New road cuts journey times

AFTER years of politically-

charged debate over highway
construction, a new 46-kilo-
metre dual carriageway,
dubbed Pribina after a histor-
ical Slav, has now been added
to Slovakias highway net-
work, which over the past two
decades both foreign investors
and Slovak travellers have
sorely hoped to see expand
across the country. The stretch
of the R1 road connecting Nitra
with Tekovsk Nemce is the
first tangible product of a pub-
lic-private partnership (PPP)
project. It was constructed
over 26 months and carries a
price tag of 800 million.
The Pribina section is the
longest and fastest-built
highway stretch constructed
at one time in Slovakia, and
has the heaviest price tag,
said Transport Minister Jn
Fige as he ceremonially
opened the road on October
28, after a one-monthdelay.
The current government
and all future governments
should continue with signi-
ficant public investments, but
in a sustainable manner
which is advantageous for the
state, Fige stated.
The ribbon-cutting cere-
mony was not free of political
tension and controversy as
Fige had invited his prede-
cessor, ubomr Vny of the
Smer party, to attend even
though Fige from the Christi-
an Democratic Movement
(KDH) had roundly criticised
Vny for what he called
overpriced contracts. The
chairman of Smer, Robert
Fico, was also asked to speak
at the ceremony.
SeeR1 pg4
SELECT FOREX RATES
benchmark as of November 3
CANADA CAD 1.39
CZECHREP. CZK 24.91
RUSSIA RUB42.15
GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.86
HUNGARY HUF 302.90
JAPAN JPY 107.33
POLAND PLN 4.35
USA USD 1.38
NEWS
Under-18s get todrive
Araft of changes to the road
laws came into force on
November 1. Among other
novelties, under-18s are
nowallowed to drive, albeit
accompanied by anexperi-
enced driver.
pg 2
Unlockingthemaze
NGOs have launched a new
website that aims to make it
easier for the public to
browse the tens of thou-
sands of public-sector con-
tracts nowonline.
pg 3
OPINION
Not muchof ashow
Too little time has passed
since the last elections for
those coming up inMarch
the usual freakshow
aside to really offer much
inthe way of entertain-
ment.
pg 5
BUSINESSFOCUS
Bankingfor therich
The potential size of the
Slovak private banking
market is estimated to be
6-7 billion, of whichonly
one-half is sheltered by
banks, meaning the sector
has considerable poten-
tial.
pg 6
Europe's Tobintax
AEuropeanCommission
proposal to introduce a
Europe-wide financial
transactiontax has received
a frosty response fromthe
Slovak Finance Ministry
and Slovak banks.
pg 6
CULTURE
Jazz Days at Incheba
The Bratislava Jazz Days
festival took place at the
Incheba exhibitioncentre
inlate October, withstars
like Curtis Stigers and new
acts alike thrilling audi-
ences.
pg 10
Amongthe many officials whoturnedupfor the openingof aR1 dual carriageway sectionnear NitraonOctober 28
were Transport Minister JnFige (centre right) andoppositionleader Robert Fico(far left). Photo: SITA
Low-price state
auction raises doubts
AN ELECTRONIC auction of state-
owned platinum mesh has now
been added to the list of murky gov-
ernment deals. Even though the
state agency responsible for the sale
claims that it acted in line with all
the rules, the opposition Smer party
believes there was political deal and
a cover-up, and a transparency
watchdog group says the govern-
ment needs to take further action.
The State Material Reserves
Administration (SHR) sold mesh
containing 63,000 grams of platin-
um for 668,000 in an electronic
auction in July. But TV Markza,
whichbroke the story, reported that
the market price for that amount of
platinum was around 2.425 mil-
lion.
The head of the SHR, Eva
Hrinkov, who was apparently
nominated by the governing Slovak
Democratic and Christian Union
(SDK) party, resigned on Novem-
ber 2 and the government of Iveta
Radiov ordered the temporary
suspension of further electronic
auctions bythe SHR.
Prime Minister Radiov, who
recently announced her planned
departure fromthe SDK, saidat the
end of October that there needs to be
additional government regulations
covering electronic auctions, stat-
ing that it seemed that someone had
been able to immediately find a
crack in how to turn even an elec-
tronic auction into a pre-agreed
deal, as quoted by the SITA news-
wire.
SeePTpg2
Vol. 17, No. 39 Monday, November 7, 2011 - Sunday, November 13, 2011
On sale now On sale now
FOCUS
of this issue
FOCUS
of this issue
BANKING & WEALTH
MANAGEMENT
Doctors not
backing
down
WHILE Slovakias teachers have curbed
their rising frustration and announced on
November 3 that they would continue ne-
gotiating with the Education Ministry
over salaries rather than striking, the
2,000 or more doctors working in state-run
hospitals who submitted notices to ter-
minate their employment contracts in
protest against conditions within their
hospitals showno signs of backing down.
SeeGOpg3
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
Radiov to
leave SDK
IVETARadiovwill leaveher current polit-
ical party after the early elections next
March. Eventhoughbydoingsosheappears
to be completely exiting politics, some ob-
servers say she could still one day become
thecountryspresident.
The prime minister of Slovakias inter-
im cabinet served up her decision in small
pieces first sayingshewouldnot seektobe
the partys election leader again, then say-
ingshewouldnot appearat all onthepartys
candidate list for the March 2012 elections
and finally, in late October, announcing
that she would leave her party, the Slovak
Democratic and Christian Union (SDK)
oncehermandateasprimeministerisover.
I am putting aside the thing thats
called power, Radiov said in a televised
discussiononTVMarkzaonOctober 30.
SeePMpg9
BYMICHAELATERENZANI
Spectator staff
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
hk}ly{pzltlu{
SP90654/3
Every sunday from 11.30 am to 3 pm in Fresh! Restaurant.
New delicacies enriched with herbs from our hotel garden.
Rich breakfast and lunch buffet for only 17,95 Eur per person.
Kids corner with supervision.
Free parking.
Children up to 12 years free of charge.
For reservation please call: 02 / 5934 8111
Crowne Plaza Bratislava
Hodovo nm. 2
816 25 Bratislava
e - mail: cp.bratislava@ihg.com
www.crowne-plaza.sk
FRESH! BRUNCH
Future of highways
remains uncertain
'Three strikes' ruled constitutional
REPEAT offenders who
commit more thanthree
crimes canbe imprisoned for
life, the Constitutional Court
has ruled ina case over the
constitutionality of the
three strikes and youre out
principle, the TASRnews-
wire reported.
In2008, the Pezinok Dis-
trict Court appealed to the
Constitutional Court, seek-
ing to have the principle,
whichwas introduced by the
amended Penal Code, de-
clared unconstitutional. The
court referred to the case of a
repeat offender identified
only as Karol M. who faced
charges of blackmail. Under
the principle, the manwas to
be sentenced for life as he
had beenconvicted for the
same crime inthe past, al-
thoughhe was only a juven-
ile whenthe earlier convic-
tions were secured.
Inits ruling, the Consti-
tutional Court found that the
principle does not violate the
basic right not to be tortured
and humiliated. Further-
more, it found that the ori-
ginal complaint was no
longer substantiated as the
amendment to the Penal
Code did not prescribe only
life imprisonment, but also
allows exceptional 20-year
and 25-year sentences.
Teachers will not stage protest
TRADE unions representing
teachers and other school
employees seeking better
salaries will not take part ina
strike. The reasonfor their
decisionis that the current
interimgovernment does
not have the mandate to ful-
fil their requirements, the
TASRnewswire reported.
The strike would be
pointless, said the head of
the trade unions, Jozef
Luk, after a meeting with
colleagues, adding that even
thoughhe knows that the
majority of teachers are not
satisfied withtheir salaries,
they have to realise that the
current government does not
have the power to resolve the
issue.
Thoughthe trade unions
did not reachagreement
withthe government on
higher salaries for teachers,
it is possible that the state
will increase the wages of
non-teaching employees,
suchas school caretakers or
cleaners, the SITAnewswire
reported onNovember 2.
The government to-
gether withEducationMin-
ister EugenJurzyca will try
to find solutions to this prob-
lemby the end of the [cur-
rent governments term],
Luk said after meeting
Prime Minister Iveta
Radiov onNovember 2. The
salaries of non-teaching em-
ployees are very close to the
minimumwage and the gov-
ernment said it would try to
address this, SITAwrote.
Yaroslavl plane crash inquiry ends
THE INVESTIGATIONinto
the September plane crash
near Yaroslavl Airport in
Russia that killed 44 people,
including Slovak ice hockey
star Pavol Demitra, has
ended. The investigators an-
nounced that the main
causes of the tragedy, which
devastated the Lokomotiv
Yaroslavl ice hockey team,
were multiple pilot errors,
sedatives inthe blood of one
of the pilots, inadequate
training and a crucial in-
strument mix-up, The Mo-
scowTimes reported on
November 3.
The results were presen-
ted by lead crashinvestigator
Alexei Morozov and others
fromRussias Interstate Avi-
ationCommission, who de-
scribed the aircrafts final
moments to journalists.
At least one of the two
pilots had his feet onthe
brakes as the chartered Yak-
42 rolled downthe runway,
the investigators said, as
quoted by The Moscow
Times. As a result, the plane
failed to gather sufficient
speed, lurching off the
ground only to crashback
downonthe banks of the
Tunoshonka River half a
kilometre away.
According to the invest-
igators, bothpilots had signi-
ficantly more experience
withflying a different type of
plane, the Yak-40, inwhich
the pedal used for the brake
inthe Yak-42 acts as a
footrest. The investigators
concluded that as a result
one of the pilots did not real-
ise he was applying the
brake. They also found that
the planes operators under-
estimated the amount of re-
training that the pilots
should have received before
they beganflying the Yak-42
while at the same still flying
the older model.
The investigationalso
found that a barbiturate,
phenobarbital, was found in
the co-pilots blood. It was
unclear why he was taking
the drug, whichis typically
used to treat seizures and
whose sedative effect may
have deadened his sensitiv-
ity and reactiontime inthe
crucial seconds whenthe
takeoff could have beenabor-
ted, The MoscowTimes re-
ported.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
Law change gives
younger drivers a go
YOUNG PEOPLE under the age
of 18 will soon be seen driving
on Slovak roads. As of Novem-
ber 1, that is just one of the
numerous changes brought
about by an amendment to
the law. Also included are sev-
eral new rules for drivers to
observe.
Formerly, driving was the
preserve of the over-18s. Now,
16-year-olds are eligible to re-
ceive driving lessons, and
17-year-olds can take a driving
test and drive on Slovak roads,
but only if they are accompan-
ied by an adult driver who has
held a valid licence for at least
ten years. Adult co-drivers
must also follow all the rules
that apply to regular drivers,
such as those on alcohol con-
sumption. And every young
driver will only be allowed one
specific co-driver, who will be
registeredwiththe police.
The police expect the new
rules to have a positive effect,
as happened following a sim-
ilar change in Germany: a
drop in the accident rate
among young drivers by one
third, according to the head of
the national transport police
Milan Hamar, as quoted by
the Sme daily.
Moreover, drinking and
driving is classified as a crim-
inal act under the new rules.
If a person is caught driving
with one part or more of alco-
hol per thousand of blood, he
or she can face up to a year in
prison. The same punishment
can be applied to those who
refuse to have their blood
measured. If a driver is caught
drinking and driving three
times, they will lose their
drivers licence for good, the
newrules state.
If a driver causes an acci-
dent three times in the course
of five years, or is caught
drinking and driving twice in
that period, their drivers li-
cence will be taken away and
they will be obliged to take
lessons and pass the driving
test again.
SeeROADpg5
PT: Multiple inquiries launched
Continuedfrompg1
Smer leader Robert Fico swiftly
latched onto the controversy, which was
first reported by TV Markza on October
16, using it to criticise Radiov by sug-
gesting that she had covered up what he
called a party-based transaction ever
since the auctionwas heldonJuly4.
Immediately after I learned about
the problemfromthe media, an investig-
ation by the Government Office was
initiated, Radiov repsonded during a
political talk show broadcast on Markza
onOctober 30.
Hrinkov said after her resignation
that the row surrounding the platinum
sale was just pre-election manoeuvring
and that the SHR had complied with all
the regulations set by the law on elec-
tronic auctions.
Theplatinummesh
SHR, which administers the
countrys material reserves, offered the
sale of the mesh, consisting of 92 percent
platinumand 8 percent rhodium, inearly
July. The price of one gramof platinumat
the time was estimated by TV Markza to
be 38, while the price for one gram of
rhodiumwas estimatedto be 43.
The broadcaster reported that the
platinum-rhodium alloy could have been
sold by the government at 38.50 per
gram. However, the highest bid that the
state received in the auction was for
10.60 per gram one quarter of its true
market value, accordingto TVMarkza.
The platinum filters were purchased
by a company called Heneken, which
submitted its winning bid only one
second before the closing of the auction.
The owner of the company is reported to
be Michal Hudoba, 27, who was a candid-
ate for parliament in 2006 on the SDK
slate. Heneken later sent an explanatory
statement to SITA about its purchase
claiming that the filters were not of the
best quality, were oxidised and needed to
be chemicallycleaned.
Hrinkov, the head of the SHR since
2010, previously served as head of the
Government Office when Mikul
Dzurinda was prime minister. Dzurinda
has denied that his party was involved in
the sale in any way. The Sme daily wrote
in its October 28 edition that both the
head of the selling agency and the pur-
chaser are close to the SDK.
WhonominatedHrinkov?
The chairman of Freedom and Solid-
arity (SaS) party, Richard Sulk, publicly
called the sale a theft. Dzurinda re-
sponded that Hrinkov had been appoin-
ted to her post at the SHR by Economy
Minister Juraj Mikov, a member of SaS.
It is true that political parties offer
their experts to this or that minister but
it is always the minister who is respons-
ible since he can either accept or reject
such a proposal, stated Dzurinda in an
interviewwithMarkza.
On October 27 Mikov reacted to
Dzurinda's comments that the SHR
came under the authorityof the Economy
Ministry by stating that according to the
countrys Competencies Act, the SHR is
under the remit of the government rather
than the Economy Ministry and that the
chair and deputy chair of the SHR serve
in political functions and not in the role
of experts.
