MAJOR
CHANGES
On sale now
NEWS
A year of elections
The economic crisis and elec-
tions will most significantly
shape the behaviour of the
main actors on the Slovak
political scene in 2010. Polit-
ical analysts make their pre-
dictions for the year ahead.
pg 3
New Year's 'lament'
Observers agree that there
was little point in President
Ivan Gašparovič delivering a
New Year's address of the kind
he gave to the nation at the
start of this year.
pg 2
OPINION
Origin-of-assets saga
What prompts two politicians
from opposing political camps
to submit very similar legisla-
tion at almost exactly the
same time, less than half a
year before the national vote?
pg 5
BUSINESS
Prospects for business
The Slovak Spectator spoke to
Juraj Karpiš, an analyst with
the Institute of Economic and
Social Studies (INESS) think
tank about his views on
Slovakia’s economic pro-
spects, state spending and ad-
option of the euro.
pg 3
BUSINESS FOCUS
Bills adopted in 2009
The global economic down-
turn was the main factors af-
fecting Slovakia last year. In
order to mitigate its impacts
and boost the country’s eco-
nomy, the Slovak government
adopted a series of anti-crisis
packages, including new le-
gislation.
pg 6
CULTURE
Bridging barriers
Aven Romale was an outdoor
photographic exhibition on
the New Bridge , which dur-
ing December displayed the
works of young Roma artists
from Košice.
pg 15
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Vol. 16, No. 1 Monday, January 11, 2010 - Sunday, January 17, 2010
Truck drivers briefly blocked a main road leading into Bratislava on the morning of Thursday, January 7, in protest at the new
electronic road-toll system introduced at the beginning of the year. Further protests are planned.
Highway toll system
experiences shaky start
SLOVAKIA’S electronic highway toll
collection mega-project has been
bumpy from its very inception. Never-
theless, the system – with a price tag
of over €850 million – began opera-
tions on January 1, 2010. While its op-
erator calls the launch of e-toll collec-
tion successful and problem-free,
transporters and truck drivers lining
up in 10-hour queues at border cross-
ings are frustrated and are calling the
launch a chaotic failure.
Operators of vehicles heavier than
3.5 tonnes, buses and other vehicles
holding more than nine people includ-
ing the driver, are now charged by the
kilometre for driving on a total of 2,032
One year with euro passes troublefree
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff
IN ONE SENSE, 2009 was the year of
the economic downturn in Slovakia
and “economic crisis” was one of the
most frequently used expressions in
media reports last year. However, it
HUF 270.30 wasn’t just a year of crisis; it was also
JPY 133.50 Slovakia’s first year using the com-
PLN 4.12 mon European currency, the euro.
USD 1.43 Back in 2008, many people were
concerned about potential price hikes
as one of the side-effects of the new
currency, which replaced the Slovak
crown used for the previous 15 years.
But the impact of euro adoption
on prices turned out to be negligible.
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff
kilometres of Slovak highways and
first-class roads. Highway transport-
ers have been calling on the state to
suspend the system’s operation for six
months, saying it has not been suffi-
ciently prepared.
The Union of Road Carriers (UNAS)
launched a petition on January 4 de-
manding that the state cut its excise
tax on fuels as well as its road tax as a
form of compensation for what they
A year after the switch, it seems that
Slovaks have made their adjustments
to the euro without major problems
and that the majority of the popula-
tion feels positively about the euro.
State officials, economists and ob-
servers agree that the country has
handled the transition to the euro ex-
ceptionally well.
“Slovakia has adopted the euro
with admirable ease and without
problems. No systemic problems or
complications have emerged,” the
former government plenipotentiary
for adoption of the euro, Igor Barát,
told The Slovak Spectator.
He added that surveys show even
public perceptions of the switch to
the euro are significantly positive,
making Slovakia an exception among
adopting countries.
Photo: Sme - Pavol Funtál
call far too expensive highway tolls.
The union is also demanding that the
state clearly marks the toll-road sec-
tions and has called on Slovakia’s par-
liament to meet promptly in a special
session to discuss their demands.
If the union finds a deaf ear with
the government, the transporters say
they are ready to beef up their protest
activities around Slovakia.
The road carriers had originally
threatened to gather at petrol stations
and discuss their demands at these
sites, but no major public protests
were reported.
See QUEUE pg 4
“Slovakia will enter economics
textbooks as a showcase example of
how and why adoption of the com-
mon currency can benefit a small,
open – i.e. export-driven – economy,
especially when over one half of its
exports are destined for customers
in the eurozone,” Volksbank chief
analyst Vladimír Vaňo told The Slov-
ak Spectator.
Three quarters of Slovaks regard
the switch from the Slovak crown to
the euro positively, with younger
people tending to have the most
positive attitude towards the euro,
according to a survey conducted in
October 2009 by the Institute of Pub-
lic Affairs (IVO) and polling agency
Focus.
See €pg 12
IN LEGISLATION
from page 6
FOCUS
of this issue
Slovak police
foul-up leads
to Irish alert
Border police mistakenly
plant explosive on plane
BY MICHAELA STANKOVÁ
Spectator staff
A BIZZARE story has emerged involving a
bungled airport security operation at the in-
ternational airport in Poprad, north-eastern
Slovakia, which resulted in high explosive be-
ing inadvertently smuggled into Ireland on
board a flight to Dublin over the New Year
period. It came only days after the failure of
an alleged terrorist plot to detonate a device on
an international flight from Amsterdam to De-
troit, which was supposed to have led to in-
creased vigilance at airports worldwide.
Amid heated discussion about the renewed
terrorist threat and the need for stricter air-
port controls and body scanners, the story of a
man unwittingly transporting highly danger-
ous explosive, which had been planted in his
luggage by Slovak police, by plane from Slov-
akia to Ireland immediately hit the headlines
around the world. As The Slovak Spectator
went to print the affair had already resulted in
the resignation of a senior police officer.
According to Slovak police, during a
routine training exercise involving police dogs
at Poprad Airport on January 2, an officer from
the Slovak Border and Foreigners’ Police put
two pieces of a high explosive, hexogen (RDX),
which experts say is more powerful than TNT,
among the luggage of passengers travelling on
a Danube Wings airline flight from Poprad to
Dublin, Ireland.
See RDX pg 2
Budget deficit
triples from
original plan
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff
LAST year’s economic downturn has taken a
hefty toll on state coffers. While the actual
state budget deficit at the end of 2009 was
slightly less than the government’s October
budget revision had planned, the final amount
of red ink is almost three times more than the
original 2009 budget deficit planned by the
government of Prime Minister Robert Fico.
The state deficit amounted to €2.791 billion
as of December 31, 2009 while the October
budget revision had projected a deficit of
€3.154 billion. The original budget for the state
for 2009 assumed a deficit of only €1.009 bil-
lion, according to Slovakia’s Finance Ministry.
“The deficit was better than the projec-
tions of the revised budget, which can be at-
tributed to savings in current capital
expenditures,” Finance Ministry spokesman
Miroslav Šmál told the SITA newswire.
See STATE pg 12
2 January 11 – 17, 2010
NEWS in short
Origin of assets bill on agenda again
THE UPCOMING parliament
session will deal with two
drafts pertaining to individuals
proving the origin of their
property. One of the drafts was
submitted by Prime Minister
Robert Fico and the second by
Daniel Lipšic from the Christi-
an Democratic Movement
(KDH). They both want to make
a so-called small amendment to
the Slovak Constitution, which
would require a super-majority
of three-fifths of the parlia-
mentary deputies and thus
votes from deputies of coalition
and opposition parties, the
SITA newswire reported.
Previous attempts to adopt
such a bill were not successful;
the last attempt from 2005 was
ruled unconstitutional by the
OSCE okays language law guidelines
AFTER the guidelines to
Slovakia’s controversial State
Language Act became effective
on January 1, Knut Vollebaek,
the High Commissioner on Na-
tional Minorities for the Organ-
isation for Security and Co-op-
eration in Europe (OSCE),
whose office was involved in
drafting the guidelines, issued
a statement in which he ex-
pressed his approval of them.
“The text of the Principles
underwent a number of
changes in the process of
adoption,” Vollebaek wrote in a
statement dated January 4.
“However, I welcome the adop-
tion of the Principles, since
they provide the needed guid-
ance for applying the provi-
sions of the amended State
Language Law and for oversee-
ing the implementation of the
obligations it establishes.”
The Government Principles
for the Implementation of the
State Language Law provide for
respect for non-discrimination
and proportionality and should
thus safeguard the right of per-
sons belonging to national
minorities to use their mother
tongue in the private and pub-
Čaplovič wants more boarding schools
SLOVAKIA’S Deputy Prime
Minister for a Knowledge-
Based Society, European Af-
fairs, Human Rights and
Minorities, Dušan Čaplovič,
plans to open three or four ad-
ditional boarding schools for
Roma children in cooperation
with the Education Ministry by
the end of this election term in
June 2010, the SITA newswire
reported.
Čaplovič believes that the
talents of many Roma children
are not sufficiently developed
in their domestic environment
and thinks that primary and
secondary boarding schools
would give the children a
chance for a better life.
Presently there is one
eight-year secondary grammar
boarding school in Slovakia.
Čaplovič, who is proud of this
first project, considers it to be a
success that this school re-
mained open after it was relo-
cated first from Zvolen, then to
Lučenec, and now to Kremnica.
Constitutional Court. In re-
sponse to the court’s decision,
both Fico and Lipšic propose to
incorporate an article on prop-
erty rights into the Slovak Con-
stitution.
Lipšic opposes Fico’s idea
that the law should apply only
to personal assets acquired
after 1990 but he has not ruled
out agreement with Fico’s Smer
party on this aspect of the law.
If the cabinet approves the
prime minster’s draft at its first
session on January 13, it could
be placed on the parliamentary
agenda in February, SITA repor-
ted. Fico expects his coalition
partners to back the proposal
because such a bill is in the
government’s programme
statement.
lic sphere, Vollebaek wrote.
Vollebaek expects the Slov-
ak authorities to closely monit-
or and evaluate the imple-
mentation of the State Lan-
guage Law, particularly with
regard to the imposition of
fines in order to avoid undue
limitations on the use of minor-
ity languages, and he said he
intends to remain engaged on
this matter “until the balance
between strengthening the
State language and protecting
minority rights is achieved”.
The Slovak ministers of for-
eign affairs and culture wel-
comed the statement as con-
firmation of the state’s asser-
tion that the language law is
justified while simultaneously
respecting standards for the
use of minority languages,
SITA reported.
The Hungarian Coalition
Party (SMK), which has con-
sistently opposed the revised
law, by contrast said that the
statement by Vollebaek de-
mands that the Slovak gov-
ernment adopt an improved
law on the use of minority lan-
guages and passes a complex
act on minorities, SITA wrote.
The NGO Amnesty Interna-
tional Slovakia disagrees with
Čaplovič and says the concept
of boarding schools for Roma
children does not represent an
ideal solution to the educa-
tional problems facing Roma
citizens, as boarding schools
would be available to a negli-
gible number of Roma children
and would further deepen se-
gregation of Roma children.
“We believe that the vice
prime minister’s priority until
the end of the election term
should be to admit there is se-
gregation in the Slovak educa-
tion system and to ensure pre-
cise monitoring of the ban on
segregation at Slovak schools,
rather than pursuing the idea
of boarding schools,” Branislav
Tichý, the director of Amnesty
International Slovakia, told
SITA.
Compiled by Spectator staff
from press reports
NEWS
President broadcasts
New Year ‘lament’
to believers encouraged people to
strive for greater solidarity.
BY MICHAELA STANKOVÁ
Spectator staff “We have to help each
other,” Gašparovič said. “The
state to the citizens, and the cit-
THE PRESIDENT’S address to izens to the state. Everybody
the nation on New Year’s Day wins with solidarity. Those who
has a long tradition in Slovakia, give help, and those who receive
dating back to the first it. Outreach is particularly im-
Czechoslovak Republic. Despite portant now, in this period of
that heritage, observers agree economic crisis.”
that there was little point in Politics was nearly absent
President Ivan Gašparovič de- from the president’s address. He
livering a speech of the kind he made only brief remarks related
gave to the nation at the start of to the political life of the coun-
this year; viewing figures sug- try, saying that the political sys-
gested that, in fact, few Slovaks tem in Slovakia is more favour-
seemed keen to hear what he able to political parties than to
had to say anyway. President Ivan Gašparovič addresses the nation. Photo: SITA citizens. Ahead of a year that will
The president started his ad- be marked by national elections,
dress with an account of the construction of new roads, en- He briefly mentioned the he noted how important elec-
good news that he said the past ergy self-sufficiency, and get- 20th anniversary of the Velvet tions are for a democracy.
year had brought to the country. ting local self-government Revolution that Slovaks com- “Elections are an opportun-
“We have successfully man- closer to the citizens. However, memorated in November and ity to freely express an opinion
aged the currency switchover we have not managed to get off thus concluded his attempt to about society, its politics, and
from the Slovak crown to the the ground and give a proper balance 2009. about the needs of the people.
common European currency, emphasis and tempo to lifelong He then went on to say that We should not underestimate
the euro,” he said. “We managed education, development of re- there is much work ahead of Slov- them,” said Gašparovič.
to adopt the Lisbon Treaty. We search and culture – the spiritual akia in 2010, and referred to the
have also moved ahead with world of our society.” Slovak bishops who in their letter See TV pg 13
RDX: Border Police chief resigns
Continued from pg 1 have continued flying, according to the secur- notified about the problem after a delay of two
ity rules of Czech Airlines [which operates days, after which they contributed to resolv-
The dogs succeeded in finding both Danube Wings flights].” ing the problem.
pieces, but the policeman accidentally left The head of the Slovak Border and For- Tomáš said that Kaliňák regarded the
one of them, a package containing 10 - 90g of eigners’ Police, Tibor Mako, told a press con- Chief of the Border Police Mako, who had
the substance, among the luggage. When he ference at Poprad Airport on January 6 that offered to resign, as an experienced expert
realised his mistake, he notified the airport the lives of the passengers on the plane had who had proven his worth a number of
administration but not his superiors, whom not been at risk because the explosive is not times. However, after criticism of the police
he informed only on Monday January 4, the hazardous on its own, and would require ad- and the minister mounted on Thursday,
SITA newswire reported. ditional components to function as a bomb. January 7, Kaliňák abruptly changed his
The explosive, attached to a backpack, The main Irish and world media reported mind and accepted Mako’s resignation.
was then unwittingly carried by a Slovak cit- on the incident on January 5 after the Irish po- The ministry said it had suspended the
izen back to his home in Dublin. The media lice, notified by their Slovak counterparts, kind of explosive detection training used in
reported that the passenger, who did not no- closed two streets in Dublin around the house Poprad following the incident.
tice the package, is a 49-year-old electrician where the man who unwittingly carried the Slovak opposition parties reacted imme-
working in Dublin who was returning from explosive resides and sent experts to dispose diately to the scandal with strong criticism.
his Christmas holidays in Slovakia. of the explosive. The biggest opposition party, the Slovak
The Slovak police admitted their mistake, According to the news website of Ireland’s Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), an-
but said Dublin airport had been informed public broadcaster, RTÉ, which was the first nounced it would try to initiate a session of
about the presence of the explosive on the news source to report on the incident, adjoin- the parliamentary committee on defence and
flight from Poprad and failed to find it among ing homes and businesses were evacuated security, so that deputies could hear the ex-
the passengers’ luggage upon its arrival in during the operation as the Irish Army Ex- planation of the interior minister.
Dublin. However, the Breaking News portal plosive Ordnance Disposal Unit removed the The Christian Democratic Movement
quoted a spokesperson for Dublin airport say- explosive for further analysis. The Slovak cit- (KDH) chairman Ján Figeľ called on the in-
ing that they had not received any notifica- izen was arrested at the scene, but was later terior minister to take steps to stabilise the
tion until Tuesday morning. released without being charged once Irish po- situation and then resign from his post.
The director of Poprad Airport, Ivana lice were satisfied that he was innocent. “The scandal reflects severe failures con-
Herkeľová, told The Slovak Spectator that the Mako said, as quoted by SITA, that he nected with the violation of the law, it has an
airport had informed its Irish counterpart found the actions of the Irish police surpris- international dimension and significantly
about the explosive after the departure of the ing, as his officers had informed their Irish harms Slovakia abroad,” Figeľ said, as quoted
plane. counterparts about the location of the explos- by the TASR newswire.
“The plane departed at 12:07 and the telex ive and the circumstances of how it got to Meanwhile, the world media including
message from SITA [a communication net- Dublin. the BBC, CNN, the Guardian newspaper, and
work used by airlines and airports] was sent at The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs all the leading Irish media, reported on the
12:32,” Herkeľová said. “Apart from that, we said the Slovak Minister for the Interior had story. All of them at first mistakenly identi-
contacted the captain of the aircraft after he conveyed his government's profound regret fied the Slovak airport involved to be in Bratis-
landed in Dublin and told him that we had for the incident to Irish Justice Minister lava instead of Poprad.
sent the message [to Dublin]. Dublin Airport Dermot Ahern. Ahern said he was very con- The foreign media interest was boosted by
was notified also by the crew and the second cerned about the fact that the Irish police the fact that it came only days after many
pilot of the plane was even present at the un- were not alerted for three days and has asked countries had stepped up airport security fol-
loading of the luggage. However, the explos- for a full report, RTÉ reported. lowing an alleged attempt by a passenger on a
ive sample wasn’t found.” A spokesperson for the Slovak Interior Christmas-Day flight from Amsterdam, in
However, Danube Wings issued a state- Ministry, Erik Tomáš, confirmed on January the Netherlands, to the US city of Detroit to
ment saying that the cabin crew had not been 6 that Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák had detonate explosives attached to his body.
notified about the presence of high explosive spoken with Ahern by telephone the day be- However, Herkeľová told The Slovak Spec-
on board the plane. fore and had also called the Slovak citizen in tator that the training exercise which led to
“The crew of the aeroplane was informed whose luggage the explosive was planted in the incident was not related to the events in
after departure from Poprad-Tatry Airport order to apologise to him. the USA, and that it was a routine procedure
from the control tower that a harmless “We regard the whole incident to be an by the border police.
sample for dog training remained in one piece individual professional failure of a police of- The European Commission has requested
of checked-in luggage on the plane,” the ficer for which he will most likely face a dis- information about the incident from the
statement of Danube Wings reads. “This in- ciplinary proceeding,” Tomáš wrote in a Slovak authorities and will get involved if
formation wasn’t in conflict with the security statement to the media. He also wrote that flaws are found in the actions of the Slovak po-
rules and didn’t prevent the continuation of the minister would not hold the superiors of lice, Fabio Pirotta, spokesperson for the
the flight, otherwise the pilots would not the police officer responsible, as they were European transport commissioner, said.

