BANKING
& LEASING
On sale now
NEWS
Cops shoot 'cannibal'
A man from eastern Slov-
akia who had apparently
agreed online to kill and
eat a Swiss citizen was
shot by police after at-
tempting to meet his in-
tended victim.
pg 2
Migrants not welcome
An international analysis of
national systems for deal-
ing with migrants put Slov-
akia in 29th place out of 31
European countries. It high-
lighted bureaucracy, lan-
guage problems and labour
market discrimination.
pg 3
OPINION
From good to bad
Peter Paluda's nomination
to head the NBÚ has fallen
foul of the SDKÚ, despite
the prime minister's out-
spoken support. The party
has not said why and its si-
lence raises many ques-
tions.
pg 5
BUSINESS FOCUS
Bank tax idea returns
The idea of a special tax on
banks is back on the table,
but faces fierce opposition
from the banks, who say
they should not be subject
to a sector-specific tax.
pg 6
Leasing revives
After a wretched 2009, leas-
ing firms detected an up-
swing in business in late
2010 and are predicting con-
tinued growth through
2011.
pg 7
CULTURE
Airmen as diplomats
The United States Air
Forces in Europe Band vis-
ited Slovakia recently, per-
forming in front of more
than 1,400 people. Its role is
as much diplomatic as it is
military.
pg 11
SELECT FOREX RATES
benchmark as of May 12
CANADA CAD 1.37 HUNGARY
CZECH REP. CZK 24.28 JAPAN
RUSSIA RUB 39.69 POLAND
GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.87 USA
FOCUS
Vol. 17, No. 19 Monday, May 16, 2011 - Sunday, May 22, 2011 of this issue
Census
causes clash
BY MICHAELA TERENZANI
Spectator staff
THE DECENNIAL census of residents and
residences, which many social scientists
consider one of the most significant events
of 2011 because of its EU-wide scope, started
in Slovakia on May 13. The actual point of
measurement for the 2011 census will be
midnight between May 20 and May 21 and
the deadline for persons to fill out their
hard-copy questionnaires is June 6.
Despite an information campaign
among residents to raise awareness about
the census, most of the public campaigning
in Slovakia has been centred on attempts by
representatives of national minorities and
After months of anticipation that Team Slovakia might compete for a medal at the first Ice Hockey World Champi- religious groups to motivate their members
onship staged on home ground, the country’s hockey team failed to advance to the quarterfinals after suffering four to state their ethnicity and religion, fol-
defeats in a row. For some, such as team captain Pavol Demitra (pictured above, centre), this was their last chance lowed by public clashes between Slovakia’s
to represent Slovakia on a hockey rink. Other ageing players say it is unlikely that Slovakia will ever revisit its glory interior minister and the country’s Statist-
years from 2000 to 2003 when the country won a bronze, silver and gold at these championships. Demitra's farewell ics Office (ŠÚ) over the country’s prepared-
after the match with Denmark was an emotional experience for all Slovak hockey enthusiasts. Photo: TASR ness for the event.
Minister and ŠÚ trade barbs
Court heads roll as
The feast of statistics, as some Slovak
commentators are calling the country’s
most extensive statistical inquiry, is pro-
jected to cost €30.6 million. But even be-
justice minister acts fore the first doorbell has been rung to
count residents and find out more about
their living arrangements there have been
charges and counter-charges about the
preparation process. The Sme daily repor-
THE PRESIDING judges at 14 Slovak preme Court, Štefan Harabin, a ted in early May that the Interior Ministry
courts have been summarily re- long-time opponent of Žitňanská’s and the Association of Towns and Villages
moved in a wide-ranging reshuffle
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ plans to reform the judicial system, of Slovakia (ZMOS) had expressed concerns
Spectator staff
initiated by Justice Minister Lucia described the minister’s move as a that the results of the census might be
Žitňanská. The dismissals came on “political cleansing” of the judi- biased because the ŠÚ provided municipal-
the heels of a promise made by ciary and said that loss of the ities with maps to be used in creating
Žitňanská in an interview last both Slovak citizens and foreign in- minister’s trust is not sufficient census districts that the ministry and as-
month with The Slovak Spectator to vestors. grounds under the law to fire a sociation said were full of errors.
“take action” against court presid- Nine presidents of district presiding judge.
ents who were unable to explain or courts and five regional court heads Earlier this year, Žitňanská said See TALLY pg 3
remedy failures in the operation of lost their senior positions as of May that she was taking a closer look at
their courts, particularly in terms of 11, with the minister saying that the performance of the courts in or-
delays in hearing cases. Such
Court will no
‘procrastination’, as it is known in
the Slovak legal context, has long
the court bosses in question, as the
worst performers, had lost her
trust. The chairman of the Judicial
der to uncover the state of the judi-
ciary in Slovakia.
longer deal
been the subject of complaints from Council and president of the Su- See FIRED pg 2
Doctors threaten mass resignation with case
their frustration over poor pay and istry spokesperson Katarína
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ low status, following the example Zollerová told The Slovak Spectator. BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff of their Czech colleagues who used Zollerová said the ministry Spectator staff
a similar tactic earlier this year. found the threat of possible mass
The idea was initiated by the resignation surprising, noting that
THE FIRST four months of 2011 Medical Trade Unions Association it has been engaged in intense dia- THE EUROPEAN Court of Arbitration in
have been challenging for (LOZ), which counts 2,000 mem- logue with all stakeholders in the Strasbourg will no longer deal with a case
Slovakia’s health-care sector and, bers out of approximately 18,000 health-care sector and that during involving Slovak legislation which was re-
with Germany and Austria opening physicians across Slovakia. past meetings the trade unions had cently ruled unconstitutional by the
their labour markets on May 1, While it is unclear how many given no indication of a plan to country’s Constitutional Court. HICEE, a
fears of an eventual mass exodus of physicians might submit such no- submit notice en masse. Dutch company that is a 100-percent
Slovak physicians and other tices, Michal Polician, the chair- Polician said the unions are shareholder in the Slovak health insurer
HUF 266.08 health-care professionals have now man of LOZ, told the SITA news- not bypassing further dialogue Dôvera was seeking compensation of more
JPY 114.54 intensified. Nevertheless, the Min- wire that he expects physicians with the ministry but added that than €500 million in a lawsuit filed with
PLN 3.92 istry of Health says that it does not who are not members of LOZ to join the threat of mass resignation the European court challenging legislation
USD 1.42 expect any such flight. the protest. Its exact timing, could be ended only if the govern- passed by the last government that banned
Meanwhile, Slovak physicians however, is unclear. ment meets the health-care uni- private health insurers from using profits
are now warning that they may “The Ministry of Health does ons’ demands. to pay dividends to their shareholders.
submit mass resignation notices to not expect there to be mass sub-
their employers to demonstrate missions of notice,” Health Min- See DOCS pg 4 See HALT pg 4
2 May 16 – 22, 2011
Štefanov retains his MP immunity
THE GENERAL Prosecutor’s
Office will not request that
parliament vote to remove
the immunity from prosecu-
tion enjoyed by MP Igor
Štefanov of the Slovak Na-
tional Party (SNS), saying
that all the facts that would
justify making such a re-
quest have not been con-
firmed, Slovak media repor-
ted on May 6.
Štefanov is suspected of
manipulating a public tender
worth €120 million, known
as the bulletin-board tender,
while serving at the Con-
struction Ministry in the
previous government.
The acting general pro-
secutor, Ladislav Tichý, said
that he could not find any
criminal intention behind
Štefanov’s actions, the Sme
daily reported.
Tichý is reportedly a
close colleague of Dobroslav
Trnka, the former general
prosecutor, who is running
to return to the post in a re-
peat election against the
governing coalition’s can-
didate, Jozef Čentéš, sched-
SDKÚ rejects Paluda's NBÚ candidacy
THE LARGEST ruling coali-
tion party, the Slovak Demo-
cratic and Christian Union
(SDKÚ), does not support the
nomination of judge Peter
Paluda to head the National
Security Office (NBÚ), SDKÚ
parliamentary caucus chair
Jozef Mikuš announced after
a caucus meeting on May 11,
the TASR newswire reported.
Paluda was nominated by
Freedom and Solidarity (SaS).
“We had a long and open
debate and I have to say that
Mr Paluda did not gain the
support of a majority of the
Radičová visits London, meets PM
PRIME Minister Iveta
Radičová paid a two-day visit
to the United Kingdom on
May 10 and 11 and met her
British counterpart David
Cameron and his deputy
Nick Clegg to discuss various
matters including the EU
budget for 2014-2020, the
SITA newswire reported.
Radičová told the media
that she and her British
hosts agreed on most topics,
including budget priorities,
potential tax harmonisation
and the need to consolidate
national budgets, adding
that she thinks a key change
could be made in the EU’s
common agricultural policy,
which traditionally ac-
counts for a significant por-
tion of the EU budget. She
said the current system is
not fair as farmers from
older member states receive
more in subsidies than
farmers in newer states.
“It is not fair that the
uled to take place in parlia-
ment on May 17.
Interior Minister Daniel
Lipšic said Tichý’s decision
regarding Štefanov is a signal
to members of parliament
that that if the present lead-
ership remains at the
prosecutor’s office there will
always be someone to protect
politicians accused of cor-
ruption, Sme reported.
Štefanov is one of four
people accused in the bullet-
in-board tender but is the
only one protected by par-
liamentary immunity.
Štefanov became con-
struction minister after his
predecessor, Marian
Janušek, was recalled by the
SNS under pressure from
then-prime minister Robert
Fico because of the bulletin-
board tender which was
‘won’ by a consortium of two
companies reportedly close
to SNS chairman Ján Slota. It
has been reported that
Štefanov was actively in-
volved in the tender process
as a deputy and was later
forced to resign as minister.
caucus,” Mikuš told TASR. He
refused to comment on the
reasons expressed by caucus
members for withholding
their support from Paluda,
saying only that it would not
be appropriate to make pub-
lic statements.
Paluda is an expert in se-
curity issues, crime, and
criminal and European legis-
lation. He has served as a
prosecutor in Banská
Bystrica, as a Supreme Court
judge (since 1994) and as
Slovakia's representative at
Eurojust (2004-07).
market and competition are
replaced by higher subsidies
in some countries at the ex-
pense of other countries. It
jeopardises our own produc-
tion and this model is not
really just,” she said, as
quoted by SITA, adding that
the response to this should
not be less money for French
farmers, but less money for
large farms.
During her trip Radičová
also met Thomas Mirow, the
president of the European
Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD), and
gave a lecture at the London
School of Economics and
Political Science titled Fiscal
Discipline in the EU: A Ques-
tion of Transparency and
Commitment. She referred
in her speech to her
government's recent rule re-
quiring all government con-
tracts to be published online.
Compiled by Spectator staff
NEWS
Would-be cannibal dies
after police shoot-out
Slovak police swapped the
Suspect dies Swiss man for an agent, who
after being shot then went to meet the suspect
near Kysak on May 10, as
during arrest; one agreed. The agent carried a
police officer left transmitter to allow other of-
ficers to track him.
gravely injured
Policeman and suspect shot
IN ONE of Slovakia’s more
bizarre criminal cases, Slovak “As soon as we verified
police foiled a case of what that it was the suspect, the po-
they said was attempted can- lice intervened,” Spišiak told
nibalism on May 10. An un- journalists, as quoted by the
dercover team swooped near Sme daily
Kysak, a village in the vicinity The shoot-out occurred
of Košice, after learning that a when a police SWAT team at-
local man was planning to kill tempted to arrest the suspect.
and eat a Swiss citizen with Minister Lipšic and Police Corps President Spišiak. Photo: TASR
The man, who possesses four
whom he made an online legally-held firearms, pulled
pact. The police operation his nerve shortly before trav- According to the president out a gun and threatened to
was not a complete success: elling and reported the plan of the Police Corps, Jaroslav shoot the agent; in response
the suspect was armed and to Swiss police. Spišiak, the Swiss agreed to be police snipers opened fire, hit-
both he and a police officer Police officers then killed in woodland. The ting him several times. Des-
were seriously injured in the tracked the e-mail commu- would-be cannibal was sup- pite his injuries, he returned
ensuing shoot-out. The sus- nication between the would- posed to drug him, stab him in fire and managed to shoot one
pect died of his injuries two be human flesh-eater and the the heart and then quarter of the SWAT unit members be-
days later. Swiss man. him. His remains were to be fore being subdued.
Slovak police were noti- “He [the Swiss citizen] hidden – laced with pepper in “He [the policeman] was
fied about the planned can- wanted to die, and agreed to order to mask the scent and shot from the side, in an un-
nibalism by Interpol. The have his body quartered and prevent animals from finding protected area; the bullet
Swiss man, who had ex- subsequently consumed by a the body – and subsequently entered through his shoulder
pressed a desire to be killed person whose identity we eaten over a period of time. into the thoracic cavity,”
and subsequently eaten, did not know,” Interior Min- The expected victim was Lipšic said, as quoted by Sme.
found a willing accomplice in ister Daniel Lipšic told supposed to arrive in Kysak by He praised the officer for risk-
Slovakia through the internet journalists at a briefing at train, wearing clothes previ- ing his life.
and arranged a meeting to the crime scene, as quoted by ously agreed on with his in-
carry out the plan, but lost the TASR newswire. tended killer. See KYSAK pg 9
FIRED: Harabin decries 'political' move
Continued from pg 1 certain courts,” Žitňanská said in the in- extensive personnel changes in the
terview, published on April 11. “I will then justice system since the times of [former
Transparency watchdogs, busi- pay special attention to the courts which minister] Ján Čarnogurský” and that
nesses, the media and the diplomatic aren’t working in the way they should. In they are disrupting the course of justice.
community have voiced concern for sev- courts where procrastination is frequent “To be credible, justice must be in-
eral years about the state of justice in and the state often has to reimburse af- dependent, and must also be seen to be
Slovakia. Žitňanská said that only after fected citizens it is completely legitimate independent,” Žitňanská said, as quoted
the review process was completed would to demand that the president of the court by TASR. “If a court is headed by some-
she make personnel changes. explains the delays and sets out what has body who has been publicly reported to
The heads of the district courts in done to change the situation. If the court be linked to facts that erode the percep-
Banská Bystrica, Bratislava’s district III, president is unable to provide the an- tion of being trusted, then this could
Čadca, Dolný Kubín, Košice’s districts I swers then I will have to take action.” mean that the justice system as a whole
and II, Veľký Krtíš and Žilina, along with Žitňanská also said she would try to may not be perceived as trustworthy
heads of the regional courts in Bratislava, avoid political decisions. and independent, and then it’s a prob-
Banská Bystrica, Prešov, Trenčín and Many of the recalled judges were lem for justice as such.”
Žilina were all dismissed. They will re- close allies of Harabin. Yet Žitňanská re- Žitňanská also said that she dis-
main at their respective courts, but serve jected the interpretation that she first of cussed the performance of the judges in
as regular judges. all sacked judges close to Harabin. question with them about a month ago,
According to a ministry press release, “I am not dividing judges into those and that the ministry later published
Žitňanská assessed the courts’ perform- who are close to Harabin and those who the results of the analyses on its web-
ance by using three criteria: procrastina- aren’t,” said Žitňanská, adding that she site. She said that this made her de-
tion, i.e. the level of delays in court cases; was looking into the results of the courts. cisions quite predictable.
respect for the principle of random as- Nevertheless, Harabin, who has
signment of court files; and the ability of been criticised for using disciplinary The court presidents who were fired
each court head to manage their court in proceedings to punish judges who are
an unbiased way in line with ethical critical of him or of the condition of the In detail, the following judges were
standards. judiciary he leads, said that the minister dismissed as court presidents, as repor-
A recently published statistic sugges- plans to install “so-called critics” to ted by the Sme daily: Ján Bobor, Banská
ted that last year the state had to pay these vacant posts. Bystrica Regional Court; Gabriela
damages of €1,112,000 based on rulings As for the minister’s arguments Šimonová, Bratislava Regional Court; Ig-
by the Constitutional Court related to the about the judges’ performance, Harabin or Burger, Prešov Regional Court; Jozef
operation of the judicial system, and that pointed to the Regional Court in Prešov Kutiš, Trenčín Regional Court; Juraj
most of the money was paid out as com- and argued that, in terms of its speed of Krupa, Žilina Regional Court; Ľubomír
pensation for unjustified delays. proceedings, this court has been the best Bušík, Banská Bystrica District Court,
When Žitňanská was asked earlier performer in Slovakia, SITA reported. Richard Molnár, Bratislava III District
this year by The Slovak Spectator wheth- Žitňanská said that she would take a Court; Kajetán Kičuna, Čadca District
er she was planning any reshuffles, she closer look at other courts as well. A re- Court; Blažena Strašíková, Dolný Kubín
said that first she had to ensure that it cent revision to the Act on Judges and District Court; Andrej Mitterpák, Košice I
was absolutely obvious that all the steps Judicial Assistants has made it possible District Court; Jozef Pribula, Košice-
she took were completely legitimate. for the justice minister to remove judges. okolie District Court; Vladimír Kotuš,
“First I want to uncover the condi- One of the recalled chairs, who spoke Košice II District Court; Slavomír Ci-
tions within the judiciary and show dif- to the TASR newswire on condition of merman, Veľký Krtíš District Court;
ferences between the performances of anonymity, said that “these are the most Daniel Béreš, Žilina District Court.

