SLOVAK BRAND NAMES

IN THE WORLD

On sale now FOCUS

Vol. 17, No. 2 Monday, January 17, 2011 - Sunday, January 23, 2011 of this issue

NEWS
Party finance debate
Court and
After a series of eye-catch-
ing allegations about
shady financing methods,
ministry at
the issue of how Slovak
political parties raise
funds is now open for de-
war – again
bate, and major changes
might come.
pg 2 BY MICHAELA TERENZANI
Spectator staff

Ticking boxes
The four-party coalition ONGOING wage discrimination lawsuits
government has fulfilled being pursued by hundreds of Slovak
some of its promises dur- judges have provoked yet another con-
ing its first six months in flict between the Supreme Court and the
office but it has stumbled Justice Ministry. The latest spat erupted
over several other tough after the Supreme Court plenum, con-
issues. vened by court president Štefan Harabin,
pg 3 recommended that he should not launch
appeals against judges who win lawsuits
against the court.
OPINION The ministry as well as judges crit-
ical of the Supreme Court president
The first six months have rejected the plenum statement as
The government's pursuit being at odds with the law. Meanwhile,
of transparency and its the Justice Ministry has updated its
fight against corruption statistics and found that the number of
has marked its short ten- judges suing the state for wage discrim-
ure but much remains to be Slovak Police Corps President Jaroslav Spišiak (above) announced a new organisational structure on January 13. It ination is considerably higher than ori-
accomplished. will bring 1,708 new uniformed officers to the police force following their transfer from other positions. Photo: SITA ginally thought.
pg 5
Supreme Court not to appeal

BUSINESS FOCUS
Strong brand loyalty
Slovak consumers are gen-
Parties not charged, Harabin convened a plenary session
of the court’s judges on January 10 to dis-
cuss the wage discrimination lawsuits
filed by some of their own number. The
erally brand-loyal and they
tend to favour traditional
domestic brands. But the
economic crisis has also
made them more price-
but doubts linger judges who filed the lawsuits argued that
they had been discriminated against as a
result of the higher salaries paid to judges
sitting on Slovakia’s former Special
Court, established by a previous govern-
sensitive. WIDELY publicised claims about response to the prosecutor’s de- ment to fight high-level corruption and
pg 6 dubious financing of Slovakia’s two cision on SDKÚ financing Smer organised crime.
biggest political parties seem
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ said it respects the decision but
destined to remain the subject of
Spectator staff “reserves its own opinion” on the See SUITS pg 3
Slovak design wins conjecture after official decisions matter. SDKÚ has consistently
Pergamen, a small design not to pursue court action. After a said that it never laundered
studio from Trnava, has col-
lected national as well as in-
ternational awards for its
prosecutor discontinued a criminal
inquiry into the financing of the
opposition Smer party in early
(SDKÚ). Transparency and political
ethics watchdogs expressed doubts
about whether the prosecutors’
money and that Fico should first of
all clean up his own party.
Nevertheless, the party-finan-
Dioxin
bottle and logo design for
the Tatratea drinks brand.
pg 7
December, at the beginning of the
year Special Prosecutor Ján Šanta
halted a separate high-profile in-
moves will dispel suspicions arising
from the cases.
While Smer boss Robert Fico
cing allegations have strengthened
calls for stricter control of how
political parties in Slovakia are
scare
CULTURE
vestigation into a case involving the
financing of the ruling Slovak
Democratic and Christian Union
called the allegations of murky
financing of his own party a media
bubble and a non-existent case, in
financed.

See DROPPED pg 2
subsides
Forgotten inventor BY MICHAELA TERENZANI
The Slovak inventor of the
parachute, Štefan Banič,
died 70 years ago this
Private rail firm comes to Slovakia Spectator staff

month but his home town metre costs of the operated line and ensko (ZSSK), says it will try to lure
failed to organise any is counting on service on the line to more passengers onto its existing EGGS and poultry from Germany are ap-
event to commemorate its BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ improve. The company has pledged lines, while scrapping those which pearing on the shelves of Slovak super-
native son. Spectator staff to hire Slovak staff, which in the are least effective. ZSSK is guaran- markets once again after tests conducted
pg 11 context of recently announced lay- teed state support to provide public by Slovak authorities determined that
offs in the rail sector brings some transport for the next 10 years. there is no threat of dioxin contamination
THOUGH the effects are still to ma- hope for the newly unemployed. in any of the food products imported to the
terialise, Slovakia has taken the The ministry signed a nine- The new competitor Slovak market from Germany since early
SELECT FOREX RATES first step on the path to liberalising year contract with RegioJet, a January. The potential health threat,
€ benchmark as of January 13 its subsidised passenger rail trans- subsidiary of the Czech firm Stu- RegioJet trains will run every however, will impose some additional
port market. The first state-subsid- dent Agency, which also operates hour, or every 30 minutes during burdens on importers who must now at-
CANADA CAD 1.32 HUNGARY HUF 274.61
ised private train will start running bus lines, on December 27, 2010. rush hours, and the present jour- test that their products are dioxin-free.
CZECH REP. CZK 24.37 JAPAN JPY 109.50
in March 2012 and will widen the The ministry said that even ney time of around one hour German authorities said on January 11
RUSSIA RUB 39.68 POLAND PLN 3.87
choices of those travelling between though it is the first, RegioJet between Bratislava and Dunajská that dioxin, a highly toxic chemical, had
GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.84 USA USD 1.32
Bratislava and Komárno. will probably not be the last Streda – which is about half-way to been discovered in pork as well as poultry
Transport Minister Ján Figeľ private rail operator to enter the Komárno – should be cut to 43 products, widening a public health alert
said he expects the new private Slovak market. minutes. that had started on January 3.
service to save Slovakia approxim- Slovakia’s rail passenger trans-
ately 16 percent of the per-kilo- porter, Železničná Spoločnosť Slov- See TRAIN pg 4 See EGGS pg 4
2 January 17 – January 23, 2011
Claims fly over botched police sting
TWO weeks after a Czech
truck driver with a full load of
a chemical substance that
can be used to produce heroin
was detained in Turkey after
a bungled international sting
operation initiated by the
Slovak police, the Turkish
government has issued its
first statement – saying Slov-
ak police had made mistakes
during the operation.
“Unfortunately, several
mistakes and deficiencies oc-
curred in the conduct of the
Slovak security forces,” the
Turkish embassy wrote in a
statement reported by
Markíza TV.
The embassy statement
also noted that the Turkish
government was concerned
Mafia seeks names of new witnesses
THE BRATISLAVA mafia is
seeking to learn the names
of new witnesses who have
apparently testified about
the murder of student Daniel
Tupý in 2005. TV Markíza
reported on January 9 that
money is being offered for
the names of the witnesses.
The purported rewards
from the underworld came
after Slovakia’s Interior
Ministry announced that
new testimony had been
given last year in the
murder investigation.
Markíza cited two inde-
pendent sources saying that
the underworld in Bratislava
is offering €200,000 for the
names of four people who
spoke to police in 2010 and
who apparently provided
new facts.
Tupý was stabbed to
death when he and a group of
friends were attacked on the
evening of November 4, 2005
on the Tyršovo embankment
Hungary silent over wannabe citizens
HUNGARY has refused to say
how many Slovak citizens
have applied for Hungarian
citizenship.
“Taking the law on pro-
tection of personal informa-
tion into consideration, the
Hungarian government does
not provide information or
statistics about the persons
who applied for Hungarian
citizenship,” Ákos Lukas
Bencze of the Hungarian
Ministry for Public Adminis-
tration and Justice told the
SITA newswire.
The statistics from Serbia
and Romania are known and
in each country thousands of
people have requested Hun-
garian citizenship after the
government of Viktor Orbán
made it easier for ethnic
Hungarians living outside
the country to apply for cit-
izenship. According to the
Balkan Insight news portal,
the Hungarian government
about some of the public
statements Slovak authorit-
ies have made concerning
the incident.
The Slovak Interior Min-
istry is maintaining its posi-
tion that the police action
failed because the Turkish
police stopped communicat-
ing with Slovak authorities
and stated there are no spe-
cific complaints in the
embassy’s statement.
Interior Ministry spokes-
person Gábor Grendel told
the Sme daily that the min-
istry will continue a dialogue
with the Turkish authorities,
but at the moment considers
the actions taken by Turkish
police during the sting opera-
tion as inexplicable.
in Bratislava. At first it was
thought that the group was
attacked by a gang of skin-
heads but the focus later
switched to members of the
criminal underworld as the
attackers. The murder has
provoked a strong public re-
action.
Interior Minister Daniel
Lipšic stated that he trusts
the police officers investigat-
ing the case and is certain
they cannot be bought for
any price.
But the father of the vic-
tim, Daniel Tupý Sr, stated
that he regards it as danger-
ous that the police are not
working on the case under
the highest level of secrecy,
the SITA newswire wrote.
Former interior minister
Robert Kaliňák said that re-
ports that the mafia is offer-
ing money for the names of
the new witnesses proves
that the police are on the
right track.
received 8,000 citizenship
applications from the Serbi-
an autonomous region of Vo-
jvodina, which is home to
many ethnic Hungarians liv-
ing in that country.
Hungary also received
applications from persons
living in Slovakia and
Ukraine but their exact
number is not known. SITA
wrote that at this time it
does not appear that there
are a significant number of
applications from Slovakia.
The citizenship law ad-
opted by the Hungarian Par-
liament in May 2010 permits
ethnic Hungarians living
outside Hungary to apply for
citizenship if they prove
their Hungarian origin, can
speak the Hungarian lan-
guage, and pose no threat to
the general public or nation-
al security.
Compiled by Spectator staff
NEWS
Financing of political
parties to be overhauled
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff
PARTY financing in Slovakia
has long been a dark room in-
to which the public has been
allowed only a very limited,
and poorly illuminated, view.
Political ethics watchdogs
have been calling for years for
more transparency and more
effective control of the finan-
cing of political parties.
Now it seems that in re-
DROPPED: Watchdogs cry foul
Continued from pg 1
Prime Minister Iveta
Radičová, a member of SDKÚ,
has promised that relevant le-
gislation will be ready for dis-
cussion by parliament as early
as this year. The watchdogs say
that supervision of party fin-
ancing should be transferred to
an independent body, while
the law regulating political
parties should be made stricter.
SDKÚ backs its claims,
says prosecutor
Special Prosecutor Šanta
halted the criminal inquiry in-
to the SDKÚ case on the
grounds that, according to
him, the party led by Mikuláš
Dzurinda had backed up its
claims that it received and re-
paid a loan in a normal manner
while submitting relevant ac-
counting documents and an-
nual reports. Šanta also said
that the accounting transfers
had been checked by auditors.
“This is suggested by a
printed file of approximately
1,500 pages, consisting mainly
of written evidence and testi-
monies of all the people
involved,” Šanta said in a
statement provided to the SITA
newswire.
Šanta said that it had not
been substantiated that SDKÚ
representatives during a part of the criminal prosecu-
privatisation process had ac-
quired some provisions which
could have been the means to
legalise some illegal activities
in the way Fico has suggested.
Fico dug up the long-
dormant SDKÚ financing case
at the beginning of 2010 and
suggested that the SDKÚ was
involved in what the Smer boss
called money laundering, ficti-
tious firms and tax-haven bank
accounts. Fico asserted that the
SDKÚ channelled money
through foreign accounts su-
pervised by its officials.
Then, shortly before the
2010 parliamentary election,
the Sme daily received and pub-
lished an audio recording fea-
turing a voice resembling that
of Fico. The conversation on the
sponse to nagging suspicions
about party financing that
have corroded the credibility
of politicians, the coalition
government is considering
changing some of the rules
pertaining to party financing
in Slovakia.
The Coalition Council –
comprising the Slovak Demo-
cratic and Christian Union
(SDKÚ), the Christian Demo-
cratic Movement (KDH),
Freedom and Solidarity (SaS)
and Most-Híd – on January 11
discussed some changes to
laws that might affect how
Mikuláš Dzurinda
recording implied that Smer
might have accepted campaign
contributions from sponsors
that were not properly recorded
in the party’s financial ac-
counts. The investigation into
the Smer financing was halted
by Special Prosecutor Dušan
Kováčik last year.
But Gabriel Šípoš, cirector
of Transparency International
Slovensko, told The Slovak
Spectator that the prosecutors’
conclusions are unconvincing
and said his organisation sus-
pects that their investigations
were not conducted independ-
ently of politicians.
Zuzana Wienk, head of the
political ethics watchdog Fair-
Play Alliance, told The Slovak
Spectator that “in the long
term there is no will on the
tion bodies to honestly pro-
secute cases pertaining to
party financing; no one carries
responsibility for the violation
of the rules, which is the
greatest blow to this society.”
The background
Fico re-opened the SDKÚ
financing issue after a four-
and-a-half-year lacuna. It in-
volved a so-far unexplained
transaction which helped the
party clear its then-Sk22 mil-
lion (approximately €730,000,
at current exchange rates) debt
and at the same time allowed it
to sell its Medená Street prop-
erty for Sk27 million (approx-
imately €896,000, at current
exchange rates). Fico initially
money flows to party coffers
from the state budget. Prime
Minister Iveta Radičová told
the public-service broad-
caster Slovak Radio that a law
regulating party financing
might be discussed in par-
liament during the first or
second quarter of this year.
But political ethics and
transparency watchdogs
already have a clear idea of
what would improve party-
financing practices in Slov-
akia.
“We have been warning
for years that controls on
Photo: Sme - Vladimír Šimíček
suggested that unidentified
owners of Swiss bank accounts
and shell firms in tax havens
were involved in the deal.
Then, on January 27, 2010, Fico
claimed that the SDKÚ is con-
trolled by shell companies
based in London, with CEOs op-
erating in tax havens and hold-
ing accounts in Swiss banks.
Fico also claimed that only
Sk300 million of the Sk425-mil-
lion purchase price of the Hotel
Forum (now the Crowne Plaza
hotel) had reached the
government’s account.
Yet, according to Šanta, his
investigation has not revealed
any irregularities during the
sale of the Hotel Forum in Brat-
islava. He said that the pur-
chaser paid the whole sum for
the hotel, €14.11 million – a price
set based on expert opinion – in
instalments, and that the whole
payment had been accounted
for in a regular manner.
Nevertheless, the ruckus
around the financing resulted
in Dzurinda stepping down as
SDKÚ election leader, allow-
ing Radičová to climb to the
top of the party’s candidate list
and subsequently become
prime minister.
Dzurinda said last year
that his party had already paid
the price twice for un-
answered questions pertain-
ing to his party’s financing
between 2000 and 2004: once
in 2002, and again in 2006, in
those parliamentary elec-
tions. Since then, the party’s
financing has been completely
transparent, he said.
party financing in Slovakia do
not work at all and that it is
necessary to transfer this
function to an independent
body,” Zuzana Wienk of the
Fair-Play Alliance told The
Slovak Spectator.
“This body, however,
should have well-tuned au-
thorities – for example the pos-
sibility of audits, and close co-
operation with criminal pro-
secution bodies – along with
appropriate staff, finances and
experts,” Wienk said.
See LAW pg 9
Responding on January 5,
2011 to the prosecutor’s de-
cision, Dzurinda told public-
service Radio and Television
of Slovakia: “long-term and
very detailed investigation
has proved what it was pos-
sible to prove: simply the
truth, which is that our fin-
ancing is and has been legal.”
Regarding the suspicions
involving Smer, the main
evidence submitted for in-
vestigation was an audio re-
cording published by Sme
shortly before the election in
June 2010, in which a voice
resembling that of Fico talks
about having secured fund-
ing for the party from undis-
closed sponsors, bypassing its
official accounts.
Fico now claims that there
was never any scandal in the
case of his party.
“It is a bubble; a bubble
brought by the Sme daily two
days before the parliamentary
election to damage us,” Fico
said, as quoted by the SITA
newswire, adding that Smer’s
accounting has been through all
“possible controls that exist”.
He also said that no suspi-
cious transactions have ever
been found in Smer’s finan-
cing because “only a naive fool
can think that someone takes
Sk100 million and thus pours
it into the financing of a party.
It is simply not possible”.
Fico said that Smer’s fin-
ancing comes entirely from
the state budget, noting that
based on the results of the
2010 election in which it
emerged as the highest vote-
getter, Smer has received
funds sufficient to completely
cover the needs of the party
plus its campaign expenses.
Sme reported that Special
Prosecutor Kováčik dropped
the criminal inquiry into Smer
financing on the grounds that
both Robert Fico and Fedor
Flašík, whose voice also al-
legedly appears on the record-
ing, stated that the voices on
the tape were not theirs.
Michaela Terenzani
contributed to this report.