National elections set
to dominate 2010
Political analysts
lay out their
expectations
BY MICHAELA STANKOVÁ
Spectator staff
ANOTHER year of crisis and elec-
tions. This is how political ana-
lysts characterise the new year
of 2010, saying that the amelior-
ating the global economic crisis
and the forthcoming national
elections will most significantly
shape the decision-making and
behaviour of the main actors on
the Slovak political scene.
Political developments in
Slovakia will be framed by two
major elections. The June na-
tional parliamentary elections
come first and are expected to
cause some turmoil, though
they are not expected to bring
any significant changes to the
country’s basic political ori-
entation. Then in late autumn,
Slovaks will go to the polls
once more to elect mayors and
local parliaments for their
municipalities.
Grigorij Mesežnikov, the
president of the Institute for
Public Affairs (IVO), said the par-
liamentary elections will cer-
tainly play the dominant role in
the first half of the year.
“Topics will be selected with
regard to their potential to in-
terest the electorate,” he told
The Slovak Spectator.
The beginning of the second
half of the year will be domin-
ated by the results of that elec-
tion and the formation of a new
state-level governing coalition
and only after that will the mu-
nicipal elections become a topic
of public discussion.
“The municipal elections are
not that significant in drawing
media interest, but they are very
important for the functioning of
the state administration so the
political parties will definitely
be interested in them,”
Mesežnikov said.
The global economic crisis
will continue resonating among
Slovak society as well and it will
shape the political life of the
country much as it did in 2009.
Coalition expected to be stable
Mesežnikov does not expect
the current ruling coalition
partners, Smer, the Slovak Na-
tional Party (SNS) and the
Movement for a Democratic
Slovakia (HZDS), to change their
behaviour much because of the
approaching elections, even
though the existing coalition
treaty will no longer be binding
on the partners.
“The question is not the
formal force of the coalition
treaty, but the firmness of the
bonds between the coalition
partners – and they are very
firm,” Mesežnikov said, adding
that the members of the present
ruling coalition have a lot in
common – not only in terms of
their political and material in-
terests, but also a shared politic-
Observers predict Prime Minister Robert Fico will emerge victorious in the 2010 elections.
al culture and a common way of
dividing up public finances via
cronyism and nationalism.
“What’s relevant is that they
want to remain in power as long
as they can, at least to the end of
this election term, and to use all
the advantages that it brings and
create conditions for further co-
operation after the elections,”
Mesežnikov said.
Political analyst Miroslav
Kusý also does not believe that
differing opinions inside the rul-
ing coalition will sharpen very
much.
“The prime minister is giv-
ing hope to every party [includ-
ing the opposition parties] that
they can be a part of the future
coalition, so they will not go des-
troying their chances,” Kusý told
The Slovak Spectator. “This is his
tactic. He gives hope to every
one of them and keeps them un-
certain. He says that everything
will show after the elections and
that he will decide only then, so
now everyone wants to appear
acceptable in his eyes.”
Juraj Marušiak, a senior re-
search fellow from the Institute
of Political Sciences of the Slovak
Academy of Sciences, said, in
contrast, that relations between
the coalition parties have
already changed which has been
shown especially by Prime Min-
ister Fico’s sharp criticism and
open attacks on SNS.
“It’s hard to talk about any
force of the coalition treaty after
the SNS was stripped of the En-
vironment Ministry [due to the
emissions quotas sale and other
corruption scandals],” Marušiak
told The Slovak Spectator.
“However, I don’t expect the
HZDS and SNS to have a real in-
terest in confrontation with
Smer that would make their co-
operation after the elections
impossible.”
Smer to remain powerful
Mesežnikov says there are
three possible outcomes of the
election. Most probably, he said,
the political orientation of the
country will not change at all,
since he believes that if Smer,
HZDS and SNS get enough votes to
form a government again, none of
them will hesitate to do so.
“Smer will not hesitate for
sure,” Mesežnikov said. “After
NEWS / BUSINESS
all, it gained full membership in
the Party of European Socialists
(PES) despite being a part of this
ruling coalition [with the na-
tionalist SNS and internation-
ally-unacceptable Vladimír
Mečiar from the HZDS], and also
the corruption scandals [mostly
among its coalition partners] did
not lower Smer’s support among
the voters very much,” he said.
A second possibility which
would come into play especially
if SNS or HZDS do not garner the
5-percent voter support re-
quired to enter parliament, is
that Smer would form a coali-
tion with one or several of the
current opposition parties. In
this event, all the analysts in-
terviewed by The Slovak Spec-
tator agreed that the potential
partners could be either one of
the two ethnic Hungarian
parties or the Christian Demo-
cratic Movement (KDH).
The least probable of the
three possibilities, according to
Mesežnikov, is that a new gov-
ernment would be formed
without Smer – either of all the
centre-right parties that cross
the threshold to enter parlia-
ment, or an alliance of the cur-
rent opposition parties with
the HZDS.
According to Marušiak,
Smer is and will remain the
dominant party until the elec-
tions, as it has stable political
support, and is therefore most
likely to be the leading party in
forming the new government.
“At the moment Smer is
keeping its hands free to choose
its coalition partner(s) until
after the elections, but the fact
is that they will hardly find
more loyal partners than HZDS
and SNS,” Marušiak said. “All
the other possible partners have
a significantly higher coalition
potential, but that would mean
that they would be much more
independent from Smer and the
government would be much
more vulnerable.”
Kusý does not give much
chance to the current opposi-
tion in the 2010 elections be-
cause he says they have not
done anything to improve their
chances.
“All of them, and especially
the Slovak Democratic and
Christian Union (SDKÚ) main-
tain a passive approach, as if
Photo: SITA
they were showing that they
don’t have a chance to win
anyway, so why even try and
get bound by some alliance
agreements,” Kusý said.
He expects that the centre-
right opposition parties will
each go into the national elec-
tions on their own which he
says means that they are laying
down their weapons before the
fight even starts.
Hungarian card expected again
Experts also agree that the
national elections in Hungary,
planned for the spring of 2010,
will have an impact on Slovak
politics as well and may cause
tensions in Slovak-Hungarian
relations to escalate again.
“At the moment I have a
feeling that the tension has
calmed down, but we know that
the Hungarian card is always
used in Slovak elections,”
Mesežnikov said, adding that he
expects especially Smer and the
SNS, but also other parties, to
seek to use Hungarian issues
during the election campaign.
“It’s now clear that Fidesz
will win the elections in Hun-
gary as it is very orgainsed and
has, de facto, no competitors,”
Mesežnikov said. “And it will
win also thanks to strong na-
tionalist rhetoric about defend-
ing ethnic Hungarians living
outside Hungary. This will
then be used, in my opinion, by
Slovak politicians such as Fico
and Slota who will point to
Hungary and talk about rising
nationalism there.”
Marušiak also remains
pessimistic about relations
between the two countries. He
says real change in the bilateral
relations can only happen after
the elections. But the problem
is that the political elites of
both countries welcome the
tension as it allows them to
mobilise a considerable part of
their electorates.
“I think a change could be
sustained by a combination of
pressure from civil society
groups in both countries and in-
ternational structures, particu-
larly the EU, which should res-
olutely call on both parties to
behave as members of the
European Union are expected
to,” Marušiak said.
The prospects for
business in 2010
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff
THE ELECTION year will lessen
the willingness of politicians
to adopt unpopular measures
such as reducing public spend-
ing or increasing taxes, says
Juraj Karpiš, an analyst with
the Institute of Economic and
Social Studies (INESS) think-
tank. The Slovak Spectator
spoke to Karpiš about his
views on Slovakia’s economic
prospects, state spending and
adoption of the euro.
The Slovak Spectator (TSS):
What factors or expected
changes will have the most
significant impact on eco-
nomic developments in
2010?
Juraj Karpiš (JK): Of key
significance for Slovakia’s eco-
nomy in 2010 will be whether
foreign demand, which
dropped considerably during
the downturn, will revive. If it
turns out that the revival of the
economies of western Europe is
real and not just an illusion in-
duced by fiscal stimuli, then it
will be good news for Slovakia’s
economy.
TSS: Which areas of the eco-
nomy will continue to be
most seriously affected by
the crisis and which sectors
can expect faster recovery?
JK: The most affected have
been the financial sector,
mostly abroad, and cyclical
branches of the economy, for
example the automotive in-
dustry and construction. Con-
sidering the prevailing prob-
lems which resulted in the
downturn, I expect that these
branches will also suffer in
2010, perhaps with the excep-
tion of some construction
firms working on public high-
way construction projects.
TSS: In its December analysis
INESS asserts that the gov-
ernment has been wasting
taxpayers’ money. How did
your think tank arrive at this
conclusion?
JK: Our analytical project
called “Wasting by the State” is
an effort to at least approxim-
ately quantify the wasting of
public funds and cronyism in
public procurement. Within
this project we monitor Slovak
print media and from revealed
and published cases of money-
wasting and cronyism we put
together a database through
which we can estimate the
amount of wasted public fin-
ances for a certain time period.
The numbers for the first
three quarters of 2009 show
that there is a huge opportun-
ity to improve the effective-
ness of the state administra-
tion and public procurement.
The project has recorded cases
in the money-wasting category
totalling €333 million.
During the first three
quarters of 2009, serious sus-
picion of cronyism within
procurement by the state
amounted to €145 million.
Thanks to investigative work
January 11 – 17, 2010 3
by journalists and the sub-
sequent media pressure, po-
tential cronyism in the state
administration worth €160
million has been prevented.
TSS: Do you expect any
change in these trends for
2010?
JK: Considering the fact
that under the current gov-
ernment cases pertaining to
cronyism and wasting of public
funds have been emerging
quite frequently without ad-
equate response in the pro-
curement legislation or by
holding people responsible, we
do not expect that any signific-
ant change will emerge until
there are in-depth changes in
the management of ministries.
TSS: How do you evaluate
Slovakia’s first year with the
euro?
JK: No significant problems
emerged during the process of
the adoption itself. However, it
is too early to evaluate the
whole process of euro adoption.
For some groups in society the
euro has been a good step while
it has been negative for others.
While those who had their sav-
ings in Slovak crowns can be
satisfied, exporters are not that
enthusiastic.
TSS: What are the greatest
advantages and disadvant-
ages that Slovakia currently
experiences as part of the
eurozone?
JK: In regards to the eco-
nomic crisis, the euro has
brought both positives and
negatives. On one hand, it was
possible to protect the purchas-
ing power of Slovaks’ savings
since these did not weaken as
they did in neighbouring coun-
tries because of currency de-
valuation.
Membership in the euro-
zone also resulted in lower ex-
penses for financing Slovakia’s
state debt. The other side of the
coin is that the strong euro
made our products and labour
more expensive and less com-
petitive in international com-
parison. Another negative is
that through our membership
in the eurozone we are parti-
cipating in the risks flowing
from the unhealthy European
banks and there is a possibility
that through a loss in value of
the euro we will share part of
the cost for their recovery.
The crisis has also revealed
a question facing the euro – a
contradiction between politi-
cians in individual countries
and the unified monetary
policy. The crisis has only in-
tensified this tension. Many
countries of the eurozone have
ignored the rules of the Growth
and Stability Pact and it is ques-
tionable whether and how the
eventual costs of saving coun-
tries with irresponsible fiscal
policies will be distributed
among the other members of
the eurozone.
It is possible that this issue
will emerge soon considering
the large problems of Greece. If
the European Central Bank
helps this or any other country,
then it means that Slovaks will
share these costs.
4 January 11 – 17, 2010
BUSINESS in short
Minimum wage up by 4.1 percent
THE MINIMUM wage for em-
ployees working in Slovakia in-
creased by 4.1 percent to
€307.70 per month on January
1, in line with a government
decision made last October, the
TASR newswire reported.
The Labour Ministry ori-
ginally planned to increase last
year’s minimum wage of
€295.50 per month by 8.1 per-
cent, as proposed by the trade
unions. The tripartite partners
met several times to negotiate
the issue, beginning last Au-
gust, but were unable to reach
an agreement and the govern-
ment then decided to mandate
the increase at 4.1 percent.
Demand for newlywed loans predicted
SOFT consumer loans for new-
lyweds will likely attract much
attention but bankers do not
expect them to significantly
accelerate the overall growth of
consumer loans.
“We do not assume that the
launch of consumer loans de-
signed for newlywed couples
will radically speed up expec-
ted growth of all consumer
loans,” said Robert Prega, a
senior analyst at Tatra Banka.
VÚB Banka spokesperson
Alena Walterová said that
young families will likely use
these reduced interest loans to
furnish their homes. She said
that she expected the product
to be a success, similar to mort-
gages designed for young
people.
“Nonetheless, it cannot be
expected that their portion of
all consumer loans could reach
a similar volume as in the case
of soft mortgages to young
people, which make up 38 per-
cent of all newly-provided
mortgages at present,” she
said, as quoted by SITA.
Cosmetics firms fined
THE ANTITRUST Office has
ordered the FM Group World
company and its exclusive dis-
tributor in Slovakia, FM Group
SI, to pay a fine of €13,400. The
antitrust office concluded that
the firms violated the law on
protection of economic com-
petition by concluding a fran-
chise contract on distribution
of FM cosmetics that contained
a provision directly setting the
price of further sale by its dis-
tributor, the SITA newswire re-
ported.
About 800 bankruptcies expected
SLOVAKIA should see a decline
in the number of firms entering
bankruptcy in 2010. According
to estimates published by Euler
Hermes, a multinational insur-
ance group, the number of
bankruptcies could fall by
slightly more than 11 percent,
meaning that the total number
of companies becoming insolv-
ent will be around 800 over the
next 12 months, 100 fewer than
had been expected previously,
the TASR newswire reported.
The key factor in 2010 will
be governmental support for
domestic demand and how
“I insist that this [increase]
shouldn’t have the sort of im-
pact that could cause a
problem,” said Labour Minister
Viera Tomanová, adding that
the government is protecting
the most vulnerable group of
citizens that work for the min-
imum wage.
The original proposal for an
8.1 percent increase was di-
vided to cover a two-year peri-
od, 2010-2011. “If the level of the
minimum wage isn’t agreed on
by the social partners, the in-
crease in 2011 will reach anoth-
er 4 percent above the level of
the minimum wage that will be
in place,” Tomanová told TASR.
UniCredit Bank analyst
Dávid Dereník believes that
newlyweds will make use of
these loans during the econom-
ic crisis, while lower prices of
real estate will also motivate
them. In his view bonuses like
this should be some kind of mo-
tivation, taking into account
people’s life cycle.
Newlyweds will be able to
apply for soft loans from April
2010. The reduced interest rate
on the loans will be 4.5 percent
less than the commercial rate.
The state will cover 3 percent of
the interest and commercial
banks will be obliged to reduce
the interest rate by an addi-
tional 1.5 percent when the
loan is provided.
The law sets relatively
strict income criteria for ap-
plicants to qualify for these
loans. The combined gross in-
come of a couple may not ex-
ceed 2.6 times the average nom-
inal wage reported by the Slov-
ak Statistics Office and the
couple must be younger than 35
to qualify.
According to the regulator,
agreements of this kind are il-
legal because their substance
restricts economic competi-
tion. The authority considered
several factors in setting the
amount of the fine, including
the character of the agreement,
the level of competition
between brands and the impact
of the behaviour of FM Group
World and FM Group SI on the
competition. The companies
acknowledged that they
breached the law.
much the Slovak cabinet stimu-
lates the labour market, said
Helena Múdra, the CEO of Euler
Hermes Servis Slovakia.
“What needs to be taken in-
to account, besides the situ-
ation in Slovakia’s main export
markets, are measures that the
government might take in view
of the coming general
election,” said Múdra, referring
to the firm’s latest prognosis
covering Slovakia as well as
worldwide developments.
Compiled by Spectator staff
from press reports
BUSINESS
QUEUE: Transport firms
complain about 'failures'
Continued from pg 1 that Vážny’s Czech counterpart
Gustáv Slamečka has already in-
“We are giving the state sev- quired about the long queues at
en days to negotiate with us,” border crossings.
Jaroslav Polaček, a spokesman A three-kilometre traffic jam
for the carriers union, told me- of trucks developed on January 4
dia at a press conference on in northern Moravia in the
January 6 – adding that the uni- Czech Republic at the border
on will also address the crossing near the village of
European Commission. Mosty u Jablunkova, a site
Rudolf Páleš of UNAS said where there are not even toilets
that the e-toll collection is fair available for drivers, Sme wrote.
only if it works properly, adding
that since the most expensive The troubled project
bidder won the tender for the e-
toll collection project the carri- The mega-project received
ers expected that the system extensive negative publicity
would work as it does in neigh- when the contract to construct a
bouring countries. nationwide satellite-based sys-
“Unfortunately, this is not tem was awarded to the sole re-
the case,” said Páleš. maining bidder, SkyToll – the
According to Páleš, the successor company to a consor-
transporters actually do not tium which had made the most
know when they are travelling expensive bid. The European
on charged highway sections Commission subsequently asked
since these are not marked with Onboard units have become an essential component for trucks and for more information as to why
signs. The carriers also claim buses using Slovak highways since January 1. Photo: Sme - Ján Krošlák three bidders had been elimin-
that they are unable to pay with ated from the final round of the
fuel cards although, according to Okáli admitted that the “Several-kilometre long and high-value tender.
Páleš, these had been listed as company received 28 complaints more than ten-hour queues at The NDS, as the state admin-
one of the optional forms of in the first three days of opera- border crossings with Slovakia istrator of the e-toll system, has
payment. tion, most pertaining to un- are neither demonstrations nor forecast revenues from e-tolls of
UNAS insists that there are delivered OBUs. He said that reminders of past years, but a €165 million in 2010, with in-
also problems with the supply of SkyToll is reviewing each com- result of an organisational fail- creases to €181.5 million in 2011
onboard units (OBUs), the plaint and would respond with- ure linked with the launch of and €199.65 million in 2012.
vehicle-mounted device which is in the period set by the law. electronic toll collection,” Mar- Slovakia’s Association of
necessary for the actual calcula- The e-toll collection system tin Felix, of the Czech transport- Road Transport Operators
tion of the vehicle’s toll. The is based on GPS-GSM satellite ers' association Česmad Bohemia (Česmad) signed a contract with
transporters also say the OBUs technology. The system includes told SITA. SkyToll to operate contact
are miscalculating the toll for six highway gates and 40 control Česmad Bohemia is com- centres in Slovakia’s eight re-
certain road sections. gates on parallel first-class roads. prised of more than 2,000 busi- gions as well as 13 distribution
SkyToll, the builder and the SkyToll registered more than ness entities with more than centres, more than 90 distribu-
operator of the system, said that 330,000 transactions and collec- 20,000 vehicles. The association tion centres in all, where truck
everything is working just fine. ted €138,398 in tolls in the first complained that even those and bus operators could acquire
“I am glad that I can an- three days, with 8,600 vehicles transporters who had ordered the required onboard units
nounce successful operation of carrying out at least one trans- and paid for the OBUs months which connect their vehicles
the e-toll system and a problem- action. The vehicles used a total ago could have not avoided the with the satellite system.
free launch of all the processes,” of 1 million kilometres of complications because they still The Union of Road Carriers
said Matej Okáli, general director charged road sections, the SITA have not received them. Now (UNAS) has alleged that Česmad
of SkyToll, on January 3 in an of- newswire wrote. they have to wait in queues to is supportive of the toll system
ficial release sent to media. comply with the law and to because the association can
“Along with the collection of Unhappy customers “contribute not small amounts” charge €112, not including VAT,
tolls, the registration of trans- to Slovakia for using its high- for the installation of OBUs
porters continues smoothly too.” Czech transporters do not ways, said Felix. based on its contract with
SkyToll spokeswoman Lenka share the opinion that the The Sme daily wrote that SkyToll.
Lendacká said that there are 13 launch was smooth. Two days Slovak Transport Minister SkyToll reported on January
distribution spots at border cross- after the e-toll system went into Ľubomír Vážny and the head of 5 that 66,453 vehicles had been
ings where foreign hauliers can operation, the Czech association the National Highway Company registered in its system up to
buy the onboard units. Foreign of transporters said that Slov- (NDS), Igor Choma, were taking that date and that vehicles had
carriers can access information at akia had failed to organise it vacations during the launch of driven 1,457,741 kilometres on
www.emyto.sk in six languages. properly. the system. Sme also reported toll-road sections.
Interminable Transpetrol dispute revives
ONE of the most discussed ownership stakes to be the sole shareholder in Transpetrol, fol- ible approach towards them,” Krivák said, as
in the history of privatisation in Slovakia is lowing its purchase of a 49-percent stake quoted by Sme.
back in the news. It now seems likely that from Yukos International last year. The website of Cappa Fund III suggests
long-disputed shareholdings in the major A spokesman for the Slovak Economy that it focuses on energy projects in develop-
crude-oil pipeline operator Transpetrol will Ministry, Vahram Chuguryan, told Sme that ing markets. The owner of the fund is Cappa –
continue to cause headaches for the Slovak no foreign company had contacted the min- Capitol Project Partners, Sme wrote.
government. istry. The ministry has repudiated the legal The dispute between the Slovak state and
In late December 2009, US investment process by which Ilčišin, and subsequently a group of businesspeople close to Ilčišin star-
fund Cappa Fund III announced that it had businessmen close to him, claim to have ac- ted in 1995. It began with a claim on Trans-
acquired a 34-percent stake in Transpetrol quired 647 shares in Transpetrol, Sme wrote. petrol shares by the Humenné-based ILaS
from a Czech company, Quick Power Plant, However, Cappa claims to have examined company. The claim originated after the tax
the Sme daily reported. It reported that the the history of the shares and believes that authority wrongly blocked the company’s
Czech firm had bought its shares from Slovak Quick Power Plant was indeed the actual own- rights to real estate in 1995. The company
businessman Ignác Ilčišin and others. er of the shares it bought. In the press release, claimed damages based on a letter of intent
According to Sme, Steve Richardson, the Richardson says that Cappa is looking forward signed on August 18, 1995, to sell it a produc-
managing director of American Cappa Fund to working with the Slovak government. tion hall. The company originally calculated
III, announced the purchase in a press re- Lawyers acting for the ministry are re- damages at Sk43.3 million. Based on a con-
lease sent to American media outlets. Cappa ported to be analysing the situation in pre- tested court action, ILaS eventually acquired
has not disclosed the amount it paid for the paration for an eventual claim from the US 34 percent of Transpetrol shares, then worth
shares. Richards described the acquisition as company. Ministry lawyer Martin Krivák over Sk2 billion, from the Finance Ministry in
a strategic investment decision and sugges- told Sme that it would take action only after distraint proceedings, but the transfer was
ted that it signalled further investments in the American company officially contacts later annulled, the SITA newswire wrote.
the region. However ownership of the shares the ministry.
which Cappa claims to have bought is dis- “If they submit documents proving their Compiled by Spectator staff
puted. The Slovak government believes itself ownership, we will certainly take a respons- from Sme reports
 OPINION January 11 – 17, 2010 5
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "The only one that did not make a mistake was the dog." Origin-of-wealth saga resumes
Tibor Mako, head of the Border and Foreigners' Police, at a press conference on January 6. THE IDEA of a legal whip to dis- this complicated legal dilemma ment had then produced a law
He later resigned over explosive mistakenly placed on a plane by police, despite its detection by a sniffer dog. cipline those in society who is to modify the constitution requiring people to prove how
have obtained their property in and then to re-introduce almost and from what sources they had
rather “interesting” ways re- the same law from 2005. acquired suspiciously lavish