Slovakia ranked near
bottom on migration
Analysis finds its
policies among
the worst in EU
BY MICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
BUREAUCRATIC barriers, lan-
guage problems and a discrim-
inatory labour market: these
are only a few of the difficulties
that migrants experience to
some extent anywhere in the
world. In Slovakia, however,
these barriers tend to be worse
than almost everywhere else in
Europe or North America, with
expert observers saying this is
because elected officials and
policymakers do not consider
migration an important or
pressing topic.
Slovakia ranked third from
the bottom among 31 coun-
tries evaluated in the recently
published Migration Integra-
tion Policy Index (MIPEX III),
with only Cyprus and Latvia
getting worse results. The
MIPEX III report stated that
Slovakia had not made much
progress in improving its mi-
gration policies and new-
comers to the country experi-
ence weak and incoherent
practices. The MIPEX project
is led by the British Council
and the Migration Policy
Group, made up of 37 national-
level organisations, including
think-tanks, NGOs, universit-
ies, foundations, research in-
stitutes and equality bodies.
Laco Oravec of the Milan
Šimečka Foundation noted that
the fact that 28 out of 31 coun-
tries are doing better in their
integration and migration
policies than Slovakia is a warn-
ing sign, adding that Slovakia
does not have a clear picture of
its basic values and orientation
regarding migration and integ-
ration of newcomers.
“That is why the existing
policies are quite minimalist-
ic, or beginner-like, because
nobody has ever said here [in
Slovakia] how we want to
treat incoming foreigners in
the future,” Oravec told The
Slovak Spectator.
Migration is ignored
It is a fact that Slovakia
has one of the EU’s smallest
foreign-born populations,
with only about 1 percent of
the population consisting of
foreigners in 2009, according
to MIPEX, and that is at least
one of the reasons that migra-
tion is not a pressing political
issue. The report stated that
Slovakia was one of the last
EU countries to adopt an in-
tegration concept, doing so
only in May 2009.
Oravec noted that the lack
of interest in migration and
The reception at the Border and Foreigners' Police station in Petržalka.
integration policies is com-
mon across the political spec-
trum and for that reason the
general direction of state
policy has not changed with
different governments.
“It would seem more le-
gitimate to me if some politi-
cians said that [the country’s
integration policy] should be
restrictive and selective,”
Oravec said. “But there is no
clear decision about that; no
clear direction has been set.
And that is why the migra-
tion office can promote a
rather restrictive approach
and put issues of security and
border controls over issues of
respect for human dignity,
solidarity and social cohesion
in society.”
Zuzana Števulová of the
Human Rights League (HRL)
agreed with Oravec and said
in an interview with The
Slovak Spectator that policy-
makers show only very little
or almost no interest in the
topic of migration, adding
that Slovakia is a country
with only a very short history
of incoming immigration.
“The concept of integra-
tion had been passed but no
financial resources were as-
signed to it and the respons-
ible government departments
weren’t assigned specific
tasks,” Števulová said.
According to a report dis-
cussed by the Slovak cabinet
on May 11, the number of for-
eigners requesting interna-
tional protection in the coun-
try has been dropping since
2005 and other migration to
Slovakia has been at a stable
level. But the SITA newswire
reported that this might
change due to current politic-
al developments and the
worsening security situations
in North Africa and the
Middle East.
Slovakia’s Interior Minis-
ter, Daniel Lipšic, is soon ex-
pected to submit a draft
policy statement for the
NEWS
country with an outlook to
2020, as he was tasked to do
so at a cabinet session in
early February.
Who migrates to Slovakia?
The number of legal mi-
grants living in Slovakia was
estimated to be slightly over
19,000 according to a study
entitled Economic Aspects of
Migration and Integration of
Migrants from Third Coun-
tries in Slovakia that was pre-
pared by the Institute for Pub-
lic Affairs (IVO). The study
stated that the group of mi-
grants is not homogenous
even though it is quite small.
The vast majority of mi-
grants arriving in Slovakia re-
ported that they had left their
homeland for economic reas-
ons, with 42 percent of those
surveyed stating unfavour-
able economic conditions and
32 percent stating low living
standards as their reasons for
migrating, IVO wrote.
Two thirds of the surveyed
migrants said they intention-
ally chose Slovakia and they
did not perceive it as a transit
country or an accidental
choice, with the corollary
finding that they had come to
Slovakia primarily for a job
they had already arranged, to
join relatives already living
here, or to study.
Obstacles for migrants
According to the IVO
study, many migrants (33
percent) perceived bureau-
cracy as the biggest obstacle
they had to face in Slovakia.
Similarly, 32 percent felt in-
security about their resid-
ency permit, and 28 percent
perceived serious obstacles in
becoming familiar with Slov-
ak legislation and the
country's tax system.
“Slovakia is clearly very re-
strictive, conservative and not
very supportive in the integra-
Photo: Sme - Pavol Funtál
tion of foreigners,” Oravec told
The Slovak Spectator, adding
that Slovakia’s integration
policy is not progressive and
does not work in practice.
MIPEX III stated that im-
migrants can best integrate in
Slovak society by establishing
long-term residency with
their families based on EU law
“even if discretionary Slovak
procedures create more prob-
lems than in most countries”.
Števulová noted that
Slovak laws give broad lee-
way to bureaucrats to decide
about granting, renewing, or
cancelling a migrant’s resid-
ency permit.
According to MIPEX III,
problems in the area of grant-
ing citizenship to foreign na-
tionals became worse after
Slovakia’s Citizenship Act was
amended in 2007. Slovakia
now imposes Europe’s longest
waiting time before making
migrants eligible for citizen-
ship, three years after acquir-
ing a permanent residency
permit, while adding that ap-
plicants for citizenship must
overcome “some of the most
subjective and restrictive
conditions”. The report stated
that the citizenship procedure
in Slovakia is difficult, poten-
tially lengthy (24 months),
and is one of the most expens-
ive (€663.50), especially for
central Europe.
A blue card for some
Slovakia’s policies to-
wards new non-EU migrant
workers are “nearly
unfavourable” and “could
jeopardise their long-term
economic integration”, the
MIPEX III authors stated.
Slovakia was the only country
in the comparative evaluation
to receive zero points on the
criteria of access to the labour
market and targeted support
to migrants.
See NEW pg 9
TALLY: Census
deadline is June 6
Continued from pg 1
Sme wrote that less than
two weeks before the census
started whole streets, along
with their houses, were
missing in the census dis-
tricts of some towns and vil-
lages while other streets and
houses were incorrectly
marked or positioned within
a district.
Interior Minister Daniel
Lipšic accused the ŠÚ of
mishandling preparations
for the census.
“We warned the Statist-
ics Office as early as last
year that its preparation for
the census was unsatisfact-
ory, that the census dis-
tricts had been created in
an odd way, that there was
no methodology and that
the groundwork was wrong
and outdated,” Lipšic said,
as quoted by the SITA
newswire.
Ľudmila Benkovičová,
the head of the ŠÚ, reacted to
the minister’s accusations
by saying that the census is
more threatened by what
she called his inaccurate in-
formation and dramatic
claims, as these could dis-
courage people from parti-
cipating in the census.
Benkovičová said she be-
lieves any problems
stemmed from insufficient
revision of urban maps and
she blamed that on the In-
terior Ministry, which she
said refused to provide the
results of changes in muni-
cipal unit borders to the ŠÚ.
The census districts were
to be established based on
revised maps of urban areas.
The Environment Ministry
was assigned to prepare the
revisions based on an agree-
ment with the ŠÚ but the In-
terior Ministry ordered its
district offices to stop the
process. In December, the
Interior Ministry developed
its own project, but accord-
ing to Benkovičová it did not
harmonise the outputs.
Moreover, Benkovičová said
at that time the ŠÚ already
had an ongoing contract
with IBM for eight months to
cover all stages of the census
and that IBM had created an
application for the ŠÚ based
on maps provided by the Of-
fice of Geodesy, Cartography
and Cadastre. The problem,
Benkovičová said, was that
the Interior Ministry had re-
fused to provide her office
with the results of its
changes to the borders of
municipal districts.
The conflict has not had
any consequences for
Benkovičová so far, but
Lipšic stated that high-rank-
ing officials might be asked
to take responsibility for
what he called mishandled
preparations for the census.
After receiving com-
plaints from mayors, the ŠÚ
ordered an analysis of errors
in the documentation that
had been sent to municipal-
May 16 – 22, 2011 3
ities. The SITA newswire
wrote that 100,000 discrep-
ancies had been found when
the registers of people and
houses provided by the ŠÚ
were examined.
Technical details
Apart from the fact that
this is the first census that
is being synchronised
across the EU, it is also the
first time that Slovakia will
allow residents to complete
census forms electronic-
ally. The electronic census
sheets are available at
www.scitanie2011.sk, and
the ŠÚ says that the web-
site is ready to handle a po-
tentially high number of
visitors.
While the hardcopy
questionnaires can be com-
pleted anytime between May
21 and June 6, the window
for online submissions is re-
stricted to between May 21
and May 29. Those interested
in completing an electronic
census form should an-
nounce that desire to their
census taker when first vis-
ited; if they fail to do so then
the census taker must visit
once more and fill out a
hardcopy questionnaire.
The obligation to com-
plete census forms applies
also to foreigners living in
Slovakia, with the exception
of those with diplomatic ad-
vantages and immunity. A
foreigner residing in Slov-
akia for less than 90 days is
obliged only to answer three
questions: sex, date of birth
and citizenship.
Pumping up the numbers
As the period to fill out
the census questionnaires
approaches, representatives
of national minorities and
religious groups are cam-
paigning to encourage
people to state that they be-
long to a particular religious
group or to a national minor-
ity when completing the
questionnaire.
Representatives of the
ethnic Hungarian minority
have expressed concern that
the number of ethnic Hun-
garians living in Slovakia
might drop significantly in
this census and both politic-
al parties representing eth-
nic Hungarian citizens,
Most-Híd and the Hungarian
Coalition Party (SMK), are
running campaigns.
The Roma Media Centre
(MECEM) launched an in-
formation campaign direc-
ted toward Roma residents
in March. According to the
director of the Centre,
Kristína Magdolenová,
Roma have received inform-
ation about their census-re-
lated rights and duties and
how to communicate with
the census takers via a pro-
gramme broadcast on pub-
lic-service television and
distributed via DVDs.
4 May 16 – 22, 2011
Cabinet outlines future budget plans
THE CABINET approved the
draft budget outlines for the
next three years at its regular
session on May 11. Based on
the Finance Ministry draft,
the amount allocated for
wages in the public sector
will remain frozen in 2012,
with the exception of pay for
teachers. The ministry also
proposes other measures,
such as increases in excise
and property taxes, the SITA
newswire reported.
The ministry fears that
the measures included in the
draft budget will not be suffi-
cient to reduce the deficit to
the planned 3.8 percent of
GDP next year, and that addi-
tional measures to raise rev-
enue or cut spending will
have to be adopted. The
biggest cuts are to be achieved
by freezing the public-sector
Tax revenue lagging by 8.2 percent
STATE tax revenues in the
first four months of 2011
were €2.668 billion, 8.2 per-
cent behind expectations.
Non-tax revenue represented
€81.6 million at the end of
April, the Tax Directorate re-
ported, according to the SITA
newswire.
Revenue from income
tax, profit and capital gains
was €541.5 million, which
represented 84.18 percent of
the budgeted level. Domestic
taxes on goods and services
of €2.113 billion also lagged
projections, by 6.13 percent.
Road tender scrapped over lawsuit
SLOVAKIA’S National
Highway Company (NDS)
has cancelled a tender for
the construction of the
second stage of the
Jánovce-Jablonov stretch
of the D1 motorway in east-
ern Slovakia, NDS head
Alan Sitár told the TASR
newswire on May 9.
He said the decision had
been taken because one of
the participants in the
tender may seek a court re-
view of a decision by the Pub-
lic Procurement Office
(ÚVO), adding that this may
ultimately lead to a court in-
junction halting the tender
and future construction. The
NDS head stated that cancel-
lation was the only way to
address the issue.
Bratislava-Warsaw flights cancelled
AFTER one year of opera-
tion Bratislava will lose its
direct air link with
Warsaw. LOT Polish Air-
lines announced on its
website that it is halting
the regular service between
Warsaw and Bratislava as
of May 17, the SITA news-
wire reported.
wage bill, saving €172 million.
The wages of teachers,
meanwhile, will increase by
3 percent in 2012. According
to Finance Minister Ivan
Mikloš, the coalition parties
had already agreed to this
step and it was directly in-
cluded in the budget out-
lines, SITA reported.
The budget outlines also
include a 5-percent cut in the
operating costs of the state,
which should save €105.3
million, and a reduction in
other state spending, which
should improve the balance
by €157.8 million.
The ministry proposes
some 30 other measures to
achieve an additional €200
million in savings which it
believes will be necessary to
squeeze the 2012 budget defi-
cit to 3.8 percent GDP.
Collection of excise taxes
totalled €616.3 million and
reached 88.69 percent of the
budgeted level.
Value added tax raised
€1.497 billion, 3.8 percent
short of the plan. Tax and
customs offices are expected
to collect a total of €8.717 bil-
lion this year.
Last year, the tax and
customs revenues of the
state totalled €7.962 billion,
down 0.8 percent from 2009.
Non-tax revenues dropped
17.7 percent year-on-year in
2010 to €681.3 million.
A new competition for
the highway section could
probably be announced with-
in three weeks, with the bid
envelopes opened some time
in late summer, Sitár said,
while adding that the NDS
remains committed to its
strategic objective of com-
pleting individual highway
stretches of the Bratislava-
Košice D1 highway link.
The overall timeline for
completing the project
should be announced soon
after the Transport Ministry
publicly releases its strategy
for highway construction,
TASR wrote, adding that the
ministry has stated that
quality, transparency and ef-
ficiency will be the overarch-
ing principles.
The company explained
its decision by referring to
lower-than-expected interest
in the service. The route will
be scrapped exactly one year
after LOT resumed flights to
Bratislava following a previ-
ous one-year break.
Compiled by Spectator staff
BUSINESS
DOCS: More protests in the pipeline
Continued from pg 1 Both physicians and
nurses are demanding more
These include observance funding from the state
of the restrictions on working budget and they have pro-
hours in the Labour Code and a posed that the resources can
halt in the government’s cur- be found from programmes
rent plans to transform state- for accident insurance and
owned hospitals into joint- sick leave insurance, or from
stock companies as well as a excise taxes on alcohol and
gradual increase in health-care tobacco. They are also pro-
workers’ salaries so that they posing that beginning in
reach between 1.5 and three 2012, monthly payments for
times the average wage by 2013, health insurance should be
depending on qualifications. set at the level of 5.5 percent,
Anton Szalay, the chair- SITA reported.
man of the Trade Union of Zollerová said the Health
Medical and Social Services Ministry agrees with most of
Employees (SOZZaSS), told The the demands by health-care
Slovak Spectator that his uni- Will Slovak doctors leave? Photo: Sme employees, such as respect for
on will hold talks with Poli- the Labour Code, resolution of
cian on May 19 to discuss the find an additional €126 mil- is over, said Milan Dragula, the debts of hospitals and
protest action. Szalay stated lion for health-care institu- the president of the Slovak higher salaries. But she noted
he considers the option of tions, saying this is the Chamber of Physicians, in that paying off the debts of
submitting notice en masse as shortfall caused by the reduc- evaluating the outcome of a the hospitals goes hand in
a very last resort but added tion in the state’s contribu- May 10 meeting between rep- hand with their transforma-
that his union will survey its tion on behalf of those indi- resentatives of medical organ- tion into joint-stock compan-
members about their atti- viduals it insures. isations and trade unions ies, which she said the trade
tudes towards the tactic. The Ministry of Health with the Slovak parliament’s unions keep rejecting for
Szalay said that all the 10 said it considers it to be uneth- committee on health care. some reason.
organisations associated with ical and inappropriate for The health-care repres- “The bad management of
his trade union support the physicians to use patients as entatives said they wanted the hospitals can be blamed
demand that financing issues hostages during negotiations to discuss methods to cover on the fact that these work as
in health care are resolved. over resolving the vexing is- the debts of health-care in- budgetary organisations,
“We see the greatest sues in the health-care sector. stitutions but were dissatis- lacking transparency and
shortcoming in the fact that “The physicians are late by fied with the results of the effectiveness,” Zollerová said,
the government’s budget has at least four years when under meeting. Dragula said the adding that hospitals that
approved payments from the the previous government no next steps taken by health- were transformed into state-
state for insurance policy progress was made within the care workers should be run, joint-stock companies in
holders at 4.32 percent [of the health-care ministry,” said more resolute. 2006 are functioning with
calculation base] as compared Zollerová, adding that the cur- “There are many issues balanced budgets because
with the previously applied rent government had taken involved and it also depends they must maintain trans-
4.78 percent,” Szalay said. over a sector laden with debts on the moods of the health- parent accounting, publish
He stated that it is neces- exceeding €200 million. care employees,” said their closing books and un-
sary for the government to The time for negotiations Dragula. dergo audits.
HALT: Long-running cases likely to go on
Continued from pg 1 written decision, which they should re- the legislation was in the pipeline that it
ceive in a couple of weeks, before deciding interfered with the ownership rights of
The legislation, which became one of on next steps, adding that once they un- shareholders and that the state is per-
the most criticised laws advanced by the derstand the court’s exact reasoning, the mitted to interfere with ownership
government of Robert Fico, also attracted lawyers may propose further proceedings. rights only if certain conditions are met:
the attention of the European Commis- Danko stated that Penta is positive if intervention is unavoidable; if it is
sion. The present cabinet of Prime Minis- about the recent decision of Slovakia’s demonstrably in the public interest; and
ter Iveta Radičová has already agreed a Constitutional Court that ruled the legis- if there is adequate compensation.
draft amendment to deal with the issue lation unconstitutional. In 2008, 49 members of the Slovak
but the legislation has not yet been con- The Constitutional Court found that parliament asked the Constitutional
sidered by parliament. the legislation, which became effective in Court to review the law, arguing that the
HICEE is owned by Penta Interna- 2008, restricted the property rights of amendment contradicted the constitu-
tional Investment Group and its spokes- health insurers’ shareholders and that the tion as well as international laws. Later,
person said the arbitration court’s de- government had interfered in the insurers’ Fico, who now serves as a deputy speaker
cision was of a technical-procedural right to do business by depriving them of of parliament, refused to represent the
nature and did not address the essence of their right to make autonomous decisions Slovak parliament in front of the Consti-
the issue, which Penta said is whether over how to use their profits. It ruled that tutional Court in the hearing regarding
the 2007 revision to Slovakia’s health in- this restriction was unconstitutional. the health insurance legislation.
surance legislation was legal or whether In defending the legislation in 2007, Citing dissatisfaction with market
it violated international agreements on Fico, then prime minister, told public conditions in Slovakia, private health in-
the protection of investments. broadcaster Slovak Radio that the previ- surer Európska Zdravotná Poisťovňa left
“Certainly, we do not consider the ous centre-right government’s aim had the market in 2008. Dôvera and Apollo
decision of the arbitration tribunal to be been “to allow someone, mainly foreign merged in 2010, leaving only one other
favorable,” Martin Danko, spokesman for firms, to access public resources and private insurer, Union. The two state-
Penta Investments, told The Slovak Spec- gradually carve off huge profits from run health insurers, Všeobecná
tator. “On the other hand, our main goal these resources. People are now required Zdravotná Poisťovňa (VšZP) and Spoločná
is not to be involved in arbitrations but to to pay money for insurance premiums to Zdravotná Poisťovňa (SZP), also merged
operate in a stable and predictable legis- the insurers and it is absolutely unac- in 2010.
lative environment.” ceptable to us to allow someone to keep Danko told Sme that one possible
According to a report in the Sme part of this money.” reason why the arbitration court decided
daily, the court is continuing to review The private health insurers operating that the case does not come under its jur-
the same issue in a dispute between the in Slovakia retorted that the legislation isdiction is that HICEE is not the direct
Dutch Eureko company, the majority was hostile to the investments made by owner of Dôvera: Dôvera Holding is an in-
shareholder in Slovakia’s Union health their major shareholders. HICEE filed the termediary company between HICEE and
insurer, which also filed an arbitration lawsuit against Slovakia in January 2009, the Dôvera health insurance company.
claim seeking around €160 million. claiming some €500 million in compens- Former health minister Richard Raši,
An arbitration case involving a third ation. Fico called the action blackmail. a nominee of Fico's Smer party, welcomed
private health insurer, Apollo, which Slovakia’s Association of Health In- the court’s decision and told Sme that he
merged with Dôvera in 2010, is still being surers (ZZP) had stated several times that hopes that this will also be the outcome in
assessed by the court to determine the legislation would conflict with inter- the other shareholders’ case, adding that
whether it has jurisdiction over it, the national agreements on the protection of “resources of public health insurance are
SITA newswire reported. investments, as well with EU law and in question. If you pay obligatorily as a
Danko told The Slovak Spectator that Slovakia’s constitution. ZZP’s Eduard health tax, it is absurd that someone is
HICEE representatives will study the Kováč told The Slovak Spectator when drawing that money in the form of profit.”

