polls above 5 percent thresholdIF PARLIAMENTARY elec-tions hadbeenheldin earlySeptember, the Hungarian

Coalition Party(SMK) wouldhavereturned to parliamentwith 5.3percentof thevotes,accordingto theresultsof asurveyconducted by theFo-cuspolling agency. The polltookplace betweenSeptem-ber6 andSeptember 13andinvolved 1,004respondents,the SITAnewswire reported.

The oppositionSmerpartywould remainthelargestparty in parliament,thepollfound,with43.1 per-centenoughtowinit70outofthe 150seats. Thepartyre-gistereda rise insupport of1.4 percentagepoints fromJuly.The secondlargestparty wouldhavebeenthe

Slovak DemocraticandChristian Union(SDK),on12.8percent, up 0.2percent-

agepoints,followedby theChristian DemocraticMovement (KDH)on 9 per-cent ofvotes,2.7percentagepointslessthanin theprevi-ouspoll.

Boththe SlovakNation-alParty(SNS)andFreedomand Solidarity(SaS) recor-deda rise insupport,withSNSgetting8.5 percent,up

by 2.7percentage points,andSaSup 1.9percentagepoints to 8 percent.

Meanwhile,Most-Hdparty,a memberof thefour-partygoverningcoalition,recordeda fall insupport tojust 5.9percent,downfrom6.9percentin July.

Mafia lists leak investigated

THEINTERIORMinistry hasfileda criminal complaintoversuspectedabuse ofpowerby a publicofficialafterpersonaldatafrom so-called mafialists drawnupbythepolice wereleakedtothemedia. Interior MinisterDanielLipicsaid the leakeddatawere confidential, theTASRnewswire reportedonOctober 4.

Twoseparatelists ofpeopleallegedly connectedto various mafiagroups haveappeared inthe mediare-

cently. Theycontain morethan 300names withpic-turesand detailed personaldataincluding birth-registrynumbers, car licence-platenumber andgun-licencenumbers, TASRwrote.

Nationalpolice chiefJaroslav Spiiakdeniedthathehad orderedtheliststo be

created, the Smedaily repor-ted. In2005Spiiak,thendeputypolicechief, drewupa falselistcontaining thenamesof alleged mafiamembersin orderto provokethe mediainto reportingaboutorganisedcriminalactivity, Smereported. Healsoannouncedthat thecur-rentlists containedthenamesof peoplewho arenotcriminalsbutare linkedinsome otherway with crim-inalcases.

Spiiaksaid he believed

that thelistshadbeenstolen fromthe OfficefortheFight againstOrganisedCrime, a unit inthe nationalpolice force.

We are heading towardsthe identification of thepeopleresponsible for thisleakof information,he said,asquoted bySme.

Plagiarism to become a crime

EVENTHOUGH studentscanbethreatenedwiththe lossof theirqualificationandtitle ifa courtrulesthattheycopiedtheir thesisfromsomeoneelse, a new

amendmentto theUni-versity Actpreparedby theEducationMinistry doesnotcontain anymeasureto pen-aliseother fraudulentwaysofgaining titles, theSmedailyreported.

EducationMinister Eu-genJurzycasaidthatitwouldbe toodifficult forhisministry to punishall dubi-ouswaysof receivingeduca-tionaltitles,but said hehadaskedJusticeMinister Luciaitanskto amendthe Pen-alCodeto make fraudsin-volving plagiarism in receiv-inga universitydiplomas acrime.Jurzycasaidhe be-lievesthatthe newamend-

mentwill increase the qual-ity of Slovakiasuniversitiesandcolleges. Aswellas newpenalties for plagiarismitcontains severalotherchanges, setting fees for edu-

cationprogrammesheld inforeignlanguages, abolish-inglimits onschool feesandprolongingstudy periods forexternal students.

The ministry alsoplans

tocreatelists ofuniversityemployees andpublishthemon theinternet. Students

willthereby beableto findoutwhether theirlecturersalsoteach at otherschools,the TASRnewswire reported.In addition,Jurzyca wantstoloosenthe rulesfor appoint-ing lecturers andprofessors,so thatpeople withadequateexperiencebut wholackaparticularqualification will

beallowedto fill such posts.Theamendmentdoes

notcontain anymeasurethatwouldabolish final ex-ams,Sme wrote. Jurzycamadeconcessionsto hiscrit-icsand allowedschools to

decide whethertheywant tohavefinalexamsor whethertheywilllet studentsdefendtheirtheses.

Compiledby Spectatorstaff

Doctors protest issuesremain unresolved

AT LEAST one Czech hospitalhas started recruiting physi-cians from Slovakia while an-other hospital in that countryreported an increased interestin employment from Slovakphysicians after 2,411 doctors

working in hospitals acrossSlovakia submitted notices toterminate their employmentcontracts on September 29.Health Minister Ivan Uhliarikrestated that urgent healthcare will be available in Slov-akia even if these doctors

resignfrom theirhospitals.The Slovak doctors chosethe tactic of mass resignationto demonstrate their opposi-tion to a proposal pursued bythe Health Ministry to changethe legal form of state-runhospitalsas well as todemandmore health-care funding,higher salaries and adherence

by hospitals to the LabourCode. After meeting with dir-ectors of state-run hospitalson October 4, Uhliarik, who

was nominated to his post bythe Christian DemocraticMovement (KDH), said that

some doctors are now with-drawin g their n otic es,something that the ministryand the hospitals had hoped

would happen.Every day the notices of

some physicians are being withdrawn, Uhliarik statedon October 4, as quoted bySITA. We will have to keeppersuading and motivatingthe physicians to withdrawtheirresignations.

While Uhliarik remainedtight-lippedabout the typesofmotivation the hospital dir-ectors might use, he did say

that the directors will accept withdrawal of the noticesonly untilthe endof October.

Unfortunately, afterNovember 1, the directors ofhospitals will have to seekother physicians for thesepositions, Uhliarik said,adding that the teaching hos-pital in Preov currently has100 job applications and thatit recently hired two newphysicians.

Uhliarik stated the hos-pitals are not yet consideringhiring physicians from othercountries.

Representatives of thedoctors tradeunions whomet with Uhliarik on October 5denied that the protestingphysicians were withdrawingtheir notices en masse. It wasunclear how many physiciansmight have withdrawn theirresignation notices when TheSlovakSpectator went to printonOctober 6.

Marin Kollr, chairmanof the Medical Trade Unions

Association (LOZ), said on Oc-tober 5 that additional doctors

were joining the protest bysigning notices to terminatetheir employment contracts,accordingto theSme daily.TVMarkza quoted an unnamed

physician who said the med-ical unions were pressuringdoctorsto signthe notices. OnOctober 5 the unions alsosubmitted a legislative pro-posal to increase the salariesof physicians working instate-run hospitals

Slovak media have beenspeculating for some timethat hospitals in neighbour-ing countries, particularly inthe Czech Republic, might tryto hire Slovak health-carespecialists.

SeeDOCpg4


END: No legal barriers should remainContinuedfrompg1Paradoxically, MPs ended up chosing

ent using the original secret-ballotmethod. They did this mainly to avoidcomplications in the event that the rulechangewere tobe lateroverturned bytheConstitutional Court.

I hold the legal opinion that thereare no legislative barriers in the way ofmy appointment, ent commentedafter the ruling on October 5, as quoted

bytheSITA newswire.If Smer returns to power it will

change the selection process back to asecret-ballot-only method as the party

views this as more democratic, Smerleader Robert Fico said in response to the

ruling of the Constitutional Court,adding that the courts decision must berespected nevertheless.

The ruling Slovak Democratic andChristian Union (SDK) said that thecourtrulingwasa defeatfor Smer.

Prime Minister Iveta Radiov saidshe was convinced there was now noreason for President Gaparovi to refuseto appoint ent. In a statement, shenotedthat the Constitutional Courtruledin September 2009 that the president isnot entitled to judge the professional

background of nominees because thepresident is not responsible for their per-formance in the job. By the act of ap-pointment the president only certifiesthat during the process of proposing thecandidate all of the legal procedural re-quirementshave beenmet.

President Gaparovi, who mustformally appoint the general prosec-utor, avoided commenting on the rul-ing, and suggested he would do so onlyafter he had obtained the courts writ-ten decision.

Political ethics watchdog Fair-Play Al-liance (FPA) said that the president nowhas no choice other than to appointent. Its director Zuzana Wienk saidthat every attempt to delay the appoint-ment was part of a cynical power gameaimed at keeping the prosecution underthe control of certain power centres,SITA reported.

Gaparovi announced immediatelyafter the June 17 vote that he would notappoint ent, who was backed by theruling coalition, until the ConstitutionalCourt had issued a ruling about the consti-tutionality of thenew selectionprocedure.

But the courts subsequent decision todrop any interim objections to the selec-tion procedure and the fact that ent

was in any case chosen using the old pro-cedure left the president, who has vetoednumerous coalition-backed laws passed byparliament, outon a limb.

The term of the previous general pro-secutor, Dobroslav Trnka, expired in Feb-ruary. In the absence of a formally appoin-ted successor, Trnkas deputy, Tich, wonautomatic promotion to the post of actingtop prosecutor.

Theruling

The court looked at whether the rulechange was in line with constitutionalprinciples, rights and freedoms. It ruledthat no constitutional principles had

been violated since the Slovak Constitu-tion does not define such ballots as ex-clusively secret. According to the court,

no real conflict has emerged and the con-stitutional principle of the secret ballothas not been violated. The court alsofound that the change to the selectionmethod did not violate the equality ofrightsor evokeretroactivity.

A majority of the constitutionaljudges voted for the decision, while thediffering opinions of two judges, in-cluding court president IvettaMacejkov,were attachedto theruling,Macejkovsaid, as reportedby SITA.