Trapasy emerges from time to time

whenever politicians are taken
by a sudden populist urge to
two days after the incident was prove their devotion to trans-
The prime minister was
quick to explain that his draft is
tuned for “extreme situations”
wealth, probably some well-
known politicians would now
be lingering in places other than
and regular people need not fear the parliament building.

SLOVAK WORD still saying he did not plan to fire parency, the fight against its effects. Yet, this specious ar- The piquant aspect of this
BY LUKÁŠ FILA money laundering, cronyism or gument sounds far too familiar whole prove-the-origin-of-
Special to the Spectator anyone; 11) Kaliňák then refused
OF THE WEEK to hold a press conference or an- organised crime.
There are certainly many
your-wealth saga is that
Vladimír Mečiar, boss of the
swer questions until January 7, at
other ways to deal with people Movement for a Democratic

RARELY has Slovakia experi-
enced so much embarrassment
as in the first few days of this New
Year. Two “trapasy” have gained
the country immediate interna-
tional notoriety. First, the pack-
age of explosives planted by po-
lice in the luggage of an unsus-
pecting traveller headed for Dub-
lin, where local authorities
launched what appear to have
been small-scale military man-
oeuvres to secure the substance
and its innocent courier. And
second, the new electronic road-
toll system, which collapsed
right at its launch, causing havoc
at the country’s borders.
Not that 2009 had been ex-
ceptionally good for Slovakia’s
image. The state’s sale of emis-
sions quotas for half the market
price to an unknown US firm ap-
parently set up by people close to
the ruling coalition baffled the
carbon-trading community. The
cabinet’s decision to declare
Hungary’s President Sólyom per-
sona non grata also raised a
couple of eyebrows. And it was
not just human rights organisa-
tions that were appalled by the
abuse of Roma boys at a Košice
police station.
But the early feats of 2010
raise the concern that there may
actually be something to a recent
disaster film suggesting that 2012
will see the end of the world. Just
consider the unbelievable num-
ber of blunders the Slovak au-
thorities made in the Dublin af-
fair: 1) explosives are being used
to test sniffer dogs, although no
law allows it; 2) the dog actually
found the explosive, but the po-
lice handler forgot to retrieve it;
3) no one stopped the plane, al-
though the officers knew explos-
ives were on board; 4) the police
decided to warn the Irish by fax;
5) the fax was not sent to the po-
which point the Border Police
chief resigned. If this were a who amassed fortunes
script for a crazy Hollywood overnight and manage to avoid
comedy about clumsy policemen giving answers to inquiries
from eastern Europe it’d most about their lavish villas or lux-
likely be turned down for being ury cars which could hardly be
too absurd. Can the planet sur- afforded from salaries as public
vive all this insanity? officials, but none of those
The toll system for trucks is methods are as politically spec-
less sexy, but perhaps even more tacular as getting a new law
explosive. The project is being passed just a couple of months
handled by a firm which offered before upcoming elections.
the most expensive proposal by After an almost four-year
far. Luckily for them, the Trans- tug-of-war over whether there
port Ministry excluded all the is any need at all for such legis-
lower-cost bids from the tender, lation, which would require
a fact the European Commission people to prove the origin of
lice or to airport authorities, but is still looking into. And miles- “suspiciously” lavish property,
to the baggage-handling com- long queues at borders show that now the country is suddenly
pany; 6) in the fax, the company all the extra money still may not blessed with two such propos-
was asked to find the explosive – have been enough. The queues als: one submitted by Prime
and send it back on another will disappear eventually. What Minister Robert Fico and one
flight; 7) it took three days for the will last is a feeling that the state offered by former justice minis-
ter Daniel Lipšic. What prompts
policeman’s superior to find out completely mismanaged the
that the explosive was missing; project – and that it was some- two politicians from opposing
8) only then were the Irish police what strange that Transport political camps to submit very
finally notified that the explosive Minister Vážny left for a vacation similar legislation at the same
was on their territory; 9) Slovak just as the toll system was being time, less than half a year before
policemen asked their colleagues launched. the national vote? Political gain.
not to make the affair public; 10) The beginning of 2010 was Fico recorded a video-com-
despite points 1) through 9) In- tough. But given the amount of mentary for his blog where he
terior Minister Robert Kaliňák talent in the Slovak government, explains why Slovakia urgently
claimed that this was only an in- these will certainly not be the needs such a law. The prime
stance of individual failure, and last trapasy of the year. minister is not a novice in sub-
mitting such legislation. He
took the initiative before, back
in 2005, but the law that ger-
minated from his efforts was
short-lived: the Constitutional
Court ruled it to be at odds with
the country’s constitution.
One of the court’s objections
to the 2005 law was that it
switched the burden of proof
from the state to the charged
citizen. The other failing of the
2005 law, in the opinion of the
court, was its retroactivity.
Now, neither Fico nor Lipšic is
offering a remedy for these de-
fects as both drafts again suffer
from the same problems. Fico is
Maybe safer not to check your bag: Poprad-Tatry Airport. Photo: TASR suggesting that the way out of
EDITORIAL
Slovakia, along with Ján Slota,
Mečiar’s counterpart in the
Slovak National Party, Fico’s al-
lies since 2006, have been
adamantly against any such bill
becoming law. But it is almost
impossible to believe that these
two politicians are driven by
reasons such as worry about a
possible clash with important
pillars of Slovakia’s constitu-
tion.
Mečiar is the owner of the
(in)famous Elektra villa, which
has become one of the most
well-known symbols of the
quickly-acquired wealth of
Slovak politicians and is even
more illustrative of the kinds of
preposterous stories that have
been told to explain ‘how’ it was
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ managed. Years after Mečiar
Spectator staff was forced from government,
journalists keep inquiring about
whose pockets paid for this
and emerges any time the state Trenčianske Teplice edifice.
offers legislation which might Their thirst for credible inform-
somehow be at odds with con- ation still remains unquenched.
stitutional rights. Fico also ar- Yet Mečiar now co-rules with
gues that since the law pertains Fico. As for Slota, there are me-
only to property which exceeds dia reports too numerous to
€300,000 or €450,000 it creates mention detailing the luxurious
certain guarantees that it would grownup toys that the SNS boss
apply only in exceptional situ- has at his disposal.
ations. Fico’s draft also specifies Well, after all, if Fico in the
that the law would cover only end fails to enact this legislation
property acquired after 1990. due to a lack of support from his
Legal experts, however, suggest two coalition partners he could
that this does not stop the legis- still appear as the honest politi-
lation from being considered to cian trying to fulfil his promises
be retroactive. to go after those who improp-
Lipšic tuned his proposal in erly stuffed their own pockets.
a way that it applies only to At the same time he might even
property exceeding 500-times try to appeal to those voters who
the minimum monthly wage have objected to the presence of
and his legislation gives no time Mečiar and Slota in his govern-
limit for acquired property to ment. The problem is, however,
which the law would apply. that Fico is toying with
If a decade ago, when there something quite important –
was already plenty of criticism the constitution – just to make
of fast-tracked wealth accruing the hearts of potential voters
to certain individuals, parlia- beat faster.

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6 January 11 – 17, 2010
Lawyers scrutinise
new legislation
Strategic company law
comes under fire
Many bills adopted in
2009 targeted the crisis
Changes affect the
courts, strategic
companies, taxes
and pensions
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
AS IN other countries, the global
economic downturn was the
main factor affecting Slovakia
last year. In order to mitigate its
impacts and boost the country’s
economy, the Slovak govern-
ment adopted a series of anti-
crisis packages, including new
legislation. Other laws were ad-
opted which are expected to have
significant effects, positive as
well as negative, on the whole of
society. For instance, the law
which launched the Specialised
Court is regarded by observers as
positive, while the law on stra-
tegic companies is perceived as
the most problematic.
“The impact of some bills ad-
opted last year will be more long-
term, even though no constitu-
tional bills were adopted since
the ruling coalition does not
have a constitutional majority in
the Slovak Parliament,” Grigorij
Mesežnikov, a political analyst
and president of the Institute of
Public Affairs (IVO), told The
Slovak Spectator.
Among the new legislation
which he said would have a pos-
itive influence on society,
Mesežnikov listed the law estab-
lishing the Specialised Court.
“Parliament responded very
quickly to the verdict of the
Constitutional Court that ruled
the Special Court
unconstitutional,” Mesežnikov
said. “I believe that it should be
regarded as positive that the
launch of the Specialised Court
was approved very quickly.”
The Constitutional Court
ruled on May 20 that the Special
Court – which had been set up to
tackle high-level state corrup-
tion and organised crime – was
unconstitutional, but said that
its previous verdicts would re-
main valid.
Prime Minister Robert Fico
subsequently came up with an
initiative to create a Specialised
Criminal Court to replace the
Special Court, a proposal which
was approved by parliament on
June 18. The new court’s com-
petences go beyond those of the
Special Court: it will also hear
cases of premeditated murder,
subversion involving public pro-
curement and public auctions;
falsifying, changing and unau-
thorised production of money
and shares; and abuse of author-
ity by public officials.
Specialists from the Slovak
arm of KPMG, a global audit, tax
MAJOR CHANGES IN LEGISLATION
The Specialised Criminal Court sits in the same Pezinok premises as the Special Court used to.
and advisory services company,
also perceive this new legisla-
tion, which also enables better
protection of judges and special-
isation on certain types of crim-
inal activities, as an important
part of the fight against crime,
Viliam Kačeriak, Forensic Ser-
vices Manager, KPMG in Slov-
akia, told The Slovak Spectator.
Mesežnikov listed among
other new legislation that he be-
lieves will have a positive impact
a revision to the law on the assets
of municipalities. Even though
this was rather a small revision,
he believes that the law, adjust-
ing the way that the assets of
municipalities are sold and ren-
ted, will contribute to transpar-
ency and competition when
selling municipal assets.
“This is important because,
alas, methods of corruption and
cronyism are decentralising,” he
said. “The aim of this revision is
to prevent decentralisation of
these methods.”
Parliament adopted the revi-
sion to the law on the assets of
municipalities on June 16, effect-
ive as of July 1, 2009.
Mesežnikov also listed a legal
change to the immunity of par-
liamentary deputies. Now, if MPs
are involved in a traffic accident,
they cannot avoid a breath or
blood test without penalty.
“Even though this issue is re-
lated to a very small number of
Slovak citizens, this is a demon-
stratively positive feature giv-
ing citizens the feeling that at
least on this issue there are not
different rules for different
groups of people and that there
is only one standard.”
On February 17, 2009, parlia-
ment adopted a revision to the law
on offences, valid as of April 1,
2009. According to it, MPs who are
involved in car accidents are no
BUSINESS FOCUS
longer able to refuse to undergo
tests for alcohol or other intoxic-
ating substances. If an MP refuses
to be tested for alcohol following a
car accident, it will be possible for
him or her to be prosecuted as any
other citizen would be.
The revision was ‘inspired’ by
the case of Miklós Duray, an op-
position MP for the Hungarian
Coalition Party (SMK), who re-
fused an alcohol test after he was
involved in a car accident in Oc-
tober 2008.
The IVO president believes
that the immunity of parlia-
mentary deputies should be
further narrowed, but does not
expect this to happen in the
near future.
Mesežnikov views the anti-
smoking law extending the
protection of non-smokers as a
generally positive move.
“The anti-smoking bill is in
line with the trend in Europe,” he
said, but pointed out that as to-
bacco is a legal drug, smokers
should not be discriminated
against.
“Certainly the opinions of
smokers and non-smokers on
this bill differ,” said Mesežnikov.
“But the trend itself is positive
because limiting bad habits is to
be welcomed. But this is a specif-
ic bad habit and thus society
should not discriminate against
people suffering from it, while
limiting them is OK.”
The law on the protection of
non-smokers, passed by parlia-
ment in February 2009, came in-
to effect on September 1 and,
despite facing criticism for being
inaccurate and ineffective, it has
cleared the air in most Slovak
restaurants, cafés, bars and pubs.
According to the amended law, if
a restaurant, pub or similar facil-
ity wants to allow smoking with-
in its premises, it has to have a
Photo: SITA
separate room for smokers, di-
vided from the rest of the estab-
lishment by a solid wall. To avoid
complications and reconstruc-
tion, many restaurant or pub
owners have opted to go entirely
non-smoking.
Mesežnikov regards much of
the legislation passed during the
last year as negative and contro-
versial.
“Here I would list the revi-
sion to the language law,” he
said. “This is one quite unfortu-
nate bill which, I dare to say, has
weakened the country’s interna-
tional standing.”
The political analyst stressed
that the revision, drafted by the
Culture Ministry, was not a re-
sponse to a problem or a prob-
lematic state. He regards the ar-
guments used for its justification
to be misleading.
“The bill complicated rela-
tions between Slovaks and Hun-
garians here in Slovakia and
between the republics of Slovakia
and Hungary,” he said. “This was
a completely needless bill.”
Parliament passed the
amendment to the State Lan-
guage Act on June 30. The bill in-
troduced fines of up to €5,000 for
the use of incorrect Slovak from
September 2009, and enabled
stricter official supervision of the
use of ‘correct’ Slovak. The
government's guidelines for im-
plementation of the amended
State Language Act became ef-
fective as of January 1, 2010. Un-
til this time the Culture Ministry
did not issue fines stemming
from violations of the law.
Mesežnikov also listed
amongst problematic laws the
law against extremism, espe-
cially the so-called anti-extrem-
ist amendment to the Penal Code.
See LAW pg 10
SLOVAKS AND SLOVAK
BRAND NAMES
Coming into force:
New and amended laws for 2010
As of January 1
Amendment to the Act on Collective Bargaining
This law enables the automatic extension of higher collective
agreements across a whole sector. As a result, agreed wages and
working conditions can be more widely enforced, even to cover
companies that did not participate in negotiations towards a
higher-level collective agreement. The Labour Ministry argued
when it proposed the latest revision that employers which are
not subject to any collective agreement can, by paying their
employees lower wages, compete unfairly with companies
subject to such agreements in the same industrial sector.
Amendment to the Penal Code
This revision makes financing of terrorism a punishable criminal
offence in Slovakia. The new legal norm stipulates that funding
of terrorism can be punished by 20 to 25 years imprisonment, or
even a life sentence in some cases.
Amendment to the Act on Supplementary Pension Saving
This amendment gradually decreases the fees charged by
supplementary pension fund management companies in the
so-called voluntary third pillar, as of 2010. Over the next 10 years,
the maximum administration fee in the voluntary pillar will
drop to 0.165 percent of the net value of assets in the contribution
fund per month, and to 0.083 percent of the net value of assets in
the pension payout fund. The revision also introduces a fee for
asset appreciation, similar to the regime that applies to the
second pension pillar.
Act on financial intermediation and financial advisory
This law unifies supervision across the financial sector and
increases the protection of clients. It distinguishes financial
advisers – also known as consultants – and financial mediators –
also known as agents – in the insurance, capital market,
supplementary old age pension saving, deposit-taking, and
loan-provision sectors. A financial agent (mediator) is defined as
someone who performs mediation on the basis of a written
contract with a financial institution. He or she cannot also
perform financial consultancy. A financial consultant, by
contrast, provides consultancy on the basis of a written contract
with a client. A consultant cannot act as a mediator. Financial
agents as well as consultants are responsible for damage they
cause to their clients and their operations must therefore be
covered by compulsory insurance. A mediator must also inform
their clients how much commission they will receive.
Amendment to the Civil Rules of the Court
The amendment makes free legal aid available to a wider group of
people with low incomes. It is now up to the Centre for Legal Aid
to assess the financial conditions of applicants. In the past, if a
pensioner or a mother with two children did not meet the
financial criterion of being in material need they did not qualify
for free legal aid. The Justice Ministry regarded this as a defect in
the system. The practice of the Legal Aid Centre showed that in
some cases people were not able to get free legal aid solely
because their income exceeded the limit by a few euros or even
cents.
Amendment to the law on universities
The aim of this amendment is to eradicate plagiarism at
universities. It introduces a central register of final works, which
should prevent plagiarism in the final theses of students or
teachers when these are part of state exams at universities.
As of February 1
Amendment to the law on complaints
This amendment introduces changes in the filing, acceptance
and handling of complaints addressed to state administrative or
local self-government bodies. The law introduces the
opportunity to file a complaint by fax or electronically. According
to the new rules, complaints will be handled only if they are filed
within three years of the incident subject to complaint.
Anonymous complaints will not be handled, and the complaint
must be legible and clear.
As of March 1
Amendment to the Civil Code
This amendment, drafted by the Justice Ministry, aims to boost
consumer protection. The application of an unacceptable
condition that is struck down by court proceedings will be
banned in all other cases in which the contested provision is
applied.
Source: SITA, TASR, Profit biweekly
Compiled by Spectator staff

