Second pension pillar version 21

THE ACT on Pension Savings,

passed during the second gov-
ernment of Mikul Dzurinda in
2004 with the objective of reform-
ing Slovakias pension system,
has now been amended 21 times
in its fairly brief legislative his-
tory. The newest changes initi-
ated by the government of Iveta
Radiov are designed to remove
what her cabinet called deforma-
tions in the pension system
pushed through by the previous
government of Robert Fico.
The most recent amendment,
approved by parliament on
September 14, increases the num-
ber of investment funds that parti-
cipants can choose from, reduces
the scope of guarantees that had
been put into the law in 2009, and
mandates that young workers en-
tering the labour force will again be
automatically enrolled in the
second pension pillar, with the op-
tion to withdraw within two years
if they choose to do so.
Labour Minister Jozef Mihl
presented the bill to parliament and
argued that the newest changes to
the law will be beneficial to every-
one who is participating in the
second pension pillar in which
their savings for retirement are in-
vested by private investment man-
agement companies. Mihls prede-
cessor as labour minister, Viera
Tomanov, responded that the gov-
ernment is turning young workers
into vassals of the pension fund
management companies by some
of the changes made via the new
amendment.
Thethreepensionpillars
The original pension reform le-
gislation passed in 2004 envisioned
three pillars in the countrys pen-
sion scheme: the first pillar is the
state-administered social insurance
programme that provides a
monthly old-age pension benefit
based on the amount and the num-
ber of years that a person contrib-
uted to the pay-as-you-go system.
See#21 pg12
SELECT FOREX RATES
benchmark as of September 22
CANADA CAD 1.39
CZECHREP. CZK 24.88
RUSSIA RUB43.21
GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.87
HUNGARY HUF 293.06
JAPAN JPY 102.59
POLAND PLN 4.49
USA USD 1.34
NEWS
Newombudsman
The government risks a re-
runof its problems select-
ing a newgeneral prosec-
utor, withrival candidates
emerging to fill the job of
ombudsman, whichcomes
vacant next year.
pg 2
Internet censorship?
Internet freedomcam-
paigners are crying foul
over a Finance Ministry
proposal to force internet
service providers inSlov-
akia to block access to un-
licensed gambling web-
sites.
pg 3
OPINION
Harabin's 'hydra'
Supreme Court president
tefanHarabinhas once
againtakenhis critics
aback, this time witha re-
quest to work fromhome
two days a week.
pg 5
BUSINESSFOCUS
Taxdisharmony
AnECproposal to intro-
duce harmonised EU-wide
rules for calculating cor-
porate tax bases has been
roundly criticised inSlov-
akia, withonly the central
bank, the NBS, expressing
support.
pg 6
Levellinglocal taxes
After complaints from
businesses that the taxes
they pay to local authorities
differ too muchfromplace
to place, the Finance Min-
istry has proposed changes
to restrict municipalities'
rate-setting powers.
pg 7
CULTURE
The'other' Picasso
Aunique exhibitionat
Bratislava's MirbachPalace
features 100 works by Picas-
so. Just don't go expecting
to see any Cubism...
pg 13
Party leader RichardSulk and17 of his fellowFreedomandSolidarity (SaS) MPs stoodbefore the cameras on
September 20andsaidthey wouldnot support the eurozone bailout scheme inaparliamentary vote. Photo: Sme
Stand-off continues
over eurozone bailout
OBSERVERS are warning that it
could end up having a more serious
impact on the country than those
involved seem to realise. But the
battle of words over changes to the
eurozone bailout scheme intensi-
fied on September 20 when Richard
Sulk, the leader of the dissenting
coalition party Freedom and Solid-
arity (SaS), lined up 18 of his partys
MPs to restate that their party will
not support the proposed changes
ina parliamentary vote.
Slovakias Finance Minister
Ivan Miklo suggested on the
same day that Prime Minister Iv-
eta Radiov was inclined to tie
ratification of changes to the
European Financial Stability Facil-
ity (EFSF) and creation of the new
European Stability Mechanism
(ESM) to a confidence vote in the
government, after SaS had rejec-
ted a compromise solution. Sulk
called the idea of connecting the
fate of the government to the rati-
fication a weapon of the highest
calibre on the part of the ruling
coalition, as well as an attack on
Radiov.
The prime minister, who at
the time Miklo made the state-
ment was on an official trip in the
United States, said in response, as
quoted by the Reuters newswire,
that linking the vote was theoret-
ically possible.
SeeEUROpg2
Vol. 17, No. 33 Monday, September 26, 2011 - Sunday, October 2, 2011
On sale now On sale now
FOCUS
of this issue
FOCUS
of this issue
TAXES
Cabinet sets
special levy
on banks
ENACTING a special tax levy on banks has
been a pet project of Robert Fico and his
Smer party. That passion never resulted in
legislation when Fico and his coalition
were in power between 2006 and 2010. But
now the cabinet of Prime Minister Iveta
Radiov has approved a special levy on
domestic banks and subsidiaries of inter-
national banks in the hope of bringing an
additional 51 million into state coffers
next year.
The amount of the levy approved by
the current centre-right government is
not nearly as hefty as that proposed by
Smer, the largest opposition party, last
November or the amount that Smer is
now proposing but the banks are de-
manding a much lower levy, arguing that
Slovakias banking sector did not need to
receive any financial assistance from tax-
payers during the dark days of the 2009
financial and economic crisis.
SeeGAPpg4
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
Radiov
meets
Obama
TRANSPARENCY is a key principle in gov-
erning a country, Slovak Prime Minister
Iveta Radiov and US President Barack
Obama agreed during a personal meeting
between the two leaders in New York City
onSeptember 20.
Radiov and Obama met before a for-
um of the Open Government Partnership
which the prime minister participated in
as a part of her week-long trip to the
United States. Radiov also attended a
Global Investment Symposium called
Road to Prosperity organised by the In-
ternational Economic Alliance, an NGO;
met with representatives from the Friends
of Slovakia association; and participated in
the 66th plenary session of the United Na-
tions General Assembly.
Radiov was also asked to give a lec-
ture at New York Universitys school of so-
cial research about the eurozone debt
crisis and the future of the common mon-
etary union.
President Obama said he appreciated
the steps taken by Radiovs cabinet in
bringing greater transparency to the gov-
ernment.
SeeUSApg3
BYMICHAELATERENZANI
Spectator staff
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
Roma protest poor living conditions
NEARLY200 Roma demon-
strated infront of the Presid-
ential Palace onHodovo
Square to protest against
their bad social situationand
the inactionof the govern-
ment. The mainorganiser of
the September 21 demonstra-
tion, Alojz Hlina, also pro-
posed solutions to Roma
problems, the TASRnews-
wire reported.
Sometimes I feel that in
this country problems are
treated as if they have never
existed, said Hlina, as
quoted by TASR.
We propose to establish
a state-runcompany which
will issue lunchvouchers,
added Hlina. It will use its
profits to finance construc-
tionof new and reconstruc-
tionof old schools inre-
gions where the facilities are
ina catastrophic condition.
CompiledbySpectator staff
Harabin can work fromhome
SUPREME Court President
tefanHarabinwill now
spend only three days a
week inthe office, after the
Judicial Council onSeptem-
ber 19 approved his request
to work fromhome on
Mondays and Fridays, the
Sme daily reported.
The Office of the Su-
preme Court president ex-
plained that Harabin
presented his request as an
ordinary judge.
He asked to work from
home because he is chair
and member of anappellate
senate whichpasses rulings
onthe most serious crimes,
the office wrote ina state-
ment published by the SITA
newswire.
The six members of the
Judicial Council who per-
mitted the arrangement ig-
nored a questionby a Su-
preme Court judge,
Miroslav Gavalec, about
whether it would be pos-
sible to runthe court from
home; they also ignored an
internal rule that a judge
cannot stay home ondays
whenhis senate has hear-
ings. They also ignored the
fact that Harabinstill lacks
a deputy who cansubstitute
for himinhis absence.
The only questionHara-
binhad to respond to was
howmuchtime it would
take himto make it to the
court inemergency cases.
He said that while it would
take him30 minutes when
he is inBratislava, whenhe
is at home inthe village of
Hranovnica inPreov Re-
gionit could take himup to
five hours.
Sadiki sentence confirmed
CONVICTEDdrug smuggler
and the reputed head of the
drug mafia inSlovakia Baki
Sadiki has had his sentence
of 22 years ina maximumse-
curity prisonconfirmed
after the regional court in
Preov rejected his appeal
against anoriginal verdict
passed inJune, the SITA
newswire reported.
Sadiki, who is currently
onthe run, was convicted of
leading a group that con-
trolled the smuggling of
drugs, especially heroin,
throughSlovakia between
2007 and 2008. Police believe
that they transported about
120 kilograms of the drug
fromTurkey inat least six
consignments. The amounts
involved would have been
enoughto make more than
336,000 doses worthanes-
timated 3.35 million.
The court senate also
confirmed the sentences for
Sadikis accomplices Juraj J.
and JnC., who will spend
15 years ina medium-secur-
ity prison.
Fewer people support Obama
THE POPULARITYof US Pres-
ident Barack Obama inSlov-
akia is fading, a survey con-
ducted by the Americanpub-
lic policy and grant-making
institution, the German
Marshall Fund, suggests.
While last year about 76 per-
cent of Slovaks supported
himas the leader of the US,
this year he would be sup-
ported by only 58 percent of
respondents here, the SITA
newswire reported.
The funds survey took
place betweenMay 25 and
June 17, and gathered the
views of 1,000 respondents
from12 Europeancountries,
including Slovakia, plus res-
idents of the USAand Tur-
key. It was focused onthe
relationship between
Europe and the USA, the
situationinNorthAfrica,
Afghanistanand Iraq, and
onthe economy.
US Ambassador to Slov-
akia Theodore Sedgwick said
he believes that support for
Obama inSlovakia is still big.
He considers the weakening
Americaneconomy to be one
of the factors that might
have caused the drop in
Obamas popularity.
The survey also showed
that only 38 percent of Slov-
aks support the European
financial stability mechan-
isms. Onthe other hand,
more Slovaks still consider
the euro to be beneficial
rather thanharmful.
Two candidates emerge
for ombudsman job
THE RULING coalition does
not seemto have learned from
the difficulties caused by its
failure to agree on a joint can-
didate for the general prosec-
utor job, with two rival can-
didates now emerging to fill
one of the next big state jobs
that will need to be decided in
coming months.
This time around, the
problems are not expected to
be as damaging as those in the
general prosecutor selection
process proved to be because
the office of the ombudsman
has fewer powers and is much
less politically exposed. Apart
from the ombudsman, par-
liament will also need to re-
place the heads of the Statist-
ics Office, the Anti-Monopoly
Authority, and the Public Pro-
curement Office (VO).
The new ombudsman
should be selected by March
2012, when the term of the cur-
rent ombudsman, Pavel
Kandr, elapses. Parliament is
likely to hold a vote on the mat-
ter in January.
After initial talks held in
early September, the leading
candidate to head the Office of
the Public Defender of Rights,
as the ombudsman is official
known, appears to be Jana
Dubovcov, a former judge
and critic of the Slovak judi-
cial system under tefan Ha-
rabin. Prior to last years par-
liamentary elections she shed
her judges robes and was
elected as an MP for the Slov-
ak Democratic and Christian
Union (SDK). The party has
now informally proposed her
as its candidate for the post,
and Freedom and Solidarity
(SaS) leader Richard Sulk has
said his party will definitely
endorse her for the post.
I would like to run for the
post only if I get the support of
all the coalition parties, and I
would even like to receive the
support of the opposition,
Dubovcov said on public-
service Slovak Radio. She also
admitted that she had wanted
to head the office ever since it
was created in Slovakia, but
noted that she had not re-
ceived an official offer from
the SDKyet.
If she eventually runs for
the post, Dubovcov is likely
to face a challenger in the par-
liamentary vote.
SeeJOBpg5
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
EURO: Radiov stresses stability goal
Continuedfrompg1
A very hot political issue which is
even being linked with the continuation
of this government is how Radiov de-
scribed the debate around the changes to
the EFSF and the creation of the ESM on
September 22, during a conversation
with the president of the European
Council, Herman Van Rompuy.
However, she also stressed that for her
the stability of the ruling coalition is a
priority, SITAnewswire reported.
If they want to have it approved,
they should negotiate with Smer, Sulk
told his ruling coalition colleagues,
among whom there has been disagree-
ment about the wisdom of linking any
vote to the fate of the government.
Opposition Smer party boss Robert
Fico predicted that the government
would not break up, and dismissed the
dispute as just a game in which each of
the parties wants to appeal to a particular
sectionof society.
One section is for the EFSF, the other
is against, Fico said on September 21, as
quoted by the TASR newswire. Every-
body is looking for their place with the
voters.
Fico, who has made his support for
the bailout mechanismconditional on all
the ruling coalition parties also support-
ing it or else on the approval of a law
permitting an early parliamentary elec-
tion said that the ruling coalition
parties would in the end come to some
sort of agreement.
Political scientist Miroslav Kus,
however, told The Slovak Spectator that
Fico is playing games as well and that he
is under pressure from the European So-
cialists, who are unambiguously in fa-
vour of the bailout mechanism.
Fico would have big problems with
the European Socialists if Slovakia, due
to his attitude, becomes the only coun-
try which rejects the bailout scheme,
Kus said, adding that Fico still has a
chance to save Slovakias image over the
eurozone bailout.
The European Union still does not be-
lieve that Slovakia might say no to the
changes, said MP Radoslav Prochzka
from the Christian Democratic Move-
ment (KDH) after meeting representat-
ives of the European Central Bank and
European Commission at a conference in
Rome onSeptember 21, SITAreported.
The notion that in the case of the
collapse of the eurozone we will be able
to continue to borrow at the interest
rates that apply today and that our banks
will come out from the whole thing
without a scratch is beyond common
sense and totally ignores not only geo-
political but also basic economic reality,
Prochzka said.