In the reasoning, Macejkov notedthat it was known on June 15 that theConstitutional Court had issued a pro-

visional ruling suspending the validityof the change in the rules of parlia-mentary order until the court hadreached a definitive verdict on the con-stitutional merits of parliamentschange in thevoting procedure.

A court ruling must be officiallypublished in thecountryscollectionoflaws in order to become effective and

the ruling coalition, according to theSme daily, used this time gap to holdthevote on June 17,because thecourtsdecision had at that time been an-nounced but had not yet been pub-lished.

The failure to respect the decisionof the Constitutional Court was arguedthat the decision was not binding be-cause it had not been published in thecountrys collection of laws and thus it

was possible to hold the vote even based on the challenged provisions,Macejkovsaid, as quoted by SITA.

According to the court, the fact thatthe June 17 vote was secret means thatthe rules were respected formally andlegally, based on both the revised andalsothe original legislation.

The Constitutional Court on June 29

overturned its own provisional ruling, which had suspended the validity ofthe parliamentary rule change affect-ing the way the general prosecutor isselected and also appeared to block anyothermethodof selection.

Doctorsannouncetheirprotestplans. Photo:TASR

2 NEWSOctober 10 16, 2011


3/16

Top general to retire

THREE governments and fiveministers of defence: that iswhat General ubomr Bulk

has seen in the seven years heheld Slovakias top militaryjob. But now he is going, andwhile the defence minister hasstated that the armed forcesneed a breath of fresh air andthat a change at the top will dothem good, Bulks farewellmessage was different: whatthe armed forces need is moremoney.

General Bulk announcedthat he would leave his post ashead of the General Staff of theSlovak Armed Forces onDecember 1 and that he will re-

tire. I m n ot b idd in g myfarewell yet, Im leaving as ofDecember 1, Bulk told a pressconference on September 30.However, from this place Idlike to thank all the profes-sional soldiers for their top-quality work.

Under Bulks leadershipthe Slovak Armed Forces haveregularly topped the rankingsas the most-trusted state insti-tution. But at the same timeSlovakias military has felt theimpact of being underfin-anced, with leaders in the De-fence Ministry and the armedforces as well as independentobservers and national secur-

ity experts saying that the mil-itary has been poorly financedfor years. Bulk stated that itneeds a financial shot.

Bulk said he will be leav-ing his post based on a mutualagreement with Defence Min-ister ubomr Galko.

Backstageconflicts?

Nevertheless, Slovak me-

dia have reported there has been discord between Bulkand Galko for some time.

It is a forced departure,caused by pressure on him,the lack of finances whichthe minister did not secure,and relations with the min-ister and the people aroundhim, said Jozef Viktorn, aformer colonel in the Gener-al Staff, as quoted by thePravda daily.

Galkos predecessor as de-fence minister, JaroslavBaka of the Smer party, alsosaid there had been conflicts

between Galko and Bulk andcalled Galko incompetent.

Another point made by

the Sme daily is that Galkoand a reformist wing aroundthe ministrys state secret-ary, Rbert Ondrejcsk, be-lieve they need new people inthe military leadership to beable to push through addi-tional reforms.

We need a fresh breezehere, Galko said at his pressconference. Several other

generals holding importantposts in the military havebeen reshuffled in their posi-tions as well.

It is not yet clear who willreplace Bulk. When he leavesin December, his duties will

be exercised by Miroslav Ko-cian, recently named firstdeputy head of the GeneralStaff after previously servingas head of operations for theGeneral Staff.

Underfinancedmilitary

The changes that Galkoplans to initiate in the armedforces are in what the minis-ter calls the White Book of

Defence and have been basedon the Strategic Defence Re-view ordered by the ministryin autumn 2010.

Analyses of the prelimin-ary results of that reviewhave found that the Slovak

Armed Forces are in an alarm-

ing state: the readiness ofunits to lead military opera-tions is problematic and theoperational preparedness ofseveral Slovak army units has

fallen, according to a thinktank, the Centre forEuropean and North-Atlantic

Affairs (CENAA).The ministry has stated

that the problems stem froma recurrent shortage of re-sources allocated to the de-fence department in thestate budget. Funds alloc-ated to defence have beenclose to one percent of GDPin recent years, even thoughSlovakia made a pledge in2004 to spend at least 2 per-cent of GDP each year on de-fence once it became amemberof NATO.

After the most recentround of talks on October 5

concerning the state budgetfor 2012, the Defence Ministrystated that it needs 78.5 mil-lion more than it has been al-located in the draft budget,the TASRnewswire reported.

Experts worry that if thefinancial shortfalls continuethe Slovak Armed Forcesmight lose not only its abilityto fight effectively but also itscapability to meet interna-tionalobligations.

Our tiny defence budgetforces us to lower the numberof soldiers in overseas mis-sions, lower the number ofmissions, and leaves our sol-diers working with worn-outequipment, Samuel Arbe, the

executive director of CENAA,told The Slovak Spectatorearlier this year. All this cre-ates the image of a less re-sponsible and less reliablepartner, while the work ofSlovak soldiers becomesharderand more dangerous.

BYMICHAELATERENZANI

Spectatorstaff

GeneralBulkwill retireinDecember. Photo:TASR

Plug pulled onschools e-project

SLOVAKschoolswill notbe-gin usingdigitaltextbooksinthisschool yearas origin-allyplanned.After monthsof questionsand numerousmediareports criticisingtheeducational programmecalled Planetof Knowledge,the EducationMinistryan-nounced it willnot complete

the multi-million-euro pur-chaseand will investthemoneyin traditionaltext-

booksinstead.After monthsof nego-

tiations,concernsand whatwebelieve wasa transpar-entapproach, westatethatan agreement to purchasePlanetof Knowledgewasntreached, EducationMinis-terEugenJurzycastated onOctober 4.

Theministrywillnotsignthe contract with

Agemsoft,a software firm,worthan estimated6-12million, to supplycopiesofthe digital educationpro-grammeto schools across

Slovakia. A disparitybetweenthe quality oftheproductandits pricewasthedecisive factorin hisdecisionto scrapthe idea,Jurzyca explained to themedia.

Butmaking moredigitaleducationmaterialsavail-ableto schools willcontinue,evenwithoutthePlanetofKnowledgepackage, withtheministerpledgingto dosoin otherways with finan-cialassistancefrom EUstructural funds.

The negotiationsbetween theministry andAgemsoft tookplace amidheavycriticismin theSlovak

media,withthe SmedailyandtheTdeweeklyinparticularrunning multiplestoriesin recentweekshigh-lighting severalfactualmis-takes inboththe SlovakandtheEnglishversionsof thedigital text.

Whatis PlanetofKnowledge?

Planetof Knowledgeis adigital educationpro-grammefor primaryandsecondary schools in thefieldsof mathematics,phys-ics,chemistry,biologyandothernatural sciences.It isaSlovak versionof an English-

language original calledUniversalCurriculumde-veloped by theYoung DigitalPlanetcompany.

Agemsoftis theholderofanexclusive licence tode-

velopsimilarmaterialsinSlovakia.

The company startedpi-lotingthe projectat Slovak

schools in2008afterthe ma-terialwas recommendedbythe StatePedagogical Insti-tute (P)andapprovedbyformereducationministerJnMikolaj eventhoughSmewrotethattherewereno expertevaluations avail-abletoeitherPortheministryat that time.

Agemsoft statedthatitsinvestments fortheSlovakversion,Planet ofKnowledge, haveamoun-tedto severalmillioneurosandthattranslationof thecontent intoSlovak tooktwoyearsand cost over 1million.

Critical voices

Both SmeandTdeweeklywrote aboutwhatthey callederrors inthe con-tent andformat ofPlanetofKnowledge.The EducationMinistrys spokesperson,Miriamiakov,stated thatthe ministry hadidentified126 errors,Sme reported.

WhilethefirstpartofUniversalCurriculum, theoriginal English versionoftheproduct,is gearedto-

wardschildren aged11 to13itwas tobe used withchil-dren 10yearsandyounger inSlovakia,Tde wrote.

Tdes reporters also

wrotethattherewere manysimilaritiesbetween thema-terialsin Planetof Know-ledgeand KnowledgeinPocket1, another productdevelopedeightyears agobyYoungDigitalPlanet whichmorethan 1,200Slovakschools already havebut donot regularlyuse. Tde

wrotethat KnowledgeinPocket1 was stillavailablesixmonthsagoatacostof150for a multi-licenceforone school.

Softwarefirm responds

Agemsoftrejectedthesestatementsin an official re-

lease andcalled thecriti-cismsa mixtureof dem-agogueryand untrueclaims.

Ifanyone provesthatPlanetof Knowledgeis aproduct identicalwithKnowledgein Pocket1,

Agemsoftwillprovide a li-cencefor Planetof Know-ledge toall schools for1,statesthe firm'srelease.

Afterthe minister an-nounced thatPlanet ofKnowledgewillnot bepur-chased, Agemsoft respon-dedthatitis ready touseallavailable legaltools to chal-lenge thedecision,Sme re-ported, adding thatthe

company stated it hassuffered significantdam-ageto itsnamefromwhatthe company calledmis-leading statementsfromthe ministry.

3October 10 16, 2011NEWS

Advancing scientific research

SLOVAKIA has not been very successfulthus far in drawing down money alloc-atedto thecountry fromthe EUsRegion-al Development Fund to support scientif-ic research, so several Slovak universitieshave nowdecided to band together to im-provethe situation.

The Education Ministry, the Fin-ance Ministry and representatives ofSlovakiasscientificcommunity agreedinearlyMarch that they will seek toin-creasefundscoming from theEU byfo-cusing on larger projects such as con-struction of science parks or techno-logycentres.