Mikov added that according to the
coalition agreement signed by the four
parties after the general election in 2010,
the SDK had the authority to nominate
the SHRdirector, SITAreported.
Fico stated on November 2 that the
auction had been manipulated because
the winning bid was submitted by a
company owned by a person who ran on
the SDK slate in 2006 and added that
Radiov should have taken action much
sooner.
Fico said that the actual auction ran
for 20 minutes from 9:00 to 9:20 on July 4
and the first bid submitted at 9:03 was for
440,000, that another bid for 600,000
came 4 seconds before the close of the
auction and this is why he believes that
the sale was manipulated in some way.
The former prime minister added that he
sees no legal way for the state to seek the
returnof the platinum.
The Supreme Audit Office, the Office
for the Fight against Corruption and in-
spectors from the Government Office are
continuing to investigate the sale. The
SHR cancelled an electronic auction to
sell grains of silver that had been sched-
uled for November 2 following the
governments order to halt further auc-
tions.
The Justice Ministry reported that it
is considering ways that the law on elec-
tronic auctions could be revised.
I do care about eliminating doubts
around electronic auctions, which I con-
sider a correct tool for public procure-
ment and the sale of state property,
Justice Minister Lucia itansk (SDK)
stated, as quotedby SITA.
Zuzana Wienk, the head of Fair-Play
Alliance, a political watchdog group, said
that the Radiov government took the
appropriate steps when it suspended fur-
ther sales by the State Material Reserves
Administration, sought to cancel the
platinum sale and accepted Hrinkovs
resignation. But Wienk thinks further
measures need to be taken.
Publishing the results of the invest-
igation and drawing legal-criminal or
other consequences should follow,
Wienk told SITA.
The police expect the newrules tohave apositive effect. Photo: Sme- Tom Benedikovi
2
NEWS
November 7 13, 2011
NGOs make accessing
public contracts easier
WATCHDOG groups that deal
with transparency and polit-
ical fairness have called last
years law requiring all public
contracts be published online
the most significant anti-cor-
ruption measure taken by the
outgoing government of Iveta
Radiov. But less than one
year later, the NGOs believe
that the law on its own is not
enough and say they are
launching their own efforts to
make sure the information
generated under the law is
more accessible and useable
by the general public.
All Slovak state, regional
and municipal offices have
been required to publish their
contracts, paid invoices and
purchase orders online since
January 1, 2011, and over
85,000 contracts are now lis-
ted in the countrys Central
Registry of Contracts.
The publication of this in-
formation, designed to
provide more transparency in
how government entities
spend public money, has
already helped the media to
uncover questionable spend-
ing at some Slovak ministries
and state-run companies.
Many observers have said its
potential in reducing corrupt
dealings in government is
comparable to passage of
Slovakias law on public ac-
cess to informationin 2000.
Two non-governmental
watchdog organisations,
Transparency International
Slovensko (TIS) and the Fair-
Play Alliance, think the law is
groundbreaking and essential
but they believe the intent
behind the law can be made
more effective if the pub-
lished contracts are more ac-
cessible to researchers, the
media and ordinary citizens.
As a result the two groups
have launched a website,
OtvoreneZmluvy.sk, to ac-
complishthat.
Onlinebut what then?
Contracts have been pub-
lished online but their monit-
oring by the professional pub-
lic as well as by ordinary cit-
izens has been rather acci-
dental and sporadic, Matej
Kurian, programme coordin-
ator of TIS, told The Slovak
Spectator, adding that if the
government offices take so
much effort to publish the
contracts then the public
should be able to access them
more easily and examine
themin more detail.
Eva Vozrov of the Fair-
Play Alliance believes that the
decision by Radiovs gov-
ernment to publish all state
contracts online was an es-
sential first step, but noted as
well that there was not com-
plete follow-through.
The state published its
contracts for citizens to im-
prove public oversight,
Vozrov told The Slovak
Spectator. But that will not
take place as long as users
dont have the possibility to
access the contracts in a bar-
rier-free way that is easy and
intuitive, with a good search
engine and motivation to ac-
tually read the contracts.
The NGOs expect
OtvoreneZmluvy.sk to
provide these conditions for
interested citizens. The web-
site gathers the documents
published in the Central Re-
gistry of Contracts as well as
from about 130 other govern-
ment entities subject to the
law, mainly local and regional
self-governments as well as
schools. The website then of-
fers various tools so that any
citizen can more easily access
and review state orders that
they are interested in as well
as the actual signed contracts.
Publishedbut not open
Kurian said that it was
common for many of the con-
tracts to be published just to
satisfy the requirements of
the law and that some insti-
tutions did not make it easy
to find information. He ex-
plained that some institu-
tions made sure that a re-
searcher would need to un-
dertake considerable effort to
access even basic informa-
tion about a contract such as
with whom, for what, and for
howmuch.
Finding a specific con-
tract among 85,000 contracts
in the central register is not
simple at all if one doesnt
know exactly what one is
looking for, Kurian wrote in
a TIS blog in which he called
the central register a
labyrinth.
He wrote that parties to a
contract sometimes used
names that do not mean any-
thing to a layperson (for ex-
ample acronyms) or alternat-
ively used various different
names in contracts. The con-
tracts also often lack a clear
description of the subject of
the contract and the name of
the contract, Kurian said. Be-
cause there is no obligation to
describe the subject or the
purpose of a contract, docu-
ment titles are often pub-
lished only as Document No.
32/64/28', Kurian wrote on the
blog. He added that one in
every four contracts currently
published in the central re-
gister does not clearly state
the monetary value in its ac-
companying overviewchart.
Crowdsourcing
as atechnique
Programmes built into
OtvoreneZmluvy.sk perform
several automatic analyses of
potential risk factors in a pub-
lished contract that then
serve as a tool to pre-select
certain documents that may
be worth closer reading and
examination, Vozrov told
The Slovak Spectator. Visitors
to the website can then more
easily evaluate certain aspects
of a contract and make com-
ments onit.
We believe that it is the
confrontation of various opin-
ions and experiences that
makes public control
effective, Vozrov stated.
There are now about
85,000 contracts accessible
through the OtvoreneZmluvy
website and the number will
regularly grow. Knowing that
having only a few eyes ex-
amining the huge number of
documents would not be very
productive, the developers of
the website decided to en-
courage use of a technique
called crowdsourcing.
Crowdsourcing is best il-
lustrated by the approach
taken by Wikipedia in devel-
oping its online encyclopae-
dia in which anyone can
contribute to the common
goal. This is the approach
that the NGOs hope will en-
courage more effective pub-
lic examination of contracts
that are published online
and is the first time the
concept has beenused inthis
way inSlovakia.
We were inspired by the
way people work with the in-
ternet nowadays they are
active on Facebook and parti-
cipate in online discussions,
which means they have got-
ten used to expressing them-
selves if they find it
worthwhile, Vozrov said.
Anyonecantakeapeek
OtvoreneZmluvy.sk is
currently operating only as a
test version because its de-
velopers want to first determ-
ine howactive its users will be
and how they will interact
with the site so that the
websites final version can be
made more user-friendly in
the coming months, accord-
ing to Vozrov.
The website is available to
everyone who has an interest
in examining how public
funds are being used, Kurian
said.
We hope it will be used
by analysts as well as ordinary
citizens who are interested in
some specific areas either
state grants in sport or con-
tracts for [the purchase of]
stationery, Kurianstated.
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
Contracts publishedinthe central register are hardtoaccess, say NGOs. Photo: Sme- G. Kuchta
GO: Clash with nurses
Continuedfrompg1
HealthMinister IvanUh-
liarik met withthe union
representing the physicians
onNovember 2 only to state
after the meeting that a fun-
damental sticking point re-
mained: the doctors insist on
a halt to the process of trans-
forming the state-runhos-
pitals into joint-stock com-
panies, while the govern-
ment firmly believes that
changing the hospitals legal
status will improve their
management and financing.
Our meeting [withthe
minister] has not moved us a
single step towards with-
drawing our notices, said
MarianKollr, the chairman
of the Medical Trade Unions
Association(LOZ).
Defence Minister
ubomr Galko, after a meet-
ing of the cabinet onNovem-
ber 2, said that transforma-
tionof state-runhospitals
and medical facilities will
continue, withthe legal
status of 20 facilities to be
changed before the end of the
year, the SITAnewswire re-
ported. The minister also
announced that these 20
hospitals will receive the
funds needed to pay off their
current debts. The opposi-
tionSmer party is opposed to
changing the hospitals legal
status and made anattempt
inparliament inOctober to
kill the process based ona
proposal submitted by
former healthminister
Richard Rai.
Meanwhile, the doctors
unionand the chamber of
nurses and midwives clashed
over a piece of draft legisla-
tionthat would increase the
salaries of nurses, withthe
doctors calling it anunsys-
tematic move that discrim-
inates against other profes-
sional employees inthe
health-care sector. The
Slovak Medical Chamber also
tabled objections to the draft
that would bring higher
salaries for nurses.
At the end of September,
2,411 doctors working for
state-runhospitals across
Slovakia submitted notices
to terminate their employ-
ment contracts, whichare
due to become effective on
December 1 after a 60-day
period.
Along withstopping the
legal transformationof the
hospitals, the doctors want
higher salaries. Minister Uh-
liarik has described their
wage demands as unrealistic
while the offer onthe table
fromthe state has beenre-
jected by the doctors.
Thetransformationissue
The Slovak Medical
Chamber called onPresident
IvanGaparovi, who now
has a stronger voice inthe
governing process because of
the restricted mandate of the
government since it fell on
October 11, to halt the trans-
formationprocess. The pres-
ident responded that he
wants to discuss the issue
further withthe govern-
ment, directors of the med-
ical facilities and doctors.
Prime Minister Iveta
Radiov stated after the cab-
inet meeting onNovember 2
that she does not think
Gaparovi has any serious
objectionto continuing the
transformationprocess,
while adding that the gov-
ernment and the president
must still discuss whether it
is necessary to transform
some of the health-care facil-
ities, SITAreported.
Radiov restated that chan-
ging the legal status of the
hospitals does not mean
their privatisation. Never-
theless, the Hospodrske
Noviny economic daily re-
ported earlier that
Gaparovi had recommen-
ded to Radiov that this is-
sue should be dealt withby
the government that
emerges after the March
general election.
Howmanynotices?
Minister Uhliarik and
LOZ differ onwhether doc-
tors have beenwithdrawing
their notices. Uhliarik repor-
ted onNovember 2 that
about 300 doctors had with-
drawntheir notices to ter-
minate their employment
contracts and stated that the
directors of the hospitals
currently have about 2,000
while Kollr of LOZ insisted
that the doctors are not
changing their minds.
Kollr stated that the
hospitals have 2,386 notices,
that only 141 doctors have
withdrawntheir notices and
anadditional 116 doctors
have submitted notices to
their employers, SITAwrote.
The minister warned
that doctors who did not
withdrawtheir notices be-
fore the end of October might
never returnto their posi-
tions because the hospitals
were instructed by himto
beginhiring newstaff in
November.
Hospital doctors plantocontinue their protest. Photo: TASR
3 November 7 13, 2011
NEWS
Crowdsourcing
technique could
find more suspect
contracts
Budget deficit declines year-on-year
THE CUMULATIVE budget de-
ficit for 2011 rose from2.159
billioninSeptember to 2.341
billioninOctober. Compared
to last year, the deficit is now
30.6 percent lower, as the
budget gap stood at 3.373 bil-
lioninOctober 2010, the TASR
newswire reported. For the
whole year of 2011 the deficit
is projected to reach3.8 bil-
lion, compared to 4.4 billion
in2010.
Budget revenues amoun-
ted to 9.311 billionas of Oc-
tober, a rise of 9.9 percent
year-on-year. This sumac-
counted for 70.8 percent of
the figure (13.148 billion)
projected for the year as a
whole.
Meanwhile, expendit-
ure stood at 11.653 billion
as of October, representing a
fall of 1.6 percent compared
to last year and 68.7 percent
of the 16.958 billion
planned for the whole year.
The Finance Ministry
stated that inthe following
days they would release
updated macroeconomic
and tax prognoses which
would reflect the situation
ininternational financial
markets.
The ministry hoped to
leave the budget deficit tar-
get for 2011 unchanged at 4.9
percent of GDP, the
ministry's spokesperson
MartinJaro stated.
Economic indicator falls again
THE ECONOMICmood in
Slovakia continued to sour in
October as the Index of Eco-
nomic Sentiment (IES)
dropped by 0.7 points month-
to-monthto a level of 89.7
points, its lowest point since
April 2010, the Statistics Of-
fice announced onOctober
28.
The slide inthe index was
largely caused by pessimistic
assessments among entre-
preneurs inthe retail and
service sectors as well as
more pessimismexpressed
by consumers, withcon-
sumer confidence falling by
2.5 points onanannual basis,
the TASRnewswire reported.
However, the indicator of
confidence inindustry
notched up by 1 percent
month-on-monthinOctober
due to anexpected increase
inindustrial productionover
the next three months. More
confidence was also recorded
withinthe constructionsec-
tor inOctober, rising 7.5
points month-on-monthto a
level of -37.5 points. But that
figure remains 13.5 points be-
lowthe sectors long-term
average.
Asignificant drop incon-
fidence inthe retail sector in
October was reported by the
Statistics Office, withthe in-
dicator plunging belowits
long-termaverage for the
second time this year, TASR
wrote.
Interms of the eurozone,
the economic sentiment was
measured inOctober 2011 at
94.8 points, whichis down
0.2 points fromthe 95 points
it recorded inthe previous
month.
The EuropeanCommis-
sionpublished the results of
the survey onEuropeansen-
timent just hours after a key
summit of eurozone leaders
where they passed a package
of measures to tackle the
debt crisis inthe eurozone,
the SITAnewswire reported.
Some analysts have ar-
gued that the agreement
probably came too late to
prevent a significant slow-
downineconomies of the
eurozone inthe coming
months, SITAwrote.