Lawyers scrutinise
new legislation
Trend of adopting
‘single-purpose’
laws continued
in 2009
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
THE SLOVAK Parliament had a
relatively quiet year in 2009 in
terms of legislative activity; and
a significant portion of new legis-
lation adopted during the past
year was in response to the ef-
fects of the financial and eco-
nomic crisis on Slovakia. This in-
cluded the new law on strategic
companies, which generated a
lot of controversy. Another law
perceived as problematic was the
amendment to the act on collect-
ive bargaining.
The Slovak Spectator spoke
to Ľubomír Leško, attorney at
law of Peterka & Partners about
the most significant laws adop-
ted in Slovakia during 2009 – and
which of these they regard as
problematic – as well as about le-
gislation which he believes
needs revision. Juraj Čorba from
law firm Ružička Csekes
provided opinions of the law
firm to The Slovak Spectator.
The Slovak Spectator (TSS):
Which were the most signific-
ant laws adopted in the Slovak
Republic in 2009? Which of
these laws are having or will
have the biggest impact on
Slovakia’s society in future
years?
Ľubomír Leško (ĽL): The
Slovak Parliament adopted sev-
eral significant laws in 2009. The
government’s steps were af-
fected by the ongoing economic
crisis and the endeavour to re-
duce its negative impacts on the
economy. This endeavour was
partially reflected in minor
amendments to the tax law
which implemented certain de-
grees of relief for entrepreneurs
(such as accelerating depreci-
ation, shorter periods for return
of value-added tax (VAT), and
simplified bookkeeping for small
entrepreneurs). In addition, par-
liament adopted several special-
ised laws in an ‘anti-crisis pack-
age’, such as the act on measures
to mitigate the impacts of the
global financial crisis on the
banking sector, or the measures
aiming to increase the sale of mo-
tor vehicles (such as the car-
scrapping bonus for new motor
vehicle buyers, VAT deduction
for all motor vehicles, etc.).
The trend of adopting
‘single-purpose’ laws continued
in 2009. Several laws fall within
this category, but the most dis-
cussed enactments included the
act on the submission of price
proposals by commercial com-
panies, whose aim was to pre-
clude the major Slovak natural
gas supplier from applying to the
regulator for consent to impose
new gas prices on consumers
(even though this act was adop-
ted at the end of 2008 its effects
Collective bargaining has become a problematic issue in Slovakia.
also prevailed in 2009 and,
moreover, by adopting it the
state as one shareholder in a
private company has basically
used its legislative powers in a
dispute with other sharehold-
ers), and the widely discussed
strategic company law, which
was adopted as an answer to an
issue regarding a single com-
pany and which makes it pos-
sible for the government to na-
tionalise this company under
certain circumstances.
Within the area of labour le-
gislation parliament amended
the act on collective bargaining,
introducing the opportunity for a
participant (typically a union) in
a higher-level collective agree-
ment to request from the Min-
istry of Labour, Social Affairs and
Family that the collective
agreement also be made to apply
to an employer who is not a
member of the employers’ asso-
ciation which entered into the
higher-level collective agree-
ment. By this extension the ef-
fects of higher-level collective
agreements may be extended to
employers who did not negotiate
or do not agree to them, which
may bring them adverse eco-
nomic effects.
Among other important en-
actments is the amendment to
the Notaries Act, which also
amends the act on the land re-
gister and increases the in-
volvement of notaries and attor-
neys at law in the process of
transferring title to real estate. In
spite of the initial proposals the
amendment did not introduce a
monopoly of notaries and attor-
neys to draft and authorise
agreements on the transfer of
title to real estate.
Ružička Csekes law firm
(RC): In general, the legislative
activity of the Slovak Parliament
was fairly modest in 2009.
Of particular importance
was the adoption of a temporary
bank support scheme aimed at
maintaining stability in the
Slovak banking sector by provid-
ing capital injections and guar-
antees to eligible financial insti-
tutions (Act No. 276/2009). This
aid scheme was subsequently
BUSINESS FOCUS
approved by the European
Commission in December 2009.
It remains to be seen to what ex-
tent this temporary scheme will
actually be used by the financial
institutions.
The amendment of the Civil
Code passed in December 2009
is also worth mentioning (not
yet published in the Collection
of Laws). By introducing untyp-
ical and novel effects of judicial
decisions on (existing) con-
tracts and General Terms and
Conditions used in commercial
practice, it aims to strengthen
the protection of consumers
against unfair terms in con-
sumer contracts.
TSS: Which of these laws do
you perceive as controversial
and might end up – or already
have – in the Constitutional
Court?
ĽL: The strategic company
law has brought a lot of contro-
versy, including serious reserva-
tions from foreign investors.
Numerous statements were is-
sued both when it was being
drafted and after its enactment
arguing that it unfairly inter-
feres with ownership rights and
that there is a high probability
that certain provisions may be
unconstitutional.
Another controversial en-
actment is the previously men-
tioned amendment to the act on
collective bargaining. Employ-
ers, in particular, argue that the
forced extension of collective
agreements is an adverse step
against them and will affect em-
ployment in Slovakia. It cannot
be ruled out that the amendment
will be challenged before the
Constitutional Court. Employers
argue, for example, that the
Czech Constitutional Court in a
similar case ruled that the forced
extension of collective agree-
ments was unconstitutional.
RC: The Act on Certain Meas-
ures Regarding Strategic Com-
panies (no. 493/2009), known as
the strategic company law is
probably the most controversial
piece of legislation adopted in
2009. This is so not only because
of its very speedy adoption, but
Photo: SITA
also because of its content. The
provisions in this act remain
confusing and possibly open
complex questions related to
state aid control.
Transformation of the public
health insurance sector has con-
tinued in 2009. The mandatory
(non-compensated) transfer of
policy holders from liquidated
public health insurance compan-
ies to state-controlled public
health insurance companies was
introduced (Act No. 192/2009).
Also, by means of legislative
amendment, a merger of two
state-controlled public health in-
surance companies, Všeobecná
Zdravotná Poisťovňa and
Spoločná Zdravotná Poisťovňa, is
taking place (Act No. 533/2009).
The Slovak Anti-Monopoly Office
has refused to exercise merger
control in this respect. It re-
mains to be seen how the public
health insurance sector overhaul
will be treated by the Constitu-
tional Court and by the European
Commission.
TSS: What parts of EU legisla-
tion has Slovakia not yet im-
plemented into its legislation?
ĽL: We are not aware of a ma-
jor implementation delay in rela-
tion to Slovakia.
RC: In general, Slovakia’s
transposition record is compar-
able with other member states.
Problems may lie in application
of EU law by courts and admin-
istrative bodies in individual
cases. It seems that public au-
thorities are still somewhat
‘shy’ and ‘defensive’ as regards
arguments based on EU law. In
this respect, our judicial and
administrative practice seems
to be lagging behind other
Visegrad countries.
The entry into force of the
Lisbon Treaty (December 1,
2009) significantly increases
the ‘EU dimension’ of criminal
law issues. It provides further
incentives for Slovak legislators
to tackle the issue of the crim-
inal liability of legal entities
(mandated by certain EU legis-
lative acts).
See SURVEY pg 10
FOCUS shorts
No changes in the Press Code expected
CULTURE Minister Marek
Maďarič does not expect that
Slovakia’s Press Code will be
made stricter or changed con-
siderably within the next six
months, as was suggested by
Prime Minister Robert Fico in
September 2009, the TASR
newswire wrote on January 4.
Last year Fico suggested
shortening the time period for
publishing a reply from three
days to two days or just one. At
the same time, Fico said that
he would welcome it if the me-
dia were not only liable for
penalties only after a court rul-
Efforts to stop mega-casino
HE CONSERVATIVE Democrats
of Slovakia (KDS) will try to
push forward a law in
parliament’s February session
to hinder construction of a
‘mega-casino’ in a planned
multi-purpose complex called
Metropolis on the outskirts of
Bratislava, the SITA newswire
wrote on December 18.
The draft bill on gambling
was submitted to parliament
for a second time by independ-
ent deputy Pavol Minárik. He
said if the bill is not approved
this time it will be a clear mes-
sage from Slovak deputies
about how they feel about the
moral state of Slovak society.
Minárik has proposed to drop
all provisions that he says were
'smuggled' into the law by Fin-
ance Minister Ján Počiatek.
The Finance Ministry in-
corporated a new category of
casinos into the revision of the
gambling act, namely a casino
Revision to nature protection law
THE SLOVAK cabinet approved
a draft revision to the law on
protection of nature on
December 16 through which
the Environment Ministry
seeks to avoid a complaint be-
ing filed against Slovakia at the
Court of Justice of the
European Communities, the
SITA newswire wrote.
According to the ministry,
Slovakia might face such a
complaint if does not adopt a
legal norm reflecting objec-
tions raised by the European
Commission regarding incor-
rect or incomplete transposi-
tion of European regulations
Changes to the Labour Code
COMPANIES will be able to sign
time-limited employment con-
tracts with workers only for
two years or less. After two
years, employees must receive
a permanent work contract.
This stems from a revision to
the Labour Code which Presid-
ent Ivan Gašparovič signed on
December 16 that will become
effective on March 1, 2010.
The current law capped
time-limited working con-
tracts to three years, the
Pravda daily wrote.
Employers perceive the
change as problematic and
January 11 – 17, 2010 7
ing but also specifically under
the act itself.
Parliament passed the re-
vised Press Code on April 9,
2008 despite a torrent of criti-
cism from media experts, pub-
lishers and international or-
ganisations and it became ef-
fective on June 1, 2008.
The Press Code currently
states that the right to reply by
a private individual or a legal
entity can be exercised if news
reports contain statements
that have injured a person’s
good reputation, dignity or pri-
vacy.
in a recreational complex. Par-
liament passed the bill in Octo-
ber.
The KDS deputy wants to
limit the number of slot ma-
chines in an arcade or casino to
70, as is the case in Poland. He
is also calling for a ban on alco-
hol consumption in arcades
that are not part of casinos.
The draft bill on gambling
under which slot machines
would only be allowed in ar-
cades and casinos was not ap-
proved last year in its second
reading in parliament at the
beginning of December.
The Metropolis complex is
to be constructed by TriGranit,
one of the largest developers in
Europe, and envisions an enter-
tainment and relaxation com-
plex which will offer its visitors
not only recreation and culture
but also gambling. It is planned
for a 30-hectare site in Jarovce,
south of Bratislava.
about biotopes and birds into
Slovakia’s legislation.
According to the new legis-
lation, a locality in Slovakia
with priority biotopes or prior-
ity species of European import-
ance should be put on the na-
tional list of areas of European
importance, Natura 2000, even
if such a listing is somewhat
questionable. Such a locality
would remain on the list until
any questions regarding the
listing are resolved, securing
preliminary protection of the
area.
The revision is planned to
be effective as of May 2010.
claim that it will worsen condi-
tions for survival of companies
during the economic crisis.
Also based on this same re-
vision, employees who are
working in a company via a
personnel agency must receive
the same wage as comparable
employees working directly for
that employer. Agency em-
ployees in some cases re-
portedly received hourly wages
as much as 10 percent lower
than regular employees of the
same company.
Compiled by Spectator staff
8 January 11 – 17, 2010
Strategic company law comes under fire
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
THE LAW on strategic companies is un-
doubtedly perceived as the most prob-
lematic law adopted last year. The legis-
lation, originally tailored to deal with
the financially troubled chemical firm
Novácke Chemické Závody (NChZ),
which subsequently declared bank-
ruptcy in September, has displeased
traditional political opponents of Prime
Minister Fico’s government, busi-
nesses, foreign chambers of commerce
as well as some previously staunch al-
lies of the government, such as trade
unions.
“I would list the law on strategic
companies drafted by the Economy
Ministry as among the most harmful
bills of 2009,” Dušan Zachar of the eco-
nomic think tank the Institute for Eco-
nomic and Social Reforms (INEKO) told
The Slovak Spectator. “Through this bill
the government wants, via its pre-
emptive right over a company's assets,
to allegedly save jobs and production in
companies economically important for
the state which have found themselves
with existential problems. But the real
effect will be exactly the opposite.”
The law, whose full name is the Act
on Certain Measures Regarding Stra-
tegic Companies, which parliament
passed on November 5, authorises the
state to buy bankrupt firms which the
cabinet designates to be ‘strategic’ to
the economy. Any firm employing
more than 500 employees which is
deemed important for the security of
the state, protection of public health or
that operates within so-called network
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Novácke Chemické Závody has been designated a strategic company.
industries can be defined as strategic. If
such an enterprise files for bankruptcy
the state will have a pre-emptive right
to take control of the company and later
decide whether to select new owners.
The cabinet said that the law is in-
tended to help preserve existing jobs at
companies severely affected by the
economic downturn and said the law
would be valid only until December 31,
2010. The European Commission has
requested additional information about
the law from the Slovak government
and will be reviewing whether it com-
plies with EU regulations.
detailed characteristics
BUSINESS FOCUS
Photo: ČTK
According to Zachar, the law does
not respect the basic principles and pil-
lars of a free society and a market eco-
nomy, which are, for example to guar-
antee and enforce property rights, free-
dom of conducting business, stability of
legal norms, legal reliability, etc.
“The law does not enable revitalisa-
tion of a company in an effective and in
a way normal in a market economy
within the process of bankruptcy pro-
ceedings and thus secure in a sustain-
able way production and jobs,” said
Zachar. “If the government acted as a
steamroller when implementing this
key representatives
in Slovak and English
law, we can expect dubious, poorly jus-
tified and incomprehensible ‘adverse’
takeovers of companies, which, I hope,
will not end as in February 1948.”
Zachar was referring to the period
when commercial and industrial com-
panies in the former Czechoslovakia
were nationalised after the communist
takeover of the country.
According to Michal Marhefka and
Peter Duman, lawyers from the Bratis-
lava branch office of Weinhold Legal,
apart from accusations of violation of
the constitutionally guaranteed prin-
ciple of equality of state and private
ownership, the controversies surround-
ing the act also include possible viola-
tion of the European Union’s principle
of free movement of capital and its rules
on state aid, the adoption of the act via
accelerated legislative procedure and
accusations of nationalisation of the
private business sector.
One of the problematic facets of the
law is the conditions under which the
government may declare a company as
‘strategic’.
The Weinhold Legal lawyers per-
ceive these as stipulated very loosely:
more than 500 employees, a ‘significant’
supplier of energy, gas, heat, or oil
products, or an operator of hydropower
plants, public wastewater treatment
plants, sewer systems or water supplies.
Furthermore, the bill stipulates that a
proposal to declare a company as stra-
tegic shall be submitted by a ‘respective
minister’ without further specification.
The government’s right to sell the
company, after potentially resolving
the economic difficulties, to a new
owner via a public tender raises con-
cerns regarding possible corruption.
The Weinhold Legal lawyers think
that even if no company is ‘saved’ based
Price per copy: 6€
on this act, its adoption may be seen in a
broader sense as a demonstration of a
certain policy line of the current gov-
ernment – animosity towards the
private sector, strengthening the role of
the state, hasty adoption of laws that
are necessary in order to attain the
short-term objectives of the govern-
ment, with this all happening under the
guise of social benefit for the public.
An analysis by Andrej Glézl, Re-
structuring Manager at KPMG in Slov-
akia, points out that the bill also im-
poses on a bankruptcy trustee an obliga-
tion to avoid mass layoffs and continue
the business operations of the strategic
enterprise.
“This shifts the main purpose of the
bankruptcy proceedings of a strategic
enterprise from liquidation (the main
goal of a bankruptcy process) into pre-
servation of the enterprise as a going
concern – a goal that the insolvency law
reserves predominantly for the rules
governing the restructuring process,”
said KPMG. “This, again, may create
room for speculation and uncertainty in
applying the key principles behind the
insolvency law.”
In spite of these drawbacks, there is
a potential positive that could come
from the law on strategic companies,
according to Glézl of KPMG.
“This law could inspire a policy de-
bate about efficient and accurate meth-
ods for determining the ongoing value
of a business and the liquidation value
of an insolvent enterprise, regardless of
whether it is in bankruptcy or
restructuring,” Glézl said. “If con-
sidered carefully, this debate might
lead to certain important changes in
our insolvency law.”
See BILL pg 10