One of the applications prepared un-

derthis strategy is forbuildingBratislavaScience City, jointly developed byComenius University (UK), the SlovakUniversity of Technology (STU) and theSlovak Academy of Sciences (SAV), thatwould be built in the Mlynsk Dolina and

Patrnka part of the city. These three in-stitutions are already undertaking top-level scientific research in Slovakia interms of quality and quantity, accordingtotherectorofUK,KarolMiieta.

Research isthe tool toevolve creativ-

ity this is the main objective of our mu-tual message, Rbert Redhammer, therectorofSTU,toldTheSlovakSpectator.

Slovakia has drawn slightly over 18percent of the total financial resourcesthat have been allocated by the EU to the

countrys Operational Programme Re-search and Development for 2007-2013.Redhammer explained that the main ob-jective of the joint approach by UK, STUand SAV is to use funds available underthis operational programme to modern-

ise existing institutions in Mlynsk Do-lina and Patrnka so that they are morecompetitive with institutions in coun-triesthat investmore intoresearch.

SeeFUNDSpg10

BYRADKAMINARECHOVSpectatorstaff

BratislavaScienceCity couldbe a leaderin biomedicalresearch Photo:Sme -J. Krolk

BYMICHAELATERENZANI

Spectatorstaff

Education

Ministry scrapsPlanetof

Knowledgeplans

Academic institutions

unite to seek funds

from the EU


4/16

State budgetdraft revised

THESTATEbudgetdeficitin2012 isestimatedto reach

3.243 billion,70 millionmorethanprojected intheoriginal draftdrawnup bytheFinanceMinistryin themiddle of August. However,theministryis stickingto itstargetof cutting thedeficitfromthisyears 4.9percentto3.8 percentof GDPin 2012,theTASRnewswirewroteonOctober4.

Inlinewith theupdatedproposal, whichalso con-siderssomewhatgloomierpredictionsregardingup-comingdevelopmentsin theSlovakeconomy,state rev-enuein 2012shouldamountto15.281billionand ex-penditures are predicted to

reach18.524billion.Thenew draftincludesasignificantincrease in themoneyallocatedto theHealthMinistry,whichis toreceive50 million morethanhad originallybeenplanned.

The Interior Ministrywillreceive 36millionmore, whilethe budgetfor

the Defence Ministry willriseby more than 20mil-

lion.The Finance Ministryalsoincreasedspendingonthe Slovak InformationSer-

vice(SIS) intelligenceagencyandthe GovernmentOffice,

whichwill receive another2 million.

Onthe otherhand,fundsforthe generaltreasuryad-ministrationwillbe cutby43million.

Notallmembersof thegovernment weresatisfied

withthe newdraft.Ican seethatthe priorit-

iesof Most-Hdhavebeenre-solvedto thepointof zero,

whiletheprioritiesof theSDK[SlovakDemocraticandChristian Union]are at

100percent,said Agricul-tureMinister ZsoltSimon,addingthatsucha budgetisaimedagainst peoplelivingin thecountryside.

The ruling coalitionwasdueto discuss thereviseddraftat itssessionon Octo-

ber 6 butno results hademergedas TheSlovakSpec-tatorwent toprint.

Mayorsdisagreewith changes

MEMBERS of theAssociationofTownsand VillagesofSlovakia (ZMOS)have rejec-tedtheMinistryof Financesproposedchanges tothe way

in whichSlovakmunicipalit-iesare financed.Theysaythat thestateis tryingtosolveits problems bymovingthemonto theshouldersofcitizens, the SITAnewswirereported.

Financing [of municip-alities] was agreedduringthe fiscaldecentralisation of2005,and nowthegovern-mentis tryingto changeitwithout agreement,saidthechair ofZMOS JozefDvon,as quotedby SITA.Wewould behappyif thegovernment listened to ourarguments andwe couldreach agreement onthe waythat villagesand townsare

enabled to performtheirduties.Atthe endof September,

the Finance Ministry pro-posedthat finances providedto municipalities should becomposed of severaldiffer-enttypesof tax,includingtheincome taxes forperson-aland legalentities,thevalueadded taxandall typesofexcisetaxes. Atthe mo-ment,municipalitiesreceivemoneysolely from thetaxon

theincomesof physicalen-tities.Dvonpromised to tryto persuade deputies,chairsof parties caucusesand alsothe speakerand deputy

speakersof parliamentto re-jectthe proposed changes.The financing changes

havealready beenrejected bythe headsof self-governingregions, whocalculatethatthrough thismodel muni-cipalitieswill get 62millionless,the Sme dailyreported.Theyhave alsothreatenedtoclosedown schools andan-nounce crisisregimes inprotest. Moreover, theyplanto address theircomplaintthat thegovernmenthas vi-olatedthe internationalMu-nicipal Charterto theEuropean courts.

The Finance Ministrysaid that thechangesfor

municipalities are necessaryifSlovakiadoesnot want toendup inthe same situationas Greece,SITA reported.

FinanceMinisterIvanMiklo explainedthatthroughthe newmodelmunicipalitieswill getthree percentmoremoneythan they gotlastyear.Hestressedthat theministryisnot tryingto changethesystemof fiscal decentral-isation.

Travel agents slammed byminister

NINEoutof tentravelagenciesuse unfair busi-

nesspractices, accordingtoEconomyMinisterJurajMikov, speakingon Tues-day,October 4, ata present-ationof thefindings ofa re-centinspectionbythe

SlovakTradeInspectorate(SOI).

Mostof theshortcomingswerefound in agreementsdrawnup bytravelagentsandsigned by customers,theSme dailyreported.

Compiledby Spectatorstaff

60%: Cap attracts cross-party supportContinuedfrompg1

Nevertheless, a deep re-cession, a bank bailout or theneed to tackle the effects of amajor catastrophe would trig-ger an exemption from thesanctions, which could applyforup tothreeyears.

Themainoppositionparty,Smer,saiditisopentosupport-ing the constitutional draft.The partys deputy chairman,PeterKaimr,saidSmerwouldstillproposesomechanges,butdescribed the law as a neces-sarymeasureforSlovakia.

Wearetalkingaboutalawwhich would deserve the sup-port of all 150 members ofparliament, Kaimr said, asquotedbySITA.

After installing this debt brake as the first step, thesecond move should be to in-troduce caps on spending, ac-cording to Radovan urana oftheeconomicthinktankINESS.

Thisrulewillbeambitiousif it forces the government tomanage the state with a sur-plus, since only in that case

will it be possible to reducedebtasashareofGDP,uranatold The Slovak Spectator. Iconsiderthefactthatthedepu-ties are proposing a transitionperiod with a higher cap ondebt an expression of theirunwillingness to yield to thenewrules fromtheverybegin-ningandfrommypointofviewit disqualifies this as an ex-pressionoftheirdesiretoreallymanagethingsefficiently.

Accordingtourana,suchahighreserveisnotnecessaryforsuchalongtransitionperiod.

At first sight it mightseem insufficiently ambi-tious, but I think it was setcorrectly, said VladimrTvaroka, State Secretary oftheFinanceMinistry,in anin-terview with the Sme daily.One has to realise that sanc-tions for the government inupcoming years will start ap-plyingat50percent.

Tvaroka notes that the

state budget for next year as-sumes public debt at 45.7 per-cent ofGDP,whilein 2014 debtis forecastto be 46.8 percentofGDP.If the crisisis deeperor ifmore funds are needed to bailout some other Europeancountries, then Slovakiamight reach the 50-percentlimitrelativelyfast,headded.

Though the proposed lawisgoodnews,I donot considerit to be correct that there will

be a constitutional right fordebt to remainat 40 percent ofGDP,saidurana,addingthatit is unfair to future genera-tions who might not benefitfrom the debt and would onlydo so if it arose because of cap-ital spending with long-termaddedvalue. Hesaidthisis notthe case for Slovakia since thecountrys debt has emergedmainlyfromroutinespending.

Deficitsinjustthepasttwo ye ars have dee pene dSlovakias public debt to al-most 27 billion, or 41 percentof GDP, noted Potov BankaanalystEvaSadovsk.

The stateowes approxim-ately 5,000 per capita but weaccount for only three-tenthsof a percent of the total debt ofthe EU, Sadovsk told TheSlovak Spectator.All thisputsSlovakia among the less in-debtedeconomiesoftheunion.

Nevertheless, we still consideradebtcaptobetherightstep.

Sadovsk regards keepingthe limit at 60 percent of GDP,

which is also the maximumset by the Maastricht Treaty,as realistic, and said she doesnot consider the gradualloweringofthislevelafter2018to 50 percent as problematiceither.

Public debt grows intimes of recession, Sadovsksaid.At such times,staterev-enue are endangered and thepublic finance deficit deepens,followedbythepublicdebt.

Sadovsk sees a risk in theuncertain outlook for globaleconomic development andconsequentlyforSlovakiatoo.

Itisimportanttograsptheneedtocreatereservesintimesof stronger economic growth,Sadovsk said. Then it isslightly easier to handle thecrises. We had such a chance

when we were known as thecentral European tiger, but weslightlywastedthischance.

urana sees risks in whathe called the unwillingness toadmit thebad conditionof thepublic finances and the sub-sequent unwillingness to saveon expenditures.

The current governmenthassofarmadecutsonlyintherunning of the state, but re-

fuses to cut ineffective trans-fers to the public, uranasaid.Intheeventofadeepen-ing recession within the EU,this would lead to highdeficits.

Another risk, according tourana, is posed by the con-tinuing problems of the euro-zone, and the problems thatthiscouldcauseinraisingdebtinfinancialmarketstofinancethedeficit.

As for additionalmeasuresthat could help to tame thedebt, urana listed strict debtcaps,which wouldrestrictthegovernment in increasingspending when designingstatebudgetsbasedonforecasttax revenues, and would re-quirethegovernmenttopostasurplus over an election oreconomiccycle.