J&T to buy shares in Potov Banka
SLOVAKIAS Potov Banka
will have a newshareholder
as Istrokapital SE, one of the
banks major shareholders,
signed a strategic partnership
agreement withJ&T Finance
Group inwhichJ&T will ac-
quire a 9.9-percent stake in
the bank, the TASRnewswire
reported.
The majority shareholder
and the banks management
will take steps prior to J&Ts
entry as a shareholder to cre-
ate sufficient reserves so that
the bank canmeet the new
capital adequacy require-
ments withinthe eurozone.
Shareholders of Potov
Banka are to decide onanin-
crease inshare capital to 132
million, anincrease of 50
million, at anextraordinary
general meeting scheduled
for December. TASRreported
that this years profit, estim-
ated at 90 million, will be al-
located to bank reserves that
will also be bolstered with
about 110 millionfromIs-
trokapital SE.
Potov Banka will
strengthenits stability even
more as we consider stability
to be a key prerequisite for
continuing our current dy-
namic growth, said Marek
Tarda, Potov Bankas gener-
al director, as quoted by TASR.
He noted that the measures
the bank is taking demon-
strate the strengthof its
shareholders and their ability
to deal withany crisis
without any outside help.
Potov Banka, founded
in1992, is the largest owner of
Greek government bonds
among all Slovak banks and
might face the possibility
that it could not meet the
9-percent capital adequacy
ratio recently established
withineurozone.
CompiledbySpectator staff
R1: Highway building 'over-politicised'
Continuedfrompg1
Prime Minister Iveta
Radiov was critical of Smers
presence at the ribbon-cutting,
seeing more than an act of
political politeness being be-
hind the invitation. Fico re-
sponded that he did not under-
stand the criticism since the
project had been initiated un-
der his government.
We thank all the govern-
ments and parliaments that
dared to enter this project,
stated Speaker of Parliament
Pavol Hruovsk of KDHat the
ceremony, as quoted by the
Smedaily.
Nevertheless, transporta-
tion experts believe that re-
moving political gamesman-
ship from Slovakias highway
construction projects would
immensely help the country
in completing its backbone
systems.
The overall problem has
been that highway construc-
tion is quite a politicised pro-
cess and it would greatly help
if the wholeprocess werefreed
of politics, ubomr Palk
from the Transport Research
Institute (VD) told The Slov-
akSpectator.
Closingthedeathroute
Pribina, which links 14
municipalities in the Nitra Re-
gion with six interchanges and
84 bridges, was opened prior to
the annual traffic rush linked
to Slovakias All Saints Day
public holiday. The Granvia
construction consortium
claimed that the new road will
shorten the drive between Ni-
tra and Tekovsk Nemce by 26
minutes. The road is also ex-
pected to contribute to road
safety since the previous
single-lane road was nick-
named the death route be-
cause of its high number of
fatal accidents.
The road had been expec-
ted to open in late September
but Granvia did not provide all
the required documentation
to the ministry ontime, a mis-
take that will cost the com-
panyabout 8million.
The PPP project for the R1
dual carriageway has an overall
length of 51.6 kilometres di-
vided into four sections: Nitra
to Selenec, Selenec to Beladice,
Beladice to Tekovsk Nemce
and a bypass road around
Bansk Bystrica. The first three
stretches were opened to traffic
on October 28 and the bypass
should be ready in July 2012.
Once all the sections are com-
pleted, drivers will be able to
drive from Bratislava to Bansk
Bystrica on an uninterrupted,
multi-lane road, the SITA
newswirereported.
Granvia won the PPP con-
cession and started construc-
tion work in 2009. Its total in-
vestment for design, construc-
tion, operation and mainten-
anceof thehighways is 1.8bil-
lion, and construction costs
make up 900 million of that
amount. Remuneration to the
Granvia consortium, 50-per-
cent held by VINCI Conces-
sions, will be in the form of an
annual royalty payment of
around 125 million from the
state for the next 30 years, SITA
reported.
PPPonlyusedfor theR1
The only PPP project that
resulted in actual construction
of highway stretches is the one
awarded to Granvia for parts of
the R1 dual carriageway. The
government of Robert Fico had
launched three PPP projects but
the incoming Radiov cabinet
in 2010 viewed this method of
financing, building and operat-
ing highways as too expensive
and completely killed two of the
projects: the so-called first PPP
package to buildfive stretches of
the D1 covering 75 kilometres
betweenMartinand Preov, and
the third PPP package to build
about 30 kilometres of the D1
between Hriovsk Podhradie
and Dubn Skala near the city of
ilina. Of the three PPP projects,
the third was considered to be
the most technically-demand-
ing because it included a tunnel
almost 7.5 kilometres long
between Viov and Dubn
Skala.
After Fige became transport
minister, the highway stretches
in the two cancelled PPP
projects were divided into smal-
ler portions and individual
tenders were announced. The
ministrys stated plan is to com-
plete the D1 highway and con-
nect Bratislava and Koice with
abackbonehighwayby2017.
Nevertheless, the fall of the
Radiov government and the
uncertain outcome of the early
elections in March 2012 might
significantly modify future
highway plans, with Fico per-
haps toying with the idea of re-
turning to the PPP method. At
themoment, theTransport Min-
istry is continuing to prepare
tenders as well initiate highway
construction based on its plans
for 2011-2014.
Highways are not an in-
terest of political parties, but
primarily Slovakias citizens,
Martin Krajovi, the ministry
spokesperson, said on October
20, as quoted by SITA, adding
that the ministry has enough
funds approved for highway
constructionprojects.
Newcontracts signed
The construction of another
section of the D1 highway will
start soon as the state signed a
contract with a 114.6 million
pricetagonNovember 2.
The contract between the
National Highway Company
(NDS) and the Doprastav-Stra-
bag consortium covers the
construction of a 11.2-kilo-
metre stretch between
Friovce and Svinia in Preov
Region. Doprastav-Strabag
won the public tender with its
114.6 million bid after anoth-
er bidder, Hant, was excluded
fromthe tender. The construc-
tion, which the ministry said
will cost about 153 million
less than if it had been carried
out via a PPP is expected to be
finished in November 2014,
theTASRnewswirereported.
Earlier this year, the Na-
tional Highway Company
signed a contract with the
ilina-based Vhostav-SK
construction company to
build an almost 16.5-kilo-
metre-long section of the D1
highway from Dubn Skala to
Turany near the city of Martin
innorthernSlovakia.
Vhostav-SK, which
submitted the lowest bid in
that tender, will build the
road for 137.75 million, ex-
cluding VAT, which is 59 per-
cent or nearly 200 million
less than the initially estim-
ated costs at 334.72 million,
SITAreported.
TheEUCohesionFundwill
finance 85 percent of the costs
and the remaining 15 percent
will come from the state
budget via its Operational
Programme Transport. Con-
struction of the Dubn Skala-
Turany section is the most ur-
gent of all the yet-to-be-built
highways sections in Slov-
akia, SITAwrote.
Financingchallenges
I personally think that
Slovakia has to rely on multi-
source financing of its high-
ways since today we still have
a large share of unfinished
highways, Palk told The
Slovak Spectator. Based on
our calculations we need 20
billion for finishing highways
anddual carriageways.
Palkaddedthat thestate
must consider how much it
has at its own disposal in the
state budget, as there is per-
haps up to 1 billion available
from the EU-funded opera-
tional programme for high-
ways andthestatewill needto
find other financing sources
for completion of the high-
ways and dual carriageways.
For this reason, Palk views
PPPs as a viable financing
method that the country
should certainly use, adding
that highway construction
debate has been over-politi-
cised.
Palk argued that the
debate over whether the R1
sections were over-priced or
not via the PPP method is be-
ing made using comparisons
that are not proper because
the classic way of financing
highways and the PPP meth-
od are quite different and re-
quire a more complexanalys-
is in order to make a valid
comparison.
Regarding the sections of
the D1 that run from ilina
eastwards, for which a recent
contract has been signed,
Palk does not see any criti-
cism from the current opposi-
tion or anything that might
halt theongoingprocess.
I think that for the bene-
fit of Slovakia it is important,
regardless of the elections, to
finish the ongoing processes
[of tenders andconstruction],
Palk stated, related to
stretches of the D1 from
Jnovce to Jablonov and a
complicated section fromTur-
any to Dubov near
Ivachnov. But construction
of the most difficult but most
important section of the D1,
from Viov to Dubn Skala,
will take at least five years to
completeaccordingtoPalk.
If one wants to talk about
actually finishing up the D1
all the way from Bratislava to
Preov, then it is decisive
whether construction of this
section starts, Palk stated,
adding that if next years elec-
tion does not significantly af-
fect construction plans then
the D1 could be completely
finishedby2017.
PPPanalysis manipulated?
Slovakias Office for the
Fight Against Corruption re-
cently filed charges against a
person identified only as P.H.
for manipulating an analysis
of the costs of using a PPP
project for construction of the
D1 motorway between Martin
and Preov, Interior Minister
Daniel Lipic (KDH) an-
nouncedonOctober 28.
The analysis was allegedly
falsified in March 2010 when
the ministry was headed by
Smer nominee Vny. The
ministry had commissioned
Wood & Company to draw up
an analysis comparing the
costs of financing that section
of the D1 motorway frompub-
lic sources with use of the PPP
method. Lipic reported that
the analysis found that using
the PPP method would cost
546 million more but that
P.H. then manipulated the
analysis so that the difference
was only 29 million, which
resulted in the ministry opt-
ing for the PPP project, TASR
reported.
Jana Liptkov
contributedto this report
The newsectionof the R1 is nowopen. Photo: Sme- JnKrolk
4
BUSINESS
November 7 13, 2011
SSS
CONFUSED by the number
and names of local political
parties? Afraid youll get lost
in the upcoming election
campaign? Here is a little
guide to those parties that can
be especially difficult to tell
apart:
SaS (Freedom and Solidar-
ity) this is the party that put
Slovakia on CNN, BBC and a
bunch of German television
stations and scared the hell
out of global policy makers.
Yes, these are the guys that
brought down the govern-
ment to block the European
bailout fund, which they
knew would be approved a
few days after they did so. It
may seem you cant get any
wackier than that. But the list
below makes them look like a
group of hyper-rational
statesmen.
SNS (Slovak National
Party) if you are looking for a
party run by a notorious
drunk, whose main agenda is
flattening Budapest with
tanks and stealing anything
that isnt screwed to the walls
of government offices, then
this is your party of choice.
Quality is guaranteed: the SNS
has been a part of several co-
alitions, and it never fails to
perform.
NaS (Nation and Justice)
this is a newproject by former
SNS chairwoman Anna
Belousovov. This is not the
first time the country will see
two groups of nationalists
compete. With a little luck,
history will repeat itself and
just as in 2002 when SNS and
PSNS (the Real SNS) faced-off,
both will fail to make it into
parliament.
PaS (Law and Justice)
little is known about what
this is all about. The brother of
a well-known TV anchor, who
previously had some trouble
with the police, is involved
but it remains to be seen
whether this suffices to make
it big inpolitics.
SMS (Party of Modern
Slovakia) a former promin-
ent member of the HZDS, Mil-
an Urbni chairs the party,
but it has decided not to runin
the upcoming elections.
SOS (Party of Citizens of
Slovakia) a party of athletes.
No, seriously, it is a party of
athletes. Hockey players,
footballers, cyclists, all differ-
ent types of athletes are in-
volved. Just when it seemed
kids had too little PE, seniors
were getting too obese, and no
one really cared about where
the new national football sta-
dium will stand, here are the
people to deal withit.
SSS (The Free Word Party)
until now, this acronymwas
used by the Slovak Speleolo-
gical Society, the Slovak
Scrabble Association, and the
specialised Waste-Disposal
High School. Any of these or-
ganizations would be better
qualified to run the country
than the criminally-prosec-
uted queen of bad taste, Nora
Mojsejov, who stands behind
this project. Getting on TV
and being able to fantasise
about parliamentary im-
munity are probably high on
her list of motivations.
If it seems that many of
these parties have similar
names, it is not due to a lack of
creativity. Confusing voters
and splitting support is the
point. As many as five parties
may find themselves just
around the 5-percent
threshold required to make it
into parliament. So even a few
votes for the SOS or SSS could
decide who, in the end, will
runthe country.
ROAD: No snow on cars
Continuedfrompg2
If a driver violates animportant road rule
(classified according to those that attract fines
of 60 or more) three times inthe course of one
year, they must attend a training course, take
a driving test and pass a medical and psycho-
logical exam.
If a driver is caught withalcohol intheir
blood, they will henceforthbe obliged to take a
test to determine whether they are addicted to
alcohol.
Newrules apply also to the right of preced-
ence onSlovak roads. Whenleaving a side road
and entering a mainroad, drivers are nowable
to slowvehicles driving along the mainroad,
provided that they do not force vehicles onthe
mainroad to change their directionor speed
rapidly.
Changes also concernthe safe distance
that drivers should maintainbetweeneach
vehicle. Previously the distance was measured
inmetres, but under the newrules it will be
measured intime. Cars must keep a distance of
two seconds at least, while trucks are required
to keep a three-second distance betweenthem
and other vehicles.
It is no longer permitted to overtake an-
other car ona pedestriancrossing. Stopping on
a pedestriancrossing is also prohibited, with
the exceptionof certaincases whenstopping
is inevitable.
Cyclists nowhave precedence whenturn-
ing left or right.
Drivers are no longer allowed to operate
their vehicle if it is covered by snowor ice in-
stead, they must remove all snowand ice be-
fore setting off.
And while drivers over 65 previously had to
be examined by a physicianonce every two
years before they could drive a car, they are
nowrequired to undergo a medical examina-
tiononly every five years.
ByMichaela Terenzani
withpress reports
Too soon to really entertain
IT IS now showtime in Slov-
akia for every kind of political
exhibitionist. As the elections
approach, an assortment of
political deviants from
fossils of the communist re-
gime, to noisy buffoons, to
people whose names are
either remembered for a
single spectacular failure or
have long-since been forgot-
ten emerge from the wood-
workof the public arena.