Nörr Stiefenhofer Lutz
becomes Noerr: new brand
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Mgr Zuzana Wohlmuth,
Mgr. Wohlmuth
Managing Partner, Noerr s.r.o.
International law firm Nörr Stiefenho-
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this international company, summarized
the five years of operations in the Slovak
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SP90174/1
10 January 11 – 17, 2010
LAW: Slovakia has to wait for effects
Continued from pg 6
“Here are some ‘rubber’ [i.e.
flexible] articles, which, under
certain circumstances may be
abused by the dominant political
powers against their political
opponents,” said Mesežnikov,
adding that for now Slovakia is
not in such a situation, but such
a possibility is already here.
Parliament adopted the revi-
sion on February 28, 2009, and it
became effective as of September
1, 2009. The amendment defines
extremism, an extremist group,
and extremist material, as well as
the particular motive of a crimin-
al deed, and changes the subject
matter of violent criminal deeds
against a group of people and hoo-
liganism.
According to Mesežnikov,
other problematic bills include a
revision cancelling military
courts, which he said also attrac-
ted criticism amonglawyers.
Fighting the economic crisis
Tomáš Kuča from the Slovak
branch of Pricewaterhouse-
Coopers, a global audit, tax and
advisory services company, re-
gards 2009 as having been a fruit-
ful year when it came to law
changes and amendments in
Slovakia.
“A number of significant
newly adopted laws were driven
by the government's best efforts
to respond to the economic
crisis,” Kuča told The Slovak
Spectator. ” I perceive some of the
amendments and laws approved
in the first half of 2009 as positive
changes aimed at helping both
individuals and companies.
These were, for example, the
April changes to the Act on Em-
ployment Services, or the re-
search and development incent-
ives adopted in August.”
Analysts in general regard
the law on strategic enterprises
approved in November as being
controversial.
“The law on strategic com-
panies has started numerous dis-
cussions across the entire polit-
ical spectrum as well as in the
business community and I be-
lieve it will now be very import-
ant to observe how often and in
what circumstances it will be
applied,” said Kuča. According to
Mesežnikov, the bill goes against
the principles of a free market
economy.
Dušan Zachar of the econom-
ic think tank the Institute for
Economic and Social Reforms
(INEKO) believes that the impact
of the law will be the opposite to
that envisaged by the govern-
ment, which says it wants to use
it to save jobs and maintain pro-
duction in companies which are
economically important to the
country and which have found
themselves in major difficulties.
“Overall, we have seen a
number of positive changes in
Slovak legislation in 2009 and I
am positive also about the fact
that the Act on Bankruptcy and
Restructuring [Act No. 7/2005
Coll.] was already in place before
the economic crisis, although it is
still not used as often as it should
be due to the historical lack of
trust in the restructuring
process,” he said.
Parliament also responded to
the global financial and econom-
ic crisis through a number of le-
gislative changes which were re-
lated to taxes.
“The tax and business com-
munity appreciated the increase
in the input price of tangible and
intangible assets, the increase in
the non-taxable part of the tax
base for the individual taxpayers
and the simplification of tax re-
cords for the self-employed per-
sons after meeting statutory
requirements,” Jeff Black, the
partner of the tax department at
Deloitte Slovakia, told The Slovak
Spectator.
The amendment of the In-
come Tax Act increases the limit
for the input price for tangible as-
sets to €1,700, and the limit on
the input price for intangible as-
sets to €2,400. It also increased
the non-taxable part of the tax
base of individual taxpayers for
2009 and 2010. For taxpayers with
2009 annual income of up to
€15,387.12, the non-taxable part
of the 2009 tax base is €4,025.70.
To compare, in 2008 the non-tax-
able part of the tax base was
€3,269.47.
In the tax sphere, Kuča of
PricewaterhouseCoopers high-
lighted the revision to the law on
value added tax (VAT) that relates
to creating a VAT group for organ-
isationally, financially and per-
sonally linked companies meet-
ing specified criteria.
KPMG specialists recorded
several measures taken within
banking and risk management
during 2009. These include, for
example, the law on measures to
mitigate the impact of the global
financial crisis on the banking
sector. However, as KPMG
stressed, the Slovak banking sec-
tor has been stable over the long
term and Slovakia is one of nine
EU countries in which the gov-
ernment has not needed to parti-
cipate in propping up the bank-
ing sector. According to KPMG,
the Slovak Banking Association
(SBA) regards this law to be pre-
cautionary and it has not been
used so far.
In February 2009 the SBA
signed, along with the Slovak
government, a memorandum on
cooperation to address the im-
pacts of the financial and eco-
nomic crisis. An application of
this measure in real life is the
programme of assistance to bank
clients who find themselves un-
able to repay their housing loans.
Eleven banks have joined this
programme and KPMG special-
ists believe that some bank cli-
ents will use this measure as re-
turnable assistance.
Effects of anti-crisis
measures questioned
INEKO’s Zachar said he views
the anti-crisis laws and govern-
ment measures adopted, from
the viewpoint of their impacts on
the country’s economy as well as
society in general, to be more
harmful than beneficial. He wel-
comed the changes by which the
government, but only during the
period of the economic crisis, has
mitigated the impacts of the
crisis on the business sphere as
well as on citizens.
“These include, for example,
the innovative ‘flexi-account’ in-
corporated into the Labour Code
from praxis,” Zachar told The
Slovak Spectator, adding that this
helps employers as well as em-
ployees to live through bad times.
Within this scheme, workers
stay at home and receive wages
during periods when a company
does not have orders and does not
BUSINESS FOCUS
Changes to the second pension pillar could make it less appealing to
current and future retirement savers.
produce. After production re-
sumes, workers work off these
hours from this ‘account’ in the
form of overtime hours.
Other anti-crisis measures
praised by Zachar include a re-
laxation in tax-administration
duties by businesses, especially
small ones, and a moderate re-
duction in the tax and compuls-
ory contribution burden for some
groups of citizens.
In the tax area, Zachar also
praised a cut in the period for re-
turn of excess VAT payments or
faster depreciation of assets.
But Zachar said he believes
most of the anti-crisis measures
have brought hardly any positive
effects.
“Even the Slovak Academy of
Sciences has stated that the
government’s set of measures
cannot be perceived as ‘optimal,
convincing, striking and
targeted’,” said Zachar. “I believe
that these were often acts of
marketing: for example, the car-
scrapping bonus, which either
has not harmed the economy or,
in the worse case, has contrib-
uted to a significant deepening of
Slovakia’s debt over 2009. Par-
liament even had to revise the
state budget law for 2009 to
‘legalise’ a tripling in the public
finance deficit compared to the
original plan.”
Zachar also pointed to what
he called legislative attacks by
the ruling coalition on the
privately managed part of the
old-age pensions saving scheme,
known as the second pillar.
He believes that by reducing
the charges clients pay to pen-
sion fund management compan-
ies for managing their pension
funds, and by enacting a so-called
guarantee fund so that the ac-
counts of pension savers do not
fall below the principal sum they
have invested, the second pillar
has become less attractive for the
pension fund management com-
panies as well as savers.
On March 11, parliament ad-
opted a revision to the law on old-
age pension saving.
Beginning on July 1, 2009, the
fixed fee for administration of
second pillar pension funds was
cut from 0.065 percent to 0.025
percent of the net monthly value
of the participant’s assets in the
fund.
Under the new legislation,
the pension fund management
companies were obliged to
launch a guarantee fund for each
of their pension investment
funds. At six-month intervals the
pension fund management com-
panies must now compare the
Photo: Sme - Pavol Funtál
yields in their pension funds
with a benchmark and in the
event of loses must cover them
from the guarantee fund.
According to Zachar, the pen-
sion fund management compan-
ies have responded to this change
by a massive sell-off of stocks at a
time when their prices had star-
ted to increase and it would have
been better to be buying them.
“In this way the pension fund
management companies have
lost an opportunity to achieve
higher profits and savers to have
higher pensions,” said Zachar.
According to Zachar, the
Slovak government also adopted
bills last year that significantly
increasing so-called moral haz-
ard – i.e. by encouraging beha-
viour harmful to society, and dis-
incentivising people from play-
ing by the rules and being honest.
“Among these, for example,
are revisions enabling forgive-
ness of penalties stemming
from due compulsory pay-
ments to the social security
provider Sociálna Poisťovňa
(the general pardon) or the ban
of distraint proceedings against
hospitals which, however, does
not apply to private hospitals,
something that is probably
unconstitutional.”
What is missing
With regards to legislation
that Slovakia still lacks,
Mesežnikov, the political ana-
lyst, highlights a constitutional
law on national minorities,
which has still not been adopted.
The issue is one which has been
dragging on for many years.
Mesežnikov sees this piece of le-
gislation as important because
the Slovak constitution counts
on a special law setting out the
rights of members of minorities
in Slovakia.
“There are some laws on
whose bases minorities’ rights
are defined and performed,” said
Mesežnikov, adding that a closer
analysis shows that the current
related legislation is not drafted
in a way that avoids problems
arising. “The constitutional law
would arrange the whole issue in
order that no doubts occur and
provisions are unambiguous in
order to satisfy minorities. This
used to be a theme of previous
parliamentary terms, when alas,
even governments more inclined
to achieve a solution did not have
enough power to push through
such a law. The current cabinet,
which is nationalistic, I think,
completely rejects the idea of
such a law.”
SURVEY: Some laws
need revision
Continued from pg 7
TSS: Which important laws or
legal norms does Slovakia
lack, and which laws need to
be revised in the future?
ĽL: There are several regu-
lations which may require re-
vision in the future. This ap-
plies not only to legislation
mentioned in the answers
above but also to previous
years. Among these laws we
can point to the 2007 amend-
ment to the Act on Health In-
surance Companies, under
which private health insur-
ance companies are prohibited
from recording a profit – and
with which there is a high risk
from arbitration proceedings
by investors, or the act on ex-
traordinary measures to be
taken during the construction
of highways, adopted in 2008,
which allows construction on
private land plots before ex-
propriation proceedings are
BILL: Collective
bargaining changes
Continued from pg 8
Apart from the law on stra-
tegic companies, Weinhold
Legal lawyers Marhefka and
Duman pointed to the revision
of the law on employment ser-
vices as also being problematic.
With the aim to mitigate
possible consequences of the
global economic crisis on em-
ployment in Slovakia, the gov-
ernment introduced several
changes in labour legislation at
the beginning of 2009.
The amendment to the Act
on Employment Services and
the Labour Code introduced the
so-called ‘flexi account’ into the
Slovak Labour Code.
Its aim was to enable em-
ployers to more effectively
handle a surplus of employees
during a crisis period. With the
consent of its trade unions and
on the basis of material opera-
tional reasons precluding the
performance of work, an em-
ployer can award employees
time-off. These employees are
entitled to at least the basic part
of their wages. Once the mater-
ial operational reasons have
ceased to exist, these employ-
ees then have an obligation to
work the provided off-time
without a claim for already-
paid wages.
Apart from the controver-
sial circumstances which sur-
rounded the introduction of the
‘flexi account’, there are certain
ambiguities in the wording of
the bill that could question the
proclaimed benefit to employ-
ers. The regulation lacks any
mechanism guaranteeing that
an employee will actually work
the provided off-time or com-
pensate the employer in the
event that he or she terminates
the employment relationship
prior to doing so. This could be
easily misused by employees
and add that the regulation
does not address cases where no
trade unions have been estab-
lished in a company, according
duly completed and, con-
sequently, irrespective of their
result.
RC: Complex legal regula-
tion of Public-Private Partner-
ships, as envisaged by a gov-
ernment resolution, should
bring clarity and certainty into
this novel area of legal regula-
tion.
It is also important that rel-
evant measures implementing
the Act on Financial Interme-
diation and Financial Advisory
(Act no. 186/2009) are duly
passed in order to complete the
new regulatory framework.
One may regret that the
proposal for standardised pub-
lication of judicial decisions on
the internet was dismissed by
the Slovak Parliament in
December 2009. Adequate pub-
licity and accessibility of judi-
cial decisions would certainly
be beneficial not only for the
legal profession but also for the
general public.
to the Weinhold Legal lawyers.
Ľubomír Leško, an attorney
with Peterka & Partners sees as
problematic a recent amend-
ment to the Act on Collective
Bargaining. This amendment
enables an automatic extension
of higher-level collective
agreement over all firms in a
sector. According to Leško, it in-
troduces an opportunity for a
signatory to a higher-level col-
lective agreement (typically a
union) to request from the Min-
istry of Labour, Social Affairs
and Family that the collective
agreement be applied also to an
employer who is not a member
of the employers’ association
which signed the higher-level
collective agreement.
The Slovak Parliament
passed the amendment on
December 3 and Slovak Presid-
ent Ivan Gašparovič signed it
into law on December 16. It be-
came effective on January 1,
2010.
The Trend economic weekly
wrote after the amendment was
adopted that compulsory ex-
tension of higher-level collect-
ive agreements may push up
wage increases and thus costs
for companies.
Several companies had been
obliged to comply with a col-
lective agreement which they
did not negotiate before this
amendment was passed. But
the Labour Ministry had to as-
sess extensions of the agree-
ment to a certain company in-
dividually, Trend wrote.
When arguing for this latest
amendment, the Labour Min-
istry said that employers which
are not subject to any collective
agreement can unfairly com-
pete with companies covered by
such agreements by paying
lower wages. Parliamentary
opposition parties challenged
the principle of extension of col-
lective agreements before the
Constitutional Court in April
2007, but no decision has yet
been made, according to Trend.