The draft, however, alsoincludes other tools to tacklethe state debt and make fiscalpolicies more transparent.Theseincludethe optionof es-tablishing a Council for FiscalResponsibility, which wouldfunction as an independent

bodyandwould be financedbythe central bank, the NationalBankofSlovakia(NBS),accord-ing to SITA. The independentthree-member council wouldconsist of experts: one would

be nominated by the govern-ment,onebythepresidentandthethirdbythegovernoroftheNBS. The nominations would

be subject to approval by par-liament.

The council would look atthe fiscal impact of legislativeproposals, and keep an eye onthe developmentof public fin-ances.

urana said he does notthink that the council is tech-nicallynecessary,butsaidthatits institutionalised and per-sonifiedformcouldacttoplacemore pressure on the execut-ivebranchandparliament.

Thedecisivefactor willbehow active and politically in-dependent the council will

be,uranasaid.

Publicdebtwill exceed45percentof GDPin2012. Photo:Sme

DOC: Czech hospitals are recruitingContinuedfrompg2

Sme wrote that Czech hospitals havebeenadvertisingopenings for physiciansforsometimeandthataCzechhospitalin

Vsetn has a recruitment campaign tar-geted at physicians from ilina in north-ern Slovakia, a fact confirmed by RobertFcek,theheadof thedoctors trade unioninilina. A physicianworkingin a Slovakhospital earns an average of 1,500 permonth while some Czech hospitals areabletooffer2,211,Smewrote.

A hospital in Kyjov in the Czech Re-public reportedit hadreceivedten applic-ationsfrom Slovakphysicians andTomZdechovsk, the hospitals spokesman,told theMediafaxnewswirethatthe hos-pital will consider suitable candidates.However, the teaching hospital in Brno,thelargestCzechcityneartheborderwith

Slovakia, has not noted any increased in-terest by Slovak physicians and reportedthat thehospitalalreadyemploysa signi-ficant number of Slovak physicians, theSITAnewswirewroteonOctober3.

Some hospital directors have con-

cededthat thenumber of terminationno-

tices they have received may cause prob-lems andSITAwrotethat thesituationatChildrens University Hospital in Bratis-lava may be most critical as nearly all ofthe hospitals anaesthesiologists havesubmittedresignationnotices.

Uhliarik reportedthatdoctorsfrom 18hospitals have submitted resignationno-ticesfrom amongthe 59 health-careinsti-tutionsthattheHealthMinistryadminis-ters and stated that most hospitals willremainin a normaloperationalmode andcomplete care will be available for cancerandcardiologypatients.

Kollrhas warnedthathospitalmedicaltreatment in Slovakia could collapse inDecemberafterthe two-monthnoticeperi-odhas runitscourse. Uhliarik responded byaccusing the doctors of using patients ashostages,butatthesametimeassuredSlov-

aks that they need not worry about beingleftwithoutproperhealthcare.LOZ has rallied doctors around four

demands: a halt in the ministrys plan totransform public hospitals into joint-stock companies; for hospitals to follow

the Labour Code with respect to hours of

work and other working conditions; anincrease in government funding forhealthcare;andagradualriseinthesalar-iesofhealth-careemployees.

Thedemandto haltthetransformationof the state-run hospitals into joint-stockcompanies seems to be the most conten-tiousissuebutUhliariksaiditisimpossiblefor him to change this as the process wasagreedbyMPsandhasnowbegun.

On September 27 the Slovak cabinetapproved reviseddocumentsfor the legaltransformation of the hospitals, includ-ing a model founding document andmodel statute for a joint-stock company.Prime Minister Iveta Radiov said afterthat cabinet meeting that changing thelegalstatusofthehospitalshasnothingtodowithprivatisation.

The transformation does not create,

anticipate or enable privatisation,Radiov stated, as quoted by the SITAnewswire, emphasising that the modelstatute clearly provides that these joint-stock hospitals will continue to be100-percentstate-owned.

4 BUSINESS / NEWSOctober 10 16, 2011


5/16

Ofaj

RICHARD Sulk is a man ofslang. To the speaker of par-liament any former commun-ist or for that matter anycurrent member of the social-ist Smer party is a koman (aComanche). He despisespoliticians who have spenttheir lives zavanm sa(stitching themselves, whichsound painful, but meansonly that they avoided real

work). And any idea he dis-agrees with is a haluz (liter-ally translated a branch, butactually derived from hallu-cination).

So it was little surprisethat when a week ago the co-alition offered him a com-promise on the euro-bailout

vote, he dismissed it rightaway as an ofaj (a swindle,derived from faji, to smoke).Now his SaS party is indicat-

ing that that very same pro-posal, the right of coalitionparties to veto any loans fromthe bail-out fund, sounds ac-ceptable. Opposition leaderRobert Fico was quick to callthisU-turnSulksofaj.

It remains to be seen what will come out of the negoti-ations. But it was high timefor SaS to come to its senses

and realise that there was no way it could block the mech-anism. Their reluctance to

vote in favour would onlydrive them out of governmentand cause further political in-stability.

Any regular party wouldhave trouble explaining sucha drastic change of heart to its

voters. But SaS fans must bynow be accustomed to suchcontradiction. Sulks firstpoliticalprioritywas to get ridof the fees levied on con-sumers and used to subsidisethe public-service media. Butthey still exist. There was hisfailed referendum on a num-

ber of issues, most long sinceforgotten. The legalisation ofgay marriage and decriminal-isation of marijuana have re-mained mere election slo-gans.And thelistgoeson.

Why does Sulk still haveany support, given that hefails to deliver most of whathe promises?Peoplemust lovethewayhe talks.

A strong breath of fresh airSLOVAK President IvanGaparovi is quite predict-able. Few expected him toquickly appoint Jozef entas general prosecutor afterthe Constitutional Courtruled that both a public vote

and a secret ballot are legit-imateways forSlovakias par-liament to choose the personto fillthis powerfulpost.

Gaparovi has been jus-tifying his refusal to formallyappoint ent, the candid-ate of the governing coalitionelected by parliament to aseven-year term on June 17,

by pointing to the casepending before the Constitu-tional Court. In this way thepresident extended the reignofthe sitting managersat theGeneral Prosecutors Office

well beyond the expiration ofDobroslav Trnkas term inFebruary. In the absence of aformally-appointed succesor,

Ladislav Tich, Trnkasformer deputy, automatically became acting general pro-secutor andthendidntpasson the opportunity to ap-pointTrnkaas hisdeputy.

Thanks to Gaparovi, who received the backing ofSmer boss Robert Fico for his2009 re-election, Tich andTrnka have played this gameof musical chairs and willcontinue to occupy thosechairs till at least the secondhalfof October.The presidentsaid he will decide on offi-cially appointing ent atthat time, adding that he is

waiting for a copy of thecourts ruling so that he can

study it. His office also an-nounced that the presidentsschedule is quite packed, in-cluding a visit to Indonesiaandthe Philippines.

ZuzanaWienkof theFair-PlayAlliancewatchdog groupcalled on Gaparovi to stopdelaying the appointment,

which she said stems fromcynical power games aimedat keeping the prosecutionunder the rule of certainpolitical power circles.

Wienk added that if the pres-ident fails to appoint entin a timely way it can be ad-

ded to the list of failures thathe already demonstrated asspeaker of parliament whenhe stripped deputy Gauliederof hismandate.

TheGaulieder caseis notvery likely to be included in

the presidents memoires

and it has served as a light-ning rod for critics who saythe former right-hand manto Vladimr Meiar shouldnever have been put in thepresidential palace. Indeed,the Gaulieder case is a rathersordid tale that will alwaysspoil efforts by Gaparovi to

be seen as a guardian of theconstitution.

In 1996, when Gaparoviserved as speaker of parlia-ment as a nominee of theMovement for a DemocraticSlovakia (HZDS), he facilit-ated a vote to strip the man-date from Frantiek Gaul-ieder, an MP from the sameparty, for criticising theHZDS. Gaparovi accepted aparliamentary committeereport stating that Gauliederhad agreed to resign fromparliament while Gauliederpubliclydeniedever doingso.Gaulieder was stripped of hismandate and a year later the

Constitutional Court ruledthat this violated the consti-tution.

Slovakias system of pro-secutionis notonlyin urgentneed of a new person at thetop but also of comprehens-

ive reform. And even thoughthe Constitutional Courtseems to have cleared the

way for ent to take up hispost, the court also blockedimplementation of a reformamendment passed by par-liament in June that wouldmake the entire system moretransparent and open to pub-licoversight.

The courts recent rulingon the reform amendment

was in response to multipleobjectionsbrought before thecourt by Tich, including thenew selection procedure forprosecutors. It is also worthnoting that Gaparovis re-fusal to appoint ent was

basedon Tichs appealto theConstitutional Court aboutthe changes in the votingmethod approved by parlia-ment.

Trnka, who has been des-peratelytrying to getanotherseven-year term as generalprosecutor, chimed in afterthe courts ruling that he still

believes he should have beendeclared the winner of theMay 17 secret ballot vote inparliament and that hisname should have been sentto the president. So now hisclaim that the votes were in-correctly counted in May andthat this violated his right toequal access to an elected po-

sition now sits before theConstitutional Court.This saga, continuing

now for half a year, clearlydemonstrates the urgentneed forthorough reform ofaclosed prosecution system

where people with broadpowers want to remain gluedto their chairs, want to con-tinue making life-and-deathdecisions behind closeddoors, and never want to beheld publicly accountable.Thats task one. A strong

breath offreshairat thepres-identialpalace is tasktwo.

5October 10 16, 2011OPINION

QUOTEOFTHEWEEK:IfI didnthavesuchan expectation,I wouldntbother with

thecomplaintand payexpensivelawyers.