Progress in some areas,
lack of action in others
Iveta Radičová’s
government
marks six months
in office
BY MICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
WHEN the centre-right coali-
tion of four parties, two of
which came to the govern-
ment as political greenhorns,
started ruling Slovakia six
months ago, political observ-
ers predicted that turbulent
debates and multiple com-
promises would be the most
telling characteristics of the
new government. The past
half-year has proved those
analysts right, as many issues
that were expected to be
handled quickly remain on
the political agenda just as
they were when Robert Fico
left the prime minister’s
chair. But the past six months
have also provided examples
that well-crafted comprom-
ises can be an effective gov-
erning style.
The leitmotif of the cur-
rent government of Prime
Minister Iveta Radičová is its
well-publicised focus on
policies to root out corruption
and to increase government
transparency. Both were
prominent points in the pro-
gramme statement issued by
the four parties last summer.
Anti-corruption steps
launched
The most visible anti-cor-
ruption measure passed by
parliament requires that all
institutions covered under
Slovakia’s Freedom of Inform-
ation Act (ministries, agencies
and public organisations,
municipal councils, regional
governments, and others)
must publish on the internet
all contracts that they con-
summate, beginning January
1, 2011. Observers have de-
scribed this step and the corol-
lary revision to the Civil Code,
approved by parliament on
December 9, as a courageous
and revolutionary piece of le-
gislation which will offer the
public more control over the
expenditure of government
funds and will potentially
prevent irregular contracts
from being negotiated or
signed by state institutions.
“Even the Czechs are dis-
cussing whether they should
pass such a system of publish-
ing contracts like the one we
have introduced,” Radičová
said in an interview with the
Sme daily evaluating her first
six months in power.
The government claims
that it is also ready to fight
NEWS
The Radičová-led government at the start of its term.
against other forms of corrup- as setting forth other objec-
tion across society in 2011. tions. By making such a state-
Political analyst Miroslav ment, the Slovak government
Kusý said such a trend has obliged itself to set a stronger
been visible at ministries and path of fiscal austerity. As part
views it positively. of the government’s austerity
“There are really many plan, salaries for the highest
remarkable little things that public officials have been cut
haven’t shaken society but and a salary freeze was intro-
have blown winds of change duced for other positions in
into the individual depart- the state government. Another
ments [of government],” Kusý notable legislative step to
told The Slovak Spectator, bring more revenue to the
specifically mentioning the state was to increase VAT by
work of the defence minister one percentage point to 20 per-
as an example. Defence Minis- cent at the beginning of 2011, a
rather unpopular action with
the public.
Other changes made by
There are many little the government during its
things that have blown first six months include the
restoration of Slovakia’s En-
winds of change into vironment Ministry, which
individual departments. had been abolished by the
government of Robert Fico
Miroslav Kusý and a revamp of the office of
the deputy prime minister for
national minorities and hu-
man rights, which was given
ter Ľubomír Galko has estab- stronger powers. Most re-
lished a special ‘anti-corrup- cently, the government and
tion hotline’ at 0960 960 960, parliament approved the Cul-
which anyone can call and ture Ministry’s proposal to
leave a message directly for merge Slovakia's public-ser-
the minister about possible vice radio and television
corruption or failures in per- broadcasters into one com-
sonnel management. Only the pany. Radio and Television
minister has access to the re- Slovakia, RTVS, began as a
corded messages and he has new joint institution on
said that callers are guaran- January 1 and a call for applic-
teed anonymity. ants for the RTVS director’s
position was announced on
Some boxes ticked January 10.
“Finally the polemical tone
Radičová assumed the has disappeared, the atmo-
post of prime minister during sphere in which the political
a turbulent time when the EU leaders of Smer and the SDKÚ
financial bailout of Greece was had been throwing dirt at each
in the works and Slovakia’s other,” Kusý also stated when
participation in the European asked by The Slovak Spectator
Financial Stability Facility about the important achieve-
(EFSF) needed swift govern- ments of the past six months.
ment action. The national “That is positive. Both leaders
economy as well, still partially perhaps came to the conclu-
suffering from the impacts of sion that it was counterpro-
the global financial crisis, was ductive and they seem to have
in need of state attention. started a new line, though not
Slovakia refused to parti- cooperation since Fico is and
cipate in the loan to Greece, always will be a hard oppon-
stating that irresponsible be- ent; but they exchanged the
haviour by a sovereign state personal tone for a matter-of-
should not be endorsed, as well fact style.”
Photo: Sme - Vladimír Šimíček
Parliament passed more
than 100 laws in the past six
months though some of them,
such as the law on judges and
the amended State Language
Act, were vetoed by the Slovak
President Ivan Gašparovič and
are now awaiting another par-
liamentary vote.
Still pending
Nevertheless, many is-
sues that the new govern-
ment was expected to act
quickly upon remain in the
same status as when the Fico-
led government departed
after the June 12 parliament-
ary election.
One such issue is that of
immunity from criminal pro-
secution for MPs and judges
which Radičová had presented
to parliament as one of her
first legislative initiatives.
Since stripping MPs of their
immunity from criminal pro-
secution requires a constitu-
tional majority (90 of 150
votes) and the coalition has
only 79 MPs it was not success-
ful in pushing the measure
through parliament. But the
government is still expected to
abolish MPs’ immunity for
non-criminal offences such as
misdemeanours or traffic viol-
ations because that change re-
quires only a simple majority.
Other measures included
in the coalition’s programme
statement that have not yet
been acted upon by the gov-
ernment or parliament in-
clude cancelling the prohibi-
tion on private health in-
surers making a profit, abol-
ishing the National Property
Fund (FNM) – Slovakia’s
privatisation agency and its
primary holder of state as-
sets – and amending the
country’s Press Code, which
includes several controver-
sial provisions such as politi-
cians’ right to reply to state-
ments about them in the
media, passed by the previ-
ous government.
See SIX pg 9
January 17 – January 23, 2011
SUITS: 702 counted
Continued from pg 1
The plenum agreed that
Harabin should not appeal
against the verdicts in cases
where the lowest-instance
court had ruled in favour of
judges who felt discrimin-
ated against, but rather seek
agreement with them in or-
der not to increase the
court’s outlay.
“The Supreme Court
president should try to ac-
commodate the suit through
agreement with the Su-
preme Court judges without
increasing the court’s outlay
and without unnecessary
delays,” Supreme Court
spokesperson Michal Jurči
wrote in a statement
provided to The Slovak Spec-
tator. The plenum also re-
commended that Harabin
initiate the creation of a
working group composed of
MPs from the parliamentary
constitutional affairs com-
mittee, the Judicial Council
and the Supreme Court,
which would be assigned to
resolve the situation
through legislation.
Harabin criticised
Critics of Harabin, in-
cluding the Justice Min-
istry, have rejected the con-
clusions of the plenum.
“Agreement or concili-
ation is out of question,”
Peter Bubla, spokesperson
of the Justice Ministry,
wrote in response to the
plenum’s decision. He poin-
ted out that several mem-
bers of the Supreme Court’s
plenum had themselves
filed anti-discrimination
claims and were therefore
potentially biased.
According to the min-
istry, the plenum’s session
was not held in line with
the law.
“The statement of the
plenum negates the sub-
stance of the Supreme Court
as the highest judiciary in-
stance, because it is a
statement regarding ongo-
ing lawsuits that can only
become a subject of process
at the Supreme Court,”
Bubla wrote.
Harabin’s conduct
prompted reactions from
some fellow Supreme Court
judges. Several judges who
are also members of the ini-
tiative For Open Justice left
the plenary session, saying
that it was not lawful and
that the Supreme Court
president and plenum had
exceeded their authority.
“The independence of
the judiciary as an interna-
tionally recognised prin-
ciple doesn’t allow any state
body, apart from the acting
court and the participants in
the process, to take any mo-
tivated official stance to-
wards the subject matter,
because it would necessarily
be understood as an unac-
ceptable interference in the
independence of the court,”
the judges wrote in a state-
ment provided to The Slovak
3
Spectator by the initiative’s
spokesperson, Katarína
Javorčíková.
Hundreds of claimants
Hundreds of judges have
filed wage discrimination
lawsuits over the past four
years, most of them follow-
ing a Constitutional Court
ruling in May 2009 which
found that the Special Court
had not been established in
accordance with the
country’s constitution,
partly on the grounds that
the position of judges in dif-
ferent courts was unequal.
The lawsuits stirred the
already muddy waters of the
Slovak judiciary in February
2010, when the first verdict
in a wage-discrimination
lawsuit, finding for a Trenčín
Regional Court judge and
awarding him €90,000 in
damages, was handed down
by another judge who was
herself the plaintiff in a sim-
ilar complaint. The Justice
Ministry did not react at that
time. The then-justice min-
ister, Viera Petríková, herself
had a wage-discrimination
lawsuit pending which she
had filed while previously
working as a judge.
The current Justice Min-
ister, Lucia Žitňanská, has
criticised the wage-discrim-
ination lawsuits.
“The Justice Ministry
under my leadership is act-
ing in this matter as a re-
sponsible legal representat-
ive of its client, that is the
Slovak Republic and its
citizens,” Žitňanská said,
adding that the ministry is
determined to use all pos-
sible means to defend the in-
terests of the state.
The new leadership of
the ministry has been collat-
ing information about the
wage-discrimination law-
suits. According to Bubla, at
least 702 judges have filed
such a lawsuit according to
the latest information, with
total damages sought
amounting to more than €70
million. The ministry is a de-
fendant in about 200 of the
lawsuits; the rest have been
filed against other institu-
tions such as the Slovak par-
liament or individual courts,
such as the Supreme Court.
The Justice Ministry re-
gards the lawsuits as unjusti-
fied and has asked the courts
to dismiss them and to dis-
qualify those judges who
have filed similar lawsuits
from ruling on any of the
cases, Bubla wrote. The min-
istry has already filed a con-
stitutional complaint to the
Constitutional Court.
For Open Justice has not
issued a statement on the
wage-discrimination law-
suits, as they are ongoing and
many of the initiative’s
members could be required to
rule on the cases. However,
several judges from the initi-
ative, whose members in-
clude critics of Harabin, have
also filed wage discrimina-
tion lawsuits.