Slovakia is coping
with EU telecom regulation
In the modern world, information is one
of the most important factors affecting
the quality of people’s lives. Relationships
between people in the mutual exchange of
information, however, must be regulated
and legally governed. Transmission of in-
formation in the form of signals between
the transmitter and the receiver of the sig-
nal via wires, as well as facilitating such
transmission, is designated as telecommu-
nications (or electronic communications,
according to new EU terminology).
Regulation of electronic communicati-
ons focuses primarily on issues such as the
establishment, operation and provision of
electronic communications networks1 and
services2. These shall secure exchange and
transmission of information between users
via electronic communications networks.
The current Slovak legal regulation of
electronic communications is based on the
EU regulation of electronic communications
networks and services which was implemen-
ted through a regulatory framework of di-
rectives and regulations adopted mainly in
2002 (the so-called Regulatory Framework
2002). This package of rules governs all
forms of fixed and wireless telecommunica-
tions, data transmission and broadcasting.
The aim of this package was to promptly
respond to the quickly and dynamically-de-
veloping telecoms market and to primarily
improve consumer protection and create
the best conditions for the development
of internal market. The main expected re-
sult of development of the internal market
was to establish a healthy and competitive
environment which would then naturally
lead to an increase in the quality of services
provided or, eventually, to a decrease in the
prices of the provided services.
Consumers’ rights
The Regulatory Framework 2002 was
also aimed at improving consumer prote-
ction through - among others - the institu-
tion of universal service.
The universal service consists of a mini-
mum set of services (as specified within the
Framework) of given quality available to
all users regardless of their geographical
location and, in the light of specific natio-
nal conditions, at an affordable price (in-
cluding inter alia the provision of access
or connection to the public telephone ne-
twork on the basis of a reasonable request,
the provision of at least one comprehensi-
ve directory available to end-users or the
ability of all end-users of publicly available
telephone services, including users of pu-
blic pay telephones, to call the emergency
services free of charge, by using the single
European emergency call number, 112, and
other national emergency numbers, etc.).
Such universal service shall be provided
by the enterprise designated by the nati-
onal regulatory authority throughout the
whole territory of the country.
Since provision of the universal service
requires expenditure for certain costs on
the part of its provider, the EU regulation
requires, where necessary, individual im-
plementation of a procedure for compen-
sationing these costs incurred in relation
to the provision of the universal service by
the designated enterprise(s).
1
generally transmission systems and, where applicable, switching or routing equipment and other resources which permit the conveyance of signals by wire, by radio, by optical or by other electromagnetic means.
2
service normally provided for remuneration which consists wholly or mainly in the conveyance of signals on electronic communications networks.
3
Act No. 610/2003 Coll.
ADVERTISEMENT
Internal market
In Slovakia, as well as in a majority of the EU
countries, the dominant players in the market
(those with significant market power) are still
the incumbents (former monopolies). One of
the aims of the Regulatory Framework 2002
was to protect other players against any abuse
by these providers’ dominant positions.
The Regulatory Framework 2002 signifi-
cantly liberalised the internal market by the
abrogation of the system of licensing the indivi-
dual providers of telecommunications services
by the Member States. Such licensing required
fulfilment of a vast number of complicated
conditions, which made the licensing process
very lengthy and extremely administratively
demanding and in some cases even effectively
prevented new enterprises from entering the
market.
The Framework introduced a general per-
mission for electronic communications ne-
twork systems and services. The right to
provide electronic communications network
systems or services is no longer subject to pri-
or consent of the state regulatory authority.
The Member State may only require notifica-
tion of the intent to commence activities in the
respective area, which is also the situation in
Slovakia. A provider may generally commence
its telecoms activities when it fulfils the gene-
ral conditions.
How has Slovak law
coped with the Regulatory
Framework 2002?
The majority of the Regulatory Framework
2002 was transposed into Slovak law by me-
ans of the Act on Electronic Communications3
and its subsequent amendments. In general,
this law and its amendments complied with
the requirements of the framework package.
As the extent of the universal service is
similarly set out in the Slovakia’s communi-
cations act, the universal service is basically
defined in the same way as in the applicable
EU directive.
The universal service shall be provided by
one or more enterprises designated by the
Slovak Telecommunications Office in order to
ensure access to public electronic communi-
cations services for the whole territory of the
Slovak Republic. The designated enterprise(s)
shall be entitled to the compensation for the
assessed net costs of providing the universal
service if these exceed the earnings gained
from the provision of the universal service.
The compensation of such costs shall be co-
vered by contributions from other enterprises
providing public networks, public services or
public networks and services, with a minimum
market share of 0.2%. Such contributions are
deposited in a special account maintained by
the Slovak Telecommunications Office, which
publishes an annual report on the manage-
ment of this account.
The net costs of the provision of the univer-
sal service shall be calculated by the Slovak
Telecommunications Office as the difference
between the costs of this service on one side
and the earnings and market advantages of
the provider of the universal service on the
other side. The market advantages comprise
mainly the strengthening of the enterprise’s
reputation or promotion of the enterprise by,
for example, public telephones or directories.
In the Slovak Republic, a sole provider has
been designated to provide the universal ser-
vice for several years. The other providers of
public networks and services have tended to
object to this status quo. Their main argument
is that they must contribute to the designated
enterprise in order to facilitate the provision
of the universal service which then effecti-
vely strengthens the market position of the
main competitor and weakens their position
as competing enterprises. The argument here
is based upon the fact that the concept of the
universal service is an area which shall always
be managed by the state as it has been imple-
mented to fulfil a so-called public interest. The
framework itself allows for different solutions
in this area and Slovakia adopted one of the
possible approaches.
Under Slovak law, the transposition of the
regulation related to the internal market re-
sulted into an environment where, from the
legal viewpoint, any enterprise may provide
networks and services on the basis of the ge-
neral permission, provided it meets the con-
ditions imposed therein. Within the general
permission, the Slovak Telecommunications
Office may impose only such conditions which
are provided for by respective laws. In line
with the EU regulation, such conditions shall
be non-discriminatory, adequate and transpa-
rent, whereby obstacles to entering the tele-
communications market are eliminated and
transparency is increased.
EU Regulatory
Framework reform
Due to the rapid development of the tele-
coms sector, new rules (“telecoms reform pa-
ckage”) reforming the Regulatory Framework
2002 have entered into force only recently (in
December 2009). The reform was proposed by
the European Commission in 2007; the final
wording was approved by the European Parli-
ament and the Council of Ministers in Novem-
ber 2009 following a quite complex procedure
of negotiations. This reform package directly
amends the original Regulatory Framework
2002 and reacts to the issues and weaknesses
within the competition in the telecommunica-
tions market and aims at strengthening con-
sumers’ rights. Additionally, it contains more
rigorous and consistent regulation, albeit with
the originally declared priorities.
The telecoms reform package can be divided
into three main areas governed by: (i) the Bet-
ter Regulation Directive – covering and impro-
ving specific telecoms regulatory matters; (ii)
the Citizens’ Rights Directive – strengthening
consumers’ rights and protection of privacy;
and (iii) the Regulation establishing the new
European Telecoms Authority called the „Body
of European Regulators for Electronic Com-
munications (BEREC)“.
The new changes affecting consumers are,
inter alia, the following:
1. The extension of rights of consumers with
regard to the protection of citizens‘ rights
regarding the internet access by a new “in-
ternet freedom provision” - discussed ex-
tensively by the European Parliament and
the Council - providing that any measures
taken by the Member States in respect
of the access to, or use of, services and
applications through electronic commu-
January 11 – 17, 2010 11
Branislav Ujvári,
Senior Associate, ROWAN LEGAL s.r.o.
nications networks by end-users shall
respect the fundamental rights and free-
doms of natural persons and shall be limi-
ted or excluded only upon a prior fair and
impartial trial;
2. Porting of phone numbers and their sub-
sequent activation shall be carried out
within the shortest possible time; in any
case, users who have concluded an agree-
ment to port a number to a new service
provider shall have that number activated
within one working day (in the EU, it cur-
rently takes, on average, from approxima-
tely 8 days up to few weeks);
3. Obligation of the providers of services
to offer the possibility to subscribe to a
contract with a maximum duration of 12
months (currently, the contract period is
usually 24 months);
4. Improved information for consumers re-
garding the subscribed communications
services by setting the minimum requi-
rements for the contract with operators
(including for example, the minimum
service quality offered, compensation,
and refund arrangements which apply if
the contracted service quality levels are
not met, etc.);
5. Improved consumer protection against
personal data breaches and spam by me-
ans of imposing additional obligation
on the providers, including for example,
mandatory notifications of personal data
breaches.
As the majority of the rules of the reform
package are contained within the newly
adopted directives, these will need to be
transposed into the national laws of the
Member States by June 2011. In the near fu-
ture, we therefore can expect amendments
to the applicable Slovak legislation respon-
ding to the EU reform package.
Branislav Ujvári is a Senior Associate with
ROWAN LEGAL s.r.o. This article is of an
informative nature only. For more information
go to www.rowanlegal.com
SP90170/1
12 January 11 – 17, 2010
€: Still thinking in crowns
Continued from pg 1
Their survey also found that
90 percent of those polled be-
lieved Slovakia had handled the
process of adoption well.
“It is a compliment to the
National Bank of Slovakia and all
who participated in [the
process],” IVO’s Oľga Gyárfášová
told the SITA newswire.
As for the most significant
challenges in the process, Barát
listed, first of all, meeting the
Maastricht criteria, which re-
quired keeping inflation and the
public finance deficit low.
“It was also extremely diffi-
cult technically to secure the
minting and distribution of
coins, and the bringing in and
distribution of banknotes, along
with setting all the banking and
other information systems,”
Barát said.
According to Barát, the in-
formation campaign itself
wasn’t an easy task either.
While not as difficult as the
technical aspects, he said it was
necessary to challenge many
myths and beliefs stemming
from people’s fear of the un-
known, for example of price
hikes, psychological shocks,
etc., which were believed to
threaten Slovakia, but none of
which actually materialised.
“But we had these issues on
the table on a daily basis and had
to continuously and patiently
explain them,” Barát said.
However, Barát said he be-
lieved that some topics are being
kept alive artificially by the me-
dia, for example reported prob-
lems with handling small-de-
nomination coins or with the
end of dual display pricing in
euros and Slovak crowns.
“None of them presents a
real problem in practice,” he
said.
How consumers feel
Consumers, however, tend
to perceive changes in prices re-
lated to euro adoption negat-
ively, with 57 percent of re-
spondents believing that prices
had gone up. However, this
number is not so high that it
overcomes the positive aspects,
Gyárfášová said in early Decem-
ber.
Another poll, by the Median
SK agency, suggests a similar
trend. Of 5,074 respondents
polled between May and Decem-
ber of 2009, 70 percent responded
‘yes’ to the question “Do you
think the introduction of the
new common currency caused
price increases this year?”, ac-
cording to SITA.
However, it may take a little
longer for Slovaks to adjust fully
to the currency. For example, 56
percent of respondents to a
KMG International survey –
conducted between December 5
and 12, 2009, on a sample of
1006 people – said that they
were still converting euro
amounts into Slovak crowns.
“The tendency to calculate in
crowns is significantly stronger
among people with elementary
education,” KMG told SITA.
The IVO-Focus survey’s find-
ings suggested that 71 percent of
Slovaks would like to see dual
display pricing remain in place.
“According to another sur-
vey, 99 percent of people would
The National Bank of Slovakia, plus euro.
like, for example, to be relieved
of the obligation to pay taxes,”
Barát responded with a chuckle.
“The survey question itself is
suggestive and the result does
not deliver much. People would
certainly like to have price tags
in US dollars, Czech crowns,
Hungarian forints, and Polish
zloty so that it would be even
easier to compare. Anyway, this
past Saturday in Austria I was
given a ski pass and the price
was indicated in Austrian
schillings – this is eight years
after Austria adopted the euro.
While it is of course no longer
obligatory, anyone can continue
with dual display for as long as
they wish.”
According to Barát, if people
are able to do their shopping in
the Czech Republic, Poland,
Hungary and elsewhere in the
world in the local currencies and
are able to perform the some-
times very complicated calcula-
tions to work out equivalent
prices then there is no reason
why they should not be able to
do so at home.
“I am 100-percent sure that
no customer would leave a store
and go to a competitor only be-
cause he does not find price tags
with dual display while the
competitor has them,” he added.
Euro advantages
Exchange-rate stability,
lower conversion costs and, after
the unprecedented reduction of
ECB interest rates, more favour-
able monetary policy conditions,
which have fed through into
lower interest rates for new cor-
porate loans, have made a no-
ticeably positive contribution to
mitigating the effects of the
global recession on the Slovak
economy, Volksbank’s Vaňo told
The Slovak Spectator.
“In particular, thanks to the
avoidance of exchange rate tur-
bulence between September
2008 and March 2009, Slovakia
avoided the effect of more ex-
pensive imports on prices,”
Vaňo said. “Inflation in Slovakia
at the turn of 2009 was hence
BUSINESS
Photo: Jana Liptáková
smooth and continuous, con-
trary to other markets in the re-
gion, which faced double-digit
depreciation of their currencies,
which in turn boosted inflation
there because of more expens-
ive imports.”
According to Vaňo, the lucky
timing of the conversion – the
final green light came in July
2008, just weeks before the
global economic turbulence be-
gun – at the same time helped to
dispel previously optimistic as-
sumptions about the advant-
ages of running an independent
monetary policy in a small and
open economy.
As was the case especially in
Hungary and Romania, a severe
increase of global risk aversion
caused a significant weakening
of regional currencies, he added.
“Already by 2009 several
Slovak industries began to feel
the benefit of euro introduction,
especially as multinational cor-
porations with facilities in sev-
eral of this region’s countries
experienced the risks associated
not only with currency volatil-
ity, and associated higher con-
version costs, but also the high-
er interest rates in local
currencies,” Vaňo said.
If there are challenges to
speak of, Vaňo said, they con-
cern more the increasing use of
coins. However, instead of con-
sumers, this issue seems to be
causing headaches more for
merchants, who were previously
used to banknotes for lower
amounts, he said, noting that
the smallest koruna banknotes
were equivalent to €0.66, €1.66,
and €3.32 respectively. The
smallest euro banknote, by con-
trast, has a face value of €5.
Payments for corresponding
amounts in euros have thus been
replaced by coins, which tend to
incur more handling costs, espe-
cially for smaller merchants,
Vaňo said.
“Other than this technical is-
sue, the conversion was not so
much of a problem as had ori-
ginally been expected,” Vaňo
said. “Much of the concerns re-
garding the public perception of
the new currency were over-
shadowed by deterioration in the
global and local economy, in-
cluding worsening labour mar-
ket conditions, and especially
news – which came almost daily
– about the significant depreci-
ation in regional currencies.”
Between September 2008 and
March 2009, the Czech crown
weakened by over 11 percent
against the euro, the Romanian
leu weakened by almost 18 per-
cent, the Hungarian forint by
almost 25 percent, and the Polish
zloty by almost 30 percent.
“Just a few weeks after euros
landed in the wallets of Slovaks,
it turned them into “hard
currency” visitors, a term used
before the fall of the Iron Cur-
tain for western German visitors
paying with [Deutsche] marks,
who could enjoy cheap shopping
trips to Czechoslovakia, Hun-
gary, or Poland,” Vaňo noted.
“One should note that cross-
border shopping has always
been a dominant phenomenon
in the border regions of Slovakia
– except that this time the signi-
ficant currency depreciation
made zloty, koruna and forint
prices notably cheaper for Slov-
aks shopping with euros. At the
same time, this helped to fur-
ther constrain local price devel-
opments – though inflation was
already on a downward path due
to the increase in unemploy-
ment and hence softer con-
sumer demand.”
Inflation
As for how inflation might
have developed if Slovakia had
not adopted the euro, Vaňo said
that “a quick glimpse at the ex-
change rates charts and con-
sumer price indices in the region
gives an unequivocal answer:
Slovakia could hardly have
avoided significant depreciation
at the beginning of 2009 and a
corresponding rise in inflation”.
According to Vaňo, even
though most of the weakening
has been unwound in sub-
sequent months, its effect on
price levels lingers on: as of
November, Slovakia, with its
zero inflation enjoys an annual
pace of HICP (Harmonized Index
of Consumer Prices – the stand-
ard used by European statistics
agency Eurostat) inflation sever-
al percentage points lower than
Hungary, with 5.2 percent, Po-
land, with 3.8 percent, or Ro-
mania, on 4.6 percent.
“The Czech Republic, it is
true, is faring similarly well, at
0.2 percent, but this comes at the
expense of a stronger Czech
crown, which has completely
reversed its January-February
weakness and hence given local
exporters very few reasons for
joy over the ‘textbook’ expecta-
tions of a weaker currency sup-
porting the recovery of export-
driven industries,” the analyst
said. “Moreover, the risk appet-
ite and gradual appreciation [of
the crown] since March of 2009
have foreshadowed for neigh-
bouring exporters a taste of the
foreseeable currency volatility
once the uncertainty and reces-
sion end, some time in the fu-
ture, and regional currencies
come under renewed pressure to
appreciate and thus make their
exports to the eurozone more
expensive.”
STATE: Deficit
ballooned in 2009
Continued from pg 1
“It is a positive signal that
if there is an effort to cut
spending then it can work.”
The fact that the state defi-
cit for 2009 swelled to almost
triple the originally-planned
budget does not come as a big
surprise to Eva Sadovská, an
analyst with Poštová Banka,
who said that the original defi-
cit had been exceeded begin-
ning as early as June 2009.
“Last year’s state budget
was significantly impacted by
the global economic
downturn,” Sadovská told The
Slovak Spectator. “For ex-
ample, the loss of employment
by many Slovaks means not
only a loss of taxes by the state
but also additional
expenditures.”
After the October revised
budget, planned expenditures
for the entire year remained
at €14.125 billion while actual
spending reached only
€13.332 billion. Nevertheless,
actual state expenditures for
2009 increased by 10.6 percent
year-on-year, the SITA news-
wire wrote. State revenues –
at €10.541 billion – failed to
not only reach what was
planned for 2009 but were
even 7.1 percent lower than
the previous year.
“Total revenues dipped by
19.6 percent less than the ori-
ginal budget plan and it was
mainly tax revenues, which
were 18.8 percent lower, that
are behind the deficit,” said
Sadovská.
But government spending
was cut by only 5.6 percent,
she added.
The state collected 80 per-
cent less in income taxes from
private entities than the ori-
ginal plan for 2009, before the
October revision, according to
Sadovská.
The lower tax revenues
were influenced by weaker
consumption, thus less VAT
collected, and lower revenues
and income by firms, she ex-
plained.
The collection of VAT, the
largest source of taxes in
Slovakia, significantly lagged
behind the original plan,
posting a 17-percent drop
year-on-year to €3.846 billion,
according to the year-end
data released by the Finance
Ministry. However, collec-
tion of value added taxes ex-
ceeded the revised October
budget by 3.5 percent. Excise
taxes collected fell by 3.7 per-
cent year on year to €1.835 bil-
lion, SITA wrote.
Finance Minister Ján Počiatek
In contrast, income taxes
paid by legal entities increased
slightly by 0.4 percent to €2.13
billion to account for 102.5 per-
cent of the revised budget plan.
Withholding taxes had the
deepest year-on-year decline:
down 24.4 percent to €155.8
million, but 2.1 percent more
than the projection in the re-
vised October budget.
Sadovská said if the actual
end of year deficit is com-
pared with the revised state
budget, the bottom line is
slightly better than what was
projected in October.
“However, the state failed
to fully fulfill the adjusted Oc-
tober plan in terms of revenues
since it collected €430 million
less, which is 4 percent below
the plan,” Sadovská said. “On
the contrary, spending dropped
only 5.6 percent from the ori-
ginal budgeted amount which
had remained unchanged dur-
ing the October revision. One
could hardly talk about any sig-
nificant tightening of the belt.”
The state spent one-tenth
more in 2009 than in 2008,
Sadovská said, adding that ac-
tual total 2009 revenues
dropped by more than 7 percent
compared to 2008 while reven-
ues from taxes dropped by
more than 11 percent when
compared to 2008.
Sadovská said that because
of these developments, Slov-
akia cannot come close to keep-
ing its public finance deficit be-
low 3 percent of GDP as re-
quired by the Maastricht criter-
ia; she predicted that the deficit
as a percent of GDP will be more
than twice that limit.
The Finance Ministry has
projected a public finance de-
ficit for 2010 of 5.5 percent of
GDP as it expects the revival of
the economy will be rather
slow and that unemployment
will remain relatively high
and tax revenues will increase
only gradually.
“Moreover, this will be an
election year and thus there
are certain risks that the defi-
cit won’t be lower in 2010,”
Sadovská said. “We see an op-
portunity for savings in more
transparent public procure-
ment and in re-evaluation of
some of the core goals of the
government.”
After the budget deficit ex-
ceeded 6 percent in 2009, the
plan to reach 5.5 percent for
2010 gives the impression of
consolidation efforts, Sadovská
said, but she suggested that
this effort could be much more
robust and should move the de-
ficit closer to 5 percent.
Photo: SITA