DobroslavTrnka expressesconfidence thatthe ConstitutionalCourtwillordera re-runof thegeneralprosecutorvotebased onan appealhehas lodged.

SLOVAKWORDOFTHEWEEK EDITORIAL


BYLUKFILASpecial to the Spectator

RichardSulkis amanofslang. Photo:SITA


6/16

Slovakia seeks self-sufficiency

in generating electricity

GENERATIONas wellas consumptionof electricityincreasedin Slovakiain 2010 asthe economy revived,

withconsumption increasingby 5 percentto 28,761GWh.Electricitygeneratedwithin thecountry grew by 6.3percentin 2010 to27,720 GWh, meaning that Slovakiahadto import3.6 percentof theelectricityit consumedin2010,a fall from the4.8percent imported in2009,according to theEconomy Ministrys regular electricitysupplyreport.Nuclearpower stations generated 53percentof Slovakiaselectricity, withhydroelectricstations producing20 percent andthermal powerstations contributing 18 percent. Electricityfrom othersources suchas companiesown generators andrenewable energysourcesaccountedfor 9 percent.Thelaunchof a newcombined-cyclepower station withaninstalledcapacity of430 MWin MalenicenearTrnava,a projectby theE.ONenergy group,as well asnew photovoltaicplantswith an aggregate capacity of195MW werethetwo largestsourcesof newgeneratingcapacity lastyear.The mostanticipatedevent to bringmore generatingcapacityto thecountrywillbe thelaunchof thesecond

pairof nuclear reactors atthe Mochovcepowerplant, aprojectby SlovenskElektrrne,scheduledto comeonlinein 2012 and2013. This generatingcapacityis likelytoreturnSlovakiato thepositionof anelectricity-exporting country.

CompiledbySpectatorstaff

Some companies in the energy

sector in SlovakiaACEnergia, www.acenergia.skA.EnSlovensko, www.a-en.comBusinessCommercial Finance, www.bcf.skEZSlovensko, www.cez.skElgas, www.elgas.skEnergetickCentrum, www.e-centrum.skEnergie2, www.energie2.skEustream, www.eustream.skGeon, www.geon.skKomunalEnergy, www.komunal-energy.skLumiusSlovakia, www.lumius.cz/skNafta, www.nafta.skMagnaE.A., www.magnaea.skNuclearDecommissioningCompany(JAVYS),

www.javys.skPozagas, www.pozagas.skPower-EN, www.pow-en.skProbugas, www.probugas.sk

RWEGas Slovensko, www.rwegas.skSEPredaj, www.sepredaj.skSlovakPowereXchange, www.spx.skSlovakiaEnergy, www.slovakia-energy.skSlovenskElektrrne (SE), www.seas.skSlovenskPlynrensk Priemysel(SPP),www.spp.skSolar Time, www.solartime.skStredoslovenskEnergetika(SSE),www.sse.skVaaEnergia, www.vasaenergia.skVchodoslovenskEnergetika(VSE), www.vse.skZpadoslovenskEnergetika (ZSE),www.zse.sk

Sources:TheSlovakSpectatordatabases,companywebsites, Smedaily

Institutions and organisations in the

energy sector in Slovakia

Statebodies:Ministryof Economy, www.economy.gov.skRegulatoryOffice forNetworkIndustries (RSO),

www.urso.gov.skSlovakElectricityTransmission System(SEPS),

www.sepsas.skNuclearRegulatoryAuthority(JD), www.ujd.gov.skSlovak Innovation andEnergyAgency(SIEA),

www.siea.sk

Industryassociations:SlovakGasandOilAssociation, www.sgoa.skAssociation ofEntrepreneurs inWasteManagement(APOH),www.apoh.sk

Diversifying natural gassources and routes

SINCEthe naturalgas crisisinJanuary 2009, when Russiangas flowing via Ukraine wascompletely halted, concernsabout the availability of nat-ural gasareraised beforeeachwinter heating season. WhileUkraine has reassured Slov-akia that its supply will re-maintrouble-freethiswinter,Slovakia has continued to ex-pandits gasstoragecapacitiesandextendits distribution in-frastructure to give the coun-try more options in the eventofsupplyproblems.

I received an unambigu-ous answer that Ukraine willd el iv er the c on trac ted

amounts of gas,stated SlovakForeign Affairs MinisterMikul Dzurinda, as quotedby the TASR newswire, aftermeeting Ukrainian PrimeMinister Mykola Azarov onSeptember 5. Azarov gaveDzurinda assurances that

Ukraine will be a reliable part-ner and that the 2009 crisis

will not be repeated. Earlier inSeptember the Economy Min-istry assured citizens that the

country is prepared for the winter season and for anycrisisthatmightemerge.

In the event of supplyproblems from the east, theministry said Slovakia couldrely on natural gas stored inunderground storage facilities

in western Slovakia, as well ason alternative supply con-tracts that the countrys gasutility, SPP, signed with E.ONRuhrgas and GDF Suez after

the 2009 crisis, the SITAnewswire wrote. Consump-tion of natural gas last year inSlovakia amounted to 5.7 bil-lion cubic metres, and about98 percent of that was impor-ted, the Economy Ministry re-ported.

N af ta, t he bi gg es tSlovakias gas storage com-pany, is continuingto boostcapacity to ensure thewider availabilityof natural

gas. It recently completedthe second and most im-portant phase of a new gasstorage facility near the vil-lage of Gajary in BratislavaRegion.

SeeGASpg8

Thecentralareaof Nafta'sGajary-Bdenfacility. Photo:Jana Liptkov

Nuclear plant stress tests continue

THE DISASTER at the Fukushima nucle-ar power plant in Japan in March,which wascaused byan earthquakeandsubsequent tsunami, raised the ques-tion of the safety of nuclear powerplants worldwide. In response, the op-erators of nuclear plants within theEuropean Union were required to un-dertake comprehensive risk and safetyassessments under the supervision oftheir national regulatory authorities. InSlovakia, these are being done bySlovensk Elektrrne (SE), the operatorof nuclear power plants in JaslovskBohunice and Mochovce, under the su-pervision of Slovakias Nuclear Regulat-ory Authority (JD). In mid September,

the authority delivered to the EuropeanCommission its interim national reporton stress tests of the countrys nuclearpower plants. The deadline for submit-ting the closing national report isDecember31.

The power plants subject to the testsare the two units of the Jaslovsk Bohu-nice V2 nuclear power plant and the twooperating units at the Mochovce nuclearpowerplant,plusthetwofurtherunitsinMochovce which are currently underconstruction. All the nuclear powerplants in Slovakia have so far passed allthe tests, a result which came as no sur-prisetotheJD.

The stress tests have not identifiedany deficiencies requiring immediate

remedial measures or a shutdown of op-erating nuclear power plants, the JDwrote in its press statement. The re-sponse of the tested power plants to thestress tests corresponds with the re-quiredsafetylevel.

Peter Uhrk, chief executive of theJD, said on September 14, when the in-terimreportwassentto Brussels,thathisorganisation is convinced that the nucle-ar power stations in Slovakia are robustenough, but that the tests had shownspace for improvement and that author-

ity did not therefore consider them tohavebeen useless or worthless.These tests have shown that it is ne-

cessary to test some non-standard routesand have highlighted what a nuclearpower station needs to have in place inorder to be supplied with electricity, be-causeone of theworstpossibleevents fora nuclear power station is when it losesits power supply, a situation known as astation blackout.

Whatarestresstestsfornuclearpower stations?

After the Fukushima disaster, in which a major earthquake and sub-sequent tsunami disabled the power sup-ply and cooling to three reactors leadingto a nuclear accident, the European

Council on March 24 and 25 declared thatthe safetyof allEUnuclearplants should be reviewed, on the basis of a compre-hensive and transparent risk assess-ment",whichit dubbed stresstests.

SeeNPPpg11

BYJANALIPTKOV

Spectatorstaff

6

CAREERS

Next issue:BUSINESS FOCUS

ENERGY

October 10 16, 2011

All Slovakias plants

have passed so far

Slovak firm also

expands its gas

storage capacity

BY JANALIPTKOVSpectator staff

JaslovskBohunice. Photo:Jana Liptkov

Harnessingthe sunonmarginal land

Understanding householdelectricity prices


7/16

NGO says pipeline route is dangerous

A CIVICorganisationthat isopposed to theplannedcon-structionof an oilpipeline

between Slovakiaand Aus-triaacrossitn Ostrov, thebiggest freshwaterreservoirincentralEurope,saysaleakeddocumentit receivedsets forthwhatit calledanoutrageousroutefor thepipeline.

Accordingto informa-tion from thematerial wehave,the Bratislava-Schwechatpipeline willlead rightbelowthewin-dowsof Bratislavaresidents, saidTomMikulec, the vice-chairmanofthe Noto thePipelineThrough itnOstrovNGOon October 3, stating thattheyreceivedthe Economy

Ministry'sdocument froman anonymoussource,theTASRnewswirewrote.

Accordingto theNGO,thepipeline,to bebuiltbySlovakiasTranspetrolcom-panyand AustriasOMV,

would runalong BratislavasEinsteinovastreetinPetralkain onevariant,and

alongDolnozemskstreetina second variant.

Bothroutes endanger

water resources,saidMikulec,adding thatneithervariantis acceptabletotheNGO.

SlovakiasEconomyMin-istryrespondedthat noneoftheten proposedroutes forthepipelinegoes viaitnOstrovandthatit hasmettherequirementsit prom-ised,addingthat theministrystop priority is en-ergysecurity forSlovakia.

Slovakiahas to secureits energysecurityin allrespects,said EconomyMinistry spokespersonDaniela Pirelov,as quoted

byTASR. Simultaneouslywewant to prevent draining

of the400-km-longDruzhbapipeline. Thus, interconnec-tion ofthe pipeline with Aus-triais inevitable.