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
Pavol Demitra, the captain of Team Slovakia, after his last match in the national jersey.
BY LUKÁŠ FILA
Special to the Spectator
IF YOU regard central Europe
as the region of Count Drac-
ula and The Blood Countess
Erzsébet Báthory, the top
news of this week will come
as no surprise – Slovakia
came close to having its first
cannibal (kanibal) in recent
history. What does this say
about the country?
First, it has huge tourist
potential. The hockey world
championship has failed to at-
tract the large numbers of vis-
itors businesses and municip-
alities had expected. But no
need to worry: with stories
such as this one Slovakia
could yet turn into a top des-
tination for thrill-seeking
tourists. Whether you yearn
The 2011 World Ice Hockey Championship continued in Slovakia with quarterfinals in Bratislava on
May 11 and 12. As The Slovak Spectator went to press the Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland had
qualified for the semifinals, while Russia and Canada were still to play. The Czech team dispatched
the US team 4:0 on May 11, with Czech star Jaromír Jágr (pictured above) scoring a hat trick.
“This sport brought fame to Slovakia and the competent people
should build on it. People got to know our country thanks to hockey.”
Kanibal
SLOVAK WORD
OF THE WEEK
to be eaten, or just have a taste
for places of horror, don’t hes-
itate to come.
Second, the bad reputa-
tion of Slovak services is not
deserved. The cannibal ar-
OPINION
rived at the agreed meeting
with his victim well prepared
– he had all his equipment,
drugs and black pepper to
keep away the animals while
the body was stored in the
holes which he had already
dug. Although experience
with many locals is torturous,
you can find quality profes-
sionals in Slovakia when you
try hard enough.
Third, shooting seems to
be becoming a regular part of
local life. Last August there
was the mass murderer in
Bratislava; now comes anoth-
er standoff between the police
and a lunatic. Sure, guns are
not new to Slovakia, but pre-
vious killings usually in-
volved the mafia. Now, in-
creasingly, it’s regular people
gone berserk that use
weapons to harm others. And
with them, central Europe is
becoming a bit more scary.
Photo: ČTK
A good nomination goes bad
IT HAD seemed that Free-
dom and Solidarity (SaS) had
finally picked the right can-
didate to replace yet another
state security chief who had
been found to have a less-
than-squeaky-clean his-
tory. Peter Paluda, a stern
critic of Supreme Court pres-
ident Štefan Harabin, ini-
tially appeared to be accept-
able to all those who make
up the country’s rather fra-
gile ruling coalition: that
rare public figure without
any heavy or malodorous
historical baggage.
When Prime Minister
Iveta Radičová described
Paluda as a good nomina-
tion, observers assumed that
her party, the Slovak Demo-
cratic and Christian Union
(SDKÚ), would follow her
lead. But SDKÚ MPs’ de-
cision to reject Paluda’s
nomination has left observ-
ers wondering exactly why.
When SDKÚ caucus lead-
er Jozef Mikuš told the media
about the party’s decision he
refused to specify any reason,
stating only that it would ‘not
be appropriate’ to make pub-
lic statements on the matter.
As of May 12 the SDKÚ re-
mained silent. This silence
sounds much worse than a
straightforward explanation
of the rejection. But that, of
course, assumes that there is
a straightforward reason,
rather than murky party
politics or fears among SDKÚ
MPs that the party would not
have sufficient control over
the job or its holder.
The Sme daily noted that
the deputies had received – as
it also had – an anonymous
letter about Paluda’s ‘family
ties’ (Sme did not expand) and
the allegedly communist past
of his family. The daily also
reported that the SDKÚ may
consider Paluda to be too close
to Interior Minister Daniel
Lipšic, even though his party,
the Christian Democratic
Movement (KDH), is one of its
coalition partners.
Given the initial support
that Paluda received, if the
SDKÚ does not provide an ac-
May 16 – 22, 2011 5
ceptable reason for its rejec- ing to resign unless one of
tion of him it could be easily Mikloš’ appointees left office.
interpreted by the public to Allowing party in-fight-
mean: we have our reasons, ing to influence appoint-
but they are none of your
business. If they found a
blemish in Paluda’s record
ments to crucial posts –
Paluda was nominated to
head the National Security Of-
that suddenly put all the pre- fice (NBÚ), Slovakia’s main
vious information published
about him in a different light,
security vetting agency –
could deal another serious
blow to the image of the
EDITORIAL
SDKÚ. And to the many who
want this government to deal
with serious issues – such as
making public procurement
more transparent and clean-
ing up the judiciary – such a
scenario would come as a ma-
jor disappointment.
All this is happening one
week before a crucial secret
ballot of MPs to select the next
general prosecutor. If former
incumbent Dobroslav Trnka,
who has clearly stated his de-
sire to return to the job for an-
other seven years and is being
backed by the opposition, is
chosen then Radičová says
she will resign.
This makes not only most
of the ruling coalition but
also those who had hoped for
a stable government dis-
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ tinctly edgy. Her threat may
Spectator staff not deter every ruling coali-
tion deputy from voting for
Trnka: on the contrary, it
then they have a duty to tell us may serve the interests of
what it is. those who could benefit from
Interestingly, Radičová the chaotic fall of the gov-
on May 12, one day after her ernment and encourage
party had rejected his nomin- them to vote for him.
ation, restated her own sup- There are two answers to
port for Paluda: “I consider the question of who would
him a principle-driven person benefit from such a situation,
and it [the rejection] does not one obvious and the other
change my attitude at all,” more complicated. The easy
SITA reported her as saying. answer is Smer leader Robert
Of course, there is specu- Fico; the more complicated
lation that the SDKÚ rejec- one is those who want to see a
tion was partly intended as a weakened Radičová and who
snub to Radičová. In some think that even if she resigns
ways that interpretation is there will be some way to re-
almost irresistible, following vamp the present govern-
the controversial tax office ment in order to secure great-
rental deal involving a local er prizes than they currently
SDKÚ official that led enjoy. It is a very tricky situ-
Radičová publicly to cross ation, because if they do vote
Finance Minister Ivan for Trnka, they could find that
Mikloš. In that case, Radičová they lose out completely, as
prevailed only after refusing would all those voters who
to show up for a cabinet meet- paved their way to parlia-
ing and indirectly threaten- ment, undeservedly so.
   