4 January 17 – January 23, 2011
New power plant goes online
ENERGY company E.ON
launched electricity produc-
tion at a newly built com-
bined-cycle power plant near
the village of Malženice, in
Trnava Region, on January 10.
The facility, which has a
generating capacity of 430
MW, is expected to produce
more than 3 billion kWh of
electricity per year while con-
suming approximately 500
million cubic metres of natur-
al gas as fuel. The facility will
provide 30 permanent jobs.
Construction of the plant
began in October 2008 and
took 26 months to complete,
Industry surpasses pre-crisis highs
THE GROWTH rate in
Slovakia’s industrial output
accelerated in November
and, according to the latest
figures from the Statistics
Office, industrial output in
the country in the eleventh
month was 17.3 percent
higher than a year earlier
and 3.9 percent higher than
in October.
For the period January to
November 2010 the index of
industrial production rose by
18.8 percent year-on-year,
with a 20.1-percent surge in
industrial manufacturing, a
14.8-percent jump in distri-
bution of electricity, gas,
steam and cool air and a
0.8-percent rise in mining
and extraction of raw miner-
al materials.
“Industrial production
has overtaken the pre-crisis
maximums and at the mo-
ment it is about 5 percent
higher than in the first half
of 2008,” Mária Valachyová,
an analyst with Slovenská
Sporiteľňa, said, as quoted by
Unions seek referendum to cut hours
TRADE unions in Slovakia
launched a public petition on
January 11 calling for a refer-
endum regarding changes in
the country’s Labour Code.
The unions are proposing a
cut in weekly working hours
from 40 to 35 without a loss of
earnings and a reduction of
permitted annual overtime
work from 150 to 80 hours per
year while retaining all other
provisions of the Labour Code
in their present form, the
SITA newswire reported.
The Slovak president
must call a referendum if at
least 350,000 citizens sign a
petition requesting one. The
trade unions stated that
they plan to collect signa-
tures on their petition until
mid March.
The government has ini-
tiated discussion about
changes in the country’s La-
bour Code but the trade uni-
ons have refused to take part
in the tripartite meetings,
SITA reported.
in accordance with the ori-
ginal plan. Total investment
was about €400 million, the
TASR newswire reported.
“Construction of the
combined-cycle power plant
in Malženice will
strengthen the position of
E.ON in the generation of
electric power in Slovakia,”
said Konrad Kreuzer, the
chairman of E.ON Slovakia’s
board of directors.
“Thanks to top techno-
logy, we supply electricity to
the grid in a way that is not
only effective, but also en-
vironmentally friendly.”
the TASR newswire. She ad-
ded that Slovakia's industrial
sector depends mainly on
foreign demand, mostly
from Germany.
Dávid Dereník, an ana-
lyst with the UniCredit Bank
Slovakia, stated that Ger-
man industrial and financial
indicators are fulfilling the
optimistic expectations of
both German and Slovak
factory owners.
“The expected signific-
ant slowdown in industry at
the turn of the years will be
less visible in the year-on-
year comparison, thanks to
the growing basis from last
year,” Dereník said, as
quoted by TASR. “In the
month-on-month compar-
ison industrial production
will probably keep its grow-
ing numbers.”
Valachyová added that
she expects Slovakia’s indus-
trial production to keep mov-
ing higher in 2011 based on
the ongoing revival of other
European economies.
Prime Minister Iveta
Radičová said she does not
support reducing the work-
ing week from 40 hours to
35, arguing that it would be
economically unsustain-
able. She said there was a
strong probability that a
shorter working week
would automatically result
in lower incomes.
“We will not take this
risk,” Radičová said, as
quoted by SITA.
The largest opposition
party, Smer, stated it might
support the trade unionists’
attempt to shorten the
work week.
“If the referendum is
about improving the posi-
tion of employees, we will
support it,” said Erik
Tomáš, the party’s spokes-
person, as quoted by the
Sme daily.
Compiled by Spectator staff
from press reports
BUSINESS
TRAIN: A faster trip to Dunajská Streda
Continued from pg 1 Transport Ministry, transport
services can drop by a max-
The new trains should be imum of 35 percent over the
fully air-conditioned and Re- whole decade and by at most
gioJet says it is considering 10 percent year-on-year.
selling a joint ticket to cover According to Buzinkay,
inter-city train travel as well the plan for this year as-
as local public transportation sumes a 5-percent drop to
in Bratislava. 30.3 million train-kilometres
“Slovakia has created which ZSSK trains currently
conditions for opening of the run annually.
market for railway transport ‘It also means the cancel-
and has had courage that, for lation of some ineffective
example, regions in the lines, optimisation of jobs and
Czech Republic have not also the need to save €26
had,” Aleš Ondrůj, Student million,” Buzinkay said.
Agency’s spokesman, told As to what impact the ar-
The Slovak Spectator. rival of RegioJet might have
Explaining the company’s on his company, Buzinkay
choice of route, Ondrůj says said that the transfer of
that Bratislava-Dunajská transport services within lib-
Streda-Komárno is a com- eralisation to other trans-
muter line within the Bratis- RegioJet's trains will bring new colour to the rails. Photo: RegioJet porters will mean that ZSSK
lava agglomeration where has to adjust to the situation
there is a relatively dense own risk later this year when RegioJet is also entering so that the financial man-
transportation network. Also, it will begin operating an un- negotiations with ZSSK. agement of the company is
it is the only line around Brat- subsidised Intercity (IC) Re- “We will be cooperating in balanced and the lines which
islava which is not electrified. gioJet service on the Žilina- passing on passengers, when the company receives public
According to Ondrůj this Čadca-Ostravsko-Prague line, passengers of our lines are funds to operate are run ef-
means new train-sets can be said Ondrůj. transferring to ZSSK trains fectively. The company also
introduced more quickly ow- The arrival of RegioJet in and vice versa,” Ondrůj said, aspires to compete success-
ing to the faster operational Slovakia will create new job adding that this cooperation fully and lure more people
approval process for diesel opportunities for Slovaks would apply to both the re- onto ZSSK trains, which cur-
trains. since RegioJet will be hiring gional and the IC line. rently enjoy only 28-percent
He also suggested that this on-board service personnel ZSSK says it will adjust to average occupancy.
line in particular offers the and train drivers and oper- the new environment that the “It is welcome competi-
best potential for gaining new ators. arrival of RegioJet creates. tion which will stir the still
customers who are currently The Bratislava-Komárno ZSSK spokesman Alexan- waters of Slovakia’s passen-
commuting, but not by train. line could create about 100 der Buzinkay told The Slovak ger rail transport [market],”
The company aspires to lure jobs. The IC line will also Spectator that, based on the Buzinkay told The Slovak
passengers through what it bring about 100 jobs, with 10-year agreement on trans- Spectator, adding that ZSSK
calls higher-quality services. positions open to both Czech port services in the public in- intends to cooperate with
The company plans to and Slovak citizens, accord- terest which the company RegioJet, for example in
enter the Slovak market at its ing to Ondrůj. signed last December with ticket sales.
EGGS: Temporary ban on imports lifted
Continued from pg 1 Minister Simon also reiterated that
Slovakia will insist that importers mark
After news about the potential diox- the country of origin on the products
in threat reached Slovakia the Agricul- rather than only showing that they ori-
ture Ministry on January 5 ordered the ginated in the European Union.
State Veterinary and Food Administra- The possibility that dioxin-contam-
tion to undertake immediate tests in re- inated food products were being sold in
tail stores and wholesale repositories the Slovak market has compelled the
and temporarily banned the sale of eggs ministry to consider changing its food
and poultry imported from Germany product legislation. The ministry
until the results of Slovak laboratory stated that it will prepare an amend-
tests were known. ment to Slovakia’s law on food
The ministry reported on January 10 products which would introduce the
that during its inspection it found over duty for importers to declare the im-
356,000 eggs imported from Germany by port date, place of origin, producer,
Bayern-Ei GmbH on January 3 in content and the names of the pur-
Ružomberok in north central Slovakia. chasers of any imported food product.
Samples were tested for dioxin and the The ministry noted that it is aware
Agriculture Ministry announced on Eggs: safe to eat, for now. Photo: Reuters that the amendment must be in accord-
January 12 that the tests were negative ance with the EU’s principle of free
and immediately lifted the ban on Ger- German eggs sold in December movement of goods and said the
man eggs. amendment is expected to be presented
Importers, however, are obliged to According to the Agriculture Min- for action during the first half of 2011.
declare that the goods they import do istry, more than a million eggs produced
not come from the area of Germany in Germany were imported and sold in Statements from retail chains
where the dioxin feed-contamination Slovakia during December 2010. Also,
occurred and that the imported more than 42,500 kilograms of fresh After news reports about the German
products are dioxin-free. pork was imported from Germany and dioxin contamination, Slovak super-
All regional offices of the State Veter- sold between January 2 and January 6, market chains stated to the media that
inary and Food Administration in Slov- 2011. they had not been selling meat or eggs
akia were ordered to regularly monitor “Minister [Zsolt] Simon therefore re- produced in Germany. Only the Billa
all egg warehouses and all final destina- gards the temporary suspension of sales chain of supermarkets reported that it
tions for eggs, egg products, fresh poultry of poultry and eggs of German origin on had terminated the purchase of 450 eggs
and products made from poultry as well the territory of Slovakia as fully justi- because the importer was unable to spe-
as all fresh pork and pork products. Retail fied, given the need to secure the protec- cify the eggs’ country of origin, the Sme
stores are being monitored as well. tion of consumers,” the ministry wrote daily wrote.
German authorities stated that in a media statement. The State Veterinary and Food Ad-
based on its currently available inform- The ministry issued a new regula- ministration refused to specify which
ation no contaminated products had tion on January 4 that requires import- stores had sold the million eggs impor-
been exported to Slovakia, according to ers to declare that their imported goods ted from Germany in December and
a statement on the website of the State are suitable for consumption and that said that it would consider publishing
Veterinary and Food Administration their meat and eggs have not come from that list only if dioxin was detected in
posted on January 4. contaminated fodder. its tests.
 OPINION January 17 – January 23, 2011 5
“Persecuting someone for their opinion is an example
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
The first six months of totalitarianism in the 21st century.”