He said that rejecting the bailout
would turn the clock back ten years for
Slovakia, to the time when the country
was climbing out of the black hole into
which the governments of Vladimr
Meiar had manoeuvred the country.
SaS strongly opposes the idea of link-
ing ratification to a confidence vote in
the government, and Sulk on September
20 said he could not envisage a situation
in which Radiov would opt for this
move and thus contribute to the return
of a Fico government.
One year ago our partners gained a
mandate because they said they did not
want to rule with Fico, Sulk said, as
quoted by SITA. Today they are opening
the door to him. What is this all about?
The bailout isnt part of the
governments programme. It is our right
to say no.
Sulk also said that the discussion on
the bailout schemes is not being conduc-
ted onpragmatic grounds.
Miklo, who insists that the votes
should be linked, said that the attitude of
SaS is in fact an expression of distrust
towards Radiov, who at the negoti-
ation between eurozone leaders suppor-
ted the changes agreed. He described the
SaS attitude as populism because it iden-
tifies with an idea that appeals to voters
without considering the potentially
grave effects that it might have on Slov-
akia, SITAreported.
Miklo said he expects Slovak MPs to
vote onthe bailout by October 11.
Kus opined that the desire to wield
power is the strongest factor, and one
that might still unite the coalition,
adding that if it wants to rule until the
end of this election term it will have to
do so at the expense of painful com-
promises.
This is one of those compromises,
but similar issues will emerge again and
againand it will be a test of what they are
able to withstand because the alternative
is the fall of the coalition and the return
to power of Fico, who will then pick his
own coalition partners, Kus told The
Slovak Spectator. And it would not be a
morally acceptable solution for any party
of the current ruling coalition to enter a
coalitionwithFico.
OmbudsmanPavel Kandr will soonleave office. Photo: Sme
2
NEWS
September 26 October 2, 2011
Finance Minister IvanMiklo Photo: Sme
State seeks to block
online gambling sites
BETTING enthusiasts might
soon find it harder to win or
lose money by playing online
games that are not licensed in
Slovakia. The Finance Min-
istry is trying to push through
an amendment to the law on
gambling that would block
such content from the inter-
net for Slovak users, arguing
its wants to protect local con-
sumers. But exponents of a
free internet see it as an at-
tempt to introduce censorship
of the internet inSlovakia.
Introducing censorship
is an extreme solution, which
should only be put in place if
everything else fails, ubor
Illek from the Society for
Open Information Technolo-
gies (SOIT), a non-profit civic
association, said. Represent-
atives of SOIT, which has be-
come the biggest critic of the
proposed amendment, be-
lieve that other measures
should be tried first, rather
than introducing regulation
of the internet.
The amendment to the
law on gambling, submitted
for interdepartmental review
on September 7, would order
internet service providers
(ISPs) to block the websites of
bookmakers and online gam-
ing services that do not hold a
licence in Slovakia. According
to the legislation, the Bratis-
lava Tax Office would admin-
ister a black list of websites
which ISPs would have to ob-
serve. The ministryis advocat-
ing the measure in order to
protect Slovak consumers,
preserve public order and re-
spect other public interests,
according to ministry spokes-
person Patrcia Malecov
epitkov.
Advocates of unrestricted
internet access
We believe that the only
real reason why the ministry
is trying to introduce this le-
gislation is to increase the in-
come of the state from taxes
on the providers of online
gamblinggames, Illeksaid.
SOIT criticised several
points in the law, stressing
that the nature of the blocked
content gambling sites is
not key to the debate, but the
actual blocking of any con-
tent and the way the ministry
is doingit is.
One problematic point is
the practicability of the law,
since, according to SOIT ex-
perts, it is a technologically
trivial thing even for non-ex-
pert users to access websites
from any location and from
any IP address. This is thanks
to various tools suchas the Tor
Project, or the What Is My IP
Address website, developed by
researchers from Oxford and
Cambridge Universities.
These allow uncensored and
unlimited access to the inter-
net and the anonymisation of
the personaccessingit.
The expenses connected
with blocking websites would
be borne by the ISPs, who in
the end would raise the prices
for internet access paid by
end-users, SOIT representat-
ives argue. But the main prob-
lem SOIT sees in the proposed
amendment is that it disturbs
the current status quo vis-a-
vis blocking web content in
Slovakia. While at the mo-
ment a website can be blocked
only based on a court order,
the amendment wants to au-
thorise the taxoffice to decide,
and the opportunity to protest
or to defend oneself against a
taxoffice decisionis limited.
InvolvingtheEU
One of the companies
whose business could be af-
fected by the amendment is
bet-at-home.com, registered
in Malta. Its spokesperson,
Claus Retschitzegger, said
that the proposed restriction
does not comply with
European law and discrimin-
ates against foreign compan-
ies like bet-at-home.com
when compared to companies
registeredinSlovakia.
That is the reason why
probably no foreign online
company will apply for a
gambling licence in Slovakia,
Retschitzegger told The Slovak
Spectator.
But lawyers have com-
mented that the rulings of the
European Court of Justice
(ECJ) in similar cases suggest
that the amendment would
comply withEUlaw.
There are several rulings
of the ECJ according to which
the amendment is alright,
said lawyer Tom Kamenec
in an interview with the Sme
daily. Kamenec serves as an
advisor on gambling regula-
tionto the state-runTipos bet-
ting company, for whom the
withdrawal of foreign online
betting companies would
meanless competition.
The proposed changes in-
troduce limits to the free pro-
vision of services, which is
not in contradiction with the
EU law or with the decision-
making of the EuropeanCourt
of Justice, as long as the lim-
its correspond with reasons of
public interest such as con-
sumer protection or the gen-
eral need to keep public
order, the ministrys
Malecov epitkov told The
SlovakSpectator.
Meanwhile, the Finance
Ministry has announced it
will submit the amendment
to the European Commission,
in order to seek a statement
about whether it is compat-
ible with EU regulations. The
ministry has not done so yet,
Malecov epitkov said on
September 21.
Its a cover-up
manoeuvre, Illek said,
adding that since regula-
tion of gambling is not gov-
erned at the Europe-wide
level, he expects that the
European Commission will
not interfere.
Critical voices
growinnumber
SOIT has submitted a col-
lective response to the law,
which will be available for
interdepartmental review
until the end of September,
opposing the proposed
changes. The response had
been signed by over 2,100
supporters as of September
21. SOIT has also been joined
by the Association of Local
Internet Providers (ALPI),
which warned that the pro-
posed amendment would
force ISPs to start using cen-
sorship facilities, creating
the risk that in the future
these couldbe abused.
As long as we are forced
to own and use such techno-
logy, we would constantly
face the risk of the fast and
easy spread of censorship
from tax issues to others,
which could prove a great
danger to the freedom of
humankind in the current
complicated times, ALPI
wrote inits statement.
Services connected with
blocking websites as ordered
by the state could cost tens
of millions of euros, accord-
ing to the local internet pro-
viders, which would well
exceed any forecast tax rev-
enues.
Jozef Viskupi, a mem-
ber of the Ordinary People
faction within the Freedom
and Solidarity (SaS) parlia-
mentary caucus, is the only
MP so far to have joined the
protests against the pro-
posedamendment.
It is not fortunate to
solve one negative phe-
nomenon in society by in-
troducing another negative
phenomenon, Viskupi
said.
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
The ideaof blockinginternet acesss togamblingsites has raisedhackles. Photo: Sme- S. Smadiov
USA: 'We are
proud of you'
Continuedfrompg1
We are proud of you,
Obama said, as quoted ina
press statement released
by Slovakias Government
Office.
Radiov said that more
transparency is only one of
the challenges facing the
governments of Slovakia and
the United States, along with
reducing highlevels of un-
employment and taking ef-
fective measures inboththe
US and the eurozone to pre-
vent serious damage froma
potential second-wave eco-
nomic crisis.
The meeting of the Open
Government Partnership
was the first high-level as-
sembly of representatives
fromcountries whichare
participating inthis initiat-
ive, focused oninternational
cooperationinareas suchas
transparency, government
responsibility, citizens en-
gagement and fighting cor-
ruption. The partnership
was established by the US,
Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico,
Norway, the Philippines,
SouthAfrica, the United
Kingdomand several non-
governmental organisa-
tions. Another 38 countries,
including Slovakia, formally
joined the partnership at the
foruminNewYork City.
As a member of the part-
nership, the Slovak govern-
ment will designanaction
planby March2012 that will
bind the country to pass fur-
ther reforms to increase
transparency inpublic ad-
ministration, fight corrup-
tionand cronyism, and
widenthe scope of public
control, the Government Of-
fice stated. Slovakia will
formally present its planat
the second sessionof the
OpenGovernment Initiative
that will be held inBrazil
next year.
The OpenGovernment
Partnership is anabsolutely
natural and welcome initiat-
ive for me, fully inaccord
withthe programme state-
ment of the government and
the steps we have takenup
to now for example, estab-
lishing the central registry
of [government] contracts,
Radiov stated, adding that
by participating inthe initi-
ative Slovakia will be better
able to compare itself
against other countries.
During her visit to the
US, Radiov also attended a
symposium, Road to
Prosperity, held inthe Har-
vard Club inNewYork on
September 20, that was at-
tended by 150 business lead-
ers, financiers and other rep-
resentatives of US compan-
ies, the Slovak Government
Office reported.
Slovakia is a country
that is attractive to foreign
investors, whose economy is
still growing inspite of the
current economic situation
inthe world, Radiov said,
according to a press release
by her office.
Inher speech, which
among other topics dealt
withthe Europeandebt
crisis, the prime minister
pointed out that the most
difficult task of all govern-
ments inthe current eco-
nomic situationis to restore
credibility inthe eyes of the
public and investors.
Radiov said the Slovak
government is trying to
achieve this throughseveral
reforms intended to increase
the transparency of the state
administrationand judi-
ciary, and throughausterity
measures focused onin-
creasing credibility inthe
use of public money. She ad-
ded that animportant step
to improve the business en-
vironment inSlovakia was
the recent parliamentary
approval of anamendment
to the Labour Code.
Onthe other hand,
Radiov emphasised that
the success of Slovakia de-
pends not only ondomestic
reforms, but also onthe
EuropeanUnionfinding
solutions to the sovereign
debt crisis.
During her meeting
withrepresentatives of
Slovak communities from
several states of the US, in-
cluding Friends of Slovakia,
anorganisationthat co-or-
ganised the meeting inNew
York onSeptember 21, the
prime minister praised the
fact that eventhird-genera-
tionimmigrants fromSlov-
akia still speak Slovak and
maintaintheir ties with
Slovak culture.
US President Barack Obamaspeaks at alunchhostedby the
UNSecretary-General. Photo: SITA
3 September 26 October 2, 2011
NEWS
Proposed
amendment
sparks heated
discussion about
internet
censorship
Newairline enters Slovak market
ANEWpassenger airline,
SlovakianAirlines, entered
the local market inanori-
ginal way inSeptember by
naming its first plane, a Boe-
ing 737-500, after MilanRas-
tislav tefnik, one of the
founders of independent
Czechoslovakia, the
Hospodrske Noviny daily
reported.
We expect to beginfly-
ing by December 15, said
Arnold Medzihradsk, the
chief executive of Slovakian
Airlines, as quoted by the
TASRnewswire.
The first flights should
connect Bratislava withEng-
land, Italy, Spainand Russia,
and there are ongoing talks
about further destinations.
The carrier does not want to
fly to destinations that are
already served by other air-
lines.
CompiledbySpectator staff
SARIOseeks newinvestors
THE SLOVAKInvestment
and Trade Development
Agency (SARIO) presented
Slovakia as aninvestment
destinationinGermany via a
series of investment sem-
inars and individual meet-
ings held inmid September,
the SITAnewswire reported.
We would like to
present Slovakia as a country
suitable not only for indus-
trial productionbut also for
investments inresearchand
development, said the head
of SARIO, Rbert imoni,
as quoted by SITA.
Seminars withinthe
project Business Friendly
Slovakia held inGermany
fromSeptember 19 to
September 23 were also at-
tended by Economy Minister
Juraj Mikov and represent-
atives of foreigncompanies
whichhave already estab-
lished facilities inSlovakia.
During the seminars,
held inthe Germancity of
Dsseldorf, Mikov ex-
plained to Japanese investors
why Slovakia is a good in-
vestment destination.
If we realise that Japan
is one of the most technolo-
gically developed and one of
the most sophisticated coun-
tries inthe world, whichstill
belongs to the strongest
world economies, it is essen-
tial for Slovakia to improve
its economic relations with
Japan, Mikov said, as
quoted by SITA.
Opening of R1 section postponed
THOUGHthe newdual car-
riageway betweenNitra and
Tekovsk Nemce, built
througha public-private
partnership (PPP) project,
has beenfinished, cars are
not yet allowed to use it, and
the Ministry of Transport has
announced the date of open-
ing has had to be postponed,
the Sme daily reported.
The concessionaire,
Granvia, has not provided all
the required documentation
to the ministry, so the new
expressway cannot be
opened onSeptember 28,
explained the ministry, as
quoted by Sme.
Granvia representatives
promised to finishthe doc-
umentationas soonas pos-
sible.
Together withthe inde-
pendent controller and pub-
lic procurer we are finishing
the process of finalising the
documentationfor about 500
constructed objects within
the conditions of the con-
tract signed betweenthe
concessionaire and the
ministry, Granvia chief ex-
ecutive Eric Delobel said, as
quoted by the SITAnews-
wire.
The postponement of the
opening of the newsections
of the R1, whichwill com-
plete the multi-lane route
betweenBratislava and
Bansk Bystrica, was criti-
cised by oppositionSmer
party leader Robert Fico as a
scandal, the TASRnewswire
reported.
The Slovak government
has absolutely underestim-
ated the extent of this con-
struction, whichrequires
considerably greater cooper-
ationbetweenthe state bod-
ies and those who built it,
Fico said, as quoted by TASR.
Jobless rate falls slightly
THE UNEMPLOYMENTrate
inAugust was calculated at
13.12 percent, representing a
month-on-monthdrop of
0.03 percentage points. In
August 2010 the jobless rate
stood at 12.19 percent, the
TASRnewswire reported.