     
 

 
      
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6 May 16 – 22, 2011

BANKING & LEASING

Fico-era basic banking
BUSINESS FOCUS Next issue:
requirement is scrapped

Banks pushed to reduce

charges on housing products HUMAN RESOURCES

Institutions and organisations in the

Special tax on banks banking and leasing sectors

Ministry of Finance
www.finance.gov.sk

put on the table again Minister: Ivan Mikloš

National Bank of Slovakia (NBS), www.nbs.sk

Banks oppose
introduction of
any selective
sectoral tax
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
THE IDEA of a special bank tax
has been put back on the table
in Slovakia. While the opposi-
tion has revived a previously
rejected proposal to impose a
special tax on banks, the Fin-
ance Ministry has now come
up with its own proposal in-
spired by the European
Commission’s work on an EU
framework for crisis manage-
ment in the financial sector.
And even though Slovak
banks, unlike those in several
other EU countries, survived
the financial crisis that started
in summer 2007 without state
aid, the ministry wants to
move quickly and introduce
the tax as early as of the start
of 2012.
Finance Minister Ivan
Mikloš opposed a special bank
tax last year when the opposi-
Banks say customers will at least partly bear the costs of a special tax.
tion wanted to introduce it in-
stead of the 1-percentage point
hike in value added tax to 20
percent. Later he agreed to the
introduction of such a tax in a
coordinated way within the
European Union. Now that it
has become clear that the
European Commission may
fail to agree the introduction
of such a tax by 2012, as origin-
ally planned, Mikloš has pro-
posed introducing one in Slov-
akia anyway, with effect from
the start of next year. Banks in
Slovakia are opposed.
The Finance Ministry an-
nounced the introduction of
the special tax on banks in its
2011-2014 Stability Programme,
which Slovakia was obliged to
send to the European Commis-
Photo: Sme
sion by the end of April. Ac-
cording to this document, the
new tax will be calculated on
the aggregate liabilities of
each bank after taking into ac-
count their own capital re-
sources and deposits already
protected by the national de-
posit protection scheme.
See SBA pg 8
Slovak Banking Association, www.sbaonline.sk
Bank ombudsman, www.bankovyombudsman.sk
Association of Leasing Companies of Slovakia (ASL),
www.lizing.sk
Some banks active in Slovakia
Československá Obchodná Banka (ČSOB), www.csob.sk
Dexia Banka, www.dexia.sk
ING Bank, www.ing.sk
J&T Banka, www.jt-bank.sk
Oberbank, www.oberbank.sk
OTP Banka Slovensko, www.otpbank.sk
Poštová Banka, www.pabk.sk
Privatbanka, www.privatbanka.sk
Saxo Bank, http://sk.saxobank.com
Slovenská Sporiteľňa, www.slsp.sk
Tatra Banka, www.tatrabanka.sk
UniCredit Bank Slovakia, www.unicreditbank.sk
Volksbank Slovensko, www.volksbank.sk
VÚB, www.vub.sk
Direct banks
mBank, www.mbank.sk
Zuno, www.zuno.sk
Housing savings banks in Slovakia
Three banks, called housing construction savings banks,
specialise in support for purchase of housing in Slovakia:
ČSOB Stavebná Sporiteľňa, www.csob.sk/sp
Prvá Stavebná Sporiteľňa, www.pss.sk
Wüstenrot Stavebná Sporiteľňa, www.wustenrot.sk
Leasing companies in Slovakia
ČSOB Leasing, www.csobleasing.sk
Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Slovakia,
www.dcfs.sk