Supreme Court President Štefan Harabin reacts to criticism of judges’

POWER is intoxicating and
this is why in genuinely
democratic societies people
have to wield it while being
stared at by a whole army of
watchdogs. Being in power
involves “enduring” all kinds
of “hassles” such as evalu-
ations, report cards and as-
sessments.
Any new government is
assessed by the media from
the moment of its inception: it
is panned for picking the in-
experienced or for recycling
burned-out politicians who
seem to have been lingering
for eternity. Then comes the
symbolic 100-day grace period
when the media gives the new
government time to acclimat-
ise – although this does not
mean that if the watchdog no-
tices something it will bark
more quietly. If the govern-
ment now thinks that the
commentaries and analyses
deconstructing its first 100
days are the last checks for a
while, it is mistaken.
That the local media has
now started looking at the
first six months’ performance
of the government of Iveta
Radičová might be attributed
to the quiet post-Christmas
period, but it is also because
expectations attached to this
government have been quite
high: being somewhat more
transparent and more re-
sponsible than Robert Fico and
his coalition, which included
Vladimír Mečiar and Ján Slota,
is simply not enough.
By now, some of the polit-
tertainment for those who is already more than the pre-
linger at their mental level. vious government managed to
The government of the do in its term. This is partly
Slovak Democratic and Chris-
tian Union (SDKÚ), Christian
Democratic Movement (KDH),
because cronyism was not
even defined as a problem, but
rather was wrapped into an
Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) explanation of why it would
and Most-Híd has set a com- be wrong for people close to
the former ruling party,
which according to the Smer’s
EDITORIAL definition constituted half of
the nation, to be discrimin-
ated against in tenders or state
orders. And loyalty, of course,
has to be rewarded somehow.
One of the new
government’s weapons of
choice is to oblige state insti-
tutions to publish all con-
tracts and invoices that in-
volve state money.
Radičová, in an interview
with the Sme daily, said “even
in the Czech Republic they are
talking about the need to ad-
opt a system of publishing
contracts like the one we have
installed. Isn’t that a result?”
Predictably enough, out-
side the transparency dis-
course, the reality is that the
public administration and
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ municipalities have not wel-
Spectator staff
comed the decision with any
enthusiasm and are diligently
working out how to cover up
pletely different tone and the cracks through which
brought a different symbol- light may now filter into areas
ism into the public discourse they prefer dark.
in comparison with its pre- Besides, the murky party
decessor. financing baggage that the
Cronyism and corruption SDKÚ has been loading onto its
have been defined as new en- party carriage for many years
emies – as opposed to journal- and the not-very-convincing
ists and the Hungarian minor- wrap-up of the investigation
ity in Slovakia, whom the into it, not to mention the con-
wage-discrimination lawsuits by SDKÚ chairman Mikuláš Dzurinda
Transparentnosť
BY LUKÁŠ FILA
Special to the Spectator
THAT transparency is not ex-
actly a local concept is best il-
lustrated by the borrowed
term Slovaks use to describe
it – transparentnosť. But its
principles are slowly creep-
ing into Slovak public life,
and the new government, in
particular, is doing a lot to
make transparency feel more
at home, by demanding that
all public contracts be pub-
lished online and through its
plans to put all court de-
cisions on the web.
However, there are at
least two major obstacles to
solid progress.
The first is the scant en-
thusiasm for openness with-
in the political class. It is
fashionable to support
transparency, but when it
comes to actions, things get
more complicated. When
last week the Košice city
council voted on a planned
loan, it was without know-
ing what the interest rate
would be. Mayor Richard
Raši would not say. No mat-
ADVERTISEMENT
SLOVAK WORD
OF THE WEEK
ter, the loan passed, suppor-
ted by left and right, leaving
only a few independents
wondering how on earth you
can vote on something you
have no idea about. And
Raši’s lawyers are already
“looking into” what parts of
the final loan agreement
they will publish, although
the law tells them clearly to
publish it all. Not to mention
that the municipality does
not even want to say what
its total debt is. And Košice is
hardly the only city where
they are not crazy about
frankness. The rules about
how much municipalities
and state institutions can
get away with are being re-
defined now, and the coali-
tion has to stay tough.
The other big problem is
the sorry state of the judi-
ciary. No laws in the world
can guarantee transparency
unless they are properly en-
forced. As many as 700 out of
a total of 1,200 judges have
filed lawsuits demanding
that the state compensate
them for alleged discrimina-
tion they say they suffered
because they had lower
wages than their colleagues
at the Special Court, set up to
deal with most difficult cases
of organised crime and cor-
ruption. According to new
data from the Justice Min-
istry, total claims surpass
€70 million. The same judges
that filed these charges have
no qualms about ruling on
similar complaints filed by
their colleagues, seeing no
conflict of interest. That
something is terribly wrong
with the Slovak courts is
transparent enough.

ical greenhorns have learned
to push the voting buttons in
parliament at the right time,
and have learned some pony-
tricks to fake activity and in-
volvement. Meanwhile the
long-established one-trick
ponies, such as Ján Slota of the
Slovak National Party (SNS),
have already proved that they
will remain monothematic for
another term, making very
little contribution to public
life other than occasional en-
Join team!
former ruling parties often voluted statements surround-
depicted, albeit indirectly, as a ing it, will remain a thorn
group of frustrated outsiders which will continue to fester
who still dreamed about the when it is touched. It appears
revision of Trianon. Yet the SDKÚ can neither remove nor The Rock s.r.o./The Slovak Spectator is looking for a
change in the political order absorb the thorn. Of course, all
does not mean that cronyism the concurrent claims of a
and corruption have been de- Smer financing scandal sug- Circulation Manager
feated – or that they have even gest that financing of parties
lost a battle in the grand cru- in Slovakia requires a serious
sade of the new government. clean-up. If this government
All the cabinet has done is does not manage the task it Job description
it to pick its weapons and draft cannot portray itself as a good
some strategy, although this custodian of the nation.
The Circulation Manager is responsible for the promotion and management of circulation and
distribution of all print and online products published by The Slovak Spectator. The position
involves communication both verbally and in writing with distribution partners, subscribers and
other clients in both English and Slovak, as well as co-designing and implementing strategies for
increasing the Slovak Spectators’ circulation Ħgures. This requires the ability to communicate well
(verbally and in writing) in both English and Slovak.

JÁN PALLO - Publisher Job requirements

EDITORIAL
BEATA BALOGOVÁ - Editor - In - Chief Education: University education/student at university, preferably in Business or Marketing
JAMES THOMSON - Assistant Editor
DONALD SPATZ - Assistant Editor Language skills: English language - advanced (speaking, writing)
JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ - Staff Writer
MICHAELA TERENZANI - Staff Writer Computer skills: High degree of PC literacy (MS Oƍce, MS Outlook, MS Excel)
DOMINIKA UHRÍKOVÁ - Staff Writer
ZUZANA VILIKOVSKÁ - News Researcher
Additional
LAYOUT, WEB & IT requirements: Excellent verbal and written communication skills, ability to work independently,
TATIANA ŠTRAUCHOVÁ - Graphic Designer strong business acumen, good organizational skills, creative personality.
ROMAN KRÁĽ - IT
TOMÁŠ PALLO - Online Publishing Work location: Bratislava
SALES - FINANCES
Start date: February 2011
BEATA FOJTÍKOVÁ - Sales Executive
MARTINA ŠMATLÁKOVÁ - PR and Marketing Manager
MARTA FUKASOVÁ - Advertising Assistant Salary: By agreement (Ħxed income + monthly commission)
DÁŠA REHÁKOVÁ - Circulation Manager
Other beneģts: Dynamic media and international environment, possibilities of professional growth
The Slovak Spectator is an independent newspaper published every Monday by The Rock, s.r.o. Subscriptions: Inquiries should be made
to The Slovak Spectator’s business office at (+421-2) 59 233 300.
Printing: Petit Press a.s. Distribution: Interpress Slovakia s.r.o., Mediaprint-kapa s.r.o., Slovenská po‰ta a.s. Mail Distribution: ABOPRESS. EV 544/08. Employment type: Full-time employment
© 2010 The Rock, s.r.o. All rights reserved. Any reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited by law. The authors of articles published
in this issue, represented by the publisher, reserve the right to give their approval for reproducing and public transmission of articles marked
©The Slovak Spectator, as well as for the public circulation of reproductions of these articles, in compliance with the 33rd article and 1st paragraph
of the Copyright Law. Media monitoring is provided by Newton, IT, SMA and Slovakia Online with the approval of the publisher. Advertising material
contained herein is the responsibility of the advertiser and is not a written or implied sponsorship, endorsement or investigation of such commercial
How to apply:
enterprises or ventures by The Slovak Spectator or The Rock s.r.o. ISSN 1335-9843. Please send your CV and cover letter in English by e-mail: job@spectator.sk
Address: The Rock, s.r.o., Lazaretská 12, 811 08 Bratislava. IâO: 313 86 237.
6 January 17 – January 23, 2011

SLOVAK BRAND NAMES

Slovak design firm BUSINESS FOCUS Next issue:
garners top awards
Eset reshuffles its JAPAN AND
management REPUBLIC OF KOREA

Brand loyalty continues Protected traditional Slovak

food products
The EU tries to protect the reputation of regional foods
and eliminate unfair competition and the deception of

to reign among Slovaks consumers by non-genuine products, which may be of

But consumers
pinched by the
crisis are
increasingly
price-sensitive
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
SLOVAKS, in general, are
brand-oriented and their de-
sire for branded products is
even stronger than consumers
in other countries as many
here still remember the dec-
ades during which they could
not buy many international
branded goods. Marketing ex-
perts say the economic crisis
has had some effect on the re-
ceptiveness of Slovaks to
brands, strengthening their
traditionally strong craving
for the quality of certain brand
names but also making them
more price-sensitive.
“The crisis rather made
stronger the relation of Slov-
aks to traditional, established
brands,” Marian Timoracký,
marketing expert and man-
aging partner of United Con-
Slovaks now have a broader choice of brands. Photo: TASR
sultants, told The Slovak Spec- In assessing Slovaks’ per-
tator. “Like everywhere in the ceptions of branded consumer
world, people here are also goods, Pleško said that since
looking for a certain guarantee there are various goods in each
of quality and certainty. And category, Slovaks can compare
‘good old' brands provide ex- individual products. And even
actly such a guarantee.” if some consumers choose an
Dušan Pleško, the execut- ‘exceptional’ offer of a non-
ive officer of the Slovak Asso- branded product, Pleško said
ciation for Trademark they often discover that the ra-
Products (SZZV), shared that tio between the utility value
opinion particularly about the and the price of the product is
sector of non-durable con- best for the branded product
sumer goods. and that the guarantee of qual-
“It is remarkable that the ity and the care of the brand
crisis has almost not changed manufacturer can be accepted
the perception of branded as a matter of course.
non-durable consumer Ľubomír Drahovský, a
goods,” Pleško told The Slovak market analyst with the Terno
Spectator. market survey agency, poin-
ted out that the role of the final
retail price has been accentu-
ated by the economic crisis.
“The crisis has had a large
influence over the perception
of brands or the names of re-
tail companies,” Drahovský
told The Slovak Spectator.
“The crisis has resulted in
price becoming the decisive
factor. The drop in the pur-
chasing power of Slovak
households and individuals
has now brought about a
situation in which price is the
top priority.”
According to Drahovský,
this price-sensitivity, espe-
cially in the food sector, makes
Slovaks less loyal consumers
of certain brands.
Nonetheless, Slovak
brand names such as Kofola,
Vinea, Jar, Zlatý Bažant and
Horalka remain popular and
Slovaks have been buying
these brands for dozens of
years even though their pro-
ducers have changed owner-
ship and in some cases are
now foreign-owned. But mar-
keting experts do not see nos-
talgia alone as being behind
the continuing popularity of
these Slovak brands.
See PRICE pg 8
inferior quality or of a different flavour, through the
Protected Geographical Status (PGS) framework. Under
this scheme the names of regional foods receive
indications: Protected Designation of Origin (PDO),
Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Traditional
Speciality Guaranteed (TSG). Slovakia has taken
advantage of this EU framework and has sought listings
for its traditional products on the EU register.
Slovakia has a total of six products with the final
‘registered’ status and eight products with ‘published’
status. The latter means the country has applied for
one of the three labels but that the application is still
subject to appeals from other countries.
Slovak traditional products – registered
Skalický trdelník – A fine bakery product of hollow
cylindrical shape originating from the town of Skalica.
Trdelník was registered as Slovakia’s first product in 2007
and holds PGI.
Slovenská parenica – A steamed, lightly smoked cheese
wound into two rolls connected in an ‘S’ shape. It has a
delicate taste, the odour of sheep’s milk and a smoky
smell. It is known for the characteristically pronounced
fibrous structure of the curd. It got its PGI in July 2008.
Slovenská bryndza – A natural, white, mature,
spreadable cheese in granular form, manufactured by
milling a lump of matured sheep’s cheese or by milling a
mixture of lump sheep’s cheese and lump cow’s cheese.
It has a delicate odour and taste and has a pleasantly sour
sheep’s cheese taste that is slightly spicy and salty. It
contains a broad range of naturally occurring micro-
organisms. It received its PGI in July 2008.
Slovenský oštiepok – A half-fat semi-hard cheese which
may be steamed or unsteamed, and smoked or
unsmoked. It is characterised by its special shape, that of
a large egg, pine cone or ellipsoid with decoration. It
received its PGI in September 2008.
Ovčí salašnícky údený syr – One of two Slovak products
holding the TSG label. This cheese is produced from fresh
sheep’s milk, processed in shepherd’s huts, smoked and
often formed into specific shapes (hearts, cockerels or