TheSlovakgovernmentsaidthe pipelinesfinalroutehasnotbeendecidedandthecabinet is onlyscheduledtodiscuss a feasibility studyontheproject.

Integrating electricity markets

THECZECH Republic, Slov-akiaand Hungaryare coup-

lingtheirdomestic electri-citymarkets.Before theendof June2012 Hungaryplanstobecomepartof theshort-termelectricity market that

wascreated in September2009by Slovakiaand theCzech Republic, thushelp-ingto movethe centralEuropeanregionclosertotheEU's goal ofcreating aEuropean-wide energy mar-ketin 2014,theSITAnews-

wire reported,citing in-formationpublished byHospodskNoviny, aCzech financial daily,in lateSeptember.

Integration mayad-vance evenfurther nextyear

as efforts willbe directedtowardsintegrationof thecentralregionwith the

westernand northernEuropean regions.Energyspecialistsexpectthat mar-ketcoupling in Europe willfacilitatecross-border trad-ingin electricity,as wellassignificantly increasingtheliquidity of energy ex-changesin tradingday-ahead electricity.

During thefirst monthafterthe Slovakand Czech

markets werecoupled, theamount ofsold electricitydoubled,said IgorChemiinecfromOTE,the Czechelectricityandgas market operator,asquoted bythe daily.

Inan idealcase,couplingofmarketsalso leadsto uni-ficationof electricity prices.This ishow itoperates, forex-ample,betweenthe CzechRepublic andSlovakia,whereelectricity prices differ foronlya fewdaysina year.Thecoupling withthe Hungarianmarket willbe morecomplic-atedhowever,as transmis-sioncapacityacross theSlov-ak-Hungarian borderis cur-rently insufficient.A similar

problem may occurduringadditional market-couplingacrossEurope.

Yousimplycannottransmit electricitywithout

wires,stated JiStrnadfromEPS,the CzechRepublics transmission sys-temoperator.If thereistradeintegrationbut insuffi-cienttransmissioncapacit-ies,zones withdifferentprices willbe created.

Harnessing the sunon marginal land

SOLAR energy has become apopular discussion topic inSlovakia. Only recently,charges of corruption andfraud related to state supportprovided to newly-construc-ted photovoltaic power sta-tions in the form of generousfeed-in tariffs have hit theSlovak media. While invest-igation of these cases is stillcontinuing, a look at othersolar projects suggests thatthe baby should be notthrown out with the bath

water.Slovakia was one of sixEuropean countries, threefrom central and three fromsouthern Europe, whichjoined in the Photovoltaics(PVs) in Bloom Project en-titled "Farming photovoltaicflowers: a new challenge forland valorisation within astrategic eco-sustainable ap-proach to local development".Its aim was to explore how touse marginal land and terrainthat is not of agricultural use,and it concluded that it is pos-sible to produce solar energyon airports, military bases,landfill sites and swamplands. Project partners built

more than 19 megawatts-peak(MWp) of installed solarpower on marginal lands.Slovakia has various ex-amples of installation in mar-ginalareas, such as PVEDolnBar, a photovoltaic powerplant built on swampy land,with an installed capacity of 1MWp; PVE eliezovce, builton a municipaldump, with aninstalled capacity of 3 MWp;and PVE Dobin, built in anasbestos quarry, with an in-stalledcapacity of2 MWp.

The Slovak Spectatorspoke to Giorgio Dovigi, thesecretary general of the Itali-an-Slovak Chamber of Com-merce about the PVs in Bloom

Project and the harnessing ofsolarenergyin Slovakia.

The Slovak Spectator (TSS):Why and how did the Itali-an-Slovak Chamber ofCommerce became one ofthe partners in the PVs inBloomProject?

Giorgio Dovigi (GD): TheItalian-Slovak Chamber ofCommerce undertakesprojects in the field of renew-able energies not only to en-courage and support the ex-port activities of Italian andSlovak companies working inthis sector, but also becausewe really believe in the im-portance of promoting

policies related to environ-mentally-sensitive technolo-gies. We are constantly fol-lowing a series of projectsconcerning renewable energysources. At the time that we

submitted the project PVs inBloom, Slovakias solar en-ergymarketwas emerging.

TSS: What was the philo-sophy behind the PVs inBloomProject?

GD: Photovoltaic poweris a form of technology andas with all technologies itshould be applied using asustainable rationale. So weexplored how to use mar-ginal land and terrain that isnot of agricultural value,sought reasons why suchunproductive pieces of land

might not be suitable, ob-served how we would build various models, and saw what other actors were do-ingin other countries.

TSS: How did you identifysuchland in Slovakia?

GD: We visited self-gov-erning regions and had en-couraging meetings with rep-resentatives of municipal au-thorities in Slovakia, present-ing and explaining to themthe philosophy of the project.Through a series of meetings

we gained more informationaboutmarginal areas.

Contrary to the experi-ence of the rest of the project

partners, we found consider-able understanding on thepartof Slovak public authorit-ies and valued their supportfor renewable energy, eventhough recent changes in thefeed-in tariff policy in Slov-akia towards photovoltaicpower makes this industryunattractive to investors asprices have not only beendrastically reduced, but addi-tional restrictions have beenintroduced for this type of in-stallationand power.

TSS: Can you compare Slov-akia with other countriesparticipating in the PVs inBloom project in terms of

photovoltaic installationson marginal land, for in-stance in terms of the landavailableand the position ofmunicipal and other au-thorities?

GD: Considering the sizeof Slovakia, the number of in-stallationsin marginalland inour country is considerable.

We cannot in any way com-pare the results with thoseachieved by countries likeItaly and Germany, with in-stalled capacities of 2,321 MWand 7,408 MW, respectively,in 2010.

TSS: What is the role of suchprojectsin a practicalsense?

GD: The partnershipworked according to a collec-tion of EU best practices and

in the end we built 19 MWp ofphotovoltaic plants, and nego-tiated with banks and regionaladministration to get fasterapproval of licences. Our roleis to find the best solutions interms of how to work, and wedrew upon some significant

bestpractices.The project involved three

countries from central Europeand three from southernEurope in order to better com-pare technologies and prac-tices given the various solarradiation levels and naturalpotential. One added value ofthe project should be con-sidered the pulling-togethereffect on different public bod-

ies and private investors to ob-tain concrete results. WithinPVs in Bloom, 67 municipalit-iesacrossEuropewere directlyinvolved in projects focusingon the recovery of marginalareas through renewable en-ergygeneration.

We have also developed acomplete manual on adminis-trative and technical proced-ures, as well as business plansamples and calculations thatcan be found in the Slovaklanguage on the website of theproject.

TSS: The PVs in BloomProject culminated with aclosing conference in Bud-

apest on September 22.Could you please give someinteresting experiences andexamples of innovative ap-proaches presented at theconference?

GD: One of the most in-novative projects presented was about a solar plant de-veloped on a swampy dumpbyJn Oten,a solarexpertfrom the company SolarTime. The solutions used forlong-term stability of thistypeof constructionincludedthe use of additional sleevesadded to anchor screws(some anchor screws usedare up to 3 metres long), theplacement of inverters andother electrical equipment ina higher position, and the

water-protection of all cablesused so that they were certi-fied waterproof.

TSS: Taking into considera-tion the current feed-in tar-iff policy in Slovakia and re-strictions on this type of in-stallation, but also the de-creasing costs of photovol-taic generation, how would

you evaluate Slovakia as apotential destination for in-

vestment in photovoltaicplants?

GD: As of July this yearthe photovoltaic industry inSlovakia is interesting onlyfor rooftop installations up to100 kW. Such installation ofrooftop solar projects requiresmanagementof permit-grant-ing processes that generallyinvolve the power authority,

distribution companies andmunicipalities. I see Slovakiaas a market for small-scalesolar businesses, and attract-ivemostly to localinvestors.

TSS: Are you going to devel-op on the experience ob-tained through PVs inBloom?

GD: Yes. Of course, we arefollowing trends in the sectorand trying to be very active inorder to encourage local eco-nomic actors and public act-ors in the responsible use ofenergy sources as a contribu-tion to climate change issues.

As of April we have startedanother project in coopera-

tion with the partners fromPVs in Bloom. This time wewould like to develop a modelfor green-blue factories, a

benchmark for labelling in-dustrial zones and related fa-cilities that use combinedsources of renewable energyto meet their electricity andheating needs.

The PVs in Bloom Project wasfunded within the Intelligent En-ergy Europe Programme of theEuropean Commission. It wasmanaged by an international con-sortium, led by Unioncamere delVeneto (the Regional Union ofChambersof Commerceof Veneto,in north-east Italy) and composed

of nine partners from six EUcountries: Italy, Greece, Spain,Poland,Austria,and Slovakia.

To get more informationabo ut the p ro ject, go towww.pvsinbloom.eu.

BY JANALIPTKOVSpectator staff

Photovoltaic powersourcescanbe builton marginalland, likeswamps. Photo:Courtesyof SolarTime

7

FOCUSshorts

October 10 16, 2011BUSINESS FOCUS

An NGOis leading oppositionto theoil pipeline. Photo:TASR


8/16

EZ sells gas, powervia Facebook

EZSlovensko, oneof newersellersof natural gasandelectricity thatemergedafter

liberalisationof theSlovakenergy market, is nowoffer-ingto sellgas andelectricityto Slovak consumersviaFacebook,the onlinesocialnetwork.The companyhopesto captureabout 500newcustomers every day,theTASR newswirewrote inmidSeptember.

Weknow thatamongourpotentialcustomers arefans ofthe internetandso-cialnetworks, people whoprefera fast andsimple pro-cesswithoutthe needforpersonalcontact,said IgorNagyfrom EZSlovensko, asquoted by TASR.