‘Mestská’ card includes banking services Oberbank Leasing, www.oberbank.sk

BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
WHILE a card granting discounts on
tickets to museums, galleries and other
venues used especially by tourists is no
longer a novelty in major cities, Bratis-
lava has now taken it a step further by
introducing a similar card, but this time
to residents – and has included banking
services on it too. This extra feature has
made the Bratislavská mestská karta, as
it is officially known, a popular product
among locals, with almost 18,000 ac-
quiring one since January. So far, four
banks have joined the project and one,
inspired by the success of pre-paid mo-
bile cards, is even issuing cards to resid-
ents who are not existing customers.
“The Bratislavská mestská karta is a
common project by the city and the
banks which have joined the project,”
Ľubomír Andrassy, the spokesperson of
Bratislava Mayor Milan Ftáčnik, told
The Slovak Spectator. The card was
launched in mid January after two
years of preparation.
The multifunctional card is issued
to bank clients with permanent resid-
ence in Bratislava upon their request.
Cardholders can enjoy, along with tra-
ditional banking services, other ad-
vantages and discounts.
Bratislava residents often use their city
card to buy transport passes. Photo: Sme
Since its launch, four banks have
joined the project: OTP Banka, Volksbank
Slovensko, VÚB Banka and UniCredit
Bank Slovakia. Poštová Banka and
Slovenská Sporiteľňa are expected to join
the scheme next, according to Andrassy.
Not all banks regard the city card
project as sufficiently attractive, though.
Tatra Banka, for example, is one of the
bigger banks that has not joined and has
no plans to do so in the near future.
“We decided not to join the
Bratislavská mestská karta project for
now because at the beginning the project
was not unambiguously defined from our
point of view, and we started working on
other projects and preparing other new
products for our clients,” Tatra Banka
spokesperson Boris Gandel told The Slov-
ak Spectator. “Of course, we don’t rule out
the possibility that Tatra Banka might
join the project later.”
He said Tatra Banka would monitor
developments and is prepared to respond
to demand from clients.
The card works as a traditional inter-
national debit card and includes PayPass
contactless technology allowing pay-
ment of small amounts of up to €20 via a
simple swipe of the card.
UniCredit Bank Slovakia is the only
bank that issues the card to people who
do not hold an account with it. It does
so in the form of a pre-paid re-
chargeable card.
“Pre-paid cards caused a revolution in
the telecoms sector some years ago,”
Jozef Barta, director-general of UniCredit
Bank Slovakia, who previously worked in
the telecoms business, said in mid Febru-
ary. He believes that it was pre-paid
cards’ freedom, simplicity and the facil-
ity to keep spending under control that
lay behind their success.
See CARD pg 8
S Slovensko, www.sslovensko.sk
Tatra-Leasing, www.tatraleasing.sk
UniCredit Leasing Slovakia, www.unicreditleasing.sk
VB Leasing SK, www.vbleasing.sk
Volkswagen Financial Services Slovakia, www.vwfs.sk
VÚB Leasing, www.vub-leasing.sk
Compiled by Spectator staff
Banks' profits soar
PROFITS in the Slovak banking sector grew by almost 50
percent year-on-year to €175 million over the first three
months of 2011. Net interest income grew by 8.2 percent
to €437 million based on figures released by the National
Bank of Slovakia (NBS). Net income from fees and
commissions increased 8.7 percent to €114 million. The
volume of reserves and provision for losses shrank 60.7
percent to €38 million, the SITA newswire reported in
late April.
In 2010, the banking sector improved its profits by 101.4
percent from 2009, making €503.65 million, according
to preliminary data from Slovakia’s central bank.
The Slovak banking sector revived last year as its
profitability increased and its overall financial position
improved, SITA wrote, with the better performance
being driven primarily by the household sector and
particularly by a recovery in the market for housing
loans. The central bank also wrote that the entire sector
benefited from low interest rates, adding that there is
now some risk of future interest rate increases.
The market for corporate loans was different, according
to the central bank, and there was only a very moderate
revival in demand in this sector.
Compiled by Spectator staff from press reports

Leasing market revives
After a steep
decline in 2009,
leasing in
Slovakia is
growing again
BY JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ
Spectator staff
AFTER 2009, a year in which
the Slovak leasing market re-
corded a brutal fall of 45 per-
cent from its record high in
2008, the sector began to
show signs of revival in 2010,
especially in the final few
months of the year. The leas-
ing market reported annual
growth of 7 percent over all of
2010 and prospects for 2011
are even more promising.
Leasing companies estimate
that due to the revival in
Slovakia’s economy, the leas-
ing market will grow by 10
percent or more this year.
Leasing companies hope the
turbulent times are finally
over, but the aggregate
volume of leasing contracts in
2010 amounted to €1.615 bil-
lion, putting it at 2004 levels,
still significantly less than
pre-crisis highs.
“As in 2010, businesses
will be the main driving force
for the leasing market in the
movable assets sector in
2011,” Juraj Ebringer, presid-
ent of the Association of Leas-
ing Companies of Slovakia
(ALS), said in mid February
when discussing the devel-
opment of Slovakia’s leasing
market in 2010 and expecta-
tions for 2011. “Last year,
deals in this sector rose by
10.2 percent. The typical
commodity will be trucks.”
In describing the effects
of the economic crisis,
Ebringer said that it hit small
and medium-sized businesses
hardest. These did not have
enough money to bridge the
crisis period: he mentioned
particularly truckers who
normally use leasing to fin-
ance purchase of their
vehicles. After demand for
their services decreased, they
were unable to maintain
lease payments and many
leasing contracts were ter-
minated prematurely. This
increased the volume of re-
serve provisions, the amount
of money leasing companies
put aside to compensate for
possible losses. Moreover, he
noted that many failed leas-
ing deals have ended or will
end in the courts, meaning
that it will take some time for
leasing companies to recover
their losses.
2010 – A positive turn
Leasing companies regard
developments in 2010 as hav-
ing been much more positive,
with the market returning to
growth after the 2009 crash,
even though it was still af-
fected, either directly or in-
BUSINESS FOCUS
Commercial trucks are often financed via leasing. Photo: Reuters
directly, by the effects of the Horváth, the head of the
financial and economic crisis. committee for statistics and
Dušan Keketi, a member of media at ALS, told The Slovak
the board of directors at Uni- Spectator. The association is
Credit Leasing Slovakia, listed sticking to its original pro-
among the main factors be- gnosis for 2011 – of growth
hind the continuing diffi- above 10 percent – but expects
culties in 2010 a drop in new year-on-year growth to slow
investments, a reduction in in the second half as the com-
operating costs, poor pay- parison basis becomes the
ment discipline, restructur- improved figures from the
ing, and the failure of com- latter half of last year.
panies to fulfil obligations Horváth pointed to the
stemming from leasing con- positive development of the
tracts, resulting in the re- leasing market by highlight-
moval of leased items. ing the growing sales of new
According to Volkswagen passenger and commercial
Finančné Služby Slovensko vehicles, especially to busi-
(VWFS), which specialises in nesses, and in particular of
leasing passenger and com- trucks and trailers, for which
mercial vehicles, the market year-on-year growth hit
has partly revived and over triple digits during the first
40 percent of purchasers used four months of this year.
financial leasing, operative Horváth specified that the
leasing or a specialised loan penetration of leasing in sales
to finance acquisition of a car of new vehicles in the corpor-
in 2010. ate sector is about 56 percent
Bohumil Sák from VWFS and in commercial vehicles
told The Slovak Spectator that above 3.5 tonnes it is as much
in 2009 the sale of vehicles as 80 percent.
financed via leasing and spe- Along with vehicles,
cialised loans decreased due companies have also started
to the state’s so-called car- to acquire new equipment via
scrapping bonus scheme, leasing. According to
from which leasing was omit- Horváth, this sector had de-
ted. But, as Sák pointed out, it creased or stagnated over the
was still possible to apply for last two years, especially
the scrapping bonus when us- among large and medium-
ing a specialised loan sized companies.
provided by a leasing com- According to Stanislav
pany to buy a new car, a pos- Jaššák from ČSOB Leasing,
sibility which the media of- which led the Slovak leasing
ten failed to mention. The market in 2010 based on the
boom in purchase of cars by value of financing provided,
private buyers in 2009 was re- developments in 2011 are in
flected in lower sales to the line with the company’s ex-
same customers in 2010; as a pectations and predictions:
result, corporate clients pre- the market reports a year-on-
vailed in 2010, he said. year increase and a steep re-
vival in competition.
A sound first four months Keketi, of UniCredit Leas-
ing Slovakia, which is num-
The Slovak leasing ber three in the business
market’s positive trend from based on 2010 results, regards
the last months of 2010 has the January-April figures as
continued in the first third very positive, adding that his
of 2011. company is meeting its tar-
“Positive expectations of gets. During this period it
the Association of Leasing managed to increase its mar-
Companies of Slovakia in ket share in almost all sectors.
terms of the development of “We register the highest
the leasing market in Slovakia increases in transport
were met during the first four vehicles and passenger cars
months of 2011,” Marián as well as real estate,” said
Keketi. “We also assess pos-
itively the development in
the renewable resources
sector, in which we already
see and further hope for
high dynamics.”
Sák of VWFS expects de-
clining concern among po-
tential private buyers of
new cars to lead to more in-
terest in financing new car
purchases through leasing
or specialised loans.
“2011 is characterised, in
Slovakia too, by growing glob-
al demand for new cars and
thus also an extension in the
time it takes for an ordered
car to be supplied,” Sák said,
adding that because of this,
impatient clients who are un-
used to such a situation may
change their mind and choose
an alternative, or even a used
car. Sák therefore believes the
supply of cars from producers
is among the factors affecting
the leasing market and notes
that this is something im-
porters cannot affect.
Horváth, of the ALS, ex-
pects that mainly economic
factors will continue to affect
the development of the Slovak
leasing market. These include
the post-crisis restart of west-
ern European economies, es-
pecially that of Germany,
which is mirrored in the
growth of industrial produc-
tion and GDP in Slovakia too.
Among secondary factors he
placed legislation currently in
force, as well as new laws in
the pipeline, either at the
Slovak or European level.
“Frequent changes to legal
norms related to financial in-
stitutions as well as corporate
entities, or excessive protec-
tion of certain kinds of cli-
ents, prevent leasing compan-
ies, as well as other firms,
from setting proper mid-term
business plans,” said Horváth,
adding that the ALS has been
trying to lead a discussion
with various state bodies
about this issue. “Even
though we consider protec-
tion of consumer rights as
important, we think that
some steps in this field simul-
taneously lead to worsening
of law enforcement, not only
in leasing but also in other,
unrelated sectors.”
Comparing Slovakia
“Slovakia did very well
when comparing the devel-
opment of its leasing market
in 2010 with neighbouring
countries, as well as against
countries in western
Europe,” Horváth said. “The
growth in Slovakia’s leasing
market was about 7 percent,
comparable with France,
Great Britain, Italy or Aus-
tria. Higher growth was
achieved only in Poland (19
percent), Estonia (17 percent)
and Sweden (14 percent).”
With regards to Slovakia’s
neighbours, the Czech leasing
market grew by less than 4
percent, while Hungary re-
ported a steep fall of as much
as 34 percent.
Banks pushed to
reduce charges
FINANCE Minister Ivan
Mikloš is pushing banks to
reduce their fees for housing-
related products. On May 9
he unveiled a plan to intro-
duce tougher rules for the
state bonus paid on housing
construction savings con-
tracts and at the same time
proposed to reduce fees for
such products. The proposed
legislative changes would
also affect mortgages.
“The fundamental prob-
lem of housing construction
savings products, according
to an analysis from February
2011, is the low effectiveness
of state contributions that
amount to some €40 million
per year, and the extremely
high charges for these
products, despite the exist-
ence of such a significant
state contribution,” Mikloš
said, as quoted by the TASR
newswire, when he intro-
duced the draft amend-
ments to the Banking and
Housing Construction Sav-
ing Acts. The Finance Min-
istry submitted the drafts
for inter-departmental re-
view on May 10.
According to Mikloš, the
problem is that “a consider-
able portion of the state con-
tribution has gone towards
covering the charges of hous-
ing construction savings
banks. At the same time, the
share of interim loans com-
pared to classical construc-
tion loans [provided to ap-
plicants after six years of sav-
ing with a housing construc-
tion savings bank] has been
rising.” Mikloš noted that in-
terim loans are a type of
commercial loan provided by
housing construction sav-
ings banks.
The proposed legislation
caps charges at a lower level
than at present. The monthly
charge for administration of
a housing construction sav-
ings account would be €1 or
€12 per year. Currently the
annual limit is €18. The
charge for closing a housing
construction savings con-
tract would equal 0.9 percent
of the target sum, down from
the current 1 percent. Mikloš
also proposed cancelling the
charge to process a loan,
which is now €80.
The Finance Ministry
also wants to remove the op-
portunity of savers to receive
Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš
May 16 – 22, 2011 7
an entire annual state bonus
when a savings contract is
signed on the last day of the
year. Each client of a housing
saving bank is qualified to
get the annual state bonus
after signing a six-year sav-
ing contract. The maximum
bonus is currently set at
€66.39, with savers who de-
posit at least €663.90 per year
with the bank qualifying for
the whole amount.
Housing construction
savings banks oppose the
changes, some of which they
say are disadvantageous for
clients. Imrich Béreš, the
head of the board of directors
of Prvá Stavebná Sporiteľňa,
said, as reported by the SITA
newswire, that if the pro-
posed legislation is adopted,
clients will not have any
chance to get the full annual
bonus during their first year
of saving.
The Wüstenrot housing
construction savings bank
also opposes the changes.
“We agree with savings
in charges and interim loans,
but I do not see the sense in
the state interfering in the
amount of the bonus,” said
Karl Peter Giller, the bank's
head, as quoted by the
Hospodárske Noviny daily.
The changes proposed in
the legislation would also af-
fect Slovak mortgages, the
prices of which, Mikloš says,
are among the highest in the
European Union.
“Changes to the Act on
Banks should also touch
upon mortgage loans
provided in the past; this is
the case when the rate is re-
fixed after the new legisla-
tion becomes effective, i.e.
after January 1, 2012,” he
said, adding that this will
also affect other loans for ac-
quisition or reconstruction
of housing in which real es-
tate is used as collateral.
According to Mikloš, a
bank will be obliged to tell a
borrower what its rate is
when it provides a loan and
also when it re-fixes the rate.
The rate will consist of two
items: the basic rate set by
the National Bank of Slov-
akia and the so-called client
margin, reflecting the
bank’s margin and the
client’s risk surcharge.
Compiled by Spectator staff
Photo: TASR
8 May 16 – 22, 2011 BUSINESS FOCUS