Still going strong after all these years
Some Slovak companies
and brands are thriving
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
SLOVAKIA, since becoming part of the
world market, has been flooded with
global brands and products originating
from every corner of the world. In spite of
this there remains an impressive array of
local brands, labels and products which
still attract Slovak customers and whose
popularity has not faded. This is espe-
cially visible in the food sector, in which
local brands continue to claim the loyalty
of consumers. But this would not be pos-
sible without the money and effort inves-
ted by their producers. The story of each
of these products is interesting and rep-
resents part of the wider picture that
makes up Slovakia.
A 30-percent-plus share
of the tea and coffee market
Poprad-based company Baliarne
Obchodu enjoys the position as the biggest
local supplier of coffee and tea to the Slov-
ak market. Its history dates back to 1955
and it is one of a few food firms in Slovakia
which have remained in Slovak hands.
The traditional products of Baliarne
Obchodu are Popradská káva (Poprad cof-
fee) and Pigi čaj (Pigi tea). The latter, which
has been immortalised in the lyrics of a
Slovak song, is something of a legend in
the industry: the company has been sup-
plying it for more than 40 years. It was the
first tea in bags to appear on Slovak store
shelves. The name Pigi is actually a
‘Slovakised’ abbreviation of P.G., the Eng-
lish initials for Pekoe Golden. According to
Ján Zeman, the marketing manager of the
company, Slovaks fill more than 55,000
cups each year with this popular black tea.
But the company is not only about Pigi
čaj and Popradská káva, which dates back
to the 1990s, as the company has extended
its product portfolio with Mistral teas. In
total, Baliarne Obchodu sells about 500
tons, or 12.5 million packages, of tea each
year, including the Pigi brand.
“Pigi is one of the food legends,” Viliam
Matušek, the marketing director at Bali-
arne Obchodu, told The Slovak Spectator.
“It is something like Horalka [traditional
wafers]; something that we have not
spoiled but rather enhanced.”
According to Matušek, Baliarne
Obchodu is one of two or three old food
producing companies which have re-
mained in Slovak hands and, instead of
disappearing or being taken over, have de-
veloped dynamically. He believes that it is
because of the ability and skills of the
company’s management that during this
period of globalisation a local company has
retained such a strong position and that
people still have a product from a Slovak
company whose quality successfully com-
petes with foreign brands.
With regards to it sales, Baliarne
Obchodu has maintained market shares
exceeding 30 percent for both commodit-
ies, coffee and tea, according to Matušek.
Matušek sees further growth potential
in Slovakia. The company has grown signi-
ficantly over the last two or three years. It
changed its assortment and became more
involved in development, something that
has already been positively mirrored in the
company’s results. Its goal is to keep its
dominant position in the coffee as well as
the tea segment, and is planning to in-
crease its market shares further.
In foreign markets Matušek sees a
chance to succeed with its Mistral tea la-
bel. Under this brand the company offers
a ranking of mixtures which cannot be
found on the markets of neighbouring
countries. With regards to the future,
the company want to stick to its core
business, coffee and tea, but it has a
number of new ideas and has prepared
many new products.
See BRANDS pg 8
other animals, or hemispheres). It received its TSG status
in October 2010.
Ovčí hrudkový syr - salašnícky – The second Slovak
cheese with a TSG label. It is produced from fresh sheep’s
milk and derives its characteristic taste as a result of the
traditional technology used during its fermentation, and
from being shaped by hand into a lump. It received its
TSG label in November 2010.
Slovak traditional products – published
Tekovský salámový syr – A natural semi-hard, ripened
full-fat cheese, smoked or unsmoked, in the shape of a
cylinder (PGI).
Zázrivský korbáčik – A steamed cheese product, smoked
or unsmoked, in the shape of a little whip (korbáčik in
Slovak), originating from Zázrivá, a village in the Orava
region (PGI).
Oravský korbáčik – A steamed cheese product, smoked
or unsmoked, in the shape of a little whip, originating
from the Orava region (PGI).
Liptovská saláma / Liptovský salám – A meat product
with a delicate taste and an aroma imparted by the spices
used and the smoking process (TSG).
Lovecký salám / Lovecká saláma – A long-life fermented
meat product (TSG).
Spišské párky – A wurst-like product, typically pinkish-
red in colour owing to the paprika seasoning, which has a
slightly piquant taste (TSG).
Špekáčky / Špekačky – A plump wurst-like heat-
processed meat product, golden-brown in colour (TSG).
Bratislavský rožok / Pressburger Kipfel / Pozsonyi
kifli – A fine, crescent-shaped pastry with a poppy-seed
or walnut filling and a glossy and marbled surface (TSG).
Source: Official Journal of the EU
Compiled by Spectator staff
 Photo:

BUSINESS FOCUS January 17 – January 23, 2011 7

Slovak design firm FOCUS shorts

garners top awards Špekáčky to get EC designation
SLOVAKIA and the Czech Re- plump sausages, over an
public are jointly seeking open fire while out in nature.
A small design protection from the They are traditionally eaten
studio succeeds European Commission for a with a slice of bread to catch
traditional sausage which is the fat dripping from the
in major known as špekáčky in Slov- roasted špekáčky, along with
international akia and špekačky in the mustard.
Czech Republic. There is a Another very popular
competitions good chance that this heat- recipe is to make the
processed sausage product špekáčky as ‘utopenci’,
will receive the highly desir- which in literal translation
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ able “Traditional Speciality means as ‘drowned men’. In
Spectator staff Guaranteed” label since the the traditional recipe uncut
European Commission has špekáčky are put into a jar
not received any objections with a pickle, spices and
which could have reversed pieces of onion. After two
IT IS a truism confirmed by the success of the proceeding weeks the špekáčky are
the market: the success of a before its deadline, the ČTK ready for eating.
product depends greatly on newswire wrote last October. But nowadays there are
how it is packaged and wheth- A špekáček bearing the plenty of varied recipes en-
er customers perceive it as at- designation will be guaran- riched with chilli, mustard
tractive. After the grey years of teed to contain at least 56 seeds, horseradish, pickled
communism, during which percent pork and beef. cucumbers, Worcestershire
packaging was typically plain Lívia Lörinczová (centre left) and Juraj Demovič (centre right) accept their Pentaward. There is a long tradition sauce, olives and more. Beer
and uninteresting, Slovak de- Photo: Courtesy of Pergamen in Slovakia of roasting is the traditional beverage
signers can now create inter- špekáčky, essentially short served with utopenci.
esting and eye-catching i.e. those who are not directly
designs. And collect awards involved in the creative pro-
for them. One of them is Per- cess, can see, I would say, dis- Skalica’s sugary new weapon
gamen, a small design studio turbing things which can be
from the western Slovak town later improved. But this is of- THE TOWN of Skalica will in- Hránek will demonstrate the
of Trnava, which has garnered ten about details and small troduce ‘a younger sister’ of process of decorating the
national as well as interna- things. In the case of Tatratea the traditional trdelník cake unique edifice. According to
tional awards for its design for it was Lívia and me who final- at Bratislava’s biggest tourist Hránková, the cake is more a
a new bottle and logotype for ised the whole process. fair, being held between work of art than a delicacy,
Tatratea, a strong Slovak spir- January 20 and 23. It is the but it is edible.
it. The design for the bottle, TSS: You said that in this so-called tall Skalica wedding During the first half of
which resembles a traditional project the client was cake (skalická vysoká torta), the 20th century the tall
thermal flask, and its distinct- open... which was once ever-present wedding cake was a staple at
ive ‘T’ logo, created from ele- JD: Here I have to say that at Skalica weddings, accord- weddings in Skalica but the
ments of folk artwork, in May we have in general had a lucky ing to Renáta Fasurová from skills used to make it later
won Pergamen the Zlatý hand in the case of our clients the local municipal office, died out. The Hránek family
Klinec 2010 national creative to date. This may be also be- the SITA newswire reported. decided to revive the tradi-
advertising competition cause most of our clients are The cake is about 130 tion and have since learned
award in the category of pack- company owners or people centimetres tall and takes to create the exceptional
aging design; later in 2010 it The winning design. Photo: Courtesy of Pergamen who are very close to the about one week to produce. wedding centerpiece.
also picked up a gold Pent- product or the brand and who At the fair, cake-making Compiled by Spectator staff
award and Reddot Design update the label, which was the product got a new name to are apparently interested in couple Petra and Jozef from press reports
award. already known and recognised be recognisable also for for- the whole project. They are
The Slovak Spectator among buyers. Right at the eign buyers, Tatratea. The cli- not just employees of a com-
spoke to Juraj Demovič, one of beginning the initial T oc- ent also merged milder and pany filling in a column in a
designers and owners of Per- curred in our sketches, but it stronger liquors under this marketing plan, as sometimes
gamen, about the work on the did not fit into the original la- brand name. Now the bottle happens.
winning design as well as the bel. As the client liked it and and the logotype is the same,
process of creation in general. saw potential in the new and liquors with different al- TSS: How do you check
design the work continued on cohol content are packaged in whether your new design
The Slovak Spectator (TSS): two tracks. We prepared an bottles of different colours. ‘works’?
Do you regularly enter your update of the original pack- JD: In our works we
designs in competitions? aging and simultaneously TSS: There are two names primarily endeavour to create
Juraj Demovič (JD): Relat- worked on a completely new under this new design, a design which is simple, re-
ively rarely. We did not enter bottle and logotype. With re- yours and that of Lívia cognisable and with a recog-
many in the past and it was ac- gards to the bottle, we wanted Lörinczová... nisable quality. But we do not
tually by agreement with the to create a distinctive and pro- DJ: It is rather a coincid- object to returning to our work
client that we entered this portionally balanced bottle ence that there are only two and enhancing something.
design in several contests. It and were inspired by the names. In our design studio, The market and buyers keep
turned out that we succeeded thermal flask as a traditional which in total consists of nine developing, too.
in almost all of them. Among holder of warm tea when ski- people, of whom five work on For us the main criterion is
the awards, we appreciate ing in the Tatras. With regards design, we work on projects as the satisfaction of the client. It
most the Pentaward and Red- to the initial T, at first it was a one team. We start with a gen- may sometimes happen that
dot Design award because stern T and only later did we eral talk about the assign- the new packaging does not
these are prestigious interna- fill it with ornaments. Here ment, the type of the product, work as was originally hoped,
tional contests where a lot of ornaments used in Slovak folk its name, etc. We sit next to but the mistake can also be
very good works meet. wood-carving, embroidery each other, making sketches elsewhere. For example, we
and jewellery-making served and also copying the ideas of created new packaging and a
TSS: Could you describe the as inspiration. our neighbours. Even though brand name for sandwiches. It
process of creating the new we know how to be very critic- looked like it was not working
bottle and logotype for TSS: Was the client open to al of the work of the others, in well, but when we looked at
Tatratea? your ideas? this way we get a lot of inspir- the market it turned out that
JD: Its producer, Karloff, a JD: Yes, he was very open. ation. As the project goes on, other producers had an even
distillery from eastern Slov- Probably also because from we meet with the client and it bigger package even though
akia, addressed our design the very beginning he wanted sometimes happens that only the weight of the sandwich it-
studio first with a small as- to make from this liquor an some of us remain working on self was the same. If such a
signment to facelift the label export-type product, some it. Or they later return to work product was even cheaper,
of its leading product, kind of ‘Slovak Becherovka’, on it again. Actually this is one there was no chance that the
Tatranský čaj, a strong tea- which foreign visitors buy and way to get the best from each new packaging would work.
based liquor with herbs. At take back to their home coun- of us. It also sometimes hap- So, the package was enlarged
that time the idea was only to tries. Later during the process pens that those from ‘outside’, and the problem was solved. The wedding cake as art. Photo: Courtesy of TIK Skalica
8 January 17 – January 23, 2011
PRICE: A brand name is still important
Continued from pg 6
Instead, a lot of hard work
and investment in recent years
has paid off.
“Excellent and systemic
work by all those who work
with these brands has borne
fruit,” said Pleško. "They would
reach such success among con-
sumers only with difficulty
without innovation, enhan-
cing the products, quality con-
trol in production and other
important attributes of the
branded product. These and
many more brands are proof of
it.”
Drahovský sees consumer
trust in the quality of these tra-
ditional brands as responsible
for their continuing popularity
and Timoracký believes that
many of these brands remain
popular thanks to well-pre-
pared marketing.
“These are brands which
through their communication
– from the visual aspect of the
product, via advertising, and
the way in which they make
contact with the consumer –
sensitively link them with
their past,” said Timoracký.
He believes that even fur-
ther globalisation of the Slovak
market will not push aside do-
mestic brands.
“Especially in the food pro-
ducing industry, local brands
will always have a strong
influence,” said Timoracký.
“International concerns also
understand this natural affin-
ity and in their portfolio in a
Seeking the best price has become more common.
particular country not only
keep, but also actively develop,
local brands. It is possible to
mention Heineken, which in
Slovakia supports Zlatý Bažant
as well as Corgoň. Similarly
SAB [another global brewer]
goes even one level lower –
which I evaluate very posit-
ively – as it is developing one of
its brands, Šariš, not as a Slovak
beer but as a regional beer.”
Slovak consumers also con-
sider the country of origin for
certain products.
“It is possible to say about
branded goods that Slovaks,
with regard to the country of
the origin, distinguish among
several categories,” said
Timoracký. “In the ‘foreign
high-quality’ group Slovaks
rank, for example, German
cars, French perfumes, and Ja-
panese electrical appliances;
the ‘foreign-lower quality’
BUSINESS FOCUS
Photo: Sme
group includes Korean and
Chinese products, but the per-
ception of goods from this
group has been becoming bet-
ter. Then there are ‘our tradi-
tional local brands’ which in-
clude several Czech-Slovak
brands like Kofola, Jar, Prim,
Botas and others.”
Timoracký added that
there are also other Slovak
brands about which Slovaks are
rightfully proud. In addition to
traditional brands like Figaro
chocolates and Zlatý Bažant
beer he mentioned some newer
companies such as software
developer Eset. According to
him, Double Cross Vodka and
the Penta private equity group
may also belong here.
Regarding the question of
domestic or foreign ownership,
Drahovský pointed out that
after the fall of the communist
regime many traditional do-
mestic producers were ac-
quired by foreign companies
and that many foreign firms
also launched their branches in
Slovakia. But he does believe
that Slovaks pay more and
more attention to whether
goods are produced in Slovakia
or elsewhere.
Drahovský perceives cam-
paigns to support the sale of
goods produced in Slovakia in a
very positive way.
“Without question I per-
ceive this as an important mar-
keting tool so that people real-
ise that when they buy goods
produced in Slovakia they are
providing employment oppor-
tunities, payment of taxes, and
so forth and this means that
running these campaigns and
repeating them are extremely
important,” he said.
Drahovský noted,
however, that information
about the effectiveness of these
kinds of campaigns is not
available – data about the ex-
tent to which the sales of goods
have increased because of such
campaigns.
But Timoracký does not see
much impact on Slovak
products as a result of such
campaigns.
“According to my informa-
tion, these campaigns have a
negligible, if even any, effect,”
Timoracký said. “If a Slovak
product is really good it will es-
tablish itself by its own attract-
iveness and by its own market-
ing. It does not need to add a
Slovak flag.”
FOCUS shorts
Eset reshuffles its management
THE BEGINNING of 2011 wit-
nessed a reshuffle of the top
positions at one of Slovakia’s
most internationally well-
known companies, Eset. As
of January 1, most of the co-
owners of Eset, which devel-
ops and sells IT security
software, left the company’s
top management. The de-
parting managers were
Miroslav Trnka, Rudolf
Hrubý, Maroš Grund and
Anton Zajac. Another co-
owner, Richard Marko, who
previously worked as chief
technology officer, became
director-general, the SITA
newswire reported.
“This step is part of a re-
organisation of the
company,” said Trnka.
“The current owners, ex-
cept Richard Marko, are
leaving the operating man-
agement. This re-organisa-
tion will not touch upon
the ownership structure.”
Trnka is not leaving Es-
et completely as he re-
mains a member of the
board of trustees and thus
will continue to have an in-
fluence on the company’s
strategic direction. Accord-
ing to the Trend weekly,
Trnka may be involved in
the future in searching for
and fostering new ideas, as
well as by lecturing.
Eset, which has appeared
several times in the Deloitte
Technology Fast 50 Central
Europe ranking as one of the
fastest growing technology
companies in central Europe,
was established in 1992. In
addition to developing IT se-
curity software it is part of
the global fight against new
computer threats.
The company, which is
exclusively Slovak-owned, is
based in Bratislava, and has
branches in Prague, San
Diego, Buenos Aires and
Singapore. It is represented
in over 180 countries. In 2008
Eset opened a development
centre in Krakow, Poland. It
had global sales of €115 mil-
lion in 2009.