InAugust labour offices
registered 384,200 people as
unemployed. If the jobless
rate were to include people
who are not immediately
available for work, suchas
those onsick-leave or living
abroad, the figure would
have reached 14.4 percent, or
0.08 percentage points less
thaninJune.
The highest unemploy-
ment rate, 19.13 percent, was
reported inBansk Bystrica
Region, while inBratislava
Region, whichtraditionally
has the lowest number of
jobless people, only 5.42 per-
cent of people were recorded
as unemployed.
Thinking green,
building smart
GLOBAL warming caused by
greenhouse gases released by
the burning of fossil fuels for
power generation has be-
come an issue in architec-
ture. Architects no longer
consider only how buildings
look and how they meet their
functional requirements, but
also take into account their
environmental impact. Sus-
tainable architecture seeks to
minimise the negative im-
pacts of buildings on the en-
vironment and to drawatten-
tion to the importance of
healthier and more sustain-
able communities. To pursue
these aims, Slovakia parti-
cipated for the first time in
the annual World Green
Building Week in mid
September.
Slovakia is holding this
event for the first time and
we hope that this will be-
come a tradition and an op-
portunity to disseminate in-
formation and strengthen
knowledge about sustainable
building and green houses in
Slovakia, said Vladimra
Bukerov, the head of the
Slovak Green Building Coun-
cil (SKGBC), at the opening
event onSeptember 19.
World Green Building
Week in Slovakia was suppor-
ted by mayors Milan Ftnik
and Richard Rai from the
countrys two biggest cities,
Bratislava and Koice respect-
ively, by the chief architect of
Bratislava City Council, the
Faculty of Architecture at the
Slovak University of Techno-
logy in Bratislava, the Bratis-
lava public transport com-
pany and by individual
members of SKGBC.
Ingrid Konrdov, the
chief architect of Bratislavas
city council, called for more
greenarchitecture inreal life.
20 years have elapsed
since the large social and
economic change in this
country and we should real-
ise the impact and import-
ance of ecology not only the-
oretically, but also imple-
ment it in practice, said
Konrdov.
SeeGREENpg12
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
IngridKonrdov(left) andVladimraBukerov Photo: SKGBC
GAP: Banks want levy tenfold lower
Continuedfrompg1
The special bank levy is one plank in
the governments plan to boost state rev-
enues in response to lowered estimates
for the countrys future economic
growth: in early September the Finance
Ministrys Institute of Financial Policy
trimmed its prognosis for economic
growth in 2012 from 4.4 percent to 3.4
percent. The International Monetary
Fund (IMF) has since predicted that
Slovakias GDP will grow by only 3.3 per-
cent inboth2011 and 2012.
The Finance Ministry has been seek-
ing additional revenue sources to cover a
shortfall that is expected to reach 240
million because of the lower economic
growth. The ministry has already de-
cided to take 95 million from reserves it
had planned to create to help cover the
gap, the Sme daily reported.
The government thinks it can get the
remaining 145 million from three
sources: the special bank levy; an earlier
hike in excise taxes on cigarettes; and
higher fees paid by Slovensk Elektrrne,
the electricity generator, to the National
Nuclear Fund. The ministry also assumes
some extra revenue may come from the
sale of digital broadcast licences and bet-
ter financial results by some state-owned
companies.
Today we concluded the debate on
revenue and now, during the upcoming
weeks, we will discuss the draft budget
and continue talking about spending,
Finance Minister Ivan Miklo stated, as
quoted by the SITA newswire, adding
that government ministries are still hop-
ing to get 1.5 billion more than what is
inhis draft budget.
Miklo said keeping the countrys
public finance deficit at the proposed
level of 3.8 percent for 2012 remains the
governments top priority.
Thebanklevy
The special bank levy will be based on
a banks total liabilities, less the banks
equity capital and the deposits it has that
are covered under Slovakias deposit pro-
tection system. The cabinet passed the
draft legislation on September 21 and set
the rate for the special levy at 0.2 percent
for next year, the SITA newswire repor-
ted. Smer has called for the rate to be set
at 0.7 percent, arguing that it would
bring anextra 189 millionto the state.
The Slovak Banking Association
(SBA), however, said that it envisions a
rate of 0.02 percent, arguing that this
was the rate used in Germany, a country
that was forced to shore up its banks dur-
ing the turmoil inthe financial markets.
The Finance Ministry stated that
even though the rate is higher in com-
parison with other EU countries which
have imposed such a levy, the levy would
take only 7.9 percent of last year's profit
of the banking sector. The ministry ar-
gued that the proposed rate is low
enough not to cause negative impacts,
especially shifting the cost of the levy to
customers through higher bank fees,
SITAwrote.
In June the Slovak Banking Associ-
ation stated that the rate proposed by the
Finance Ministry would be the highest
among all the EU countries which have
such a levy and that it is 10 times higher
than the levy in some countries of the
EU. The SBA predicted that the levy will
get reflected in lower profitability for the
banks but could also have potentially
negative impacts on the stability of the
sector.
Currently, no relevant reason exists
in Slovakia for mandating the levy, the
SBA wrote, adding that it is not timely
before final agreement is reached over
the elements of the so-called system for
crisis management of the European
banking system. The SBA continued that
Slovakia did not have to rescue its bank-
ing sector, which was one of the reasons
for instituting the levies in some of the
other EUcountries.
Banks paid 266.90 million in direct
and indirect taxes to the state in 2010,
the SBA reported on April 26, of which
173.40 million was from income tax and
the rest came from indirect taxes and
VAT.
This money ends up in the state
budget as available income, Ladislav
Unovsk, the SBAs executive director,
told the TASR newswire. The higher the
sector's profits, the more taxes we pay
into the budget. So, we don't understand
Finance Minister Ivan Miklo's initiative
to introduce another special tax on
banks.
After parliament approved the legis-
lation, the SBA objected that the law
lacked a specific single-purpose fund to
receive the levy as well as clear rules for
how the funds would be used, TASR
wrote onSeptember 21.
The bankers association stated that
it is ironic that the Slovak government
referred to the European Commissions
proposal on bank crisis management in
its rationale for the levy, saying that ac-
cording to the European Central Bank
(ECB), any such legislation should spe-
cifically exclude the possibility of using
the funds from a bank levy for any pur-
pose other than tackling crisis situations
inthe banking sector, TASRwrote.
Cigarettes tocost more
Smokers will soon pay more for their
cigarettes if parliament approves the
cabinets proposal to increase the excise
tax in February 2012, rather than in
March 2013 as originally planned. That
specific tax would increase from 55.70
to 59 per 1,000 cigarettes with the min-
imum overall tax rate rising from 85 to
90 per 1000 cigarettes.
The draft on the cigarette excise tax
does not currently have the support of all
MPs from the ruling coalition, especially
those members who have said they will
oppose all tax hikes, but MP Jozef Kollr,
the chair of the Freedom and Solidarity
(SaS) partys parliamentary caucus,
commented that as far as cigarettes are
specifically concerned, SaS will not have
any fundamental problem with that,
the TASR newswire wrote. Kollr added
that Slovakia is applying one of the EUs
directives, albeit one year earlier than
required.
Deputies from the Civil Conservative
Party (OKS) who came to parliament on
the Most-Hd slate said they are open to
discussing the excise tax hike on cigar-
ettes.
But OKS also has said that it would
present proposals for further savings in
public expenditures.
4
BUSINESS / NEWS
September 26 October 2, 2011
SND
SLOVAKS seem to be no big
fans of acronyms. If you see
one, it likely bears the name
of a public institution, politic-
al party, or a foreign firm. In
the first category, there is
RTVS (the public broadcaster),
NR SR (the parliament), FNM
(the National Property Fund),
SIS (the Slovak intelligence
service), NK (the Supreme
Audit Office), PN (the
Nations Memory Institute),
SPP (the national gas com-
pany), and the list could go on
and on. In the second group
you have the KDH (the Chris-
tian Democratic Movement),
SDK (the Slovak Democratic
and Christian Union), SaS
(Freedom and Solidarity), and
SNS (the Slovak National
Party). And in the last group
you will find the usual mix of
HBO, KFC, and ING.
Rather than opting for
something in the style of NBC
or ABC, local private media
choose names such as
Markza and Joj (the main TV
stations), Expres and Fun (the
most popular radio stations),
or Nov as, Sme, and Pravda
(the main newspapers). Even
VB, which initially stood for
General Loans Bank, inherited
its name from the time when
it was a state-run company,
and no longer uses the full-
lengthversion.
So if there is a newspaper
title containing an acronym
you dont immediately recog-
nise as a global brand or the
name of a political party, you
can be pretty sure of two
things that it is about a pub-
lic organisation, and that the
organisation is in some sort of
trouble. The SND (Slovak Na-
tional Theatre) is no excep-
tion. Its fourth director in five
years is leaving after 500 days
inoffice, following allegations
of wasteful spending. His de-
parture is starting a new
round of debate about the
purpose and vision of the or-
ganisation, whether the new
head should be a manager, an
artist, or a little bit of both,
whether the drama, ballet,
and opera sections should
have complete independence
or form three pillars of an in-
tegral part. Its all been dis-
cussed before, and it will re-
turn again. Similar topics are
characteristic of the discus-
sions about RTVS should
public television and radio be
merged or separated? Why
does so much money get lost?
What functions should the
media serve?
Public universities,
whether its UK (Comenius
University), STU (Slovak Uni-
versity of Technology), or EU
(University of Economics),
have a good share of their own
trouble.
Slovakia doesnt have
many examples of well-func-
tioning public institutions.
Instead, many of them are
Small National Disasters.
JOB: Several senior posts open in 2012
Continuedfrompg2
The four MPs of the Civic
Democratic Party (OKS), a par-
liamentary faction which sits
as part of the Most-Hd
caucus, have already an-
nounced they plan to endorse
another candidate Frantiek
Mikloko, a former dissident,
MP and presidential candid-
ate who for most of his career
was a prominent member of
the Christian Democratic
Movement (KDH).
He is a man for whom
justice is the highest [goal] that
exists in life, OKS head Peter
Zajac said, as quoted by Slovak
Radio, adding that he and his
fellow party members believe
Mikloko is the best candidate.
However, some observers
have dismissed the choice of
Mikloko as a candidate, ar-
guing that the office should be
headed by a legal expert.
Slovakias first ombudsman
prepares toleave
Slovakia has had only one
ombudsman to date. Pavel
Kandr will leave office in
March 2012 after serving two
terms since he was first selec-
ted for the post in 2002, under
the Mikul Dzurinda govern-
ment. He ran in the 2002 secret
vote as a candidate proposed
by the opposition Movement
for a Democratic Slovakia
(HZDS) of Vladimr Meiar. In
2007, he was confirmed in the
post with support from the
then-governing coalition of
Smer, the Slovak National
Party (SNS) and HZDS.
In 2012, the vote by MPs
should be held in public for
the first time, after the par-
liamentary rules applying to
selection of candidates for
senior public positions were
changed in the wake of diffi-
culties experienced selecting
a newgeneral prosecutor.
Kandrs activity as
ombudsman has been criti-
cised by several human-
rights activists and organ-
isations.
I dont think citizens
have felt theyve had sup-
port when solving problems
with the state administra-
tion, or that anything has
improved significantly,
said arlota Pufflerov from
Oban a demokracia, a non-
governmental organisation,
as quoted by the Sme daily.
In the past year, Kandr
has mainly been dealing with
unjustified delays in judicial
and administrative processes,
Sme reported. Of the 2,517 mo-
tions his office has received
over the past 12 months, ac-
cording to his activity report
from May 2011, as many as 64
percent were not correctly ad-
dressed to him. He has proved
in 176 cases that state offices
violated the basic rights and
freedoms of citizens, with 145
of those concerning unjusti-
fied delays, Sme reported.
Sme also noted that Kandr
had rejected a complaint from
the Slovak Journalists Syndic-
ate to have the controversial
2008 Press Code, passed by the
previous government led by
Robert Fico, reviewed by the
Constitutional Court.
Harabins hydra
PEOPLE opt to work from
home when they need to bal-
ance their parenting and
working duties when they
have small children. Institu-
tions or businesses ask their
employees to work from
home when they need to save
money on office rental by cre-
ating shared workstations. Of
course, people choose to work
from the comfort or discom-
fort of their own homes vol-
untarily or involuntarily for
various reasons, and doubt-
less Supreme Court president
tefan Harabin has his own
list of reasons for wanting to
run the countrys key judicial
institutionfromhome.
One proffered justifica-
tion for Harabins desire to
work from home two days a
week, or at least the explana-
tion which his office chose to
share with the public, is that
he is the chairman and a
member of the appeal senate,
which decides on the most
serious penal cases such as
murders, life sentences and
organised crime, and would
thus presumably benefit from
considering them in more
comfortable surroundings.
Harabin has once again
taken his critics aback, des-
pite consistently exceeding
their worst expectations and
conducting his tenure of
Slovakias most senior judi-
cial positions as a kind of
long-running farce.
The Judicial Council con-
sented meekly to Harabins re-
quest, withthe only dissenting
voice coming from Miroslav
Gavalec, often described by the
local media as a critic of Hara-
bin. Gavalec, while admitting
that Harabin is also a judge,
also suggested that he found it
hard to imagine how the boss
of the Supreme Court could
manage the institution from
home, especially at a time
when the Supreme Court still
does not have a vice president,
the SITA newswire reported,
citing the minutes of the
councils sitting.
Most probably, Harabins
request to work from home
was not prompted by a sudden
surge of autumn melancholy.
It comes at a time when Hara-
bin should be paid 70 percent
less than his normal salary, in
compliance with a disciplin-
ary punishment imposed on
him in July by the Constitu-
tional Court for repeatedly
blocking Finance Ministry
auditors from checking the ac-
counts of the Supreme Court.