The prospect of power
will lure onto the hustings
those who appear in four-
year cycles for yet another
shot at getting elected. This is
the time for those small
parties of breakaways who
left either over a petty quarrel
after their personal ambi-
tions were unfulfilled or
spoke out against their leader
in a party where such prac-
tice are not tolerated.
If sucha showcase of ambi-
tion and lack of self-reflection
were to come only once every
four years it might be enter-
taining to some degree. But
this election campaign comes
far too soon for the weary and
disillusioned electorate of
Slovakia. As a result, few ex-
pect to see a repeat of the post-
election euphoria that fol-
lowed the victory of the centre-
right parties in2010.
And even if the political
right, with all its egos and dif-
ferences of opinion, garners
enough votes to match the
support that opposition leader
Robert Fico and his Smer party
look set to collect, the memory
of right-leaning voters will not
be short enough to forget how
their parties have handled
their time in power and the
hope entrusted to them: by
manoeuvring the country into
early elections.
This will not be the sole
difference compared to elec-
tions past: the largest ruling
coalition party, the Slovak
Democratic and Christian
Union (SDK), will be led by
Mikul Dzurinda, whose
political-biological clock has
been ticking for some time.
Dzurinda, who has made an
undeniable contribution to
setting Slovakia on its cur-
rent pro-European track, has
refused to hear the ticking
sound. Even when forced in
2010 by the returning ghosts
of murky party financing to
stand aside in favour of Iveta
Radiov, he never yielded
the leadership of the party he
had founded, and thus helped
deny her the unambiguous
support of the largest ruling
party something that no
prime minister can easily
governwithout.
Even though politicians
say polls are capricious and
that they do not shape their
policies, in fact they do influ-
ence how politicians talk and
what they say. The most re-
cent poll, conducted after the
fall of the government by the
MVK polling agency, gives
Smer a commanding lead,
with 37.5 percent of the vote.
The SDK trails a distant
second on 11.6 percent, well
down from the 15.42 percent
the party collected in the last
election. Freedomand Solidar-
ity (SaS), the party which did
the most to bring down the
government by refusing to
back the ratification of
changes to the eurozone bail-
out fundor express confidence
in the Radiov government,
would score 10.9 percent, fol-
lowed by the Christian Demo-
cratic Movement (KDH) on 9.5
percent and Most-Hd with8.2
percent. No other party in the
MVK poll would clear the
5-percent threshold needed to
make it into parliament.
So it is already clear that
all the rejections and exclu-
sions of partners that these
parties have exchanged the
rest of the ruling-coalition
towards SaS; SDKand SaS to
Smer; KDH to Smer are un-
likely to endure and might
easily be washed away after
the election results rain
downonthe parties.
Of course the dwarfs and
the hyper-ambitious new
politicians can pick up
some votes here and there,
and weaken one or other of
the right-wing parties de-
pending on the tone they set
for the campaign. But the
key decisions will certainly
be in the hands of the estab-
lishedparties.
Whichleaves many voters
with a dilemma: what guar-
antee is there, even if the
centre-right parties manage
to push their party interests
aside and put together the
numbers necessary to form a
government, that in a mo-
mentary lapse of reason and
surge of self-importance over-
shadowing the broader public
interest they will not discard
the trust placed in them and
repeat the whole fiasco again?
As the campaign train
now starts puffing, all kinds
of figures are jumping on the
wagons. Members of some
parties, such as the Civic
Conservative Party (OKS)
seem to be joining three dif-
ferent wagons: the Ordinary
People group which cannot
even use its original name
any more because it has been
stolen by another political
body Most-Hd and SaS. But
with voters this tired, the
prospect of electoral enter-
tainment is feeble compens-
ation for their dilemma
about whom to vote for,
lingering as it does like the
prospect of a hangover after
anall-night party.
5 November 7 13, 2011
OPINION/ NEWS
SLOVAK WORD
OF THE WEEK
EDITORIAL
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYLUK FILA
Special to the Spectator
MilanUrbni left HZDS tofoundSMS. Photo: Sme- JnKrolk
We will certainly not throwourselves on the rails.
If others agree to it, we will not veto it.
Finance Minister Ivan Miklo comments on the introduction
of a proposed financial transaction tax within the EU.
The Slovak Spectator is an independent newspaper published every Monday by The Rock, s.r.o. Subscriptions: Inquiries should be made to The Slovak
Spectators business office at (+421-2) 59 233 300.
Printing: Petit Press a.s. Distribution: Interpress Slovakia s.r.o., Mediaprint-kapa s.r.o., Slovensk pota a.s. Mail Distribution: ABOPRESS. EV 544/08.
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 enterprises or ventures by
The Slovak Spectator or The Rock s.r.o. ISSN 1335-9843. Address: The Rock, s.r.o., Lazaretsk 12, 811 08 Bratislava. IO: 313 86 237.
JN PALLO - Publisher
EDITORIAL
BEATA BALOGOV - Editor - In - Chief
JAMES THOMSON - Assistant Editor
DONALD SPATZ - Assistant Editor
JANA LIPTKOV - Staff Writer
MICHAELA TERENZANI - Staff Writer
ZUZANA VILIKOVSK - Staff Writer
RADKA MINARECHOV - Staff Writer & Project Manager
TOBIAS HILL - Intern
LAYOUT, WEB & IT
TATIANA TRAUCHOV - Graphic Designer
ROMAN KR - IT
TOM PALLO - Online Publishing
SALES - FINANCES
BEATA FOJTKOV - Sales Executive
MARTINA MATLKOV - PR and Marketing Manager
TOM KELLEY - Circulation Manager
Profits for Slovak banks rise 54 pct
SLOVAKIAs banking sector posted after-tax profits of
590.66 millionfor the first three quarters of 2011, a jump
of 53.9 percent compared to the same period in2010, the
National Bank of Slovakia announced onOctober 31, as
reported by the SITAnewswire.
Adecline incosts associated withloans indefault was
particularly behind the improved profitability and set-
asides for problematic retail loans dropped the most. The
net amount set aside for loanreserves decreased by 56.6
percent to 113.44 million.
Inadditionthe banks reported more loans to households
and a consequent increase ininterest income. Net
interest income went up 8 percent, to 1.351 billion,
compared to last year, while net income fromfees and
commissions increased 4.3 percent to 343.42 million.
The largest bank inSlovakia, Slovensk Sporitea,
reported anafter-tax profit of 146.65 millionfor the first
nine months of the year, 47 percent more thanlast year.
Profit growthresulted particularly fromrising volume
of trade by our clients and our cost discipline, said
Slovensk Sporitea CEOJozef Skela.
Tatra Banka doubled its nine-monthpost-tax profits to
121.75 milliondue to growthinnet interest income and
a considerable drop inprovisions for bad loans. VB
Bankas post-tax profit for the first three quarters rose by
38.2 percent to 134.26 million.
Slovak banks shed staff
FIVE foreignbanks have launched operations inSlovakia
since mid-2010, bringing the total number of foreign
bank branches operating inthe country to 15 at the end of
June this year, the TASRnewswire reported based on
informationreleased by the National Bank of Slovakia.
AXA-Bank Europe and BKS Bank were among the
newcomers, while Komern Banka and Fio Savings
Cooperative changed their legal status to become
branches of foreignbanks. The number of employees
working for foreignbanks increased from518 inMarch
2009 to 779 inJune 2011.
The number of banks registered as domestic banks
decreased by one to 11. The number of employees has
beenfalling inbanks that are registered as domestic
banks rather thanbranches of foreignbanks. InMarch
2009 19,796 people were working indomestic banks and
the number fell to 17,561 inJune 2011. The National Bank
of Slovakia, whichis not included inthese statistics, had
1,070 employees inJune 2011.
CompiledbySpectator staff
Some banks active in Slovakia
Retail banks:
eskoslovensk Obchodn Banka (SOB), www.csob.sk
Dexia Banka, www.dexia.sk
INGBank, www.ingbank.sk
Oberbank, www.oberbank.sk
OTPBanka Slovensko, www.otpbank.sk
Potov Banka, www.pabk.sk
Saxo Bank, sk.saxobank.com
Slovensk Sporitea, www.slsp.sk
Tatra Banka, www.tatrabanka.sk
UniCredit Bank Slovakia, www.unicreditbank.sk
VolksbankSlovensko, www.volksbank.sk
VBBanka, www.vub.sk
Banks active inprivate banking:
J&TBanka, www.jt-bank.sk
Privatbanka, www.privatbanka.sk
SlovakRepresentative Office, Banque Prive Edmond
de RothschildEurope, www.groupedr.sk
Direct banks:
mBank, www.mbank.sk
Zuno, www.zuno.sk
CompiledbySpectator staff
Catering to the
wealthiest clients
PRIVATE banking is one sec-
tor which, at least in the
Slovak banking business, has
a relatively short history.
Under communism, of
course, the idea of a non-
state-owned bank that
catered solely to very wealthy
clients would have been pre-
posterous. But nowadays
Slovakia has three banks that
focus on private banking, as
well as several retail banks
that provide specialised ser-
vices to their wealthiest cli-
ents. Since the potential size
of the Slovak private banking
market is estimated to be
between 6 billion and 7 bil-
lion, of which only one-half
is sheltered by banks, ana-
lysts regard this sector has
having considerable poten-
tial.
The current unstable eco-
nomic situation, even though
it differs from the crisis years
of 2008 and 2009, is also re-
flected in the behaviour and
expectations of private bank-
ing clients, who are now
more cautions.
Private banking clients
are seeking support and solu-
tions to protect their assets,
Svetlana Dankoviov, senior
vice president of the Slovak
and Czech office of Banque
Prive Edmond de Rothschild
Europe, told The Slovak Spec-
tator. From the point of view
of our bank or our clients the
crisis is far from over.
She added that the
policies currently being adop-
ted represent postponement
of the problems rather than
their solution and thus the
primary interest of her cli-
ents lies in protecting their
assets and maintaining their
value.
SeeTOPpg8
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Some wealthy Slovaks are investingingold. Photo: Reuters
Slovak doubts over EC-proposed
financial transaction tax
A FINANCIAL transaction tax, also
known also as a Tobin tax or Robin Hood
tax, is on the table again. In late Septem-
ber the European Commission adopted
plans to introduce a financial transaction
tax (FTT) from January 2014, which it
hopes will be extended worldwide. The
proposal has attracted varying responses
and is expected to be discussed during
the G20 summit of the largest global eco-
nomies starting November 3. Slovakias
stance is negative, at least for now.
In the last three years, member
states have granted aid and provided
guarantees of 4.6 trillion to the finan-
cial sector, European Commission Pres-
ident Jose Manuel Barroso said in his
State of the Union speech in the
European Parliament in Strasbourg on
September 28, as quoted by Reuters. It is
time for the financial sector to make a
contributionback to society.
The EUs executive, the European
Commission, formally adopted plans on
September 28 for a financial transaction
tax to begin in January 2014. The tax
would be levied on all transactions in-
volving financial instruments between
financial institutions in which at least
one party to the transaction is located in
the EU, the EC wrote in its press release.
The exchange of shares and bonds would
be taxed at a rate of 0.1 percent and de-
rivative contracts, at a rate of 0.01 per-
cent. The EU estimates that the tax could
raise approximately 57 billionper year.
The EC put forward two reasons for
the new tax: to ensure that the financial
sector makes a fair contribution at a time
of fiscal consolidation in member states,
and that a coordinated framework at the
EU level would help to strengthen the EU
single market.
The financial sector played a role in
the origins of the economic crisis, the
EC wrote in its press release, referring to
the first reason. Governments and
European citizens at large have borne the
cost of massive taxpayer-funded bailouts
to support the financial sector. Further-
more, the sector is currently under-taxed
by comparison with other sectors. The
proposal would generate significant ad-
ditional tax revenue from the financial
sector to contribute to public finances.
Referring to the second reason, the
EC wrote that 10 member states already
have some form of a financial transac-
tiontax inplace.
The proposal would introduce new
minimum tax rates and harmonise dif-
ferent existing taxes on financial trans-
actions in the EU, the EC wrote. This
will help to reduce competitive distor-
tions in the single market, discourage
risky trading activities and complement
regulatory measures aimed at avoiding
future crises. The financial transaction
tax at the EU level would strengthen the
EUs position to promote common rules
for the introduction of such a tax at a
global level, notably throughthe G20.
The revenues of the tax would be
shared between the EU and member
states. Part of the tax would be used to
fund the EU and reduce national contri-
butions.
While France and Germany may push
for an FTT to be introduced in the euro-
zone, the United Kingdom, the United
States and other G20 member states in-
cluding China, Canada and Russia are
opposed.
Slovakiahas not decided
While Slovakia has not taken an offi-
cial position on the proposal, its reaction
so far has beenrelatively negative.
The Slovak Finance Ministry says it is
now preparing a response to the EC pro-
posal, which it says is relatively fresh
and has thus not been subject to any
deeper discussion fromeither a technical
or a political viewpoint.
SeeFTTpg9
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
6
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Next issue:
BUSINESS FOCUS
BANKING & WEALTH MANAGEMENT
November 7 13, 2011
Private banking
grows in Slovakia
Diversification is the answer
for investments
Survey finds Slovaks have low
financial literacy
A card for the chosen few
EARLIERthis year UniCredit
Bank became the first bank
inSlovakia to offer chosen
private clients the prestigi-
ous international VISAIn-
finite card.
The exclusive card
claims to merge luxury with
discretion, and offers top
products provided by VISA.
For the time being only
around 360 Slovaks hold the
card because it is limited to
selected clients invited to
apply by the bank, UniCred-
it Bank said ina press re-
lease.
VISAInfinite enables its
holders to use UniCredit
Banks concierge service.
This round-the-clock assist-
ant includes services like
comprehensive travel in-
surance, legal assistance, in-
terpreting, and medical ser-
vices, throughto booking a
hotel or restaurant, ordering
a limousine, obtaining a taxi
at very short notice or order-
ing a gift.
According to Raymond
Kopka, director of private
banking at UniCredit Bank
inSlovakia, customers have
used the concierge service,
aside fromfinancial ser-
vices, for freeing a dog from
a locked car, arranging a
NewYear party near the Co-
losseuminRome, booking a
golf course inDubai, as well
as obtaining a sold-out book.