Nokia CEE chief welcomes
competition from Google
BY ADAM VALČEK
& TOMÁŠ ULEJ
Special to the Spectator
JÁN Kolimár shares the vision
that the content inside a phone
will be more important than the
phone itself and he suggests that
in few years no one will make big
money with running a commu-
nication business with voice ser-
vices alone. “However, we should
be helping each other with the
operators,” said Nokia’s General
Manager for Central Europe in an
interview with Sme.sk and The
Slovak Spectator.
The Slovak Spectator/Sme: Has
the economic crisis impacted
your company?
Ján Kolimár (JK): The crisis
can also be a catalyst for change
and Nokia is undertaking some of
these changes right now. I’m not
sure whether it was due to the
crisis, but we managed to optim-
ise some of our processes thanks
to this catalyst. Instead of intro-
ducing 50 phones a year, it will be
far less in the near future. We will
focus on quality and on our iconic
products.
We don’t live on a desert is-
land, but I don’t think we will be
as “interesting” in this area [of
crisis impacts] as, for example,
the automotive industry.
TSS/Sme: In Microsoft, de-
velopers were first affected by
the crisis. Was it similar in
Nokia?
JK: We’re more focused on
programs than on cutting staff
numbers. Simply said, the prior-
ity here is to develop programs
with a guarantee of success.
TSS/Sme: Does it mean a slow-
down in development?
JK: I wouldn’t say that it will
slow development down. It will
reduce the number of novelties to
just those which we believe could
succeed.
TSS/Sme: From a global per-
spective, Nokia remains a lead-
er. How is the company doing
in the region and in Slovakia?
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C 3489
TSS INTERVIEW
JK: Besides our phones, we
have begun to concentrate on
services. Not so long ago I saw a
very good campaign on our Ovi
[internet services]. Ovi means
“door” in Finnish and we are
opening the door to new applica-
tions. In addition to having
strictly the Symbian [operating
system] phones, intended
primarily for applications, we
have also moved to Linux which
is a real applications’ incubator.
Then we also have our 3G Booklet
mini laptop.
TSS/Sme: Ovi is a novelty
which motivates users to con-
nect their devices to the inter-
net and, at the same time, this
perhaps “clashes” the most
with Google.
JK: Two or three years ago,
the introduction of a new phone
concept by a certain company
shifted mobility and the use of
mobile phones ahead. Similar to
that, we used to claim that our
devices would no longer only
transmit voice and SMS mes-
sages but they could be used also
as multimedia devices. That’s
what we used to say at the be-
ginning of 2000 and we do fur-
ther follow this strategic direc-
tion. Google and Apple are mov-
ing in a very similar way.
TSS/Sme: You were second in
introduction of that kind of
service. Google has some ap-
plications similar to Ovi as
well. Is this the direction you
want to follow?
JK: Google has its own busi-
ness model. Nokia Maps and
Google Maps are very similar
and no new technologies are
about to be invented. A signific-
ant difference lies in the policy
of Google, which is focused on
advertising and on the online
world. We have our own policy
that is concentrated on
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C 3649
BUSINESS / NEWS
strengthening the telecom sec-
tor, especially its mobile inter-
net services.
TSS/Sme: Is the concept of an
environment with an open
source code developed by sev-
eral companies in any way
foreign to you?
JK: Nokia has been following
this direction from the very be-
ginning. Symbian is open, too.
We have around four million de-
velopers around the world. At
the same time, we don’t prevent
the Symbian developers from
working for other companies.
Ovi is also an open platform.
TSS/Sme: Not so long ago a vis-
ion of a Google Phone was
presented. Do you regard it as
major competition?
JK: There are lots of devices
to compete with. I’ll say it in
more general terms instead of
expressing my opinion on just
one product. I’ve been in Slov-
akia for 11 years and all that time
we have had competition. Nokia
first had mono-blocs, then
someone came out with a fold-
out phone and subsequently we
became leaders in this segment.
It was similar in the case of 3G
phones and touch screen devices
that came after that; but it
doesn’t mean that we were al-
ways first. Our strength, our
brand and the interconnection
of our users has always helped
us. Anyway, to give you an an-
swer regarding Google Phone,
we welcome such competition
that moves the mobile internet
forward.
TSS/Sme: Do you consider
Google to be such a competit-
or?
JK: I surely do.
TSS/Sme: Can you actually
imagine bringing a phone to
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e-mail: circulation@spectator.sk, or spectator@spectator.sk
market that would be able to
work even without a mobile
voice operator?
JK: We already have applic-
ations that allow us to avoid a
mobile operator. For example,
we have Skype in our mobile
phones. We’ve been providing
these services in our phones for
about four years. I guess the
world won’t collapse if such a
phone appears. A new business
model will be invented but op-
erators and all the other players
will remain.
TSS/Sme: Is your strategy go-
ing to follow the way of ex-
tending phones’ VoIP (voice
over internet) features?
JK: You can see it yourself.
Voice services have already be-
come a commodity. In a few
years nobody is going to make
big money with the voice itself.
It has already begun to happen.
TSS/Sme: You have been work-
ing for Nokia for 11 years. How
can a Slovak get the position
of Director for Central Europe
and keep it in such a global
company for 11 years?
JK: This is my sixth year
outside the Slovak Republic.
Nokia is an open company that
provides space for active people
under one condition: some-
times they have to rid them-
selves of comfort and be ready
to travel. I worked as Sales Dir-
ector in Moscow for two years.
Both the improvement of our
position there and a sales in-
crease helped me get the posi-
tion of General Manager for the
Czech Republic and Slovakia. It
helped me get responsibility
also for Poland and the other
countries came subsequently.
TSS/Sme: Is your work more
about doing business or about
strategic planning?
JK: It was more relation-
oriented at the beginning. I
used to make phone calls back
then and now I’m writing
emails - that’s how I would de-
scribe it [laughs]. I still meet
clients, but now it’s being
scheduled more in advance. Yet,
I couldn’t do it without a good
team around me.
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TV: President calls for a
return to 'basic values'
Continued from pg 2
Apart from this, he focused
mainly on moral failure in soci-
ety, with damaged relation-
ships and many lonely people.
In his view, money and greed
in society are the reasons for
this situation.
“At present money mainly
humiliates us,” he said in the
speech. “It makes us servants of
the interests of others. There is
no better proof of this than the
current global crisis.” The world
therefore needs to resolve its
moral failures first, he opined.
He appealed for a return to
what he called the basic univer-
sal moral values of humanity.
He called for awareness that
“the most precious thing that
life gives us is life itself” – fam-
ily, friends, loved ones – and
urged people to dedicate more
time to them, especially to chil-
dren. Finally, he wished Slov-
aks a better, more secure and
more dignified year.
The traditional New Year’s
address was broadcast by the
public-service broadcasters
Slovak Television (STV) and
Slovak Radio, as well as by the
private TV news channel TA3.
According to figures published
by the Sme daily, the address
was watched on STV by about
343,000 viewers, while a par-
ody broadcast by the private
TV channel JOJ at the same
time was viewed by 616,000
people. An additional 56,000
viewers saw the president’s
speech on TA3.
“It was the speech of a vil-
lage priest,” was the judge-
ment of political analyst
Miroslav Kusý, in comments to
The Slovak Spectator. “The
Following Masaryk's example: the president speaks.
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January 11 – 17, 2010 13
speech could have been given
by any village priest to his flock
as some kind of moral message
for the new year. There was
nothing that went beyond a
moral lament.”
According to political ana-
lyst Juraj Marušiak, the speech
was shallow and empty.
“The president, or his team,
was not even able to handle ef-
fectively the topic that was
supposed to form the core of the
speech – that is, orientation to-
wards spiritual rather than ma-
terial values,” he told The Slov-
ak Spectator.
Marušiak also said that the
speech mirrored the position of
the president, who is not even
using the possibilities that he is
granted by the Slovak Constitu-
tion to influence public life.
“If the ruling coalition ex-
pected him to support their
agenda, they were mistaken,”
he added.
According to Kusý, the
point in the president address-
ing the nation at the beginning
of the New Year is to balance
the past year and to bring some
vision for the near future.
“This is how the tradition
was founded in the time of [the
first Czechoslovak president
Tomáš Garrigue] Masaryk and
this is the tradition that both
Czech and Slovak presidents
continued,” Kusý said. Without
this he believes the address to
be useless.
The tradition started with
the first New Year’s address
given by Masaryk in 1919, after
the first Czechoslovak Republic
was founded in October 1918.
The address was originally
broadcast over the radio, and in
later years on television.
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14 January 11 – 17, 2010 CULTURE
The Lord of the Váh Western SLOVAKIA

Bratislava
DANCE: Homage to Cows – This
musical-dance-artistic-theatric-
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
al happening was born from co-
operation between the Elledanse
Dance School and Theatre led by
Šárka Ondrišová and Slovak cho-
reographer and dancer Boris
Nahálka.
Starts: January 15-16, 20:00.
Admission fee: €4 - €6. Elle-
danse, Miletičova 17/B. Tel:
02/5541-0716, www.elledanse.sk.

Castle ruins are one of the main
lures for tourists in Slovakia.
They attract visitors with their
picturesqueness and monu-
mental size, like the one at Beck-
ov. Its attractiveness can be
ascribed among other
things also to its loca-
His influence was reflected
in the imposing title which this
nobleman started using in 1400 –
“The Lord of the Váh”. However,
Ctibor was not just powerful,
but also an enlightened feudal
from a defensive point of view.
From around the middle of the
17th century, as the Ottomans
plundered western Slovakia,
the castle became a haven for
Hungarian aristocrats in the
vicinity. Raiders
failed to conquer it
Bratislava
CLASSICAL MUSIC: The Popular
Cycle – The Slovak Philharmonic
Orchestra begins its new year
with pieces by John Williams,
including music from the films
Star Wars and ET - the Extra-Ter-
restrial; and by Gustav Holst's
The Planets. THE STATE Opera in Banská Bystrica offers, apart from typical pieces,
Starts: January 14, 19:00. some less traditional performances. The dance theatre Gypsy Roots
Admission: €7 - €9. The histor- by Goran Bregovič (music) and Dana Dinková (directing, choreo-

tion – sitting upon a
30-metre tall, lime-
stone outcrop.
Its fame came
mainly from Ctibor,
the owner of the castle at the turn
of the 14th and 15th centuries.
Polish by origin, he was a loyal
servant of kings of Hungary. It
was his loyalty and especially
good relations with King Sigis-
mund that made him an unusu-
ally influential man, who con-
trolled a considerable part of
present-day Slovakia.
HISTORY TALKS
lord. He invited builders, paint-
ers, and sculptors from Venice
and the Veneto region of Italy to
work on his grand reconstruc-
tion of the castle. Near to the
Váh River, it was one of the first
Renaissance buildings in Great-
er Hungary which also pre-
served older, Gothic elements.
Beckov Castle was also unique
in spite of the fact
that the flat terrain
made it possible to
reach the very foot
of the castle rock. It
was struck a fatal blow in 1709
when sparks from a fire in the
nearby town set alight the
wooden beams and rafters of
the fortress and it burned to the
ground. The ruins of Beckov are
depicted in this postcard from
1939.
By Branislav Chovan
ical building of the National
Theatre, Hiezdoslavovo Square,
tel: 02/2047-2111,
www.filharm.sk.
Bratislava
OPERA: Carmen – George Bizet’s
Carmen is one of the most pas-
sionate and famous operas and
director Richard Eyere gives it an
innovative approach. This live
broadcast from the New York
Metropolitan Opera in high
definition is led by conductor
Yannick Nezet-Séguin.
Starts: January 16, 18:45. Admis-
sion: €14. Aréna Theatre, Vieden–
graphy) shows the romance between a young Roma boy and a white
girl, with Beata Gaálová and Andrej Andrejkovič as the main actors.
The rare atmosphere evoked by the music of world-renowned Serbian
musician Goran Bregovič can be enjoyed on January 12 at 18:30 for €5.
For more info, call 048/4154-544, or see www.stateopera.sk.
Photo: Courtesy of Štátna Opera
than half a century, comes back group Cassanova, an oriental
with Boob Band and a special bazaar and much more.
guest, the vocal band Fragile. Starts: January 15, 20:00.
Starts: January 11, 19:00. Ticket: €30 and €40. PKO (former
Admission: €29. City Aréna, House of Culture), Námestie
Mariánska 35. Tic– Slobody 3. Tickets can be bought
kets: www.ticketportal.sk or at: IC Banská Bystrica, tel:
www.nabrehu.sk. 048/4155-085; MsÚ Banská
Bystrica, tel: 048/ 4330-520(-3) .
Komárno

Skiers welcome fresh snow ská cesta 10. Tel: 02/6720-2557,

www.divadloarena.sk.
LIVE MUSIC: Presser Gábor – This
legend of Hungarian rock, who
played with the Omega band and
Žilina
LIVE MUSIC: Good For Cows –
Devin Hoff (contrabass) and
this entire week, ranging from about -6 to -10 de- Bratislava: who founded the cult Locomot- Ches Smith (percussions, Xiu
grees and if there is some additional snowfall, DANCE: Belly-Dance Yesterday, ive GT band, gives a concert Xiu) return to Stanica, where

SKI WINDOW skiing conditions will improve considerably.

With the Christmas holidays over, an ideal
winter holiday can be expected with lodging fa-
Today, and... (Brušný tanec
včera, dnes a....) – Dance exhibi-
tion by the Association of Ori-
called Songs and Some Stories,
which is an allusion to his CD
titled Kis történetek.
they gave a memorable concert
back in 2008. Their music is on
the edge between composition
cilities often offering big price reductions, slopes ental Dance, Zatun Dahabee, Starts: January 15, 19:00. and improvisation, free-jazz,
being less crowded, and lifts without long queues presents Leyla Damab, Elisha, Admission: €10. Jókai Theatre, drum & bass and avant-garde.
We are now having in January what is often permitting more skiing for the cost of your lift Zuzana and their students show- Petöfiho 1. Tel: 035/7908-112, Starts: January 12, 20:00.
called “The Wintertime of Three Kings”. It has ticket. ing off their newest choreo- www.jokai.sk. Admission: €2 - €3.50. The Stan-
brought an appreciable temperature drop as well graphies. ica Žilina-Záriečie Culture
as fresh snow. The snow conditions in Slovakia’s By Roman Millan, www.lanovky.sk Starts: January 14, 19:00. Central SLOVAKIA Centre, Závodská Cesta 3. Tel:
mountains are still far from ideal and in most re- Admission: €4. DK Zrkadlový Háj 041/5623-564, www.stanica.sk.
sorts skiing is possible only because of machine- House of Culture, Rovniankova Banská Bystrica
made snow. But the positive thing is that the hills 3. Tel: 02/6383-6776, www.kzp.sk. BALL: A Thousand and One Eastern SLOVAKIA
beyond the ski slopes are finally covered in white Nights (Tisíc a jedna noc) – The
and the experience can now, at last, be called Prievidza first charity ball on the city is Košice
“winter skiing”. The highest altitude ski slopes in LIVE MUSIC: Karel Gott – Divine named correctly as it will fea- FASHION: Beata Rajská Fashion
the High and Low Tatras still need at least another New Year. The biggest star of ture oriental dancers, fakirs, a Show – Rajská is an established
metre of natural snow so skiers everywhere can Czecho-Slovak pop music, whose slave market, the dance studio Slovak fashion designer who has
ski beyond the forest level, which is only possible popularity has lasted for more Alishaba and historical culture created designs for the Czech
now at Solisko and Štrbské Pleso. New cableways entrants at several Miss con-
in Banská Štiavnica, Krahule, Bachledova Dolina tests, including Miss World
and Jasná have now been opened. Tourism. At that show, the de-
Winter weather with freezing temperatures The first snow brings joy and fun to Slovak skiers signer won the award of Most
at altitudes of 1,500 metres or higher will prevail and winter-sports lovers. Photo: Roman Millan Beautiful Evening gown.
Starts: January 11, 18:00;
20:00. Admission: €10 - €65. State
Ski conditions around Slovakia (as of January 6) Theatre, Hlavná 58. Tel:
055/16-186, www.espacestudio.sk.
CENTRE SNOW CONDITIONS SKI PASS PRICE IN € LIFTS IN OPERATION
Poprad
Donovaly 40 cm good €22 5/15 EXHIBITION: Starry Messages –
Ján Zoričák belongs among the
Jasná – Sever 20-80 cm very good €29 11/24
most outstanding glass-working
Chopok – Juh 80 cm very good €19 3/6 artists; his design was selected
Martinské hole 60 cm very good €22 1/6 for the 1967 EXPO in Montreal.
Štrbské Pleso 80 cm very good €22 4/6 THE EXHIBITION of the Slovak National Museum (SNM) in Bratislava He has become one of the repres-
called With a Wire in the Head (S drôtom v hlave) is a joint show of entatives of prismatic plastic art.
Lomnické sedlo 30 cm unsuitable €27 0/1 SNM, the Museum of Puppet Culture and Toys at Modrý Kameň and Open: Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00,
Tatranská Lomnica 50 cm very good €28 9/14 the Anderle Family from Banská Bystrica. It shows traditional puppets until January 17. Admission: €1.
Zverovka 60 cm very good €20 3/4 in their full glory with several accompanying events. The exhibition The Electricity Plant of the Tatra
runs until March 28, with opening hours at the main SNM building at Gallery, Hviezdoslavova 12. Tel:
Skipark Ružomberok 40 cm very good €22 3/8
Vajanského nábrežie from 9:00 to 17:00. The admission fee is from €2 052/7722-617, www.tatragaleria.sk.
Vrátna 40 cm very good €22 3/15 to €3.50 . For more info, call 0 2/ 5934-9 122 or see www.snm.sk.
Veľká Rača 45 cm good €22 3/6 Photo: Author of the exhibition, Juraj Hamar; Courtesy of SNM By Zuzana Vilikovská

N A M E D A Y J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 0
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia Malvína Ernest Rastislav Radovan Dobroslav Kristína Nata‰a

can now be found at www.spectator.sk.