SBA: 'Against any selective sectoral tax'

Continued from pg 6
This means that mainly
corporate deposits will be sub-
ject to the tax. The rate is pro-
posed to be 0.2 percent of relev-
ant liabilities.
“The SBA is against any se-
lective sectoral tax whose in-
comes will flow into the state
budget,” Marcel Laznia,
spokesman for the Banking As-
sociation of Slovakia (SBA), told
The Slovak Spectator. “We be-
lieve that the efforts of the Fin-
ance Ministry should be direc-
ted, when it comes to consolid-
ation of the public finances,
more towards to the side of
state budget expenditures.”
The SBA is aware that the
European Commission is pre-
paring a draft directive about
crisis management of banks,
including sections on special
national funds and bank levies.
“However, for the time be-
ing we do not see any reason
other than a political reason
for individual introduction of
a bank tax or levy, much less
one which takes a form which
we believe is not in line with
EC plans,” Laznia said, refer-
ring to the initiative of the
Finance Ministry.
The EC plan is for banks to
be required to contribute to na-
tional resolution funds and
that money from these funds
would be used to finance the
costs of rescuing or liquidating
failing banks.
According to Laznia, one of
the main problems with the
Finance Ministry plan is that
income from the levy would go
into the government’s budget.
SBA can foresee a levy on
banks in the form proposed by
the European Commission,
which flows into a special na-
tional resolution fund to be
used to finance the costs of
dealing with failing banks, ac-
cording to Laznia. The SBA’s
precondition is the existence of
the same conditions across the
whole EU and precisely defined
rules under which money from
such funds can be used.
A special tax could reduce banks' profits.
Juraj Karpiš, an analyst
with the Institute of Economic
and Social Studies (INESS), a
think tank, does not see any
reason to impose a special tax
given that banks in Slovakia
did not need state assistance
during the crisis. He regards
the EC efforts to introduce a
special bank tax as the intro-
duction of the principle of col-
lective blame, in which all
banks are punished irrespect-
ive of their risk profile.
“This tax creates moral
hazard and punishes conser-
vative banks which did not
need assistance from public
resources,” Karpiš told The
Slovak Spectator. “Introduc-
tion of this tax would amount
to a confession by the regulator
that it is not able to regulate the
sector allocated to it. The mar-
ket approach used in any other
sector would be a better solu-
tion: cessation of state assist-
ance and bankruptcy of prob-
lematic subjects.”
Laznia as well as Karpiš be-
lieve that the special tax will
reduce banks’ profits and that
in the end it will be clients
who at least partly will pay the
final bill.
“The bank levy would not
only affect the profitability of
banks in a negative way, but
may also endanger their
stability,” said Laznia, adding
that corporate deposits in
particular will be the basis for
Photo: Sme
the levy. These can quickly
move to other eurozone or EU
countries where such a levy
does not exist or where its
rate is lowest. The rate pro-
posed by the Finance Ministry
is one of the highest of any
country where such a levy has
been introduced.
The impact on different
banks may differ, but those
focusing on corporate clients
will be hit hardest, according
to Laznia.
The tax will increase banks’
costs; they will then pass part of
that burden to customers via
charges or interest rates, ac-
cording to Karpiš.
“Thus the private sphere
would have at its disposal less
funds, which would curb future
economic growth,” said Karpiš.
Igor Vida, the SBA’s presid-
ent and director-general of
Tatra Banka, wrote in the
Hospodárske Noviny financial
daily on May 11 that even
though the bank-tax proposal
has not yet been prepared for
interdepartmental review, in-
tensive discussion about it is
already taking place. He poin-
ted out what he saw as two ma-
jor problems with the proposal.
The first is that while 10 EU
member countries have already
introduced a bank tax in one
form or another, the remaining
17 have not. This means that if
Slovakia introduces the tax be-
fore it is applied in all countries
in the same form, Slovakia will
effectively be discriminating
against its own banking sector
in favour of other countries’.
The second snag Vida identified
was a lack of clarity about the
circumstances under which
the funds raised by the tax
could be used.
“Even when terms for use
are set, the money will be still
in the account of state financial
assets and could thus be used
for anything, for example pay-
ment of Christmas pensions,”
wrote Vida, adding that one
resolution by the cabinet would
be enough to make this happen.
Opposition proposes
its own bank tax
In late April, opposition
deputies from the Smer party –
chairman Robert Fico, former
finance minister Ján Počiatek
and former deputy finance
minister Peter Kažimír – sub-
mitted a draft amendment to
the law on value added tax to
parliament introducing a spe-
cial bank tax. Smer had submit-
ted a similar law last year. This
time, Smer has again sought to
reverse the hike in value added
tax from 19 to 20 percent, effect-
ive as of January 1, 2011, and re-
place it with a special tax im-
posed on banks’ selected liabil-
ities. The proposed rate in the
Smer bill is 0.73 percent and the
revenues would flow into the
state budget until the public de-
ficit falls below 3 percent.
Karpiš and Laznia also op-
pose this special bank tax.
“The impact of the oppos-
ition proposal on the banking
sector and its clients would
be devastating and would
leave it close to the situation
which is now seen in
Hungary,” said Laznia. “Also,
because of [such a] tax banks
in Hungary reported an
80-percent drop in profits in
2010 and will probably not be
able to create enough capital
and thus support demand for
loans and the country’s eco-
nomy in the future.”
FOCUS short
Basic banking requirement scrapped
THE SO-CALLED basic bank-
ing product introduced by
the previous government of
Robert Fico is no longer re-
quired as of April 1. President
Ivan Gašparovič signed a re-
vision to the Bank Act ter-
minating the requirement in
mid February.
Ivan Štefanec, an MP
from the Slovak Democratic
and Christian Union (SDKÚ)
initiated the change in the
law, arguing that limited
public interest, as well as
disadvantages to banks from
this mandated product, was
adequate reason to scrap the
requirement. Štefanec stated
that only five customers had
subscribed to one of the basic
banking products offered by
the various banks and that
this was proof enough that
the previous government’s
intervention made no sense,
the SITA newswire wrote.
mBank joins Slovak Banking Assoc.
THE SLOVAK Banking Asso-
ciation (SBA) has accepted
mBank as one of its mem-
bers, the SITA newswire re-
ported in early May. At first
the association was reluct-
ant to accept the bank as a
member, questioning what
it called a confrontational
communication campaign
when mBank entered the
Slovak market. The bank's
first application to become a
member was rejected in
2008 but mBank submitted
another application in
January 2011.
“Our membership has
now extended to 30 financial
entities and represents 100
percent of the Slovak banking
sector,” said SBA executive
Solus reports on deadbeats
The idea of a basic bank-
ing product mandated by
state regulations was adop-
ted by the Fico government
and required banks to offer
identical services under their
‘basic banking product’ as of
October 1, 2010. Former fin-
ance minister Ján Počiatek
stated his aim was to 'heat
up' competition in the bank-
ing market. Banks com-
plained that the mandated
product was unnecessary and
poorly designed.
The low success found by
the basic package among
Slovaks was blamed on its
higher fees compared to sim-
ilar packages of services
offered by the banks. The
banks claimed the higher
fees connected to the basic
banking product were neces-
sary based on the costs of the
services that were required
to be part of the package.
director Ladislav Unčovský,
as cited by SITA.
SBA's spokeswoman
Monika Kuhajdová said that
the position of the association
had changed since 2008,
adding that the long-term
goal of SBA has been to posi-
tion itself as the comprehens-
ive representative of the Slov-
ak banking sector and that
the association unanimously
decided to accept mBank.
mBank officially began
offering services in Slovakia
on November 25, 2007, and is
an electronic retail banking
division of one of the largest
Polish financial institutions,
BRE Bank SA, which is also a
member of the German
Commerzbank group.

CARD: A discount on transport passes SOLUS, a registry and report-

Continued from pg 6
UniCredit Bank Slovakia has applied
the same principles to this project. In
early May UniCredit Bank Slovakia re-
ported that it had issued a total of 5,080
city cards, of which 3,560 were pre-paid
cards, more than half, UniCredit Bank
Slovakia spokesperson Zuzana Ďuďáková
told The Slovak Spectator.
“The pre-paid card represents a
simpler way for a client to get a city
card without the need to open an ac-
count in a bank or use other banking
products,” said Ďuďáková. She added
that the basic condition for obtaining a
pre-paid city card is the requirement to
deposit at least €20 on it. The holder
can use the card until the balance de-
creases to €5 and must then ‘recharge’
it. The holder pays an annual charge of
€3 for the card.
In mid April VÚB Banka reported
that it had issued over 10,000 city cards.
The total number of city cards issued
by all the banks involved is now almost
18,000, according to Andrassy. He said
that many residents were just waiting
for ‘their’ bank to join the scheme. The
city council expects a further significant
increase in interest once another bank
joins the scheme and develops a more
attractive version of the card for chil-
dren and senior citizens.
While only banks can monitor what
holders use their city card for, the first
reported results indicate that people use
it to buy city transport passes, swim-
ming pool season tickets, as well as
goods in shops, according to Andrassy.
“From the viewpoint of the city it
will be important to monitor the usage
of the card over a longer time frame
and especially [see] how the card sup-
ports the interests of Bratislavans in
terms of regular usage of public trans-
port or visits to cultural and sports
venues administered by city
organisations,” said Andrassy.
The experience of UniCredit Bank
confirms that many cardholders use
the card for purchase of public trans-
port passes, at over 40 percent; about 17
percent use it to buy cut-price tickets
for the city’s swimming pools; and ap-
proximately the same percentage use it
to purchase food, according to
Ďuďáková. About 16 percent use the
city card to pay for cinema and mu-
seum tickets, or when paying for medi-
cines in selected pharmacies.
Cardholders get a 10-percent dis-
count on monthly, quarterly and annual
public transport passes, and the card it-
self serves as a transport pass. The card
also brings 20 percent discounts at
sporting venues administered by the
city-owned organisation STaRZ, and at
the zoo, selected galleries and museums,
among others.
Retailers and service providers
which have joined the scheme include
shops, restaurants, language schools,
taxi firms, and others. Andrassy expects
others to join, further fuelling interest
among city residents.
“There was large interest among
businesses in joining the scheme when
we were preparing the project,” said
Andrassy. “Extension of the network of
retailers is now our priority.”
ing service on customers’
payment discipline estab-
lished by several banks and
other businesses, reported
that in late January its data-
base included more than
115,000 records about 84,000
customers who had seri-
ously violated their pay-
ment obligations, the SITA
newswire wrote, adding
that the total due amount
exceeded €100 million in
early 2011 but that some cus-
tomers had already settled
their debts.
Solus has been collecting
information about custom-
ers who fail to pay on time
money owed to any of Solus’
member companies.
“The record in the re-
gister complicates the
debtor’s ability to [receive]
further services from mem-
bers of the association,” Zuz-
ana Krajčovičová of Solus
said, as cited by SITA. “Thus,
it is obvious that it motiv-
ates many debtors to settle
their obligations.”
Solus said that in January
2011 over 10,000 customers
had settled their overdue ob-
ligations. A debtor’s record is
automatically deleted from
the registry after they settle
their overdue bills and after a
certain period has elapsed:
three months or three years,
depending on the type of
contractual violation.
Solus was established in
September 2005 to monitor
and protect financial
products offered by banks
and businesses to customers.
Its members currently in-
clude mBank and Zuno bank,
mobile operator Telefónica
O2 Slovakia, financial insti-
tutions such as Cetelem
Slovensko, Cofidis, Home
Credit Slovakia and Santand-
er Consumer Finance, and
other businesses.
Compiled by Spectator staff
from press reports
 NEWS May 16 – 22, 2011 9
C LASSIFIEDS