The card also provides
Unicredit Bank clients with
automatic access to Priority
Pass, the worlds largest in-
dependent airport lounge
access programme.
The card holder, as well
as his guests, canuse any
one of 600 VIP airport
lounges at 325 airports
around the world.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
A hedge fund opportunity in Slovakia
SINCE the beginning of July
professional investors in
Slovakia have beenable to
invest inPolaris Alpha, a
hedge fund created by the
investment company Polar-
is Finance SICAVplc. Its ex-
clusive distributionpartner
is Across WealthManage-
ment, the latter informed
The Slovak Spectator ina
press release.
Polaris Alpha is the first
open-ended hedge fund to be
launched by Polaris Finance.
Its goal is to generate anab-
solute returnof 10 percent
per annumregardless of
movements infinancial
markets.
According to Jlius
Strapek, the director of Po-
laris Finance and the man-
aging partner of Across
WealthManagement, the
need to create the fund arose
fromthe current situation
inthe market.
Turbulence infinancial
markets over recent years
negatively affected the port-
folios of clients, Strapek
said, as quoted inthe Across
WealthManagement press
release. Thus solutions are
increasingly sought that
will protect capital and se-
cure positive yields inde-
pendently of the develop-
ment of financial markets.
The investment strategy
of a hedge fund focuses,
aside fromtraditional tools,
onfinancial derivatives
suchas futures and options.
It uses these to manage risk
more effectively and the in-
vestment strategy is based
especially ontechnical ana-
lysis, according to the firm.
The fund focuses ontwo
basic approaches to man-
agement of a portfolio,
Branislav Habn, director of
Polaris Finance and portfolio
manager, explained.
Withinits growthcom-
ponent small volumes inthe
formof futures and options
are systematically traded in
a highfrequency onthe pre-
conditionthat the trend of
the market is recognised.
The stabilisationcom-
ponent focuses onmaintain-
ing the value of the portfolio
via classical tools inthe fin-
ancial and bond market,
stocks, stock indices and
commodities.
Animportant part of this
approachis diversification
not only among various
kinds of investment tools
but also at the level of the
decision-making process
and independent decisions
by the investment managers
who are investing the alloc-
ated portionof the portfolio.
Diversification is the
answer for investments
THE RECENT economic crisis,
the threat of its return, as
well as questions about the
future of the eurozone have
presented people who are
lucky enough to have money
with an extra dilemma: as
well as the normal quest for
growth, they must worry
about how to protect their
financial assets. Banks have
recommended that clients di-
versify their investments,
while customers have become
more conservative, preferring
safety over high yields.
2008 was exceptional in
that Slovak clients were not
prepared for the lecture
which the markets had pre-
pared for them, Michaela
Kaov, the director of Erste
Private Banking, told The
Slovak Spectator. Her unit,
which is part of Slovakias
biggest bank, Slovensk
Sporitea, provides private
banking services, i.e. advice
and financial products to
wealthy clients. Since that
time most people have reas-
sessed their investment
goals, made their expecta-
tions more realistic, and ad-
apted their position to the
risk.
According to Kaov, cli-
ents are now asking many
more questions and want to
understand more. They ob-
serve the markets and know
that every crisis eventually
comes to an end.
VB Banka confirmed
that, compared to the pre-
crisis period, private banking
clients are both more cau-
tious, and require more in-
tensive communication. But
it says some clients have used
the turbulence on financial
markets to turn a profit.
With the arrival of the
crisis in 2008, clients acceded
to a compromise solution, i.e.
they transformed their more
risky assets into safer ones,
but with lower yield
potential, Blaena
Streansk, the head of
private banking at VB
Banka, told The Slovak Spec-
tator. Adding that the current
situation is different com-
pared to when the crisis first
arrived in 2008, she said that
this summer it was not neces-
sary to transfer assets within
clients portfolios to quite the
same extent.
Banks describe the typical
Slovak client as rather con-
servative, something which is
also reflected in the type of
products they choose.
The experience of SOB
confirms the interest in more
conservative products, such
as savings accounts, term de-
posits, mutual funds and in-
vestments like gold, accord-
ing to Miroslav Paulen, dir-
ector of SOBs private bank-
ing division.
On the other hand, ac-
cording to VB, there are also
clients who conversely invest
in shares and various ETF cer-
tificates, according to
Streansk. VB is also regis-
tering increased popularity in
various forms of guaranteed
structures, which secure the
client a return on the money
invested along with the pos-
sibility to participate in the
growth of stock markets.
Portfolios are supplemented
by investments in commodit-
ies, precious metals, art
(paintings, jewellery and an-
tiques) but also specialities
such as coin or stamp collec-
tions, according to
Streansk.
Kaov said that solutions
provided to conservative cli-
ents need to offer gains above
inflation, but at minimum
risk.
The key to minimising
investment risk is to diversify
investments in combination
with a proper identification of
the clients attitude to the risk
involved, Kaov said,
adding that the bank applies
this approach during times of
economic growth as well as
contraction. Many clients, in
order to diversify, are also
turning to gold. For these cli-
ents nothing fundamental
changed during the falls.
UniCredit Bank Slovakia is
also recommending that its
private clients diversify their
portfolios in terms of asset
class and duration, according
to Raymond Kopka, director
of private banking at Uni-
Credit Bank Slovakia.
Apart from this we have
also registered an interest in
investing in gold, Kopka told
The Slovak Spectator, adding
that this kind of investment
should not be understood as a
tool to get rich but as a kind of
safeguard for worse times.
Apart from investments in
gold, the bank has also recor-
ded increased interest in
commemorative and collec-
tion coins, as these are lim-
ited issues and their value
tends to keep growing.
The banks offer an extens-
ive ranking of products in the
form of open architecture, i.e.
they do not offer only their
own products or those of their
parent banks.
In practice this means
that we are not offering cli-
ents only our own products or
those of our parent [bank] but
are also trying to find for
them the most profitable al-
ternatives in the secondary
market, said Streansk. We
can mediate all existing kinds
of investments in which they
show an interest except those
which represent an inappro-
priate risk.
VIPclients inretail banks
In Slovakia there are no
precise statistics about either
the number of private bank-
ing clients or their assets. The
potential size of the Slovak
market is estimated to be
between 6 billion and 7 bil-
lion, of which only one half is
sheltered by banks. This
means that there is very con-
siderable potential for growth
in the sector. The number of
clients wealthy enough to be-
nefit from private banking
services is estimated to be
between 10,000 and 40,000, or
2-3 percent of the population.
Most retail banks with private
banking services say that the
minimum amount needed to
qualify for their services is
200,000, but say other cli-
ents with what they call real
prospects are sometimes
considered.
The level of minimum
assets ranks in Slovakia
between 30,000 and
400,000, said Streansk.
In general, regardless of the
crisis, this level has been con-
tinually increasing as has the
average volume of funds of
clients.
Streansk pointed out
that if a client has less money,
it is difficult to secure proper
diversification and quality of
investments.
For Erste Private Banking
the minimum amount neces-
sary to be considered as a
private client is 200,000, but
the average private client ex-
ceeds this level by several
times, Kaov told The Slovak
Spectator. She added that
people whose prospects sug-
gest they will be able to meet
this criterion in a short period
of time can also become cli-
ents. Such people include
those who use private bank-
ing services in other banks,
have sound incomes, or have
temporarily invested their
money in real estate, among
others.
Growth in clients is
bound to the growth of the
economy, Kaov said. Er-
ste Private Bankings portfolio
grew by over 20 percent dur-
ing 2011.
SOB is keeping its
private banking minimum at
200,000 too, although it may
be lowered if the bank sees
real prospects for an increase,
according to Paulen. SOB has
about 1,700 private clients
whose assets total 720 mil-
lion, and the figure has grown
over the last five years, the
bank reported.
VB reports annual
growth in assets admin-
istered by its private banking
department as being over 20
percent for the last three
years, while the number of
such clients has increased at a
similar pace. According to
Streansk, growth slowed
during the crisis the bank
reported per annum increases
of between 30 and 35 percent
before it struck but she said
that in 2010 growth again ex-
ceeded 25 percent.
In VB and UniCredit
Bank, which has now been
providing private banking
services for more than six
years in Slovakia, the cri-
terion to become a private cli-
ent are assets exceeding
300,000.
Private banking as we
know it in western Europe, is
in some areas still only in di-
apers in Slovakia, said Kop-
ka, adding that inheritance
consultancy in particular is
underrated in Slovakia. The
positive thing is that private
banking in Slovakia has huge
potential and belongs among
the most dynamically devel-
oping segments of the bank-
ing sector. It is on course to
come closer to the average
among European countries,
where the number of such
persons ranks among 2-3 per-
cent of the population.
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Antiques andart are investment vehicles. Photo: Sme
7
FOCUS shorts
November 7 13, 2011
Slovaks are
conservative
private banking
clients
BUSINESS FOCUS
hk}ly{pzltlu{

NEW INDUSTRIAL HALLS IN VRBLE
w
w
w
.
c
e
h
i
p
.
e
u
New (16.000 m)
in sections
Existing (6.000 m)
rented
FOR RENT
SP90570/2
Slovaks have low financial literacy
SLOVAKS say they are quite
confident about their finan-
cial knowledge and ability to
handle money but a recent
survey found that their fin-
ancial literacy is quite low.
The results of a survey con-
ducted by the INGfinancial
group were that even
thoughalmost one-third of
Slovaks believe they are
knowledgeable about finan-
cial issues, only 12 percent
actually had good or excel-
lent financial skills, the
SITAnewswire wrote inlate
October.
According to ING, with
88 percent of its citizens
having either poor or only
basic financial knowledge,
Slovakia was inlast place
among the 12 countries in
America, Europe and Asia
where the survey was con-
ducted inMay 2011.
We did not expect any
breakthroughresults in
Slovakia but that we would
end up inlast place was a
huge surprise for us, Ren-
ata Mrzov, the director
general of INGfor insurance
and pensions, said as quoted
by SITA. EvenMexicans
were ahead of us.
Slovaks had the biggest
probleminanswering ques-
tions about savings as only
37 percent of those surveyed
were able to calculate the ac-
tual interest rate inthe
problemthey were given. 42
percent of the respondents
were able to answer ques-
tions oninvestments cor-
rectly and 48 percent passed
the part of the survey deal-
ing withloans and credit.
The Slovaks inthe survey
finished behind respondents
fromcountries suchas Mex-
ico (19 percent withgood or
excellent financial skills)
and the CzechRepublic (21
percent). The Japanese were
at the top of the list, with44
percent having good or ex-
cellent financial skills.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
Slovaks savings rate is high in 2011
SLOVAKS are more likely to
put aside some portionof
their current income now
thanthey were inthe past.
Inthe crisis year of 2009
Slovaks saving rate reached
almost the highest level for
the last decade and was then
followed by only a moderate
decrease, according to Marek
Gbri, ananalyst with
SOBbank, as reported by
the SITAnewswire.
Based onthe first six
months of 2011 it is possible
to assume that the rate of
savings will exceed the max-
imumreached so far and be-
come the highest for the last
10 years, Gbri stated.
Slovaks were saving less
than4 percent of their in-
come inmid-2008 but this
had risento 6.5 percent by
mid-2011. Whenpersonal
savings inSlovakias pension
pillars are takeninto ac-
count, the savings rate is 8.8
percent, according to Mria
Valachyov, ananalyst with
Slovensk Sporitea bank.
SOBreported that it ap-
pears that most Slovaks are
willing to put aside about 10
percent of their income.
Another survey conduc-
ted by IMAS agency onbehalf
of Slovensk Sporitea
among 505 respondents in
July and August found that
the average Slovak puts aside
89 every monthand that
more thanhalf of the re-
spondents regularly save
some money eachmonth.
Slovensk Sporitea re-
ported that 90 percent of the
respondents said their main
reasonfor saving regularly is
to have financial security in
the event of need, while
about 70 percent saved
money so they could buy
something inthe future.
More thanone-half of re-
spondents said they were
also saving for retirement or
to retire earlier.
TOP: Market normalising
Continuedfrompg6
The bank has traditionally
been profiled as conservative
and the current situation in
the economy and politics has
tended to strengthen this
philosophy, putting more
stress onsecurity.
A similar trend is also vis-
ible at other banks special-
ising inprivate banking.
Michal ubn, director of
private banking at Privat-
banka, part of Penta Invest-
ments Limited, sees the cur-
rent situation as different
from that in 2008, as the
2008-2009 crisis arrived very
unexpectedly for many in-
vestors and resulted in signi-
ficant drops in asset values.
Moreover, it arrived after a
long period of growth which
had lasted since 2003.
This meant it was the
first time that many private
clients had experienced such
an intense crisis, ubn said,
adding that the decline in 2011
was preceded by constant
nervousness and increased
volatility on all markets.
These impacts and declines
could be avoided to a certain
extent; it was enough to be
sceptical about developments
which basically answered
none of the questions raised
by the crisis of 2008-2009.
In J&T Banka, part of the
J&T financial group, clients
are now more interested in
themes related to the future of
currencies, especially the euro
and the US dollar.
We are now discussing
more the strategy for alloca-
tion of assets and multi-gen-
erational administration,
Andrej Zako, sales director at
J&T Banka, told The Slovak
Spectator. So it is not only
about what is waiting for us
over the next few months or
years; clients are much more
carefully addressing the fu-
ture horizon over several
decades.
According to Zako, some
clients have lost trust in
money and are trying to con-
vert all their assets into real
estate or commodities. He be-
lieves that it is not necessary
to exaggerate the situation,
but adds that a more signific-
ant diversification of assets is
appropriate.
ubn added that the cur-
rent situation also brings
some interesting opportunit-
ies, which may in the future
generate higher yields than
those offered by standard in-
vestment tools.
Privatebankinggrows
Both Privatbanka and J&T
Banka are currently reporting
double-digit growth.
Our bank has been grow-
ing by tens of percents annu-
ally in the segment of private
and premium banking, Zako
said. During the crisis period
growth was even more signi-
ficant than during the pre-
crisis years. We expect this
trend to continue.