He addedthat hiscom-

pany isthe firstsupplierintheSlovak marketthatprovides potential custom-erswiththe opportunitytochangetheirgasor electri-city supplier viaFacebook,

eventhough it continuestomaintain a network ofsalesrepresentativesas

well asa customer servicetelephone line.Thecompanynow has

three channelsto reachnewcustomers: sales representat-ives,its websiteand thetele-phoneserviceline, andit re-portsthat it has establishedcontractswith over55,000householdcustomers in thepasteight months.

EZSlovensko, anarmofa Czech energycompany,

begansupplying naturalgasand electricityin Slov-akiain July.

Thelist of alternativecompaniessupplyinggas as

well as poweralso includesVaa Energia, Energie2,

Geon,Elgas,MagnaE.A., andLumius Slovakia, theSmedailyreported in lateSeptember.

CompiledbySpectatorstaff

Understanding electricity prices

TOHELP householdelectri-

cityconsumers become moreknowledgeableabout thefactors that gointothe finalpricethey pay forelectricity,

www.energia.sk,an internetportalfocusing on energyis-sues,has prepareda specialsection on its websitethatexplains theindividual partsthat addupto a consumersfinalmonthlyelectricitybill.

Thepriceof electricityasa commoditymakes upless than one-halfof thefi-nal,or integratedprice,thatelectricity consumerspay intheirbills,said Michal Hu-dec, thecreator ofthe newserviceand publisherof theenergia.skwebsite, in ex-

plaining whyhe developedtheinformation. Therestconsists of costslinkedwithtransmissionand distribu-tionof electricity andvari-ousadditionalfees,for ex-ampleto support develop-mentof renewableenergyresourcesand to exploit theuseof browncoalin theeco-nomicinterests of thestate,as wellas fordecommission-ingof nuclearpower stationsownedby thestate,theA1andV1 unitsin JaslovskBohunice.

Thegoalof Hudecs initi-ativeis to provide electricityconsumers withinforma-tionthatshowshowthese

variousfactorsaffectthefi-nal price.Thefinalprice for

household electricitycon-sists of sixcostfactors,withthepriceof theelectricityit-selfandfeesfor itstransmis-sion and distributionac-counting forthe largestpor-tion. Buttheactualfinalcostfor eachindividualfactoralsovaries accordingto theconsumptioncategoryof a

householdandthereare six

of thesecategories.Thecost of generatedelectricity acquiredvia theEuropean EnergyExchange(EEX)accountsfor34 to53percent ofthe totalpricetoconsumersand thefees fortransmissionand distribu-tion rangefrom16 percent to45percentof thetotalprice.

A tariff foroperationofthesystem,which isto coverthecosts forthe electricitymarket operator,plus addi-tionalfeesto support devel-opment of renewable energyresourcesand combinedpro-duction of electricity andheat,and otherstateenergypoliciesaddsfrom8 to12

percent tothe finalpriceforhouseholdconsumers.A tariff forsystem ser-

vicesrangesfrom5 to7 per-centand includesthe costsformaintenance of voltageandfrequency within theelectrical grid. Another feeisassessedto coverelectricitylosses during distribution,andaccounts for6 to9 per-cent ofthe finalbill.

Thelast item isa feethatallconsumerspay tothe Na-tionalNuclear Fundfor de-commissioning of nuclearfacilities;it accounts for2percent ofthe bill forallhouseholdcategories.

Valueaddedtax of20

percent isalsoaddedto thefinalpricefor electricity.Thenew website uses

dataprovidedby SlovakiasRegulatory Officefor Net-

workIndustries(RSO)andStredoslovensk Energetika,oneof Slovakiasthreemainelectricitydistributorsthosethat were operating inthemarketbeforeitsliberal-isation isa partnerwiththewebsite.

8 BUSINESS FOCUSOctober 10 16, 2011

GAS: Nord Stream opensContinuedfrompg6

On September 6 the com-pany officially openedits con-trol centre for the new facil-

ity. The company has spent106 million so far on theproject, which should becompleted in 2014 at an over-allcostof 166million.

By opening the Gajary-Bdenproject,which ispartofthe up and running Lb com-plex of storage facilities,Naftas storage capacity willincrease to 2.5 billion cubicmetres, saidAlexanderSpies,chairman of Naftas board ofdirectors at the opening ce-remony. This represents afull 50 percent rise [in capa-city] within one decade, from2003to 2014.

Nafta initiated the Gajary-Bden project in response to

increased market demandandwhenthe entireproject isfinished it will add about 500million cubic metres of stor-agecapacity.

In addition to the im-proved security of gas sup-plies, the importance of theGajary-Bden project lies inthesupportof a liberalisedgasmarket, thus strengtheningthe position of Naftas storagefacilities in the centralEuropean energy industry,saidMartin Holl, Naftas CEOat theopening.

The role of undergroundnatural gas storage facilitiesis to balance the seasonal dif-ferences in gas consumption

between summer and winterseasons. It has even morestrategic importance in Slov-akia since gas supplies enter-ing the country are not verydiversified. With the chan-ging environment in the en-ergy market, Nafta earlierthis year developed new stor-age possibilities for its cus-tomers by allowing them toinject and withdraw gas andto changetheir entry andexitpoints at any time during theyear, according to a companypressrelease.

The significance ofNaftas expansion project interms securing the reliabilityof gas supplies in central and

eastern Europe has been re-cognised by the EuropeanCommission, the companyadded. The EC provided agrant of 3 million that wasused to interconnect Naftasfacilities in Lb and Gajary-Bden, adding new entry andexit points to the existingtransmission system.

Storinggas underground

The new gas storage facil-ity in Gajary-Bden is locatedat a depth of 1,800 metres andis actually positioned directlybelow the Lb storage facilityknownasUGSLb3.

The challenge was that

our biggest storage area islocated at a depth of 600metres and we had to drillthrough it, said LadislavGoryl, the head of Naftas un-derground storage facilities

division, while showing apiece of rock from the geolo-gical deposit, which has 20percent porosity, and actu-allystoresthegas.

Goryl explained that thedevelopment of any under-ground gas reservoir depends

on the parameters of the rockdeposit where the storage fa-cility is to be build, addingthat a high-standard reser-

voir should be sufficientlyporous as well as permeablesothat gascanbe injectedand

withdrawnmost easily. Addi-tionally, the reservoir must

be geologically well-sealed toretainthegas.

Diversifyinggas supplies

Russia is diversifying itsavailable transmission routesfor natural gas exports and inSeptember started addingnatural gas to the first of twoplanned Nord Strea m

pipelines that both bypassUkraine. Commercial opera-tion is expected in earlyNovember. This 7.4-billionproject includes two roughlyparallel pipelines constructedacross the Baltic Sea with anannual capacity of 55 billioncubicmetresofgas.

NordStreamisthe biggestenergy project in Europe, theTASRnewswirewrote,and byconstructing these routesRussia will bypass all othercountries and have a directconnection into westernEurope.

The Nord Stream project will likely impact the gastransmission system across

Slovakia operated and main-tained by Eustream, a subsi-diary of SPP. That transmis-sion system has an annualcapacity of more than 90 bil-lioncubicmeters.

Everything is proceedingin linewithour forecastsince2008, Vahram Chuguryanfrom Eustream told The Slov-ak Spectator. Despite thenegativeshort-term effectwefirmly believe that the grow-ing role of gas in the EUs en-

ergy policy, as well as recog-nitionof natural gas asan en- vironmentally-friendly fuel, will lead to a strengthenedrole for Eustreams gastransmission system in themedium and long-term hori-zon and that the short-termdrop [in gas transmission]

willbe compensated.Eustream is also actively

constructing new intercon-nections with other naturalgas pipelines such as theSlovak-Hungarian gas inter-connector.

The strategic importanceof the project lies in ensuringaccess to the new sources ofgas supply in the form of a

bridgehead to the plannedSouth Stream and Nabuccopipelines and to the LNG ter-minal in Croatia, Chuguryanadded. Furthermore, we are

working on introduction ofnew market products such asday-ahead flexible booking as

well as introduction of a na-tionalvirtualtradingpoint.

Construction of the Slov-ak-Hungarian gas intercon-nector was advanced recently

when a memorandum of un-derstanding was signed inearly September by represent-atives of Eustream andOrszgos Villamostvvezetk(OVIT), a member of the MVMGroup and a leading player in

theenergysectorinHungary.The interconnectingpipeline is expected to be inoperation by January 2015 and

will have a length of about 115kilometres, connecting the

high-pressure gas transmis-sionsystem in Vek ZlievceinSlovakia with the Hungariannetwork near the village of

Vecss in the suburbs of Bud-

apest. The total investment isexpectedto bemorethan100million, of which the EU willprovide about 30 millionfrom its EuropeanEnergy Pro-grammeforRecovery.

KarelHirman,the directorof theEnergyPolicy Section atthe Slovak Innovationand En-ergy Agency (SIEA), expectsthat the launch of the NordStream pipelines will reducegastransitingSlovakia.

The long-term contracton gas transmission via Slov-akia signed in 2008 withGazexport already plannedon the launch [of NordStream], Hirman told TheSlovak Spectator. Thus, it is

possible to really expect thatduringthe next twoyears thetransmission of gas via theUkrainian-Slovak transmis-sioncorridor willdecreasere-latively notably due to NordStream, into which Gazprom

will redirect not a small por-tionofitsgassupply.

Hirman added that cur-rent developments in the gasmarket in the EU, which donot confirm therapid increasein consumptionof Russiangasthat had been predicted whenthe German-Russian con-tracts were signed, also indic-atethattherewillbe some fal-loffin gastransitingSlovakia.

In addition to the Nord

Stream project, the SouthStream pipeline is planned totransportRussian natural gasacross the Black Sea to Bul-garia and then on to Greece,Italy and Austria, as well asthe Nabucco pipeline that

will run from Erzurum inTurkey to Austria, both of

which will further diversifynatural gas suppliers and de-liveryroutes in Europe.