BRANDS: Local brew marks 540 years

Continued from pg 6
“2010 was interesting, because we re-
designed almost 100 products and intro-
duced about 17 novelties,” said Matušek.
“But 2011 will be even more vibrant.”
Bubbles from Sereď
The production of sparkling wine by
the original French method spread beyond
the borders of France only in the 19th cen-
tury. The first such factory in Europe was
founded in Bratislava in 1825. Later the
company moved to Sereď, where it is still
located today. Its current name is Hubert
J.E. and it belongs to the Henkel group.
The company sees the long history of
Hubert J.E. as one of the reasons behind
the long-standing popularity of its spark-
ling wines. On the other hand, the con-
sistently high quality of its products,
which is one of the company’s key priorit-
ies, is another factor to which it ascribes
its success.
Peter Krúpa, executive director of
Hubert J.E and director for controlling, did
not specify the current market share of
Hubert J.E., while describing its position
as “significantly dominant and stabilised”.
With regards to growth he sees particular
potential for Slovakia to gradually catch up
with western and southern Europe in the
culture of drinking sparkling wine.
“In these countries sekt is drunk at
various occasions over the whole year,”
Krúpa told The Slovak Spectator. “In
Slovakia the habit of drinking sekt in the
context of Christmas and New Year’s Eve
still prevails.“
Hubert J.E., whose sister companies
from the Henkel group are present in
neighbouring countries, focuses on the
Slovak market, even though it exports its
products to the Czech Republic and some
other countries. But for the company, ex-
ports are more of a pleasing extra, accord-
ing to Krúpa.
The company is not limited to the pro-
duction of sparkling wines.
“After the acquisition of Vitis Pezinok
in 2008 we considerably broadened the
extent of the labels offered,” said Krúpa.
“We offer in our portfolio, apart from tra-
ditional sekts, also quality still wines
under the Vitis label, and the branded
distillate Karpatské Brandy Špeciál. We
see our potential especially in uncom-
promising quality, in the complexity of
our portfolio and in the communication
of our branded products.”
More than 500 years of making beer
The brewery in Vyhne, a small town in
the mining region around Banská
Štiavnica, was established in 1473, 20 years
before Columbus discovered America. Beer
has been brewed here to this day, or for al-
most 540 years. Over the years it has
changed hands – as well as its name – many
times and is now called Pivovar Steiger.
The name Steiger represents an affinity to
the region as the function of the steiger,
which in German meant the master of
mining, used to be one of the most import-
ant functions in the mine.
The history behind the local produc-
tion of beer is also one of the reasons which
Jaroslav Vysloužil, the current director-
general of the brewery, sees for maintain-
ing the beer-brewing tradition in Vyhne.
According to him, some places have their
‘genius loci’, i.e. spirit of a place, and the
Štiavnické Vrchy mountains which are
home to Banská Štiavnica are studded with
such places.
“500 years is an unimaginable period of
time for one generation and this tradition
and the passing of it from one generation
to another is, according to me, the reason
that has propped up the brewery even dur-
ing times which were not very favourable
for this craft,” Vysloužil told the Spectator.
For the time being Pivovar Steiger is
among the small and medium-sized brew-
eries of Slovakia. According to Vysloužil,
historically the market share of the brew-
ery used to be around 5 percent and, after
some fluctuation during the last decade,
the situation has stabilised. During the
last three years the market share of Pivovar
Steiger has even increased. And with re-
gards to the huge changes through which
the Slovak beer market is currently going,
“keeping the present share we can basic-
ally perceive as a success”, said Vysloužil.
Exporting is not a core business for the
brewery, even though each exported hec-
tolitre of beer pleases the brewery.
“Nowadays we are exporting about 4
percent of our production and we expect
exports to grow,” said Vysloužil, adding
that especially its dark beer, for which cus-
tomers have been found in such beer
powers as the Czech Republic and Ger-
many, has proved successful.
With regards to its future plans, the
brewery has announced a halt to its recent
investment of more than €4 million over
the last four years.
“We are now waiting for the final
shape of the tax policy in Slovakia,” said
Vysloužil, referring to recent efforts by the
Slovak government to increase the excise
tax on beer.
Miroslav Trnka
Slovaks to produce sterile tsetse flies
SLOVAKS are helping to re-
duce numbers of tsetse flies
and thus also the spread of
sleeping sickness in Kenya
via a sterile insect technique.
In December, Slovak Ambas-
sador to Nairobi Milan
Zachar officially opened a lab
in the Kenyan capital built as
part of a project to fight
sleeping sickness. The
project reduces the occur-
rence of tsetse flies and thus
hampers the spread of the
contagious disease. The lab,
at the premises of the Kenya
Agricultural Research Insti-
tute in Nairobi, was con-
structed with the coopera-
tion of the Institute of Zo-
ology of the Slovak Academy
of Sciences (SAV), the SITA
newswire wrote.
Under the project, the
lab will produce sterile
males, which, after being let
out, will be not able to fertil-
ise female tsetse flies. Slov-
aks hope to use this method
to eradicate dangerous dis-
eases like human sleeping
sickness and animal tryp-
anosomiasis, also known as
nagana. The lab should re-
Photo: SITA
lease its first sterile tsetse
males this summer.
The SAV Institute of Zo-
ology has maintained
Slovakia’s biggest colony of
tsetse flies since 2002. It cur-
rently comprises 100,000
flies, but the institute plans
to double this. They see
Kenya as an ideal country to
put into practice the experi-
ence they have gathered to
date.
“We do not want to erad-
icate flies, but the disease,”
said institute director Milan
Kozánek, as quoted by the
SITA newswire.
The eradication project,
which is expected to be
98-percent effective, should
significantly improve the
nourishment of local people.
Local African cows, which
are resistant to the disease,
produce only two to three
litres of milk per day, while
European and south-Americ-
an breeds are 30 times more
productive. Eradication of
nagana will enable the breed-
ing of cows from these more
productive types.
Compiled by Spectator staff
 NEWS January 17 – January 23, 2011 9