NEW: Blue cards in July REAL ESTATE

Continued from pg 3 health sector – both physi-
cians and nurses – but tech-
The report noted that nical and IT professionals,
these migrants cannot access teachers, pharmacologists,
public employment services biochemists and professionals
and in principle must leave in the machinery and auto-
Slovakia if they become un- motive industries as well.
NEW.....for..... RENT:
• 1-2-room apartments – Vajnorská,
Ružinov, Karlova Ves...
REAL ESTATE
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• L-shaped living, dining, kitchen
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C 3655 C 3677

employed. The jobs they can The migration process for

be hired for can also be well
below their actual skills be-
cause non-EU qualifications
might not be recognised,
MIPEX III states.
Števulová stated that ac-
cess to the labour market also
depends on the type of resid-
ency permit a migrant is
granted and that landing a
job matching a migrant’s
education, qualifications and
experience can prove chal-
lenging. She noted that an-
other negative aspect of
Slovak legislation is the de-
pendence that a migrant
worker has on his or her em-
ployer, since obtaining a
work permit and residence
Intent foreigners learning Slovak.
permit are connected with
having a specific employer.
Experts say more effective
rules covering migration and
integration of migrants are
needed as Slovakia can expect
Photo: Sme - V. ŠImíček
a more significant inflow of
migrants in the future.
According to the Labour
Ministry, the Slovak labour
market will need highly-qual-
ified workers, mainly in the
people with professional skills
should become easier for those
seeking to work in Slovakia
after the country starts issu-
ing so-called blue cards to
those who have secured, in
advance, a job in Slovakia that
is equivalent to a highly-quali-
fied position in EU terms and
carries a salary at least 1.5
times the average monthly
salary in that particular field.
Daniela Šulcová of the La-
bour Ministry’s press depart-
ment told The Slovak Spectat-
or that these blue cards will be
issued on the basis of the law
on illegal work and illegal
employment that will become
effective on July 20, 2011.
REAL ESTATE RELIGIOUS SERVICES
ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORSHIP
Rent: Bratislava International Church
new house, Bratislava III, Sundays, 9:30 at historic
Small Lutheran Church
located in a quiet street, with (Malý evanjelický kostol) in central Bratislava
6 rooms, 3 bathrooms, (near Hodzovo namestie);
garage for 2 cars, garden on Lycejna at intersection
with Panenska 26/28.
with grill. Children's Sunday School provided.
Everyone Welcome.
Price: 1800 EUR + E Information at 02-5443-3263
0903 234 999, 0903 471 999 Web Site:
www.bratislavainternationalchurch.org
C 3675 C 3573

KYSAK: Policeman in critical condition C 3673

Continued from pg 2
Both the policeman and
the suspect were taken to
the Louis Pasteur Hospital in
Košice.
The 37-year-old officer’s
condition had stabilised by
the evening of the shooting,
although he was reported to
be in a critical condition. Ac-
cording to hospital spokes-
person Jaroslava Oravcová,
his injuries required urgent
surgery and he was later
placed in the department of
anaesthesiology and intens-
ive medicine.
The 43-year-old suspect
was shot five times, suffering
wounds to several internal
organs, as well as to his arms
and face. After being admit-
ted to hospital he underwent
five hours of surgery but died
of his injuries on May 12.
First attempt?
The police were not able to
interrogate the suspect due to
his serious condition. The only
information that was con-
firmed by Minister Lipšic was
that he was a man from a
nearby village.
The day after the incident
local media reported that the
suspect was Matej Č., an IT
expert who had recently lost
his job. He had two children
and lived with his family in a
new house in Sokoľ, a village
near Kysak.
The Sme daily described
him as a blogger who was
critical of materialism and a
lack of values in society, and
that he was an active sport
shooter who had even com-
peted in the Slovak national
championships.
People from the sur-
rounding villages confirmed
to the media that they had
seen police helicopters circ-
ling the location in the morn-
ing and then heard shooting
at around 10:00.
When asked whether the
suspect had already commit-
ted any similar crimes before
or whether this was the first
time he had attempted to kill
and eat anybody, Lipšic did
not answer.
Upon his arrest, the can-
nibal-manqué was reportedly
found to be carrying pills to
drug the victim, knives,
plastic bags and black pepper
to sprinkle on the body in or-
der to prevent wild animals Advertising rates
from eating it while it was for business classifieds
hidden in the forest.
1. Pr ic es of classif ie d ads Fre quency discount s:
In the aftermath of the in- (according to no. of words) ● 3x - 10x 5%
cident Lipšic again mentioned ● Up to 20words - 10
● 11x - 19x 7,5%
● 20x and more 15%
the law on firearms, which ● Up to 50 words - 20
NOTE:
was recently amended – ● Up to 70 words - 30 Prices do not include value added tax
among other things, to now (VAT 19%)!
● Up to 100 words - 40
DEADLI NE: Wednesday, 12:00,
include psychological tests for ● Up to 150 words - 60 for publication that week; otherwise,
gun ownership –after a lone the advert will be published the
Add iti onal optio ns following Friday.
shooter killed seven people ● Logo or picture insertion FOR MORE INFORMATI ON:
then himself in an incident in + 7 email:
marta.fukasova@spectator.sk
Devínska Nová Ves in August ● Bold or capital bold letters tel: +421 2 59 233-311
+ 0.3/word fax: +421 2 59 233-319
last year. ● Box + 3 or write:
Lipšic said the case of the ● Box with shading + 7 The Slovak Spectator, Lazaretská 12
811 08 Bratislava, Slovakia.
cannibal from eastern Slov-
akia proved that it is import- 2. Prices for business classified ads (according to size):
ant to require such tests for
1/ 48 page 1/24 pa ge 1/12 page
firearms-licence applicants,
44 x 41 mm 44 x 87 mm 91,5 x 87 mm
Sme reported. He said that if 91,5 x 41 mm 100
there was scope to make the 25 50
law stricter, he would do so.
By Michaela Terenzani or

hk}ly{pzltlu{

HOW MANY HOSPITALS DO WE NEED? 21. may 2011

ANSWERS TO
OUR FUTURE

Do you know how many of us are there, where and how we live? Your answers are important. The results
of the census will have an impact on various aspects of life in Slovakia. The more accurate are the answers,
the more precise may be the prognoses, mainly regarding politics. Let us make use of the census in order to
provide a sound basis for future decisions. Make sure you take part.

NOW ALSO AVAILABLE ONLINE > www.scitanie2011.sk

C3678
10 May 16 – 22, 2011 CULTURE

Nový Smokovec’s small lake Western SLOVAKIA

THE BEGINNINGS of the
Nový Smokovec spa settle-
ment in the High Tatras date
back to 1875, when
Mikuláš Szontagh
A small artificial lake was
created within the garden
and park area – an accoutre-
also named after Doctor
Szontagh. It is now the prop-
erty of his heirs. The small
villa on the right
was called Gen-
Bratislava
l LIVE MUSIC: A double concert
by EA BAND and MAOK brings
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
ambient chill-out music. EA
consists of Róbert Borodajkevyč
and Sisa Latková and plays elec-
tronic jazz and chill-out; MAOK,
aka Martin Tesák, plays music
“full of emotion”. The perform-
ance also includes Marek Škop’s
award-winning documentary
Iné svety.
Starts: May 19, 19:00; Klub
Za zrkadlom, Rovniankova 3.
Admission: €4 (in advance) -
€5 (on the door). Tel: 02/6381-
1328; www.kzp.sk.
Bratislava
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Roma
Rhapsody – As part of a sci-
entific musicological confer- THE KONVERGENCIE / Convergences music festival opens its
ence, this concert brings Hun- 12th year in Bratislava with three concerts on May 19, starting at
garian and Gypsy music by 18:00 in the Aréna Theatre: Ida Kelarová and Škampa Quartet
Franz Liszt, performed by pi- (both from the Czech Republic) will play the Rómska balada
anist Paul Gulda and (Roma Ballad); Bratislava Rabbi Baruch Myers will perform the
renowned Roma band Chassidic Songs programme with cellist Jozef Lupták, accordi-
Cigánski Diabli. onist Boris Lenko and violinist Miloš Valent; and the AfterPhur-
Starts: May 18, 19:00; ikane project to revive old Roma songs will conclude the con-
Dvorana Concert Hall, Zocho-
cert, bringing together Roma amateurs and non-Roma profes-

bought a 20-hec-
tare wooded plot
from the municip-
ality of Veľký
Slavkov to found
his own sanatorium.
The sanatorium was built
to cure tuberculosis and
Basedow’s disease (Graves’
disease) primarily through
climatotherapy, which was
very popular at that time. The
first building of the new set-
tlement was finished in 1876.
HISTORY TALKS
ment that was important in
many villages and towns in
the Tatras.
That lake still exists and
bears the name of the founder
of Nový Smokovec. The villa
with a turret that can be seen
in the background also stands
in the same place today and is
ciana and it stood
there until 1933,
when it gave way
to construction of
the Palace nursing
home. However, Genciana’s
structure did not perish – it
was carefully dismantled,
moved and reassembled in
Pekná Vyhliadka.
This colourised postcard
is from the 1920s.
By Branislav Chovan
va 1. Admission: free. Tel: 02/
5930-1533; www.rakusko.eu.
Bratislava
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Cello-
mania v galérii – The cycle
Hudba a obrazy / Music and
Paintings brings concerts or-
ganised by the Slovak Phil-
harmonic to the Slovak Na-
tional Gallery. This time the
chamber ensemble Cello-
mania, comprising four Slovak
cellists, performs works by P.
Šimai, L. Kupkovič, W. Fitzen-
hagen, M. Novák, M. Markow-
icz, V. Godár and Ľ. Čekovská.
Starts: May 17, 19:00; SNG,
sional musicians. Afterwards, Konvergencie will travel across
Slovakia with programmes combining classical chamber music,
tango and jazz, visiting Ružomberok, Liptovský Hrádok, Levoča
and finally Košice. For more information, please see
www.konvergencie.sk and www.ticketportal.sk.
Photo: Courtesy of Konvergencie
Piešťany Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.
l TRADITIONAL CRAFTS: ticketportal.sk.
Tradičné ľudové remeslá / Tra-
ditional Folk Crafts – The 3rd Zvolen
year of this international l FILM FESTIVAL: Envirofilm
meeting and presentation of 2011 – A festival of movies fo-
folk craft workers and their cused on the environment,
products. this event brings a host of doc-
Starts: May 20-22; Kúpeľný umentary movie screenings, a

Slovak director wins big prize Vodné kasárne. Admission:

SLOVAK film director Pavol
Barabáš received the Grand
Prize 2011 of the Internation-
al Alliance for Mountain Film
on May 5 at a festival in the
Italian town of Trento.
The jury, representing 19
international festivals from
17 countries, honoured
Barabáš for his global contri-
bution to the documentary
film genre and for his work
as a cameraman in docu-
mentaries with mountain,
climbing and discovery mo-
tifs in extreme locations
worldwide. He has also shot
many films about travellers
and adventurers.
“In his films, he presents
for the audience not just
unique pictures of our envir-
onment, but also offers evid-
ence about life in less access-
ible locations and as-yet un-
known cultures; thus evok-
ing something deeper, the
respect of a human towards
himself or herself and to-
wards the environment,”
said Martina Straková of the
K2 Studio, as reported by the
TASR newswire.
The history of the award
is closely connected to the
founding of the Internation-
al Alliance for Mountain
Film (IAMF) in 2000. The
IAMF comprises 17 European
countries, 19 festivals of
mountain movies and one
museum. Annually, its
members honour one film-
maker who can be credited
with contributing markedly
to the development of docu-
mentary movies, Straková
told The Slovak Spectator.
Barabáš has made a host
of movies, often depicting
special, barely accessible
places around the world, or
athletic performances border-
ing on the very limits of hu-
man endurance. In his works,
he not only records unique,
A scene from Pavol Barabáš's Mongolia. Photo: Courtesy of K2S
often isolated ecological sys-
tems but also unfamiliar and
thus intriguing cultures.
He has already received
several awards for his
movies. He recently took part
in Envirofilm 2011, a Slovak
festival of environmental
movies that is currently tak-
ing place in several Slovak
towns and cities. Barabáš will
present his films with Steve
Lichtag in Banská Bystrica on
Wednesday, May 18.
Compiled by Spectator staff
€5. Tel: 02/2047-5233; www.
filharm.sk, www.eventim.sk.
ostrov (Spa Island). Admis-
sion: free. More info: 033/7757-
733; www.kupelepiestany.sk.
competition for children, dis-
cussions, and more.
Starts: May 16-25, from
10:00 until late; various ven-
Bratislava Central SLOVAKIA ues. Admission: free. Tel:
l EXHIBITION: Zuzana 048/4374-182; www.sazp.sk.
Rudavská - Šperk / objekt / Žilina
kresba (Jewel / Object/ Draw- l FOLKLORE MUSIC AND Eastern SLOVAKIA
ing) – This is an intimate ex- DANCE: Mladosť a krása /
hibition of Rudavská’s fragile, Youth and Beauty – Even after Košice
imaginative jewellery and having celebrated its 60th an- l EUROPEAN VOLUNTEER-
artworks crafted from pearls, niversary, the Lúčnica folklore ING TOUR: Deň Európy /
jade and other materials. troupe embodies a combina- Europe Day – The day to celeb-
Open: weekdays 13:00- tion of ancient traditions and rate the continent fell on May
18:00 until May 27; K-Gallery, youthful energy. 9, but five Slovak towns and
Ventúrska 8. Admission: free. Starts: May 20, 19:00; Dom cities will now receive a travel-
Tel: 02/5443-3927; www. odborov (House of Unions), Ľ. ling exhibition called Europe
kgallery.sk. Štúr Square 1. Admission: €11. Day 2011 – European Volun-
teers’ Tour. It comprises lec-
tures, discussions, and many
accompanying events.
Starts: May 16, 10:00-18:00;
Main Street /Hlavná, Dolná
brána. Admission: free. More
info: erd.dobrovolnictvo.sk/
Karavana.
Levoča
l MUSEUM/EXHIBITION:
Levočská biela pani / The
White Lady of Levoča – Juliana
Korponay-Géci, responsible
for the capitulation of the
town of Levoča during the
Francis II Rákóczi uprising,
but later accused of treason
and executed, is popularly be-
THE VOJTECH Löffler Museum in Košice is marking the Ice lieved to have returned to
Hockey World Championship with an exhibition of local artists’ haunt the town. This exhibi-
works (including installations, drawings, paintings, videos, pho- tion comprises artefacts and
tos, plastic art, and more) focused on the motif of hockey. More documents and seeks to ex-
than 20 authors have provided works. Until June 12, the exhibi- plain her role in history.
tion, entitled Hokej v súčasnom výtvarnom umení / Hockey in Open: daily 9:00-16:00 until
Contemporary Art can be seen Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10:00 May 30; Spišské Múzeum,
Majster Pavol Square 40. Admis-
to 18:00 and on Sunday afternoon in the museum, at Alžbetina
sion: €3.50. Tel: 053/4512- 786;
Street 20. For more information, please call 055/6223-073 or visit www. spisskemuzeum.com.
www.lofflermuzeum.sk. Photo: Courtesy of VFM By Zuzana Vilikovská

N A M E D A Y M A Y 2 0 1 1
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia Svetozár Gizela Viola Gertrúda Bernard Zina Júlia
Juliana
can now be found at www.spectator.sk.
May 16 May 17 May 18 May 19 May 20 May 21 May 22

A Slovak’s name day (meniny) is as important as his or her birthday. It is traditional to present friends or co-workers with a small gift,
In cooperation with the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute such as chocolates or flowers, and to wish them Všetko najlepšie k meninám (Happy name day)

The USAFE Band's show in Bratislava offered more than just great music.
'US Ambassadors of
Goodwill' tour Slovakia
US Air Forces
Band draws
crowds
BY DOMINIKA
UHRÍKOVÁ
Spectator staff
“A SQUARE peg in a round
hole” – this is how the mem-
bers of the United States Air
Forces in Europe (USAFE)
Band, one of the US military
ensembles, are sometimes de-
scribed in their concurrent
roles as musicians and milit-
ary officers. But after attend-
ing one of the five gigs the
band recently gave in Slovakia,
one would say “a fish in water”
is a much more fitting epithet.
Stationed at Sembach
Kaserne, Germany,
“America’s Ambassadors of
Goodwill” perform live con-
certs for more than 1.2 million
people each year throughout
Europe, Southwest Asia and
Africa. The 45-member squad,
with a performance tradition
now spanning six decades, is
the only Air Force band sta-
tioned in Europe.
In line with their aim to
“communicate Air Force
excellence” and “enhance pub-
lic trust and support”, the en-
semble toured Slovakia
between May 4 and 9, visiting
Bratislava, Nitra, Prievidza,
Lučenec and Banská Bystrica,
and drawing around 1,400 ap-
preciative people in all.
According to Chris Scharf,
public affairs officer at the US
Embassy in Bratislava, which
supported the USAFE tour,
military bands are a very im-
portant part of US culture.
“At major holidays tens of
thousands of people gather in
our nation’s capital to hear one
The shows also featured soloists. Photo: Courtesy of US Embassy
of the military bands play pop-
ular and patriotic music fol-
lowed by spectacular fire-
works over the Washington
Monument,” he told The Slov-
ak Spectator. “Military bands
contribute to national unity
and members of these bands
often come from prestigious
conservatories and schools of
music in the United States.”
Scharf further explained
that “the Air Force Bands pro-
gramme will always be associ-
ated with the name of the fam-
ous band leader and a major in
the US Army Air Force – Glenn
Miller – whose plane disap-
peared while flying over the
English Channel to Paris to
play for soldiers there”.
Of course, the USAFE’s
Slovak show also included a
piece by Miller: his famous In
the Mood was the closing per-
formance in the two-hour
programme.
But the music offered by
the ensemble encompassed
many different styles, from
classical music to American
big-band jazz, pop and famous
Broadway tunes.
The programme included
pieces such as Symphonic
Metamorphoses by Paul
Hindemith, an aria from The
Barber of Seville by
CULTURE
Gioachino Rossini, selec-
tions from West Side Story by
Leonard Bernstein, and Defy-
ing Gravity by Stephen
Schwartz, the signature song
from the musical Wicked.
“We try to bring as wide a
variety of music to our audi-
ences as we can,” said Major
Matthew Henry, command-
er and conductor of the
USAFE band. “My concept is
that the first half is usually of
a more formal, ‘European’
style, though we still try to
feature American music, the
consensus being that this is
what people are looking for.
Then in the second half we
try to do more of a Broadway
show concert, where music
just keeps coming and is
more pop-oriented.”
Though many people may
find the combination of music
and the military as a little odd,
working as a musician in the
US Air Forces Band has many
advantages compared to a ci-
vilian orchestra, Henry told
The Slovak Spectator.
“I think that I have great-
er latitude with my folks than
I would if this was a civilian
organisation: if, for example,
we need an extra rehearsal
time for whatever reason, we
simply get it, while in a civil-
Photo: Courtesy of US Embassy
ian orchestra, there would be
extra pay involved, I would
have to contact the unions,
and so forth,” Henry re-
marked.
And he added that being
in a military band involves
responsibilities that are more
varied, with only around one-
fifth of an officer’s time spent
on the musical side and four-
fifths on the military leader-
ship side.
“I am not sure in nearly
fifteen years that I’ve had an
average day,” he added.
Staff Sergeant Rachel
Trimble, a vocalist with the
USAFE band, said that milit-
ary ensembles are also very
particular with regard to
their mission.
“The reason we perform
is not for profit,” she told The
Slovak Spectator. “It is for
building partnerships, deliv-
ering the Air Force message
and enhancing a relation-
ship between the United
States and other countries
through music, which is the
universal language that
brings people together.”
According to Dana
Polčíková from the US Em-
bassy, the musicians followed
this mission in Slovakia on-
and off-stage alike.
“Every time we arrived in
our venues both male and fe-
male members of the orches-
tra put on their working gloves
and helped unload the trucks
that carried their instruments
and equipment; then each of
them sat behind their music
stands, gave outstanding per-
formances, and, after the con-
cert, again loaded the trucks as
if this was completely
natural,” she said.
“I think that what they
brought to Slovakia was not
only gorgeous music but also a
message of goodwill and
friendship.”
Migration: as old
as mankind
BY BEATA BALOGOVÁ
Spectator staff
MIGRATION is as old as the
history of mankind. Groups
of people have always been
moving in search of a safer or
a better home and it is only
the historical context and the
scale of migration that has
been changing, said José
Ángel López Jorrín, Ambas-
sador of Spain to Slovakia,
during a discussion with high
school students in Bratislava.
Some countries might
still feel that the pressing is-
sues of migration and immig-
ration do not directly concern
them but López Jorrín
stressed that in the 21st cen-
tury no country is untouched
by the phenomenon and for
that reason it should be
treated as a shared global chal-
lenge and not as an issue lim-
ited to particular countries.
Students of the Dunajská
Street secondary school in
Bratislava, where most
classes are taught in Hun-
garian, also learned that
Spain has the highest immig-
ration rate in the world and
that in January 2011 immig-
rants made up 14 percent of
Spain’s population, 5.7 mil-
lion, which is around the
total population of Slovakia.
Ambassador López Jorrín
met the students as part of
the Bringing the World to the
Classroom project developed
by The Slovak Spectator, sev-
eral foreign embassies in
Slovakia and Sugarbooks, a
distributor of textbooks.
With the help of the
Spanish diplomat the stu-
dents explored different
modes of living abroad: be-
ing a foreign student, hav-
ing temporary residence in a
foreign country, or taking
up a job somewhere outside
one’s home country. But he
added that the most difficult
way of arriving in a foreign
country is when people are
forced to leave their home-
land because of war and
fears for their lives or the
safety of their children. He
noted that much migration
Ambassador José Ángel López Jorrín
Photo: Courtesy of the Dunajská Street secondary school
May 16 – 22, 2011 11
is often forced by economic
reasons as well.
“People sometimes re-
spond negatively to migrants
– driven by fear of the
unknown,” Jorrin said.
Though it was not pos-
sible to explore all the com-
plex questions that immigra-
tion poses today, López
Jorrín explained that immig-
rants often evoke negative
sentiments among locals be-
cause of concerns about the
pressure they might place on
the labour market. But he
stressed that immigrants are
often the most vulnerable
groups in their adopted
country since they are will-
ing to work for much lower
salaries than locals, some-
times are afraid to join trade
unions, and often lack proper
health insurance and social
benefits. López Jorrín said
migrants who are searching
for a new home must make a
serious effort to be open
enough to the majority soci-
ety in which they now live
and that it negatively affects
an immigrant community if
it becomes tightly locked
away from interaction with
the majority society.
David Vojtko, one of the
students, pointed out in an
essay prepared for the meet-
ing with the ambassador
that the only way to achieve
social integration is to learn
the language spoken in the
host country. Vojtko also
wrote that cultural differ-
ences are even more difficult
to bridge but that “by learn-
ing the language the chances
are increased”.
Andrea Menyhárt, an-
other student, wrote that an-
other difficulty migrants
might face is learning the
customs and traditions of a
new country, but that they
must learn them if they do
not want to insult or embar-
rass the majority residents.
The students also learned
that even though Spain gave
the world the word “siesta”
the custom is no longer
widely practised there and
that around 500 million
Spanish-speaking people liv-
ethroughout the world.
12 May 16 – 22, 2011 ADVERTISEMENT

Stefan Ehrengruber
Tariffs & Business Development

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The world on your doorstep.
Bratislava is just 35 minutes from Vienna Airport. Our optimal transport links ensure a smooth and easy start to your
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