Zako pointed out that the
private banking market in
Slovakia is becoming more
normal.
In Slovakia, as abroad,
there are specialised banks
and retail banks which have
private banking only as part of
their range of services, said
Zako, adding that the differ-
ence, when comparing Slov-
akia with Switzerland, for ex-
ample, is that there are still
fewer products prepared espe-
cially for private clients.
This, to a certain extent, is
linked to the fact that the
Slovak client differs some-
what from the Western one in
terms of his needs as well as
his experiences.
ubn of Privatbanka
agreed, saying that since the
private banking market is a
new market, which emerged
in Slovakia only after the fall
of the communist regime, it
needs time to mature.
Clients as well as bankers
have to gain experience, said
ubn. Countries in which
private banking now has
some history behind it have
also experiencedthis stage.
Dankoviov does not ex-
pect any significant changes
in private banking in Slovakia
in the very near future, while
from the longer-term point of
view she expects greater
openness in the banking sec-
tor towards open architecture
for clients portfolios.
Retail versus private
Private banking is about
providing highly tailored top-
level services to better-off cli-
ents. While in Slovakia, for
historical reasons, these are
mostly people who have ac-
cumulated assets since the fall
of the communist regime in
1989, in countries with a
longer history of private bank-
ing this target group also in-
cludes people who have inher-
ited much of their wealth.
This difference is also reflec-
ted in the differing require-
ments of Slovak clients and
their expectations.
Private banks say they
do not regard retail banks as
competitors inprivate bank-
ing.
Retail banks are doing an
excellent job in the private
banking segment, said
Dankoviov. But their cli-
entele is not comparable with
ours and thus also their activ-
ities cannot be perceived as
direct competition. Care for
private clients in retail banks
very often lays in presenting
and selling the products of
the bank in question. In the
case of private banks at ques-
tion is comprehensive care
for the client and his assets,
including tax and legal con-
sultancy, design of the op-
timal structure of all firms
possessedby the client, estab-
lishment of companies
aroundthe world, etc.
ubn and Zako agreed
that the services they provide
to their clients are different.
In private banking the
approach is different, said
ubn, adding that private
clients can get access via
their private banker to in-
vestment tools which are
only available to a small circle
of investors. Simultaneously
he gets access to investment
professionals who manage
investment portfolios and
can also find one-off oppor-
tunities for a small circle of
private clients.
According to ubn, ad-
ministration of finances is
not only about yields, but also
about asset protection.
Private banking is not
about a one-off product, but
about a proper understanding
of the complex wishes of the
client, a proper setting for the
portfolio and an understand-
ing of how the financial mar-
kets work, said ubn. This
is the primary task of the
private banker.
Zako pointed out that
the basic orientation of J&T
Banka is investment and
private banking, and says
the whole infrastructure of
the bank is designed with
this inmind.
All services and products
are focused on our target
group, which is made up of
more affluent clients, said
Zako. They are demanding,
and are used to the highest
level of services, which must
be competitive. The main dif-
ference, apart from our pre-
paredness to deal with the
most varied needs of clients,
is our comprehensive offer of
banking, investment as well
as non-financial services.
According to Zako, the
non-financial services offered
to private clients are world-
class, and include tax and leg-
al services, purchase of works
of art, and holiday and leisure-
time planning.
In most cases this is
about relationships and
contacts, said Zako. Cli-
ents always appreciate ad-
vantages which cannot be
bought easily.
Privatbanka, for example,
says it pays considerable at-
tention to health services, in-
cluding access to better-than-
average care, while its clients
also have access to compre-
hensive concierge services,
according to ubn.
But Dankoviov said the
experience of Banque Prive
Edmond de Rothschild Europe
is that that its Slovak clients,
like its customers elsewhere,
do not place great stress on
the non-financial benefits
offered by the bank.
Clients of a private bank
primarily expect quality ser-
vices in the administration of
their property, and absolute
discretion, Dankoviov
said. They do not need their
bank to organise their holi-
days or their free time for
them.
She said that her bank
does provide a Family Office
service, which offers clients,
among other things, help
with moving house, assist-
ance when buying real es-
tate, boats and aircraft, when
buying, selling and restruc-
turing companies, and when
buying and selling artworks
and commodities.
Eachclient andtheir money gets individual treatment. Photo: Sme
8
BUSINESS FOCUS
November 7 13, 2011
FOCUS shorts
hk}ly{pzltlu{
I]ZHadkV`HeZXiVidg
!
h\j^YZ
idi]ZHadkV`Wjh^cZhhZck^gdcbZci
DjicZmilZZ`
>CK:HIB:CI
69K>HDGN<J>9:
'%&&$'%&'
PM: Dzurinda takes over
Continuedfrompg1
Radiovfor president?
Radiov announced at a
meeting of the SDK Central
Council held in Zvolen on Oc-
tober 29 that she will officially
resign from the party after its
next congress, which is expec-
ted to take place soon after the
general election. She said she is
accepting the political con-
sequences for her
governments fall, but added
that the internal situation
within the SDK was among
her reasons as well.
Speaking on TV Markza,
she specifically mentioned a
divergent understanding of
what morals and decency in
politics is while commenting
on the SDKs internal affairs.
She then added: I am not say-
ing that my colleagues are
immoral.
She also commented on the
controversial lease contract for
government tax offices in
Koice, which was signed with
a company owned by a regional
official of the SDK, and stated
that she did not get support
from the SDK presidium for
her stance against the contract.
Radiov also partially con-
firmed what many political ob-
servers have said about her
style within the Slovak politic-
al scene it was different and
perhaps not compatible with
the usual ways of Slovak polit-
ics. Radiov said on TV
Markza that she had attemp-
ted a different style of
politics, but added that it was
not easy to keep ones own val-
ues in politics.
Several of Radiovs
former colleagues from the
ruling coalition as well as
political observers have sug-
gested that by leaving the
party she might be preparing
to run in the presidential elec-
tion scheduled for 2014 and
Radiov did not explicitly
rule out this possibility during
the televisionprogramme.
Some observers have noted
that the SDK might lose some
level of support because of
Radiovs departure from the
party but its chairman,
Mikul Dzurinda, said that it
would not be a huge loss be-
cause Radiov will remain as
prime minister, as nominated
by the SDK, until the March
elections and her good results
until then will earn points for
the party as well, the TASR
newswire wrote.
Dzurindanot challenged
Meanwhile, Dzurinda star-
ted positioning himself as the
partys election leader and took
part in a round of media discus-
sions over the last weekend of
October, including one with
Robert Fico, the chairman of
the Smer oppositionparty.
Dzurindas position as
party election leader was con-
firmed on November 2 after ap-
plications to stand for that post
in the partys primary elections
closed. The two other strongest
potential candidates, Finance
Minister Ivan Miklo and
Justice Minister Lucia
itansk, had both made it
clear in advance they would
not challenge Dzurinda. No-
one else applied and so
Dzurinda, as party chairman,
will automatically take the
number-one slot on the partys
electionlist.
Slovakia does not have a
tradition of primary elections
within political parties and be-
fore the June 2010 elections the
SDK was the only party to
hold a primary. That was how
Radiov became the partys
election leader: she defeated
her only challenger, Miklo, in
a brief battle for the position.
The contest was civil, with
both candidates declaring their
amity and willingness to work
together towards the partys
common goals. Radiov won
withanunexpectedly large ma-
jority even though Miklo had
said before the vote that he ex-
pected a close contest.
Radiov captured 2,669 votes
against 1,666 for Miklo.
The SDK primary elec-
tions in 2010 followed
Dzurinda's resignation as the
partys election leader in the
wake of money-laundering ac-
cusations against the party
made by Fico, then prime min-
ister, in January 2010, only six
months before the elections.
Fico claimed that SDK was
controlled by shell companies
that operated in tax havens and
held accounts in Swiss banks,
calling the financial operations
of these shell companies
money laundering.
Dzurinda stated at that
time that his withdrawal as the
election leader should not be
interpreted as an admission of
any mistakes or an acceptance
of political responsibility. He
maintained that he was with-
drawing so that Fico could not
use questions about SDKs
past financing during the par-
liamentary electioncampaign.
In a recent interview with
the Sme daily Dzurinda said is-
sues surrounding the partys
past financing are no longer a
problem that hinders him from
running as the partys leader in
the elections next March.
I have paid significantly in
terms of politics, Dzurinda
stated. It is a long time since I
have felt such moral power as I
do now.
Right vs. left?
Three centre-right parties,
the SDK, KDH and Most-Hd,
have all stated that they are
open to some kind of closer co-
operation leading up to the
elections so that they will be
able to achieve more seats in
parliament than the Smer
party, just as they were able to
do, together with Freedom and
Solidarity (SaS), in 2010.
The anti-pole to govern-
ment by one party [Smer] is co-
operation by SDK with the
KDH and Most-Hd, Dzurinda
said in his speech to party lead-
ers in Zvolen on October 29, as
quoted by the Sme daily.
Dzurinda noted that he ap-
preciated the initiative of Most-
Hd leader Bla Bugr, who had
said in a previous interview
with Sme that the three parties
should unite to provide voters
with an alternative to Smer.
Some individuals from both
Most-Hd and SDK have sug-
gested that their parties could
sign a treaty about post-elec-
tion cooperation before the
elections are held.
However, recent opinion
polls do not suggest that these
three parties would be able to
form a government on their
after the March election. A poll
conducted shortly after the
October 11 fall of the Radiov
government by the MVK
polling agency, published on
November 2, gave Smer 37.5
percent of the vote, earning 72
seats in Slovakias 150-member
parliament. The three centre-
right parties would be able to
outnumber Smer only withthe
help of MPs from SaS, which
polled 10.9 percent. SDK re-
ceived 11.6 percent support in
the poll, KDH got 9.5 percent
and Most-Hd garnered 8.2
percent.
No other parties would
reach parliament, according to
the poll.
Radiovis leavingDzurinda's party after five years. Photo: SITA
FTT: Global
adoption sought
Continuedfrompg6
The Slovak Banking As-
sociation(SBA) sees the tax
as being motivated by the
EuropeanUnions desire to
raise revenue.
Based onits preliminary
assessment, the Finance
Ministry is leaning towards a
negative stance onthe intro-
ductionof a financial trans-
actiontax, Patrcia
Malecov epitkov, from
the press department of the
ministry, told The Slovak
Spectator. We believe that
inthe discussionabout an
FTT the need to achieve a
global agreement onthe in-
troductionof the tax is espe-
cially important, but we see
that as improbable.
The Finance Ministry ad-
ded that it would be neces-
sary for any discussionabout
anFTT at the Europeanlevel
to deal withnegative impacts
fromthe tax onthe European
as well as national financial
systems, and for questions
about the cumulative effects
of anFTT and other planned
regulatory measures apply-
ing to the Europeanfinancial
and banking sector to be con-
sidered.
The SBAperceives the tax
as merely a source of addi-
tional finances for EUinsti-
tutions.
The mainmotive for the
introductionof this tax is to
provide income for the EU
budget, SBAanalyst Marcel
Laznia told The Slovak Spec-
tator. Claims that the money
would be returned to taxpay-
ers or used to support the sta-
bility of the sector are false.
Laznia stated that banks
have already paid back over
27 billionfromfunds which
governments provided to
themin2008 and 2009, and
said that the actual amount
of aid drawnwas about 580
billion.
Laznia pointed to the ex-
perience of Swedeninintro-
ducing a similar tax, which
was later abandoned, and
said he expected something
similar to happenif a
Europe-wide FTT was intro-
duced.
Swedenintroduced a
similar tax during the
1980s, said Laznia. The res-
ult was the movement of
capital and deals abroad and
a significant decline inthe
liquidity of the market. After
several years the tax was
gradually decreased and later
cancelled completely. We
expect a similar scenario to
unfold inthe case of the EU
tax.
Onthe other hand, the
Slovak Finance Ministry
agrees that the financial sec-
tor should participate fairly
inthe costs of the recent fin-
ancial crisis, as it also helped
to cause it, according to
Malecov epitkov. Simul-
taneously, the ministry be-
lieves that whenadopting
regulatory measures at the
Europeanlevel related to the
financial or banking sector it
is necessary to assess their
cumulative effects along
withtheir individual im-
pacts.
Withregards to the po-
tential introductionof the
tax, Laznia said he believes
that if the tax is not intro-
duced ona global level,
whichhe regards as improb-
able, the whole EUwill come
to grief as all transactions
carried out by financial insti-
tutions would be taxed.
The Finance Ministry be-
lieves that if a global agree-
ment about the introduction
of the tax is not achieved,
this may decrease the com-
petitiveness of the financial
and the tax environment in
the EUand afterwards lead to
a possible relocationof fin-
ancial institutions or their
transactions subject to taxa-
tioninto countries with
more advantageous tax en-
vironments. This might also
increase the regulatory bur-
denonthe EUs financial sec-
tor withregards to the cumu-
lative effects of several regu-
latory measures planned at
the Europeanlevel related to
banks and financial institu-
tions.
Withregards to the Slov-
ak financial sector, Malecov
epitkov said that it already
has to pay, inadditionto
normal taxes, contributions
to the Deposit Protection
Fund, the Guarantee Fund of
Investments, and the Na-
tional Bank of Slovakia, to
cover supervisioncosts, and
that anadditional special
bank levy is due to be intro-
duced as of January 1, 2012.
There is a risk that the
costs of the tax would be
transferred to the end-client,
whichinSlovakias case
might result innegative im-
pacts onthe yields of mutual
and pensionfunds and im-
pacts may be expected also
ontransactions withstate
bonds onthe secondary
market, said Malecov
epitkov. She further poin-
ted out that anFTT might
have a negative impact on
the GDP of member states,
whichthe EChas calculated
at 0.5 percent.
The Finance Ministry
also believes that eachregu-
latory interventionreduces
the effectiveness of the mar-
ket, especially interms of its
role inallocating capital,
whichreduces the relevancy
of introducing anFTT as a
tool to secure the stability of
the financial market.