LAW: Ideas abound, SIX: Some discord

in the coalition
but does political will? Continued from pg 3

Coalition stumbles
over choice of prosecutor
the rules for selection of the
general prosecutor because
the parties failed so demon-
strably at the end of 2010 and
Continued from pg 2 aspires to unify rules for all he does not particularly view
elections in Slovakia, the Selecting a new person this approach as positive.
Moreover, she says that coalition on January 11 for the job of Slovakia’s gen- “For that reason, they
the main problems of finan- agreed to cancel the state eral prosecutor has been a will plough through the
cing lie in avoidance of the law subsidy paid to parliament- difficult challenge for the whole system of elections,
and in money that never ap- ary political parties based on ruling coalition. Since the to turn them into direct
pears in official party ac- the number of MPs’ man- coalition did not initially elections,” Kusý said. “They
counts; hence she argues that dates gotten in the election. put forth a joint candidate, are turning this single prob-
penal legislation should also However, the decision has none of the original candid- lem into a [general] rule. If
be changed. already evoked some strong ates independently nomin- they said the system doesn’t
Wienk specified that the criticism. ated by parties of the ruling suit them because they had
law on political parties should Lipšic, for example, said coalition were successful failed and they will prag-
be made stricter so that, for ex- that he would reconsider after several secret ballot matically change the elec-
ample, bookkeepers are made the coalition’s plan since votes in parliament in de- tion of the prosecutor, that
personally responsible for viol- such a move could motivate feating the incumbent gen- would be alright. But they
ations of the rules in order to political parties to secure eral prosecutor, Dobroslav are trying to pour a sauce of
ensure that money flows any resulting shortfall from Trnka, who was endorsed by ideology on it, saying that
through a single account. other, possibly illegal, the opposition parties. It direct election is the best
sources, TASR newswire re- was even more of a surprise way and so forth.”
Independent audit ported. for coalition leaders when it
office sought “It’s a big risk and the became clear that up to six Democracy is
state may lose a lot more MPs from their parties had discussion
“We have long called for an The financing of political parties is now under debate. Photo: Sme money over this if the can- voted with the opposition in
independent office based on cellation is passed,” he said. favour of Trnka. Kusý views hesitation,
the example of western coun- control that would be more TIS is supporting a propos- Opposition Smer party In an atmosphere of mis- which has resulted in the
tries: a variation of the Su- thorough, independent and al to finance parties through a leader Robert Fico said that trust and blame, the top government’s programme
preme Audit Office (NKÚ), transparent. system of matching funds, the coalition’s proposal leaders of the coalition objectives being accom-
which would oversee party Though the situation has where the state matches the would in fact mean throw- parties agreed once again to plished more slowly than
financing,” Gabriel Šípoš, pres- improved, there is still no ef- funds that a party generates ing the political parties on nominate a joint candidate expected, as a negative,
ident of Transparency Interna- fective control of party finan- on its own. the mercy of sponsors. but to first change the selec- though understandable,
tional Slovensko (TIS), told The cing in Slovakia, said TIS. The transparency watch- “I am really concerned tion procedure for the gener- characteristic of the govern-
Slovak Spectator. “The situation has im- dog is also contributing to the that in this way they are al prosecutor so that it will ing coalition.
“Not to mention the fact proved moderately in the debate over a proposal to fin- rendering the political be subject to a recorded par- “It [the government] is
that there is no control what- sense that the parties are re- ance political parties through parties to sponsors because liamentary vote. The coali- always somewhat slow, hes-
soever over municipal elec- porting gifts quarterly on their a scheme analogous to that if a party gets money from tion leaders reported after itant, half-hearted, and that
tions; they do not have any websites, while amounts de- under which taxpayers can the state in a legal way it meeting on January 11 that a is how it will be, because the
duty to report expenditures clared in the last election, currently assign 2 percent of does not depend on gifts,” new general prosecutor decisions come from com-
either, which should be based on our rough estimates, their annual taxes to charity – Fico said, as quoted by SITA. should be nominated, elec- promise, and the comprom-
changed at the soonest pos- were closer to real spending under the proposal, they could “It is enough if the party col- ted and take office in four to ise always trims the original
sible opportunity.” than they were, for example, donate to a chosen party. lects membership fees and five months’ time. proposal,” Kusý stated.
Interior Minister Daniel in 2002 and 2006,” said Šípoš. “It would force the parties gets money from the state, Kusý labelled the failure He believes that for this
Lipšic, from the KDH, agrees On the other hand, Šípoš towards greater activity and and [with this] can legally to select a new general pro- reason tensions within the
that an independent body says that there is not any ef- responsibility towards the finance all its activities.” secutor as the most notable coalition and problems in
outside parliament should fective means to check voter, though populism might According to the Sme stumble of the ruling coali- communication will con-
be in charge of checking whether the declared num- be a disadvantage,” Šípoš said. daily, political parties last tion in its first six months tinue but added that this is
party financing. bers match actual party finan- Parties currently receive year received €34 million and added that it is particu- what the art of politics is
“It will be necessary to dis- cing and whether parties keep funding based on their elec- from the state budget, get- larly unfortunate that the is- all about.
cuss whether it should be the records of all contributions, tion results, which means ting funds from the state sue will continue to stretch “A four-party coalition
NKÚ or a new institution,” even non-financial ones like that smaller but growing based on the votes they col- over several months. is an enormously complic-
Lipšic said, as quoted by the in-kind billboards and cars. parties get no money, lected in the parliamentary “The crisis of the ated undertaking, and as a
SITA newswire. “However, al- Formal reports are something which, according election and contributions [prosecutor’s] election will heterogeneous coalition
ways creating a new institution checked by the Finance Min- to Šípoš, does not support the per each mandate. Cur- keep popping up and of they are destined for [such
is not any big win, since we istry and then parliamentary competitiveness of parties. rently, the parties get €7.20 course the Fico-led opposi- problems],” Kusý said
already have enough of them. deputies, a method which per voter, representing one tion will use it very skil- while adding that it can be
But MPs from parliamentary Šípoš says is inefficient. Subsidy percent of Slovakia's average fully all the time; they will considered a positive polit-
parties should not be in charge.” As for public oversight, cuts proposed monthly wage. keep digging into it to show ical feature in that what
According to Lipšic, be- Wienk says that the public can that the coalition is the coalition finally agrees
ginning this month a working presently rely only on annual As part of the discussion incapable,” he said. upon has been the result of
group will meet to develop a reports, which in her words over the new election law, Michaela Terenzani Kusý said the coalition is debate, negotiation and
new model of party-financing “aren’t very credible”. which among other things contributed to this report. now deliberately changing compromise.

CLASSIFIEDS

REAL ESTATE REAL ESTATE Advertising rates for business classifieds

APARTMENTS + HOUSES
for rent: OFFER! 1. P rices of clas sified ads Frequency dis count s:
(according to no. of words) ● 3x - 10x 5%
• city center – 2-room large furnished Holiday Country House in a spa ● 11x - 19x 7,5%
€ 10
apartment
• Koliba – brand new 2-,3-, 4-room
town of Turčianske Teplice provides
accommodation in a cottage Take your ●

●
Up to 20words -
Up to 50 words - € 20
● 20x and more 15%
apartments
• Drotárska ul. – large 4-room
environment. On disposal:
2 flat units. Suitable for the groups chance ● Up to 70 words - € 30
N OTE:
Prices do not include value added tax
(VAT 19%)!
apartment, 150 sqm + garage of 4-18 persons, minimum 2 nights. and place your ● Up to 100 words - € 40
D EADL INE: Wednesday, 12:00,
• family and town houses – Polus More details: classified advertisement. ● Up to 150 words - € 60 for publication that week; otherwise,
area, Kramáre, Koliba, Horský park,... www.slovanet.sk/rekreacnydom, For information call: the advert will be published the
02 / 59 233 311, following Friday.
www.madison.sk, 0905 - 659 156 contact: or e-mail:
Addi tional op ti ons
madison@nextra.sk rekreacnydom@slovanet.sk. ● Logo or picture insertion FOR MORE INFORMATION:
marta.fukasova@spectator.sk email:
C 3655 C 3664
+ €7 marta.fukasova@spectator.sk
● Bold or capital bold letters tel: +421 2 59 233-311
RELIGIOUS SERVICES + € 0.3/word fax: +421 2 59 233-319
Private Bilingual School ● Box + €3 or write:
The Slovak Spectator, Lazaretská 12
ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORSHIP
Bratislava International Church
with Kindergarten in Trnava is looking ● Box with shading + €7
811 08 Bratislava, Slovakia.
Sundays, 9:30 at historic for a part-time NATIVE SPEAKER. 2. Prices for business classified ads (according to size):
Small Lutheran Church
(Malý evanjelický kostol) in central Bratislava
(near Hodzovo namestie); • teaching experience – essential 1/48 page 1/ 24 page 1 /12 pa ge
on Lycejna at intersection • primary teaching qualification can lead to a full time possition 44 x 41 mm 44 x 87 mm 91,5 x 87 mm
with Panenska 26/28. • starting asap or in feb 2011 91,5 x 41 mm € 10 0
Children's Sunday School provided.
Everyone Welcome.
• salary negotiable € 25 € 50
Information at 02-5443-3263
Web Site: for further details please contact us
www.bratislavainternationalchurch.org on +421 907 607 635 or info@bilingvalnaskola.sk or
C 3634 C 3573 C3665
10 January 17 – January 23, 2011 CULTURE

The Jews of Šaštín Western SLOVAKIA

Bratislava
l TRAVELLERS’ CINEMA: Ces-
tovateľské kino horáreň / The
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
Travellers’ Cinema Game-
keeper’s Lodge – Held in the
Forest School building, a series
of films introduce exotic coun-
tries. This documentary is by
Jakub Jajcay, and entitled
Sýria, zabudnutý klenot
Blízkeho východu / Syria, the
Forgotten Gem of the Middle
East.
Starts: January 23, 19:00;
Horáreň / Gamekeeper’s Lodge
in Horský park. Admission: €1.
Tel: 0903/455-103; www.
horaren.sk, www.cestoklub. sk.
Bratislava
THE ART of Livin’ project returns to its very beginning with an
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Gala
THE TOWN of Šaštín in monument in this Záhorie Záhorie they traded mainly evening combining theatre and music. First, young actors will
mladých umelcov u Zichyho /
Záhorie, in western Slovakia, town is its synagogue. Local in grain and geese. Gala of Young Artists at Zichy – perform improvised sets within the Tri tvorivé tvory, 3T, IM-
emerged thanks to the castle Jews built it in 1852 and until Among the worst mo- A concert by students of the PROLIGA show (with J. Tabaček, L. Puchovský and S. Staško);
which stood there in the the 1960s it was preserved in ments for the local Jews was Department of Singing of the then The Illusion Trio (A. Karlík, M. Fedor and J. Cingeľ) will play
Middle Ages. The marshy good condition. However, the the year 1739, when a pogrom Academy of Performing Arts. their characteristic mix of jazz-rock and nujazz. At the Klub za
location where the fortifica- building is now very dilapid- took place. The pretence was Starts: January 18, 18:00; Zrkadlom, Rovniankova 3, Bratislava, on January 20 at 20:00.
tion used to stand fabricated and ab- Musical Salon of the MKC Zi- Tickets (www.ticketportal.sk, www.kzp.sk) cost €4 in advance
gave the small surd: a Jewish to- chyho Palace, Ventúrska 9. and €6 at the door.

HISTORY TALKS
Photo: Courtesy of KZP
town its name: bacco merchant Admission: €1-€2. Tel: 02/5920
“sás” means reed was falsely accused -1603, www.staremesto.sk.
Nitra VLK (Wolf) tells a story about
growth or rushes of stealing the Bratislava l EXHIBITION: Inter-View – forests through photographs
in Hungarian. monstrance from a l EXHIBITION: She has the The Harmonia Seraphica civic and panels with texts.
Today, no trace of the castle ated and its future is uncer- Catholic church. Sense of Limited Time – This association presents a sum- Open: Mon-Fri 11:00-
remains. tain. The Jewish community In this postcard from the joint exhibition by Cyril Blažo, marising exhibition of con- 18:00, Sat 9:00-13:00 until
However, Šaštín is fam- in Šaštín was first mentioned beginning of the 1920s we David Ray Conroy and Martin temporary Slovak and Czech January 30; Krajská knižnica,
ous as a pilgrimage destina- in 1400 AD. Jews in Šaštín can see the synagogue on the Vongrej is introduced by Petra female artists focusing on the Bernolákova 47. Admission:
tion and has a beautiful ba- made their living as in other right side of the street. Feriancová, who is also exhib- leitmotif of body, corporeality, free. More info: www.zilinska
silica. A lesser known small towns – by trading. In By Branislav Chovan iting. The presentation of in- relations and family. -kniznica.sk, www.wolf.sk.
dividual exhibitions com- Open: Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00
prises several counterpoints until February 20; Nitrianska Eastern SLOVAKIA
ADVERTISEMENT and several connecting points. galéria, Župné námestie 3. Ad-
PROGRAM Slovak National Theatre Open: Wed-Fri 13:00-18:00 mission: €0.50-€0.70. Tel: 037/ Poprad
until February 5; amt_project, 6579-641; www.nitrianska- l LIVE MUSIC: Andrej Šeban
OPERA and BALLET Baštová 1. Admission: free. galeria.sk. Live – This congenial guitar
JANUARY 17 – FEBRUARY 5 Tel: 02/5441-0998; www. player and key personality of
SND New Building SND Historic Building amtproject.sk. Central SLOVAKIA Slovak rock music, a multi-in-
Opera and Ballet Hall Georges Bizet strumentalist and musical vis-
Bratislava Brezno ionary, gives a concert in
MON
17.1.
TUE Giuseppe Verdi:
18.1. I Due Foscari
19:00
Carmen Giuseppe Verdi:
Nabucco
19:00
O
V. Bellini: I puritani
l PHOTO EXHIBITION: Anna
Fabricius - Jazdci a jazdkyne /
l LIVE MUSIC: Richard Scheu-
fler Solo Project – A concert by
Poprad.
Starts: January 21, 19:00;
O Cavalrymen and Equestri- the bass-guitar soloist and Theatre Hall of House of Cul-
WED W. A. Mozart: Guest performance Győri Balett
19:00 ennes – This photo exhibition member of the legendary ture, Štefánikova 99/72. Ad-
19.1. The Magic Flute O
on January 22, 2011, at 19:00 shows the diploma work of a Pražský výběr II band com- mission: €5 (in advance), €7
THU G. Puccini: 19:00 young woman photographer bines pop, rock, modern jazz, (on the door). Tel: 052/
20.1. Turandot O New Building from Budapest; focusing on and classical music. 7722-255; www.poprad.sk/dom
FRI P. I. Tchaikovsky, M. Petipa, L.I. Ivanov: 19:00
21.1. Swan Lake B Carmen, a French opéra comique by George Bizet has been Photo: C. Bachratý
horses as seen through the Starts: January 22, 20:00; -kultury.
SAT Guest performance 19:00
also a strong isnpiration for a different medium – dance.
Vincenzo Bellini: 19:00 eyes of their masters. Bombura Klub, M.R. Štefánik
Passionate Carmen performed by Hungarian Győri Balett
22.1. Carmen B company founded in 1979 is considered to be the most I puritani O Open: Wed-Mon 10:00- Square 16. Tel: 0905/347-415; Košice
SUN groundbreaking and exceptional perfmormance. 17:00 until January 31; Múzeum www. bombura.sk. l EXHIBITION: Zbigniew
23.1. Enjoy it in Bratislava´s Slovak National Theatre. kultúry Maďarov na Slovensku Nišponský - Gut: Inšpirácie z
MON Georges Bizet: 19:00 Museum of Hungarian Culture Žilina jaskýň / Inspirations from
24.1. Carmen O in Slovakia, Žižkova 18. Admis- l EXHIBITION: Divočina Caves – This exhibition brings
TUE Giuseppe Verdi: 19:00 sion: €5-€10 (includes entry to 7 zachráni svet / Wilderness ceramic and bronze plastic art
25.1. La Traviata O
museums). Tel: 02/5441-2021; Will Save the World – The made by a speleologist who
WED G. Puccini: 19:00
www. snm.sk. Forest Protection Association has been inspired by the
26.1. La Bohéme O
THU P. I. Tchaikovsky, M. Petipa, L.I. Ivanov: 19:00
nature and atmosphere of
27.1. Swan Lake B caves.
FRI Ch. Guonod: 19:00 Open: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00,
28.1. Faust O Sun 13:00-17:00 until January
SAT Giuseppe Verdi: 19:00 30; Múzeum Vojtecha Loef-
29.1. I Due Foscari O Chuan Diego Flórez flera, Alžbetina 20. Admission:
SUN V. Patejdl, L. Vaculík: 11:00, 17:00 €0.33-€0.66. Tel: 055/ 6223-073;
30.1. Snow White and the Seven Racers B www.cassovia.sk/ vlmuzeum.
THU Guest performance 1 9:00
3.2. Juan Diego Flórez in SNT O Veľký Šariš
FRI O opera, B ballet l EXHIBITION: Magický svet
4.2.
cirkusu / The Magic World of
SAT A. Adam, O. Šoth, Z. Mistríková, J. Kubánka: 19:00 Gaetano Donizetti: 19:00 Circus – This exhibition was
5.2. Giselle B Photo: Győri Balett The Daughter of the regiment O
re-installed thanks to cooper-
ation with the Bibiana House
SPECIAL OFFER ONLY IN JANUARY! of Art Children and aims to in-
troduce the world of the circus
IF YOU BUY ONE TICKET ON SELECTED PERFORMANCE IN SLOVAK to all those who are fascinated
NATIONAL THEATRE, WE WILL GIVE YOU THE SECOND FOR FREE!!! THE FORESTRY and Timber Museum in Zvolen has organised, in by it.
cooperation with Prague’s Náprstkovo Museum, the exhibition Open: Tue, Thur 10:00-
ENJOY: Poslovia mágie - Africké bábky a masky / Heralds of Magic - 12:00, 14:00-16:00, Sun 15:00-
African Figurines and Masks. It presents a collection of examples 18:00 until January 31; Mest-
I due Foscari, Magic Flute, Turandot, Swan Lake,Carmen, La Traviata, La Bohéme, Faust ské Múzeum a Galéria, Sv. Ja-
and more great performances. of sub-Saharan traditional culture and lifestyle; mainly from
kub Square 33. Admission:
wood but with the addition of other locally-sourced materials. It €50-€1. Tel: 051/7762-300;
For more information call the HOT LINE: +421 2 204 72 297, or e-mail: rezervacie@snd.sk.
can be seen until the end of January at the Lesnícke a Drevárske www. muzeum.sk.
Tickets available at: SND Box offices: Historic Building, Hviezdoslavovo Square, Bratislava, 00421 2 204 94 290 www.ticketportal.sk
Múzeum, SNP Square 23, Mon to Fri 9:00-17:00. For more info,
New Building, Pribinova 17, Bratislava, 00421 2 204 72 298, 204 72 299, e-mail: rezervacie snd.sk www.snd.sk please visit www.ldmzvolen.sk. Photo: Courtesy of LDM By Zuzana Vilikovská
HOT LINE: +421 2 204 72 297, information and offer for tickets MON - FRI 9:30 - 17:30
SP 90250/6