Pessimists would say that
the Supreme Court boss man-
aging what, under ideal con-
ditions, should be the ivory
tower of justice from his sofa
at home only confirms what
has been known for ages: that
something is seriously rotten
in the state of Slovakias judi-
ciary. Optimists might in-
stead jokingly suggest that
the absence of Harabin at the
Supreme Court might not be
such a bad thing after all.
Making his home into his of-
fice certainly has a symbolic
significance for Harabin and
many will interpret it as his
response to the fine.
In early September, Hara-
bin called the decision of the
Constitutional Court a hydra
of arbitrariness and used di-
vorce as a metaphor to explain
his case: It is exactly the same
as if you are legally divorced
and the District Court in
Preov as well as the regional
court and Supreme Court con-
firm this but the Constitution-
al court disciplinarily sen-
tences you upon a ministerial
proposal for bigamy because it
did not respect the legal de-
cision of the district and re-
gional court and would say
that you as a judge behaved in
an undignified manner, Ha-
rabin said, as quoted by SITA.
He was referring to a decision
by a Bratislava district court,
which was later confirmed by
his own Supreme Court, sug-
gesting that the Finance Min-
istry could not audit the Su-
preme Court. Harabin did not
respond to queries about
whether his request to work
from home was linked to his
punishment, which accord-
ing to Sme will cut his pay by
3,500 a month. Recently, the
Movement for a Democratic
Slovakia (HZDS), in its regular
talks with leader Vladimr
Meiar in fact a self-conduc-
ted interview by the HZDS
boss and former prime minis-
ter which the SITA newswire
now runs on three pages as
paid content spoke in great
lengthindefence of Harabin.
And even though the rel-
evance of Meiars thoughts,
in terms of any serious dis-
course, is close to zero, they
show that Harabin at the Su-
preme Court represents the
legacy that Meiar left be-
hind. Voters barred the doors
of parliament to Meiar in
2010, by refusing to vote for
the HZDS in sufficient num-
bers to pass the threshold for
entry, but they cannot do the
same to Harabin at the Su-
preme Court.
Meiar was restored to a
position of influence by
Robert Fico, who picked his
HZDS to co-rule the country in
2006. Harabin nowlingers as a
living reminder to everyone
who doubts the ability of cer-
tain politicians to direct the
countrys affairs that it is of-
ten not the politicians them-
selves who cause the most
harm, but the actions of their
unrestrained cronies. Society
is forced to live with their
baleful influence for much
longer and does not have the
option of working fromhome
to avoid it.
5 September 26 October 2, 2011
OPINION/ NEWS
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
Mr Baka is a dunce, as only a dunce could step out in front
of journalists and ask me to explain why we made an air show
cheaper and more transparent than he did.
Defence Minister ubomr Galko reacts to criticismfromhis ministerial predecessor
SLOVAK WORD
OF THE WEEK
EDITORIAL
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYLUK FILA
Special to the Spectator
Ondrej othsteppeddownas headof the SNDafter anaudit revealedfinancial problems. Photo: Sme
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Tax revenues lag behind plan
SLOVAKIAcollected less revenue fromvarious kinds of
taxes during the first sevenmonths of the year thanit
had planned. But the gap betweenplanned and actual tax
revenues has beennarrowed. While actual tax revenue
was more than12 percent less thanplanned inMay, that
narrowed to 6.4 percent inJune and inJuly Slovakia
collected tax revenue that was only 3.98 percent below
the planned amount. Total tax revenue flowing to the
state over the first sevenmonths of 2011 amounted to
4.9 billion, the SITAnewswire reported.
Taxes collected onthe incomes of individuals reached
886.1 million, only 85 percent of the planned amount
throughJuly. The state collected 968.7 millionin
income taxes fromcorporations, reaching 99.3 percent of
the projected amount throughJuly.
Collectionof various kinds of taxes ongoods and services
inthe first sevenmonths totalled 3.808 billion, 3.3
percent belowthe plan, withabout two-thirds, 2.682
billion, coming fromvalue added tax and hitting 98.51
percent of the planned amount. Excise tax revenue
came to 1.126 billionor 92.56 percent of the planned
amount.
Slovakias tax and customs offices are expected to collect
state revenue totalling 8.787 billionin2011. Last year
the state collected 7.962 billion, 0.8 percent less thanin
2009.
CompiledbySpectator staff
Tax-related information on the web
There are a number of internet-based sources where
individuals and corporations canfind detailed and
up-to-date informationabout taxes inSlovakia and some
sites are inthe Englishlanguage.
Anumber of consultancy companies suchas KPMG,
Ernst &Young, Deloitte, and PwCregularly publish
bulletins withupdated tax informationand these firms
publishtheir documents inEnglishas well. Likewise,
there are a number of lawfirms publishing extensive
tax-related informationinEnglish.
Additional websites withtax-related informationonly
inSlovak include:
www.zbierka.sk the electronic versionof Slovakias
Collections of Laws.
www.uad.sk- tovnctvo a dane (Accounting and
Taxes) bills itself as the largest on-line library of tax
and accounting informationavailable inSlovakia.
www.dane.sk this website is hosted by Daov
reforma a spoloensk rozvoj (Tax Reformand Social
Development), a civic association, but the most recent
news onthe website dates back to October 2009.
Primary kinds of taxes in Slovakia
Value addedtax (VAT)
The basic VAT rate is 20 percent
The VAT rate onbooks and medicines is 10 percent
Income tax
The income tax for individuals and corporations
is a flat 19 percent
Tax-related institutions in Slovakia
Finance Ministry
Minister of Finance: IvanMiklo
www.finance.gov.sk
Tax Directorate of the SlovakRepublic
www.drsr.sk
SlovakChamber of Tax Advisors
www.skdp.sk
Slovakia objects to EU
tax harmonisation plan
THE THEME of harmonisa-
tion of taxes across the
European Union has surfaced
regularly, but as yet without
any obvious success. Now the
EuropeanCommissionhas ar-
rived at a proposal for a com-
mon system for calculating
the tax base of businesses op-
erating in the EU. Even
though some have expressed
qualified support for aspects
of the plan, the general stance
inSlovakiaisnegative.
Taxes are a sphere which,
in our opinion, must remain
in the hands of countries,
said Prime Minister Iveta
Radiov as quoted by the
SITA newswire, adding that if
a country does not have an in-
dependent currency, tax
policy is the only significant
economictool it controls.
In mid March the
European Commission pro-
posed a common system for
calculating the tax base of
businesses operating in the
EU, aiming to significantly
reduce the administrative
burden, compliance costs and
legal uncertainties that busi-
nesses in the EU currently
face in having to comply with
upto27 different national sys-
tems for determining their
taxableprofits.
As theEUstates onits web-
site, the proposed Common
Consolidated Corporate Tax
Base (CCCTB), would mean
that companies would benefit
from a one-stop-shop system
for filing their tax returns and
wouldbeabletoconsolidateall
the profits and losses they in-
cur across the EU. Member
states would maintain their
full sovereignright to set their
owncorporatetaxrate.
The EC estimates that the
CCCTB would save businesses
across the EU 700 million in
reducedcompliance costs, and
1.3 billionthroughconsolida-
tion each year. In addition,
businesses looking to expand
cross-border would benefit
from up to 1 billion in sav-
ings. The EC believes that the
CCCTBwouldalsomaketheEU
a much more attractive mar-
ket forforeigninvestors.
The CCCTB will make it
easier, cheaper and more con-
venient to do business in the
EU, said Algirdas emeta,
commissioner for taxation,
customs, anti-fraudand audit,
as cited in an EC press release.
It will also open doors for
small and medium-sized busi-
nesses looking to growbeyond
their domestic market.
Todays proposal is good for
business andgoodfor the glob-
al competitivenessof theEU.
The CCCTB would be op-
tional only for companies.
This means those that feel
they would benefit from a
harmonised EU system could
opt in, while other companies
could continue to work within
their national systems.
The proposal is attracting
a mixed response across the
European Union, with nine
countries, including Slovakia,
already announcing that they
disagree withit, SITOwrote in
midJuly, SITAwroteinJuly.
In Slovakia the only pub-
lic institution to come out in
favour is the central bank,
which said that Slovakia
should maintain the euro-
zone evenat the cost of deeper
integration.
Jozef Makch, the gov-
ernor of the National Bank of
Slovakia (NBS), speaking at a
cabinet session on September
7, opined that the euro cannot
function without the creation
of a fiscal union in the long
run and that the measures ad-
opted so far are only short-
term solutions. Prime Minis-
ter Radiov conveyed
Makchs words after the cab-
inet session, SITAwrote.
According to the NBS,
Slovakia should try to remain
part of the monetary union
even if this were to entail
harmonisationof taxes.
With regards to integra-
tion tendencies within euro-
zone countries it should be an
effort by Slovakia to remain
part of a bigger economic
whole also in the case of initi-
atives to deepen economic in-
tegration of the eurozone. In
this respect it is possible to ex-
pect strengthening of econom-
ic management of the euro-
zone and harmonisation of
policies of member countries
also inthe fieldof direct taxes,
the central bank wrote in its
statement, as quotedbySITA.
The Slovak government is
rejecting wider integrationat
the level of taxes for the time
being. Finance Minister Ivan
Miklo has restated this sev-
eral times and Prime Minis-
ter Radiov repeated after
the cabinet session on
September 7 that taxes are a
sphere that must remain un-
der national control.
The Finance Ministry also
pointed out that the ECs pro-
posal is at odds with the
cabinets programme for its
four-year term. In the part
dedicated to taxes and levies
that programme reads that
the government will not agree
to European harmonisation in
thefieldof incometaxes.
Even though a certain de-
gree of progress inwork onthe
CCCTB draft was achieved and
the proposed system contains
elements in some parts that
are comparable with inter-
state income tax systems im-
plemented in EU member
states, the SlovakRepublic has
not become confident about
the advantageousness of this
project, the Finance Ministry
wrote, as quotedbySITA.
The Slovak Finance Min-
istry is not convinced that
benefits resulting fromsucha
common system would ex-
ceed the costs linked to its
implementation and opera-
tion. Simultaneously, it be-
lieves that if the system were
to be implemented it would
tend to benefit member states
that are home to corporate
headquarters.
Thus, we pursue an
opinion that risks linked
with implementation of the
CCCTB are bigger than the
real benefit and effects of
harmonisation of tax bases,
the ministry wrote, as
quotedbySITA.
The Committee on
EuropeanAffairs of the Slovak
Parliament also responded
negatively. In May it adopted
a reasoned opinion on the
proposal stating why it con-
siders that the draft in ques-
tiondoes not comply withthe
principleof subsidiarity.
Ivan tefanec, the chair-
man of the committee, ex-
plained to The Slovak Spec-
tator that its main objection
is the loss of internal compet-
itiveness within the EU,
something that is an import-
ant spur tofuturegrowth.
Nor would the proposal
bring a reduction in
administration, tefanec
said. On the contrary it
would increase the adminis-
trative burden because it
wouldnot be obligatory. From
27 tax systems we would have
28 systems within the EU. In
general it could endanger
economic growth and con-
tribute in a negative way to
the flexibility of EU member
states to react to changing
economic situations and
business environments.
tefanec pointed out that
even though the proposal has
not obtained enough points
from national parliaments to
get a 'yellow card' to halt its
progress it has generated
significant opposition.
tefanec said tax harmon-
isationwas unacceptable.
Harmonisation of direct
taxes is not a good step and
thus it is not acceptable for
us, he said. This is not a
question of negotiation but
the principles of the EUs
operation.
Radovan urana of the
Institute for Economic and
Social Studies (INESS) wel-
comed the stance of the Fin-
ance Ministry.
SeeBASEpg8
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Prime Minister IvetaRadiovexpressedopposition. Photo: Sme
6
US COMMUNITY
Next issue:
BUSINESS FOCUS
TAXES
September 26 October 2, 2011
EC proposes
common system
for calculating
businesses'
tax base
Parliament approves legisla-
tion to unify revenue collection
Tax FreedomDay came earlier
in Slovakia in 2011
Tax FreedomDay came earlier in 2011
TAXFreedomDay, the day of
the year onwhicha
countrys taxpayers have fin-
ished paying their cumulat-
ive tax obligations to the
government, came earlier in
Slovakia in2011 thanit did in
2010. Tax FreedomDay was
celebrated onJune 3, 2011,
while it arrived onJune 7 in
2010, the SITAnewswire
wrote, citing ananalysis
prepared by the Slovak Tax-
payers Associationand the
F.A. Hayek Foundation.
OnFriday (June 3), Slov-
ak taxpayers stop working
for the state and start work-
ing to earnmoney for
themselves, Mat Povanc,
the foundation's director,
announced onJune 2.
The analysis found that
the earlier Tax FreedomDay
in2011 was due to continu-
ing economic growthand
measures takenby the gov-
ernment to consolidate pub-
lic finances as well as by the
presence of a weekend that
reduced the number of days
working for the state. The
organisations also wrote that
the shortest period for reach-
ing Tax FreedomDay inthe
history of its tracking in
Slovakia was in2008, when
the day fell onMay 22.
The Slovak Taxpayers As-
sociationand the F.A. Hayek
Foundationhave calculated
the date of Tax FreedomDay
since 1999 based ontotal
consolidated expenditures
by the public sector as a per-
centage of GDP.
The F.A. Hayek Founda-
tionalso publishes a calcula-
tioneachyear showing the
burdenof taxes and levies on
anemployee and wrote that
anemployee withaverage
income in2011 will receive
only 0.48 fromeacheuro
the employer is paying for
his or her work.
Freedomand Solidarity
(SaS) party, a member of the
four-party ruling coalition,
said inreactionto Tax Free-
domDay coming onJune 3
that it expects the day will
move closer to the beginning
of the year. But Povanc
noted that it could also come
later, pointing to the risk of
higher taxes.
CompiledbySpectator staff
Firms object to
disparities in local taxes
EARLIER this year the busi-
ness sector complained to the
government about the uneven
burden of local taxes imposed
on businesses, arguing that it
has a negative effect on the
business environment. A sub-
sequent analysis conductedby
the Finance Ministry compar-
ing revenue and rates of real
estate taxes concluded that
the business sector is indeed
burdened more than the gen-
eral population. To address
this issue, the ministry pre-
pared a revision to the law
which parliament passed for
further consideration. The
business sector as well as mu-
nicipalities will now have to
wait for the final wording of
the revision to see what im-
pacts it will have.