January 11 January 12 January 13 January 14 January 15 January 16 January 17

A Slovak’s name day (meniny) is as important as his or her birthday. It is traditional to present friends or co-workers with a small gift,
In cooperation with the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute such as chocolates or flowers, and to wish them Všetko najlepšie k meninám (Happy name day)
 CULTURE
Photographs taken by Roma children adorned the pedestrian walkway of Bratislava's New Bridge in December. Photo: Courtesy of Euforion
Film review: Avatar
BY HOWARD SWAINS
Special to the Spectator
Avatar
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sigourney Weaver,
Sam Worthington
IT'S ONLY been a couple of
weeks since the Christmas fest-
ivities and you might still be
steering clear of overindul-
gence. If so, James Cameron’s
Avatar – 10 years in the mak-
ing, a running time of nearly
three hours and a $280 million
budget splashed on bountiful,
opulent computer-generated
imagery (CGI) – is probably best
avoided on health grounds.
Avatar is an outrageous
assault on abstinence. Set on
January 11 – 17, 2010 15
on extracting a “super mineral”
from Pandora known as
“unobtanium” (really) and
worth $20 million per kilo.
Force will be utilised if neces-
sary.
Both factions intend also to
employ a rather neat progres-
sion in computer game techno-
logy. The scientists have de-
veloped avatars of the Na’vi –
functioning replicas “driven”
by transposed human con-
sciousnesses. Jake’s avatar is
embedded among the Na’vi
with a dual mission: to learn
their ways but also to persuade
them to ship out and yield their
natural gifts. Unsurprisingly,
the indigenes are none too
keen, and neither is Jake once
he has fallen in love both with
the ravishing princess Neytiri
(Zoe Saldana) and with the hip-
pie lifestyle. His military re-

A bridge towards the faraway moon of Pandora,

a population of 10-foot tall, fe-
line-featured humanoids (and
a cast of other fantastical
fauna) flit through a jungle of
solve soon dissolves, like a fu-
turistic gap year student, last
seen strumming a guitar in a
youth hostel in Goa.
There’s certainly some fun

Roma inclusion bright turquoise, purple and

Aven Romale
marked
International
Human Rights day
in Bratislava
BY DOMINIKA UHRÍKOVÁ
Spectator staff
WALKING across Bratislava’s
New Bridge instead of driving
over it by car can sometimes
turn out to be much more enjoy-
able. Apart from enabling you to
avoid one of the frequent traffic
jams, the stroll can take you to a
completely different world,
which you would hardly expect
to find among the bridge’s grey
concrete pillars. Such was the
case in recent weeks, when this
futuristic construction land-
mark, also known as the UFO
bridge, hosted an interesting
photographic exhibition.
Entitled Aven Romale, or
Come On, Gypsies, the event was
the fruit of co-operation between
the Royal Netherlands Embassy
in Bratislava and the Košice 2013
European Capital of Culture
(ECOC) team.
Five months after its
premiere in the eastern metro-
polis, the exhibition was moved
to Bratislava on the occasion of
International Human Rights
Day, December 10.
“When the embassy was
planning an activity for Interna-
tional Human Rights Day, we
thought Aven Romale would be a
perfect match for the topic,” said
Yvette Daoud, the Dutch
Embassy’s deputy head of mis-
sion. “By the way, we chose to
focus on the position of the
Roma because Slovakia holds
this year’s presidency of the
‘Decade of Roma Inclusion’ and
also since the theme for Interna-
tional Human Rights Day 2009
was ‘diversity’.”
On December 10, the display
was installed above the Danube,
on the New Bridge. It is not that
Bratislava lacks sufficient exhib-
A young Roma artist mimics his portrait.
ition halls, but the organisers
wanted to make the photo-
graphs accessible to as many
people as possible.
“It is not by accident that
Aven Romale takes place at the
New Bridge,” Daphne Begsma,
Dutch Ambassador to Slovakia,
said at the opening. “This struc-
ture connects the historical
centre with the newer parts of
Bratislava, just as our mental,
symbolic bridge should connect
majority to minority or one’s ste-
reotypes to the reality of others.”
The uniqueness of the dis-
play, however, does not lie only
in its unusual setting. The au-
thors of a majority of the photo-
graphs were 22 Roma children
aged between 4 and 17 from
Luník IX, the infamous Roma
ghetto in Košice, who had taken
part in a three-week workshop
led by Dutch artist Rob Houkes
in summer 2009. The parti-
cipants not only took the photos,
but also learned how to process
the film in a darkroom.
“Our aim was to invite
young Roma people from Luník
IX to show us through the lens
of a camera who they are, what
they think and how they view
the world around them,”
Houkes told The Slovak Spectat-
or. “Then we put together the
pictures they had taken, in
Photo: Courtesy of Euforion
black and white, and my por-
traits of them, in colour, so as to
build a faithful representation
of their personalities.”
Though Houkes is a profes-
sional photographer and his pu-
pils were only beginners, he said
that the workshop enriched him
just as it enriched the children.
“I must say I was totally sur-
prised by the images they made
as well as by their approach,” he
said. “It wiped away all stereo-
types I probably once had. I
found out that the people I
worked with were extremely
friendly, open and self-confident
which is a miracle, given the cir-
cumstances in which they have
to live. So I think everybody, in-
cluding myself, found the work-
shop a very special and unforget-
table event.”
Houkes also added that Roma
people's thoughts and feelings
are surprisingly close to those of
the majority population.
“In one way, their percep-
tion of reality is a little different,
because Roma have had to face
discrimination and exclusion
from society for many, many
years, not to mention the holo-
caust, which is of course
something that changes your
view of life,” he remarked. “On
the other hand, I have learned
that Roma are people like you
and me. They enjoy their lives,
they love their hometowns and
they have the same pleasures
and expectations like you and
me. That is what the exhibition
is showing.”
Aven Romale remained
open until last week. Those
who missed it, however, need
not lose heart. Both the Dutch
embassy and Košice 2013
promise more activities like
this to follow.
“The Royal Netherlands Em-
bassy has been running several
projects in its long-term com-
mitment to Roma issues and
matters of human rights,” Jana
Kadlecová, press and political
assistant at the embassy told The
Slovak Spectator. “In the follow-
ing months, we are planning to
continue supporting initiatives
focused on topics such as the ju-
diciary, transparency, corrup-
tion and freedom of the media.”
As for the Roma children
from Luník IX, Houkes stated
that Aven Romale was certainly
not the last project in their
neighbourhood.
Christian Potiron from the
ECOC team agreed.
“We are very satisfied with
the results of Aven Romale, but
our evaluation has shown that
there is a need for long-term in-
volvement in this kind of activit-
ies and in this environment,
rather than one-off events,” he
said. “We are therefore planning
to realise more events in the
field of social arts and we hope
that some of them will also be
joined by other NGOs. In 2010,
for example, a street dance
summer academy is expected to
be held in Luník IX.”
As Potiron told The Slovak
Spectator, working with Roma
citizens is only a small part of
large-scale efforts towards better
Roma inclusion.
“We do not pretend by such
projects to solve social or politic-
al problems of this community,”
he underlined. “We simply want
to give those people equal oppor-
tunities for developing their cre-
ative skills and tools for self-ex-
pression, and offer them more
possibilities to have quality free
time just like other Slovaks.”
orange, where verdant moun-
tains also float in the sky. The
moon is sustained by a won-
drous “soul tree”, all willowy
tendrils and translucent ener-
gies, into which the popula-
tion – the Na’vi – can plug
their bodies, both to recharge
and to connect as part of a
pantheistic nirvana.
This is as visually ambi-
tious a film as has ever been
produced and the only way to
experience it is to visit: we are
invited to don Aviator-style
shades through which to have
our minds boggled in 3D. With
the going so good, it’s a drag to
have to worry about a plot, es-
pecially one penned by Camer-
on. But all delights come at a
cost, and the lustrous mastery
of Avatar merely comforts us
for a sermon to follow.
The year is 2154 and we
enter this world alongside a
unit of environmental scient-
ists, including Sigourney
Weaver’s Dr. Grace Augustine
and a paraplegic former marine
named Jake Sulley (Sam Wor-
thington). After a six-year
journey, the explorers arrive to
find a thriving moon com-
munity, but all is not quite
ideal in the idyll.
The human species has
once again loused up its own
planet and is now having a
crack at Pandora. Grace’s crew
are intent on study rather than
slaughter, but there is also an
army led by the slithering
Parker Selfridge (Giovanni
Ribisi) and his henchman Col-
onel Miles Quaritch (Stephen
Lang). Those two are hell bent
Avatar: $280 million and ten years in the making. Photo: outnow.ch
to be had on Pandora – riding
winged beasts among hovering
waterfalls seems like a blast.
But otherwise Jake is signing
up for a humourless life. The
Na’vi are never so content as
when earnestly and supercili-
ously bonding with nature and
their default position when
threatened is to strut and rant
and draw back their bows to
fight. This macho jostling, jeal-
ousy, and grand rhetoric is not
so different from their human
adversaries’. Back at base, there
is snarling avariciousness and
impatience among the hu-
mans, where it is also interest-
ing to note what prosaic trap-
pings Cameron expects will
endure 150 years into the fu-
ture. Although mining will be
plotted on hologramatic
screens and carried out by
mighty space marines, their
commanders still putt golf balls
into mugs along the floor of
their offices. Smugness stands
the test of time, along with
wanton aggression, and soon
battle lines are drawn with the
obdurate Na’vi.
What we have after that is a
remorseless and idiot-driven
invading force, stomping
blindly and bloodily into hos-
tile foreign territory, seeking to
plunder vast natural reserves
for purely commercial benefit.
Did someone say metaphor?
Cameron’s CGI stretches to epic
battle scenes, which continue
to dazzle, but if this is a vision
of the future of cinema, then in
terms of character, plot and
motivation, we should expect
something drearily similar to
what we already have.
16 January 11 – 17, 2010
Animals in rescue centre
enjoy Christmas dinner
THE BRATISLAVA-BASED an-
imal rescue centre Animal
Freedom (Sloboda zvierat)
shared in the festive atmo-
sphere this Christmas.
“We organised a collection
of animal food, blankets, and
other necessary items that could
help our nurslings survive the
harsh winter,” centre spokes-
person Edita Gardonová said.
The rescue centre was open
during Christmas, and on
Sunday, December 27, it organ-
ised small get-togethers for the
people that help with the anim-
als and take them for walks. For
Christmas dinner, the animals
ate chicken meat with pasta.
But the holiday season also
brings many more animals to
the rescue centres – those given
as ‘unwanted gifts’, or which
are wanted but, after the school
holidays end, cannot be taken
care of.
Activists belonging to the
Union of Mutual Help of People
and Dogs (Únia vzájomnej
pomoci ľudí a psov) in Košice
said that the number of aban-
doned animals in the city has
risen steeply.
“On average, we manage to
find a new home for an animal
within four to six weeks, but the
number of abandoned animals
keeps soaring, so we are trying
to persuade people to keep the
animal at home until we find it a
new home,” said Romana
Šerfeldová, chairperson of the
union’s board.
Šerfelová added that each
town and city should finance
and take care of animal rescue
centres, as activists do a lot of
good not just for the animals,
but also for citizens in general.
Festive pooches: dogs at the Animal Freedom centre.
AROUND SLOVAKIA compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
In Košice, the union is build-
ing a new centre in the suburbs,
which should have space for 250
dogs and cats. The union will
pay a symbolic rent to the city of
Košice of €0.03 and will be given
the premises in 2025.
Several other animal rescue
centres have already embraced
new guests, just a few days into
the new year. However, the
biggest interest is expected
after January 11, when the
school holidays end. Gardonová
of the Bratislava centre said
that the greatest number of pets
which have turned up this year
ran away from their homes in
fear during New Year fireworks
displays, and might still be re-
turned to their owners.
The rescue centre in
Piešťany has also received new
dogs, including seven Rott-
weiler puppies, since Christ-
mas Eve. The head of the
centre, Ľubomíra Baleková,
says that an increasing trend is
for breeders to bring in puppies
that they are unable to sell. This
trend has been confirmed by
animal rescue centres in
Komárno, Skalica and Prievid-
za. The chairman of the the An-
imal Friends (Priatelia zvierat)
association in Prešov, Michal
Haško, added that, unfortu-
nately, fewer and fewer aban-
doned animals are being adop-
ted by new owners.
“We have almost no adop-
tions; it cannot be compared to
last year,” Agnes Jelínková of
the Komárno centre said.
The head of the Skalica
centre, Romana Šenková, said
that more new owners now
come from Austria than from
Slovakia.
Photo: Sme
FEATURE
Christmastime re-enactments of the Nativity story are popular all over Slovakia.
Slovakia celebrated Christmas
THE PERIOD around the winter
solstice has long been an occasion
for celebration in Slovakia. Even
in pre-Christian times, events
and feasts were held to mark the
end of each year. There were sev-
eral reasons for these: winter was
an ideal time to make merry, as
there were few tasks to complete
in the fields, and the days are
shorter and nights longer. Often,
the main date for celebrations
was the winter solstice.
Old Slavic communities cel-
ebrated these days as symbolic
of new life, as nature prepared
for the re-birth of spring. This is
why in many traditional
Christmas wishes in Slovakia
the harvest, full barns and
tables are featured. From the 4th
century, the Christian religion
gradually transformed the ori-
ginally pagan feast into a celeb-
ration of the birth of Jesus
Christ. The Christmas tree dec-
orated with fruits and sweets
had two functions: it commem-
orated a rich harvest and nature
generally; and it also symbol-
ised the tree of Eden which led
to the fall of Adam and Eve, and
to God later sending his son to
redeem humankind.
Prisoners entertain their guards
A COURTROOM
1
that usually sees
verdicts being
read out was used
on December 14
to display the
skills and abilities of prisoners
and their guards, together with
Justice Minister Viera Petríková
and Supreme Court President
Štefan Harabin.
A group of men serving sen-
tences for minor offences at a
prison in Sučany (Žilina Region)
used the building of the Supreme
Court in Bratislava to act out the
biblical story of Jesus Christ be-
ing born, through the eyes of
Slovak shepherds, thus in-
volving Slovak traditions in the
Fried fish with potato salad,
a dish now commonly eaten in
Slovakia at Christmas, was not
always the traditional meal.
Slovaks still fast during Christ-
mas Eve, and the first meal of the
day has been the festive dinner.
Dishes varied from region to re-
gion, but thin wafers with
honey and in some places garlic
(to ward off evil spirits) were
common. In many parts of Slov-
akia, sauerkraut soup was the
first course, or some other kind
of soup made from lentils, beef
stock, or fish.
The meals which followed
differed greatly but did not usu-
ally contain much meat, except
perhaps for roast cutlets or
smoked pork, and were eaten
with boiled barley; they often
included tiny dumplings of
leavened pastry baked on the
cooking range, with sweet milk
and poppy-seed. To follow,
there came poppy-seed, wal-
nut, or jam-filled or apple-filled
cakes and strudels. Roma famil-
ies typically cooked a pig’s head
which they got from rich farm-
ers, and a Christmas cake,
which was often prepared by
several families together.
Young men from Sučany prison sing a Christmas carol.
show. In past years, the pro-
gramme had comprised several
items performed by various pris-
oners from across Slovakia, but
this year the concept was sim-
pler. According to prison chap-
Photo: TASR
In several far-flung villages,
mostly Goral ones – i.e. in the
mountainous regions, where the
Polish influence is strong – some
old rituals have been preserved.
These include enacting the
events in Bethlehem and the
coming of the Three Kings, tak-
ing an imitation goat’s head from
house to house to wish neigh-
bours good luck for the New Year,
and puppet theatre.
Generally, the tradition of
young people visiting every
house in the village and singing
Christmas carols (koledy) and
wishing people well continues in
many small towns and villages,
but has largely vanished in big-
ger cities.
Christmas Eve was also the
day of the Christmas Midnight
Mass. On Christmas Day, people
usually stayed at home and did
not even visit family or friends.
No household chores were al-
lowed, including cooking. The
second day of Christmas was
seen as a day for family and
friends to visit each other. Be-
cause December 26 is the day of
the patron saint of Hungary,
there were famous St. Stephen’s
Day balls and folk dances.
Photo: TASR
lain Juraj Malý, who organised
and directed the programme, the
songs and acts were not just
learnt but “performed from deep
in the prisoners’ hearts”. Most of
all, the chaplain said he was
Hungarians
survive
avalanche
THE SLOVAK
2
Mountain Res-
cue Service
(HZS) rescued
three Hungari-
an climbers
early on the evening of Sat-
urday, January 2, after they
were caught in an avalanche
in the High Tatras moun-
tains. The men were able to
free themselves from beneath
the snow despite having
suffered serious injuries, in-
cluding spinal damage.
The Hungarians were des-
cending from Kôpky to Dračia
dolina. Several groups of HZS
rescuers were dispatched to
the site from the High Tatras,
Low Tatras, Western Tatras
and from Slovak Paradise Na-
tional Park. Due to the bad
weather conditions, it was
not possible to send a heli-
copter or plane. The victims
were given first aid and later
transported to Popradské
pleso. Later, they were driven
in ambulances to a hospital in
Poprad. The rescue, the first
avalanche incident of the
year, ended at 16:00.
The January 2 High Tatras res-
cue operation. Photo: TASR
pleased to hear some of the
young prisoners singing carols
in their cells. He also thinks the
very feeling that someone is in-
terested in them helps them to
become better human beings.
The famous Slovak priest and
writer Anton Srholec, himself a
former political prisoner, also
watched their performance. He
said that current conditions in
prisons cannot be compared to
those during the communist era.
He also noted that the treatment
of detainees and prisoners has
changed – from repressive to
more democratic, a change in-
tended to turn the convicts into
“decent people, evoking their
thirst for creativity”.