N A M E D A Y J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 1
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia Nata‰a Bohdana Drahomíra Dalibor Vincent Zora Milo‰
Mário, Sára Sebastián Zara
can now be found at www.spectator.sk.
January 17 January 18 January 19 Januaury 20 January 21 January 22 January 23

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)
 FEATURE / CULTURE January 17 – January 23, 2011 11

AROUND SLOVAKIA
compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports LITERARY CORNER
Books in English
now available
Cryptography, A Very and wise, and full of im-
Short Introduction. Fred mense vitality and imagin-
Piper & Sean Murphy. Ox- ation. Mario, an 18-year-old
ford Books, 2002. law student and radio news

Slovaks help in Part of the Very Short

Introduction series which
introduces concise know-
editor, falls for his Aunt Ju-
lia, the 32-year-old divorced
wife of his cousin, and their

Afghanistan ledge on various topics such

WITHIN a year a brand new
Slovak-funded building will
appear in the Afghan city of
Kunduz. It will house a multi-
functional centre providing
several services to citizens: a
library, access to the inter-
net, educational lectures, ex-
hibitions, and other cultural
events. Iveta Liberková, the
head of the Spoločnosť ľudí
dobrej vole (Association of
People with Goodwill), an as-
sociation of volunteers
providing humanitarian aid,
explained the project’s devel-
opment goals to the SITA
the city and the whole region.
Liberková also sees it as a
chance to support the devel-
opment of leisure activities
for children and young
people and reduce criminal-
ity among young Afghans.
The project will also bring
more jobs to the province.
The library will include vari-
ous books and audio and
visual offerings and the in-
ternet centre will have 8
computers with internet
connections. Users of the
services will be charged just a
symbolic fee and students
as Intelligence, Literary
Theory, Cosmology, and
others, this book focuses on
how the hiding of informa-
tion – in Greek, “cryptos”
means hidden and “graph”
means writing – has been
used, elaborated and stud-
ied in the past as well as in
modern times. Starting
Štefan Banič Photo: TASR
with basic concepts, the
book then presents histor-
Slovak parachute ical algorithms like Caesar
ciphers, Vigenere ciphers,
and transposition ciphers
inventor forgotten and continues with
“unbreakable” ciphers that
can, for sure, be broken, and
THE SLOVAK for the parachute in the USA in with modern ciphers such
love story is interwoven
with episodes from a series
of radio soap operas written
by his friend Pedro Ca-
macho. Apart from the
amusing content, the book
also offers a remarkable
feeling for the book’s ori-
ginal language that can be
felt in the English transla-
tion as well.
Arabian Nights’ Enter-
tainments. Edited with an
introduction and notes by
Robert L. Mack. Oxford
World’s Classic, 1998.
The tales with which
Scheherazade nightly post-
poned the murderous in-

newswire.
The project received sup-
port amounting to almost
€240,000 from Slovak Aid
funds. This is already the
organisation’s third devel-
opment project in Afgh-
anistan. The establishment
of such a multifunctional cul-
tural-educational centre is
intended to boost and develop
Afghans will benefit from Slovak help.
and teachers will have free
access. The offices of the local
governor and mayor will
support the centre and its op-
eration financially and ma-
terially, together with the
Afghan Information and Cul-
ture Ministry. More re-
sources are expected from
user fees and from grants by
state and foreign donors.
Photo: Reuters
2
inventor of the
parachute,
Štefan Banič,
died 70 years
ago this month
in his native town of
Smolenice, but the municipal-
ity failed to organise any event
to commemorate its most
famous native and citizen.
Mayor Pavlína Hor-
náčková said that the recent
change in the mayoralty might
be one of the reasons. She said
the previous town leadership
did not plan any event in
Banič’s memory and that since
she had taken up her post just
shortly before Christmas, she
told the SITA newswire that
she had no time to prepare an
appropriate event to mark the
inventor's anniversary.
Banič invented not only
the parachute but was also one
of the discoverers of the Driny
cave near Smolenice. He ac-
quired the patent document
August 1914 and discovered
the Driny cave 15 years later
along with a group of villagers.
Štefan Banič was born on
November 23, 1870 in
Smolenice. He trained to be a
mason and in 1907 left to work
in America.
In 1913 he completed the
prototype of a parachute with
a new construction which he
personally tested. Even though
he received the patent for in-
venting the parachute he did
not get rich from it and after
returning to his hometown he
worked as master mason.
He died on January 2,
1941 and is buried at a local
cemetery with a gravestone
portraying a parachute over
his grave. There is a me-
morial plaque on the house
where he was born and in
2006 a monument featuring
a bust of Banič was erected
in front of the building of his
former school.
as stream ciphers and block
ciphers. The last chapters
describe practical use of
cryptography in modern
everyday life.
3,096 Days. Natascha
Kampusch. Penguin,
2010.
On March 2, 1998, ten-
year-old Natascha Kam-
pusch was snatched off a
street in Vienna by a
stranger and bundled into a
white van. Just an hour
later she was lying on a cold
cellar floor, rolled up in a
blanket. When she emerged
from captivity in 2006, hav-
ing endured one of the
longest abductions in re-
cent history, her childhood
was gone. Her captor com-
mitted suicide by throwing
himself under a train on the
day she broke free. In this
book, Kampusch gives her
own account of what
happened during her diffi-
cult childhood, from the
tent of the sultan have ini-
tiated a pattern of literary
reference and influence
which today remains as
powerful and intense in
English literary history as it
was throughout the 18th
and 19th centuries. This
edition reproduces the
earliest English translation
of Antoine Galland’s Les
mille et une nuits, origin-
ally published by the
French Orientalist from
1704 to 1717. This remained
for over a century the only
English translation of the
story cycle, influencing an
incalculable number of
writers, and no other edi-
tion offers the complete
text supplemented by full
textual apparatus. This edi-
tion is complete with the
introduction, textual notes,
a biography of Antoine Gal-
land, bibliography, chrono-
logy of the appearance of
Arabian Nights’ Entertain-
ments in Europe, appen-

Family’s holiday home is torched by fateful morning of her kid-

napping and the long im-
prisonment in a tiny dun-
dices and explanatory notes
that all help readers inter-
pret the stories and set

their own New Year's Eve fireworks
A FAMILY from Čadca
geon, as well as the physical
and mental abuse she
suffered from her captor,
them in their historical and
literary context. Characters
like Sinbad, Aladdin, Ali
minutes after midnight but encountered Wolfgang Priklopil. 3,096 Baba, and Caliph Harun al-

1
who celebrated the arrival
of 2011 at their vacation
cottage in Olešná-Potôčky
in Kysuce may recall the
just past New Year’s Eve
with less than fond memories. During
their celebration, they placed an array of
pyrotechnics about ten metres away
from the cottage. But soon after the first
rockets were lighted, the launch plat-
form toppled over and instead of firing
the rockets high into the sky, the rockets
flew straight at the cottage attic.
One rocket shot inside through a
small open window and immediately
started a fire. The cottage was made of
wood and had been bought ten years ago
by the family, who had insulated it and
used it as a weekend house.
The fire brigade was called at 25
problems. “There was a lot of smoke and
due to the low temperatures black ice
was created and access was difficult,”
František Prívara, from the Čadca Dis-
trict Office of the Fire and Rescue Corps,
told the SITA newswire. Firefighters
from Čadca and Turzovka fought the
blaze using three units.
Further trouble was caused by three
gas containers that were stored in the
house. Firefighters managed to get two of
them out, but the third remained inside.
Prívara said they used one nozzle to cool
down the gas containers and the remain-
ing two to extinguish the fire. They failed
to save the cottage but at least managed
to prevent a nearby farm building from
being devastated. Total damage has been
assessed at €50,000 but property worth
€100,000 was saved.
Risky amateur fireworks .
Days is a story about the
triumph of human spirit,
about how the young victim
learned to manipulate her
jailer and how, in the end,
she managed to escape with
her spirit intact. Kam-
pusch, now in her 20s, lives
in Vienna and is a student.
Aunt Julia and the
Scriptwriter. Mario Var-
gas Llosa. Faber and Faber,
re-issued in 2002.
Mario Vargas Llosa, a
Nobel laureate from Peru,
has written a comic, ima-
ginative, lively novel that
has been praised by news-
Photo: Sme paper reviewers as witty
Rashid are all generally no-
torious or often cited in all
artistic genres; in this book,
they are revived and
brought to consciousness
with all their beauty, ad-
venturous spirit, comical-
ity, and enlightening and
eye-opening moral lessons.
This column is a selection
by The Slovak Spectator of Eng-
lish-language books recently re-
leased in Slovakia; it does not
represent an endorsement of
any of the books selected. The
column is prepared in coopera-
tion with the Oxford Bookshop
Bratislava, located at
Laurinská 9.
 Catch reflections in the sunshine

Chase the sun. Catch it in a mirror. Discover

winter warmth in India.The time is now.

India Tourism Frankfurt www.incredibleindia.org

info@india-tourism.com www.india-tourism.com

SP 90470