The National Union of
Employers (RZ) has pointed
out that insome municipalit-
ies and self-governing re-
gions significant inequalities
in terms of real estate taxes
have developed between
private individuals and cor-
porateentities.
Since a business subject
can be either a legal or a
private entity we believe
that this is leading to legal
entities being put at a disad-
vantage and deforming the
competitive and business
environment, the RZ
wrote in a press release on
April 1. It said it believed that
the government should focus
on reducing the financial,
administrative and regulat-
ory burden placed on busi-
nesses by municipalities and
self-governingregions.
In response to a request by
the RZ, the Finance Ministry
conducted an analysis of the
tax burden placed on busi-
nesses by local taxes and fees.
This comparison of revenue
and rates of real estate taxes
concluded that the business
sector is burdened more than
thegeneral population.
The ministry explained in
its paper that local taxes are:
governed by the law on local
taxes and the local fee for
municipal waste and small
construction waste; have a
facultative character; and
that individual towns and vil-
lages and self-governing re-
gions can decide on their im-
position and collection ac-
cording to their own condi-
tions. The only exception is
the local fee for municipal
waste and small construction
waste, which municipalities
areobligedtocollect.
The lawsets nine kinds of
local taxes and one local fee,
states the ministry paper.
Based on the concept of fiscal
decentralisation, whose es-
sence lays in independence
and responsibility of muni-
cipalities and self-governing
regions and in securing the
position of municipalities, it
simultaneously authorises
municipalities to set the rates
of local taxes, reduce taxes, as
well as exempt entities from
payment of thesetaxes.
Depending on the kind of
tax, the lawsets limits onhow
far municipalities can change
certain rates or reduce or ex-
empt subjects frompayment.
The principles of the im-
plemented fiscal decentralisa-
tion bestow competencies
with regards to local taxes and
the one fee on municipalities
and self-governing regions,
the paper states, adding that
the Finance Ministry cannot
interfere in this other than by
revisingtheapplicablelaw.
The ministrys analysis
showed that real estate taxes
make up the biggest portionof
aggregate local taxes collec-
ted. In 2010 the share was 63
percent, followedbythefeefor
municipal waste, which made
up about 30 percent of total
revenues. The analysis
showed that taxpayers carry-
ing out business activities ac-
count for morethanonehalf of
all revenues of municipalities
comingfromreal estatetaxes.
By comparing revenues
from taxes on buildings in se-
lected municipalities the Fin-
ance Ministry found that
while fiscal decentralisation
was intended to strengthen
the position and independ-
ence of municipalities when
deciding on matters related to
self-administration, the dis-
proportion observed in prop-
erty taxes indicated that the
principles of fiscal decentral-
isation had not been correctly
understood. One result of this
was the notably higher taxes
of buildings used for purposes
like agriculture, industry and
other money-making activit-
ies compared to land and res-
idential property.
The conclusion drawn
from the comparison of rev-
enues and rates of taxation
imposed on land, buildings
and apartments was that the
business sector is burdened
more than the general popula-
tion.
The Finance Ministry re-
cognises this situation and
will prepare in a short period
of time proposals to address
this situationwhichwill elim-
inate these deformations, the
Finance Ministry concluded
its report.
The ministry proposed
solutions in its draft revision
to the law on local taxes and
the local fee for municipal
waste and small construction
waste, which parliament ad-
vanced for further considera-
tion on September 7. In partic-
ular, the intention is to re-
move inequitable application
of some regulations in the law
inpractice, as well as toreduce
the administrative burden of
taxpayers as well as tax ad-
ministrators by removing
various announcement and
notificationduties.
For example, the revi-
sion reduces the number of
types of land from nine to
eight and further limits the
scope within which some
taxrates canbeset.
The RZ is not the only
employers association
which regards local taxes on
the business sector as far
fromideal.
Branislav Masr, the ex-
ecutive director of the Fed-
eration of Employers Asso-
ciations of the SlovakRepub-
lic (AZZZ) told The Slovak
Spectator that the burden of
local taxes falls unevenly,
evenunfairly.
There are cases of muni-
cipalities that impose excess-
ively higher taxes compared
with other villages or com-
pared with taxes for the same
taxed item owned by a non-
business subject, Masr
stated. This is taking place on
the basis of a law which en-
abled such a burden in some
cases, an extreme burden to
be placedondoingbusiness.
According to Masr, this
leads to negative impacts on
the business environment
and in the end to liquidation
of businesses and work-
places in those municipalit-
ies andregions.
The AZZZ particularly ob-
jected to the taxation of land
used for agricultural or recre-
ational purposes where, logic-
ally, large pieces of land are
necessary and are often used
by citizens of the municipality
free of charge. The federation
says tax rates on motor
vehicles are also problematic
because each self-governing
region can set a different rate,
which puts road transport op-
erators at an advantage or dis-
advantage depending on
which region they are based
in, even though they all use
thesameroadinfrastructure.
The AZZZ positively per-
ceives the current actions of
the Finance Ministry, even
though it can, Masr said,
imagine a slightly more fa-
vourable change for the busi-
ness sector.
Nevertheless, the draft is
a step in the right direction,
said Masr, who suggested
some additional ways to im-
prove the situation of busi-
nesses. Apart fromcontinuing
to eliminate excessive tax
rates, he proposes capping
rates as well as overall tax rev-
enue, and suggests that the
benefits whichbusiness activ-
ities bring a municipality be
taken into consideration
whensetting tax rates. Incase
of motor vehicles taxes he
proposes implementing a sys-
temwhichwould take into ac-
count the quality of the local
road infrastructure and how
intensivelyit is used.
The Association of Towns
and Villages of Slovakia
(ZMOS) sees local taxes as a
significant part of the tax in-
come that funds the activities
of municipalities.
Each municipality takes
into consideration the real
financial possibilities of tax-
payers and is searching for a
compromise between the in-
come needs of the municipal-
ity and the possibilities of
payers, ZMOS spokesperson
Michal Kalik told The Slov-
ak Spectator. We are afraid
that changing the parameters
of local taxes could severely
curtail their independence.
Here Kalik pointed out
that a hike in the lowest tax
rate on real estate will auto-
matically cause an increase in
thetax.
Even though municipal-
ities recognise the difficult
situation of taxpayers, they
will have no other choice but
to increase the tax burden
above the financial possibilit-
ies of taxpayers, Kaliksaid.
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Tax rates onlandvary considerably across Slovakia. Photo: Sme
7
FOCUS short
September 26 October 2, 2011
Finance Ministry
seeks to modify
the law on local
taxation
BUSINESS FOCUS
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fax: 421 2 5296 6956
e-maII: oceQatpartners.sk
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AI Partners, k.s.
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ProfessIonaIs
In tax
BASE: Slovakia wants fiscal sovereignty
Continuedfrompg6
Harmonisation of tax
rates is neither in the interest
of Slovak companies nor
Slovakias state coffers,
urana told The Slovak Spec-
tator. Representatives of the
NBS are not elected in demo-
cratic elections and their job
is to fulfil the tasks of the
European Central Bank, or the
cabinet and parliament.
Questions of fiscal sover-
eignty or European integra-
tion are beyond the mission
of the NBS.
He thinks that while the
CCCTB might mean simpli-
fication for companies oper-
ating in several EU coun-
tries, it is questionable
whether they would opt for
the scheme, as it would co-
exist with the current legis-
lationin27 countries. He also
questioned how the taxes
paid would be divided
between member states, and
suggested the effect might
be to decrease Slovakias
state revenues.
The disadvantage of this
proposal is that it is designed
in such a way that it does not
provide any significant ad-
vantages to the business
sector, urana told The
Slovak Spectator, adding that
the threat of harmonisation
of tax rates still hovers in the
air, as is proved particularly
by the efforts of France to
force Ireland to increase its
corporate tax rate.
According to urana, tax-
rate harmonisation, with re-
spect to rates in Germany
and France, would mean an
increase in rates for Slovakia.
Moreover, a fundamental
political power would be
transferred from Slovakia to
central authorities in Brus-
sels. Here urana pointed
out that the history of the EU
is full of examples of so-
called salami slicing with the
aim of reaching the desired
state of affairs, citing the ex-
ample of repeated referen-
dums inIreland.
The proposal for a com-
mon consolidated corporate
tax base represents a step
towards harmonisation,
said urana. Because this
proposal does not bring any
obvious advantages, there is
no reasonto support it.
Tax experts see more dis-
advantages than advantages
to the proposal. Zuzana
Blaejov, manager of tax
advisory at KPMG in Slovakia
also agrees with the Finance
Ministry, perceiving the ECs
proposal as dangerous for
small economies.
The tax system can be a
certain motivational factor
for development of the eco-
nomy of a country, as was
proved by the tax reform [in
Slovakia] from 2003 and
2004, Blaejov told The
Slovak Spectator. It is also
obvious that rules for the
CCCTB would be set by the
strongest economies within
the EU. It is possible to ex-
pect that they would be
tailored to suit the domin-
ant economies and would
not be suitable for small
economies. The proposal of
the directive is thus a
concept that suits countries
like France, the Netherlands
and Germany, but not coun-
tries like Slovakia.
According to Peter Paek,
the head of the tax depart-
ment at advisory company
Accace, implementation of
the Directive on CCCTB
would result in what he
called a partial loss of fiscal
neutrality for Slovakia.
Paek explained that the
state uses taxes and way in
which they are calculated as
a tool of its fiscal policy, to
respond to the development
and changes in economic
cycles and their negative
impacts. By harmonising
taxes across the EU the state
would thus lose an import-
ant tool.
He also identified anoth-
er disadvantage in the fact
that each EU member coun-
try has implemented a dif-
ferent tax policy.
While for some states
indirect taxes are the main
source of income to the state
budget, other countries focus
more on direct taxes, Paek
said. Such harmonisation
cannot embrace all aspects of
member countries. Each
country is different and has a
different preference.
With respect to tax
harmonisation, according
to Paek, it would cause a
loss of tax competitiveness
between individual coun-
tries.
Slovakia, with its
present tax system, is per-
ceived as competitive with
respect to other EU member
countries, said Paek,
adding that competition
tends to lead to the reduc-
tion of tax rates or reduc-
tion of the tax burden, and
that tax harmonisation
might instead result in an
increase intaxes.
But Paek also sees some
potential gains that tax
harmonisation might bring,
pointing out that tax com-
petition currently means
that individual countries
sometimes fight to attract
mobile capital to their
countries. Currently there
is a tendency to reduce tax
rates especially for corpor-
ate entities, and for coun-
tries to patch up the result-
ing gaps in their state
budgets through higher
taxation of private indi-
viduals, i.e. labour.
The advantage of har-
monisation is that that there
would be no reason to move
a company with a higher tax
burden into countries with a
lower one, said Paek,
adding that this might sta-
bilise the level of tax burden
on private individuals and
even hold out the prospect of
a reduction.
MPIvantefanec Photo: SITA
8
BUSINESS FOCUS
September 26 October 2, 2011
SP90507/4
hk}ly{pzltlu{
t ax > audi t > account ancy > payr ol l > t ax > audi t > account ancy > payr ol l > t ax > audi t
Sl ovaki a > Czech r epubl i c > Bel gi um > Ger many > Pol and > Luxembur g > Hungar y > Bul gar i a
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More tax hikes to patch budget hole
THE SLOVAKgovernment
has introduced some new
taxes and raised the rates of
others inorder to patcha
hole forecast for next years
budget. Apart froma special
levy onbanks and anearlier
hike inexcise tax oncigar-
ettes it has also introduced
new, more efficient tools
against tax evasion, the SITA
newswire wrote, adding that
measures to stop excise tax
evasionare expected to bring
anadditional 30 millionto
state coffers next year.
OnSeptember 21 the cab-
inet also adopted a draft bill
onexcise taxes onalcoholic
beverages. Eventhoughit
does not increase excise tax
rates onbeer and spirits or
introduce anexcise tax on
still wine, as the coalition
has failed to reachagree-
ment onthese sensitive is-
sues, the issue of imposing
anexcise tax onstill wine is
still not closed for Finance
Minister IvanMiklo.
Ill keep convincing our
partners that it would be a
good solution, Miklo said,
adding that ministries want
1.5 billionmore thanhe has
proposed inhis draft budget
and this could be a way to
bridge the gap.
Talking to the taxman online
THE TAXadministration
has registered anincrease
inthe number of electron-
ically-submitted docu-
ments this year. According
to the Tax Directorate of
the Slovak Republic, this
positive development is the
result of improved access-
ibility to its internet portal
as well as a newapplica-
tion, eTax, whichhas been
installed by more than
97,000 users since March
this year, the SITAnews-
wire wrote inMay.
The number of elec-
tronically-submitted doc-
uments rose, inpart due to
the better accessibility of
the portal and the newap-
plication, from39,012 in
2010 to 166,321 inthe com-
parable period of this year,
said Tax Directorate
spokespersonGabriela
Dianov, as quoted by SITA.
According to Dianov, by
using the eTax application,
the tax directorate simplified
not only its electronic but
also its writtencommunica-
tion. The overall number of
tax returns completed via
eTax, thenprinted and sent
by mail reached 242,000.
Nevertheless, the eTax
applicationrepresents only
one of the first steps increat-
ing anelectronic communic-
ationsystembetweenthe
tax administrationand cit-
izens and entrepreneurs.
Securing comprehensive
digitalisationof tax adminis-
trationand creating a unified
systemof taxes, customs du-
ties and payroll levies collec-
tionis one of the maingoals of
the governments UNITAS
project for the 2011-2013 period.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
Tax documents are nowavailable online. Photo: Sme
hk}ly{pzltlu{
SP90633
FOCUS shorts
Parliament approves legislation to
unify revenue collection via UNITAS
UNITAS, the long-awaited system that
will bring the collection of taxes, cus-
toms duties and mandatory payroll
levies under one state administrative
body has made a recent leap forward.