The weight and scope of
the capital market inSlov-
akia is significantly lower
thaninother, more de-
veloped countries and thus it
may be estimated that the
impact onthe Slovak capital
market would be, compared
withthe effect onmarkets in
other countries, signific-
antly lower, said Malecov
epitkov.
CLASSIFIEDS
Frequency di scount s:
3x - 10x 5%
11x - 19x 7,5%
20x and more 15%
NOTE:
Prices do not include value added tax
(VAT 19%)!
DEADLINE: Wednesday, 12:00,
for publication that week; otherwise,
the advert will be published the
following Friday.
FOR MORE I NFORMATION:
email:
beata.fojtikova@spectator.sk
tel: +421 2 59 233-312
fax: +421 2 59 233-319
or write:
The Slovak Spectator, Lazaretsk 12
811 08 Bratislava, Slovak ia.
1/48 page
44 x 41 mm
25
1/12 page
91,5 x 87 mm
100
1/ 24 page
44 x 87 mm
91,5 x 41 mm
50
Advertisi ng rates
for business classi fi eds
or
2. Prices for business classified ads (according to size):
1. Pri ces of classi fi ed ads
(according to no. of words)
Up to 20words - 10
Up to 50 words - 20
Up to 70 words - 30
Up to 100 words - 40
Up to 150 words - 60
Addi tional options
Logo or picture ins ertion
+ 7
Bold or capital bold letters
+ 0.3/word
Box + 3
Box with shading + 7
REAL ESTATE
C 3655
RESIDENTIAL properties
for rent:
2-room apartment Nivy - olt
sovej, ul. furnished
3-4-room apartments Drotrska
ul., Brik, city center furnished,
garage
family and town houses Polus
area, Kramre, Vrakua..
www.madison.sk, 0905 - 659 156,
madison@nextra.sk
Take your
chance
and place your
classified advertisement.
For information call:
02 / 59 233 312,
or e-mail:
beata.fojtikova@spectator.sk
C 3573
ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORSHIP
Bratislava International Church
Sundays, 9:30 at historic Small Lutheran Church
(Maly evanjelicky kostol) in central Bratislava
(near Hodzovo namestie); on Lycejna at
intersection with Panenska 26/28.
Children's Sunday School provided.
Everyone Welcome.
Information at 02-5443-3263
Web Site: www.bratislavainternationalchurch.org
9
NEWS / FOCUS
November 7 13, 2011
Roman history
across the border
ONLYuntil November 15 will
visitors have a chance to see
the Exhibitionof Lower Aus-
tria 2011 that cost 42 million
to assemble and is a cultural
highlight of the regionof
easternAustria. Since its
opening inmid April, more
than450,000 people have vis-
ited one of the three sites
making up the exhibition: the
open-air museumat Petron-
ell, the archaeological Mu-
seumCarnuntinuminBad
Deutsch-Altenburg and the
Hainburg Culture Factory.
While the open-air mu-
seumoffers a fascinating
stroll throughanauthentic,
reconstructed Romanresid-
ential quarter that includes
Villa Urbana and 4thcentury
Romanbaths, the Museum
Carnuntinumis rightly called
the treasure house of the
CarnuntumArchaeological
Park. The third site, Hainburg
Culture Factory, invites visit-
ors to embark ona journey of
conquest and exploration
throughtime and space as its
presentationilluminates the
history of civilisationfrom
pre-Romantimes to the 21st
century.
The exhibitioninthe
MuseumCarnuntinumis the
result of five years of scientif-
ic work and contains over
1,100 exhibits, said Gabrielle
Kremer, curator of the exhibi-
tion, adding that it provides
animportant insight into the
religious practices of resid-
ents of ancient Carnuntum.
She noted that Roman
history inthis regionis
closely linked withparts of
Slovakia as significant Roman
ruins have beenunearthed in
Devnas well as inRusovce,
where the Romanmilitary
camp named Gerulata was
located.
The Images of God Im-
ages of Humanity show,
whichwas developed just for
the Exhibitionof Lower Aus-
tria 2011, showcases valuable
artefacts suchas statues, re-
liefs, altars, stelai ongrave-
stones and works of architec-
ture that predominantly
came fromthis regionand of-
fer a better understanding of
religious and social life inthe
RomanEmpire.
The organisers of the Ex-
hibitionof Lower Austria
2011, withwritteninforma-
tioninGerman, Englishand
Slovak, estimate that about 10
percents of its visitors have
come fromSlovakia.
ByJana Liptkov
10
CULTURE
November 7 13, 2011
A big touch of jazz
VIVIDandfull of energyonone
hand, calmand mysterious on
the other: jazz can be as differ-
ent as the people who have
dedicatedtheir lives toplaying
it. The fact that this older mu-
sical style can combine very
easily with rock as well as
Latino rhythms could be at-
testedtobyanyonewhowas at
the Incheba Expo Centre in
Petralka, thevenuefor Bratis-
lava Jazz Days, during the Oc-
tober21-23weekend.
The first edition of Bratis-
lava Jazz Days (BJD) was
brought together in 1975 by
amateur jazz musicians and
during its first years it in-
volved mostly musicians
from Czechoslovakia or parts
of the former USSR. But in
each year since it has become
more international and has
gradually changed its look.
This years festival looked like
a reunion of US-based jazz
performers seeking to per-
manently entrench this kind
of music in Slovakia, in the
heart of Europe.
Jazz is specific because
every author, every soloist is a
representative of a certain
view, Peter Lipa, a leading
Slovak musician and long-
time organiser of BJD, told a
press conferenceonOctober 3.
And he was right. The
evenings were as unique as
the people performing the
music. The audience could
listen to jazz coloured with
various musical styles, in-
cluding rock, folk, pop and
Latino as well as jazz in its
purer forms.
It [the programme] is a
folder that is created every
year, Lipa stated, adding that
the festival has never had any
particular leitmotif and that
experience from previous
years has proven again and
againthat composing the pro-
gramme in this way is right:
the audience is willing to
come and listen to well-
known as well as lesser-
knownmusicians.
Full of colours
Fromits verybeginningon
Friday evening the perform-
ances and performers cap-
tured the attention of the
audiences and did not release
it until the last gig one that
combined a funky version of
African, Latin and other mu-
sical genres offered by the
Earth, Wind & Fire Experi-
ment featuring Al MacKay.
People did have a chance to
calm down during the per-
formance by Polish singer
Grayna Augucik, whose
voice seemed to melt into the
sounds of the musical instru-
ments, and to put on their
dancing shoes during the per-
formance by Cuban piano
players Chucho Valds and
HaroldLopez-Nussa. They also
enjoyed the beautiful voice of
Ral Midn, a blind American
singer, and the New Orleans
melodies of the trumpet
playedbyNicholasPayton.
Younger people particu-
larly enjoyed the music of
Robert Glasper, whose per-
formancewiththeelectricand
hip-hopbandR.G. Experiment
brought stormy applause from
theaudience.
Glasper, who came to Slov-
akia four months ago, told The
Slovak Spectator that he ap-
preciated the attentive audi-
ence who really enjoyed the
music despite the huge num-
ber of people who had jammed
thehall duringhisconcert.
Another extraordinary
part of thefestival was theper-
formance of American trum-
peter Randy Brecker joined by
the AMC Trio from Preov,
represented by Peter
Adamkovi on piano, Martin
Marinkoviondoublebass and
Stano Cvanciger on drums.
Brecker, a renowned jazzman,
decided to learn the repertoire
of his Slovak musical soul-
mates, much of which they
composethemselves.
The musicians gave their
best to the audience and it was
returned back to them in the
samewayas pureenergy.
The audience was just
great, it felt like we had known
eachother for years, USsinger
and saxophone player Curtis
Stigers told The Slovak Spec-
tator. He added that he made a
connection with the people
from the get-go and welcomed
the way they laughed at his
jokes betweensongs.
Stigers, whose Saturday
performance brought him a
long, standing ovation, said
that he tries to make a jazz
version of even popular songs
and that it is very important
for him to put real emotion
intohis music.
I tryto take the storythat
someone else has told and tell
it in a different way, from my
point of view, he told The
Slovak Spectator, adding that
all people have similar things
going onintheir lives heart-
breaks as well as love.
Though a majority of the
performers came from the
Americas and the Caribbean,
Slovakia had a number of
artists appearing among the
headliners. The Friday con-
certs were opened by a young
group from eastern Slovakia
calledTheIllusions Trio.
It is an amazing feeling
but it is also a big responsibil-
ity for us to be one of the
Slovak bands playing in
BJD, Andrej Karlik, the
bands guitar player, told The
SlovakSpectator.
Slovakia was also repres-
ented by the Mat Jakabic
CZ-SK Big Band performing
with Austrian saxophone
player Harry Sokal and musi-
cians playing on the second
stage.
Newblood
In addition to the head-
liners, BJD gives new jazz
groups a chance to show off
their stuff and perform in
front of packed audiences on
the second stage. Though it
might seem that most people
would be attracted more to
the A-stage performers who
are more famous thantheir B-
stage colleagues, the reverse
seemed to be true as even less
familiar performers were able
to flaunt their talents in a
jam-packedroom.
Appearing on Stage B
offered another important
opportunity for the groups
that performed there as
thanks to the SPP Foundation
the organisers of the jazz fest-
ival started to vote on which
groups will play at sub-
sequent Bratislava Jazz Days
and have a chance to appear
amongthestars onStageA.
Karlik from The Illusions
Trio, the group which won
last years voting, believes the
future will show what last
years victorymeant for them,
while adding that their suc-
cess has been reflected in the
trios behaviour and they are
now more convinced of the
importanceof their music.
I feel it through the in-
creased self-confidence of our
group, Karlik told The Slovak
Spectator, addingthat though
the group is now more visible
the Slovak jazz market is too
small for them to become a
superstar among worldwide
groups performingjazz.
The FAT BreakFAST group
won this years Stage B con-
test and their jazz, like the
music of The Illusions Trio, is
tingedwithrockmelodies.
Jazzdaystheplacetomeet
BJD has always been the
meeting point for people with
the same interests listening
to and enjoying jazz. For the
first time in its long history
this years performances
were not held in Bratislavas
PKO, which is now closed to
the public, but at the larger
Incheba complex in
Petralka.
Though some people
might have complained a
little about the new venue
and some overcrowded areas,
especially between concerts
when people wanted to
freshen up, Karlik from The
Illusions Trio does not think
it really matters where the
jazz days areheld.
People, and also musi-
cians, are coming because of
music not because of the
place, he told The Slovak
Spectator.
ZuzanaVilikovsk
contributedtothis report
BYRADKA
MINARECHOV
Spectator staff
US singer andsaxophone player Curtis Stigers performingduringBratislavaJazz Days.
Photo: Courteyof theRockPopBratislavaAgency
MuseumCarnuntinumoffers almost 1,200precious artifacts.
Photo: JanaLiptkov
Bratislava
welcomed big
names from
across the globe
to once again
wowaudiences
hk}ly{pzltlu{
SP90654/2
0ance c|asses for Lng||sh speak|ng adu|ts and k|ds or
for peop|e who wou|d ||ke to study Lng||sh w|th fun.
0ance Schoo| ~ KC 0unaj
We offer.
0roup |essons |n Lng||sh
|nd|v|dua| |essons |n Lng||sh, |rench and Russ|an.
KC 0unaj, Nedoa|ova 8
|0ochodn dom 0unaj, 4th f|oor
Nam. SNP, Brat|s|avaI
Ca|| us for reg|strat|on
0948 401 900
www.dancestat|on.net
||rst c|ass |RLL
40Z d|scount |n Novemoer|
11 November 7 13, 2011
CULTURE
School dates back to 1626
IN 1526 THE Ottoman army
crushed the military forces of
the Kingdomof Hungary at the
Battle of Mohcs and soon af-
terwards Buda, then
the kingdoms capital,
fell. This is how the
Bratislava secondary
grammar school cur-
rently known as
Gymnzium Grsslingova
began.
When Buda was captured
by the Ottomans, many Hun-
garianinstitutionsweremoved
toBratislavabecauseit was free
of Ottomanruleandthecitybe-
came the de facto capital of the
Kingdomof Hungary.
Perhaps this is why Car-
dinal Peter Pzmny, the
Archbishop of Esztergom, is-
sued a foundationcharter for a
Bratislava Jesuit secondary
school called Collegium Po-
soniense in 1626. Lessons at
the secondary school beganon
November 5 of that year and
until 1714 the school resided in
rented space on Kapitulsk
Street. Later it moved into the
buildingof aJesuit monastery.
That this secondary
school changed its name 18
times and its language of in-
struction several times over
its history was a
rather typical phe-
nomenon for this
part of Europe. It is
also interesting to
note that the first
young woman to pass exams
heredidsoin1874.
In 1898 the school moved
into its current building, seen
in this postcard from the
1920s. The school is among
theoldest inall of Slovakia.
ByBranislavChovan
HISTORY TALKS
WesternSLOVAKIA
Bratislava
l JAZZ: All That Jazz World-
famous musicians David San-
born (alto saxophone) and
Joey DeFrancesco (organ) will
give an intimate club per-
formance in Bratislava, ac-
companiedbyByronLandham
ondrums.
Starts: Nov 8, 21:00; Nu
Spirit Club, afrikovo Square
7. Admission: 20-25. Tel:
0917/304-801; www.
nuspirit.sk.
Bratislava
l SPANISH MUSIC: arovn
Zarzuela / Magic Zarzuela A
performance of Spanish Zar-
zuela - traditional combina-
tion of drama, dance and mu-
sic - organised by the Slovak
National Theatre (SND), the
Spanish Embassy in Slovakia
and the Fundacin Guerrero.
It will be performed by the
Spanish artists Sagrario Sala-
manca, AlejandroGonzlez del
CerroandPilar Gallo.
Starts: Nov 12, 19:00; SND
historical building, Hviez-
doslavovo Square 4. Admis-
sion: 4-10. Tel: 02/2049-
4290; www.snd.sk.
Bratislava
l BLUESFESTIVAL: Folk Blues
Session The 11th year of this
festival of blues and folk-blues
music brings artists like
Bluesraiders, Boky Citom, Eric
Wood (US) and Veterni zo
SalnDor.