Construction of SouthStream, a newroutefromRus-sia to the European Union

which would bypass theUkrainian-Slovak corridorfrom the south, is mainly apolitical project under thecurrentsituationin theEU gas

market, andits primary goalisto solve disputed issues between the Russian Federa-tion and Ukraine, Hirmanstated. Nabucco is also fornow more a political project,even though at question inthis case is gaining access tonew, highly-prospective nat-ural gas deposits in central

Asiafor EUmarkets.Hirman believes it im-

possible at this time to pre-dict the impact of theseprojects on the transmissionroute across Slovakia butthinks that building newpipelines into the EU shouldnot have a duplicative char-acter and that the EU should

support their constructiononly when they secure a newsource of gas or they create anew transmission route thatcan be used to cover increas-ing consumption.

Samplesof themineraldeposits inwhichnaturalgas is storedinundergroundreservoirs. Photo:Jana Liptkov

FOCUSshorts


9/16

9ADVERTISEMENT October 10 16, 2011

SP90525/2

ENERGY FORTHE ENVIRONMENTENERGY FOR THE COUNTRY

Slovensk elektrrne, a subsidiary of theEnel group, have installed new solar panelsat Tryho chata (Trys Hut). Their ratedoutput is 9 kWp and will signicantlyimprove the operational comfort and servicelevel. Compared to power generation by adiesel-generator, this will save up to 6 tonsof carbon dioxide emissions.

After more than 110 years, Tryho chata hasbecome a graphic example of clean energyin the valley of Mal studen dolina.


10/16

DEAL: Coalition parties react cautiouslyContinuedfrompg1

The ruling coalitionparties are against Slovakiasparticipation in the ESM,states the draft addendumpublished by the Sme daily.

In the event that it rejects it,Slovakia would not block oth-er countries since 95 percentof the capital is enough for itto be approved.

Slovakias representativeto the EFSF scheme, MartinBruncko, would be bound bythe decision of the committeeand Slovakia would thus beable to block loans to particu-larcountries.

As part of the deal, rulingcoalition parties would agreeto abstain from individualparty campaigns over thebailout issue.

The largest party in theruling coalition, the SlovakDemocratic and Christian

Union (SDK), was not par-ticularly forthcoming withcomments on the proposal,saying that Prime MinisterRadiov was negotiatingwith SaS andthatit wouldnotcomment before she did.Radiov, a member of theSDK, did not attend the Oc-tober 6 meeting of the Coali-tion Council, which was ori-ginally scheduled to discussthe revisedstatebudget.

Bla Bugr of Most-Hdsaid that while his party maysupport the creation of acommittee, its make-upmighthave to be discussed.

However, none of the rul-ing coalition parties rejected

theSaSproposalout ofhand.Fico, by contrast, immedi-ately denounced the proposal,calling it one of the greatestfrauds committed on Slovakvoters and promising that hisparty would never nominateanyone to such a committee,asreportedby SITA.

It is a decent proposalwhich protects the money ofSlovak taxpayers, and at thesame time does not block oth-er countries of the eurozoneand thus I hope it will beaccepted, said Speakerof Par-liament and SaS leaderRichard Sulk,who onOctober6 also formally summonedthenext session of parliament for

October 11 and made the euro-zone bailout vote the firstitemup for discussion.

Sulks October 6 com-ments came as something of acontrast to his words a day

earlier, when he said he didnot see any solution in sightthat would be acceptable tohisparty.

In [its current] form wewill certainly not support the bailout because it wouldmassively damage Slovaktaxpayers, Sulk said on Oc-tober 5, as quoted by the SITAnewswire. He added that therestof theruling coalitionhaddeliveredon itspromise toen-sure that Slovakia wasthe lasteurozone country to vote onthebailoutdeal.

Regarding the October 11vote, Sulksaidthathe hadnoreason to delay the vote nowas it would be unfair to other

countries.The leaders of two othercoalition parties Jan Fige ofthe Christian DemocraticMovement (KDH) and Bugrof Most-Hd said there wasstill room to negotiate withSulk, stressing on October 4that it was in Slovakias in-terest to preserve the stabilityof theeurozone.

Dont be penny wise andpound foolish, Fige said, asquoted by SITA, in support ofhis argument that Slovakiashould be more concerned

withthe huge sums itreceivesfromthe European Union.

Nevertheless, both theKDH and Most-Hd have

stated openly that if the rul-ing coalition fails to approvethe bailout on its own, con-tinuing to govern mightthen prove problematic andthe government could hardly

continue without significantchanges.Im sure that a solution is

at hand, Fige said, as quotedby the TASR newswire. But ifit becomes clear that this isnot possible, an early election

will be one of the possiblesolutions.

Fico predicted on October 5that SaS would end up votingin favour of the enlarged EFSFdespite itsvocal disagreement.

IfSaS finds anexcuseandpresents it as a compromisethat has allowed it to back theEFSF, the party will violate allits promises, Fico said, as re-portedby TASR. Wevegot in-formation that SaS is looking

foran excuse.Fico addedthatthis might involve Sulk vot-ingagainstEFSF,withthe restofthe SaScaucusbackingit.

Sulk wasquick to respondthat Fico had no such inform-ation. He said his party wouldtry to demonstrate that it isnot the only group in Europe

which opposes the European bailout schemes. To this end,he invited a deputy fromGermanys ruling coalitionFree Democratic Party (FDP),Frank Schaeffler, who inSulks words has been organ-ising resistance to the bailoutin Germany, SITAreported.

Fico also said that he haddiscussed the EFSF issue

with foreign partners anddiplomats in Slovakia.

They all unambiguouslyconfirmed that Radiov liedto S lovakia w hen sheclaimed that she was negoti-

ating a compromise forSlovakia, Fico asserted, asquoted by SITA. All, includ-ing Angela Merkel, toldRadiov that no comprom-isesexist.

Fico did not name any ofthe diplomats he had spokento and Radiovs spokesmanRado Bao told Sme that theGovernment Office wouldnotrespondto Ficosclaims.

Radiov spoke to Merkelin Warsaw on September 30at a meeting of Europeanleaders. She described thetalks as very open discus-sions.I informed them aboutmy perspective on solutions

which could be anacceptable

compromise for my coalitionpartner, [and] which wouldmean that it [the partner]

would not have to change itsopinion and stance on thisissue.accordingto TASR.

Radiov restated onSeptember 30 that she has anobligation, after the bailoutsystem had been ratified bythe other 16 eurozone coun-tries, to ensure that Slovakiadid not block the process andat the same time the condi-tions set for fulfilling the

bailout meant very respons-ible handling of our guaran-tees and our position withinEurope and our possibilitiesfor economicgrowth.

SaSleaderRichardSulk,party caucus chiefJozef Kollr andLabourMinisterJozefMihl(l-r) alongwithotherSaS membershavevowed tostand united during thebailoutnegotiations. Photo:Sme

FUNDS: Boostingresearch activityContinuedfrompg3

Environment, biomedicine

andIT

Various kindsof projectsarepartof theBratislavaSci-ence City idea buttheyallfo-cuson three fields envir-onmental issues, biomedi-cineand informationtech-nology because both UKandSTU havespecialisedfacultiesin thesefields loc-atedinSTUscampus inMlynsk Dolinaandat SAVsofficesand laboratoriesinPatrnka.

Jaromr Pastorek, thehead ofSAV,said hisinstitu-tion plansto focuson devel-opmentof materials techno-logyand biomedicinewithin

BratislavaScienceCity.[Approval of] projects isbasedon sustainability,topresearch, participationin in-ternationalconsortiums, es-pecially thosewithin theEUsframework projects,andcooperationwith do-mesticas well asforeignre-searchinstitutionsandcompanies,PastorektoldThe Slovak Spectator.

MiietaexplainedthatComenius Universitywouldlike tofocusmostly onmo-lecular andenvironmentalmedicine andbiotechnologyandexpectsto bringthe res-ults ofthe researchintoprac-ticalapplication.

We wantthese projectsto solveissues comprehens-ively,not onlytheir medical-scientificpart buttheir soci-etaland humanitarianpartas well, Miietasaid.

STUplans todivide fundsitcouldreceivefromthe EUamongvariousprojects, suchas informationscienceandinformationand communic-ationtechnologies,includ-ing electronics,automationand nanotechnologies.

We assumethatMlynsk Dolina willbecomethemecca ofSlovak ITre-search, developmentand in-dustryas some kindof centreof collocation, Redhammer

toldThe SlovakSpectator,adding thatprivate compan-ieswillbe welcome toparti-cipatein theresearch. Hesaid a secondpackageoffunding couldgo towardsre-searchon renewable energysources andflood preventionsystems.

Bureaucracyas abarrier

EducationMinister Eu-gen Jurzyca toldthe parlia-mentarycommittee for edu-cation, science, youngpeopleand sportin earlySeptember thatSlovakiawilldrawall availablefunds fromthisEU operationalpro-

grammeon time.But theheadsof thethreeinstitu-tionsinvolvedin BratislavaScience Citysaythata prob-lemis bureaucracysurround-ing the applicationprocess.

The biggestandthemostillogicalproblemis thehigh rigidnessusedby na-

tionalauthorities in inter-pretation of Brusselsregulations, RedhammertoldThe Slovak Spectator.Itmeansthatwe have toprovethatall rules, includingtheSlovak ones,have beenobserved.He addedthat an-otherproblem isthe finan-cialmotivationof employeesin the governmentinstitu-tionsthat naturallyforcesthem tofindas many mis-takesin theapplication aspossible.

TheEUsruleson grantsfromsomeof itsstructuralfundsrestrictregions witheconomic performance

Slovak Spectator 1735

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Transcript of Slovak Spectator 1735