Slovakias parliament adopted a trio of
laws inmid September, preparedby the
Finance Ministry, that authorise ne-
cessary steps in the implementation of
UNITAS. The overall idea is to make this
aspect of public administration less
bureaucratic and more efficient.
UNITAS was unveiled during the gov-
ernment of Robert Fico and Prime Min-
ister Iveta Radiovs government con-
tinues to move its implementation
forward.
The aim of this reform is to change
tax and customs administration so that
it is more effective in terms of reducing
its own costs, more effective from the
viewpoint of collecting state revenues,
and simultaneously is pro-client ori-
ented in processes that remove excess
bureaucracy, the Finance Ministry
wrote inits proposed changes to the law
on tax administration, one of the three
tax-related pieces of legislation adopted
byparliament onSeptember 14.
The two other pieces of legislation
deal with the state bodies responsible
for collection of taxes, fees and customs
and the law governing state financial
administration.
The Fico government adopted the
original UNITAS concept inMay2008.
One of the Finance Ministrys prior-
ities is continuing reformof taxadminis-
tration along with involvement of cus-
toms administration with the vision of
unifying processes for collection of
taxes, customs duties and payroll levies
into one institution, the Finance Min-
istry wrote in its March 2010 concept pa-
per describing what it plans to accom-
plish. The Finance Ministry is respons-
ible for coordinating the various aspects
of UNITAS.
Twophases
UNITAS has two phases. During the
initial phase, UNITAS I, tax and customs
administrationwill be reformed. The goal
of UNITAS II is to then unify collection of
taxes and customs duties with collection
of payments made by companies and in-
dividuals for health insurance and man-
datory levies going to Slovakias social in-
surance company, Socilna Poisova.
Two of the laws adopted on Septem-
ber 14 are related to the first phase. The
changes in the law on state administrat-
ive bodies authorises the combining the
institutions collecting taxes, fees and
customs duties at the directorate level by
creating a newly-designated Financial
Directorate. Separate tax and customs of-
fices will be retained for some time to
prevent an abrupt change in current pro-
cesses that could negatively impact the
functionality of financial administration
or reduce access by citizens and compan-
ies. Unification of tax and customs of-
fices will be undertakenin2013.
The September 14 revision to the law
on the tax code is also linked with
UNITAS phase I and it amends regula-
tions pertaining to specific kinds of
taxes and organisational structure. It
authorises the finance minister to estab-
lish the internal organisational struc-
ture of tax offices as of the start of 2012,
including branches tax offices and their
contact points.
The third piece of legislation deals
with financial administration and un-
der it the second phase of reform with
the goal of unifying collection of taxes,
customs and insurance payments will
be pursued.
By merging the existing tax and
customs offices, new financial offices
will be created that will carry out com-
prehensive administration of taxes and
customs, the Finance Ministry stated
inits materials accompanying the legis-
lation. This will wrap up institutional
preparation for joint collection of insur-
ance payments as of January2013.
The merger of the tax and customs
administrations is planned for January
1, 2013. Prior to this, the tax administra-
tion must implement reforms by early
2012 so that the other government of-
fices will have time to prepare for the
subsequent merger.
9
BUSINESS FOCUS
September 26 October 2, 2011
Fewer audits, more
WHILE the total number of
tax audits performed in Slov-
akia has been declining over
recent years, a higher number
of so-called findings indicate
that better methods and in-
struments are being used by
the countrys tax administra-
tion to root out tax fraud or
tax errors. In 2006 there were
more than30,000 taxaudits in
Slovakia and the average
amount of each finding was
less than10,000 inmiscalcu-
lated or unpaid taxes. In 2010
the TaxDirectorate performed
only 18,400 tax audits but the
average finding was 30,000,
according to the Slovak
branchof Ernst &Young (E&Y)
which wrote a report earlier
this year titled Tax Audits in
the Slovak Republic, based on
data released by Slovakias
TaxDirectorate.
Tax audits uncovered
findings that totalled 556.3
million last year. Findings in
VAT audits represented 76
percent of the total findings
and accounted for 424.4 mil-
lion in additional tax collec-
ted, the SITAnewswire wrote.
According to Ernst and
Young, 54 percent of the tax
audits ended with a finding
that assessed additional tax
liability and a penalty for the
taxpayer or in a decrease in a
tax loss involving corporate
income tax.
E&Y ascribes the growth
in the amount collected from
290 million in 2006 to 556
million in 2010 in part to more
frequent exchange of interna-
tional information by
Slovakias tax authorities.
Through international in-
formation sharing, Slovakia is
able to gather better informa-
tion for proper assessment
and payment of taxes by for-
eign companies, even those
operating from so-called tax
havens. International in-
formation requests increased
most significantly in the area
of indirect taxes such as VAT,
which were tenfold higher
thanrequests regarding direct
taxes such as personal or cor-
porate income tax.
Taxpayer compliance
with VAT and corporate in-
come tax requirements are of
primary interest to tax audit-
ors and preventing evasion of
VAT payments is perceived as
most important from the per-
spective of the public budget
and that is why audits mainly
focus onthis area, E&Ywrote.
E&Y added that tax audit-
ors have their highest success
rate when auditing personal
and corporate income tax
payments and the firm re-
commends that taxpayers be
fully prepared to provide
sound arguments and have
sufficient underlying docu-
mentation to substantiate
their taxcalculations.
Compiledby Spectator staff
Goal is one state body
to collect taxes,
customs duties and
payroll levies
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
SP90541/6
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City of culture undergoes changes
2013, the year when Koice is to become a
European City of Culture (ECOC), is soon ap-
proaching, and residents of the city claim that
in the past two years, since the city was so
designated by the EU, significant changes
have occurred that are making Koice a cul-
tural centre for the whole country. But the
winds of change have also been swirling with-
in Koice 2013, the non-governmental organ-
isation that is responsible for managing the
citys ECOC efforts.
In May, Zora Jaurov was removed as the
director of the project and replaced by Jn
Sudzina. This happened after Koice 2013 sug-
gested that the powers of the managing dir-
ector be divided between two persons: a
project manager and an art director. Jaurov
was originally chosen to be the art director
but failed to get that position after a dis-
agreement surfaced between the manage-
ment and the administrative board of Koice
2013 over how to select the person for the pos-
ition. The NGOs management group wanted
the art director to be appointed but the board
agreed on a new organisational structure that
required managers of the project to be selec-
ted through public channels.
After that change, Jakub Urik, who had
served as the lead manager for international
relations, was designated as the head of the
development projects section. Peter Sokol,
with previous experience in marketing and
campaign management for the Koice
womens basketball team, became head of the
marketing and fundraising section and Mar-
tin Petro became the head of the section for
finance, administration and public resources,
after previously serving as the head of the
economic department at the Childrens Fac-
ulty Hospital in Koice, the SITA newswire re-
ported. Koice 2013 is still searching for an art
director as well as the head of the art and pro-
gramme section, SITA wrote in early August.
Aproject of transformation
The ECOC programme was launched in
1985 by the Council of the European Union,
and more than 40 cities have earned the ac-
colade since then. In 2013, Koice will share
the title with Marseille, France, which has
made the links between the two cities partic-
ularly strong. But partnerships have also
been developed with many other cities and
regions of Europe.
Though the project has been accompanied
by fierce debates on how the 63 million
awarded to Koice should be used, local resid-
ents seem to be uniformly pleased about their
hometowns success.
Five years ago, people used to head to
Bratislava when they wanted to enjoy some
kind of cultural activity. Today, it is Koice
that creates the buzz, said Jlia Gergeov, 24,
a student in English and Italian, who often vo-
lunteers at ECOC-related events. Also, I have
noticed that even people previously uninter-
ested in arts have started attending exhibi-
tions and concerts. That, in my opinion, is the
best thing about our having won the title: it
has been changing the city from within.
Change is, indeed, both a tool and an end
in itself. Christian Potiron, 33, a cultural man-
ager from France, joined the Koice ECOC team
in 2008. (The selection process usually takes
place six years in advance). He has lived in
Slovakia for 10 years and speaks impeccable
Slovak with an endearing French accent.
The ECOC initiative is first of all a project
of transformation of a city through culture,
Potiron said, adding that the main idea is to
recycle existing infrastructure in order to
create new cultural venues.
A large part of the budget has therefore
been invested in the renovation of an old bar-
racks on Kukunova, a five-minute walk from
the Main Street. The Captain Jaro Barracks
dates from the end of the 19th century and is
set in a historical park with an area of 17,000
square metres. Before they became part of the
Koice ECOC project, the buildings had been
used as warehouses by the Slovak military.
In 2009 the complex was renamed
Kasrne Kulturpark, or simply Kasrne (the
Barracks), and quickly became a lively cul-
tural venue with a calendar full of concerts,
exhibitions, screenings, workshops, and
lectures.
The area of Kasrne is amazing, said
Tom Dado, a 30-year-old artist, during the
opening of an exhibition there. If this place
was in Prague, they would drool over it.
However, the recent bad news is that
after two years of successful operation in
half-renovated premises, the Barracks have
now been closed to complete the reconstruc-
tion and prepare them for the impatiently-
awaited 2013. As soon as the complex is re-
opened, the Barracks will also serve as a res-
idency for foreign artists visiting the city and
wishing to draw inspiration from it.
Another major investment within the
ECOC project will go into what is called
SPOTs, a network of small, community-man-
aged cultural venues throughout Koices
suburbs. These will be housed in former heat
exchanger stations, which used to supply hot
water to housing estates but have been long
unused as technology has progressed.
Out of the 156 stations in Koice, about 20
are to be converted into community centres.
The first of them, the Pink Heat Exchanger on
Obrody in the neighbourhood of Terasa, was
opened in March 2010, while the others are
being reconstructed and should start operat-
ing throughout 2012.
At the Pink Heat Exchanger, all types of
events take place three to four times a week
from body-painting fashion shows to exhibi-
tions of childrens works, and from culinary
workshops to graffiti art sessions.
SeeECOCpg13
BYDOMINIKAUHRKOV
Spectator staff
Koice's State Theatre Photo: TIbor Stanko
SP90627/2
hk}ly{pzltlu{
11 September 26 October 2, 2011
CULTURE
#21: Analysts welcome pension changes, Smer slams them
Continuedfrompg1
The second pillar, some-
times called the capitalisation
pillar, allows employees to dir-
ect 50 percent of their required
retirement contributions into
an investment account man-
aged by a private pension man-
agement company. The third
pillar consists of voluntary,
supplemental savings depos-
ited with insurance compan-
ies, banks, asset management
companies and other financial
institutions that can be with-
drawn upon retirement. The
second pillar is administered
by pension fund management
companies which invest parti-
cipants savings based on rules
laid downby law.
During Ficos government,
labour minister Tomanov ini-
tiated several changes in the
second pillar. The government
several times opened the win-
dow for participants in the
second pillar to withdraw from
it and begin sending all of their
required contributions to the
social insurance pillar. It also
terminated the automatic en-
rolment of young employees
into the second pillar and ex-
tended the minimum period
that someone was required to
participate from 10 to 15 years.
One of the most significant
changes came in2009 whenthe
Fico government introduced
guaranteed investment per-
formance requirements for the
pension fund management
companies, which had to
demonstrate every six months
that they had not lost any of
the principal invested by
second-pillar savers or risk be-
ing required to cover any such
losses. The Fico government
also significantly reduced the
administrative fee that the
management companies could
charge participants.
The main deformations,
which were the far too-fre-
quent comparison of returns by
the funds and the duty to cover
possible losses, have been
removed, Peter Goli, direct-
or of the INEKO economic
think-tank told The Slovak
Spectator. As a consequence of
these deformations the pen-
sion fund management com-
panies were forced during 2009
to sell all of their more volatile
securities, including stocks and
most bonds, which meant a
drop in effectiveness from the
point of view of savers. Thus,
the new changes improve the
chances of achieving higher
returns.
Goli stated that it is posit-
ive that the time period over
which the return on invest-
ment by the funds is gauged
has been lengthened and that
the requirement that fund
managers would be forced to
cover any investment losses
has been removed. This will
make possible investments in
longer-term securities with
higher expected returns,
Goli said.
Thenewest changes
Currently, a participant in
the second pillar can choose to
put his or her savings in only
three kinds of investment
funds. A fourth kind of fund
will be available when the
amendment becomes effective
and the names of the current
funds are being changed. As of
April 1, 2012, the conservative
fund will be renamed the
bond fund; the mixed fund
will replace the balanced
fund; and the growth fund
will be changed to the stock
fund. The new investment
vehicle will be an equity-
linked index fund. Only the
bond fund will be subject to
state-mandated guarantees on
investment performance.
Participants who currently
have their savings in either
the growth or balanced fund
and who want the guaranteed
return on their savings must
switch their accounts to the
bond fund by April 1, 2012. The
Labour Ministry also stated
that it wants to permit parti-
cipants to direct their savings
into two of the four funds,
provided that one of them is
the guaranteed bond fund, the
SITAnewswire reported.
Parliament also approved
an amendment presented by
MP Jlius Brocka from the
Christian Democratic Move-
ment (KDH) that will reduce
the minimum number of years
for participating in the second
pension pillar from 15 year
back to its original 10 years.
The legislation also per-
mits the pension manage-
ment companies to make in-
vestments in precious metals
such as gold, silver and plat-
inum as long as the overall
volume of these investments
does not exceed 20 percent of
the total assets of the fund.
The Labour Ministry said
the conservative fund will be
renamed as the bond fund to
better reflect the investment
strategy that is followed by
the fund, adding that this
should enable the fund to
purchase bonds with longer
maturities and higher poten-
tial returns. The new equity-
linked index fund is to have
an investment strategy
based on tracking the per-
formance of selected stock
indexes or a basket of stocks,
SITAreported.