Starts: Nov12, 18:00; House
of Culture (DK) Lky,
Vgask 1. Admission: 4.50
(in advance) or 7 (on the
door). Tel: 02/6382-3930; www.
ticketportal.sk, www.kzp.sk.
Bratislava
l LIVE MUSIC: Sade This
British soul singer with Ni-
gerian roots needs no intro-
duction. After alongbreak, she
has embarked on a tour that
includes Slovakia.
Starts: Nov 13, 20:00; On-
drej Nepela ice-hockey stadi-
um. Admission: 69-119. Tel:
02/5293-3321; www.
ticketportal.sk.
Bratislava
l EXHIBITION: Neznmy
autor znmych prc / The Un-
known Author of Known
Works - Jozef Vlek An artist
of Czech origin who worked in
Slovakia during the wartime
Slovak State, designed several
stamps and was once a prom-
inent graphic artist. He later
slipped into obscurity, but
ubomr Longauer is now
seeking to rehabilitate his
reputation.
Open: Tue-Sat 13:00-18:00
until Nov 20; Slovak Centre for
Design Satelit, Dobroviova 3.
Admission: free. Tel: 02/2047
-7311; www.sdc.sk.
Trenn
l LIVE MUSIC: Olympic This
legendaryCzechrockbandhas
been playing together since
the 1960s and has lost none of
its power and attraction as
youcanfindout for yourself.
Starts: Nov 11, 20:00; Piano
Club Trenn, Pod sokolice
12-16. Admission: 16. Tel: 02/
5293-3321; www.
ticketportal.sk.
Central SLOVAKIA
Slia
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: A con-
cert to mark the 100th an-
niversary of the death of Slov-
ak composer Jn Cikker offers
A. ajov-Vizvri (soprano), V.
Bartoov (piano), and P.
Michalica (piano) playing the
works of Cikker, Dvok, Ilja
ZeljenkaandMozart.
Starts: Nov 9, 19:00; Town
Culture Centre (MKS), Kpe-
n 11, Slia. Admission: 5.
Tel: 045/5442-202; www.
sliac.sk.
ilina
l LIVE MUSIC: Christian Fre-
derickson A solo concert by a
musician who boldly com-
bines classical music with in-
die-pop, electronic and exper-
imental sounds. In this con-
cert, he will mainly play his
works for viola with the use of
loops andvarious effects.
Starts: Nov 8, 19:00; Stan-
ica Zrieie, Zvodsk cesta 3.
Admission: 2-3. Tel: 041/
5005-064; www.stanica.sk.
EasternSLOVAKIA
Koice
l JAZZ MUSIC: jazz FOR sale
The 2nd edition of this jazz
series brings bands and solo
musicians: Los Quemados
(Czech Republic), Band of
Gypsys Reincarnation (Hun-
gary), Dynamic Fusion (Slov-
akia), Pawel Kaczmarczyk (Po-
land) and Audio felling band
(Poland).
Starts: Nov 12, 19:00; His-
torical Town Hall, Hlavn 59.
Admission: 10. Tel: 02/5293-
3321; www.ticketportal.sk.
Koice
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: ARS
NOVA Cassoviae - The Slovak
State Philharmonic and the
International Society for Con-
temporary Music (ISCM) have
prepared this festival, which
brings awiderangeof concerts
and accompanying events fo-
cused on classical contempor-
ary music. In 2013, The ISCM
World New Music Days will
take place simultaneously in
Koice, BratislavaandVienna.
Starts: Nov 7-14; Dom
umenia / House of Art, Moyze-
sova 66. Admission: various.
More info: www.iscm
-slovakia.org.
ByZuzanaVilikovsk
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
Czech singer Iva Bittov comes to the Domumenia Fatra / Fatra
House of Art in ilina (Doln val 47) on November 13 with the
band ikori to give a concert of her distinctive music, which
merges worldmusic, jazz, rock, classical andpopmusic. Her per-
formances and recordings with ikori are among the most poet-
ic in her repertoire. Tickets (13) can be bought through
www.ticketportal.sk. Photo: TASR
November belongs to photos
THE 21ST EDITION of
Bratislavas Month of Photo-
graphy brings together dif-
ferent genres, photographers
and countries in a total of 26
exhibitions. The exhibitions
opened at the beginning of
November and are spread
throughout the cityat biggal-
leries like the Slovak National
Gallery (SNG), the Bratislava
City Gallery (GMB), the Cent-
ral European House of Photo-
graphy (SEDF) the organiser
of this months events and
the House of Art (Dom
umenia) on SNP Square, as
well as at several smaller
venues.
Visitors can choose to
view the winners of World
Press Photo 2011 a competi-
tion that has been held since
1955 and sets the standard for
journalistic photography at
the House of Art. Aimed at
promoting the work of profes-
sional photo-journalists
worldwide, the competitions
19-member international jury
chose the works of 54 photo-
graphers from 23 countries
from among the 108,059 pic-
tures submitted by 5,691 pho-
tographers from 125 coun-
tries. Four other photo exhibi-
tions opened as well at the
Houseof Art onNovember 1.
One of this years main
themes involves exchanges
between photography stu-
dents from five countries. In
addition to the Bratislava
Academy of Fine Arts, which
is celebrating its 20th an-
niversary this year, photo-
graphy academies from
Prague, Budapest, Lodz and
Helsinki have sent some of
their students for mutual ex-
change of experience and a
joint international confer-
ence. The Medium Gallery is
also offering works from 15
other photographic schools
inEurope.
Galria Zoya offers works
by Portuguese photographers
until November 23, while the
David LaChapelle exhibition
at theGMBhas beenextended
until November 15. Works by
distinctive Czech photo-
artist Jan Saudek are on show
in the Michalsk dvor gallery
until December 2, while pic-
tures by Czech documentary
photographer Viktor Kol
are available at the GMB until
January 15 and renowned
Slovak photographer Karol
Kllay offers his Bratislava of
Mine collection at the House
of Art until November 30.
In addition to these gal-
leries, the Austrian, Polish,
HungarianandBulgariancul-
tural centres are hosting
photoexhibitionsas well.
The full programme for
the Month of Photography is
available at http://sedf.sk/sk/
mesiac-fotografie-2011.html.
CompiledbySpectator staff
Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia
can be found at www.spectator.sk/weather.
A Slovaks name day (meniny) is as important as his or her birthday. It is traditional to present friends or co-workers with a small gift,
such as chocolates or flowers, and to wish them Vetko najlepie k meninm (Happy name day)
N A M E D A Y N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1
Monday
Ren
November 7
Tuesday
Bohumr
November 8
Wednesday
Teodor
November 9
Thursday
Tibor
Tobias
November 10
Friday
Martin
Maro
November 11
Saturday
Svtopluk
November 12
Sunday
Stanislav
November 13
BALET Bratislava, a new ballet ensemble founded by choreo-
grapher Mrio Radaovsk, will start its artistic performances
with the famous love story of Romeo and Juliet, put to music by
Sergei Prokofiev and choreographed by Radaovsk. The open-
ing nights of Rmeo a Jlia in Bratislava will be on November 11
and 12, 2011; its home stage will be the Nov Scna Theatre,
ivnostensk 1. The cast includes Katarna Kokov (pictured),
Natlia Nmethov and Veronika Holl all performing as Juliet
and Peter Dedinsk (also pictured) and Canadian dancer Ar-
thur Abram, appearing as Romeo. Tickets (19-24) can be
bought throughwww.nova-scena.skor www.ticketportal.sk.
Photo: Ctibor Bachrat
JanSaudek is part of the Monthof Photography. Photo: TASR
Day of Plums
honours slivovica
SEVERAL dis-
tinctive tra-
ditional
Slovak
products
were hon-
oured as well as joyously
sampled in mid-September
at Gazdovsk dvor, a farm-
yard in Tur Lka that is part
of the town of Myjava in
western Slovakia near the
Czech border. The Day of
Plums included a conference
for experts, theatre perform-
ances and much sampling of
slivovica, Slovakias tradi-
tional plum brandy, as well
as plum marmalade. The
festival was even opened by
the screening of a film made
by student imon Horn
called Slivovica sila tradcie
(the power of tradition).
The day-long event on
September 17 at the Tradi-
tional Culture Centre in My-
java featured an expert dis-
cussion in the morning in
which participants ex-
changed information about
methods of growing original
species as well as newer
varieties of plums, learned
about diseases and pests and
heard an expert assessment
of the outlook for growing
this traditional fruit in the
regions hilly hamlets called
kopanice.
Throughout the day the
serious business was re-
lieved by light-hearted
theatre performed by the
Theatre Ensemble of J.M.
Hurban from Brezov pod
Bradlom with the theme of
slivovica, Viera Feriancov
of the cultural centre told
the TASRnewswire.
An accompanying af-
ternoon event to the Day of
Plums was tasting of brandy
in the barn of Gazdovsk
dvor that was prepared by
the Association of Hobby
Gardeners from Tur Lka as
well as the traditional cook-
ing of marmalade by the
Ker folk ensemble, also
from Tur Lka, Feriancov
said, adding that the pre-
pared plum delicacies were
also sold during the event.
Funwithplums inTurLka. Photo: TASR
Athletes andlocal people pose next tobuildings bearingtypical imany decorations. Photo: TASR
Slovak athletes to sport
imany motif at Olympics
SLOVAKIA has
formally
agreed to parti-
cipate in the
30th Summer
Olympic
Games in London next sum-
mer and also decided ona folk-
patterndesignfor theathletes
attire, according to Frantiek
Chmelr, the head of the Slov-
ak Olympic Committee, who
signed the Olympic applica-
tiononOctober 24.
We pledged to take part
in the summer games and I
firmly believe nothing will
stop us from competing in
London. And while we are
there we also want to be suc-
cessful. We want to repres-
ent Slovakia not just in the
athletic competitions but
through all our activities and
presence there, Chmelr
toldtheSITAnewswire.
The design that will be
used for the apparel for all the
athletes is based on a tradi-
tional folk pattern originating
fromthe village of imany in
northernSlovakia.
In the past there was no
unifying element in the Slov-
ak Olympic [clothing] collec-
tions something that could
make our country clearly dis-
cernible among all the other
countries and what we as a
nation could identify
ourselves with, saidMiroslav
Jankovi of the Alpine Pro
company, which will supply
theteams apparel.
So far 55 athletes have
qualified for the 2012 Olympic
Games but if national sports
teams also qualify that num-
ber will increase, Chmelr
said, adding that the qualifica-
tion process will continue un-
til early July next year and
that this will be Slovakias
10th participation in either
summer or winter Olympic
Games since it became an in-
dependent country.
Slovakia was most suc-
cessful in the summer games
in Beijing in 2008 with the
Slovak athletes bringing home
three gold medals, two silver,
andonebronze.
We have never been a
small teambut rather average-
sized. And the design of our
team T-shirts can help us to
gain success and recognition
inLondon, Chmelr opined.
Breeding creepy-crawlies in Koice
MOST people cannot ima-
gine breeding amphibi-
ans, insects and big
spiders in a city-centre
flat but doing so is a long-
term passion for 25-year-
old Marcel Bodnr, a cook fromKoice.
Bodnr told the TASR newswire that
he started as a young boy with aquarium
fish but gradually expanded his mena-
gerie to include reptiles, various kinds of
spiders and insects and several other
exotic species. In his small room with a
balcony in a Koice apartment building,
his collection includes a tortoise, beetles,
walking-leaves (tropical insects with
flattened leaf-like bodies), newts, a
piranha and axolotls, an aquatic sala-
mander native to the western United
States and Mexico.
When asked whether such an ex-
traordinary farm can be managed in a
modest city accommodation, Bodnr
gave a clear yes if ones parents are okay
with it and mine take it as normal
already. Bodnr was 10 years old when
he became fascinated with exotic anim-
als. The hobbyist buys new species or
adds to his existing collection through
exchanges, saying a large exotic spider
could cost between 3 and 100. The
price depends on the size and species,
Bodnr commented, adding that he likes
the extraordinary character of his hobby
and that not everyone does this.
He told TASR that breeding and
maintaining exotic animals and insects
is not necessarily expensive because he
raises some insects as food for his other
pets. It costs me a maximum of 15 a
month, he said. He buys frozen items
from pet-shops for some of his creatures
and he feeds his cockroaches, used as
snacks for larger animals, dried rolls and
kitchen leftovers. Although Bodnr is an
experienced breeder he confessed that
parts of his menagerie have escaped sev-
eral times. Almost all species have run
away; usually when I clean their vivari-
ums and I amnot careful or whenI forget
to close the door, he admitted. Bodnr
noted that his exotic pets are eye-catch-
ing but when he wants to enjoy games
and petting he reaches for his trusty dog.
Empress
wins votes
A PETITION
among Brat-
islavans and
visitors to
indicate if
they want a
statue of udovt tr that
now stands in the square
that bears his namereplaced
by a full-sized statue of
Empress Maria Theresa
mounted on a horse, as ori-
ginally stood there at the
beginning of the 20th cen-
tury, ended in mid-October
with the empress attracting
several thousandvotes.
About 5,000 people took
part in the poll organised by
the Bratislava Beautifica-
tionAssociation(BOS). 3,540
people signed their names
toagreetoinstallationof the
Maria Theresa statue, 189
were against doing so under
any circumstances, and 516
stated they wanted Maria
Theresa placed ina different
location with tr kept in
his square.
The poll was conducted
in the square itself, next to
the tr statue onthe north-
ern embankment of the
Danube River, Maro
Mauha of BOS told the SITA
newswire. People were also
able to view a smaller, two-
thirds-sized, statue of a
mountedMariaTheresathat
BOS wants to see erected in
the square in its original
size. The miniature of Maria
Theresa is a facsimile of the
original, sculpted by Jn
Fadrusz and installed there
in 1897. It was destroyed in
1921 by Czechoslovak le-
gionnaires who regarded it
as a symbol of the Hungari-
anmonarchy.
1
2
3
AROUND SLOVAKIA
compiled by Zuzana Vilikovsk from press reports
12
FEATURE
November 7 13, 2011
Marcel Bodnr, withfriend. Photo: TASR
4