Young people entering the
work force for the first time
will automatically be enrolled
in the second pension pillar
and will have 180 days to con-
clude a contract with one of
the pensionfund management
companies. If they do not do so
on their own, Socilna
Poisova, Slovakias social in-
surance company that admin-
isters the first pillar, will as-
sign the person to one of the
pension fund management
companies and the persons
contributions will automatic-
ally be deposited into that
firms mixed fund.
New participants will have
two years after their automat-
ic enrolment to decide wheth-
er to stay in the second pillar
or to start sending all their
contributions to the first pil-
lar. The Labour Ministry said
the new participants will be
exempt from any fees if they
transfer funds between pen-
sion fund management com-
panies during the first two
years of their participation.
Currently, participants are
charged 16 if they transfer
their funds to another pension
fund management company
and this is currently possible
only once a year.
There was no change in
the fee that pension fund
management companies can
charge participants who in-
vest in the mixed fund or the
stock fund it remains at 0.3
percent of the value of the
participants average annual
assets. The bond fund,
however, will no longer charge
administrative fees based on
the investment return
achieved. The management
fee for participation in the
equity-linked index fund will
be limited to 0.2 percent of the
value of the average annual as-
sets, SITAreported.
Political interventions feared
According to Goli, the
development of the equity-
linked index fund could be an
attractive vehicle for younger
savers who have a higher will-
ingness to undertake riskier
investments due to the longer
time period before their even-
tual retirement.
Goli said giving young
people a two-year option to
leave the second pillar was an
expression of a liberal
approach but added that the
highest possible number of
people should remain in the
second pillar for the sake of
stability in Slovakias public
finances. From the point of
view of sustainability of pub-
lic finances, the key change is
the reintroduction of the
mandatory entry of young
people into the second pillar,
Goli stated.
But Goli is also concerned
about the possibility of future
changes in the second pillar.
The risks are political inter-
ventions if there is a change of
government; for example an-
other effort to reintroduce
guarantees and the subsequent
unwillingness of the pension
management companies to in-
vest more aggressively.
Regarding the removal of
the guarantees on investment
return, Goli noted that this
only returns the growth fund
(now the stock fund) and the
balanced fund (nowthe mixed
fund) to their original in-
vestment objectives.
Nevertheless, the cancel-
lation of guarantees in these
funds might be viewed negat-
ively by most people who, ac-
cording to several surveys, do
not want to accept higher
risk, Goli said. It would
thus be appropriate if these
savers transferred [their sav-
ings] to the guaranteed fund.
Critiquefromtheopposition
Tomanov said a better
solution would have been to
prolong the time limit during
which young people can volun-
tarily enter the second pillar or
to remove it entirely. She
stated on September 13, as re-
ported by SITA, that most cit-
izens saving for retirement via
the second pillar will end up
with smaller pensions because
the investment returns have
been less than the level of infla-
tion and therefore these pen-
sionsavings are losing value.
The former minister also
argued that the Labour Min-
istry will nowattempt to put a
cap on pensions from the first
pillar and extend the number
of years that people must
work before retirement age.
Tomanov opined that cancel-
ling the investment return
guarantees on the mixed and
stock funds is hazardous.
She also criticised the estab-
lishment of the fourth fund,
the index fund, stating that
two types of funds should be
sufficient: one with a conser-
vative strategy and one with
equity shares, SITAreported.
Funds want higher fees
The Association of Pen-
sion Funds Management
Companies (ADSS) presented
four of its own proposals be-
fore parliament acted. The
chairman of the association,
Peter Socha, said on Septem-
ber 13 that the pension man-
agement companies should be
entitled to an administrative
fee for appreciation of the
value of assets in the bond
fund. Socha urged that ter-
minating the fee could be
counterproductive because
the fund must continue to
guarantee its performance.
We would get into a state
in which this fund will be
more conservative than it
needs to be, Socha stated, as
quoted by SITA.
The association also ad-
vanced the idea that parti-
cipants fees should be based
on how much the achieved
return exceeded what it
called average daily appreci-
ation over the previous five
years. The associationalso ob-
jected to the fee for the new
equity-linked index fund be-
ing set at 0.2 percent and
urged that it be pegged at 0.3
percent of the average net
value of assets inthe fund.
There will not be motiva-
tion to promote this fund; it
will not be sufficiently filled,
Socha said regarding the
lower fee, adding that rather
than tens of thousands of
people choosing to invest in
that fund, he expects it to be
only thousands.
Former labour minister VieraTomanov Photo: Sme
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12
BUSINESS / NEWS
September 26 October 2, 2011
GREEN: Cities blamed for warming
Continuedfrompg4
Konrdov added that she does not see a
problem in meeting the requirement to make
all new buildings energy-passive by 2020, but
suggested that retrofitting buildings built be-
fore 1989 so that they are more environment-
ally-friendly and leave a smaller ecological
footprint will be more of a challenge. Julin
Keppl from the Institute of Ecological and Ex-
perimental Architecture said that currently
more than 50 percent of the worlds population
lives in cities and if this trend continues more
thantwo-thirds will be urbandwellers by 2050.
For now cities are taking up only 2 per-
cent of the earths surface, but they consume
as much as 70-80 percent of the total generated
electricity for their operation, said Keppl.
Because cities use electricity generated
almost exclusively from fossil fuels they con-
tribute as much as 80 percent to the total
amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the
atmosphere , Keppl said, adding that the
building industry is responsible for almost
half of this. He said cities bear a large share of
the blame for climate change, which has be-
come evident faster thanoriginally expected.
And this is probably the clearest answer
to the question of whether and why to con-
struct greenbuildings, Keppl said.
World Green Building Week 2011 ran from
September 19 until September 25. Its theme was
Green Buildings in the New Green Economy'.
The large number of organisations that joined
the initiative under the auspices of the World
Green Building Council shows that support for
the idea of sustainable building is becoming
stronger each year and that the thinking of
people has been changing radically around the
world, SKGBC wrote in its leaflet. The event in
Slovakia offered an exhibition of green housing
projects, open houses at firms active in sustain-
able building and architecture; and various lec-
tures and discussions.
Works by LaChapelle come to Slovakia
SOME people call him the Fellini of the
photographic world, admiring his style
and saying his works are moving the art
of photography into the future. Others
only see very colourful collages which
look chaotic. But Americanphotographer
David LaChappelle has said that the goal
of his photographs is to make a clear
statement, without hiddenconnotations.
Lost and Found is the name of an ex-
hibition that arrived in Bratislava on
September 14. It presents LaChapelles
works from the last decade pieces re-
flecting LaChapelles view of consumer
and pop society exhibited alongside his
versions of works stylistically similar to
Renaissancemasters.
LaChapelle is unmistakeable and
irreplaceable, said Marin Pauer, the
curator of the exhibition, adding that
people can always recognise photo-
graphs by LaChapelle. The curator noted
that the photographer is always trying to
bringnewperspectives tohis art.
The idea to bring an exhibition of
LaChapelles works to Slovakia origin-
ated in the minds of Jozef Pavleye and
Milo Harajda from Pavleye Art and Cul-
ture, a Prague-based art agency. They
told a Bratislava press conference on
September 13 that bringing LaChapelles
work here was not an easy task as they
had to spend a whole year trying to con-
tact his agents.
It was only a coincidence that Milo
[Harajda] had an interview with David
[LaChapelle] when he was in London,
Pavleye told the press, saying that this
opened the door for the two of them to
visit Hannover, where LaChapelle was
presenting his exhibition Earth Laughs
inFlowers.
When David heard what we wanted
and how and why we wanted to make it
he became interested and persuaded
everyone in the room that this was a
goodidea, saidPavleye.
LaChapelle became well-known
while he was working for Andy Warhols
Interview magazine and several other
major US magazines, including Rolling
Stone, Vogue and Vanity Fair as well as
The Face, a British magazine. In the last
ten years LaChapelle has returned to the
artistic side of photography and no
longer works in the world of commercial
photography.
He often says that he never wanted to
be famous and that he only wanted to make
famous photographs, Pauer stated. He did
not manage to succeed in the former wish
because he has become famous, but he suc-
ceeded in the latter because his photographs
are really renowned all around the world.
Lost and Found is the very first exhibi-
tion of LaChapelles photographs in this
part of Europe. Overall it includes 32
pieces, such as collections called
Awakened, Negative Currency and The
Crash, plus individual works depicting
Michael Jackson, Pieta with Courtney
Love anda large collage calledDeluge.
The exhibition runs until October 30
at the Bratislava City Gallery's Plffy
Palace, Pansk 19 inBratislava.
Museum, by DavidLaChapelle. Photo: Courtesyof FredTorres Collaborations
13 September 26 October 2, 2011
CULTURE
The 'other' Picasso in Bratislava
THOSE WHO appreciate only
the 'trademark' Pablo Picasso,
in particular his most famous
cubist works, might be best
advised to stay away from
Bratislavas City Gallery. Its
exhibition Love and Death: La
Suite Vollard is a collection of
Picassos works, mostly etch-
ings and dry points from the
period between 1931 and 1936,
whichrepresent a transitional
period between neoclassical
forms of expression and sur-
realism.
But those who would like
to explore the works of the
world-famous painter and
founder of many progressive
and pioneering artistic styles
and movements should enjoy
the novel in pictures, as the
exhibitions curator Fernando
Castro-Borego called the selec-
tion of 100 graphic works lent
by the National Museum-
Centre of Art of Queen Sofia in
Madrid. Prepared as a set of
stories; one could say the ex-
hibition is like one big film it
needs goodconcentration, and
some reading, Castro-Borego
toldapress conference.
He continued by saying
that the pictures, apart from
reflecting the artistic change
in Picassos style to more clas-
sical forms and also themes
(the pictures show bac-
chanalia, satyrs, Minotaurs,
and other characters from
Greek and Roman mythology)
they also indicate some of the
authors joys and sorrows in
his personal life. The works
have come to express desire
and physical lust in their pos-
itive and joyous side, but also
infidelity like giving up his
mistress Marie-Therese Wal-
ter for Dora Maar sometimes
brutality, and definitely also
the loss of vigour and powers.
The darkest aspect of this can
be seen in the picture of a
powerless, blind Minotaur
guided by a helper with the
face of Dora Maar, where the
Minotaur stands for the paint-
er himself. The relation
between the sexes is depicted
as a conflict, the eternal fight
so often present in Spanishart
and explains the subtitle of
the exhibition, Love and
Death, according to the curat-
or. The collectionalsoincludes
a draft of one of Picassos most
famous paintings, Guernica,
one true to the style of his
1930s creations.
Castro-Borrego said that
Picasso himself would prob-
ably have liked the placement
of his works inthe oldbuilding
of the Mirbach Palace, as he
tended to live inhouses dating
from the 18th century. It took
18 months to organise the ex-
hibition and the manager of
the Bratislava City Gallery,
Ivan Janr, said that al-
though the works were lent
from the National Museum-
Centre of Art of QueenSofia for
free, just the costs of re-fram-
ing, packing, andtransporting
them, plus the insurance fees,
mounted up to a point where
he joked with Spanish Ambas-
sador to Slovakia, Jos ngel
Lpez-Jorrn, that as a final re-
sort he would have to take a
guitar and play in the street to
raise money. But eventually
the money was raised and the
rare pictures could be moved
from Spain to Slovakia to be
shown to visitors in this part
of Europe.
Castro stressed that such
precious works, especially
when complete in a collec-
tion, rarely leave their mother
gallery or museum. Maybe it
was the fact that he is a mem-
ber of the board of patrons of
the National Museum-Centre
of Art of Queen Sofia and that
he had previously visited the
MirbachPalace personally as
Ambassador Lpez-Jorrn re-
vealed that helped to seal
this uniqueagreement.
Some of the exhibited
works are surprisingly tender
and playful, some show hid-
den aggression and power, as
well as lust and the desire to
conquer. All have English cap-
tions. Picassos Suite Vollard
(so named as it was originally
ordered by art sponsor Am-
broise Vollard, and includes
two portraits of him) can be
seeninthe Bratislava City Gal-
lery, or GMB, until November
13. For more information, visit
www.gmb.sk.
Faununcoveringawoman, by Picasso. Photo: Courtesyof GMB
ECOC: Events for 2013
are still being finalised
Continuedfrompg11
Again, some exchanges
will be residential, so that
artists cancreate their works
of art directly there: that is,
onthe SPOT.
More ECOCmoney will
finance the conversionof the
abandoned swimming pool
onRumanova into a large
gallery entitled Kunsthalle,
the revival of the embank-
ment of the River Hornd,
and the renovationof the
dilapidated amphitheatre on
Festivalov nmestie. The
amphitheatre could once
seat 10,000 people and after
its renovationits capacity
will be reduced to around
4,000 seats.
St Elizabeths Cathedral,
Hrniarska Street, as well as
the park onMoyzesova will
also undergo renovation. But
the development of cultural
infrastructure is only one
part of the ECOCproject.
Anequally important
challenge is changing the
way culture is regarded by
residents throughexposing
themto various forms of art
inpublic spaces, Potiron,
the cultural manager, said.
Therefore, many ECOC
events will take place inthe
streets and are aimed at in-
volving audiences to the
greatest possible extent.
The prime example is Koice
ECOCs flagship Use the
City festival, held annually
at the end of May, whichof-
fers events suchas concerts
ontrams under normal op-
erations, open-air literary
soires, or theatre perform-
ances inshopping centre
car parks.
Another festival, Nuit
blanche (White Night), takes
place inearly October, and
features exhibitions and per-
formances available
throughout the city centre
after sunset and during the
night. In2010, whenthe first
editionwas held, the pro-
gramme included a concert
at a swimming pool accom-
panied by special lighting ef-
fects and aninstallationof
thousands of plastic spoons
illuminated withLEDlights
spread all over the City Park.
The 2013 cultural agenda
will of course feature similar
events, multiplied by a thou-
sand. Organisers, however,
remainguarded about the
details of the programme
for strategic reasons.
The programme is still
being finalised and cannot be
made public yet, said Jozef
Mcik, 27, anevent manager
for Koice ECOC.
Aprogressivetype
of beauty
For all its diversity,
Koice remains a medium-
sized townand its possibilit-
ies interms of bothbudget
and capacity are obviously
limited incomparisonwith
big Europeancapitals suchas
London, Paris or Berlin. So
why would someone who
comes fromParis, whichis
supposed to be Europes most
beautiful and lively city,
choose to live inKoice?
There are different types
of beauty, said Potiron. Of
course, if youlike Paris by
night withall its lights, you
will not find that here; I
think that Koices beauty
dwells inrelations with
people and inhowthese can
make youmove forward
and my experience here has
made me move forward.
Koice is a city onthe
move, withmany things
changing, and being part of
the change is muchmore at-
tractive thanto live ina city
that is already established,
Potironsaid.
Children's illustrators return again
AS INeachautumnevery
other year, the Slovak capital
is nowthe centre of book il-
lustrations for children.
FromSeptember 1 till Octo-
ber 26, the 23rd Bienle
ilustrci Bratislava (Bienni-
al of IllustrationBratislava),
or BIB, presents the winning
works fromits international
competitionamong other
events. The goal is not so
muchthe competition; BIB
also enhances the views of
people towards creationfor
children, as adults cansee il-
lustrations fromdifferent
countries, the jury chair,
Murti Bunanta fromIndone-
sia, told the SITAnewswire.
The mainvenue, show-
ing the competing artworks,
is Domumenia (House of Art)
inSNP Square where 2,318 il-
lustrations made by 356
artists from44 countries for
458 childrens books are ex-
hibited.
We are happy to have at-
tracted countries this year
that had beenmissing for
some years like Indonesia,
India, Canada, Romania,
Georgia and Montenegro,
said BIBs general secretary
for 2011, Zuzana Jaroov, as
quoted by SITA.
The event, organised by
the Bibiana International
House for Childrenalso
awards five BIBGolden
Apples: this year, one of
themstays inSlovakia. Sev-
enillustrations by young
artist Tom Klepochinthe
book "Ako somsa stal
mudrcom", writtenby the
late Rudo Sloboda, were
awarded a GoldenApple.
BIBs accompanying
events include exhibitions
by individual authors, anin-
ternational symposiumand
aninternational workshop
for young artists named the
BIB-UNESCOWorkshop of
AlbnBrunovsk.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
BYRADKAMINARECHOV
Spectator staff
BYZUZANAVILIKOVSK
Spectator staff
Built from glacial rock
THE VILLAGE of Spisk tvrtok lies in the
Spi region of north-eastern Slovakia. Its
name comes from markets that were regu-
larly held there from the Middle Ages but
always ona Thursday (tvrtok inSlovak).
But historians also knowit under another
name: St Ladislaus. Althoughthis original
name gradually fell into disuse, St Ladislaus
(Svt Ladislav inSlovak) was successful
enoughto have its ownlocal seal and coat of
arms.
Historians believe a prehistoric fortified
settlement inthe locality of Myia hrka was
the predecessor of Spisk tvrtok. The en-
circling walls that are preserved to this day
are 3,500 years old and among the oldest in
Europe.
Withinthe village there remains evid-
ence froma muchearlier time the Ice Age.
Anancient glacier pushed a huge boulder in-
to the regionthat is the height of a four-
storey house. The rock is visible froma far
distance and numerous geologists have made
expeditions to it. Knownas Skalka, the gla-
cial rock beganto be used for construction
material for roads as well as streets and
courtyards inthe village beginning inthe
1940s.
This stylised postcard comes fromthe
workshop of Pavol Soch, a Slovak photo-
grapher and ethnographer. The girl was
posed ina festive folk costume witha prayer
book, at Sochs request, to represent a wo-
mangoing to church. Thoughit might not
seemso, this photographis 110 years old.
ByBranislavChovan
WesternSLOVAKIA
Bratislava
l FILM FESTIVAL: Filmov
Festival Inakosti / Slovak
Queer Film Festival This
festival is in, i.e. different,
as it name in Slovak suggests,
and brings a host of movies
with the leitmotif of trans-,
homo- and bi-sexuality. Films
will be screened at several
venues inthe Slovak capital.
Starts: Sept 29 - Oct 4; Film
Faculty of VMU Academy of
Fine Arts, Meteorit Theatre
and Palace Cinemas Polus.
Admission: 5-8. Tel: 02/5293
-3321; www.ticketportal.sk,
www.ffi.sk.
Bratislava
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Cikker v
Plffyho / Cikker at Plffys
The famous Moyzes Quartet
plays chamber music, this
time a four-part cycle dedic-
ated to the 100th anniversary
of Slovak composer Jn Cik-
ker. The first evening also in-
cludes works by Moyzes and
Dvok.
Starts: Sept 28, 19:00; Pl-
ffy Palace. Admission: 2-4.
More info: www.
kamdomesta.sk.
Bratislava
l DANCE THEATRE: ena z
Chitrakari / The Woman from
Chitrakari Presenting the
life story of one of the most
famous Hungarian artists,
Elisabeth Brunner, who spent
most of her life in India. The
show is danced by a Hungari-
an troupe, choreographed by
Indians Shyamala Surendran
and Panni Somi, and directed
by Panni Somi.
Starts: Sept 27, 19:00; In-
ternational Theatre Meteorit,
ulenova 3. Admission: 10.
Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.
meteorit-theatre.com.
Bratislava
l COUNTRY MUSIC: Lilly of
the West This famous Bul-
garian country band, led by
Lilly Drumeva, has performed
at festivals across Europe and
the US. This gig will be played
outdoors, and will feature
Slovak guests such as Michal
Barok onmandolin.
Starts: Sept 28, 18:00;
Hviezdoslavovo Square. Ad-
mission: free. More info:
www.bkis.sk, www.
lillydrumeva.net.
Bratislava
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Slovak
launch of a new Deutsche
Grammophon CD of the com-
plete recordings of Mozart's
concerts for French horn, per-
formed by Alessio Allegrini.
Starts: Sept 28, 11:00; con-
cert hall Dvorana, Zochova 1.
Admission: free. More info:
www.humilitas.sk.
Bratislava
l DESIGN: Dizajnvkend Brat-
islava / Design Weekend The
3rd year of this event sets out
to concentrate the most at-
tractive things, people and
events into a few days and a
handful of venues, principally
the Pisztory Palace and uvs
Dizajntdio.
Starts: Sept 28 - Oct 2; Pisz-
tory Palace, tefnikova 25;
SNG, Rzusovo nbreie 2;
Konsepti, Tovrensk 10; and
others. Admission: mostly
free. More info: www.
dizajnvikend.sk.
NovZmky
l EXHIBITION: Pertu No 9 By
Juraj Bartusz and Istvn
Ndler, in cooperation with
the Hungarian Cultural Insti-
tute. The 9th PERTU project
tries, as in previous years, to
seek parallels between Slovak
and Hungarianart.
Open: Mon-Fri 8:00-17:00,
Sat 9:00-13:00 until Oct 15; Ga-
lria umenia, Bjoernsonova 1.
Admission: 0.55-1.33. Tel:
035/6408-440/1/2;
www.galerianz.eu.
Central SLOVAKIA
Zvolen
l ICE HOCKEY: HKM Zvolen
vs HK Dukla Trenn Two
popular Slovak teams meet
within the premier Slovak ice
hockey league.
Starts: Sept 30, 17:00; Ice
Hockey stadium, Pod drhami
2293/21. Admission: 3-6.
Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.
ticketportal.sk.
Martin
l ANTI-VIOLENCE RALLY:
Medzinrodn de nensilia -
- October 2, the birthday of
Mahatm Gndh, has become
the International Day of Non-
Violence. In Martin, there will
be a candle demonstration,
speech of swami Gajanand
(India), Martin Choir singing,
folklore ensemble Turiec,
drumsession, and more.
Starts: September 30,
18:00; Divadeln Square. Ad-
mission: free. More info:
www.kamdomesta.sk.
EasternSLOVAKIA
Koice
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Dni
eskej kultry / Days of Czech
Culture The 11th year of this
festival will open with a con-
cert by Virtuosi di Praga, led
by O. Vlek, with A. Polkov
(soprano) and M. Rodriguez-
Brllov (guitar) playing
works of V. Pichl, B. Martin,
A. Dvok, J. L. Bella, L. Boc-
cherini, W.A. Mozart, N. Hi-
joshi and others.
Starts: Sept 28, 19:00; E-
vangelical Church, Mlynsk
Street. Admission: voluntary.
Tel: 02/5441-8215; www.czc.sk.
Koice
l LIVE JAZZ: Julia Siedl Quar-
tet Young Austrian piano
player Julia Siedl brings her
newband to the citys 16th In-
ternational Jazz Festival to
play jazz and world music.
Starts: Sept 29, 19:00; GES
Club, L. Novomeskho 13. Ad-
mission: 10 (one day) - 30
(for all 3 days). Tel: 055/6224
-303; www.jazzfest.ges.sk.
ByZuzana Vilikovsk
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
AUTUMNis often associated with flying kites, and if the weath-
er is fine on October 1 you can together with children or
without them fly a kite in the pleasant setting of Devn, near
Bratislava. The Devnska arkanida takes place between 14:00
and 16:00 in the premises of Devn Castle near Bratislava and in-
cludes a competition for the best kite, cultural performances,
and more. Every kite-flyer gets free entry to the castle. For more
information, visit www.devin.sk. Photo: Sme- Pavol Funtl
POPULAR Czech singer Hana Zagorov, a longstanding star of the
Czech and Slovak musical scenes who specialises in so-called beat
chanson, gives a concert in the tiavniky Sports Hall in Bansk
Bystrica on September 28, at 19:00. Another Czech pop singer,
Petr Rezek, will appear as a guest performer. Tickets cost 19 (in
advance) to 23 (at the door) and can be bought through
www.ticketportal.sk. Photo: Courtesyof PKOBB
14
CULTURE
Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia
can be found at www.spectator.sk/weather.
A Slovaks name day (meniny) is as important as his or her birthday. It is traditional to present friends or co-workers with a small gift,
such as chocolates or flowers, and to wish them Vetko najlepie k meninm (Happy name day)
N A M E D A Y S E P T E M B E R - O C T O B E R 2 0 1 1
Monday
Edita
September 26
Tuesday
Cyprin
September 27
Wednesday
Mat
September 28
Thursday
Vclav
September 29
Friday
Michal
Michaela, Michala
September 30
Saturday
Jarolm
October 1
Sunday
Arnold
October 2
Dancing in the streets
THERE ARE several regular
dance events and festivals in
Slovakia, but few carry their
performances into the audi-
ence. The Bratislava v pohybe
(Bratislava in Movement)
festival not only takes dance
onto the streets of the Slovak
capital, but also strives to
spread it beyond profession-
als, to interested and curious
audiences in the form of lec-
tures, workshops, laborator-
ies, screenings, panel discus-
sions andexhibitions.
One of the highlights of
the 15thyear of this festival of
contemporary dance will un-
doubtedly be something
rarely seen in this country:
But, a dance which emerged
inpost-war Japan.
Ko Murobushi, a disciple
of But founder Tatrumi
Hijikatu, will offer a taste in
the form of a duet with Hun-
garian But dancer Batarita,
and also add a lecture and
workshop, as well as screen-
ings of documentaries.
Another representative
of Japanese dance, this time a
less true-to-form, but rather
genre-free individual style,
will be Kae Ishimoto, festiv-
al head Miroslava Kovakov
said.
The festival presents a
progressive selection of Slov-
ak representatives of modern
dance, including two premi-
eres: the opening Krv a kr
(Blood and King) evening,
consisting of two separate
monologues, one male (cho-
reographed by Vladislav
olts) and one female (cho-
reographed by Renta
Bubniakov); and the Bul-
garian-Slovak physical
theatre project Kalbo (Ball),
about the connection
between humans and nature,
choreographed by Jaro
Viarsk (SK) and Petar To-
dorov (BG). Another mixed
production is the Journey
Home (Cesta domov) by a Bel-
gian-Slovak troupe Les Slov-
aks.
Moreover, local soloists
and groups such as Debris
Company, the hosts, elle-
danse, and the tdio tanca
theatrefromBanskBystrica,
will compare their artistic
perceptionwithdancers from
other Visegrad Group coun-
tries (the Czech Republic,
Hungary and Poland) within
theV4 inMotionproject.
Bratislava v pohybe takes
place between September 29
and October 9 (with the
promised dancing in the
streets being held on
September 30) at several ven-
ues. The lectures, workshops
and most accompanying
events are open to the public,
but some require registration
in advance. More informa-
tion about the festival can be
foundat www.abp.sk.
ByZuzanaVilikovsk
September 26 October 2, 2011
Bataritawill performbut. Photo: Courtesyof BVP
HISTORY TALKS
Homeless people
present artworks
PEOPLE living
at the Bratis-
lava Shelter of
St Louise de
Marillac had
the chance on
August 25 to show off their
artwork at an exhibition
called Metamorphoses-Art of
People without a Home. The
event attracted many visit-
ors.
Our clients exhibited
works about searching,
Katarna Kupcov of the
shelter told the TASR news-
wire. One artwork was called
Stopping at a Big City, an-
other painting was titled
Walled Dream. These and a
huge mosaic installation in
the shelters garden as well
as artworks from leather,
rope, wood and sand caught
the attentionof visitors.
The mosaic consists of
600 big squares that are put
together from yet smaller
squares, so it required a lot of
work, Kupcov explained,
referring to the installation
inthe garden.
The shelter offers short-
term accommodation for
homeless people as well as
for those who have been re-
leased from hospital and
need more time for recupera-
tion. The facility is currently
full, with30 residents.
In addition to their
artistic endeavours, resid-
ents can use the shelters lib-
rary, play games, and pray.
Staff at the shelter help the
residents arrange identity
documents and find suitable
accommodation when they
are ready to leave. The shel-
ter is operated by De Paul
Slovensko, a non-profit or-
ganisation.
Aresident at the St Louise de Marillac shelter. Photo: T. Somogyi
MriaSkenkovis the first womantoreferee amatchinthe CorgoLeague. Photo: SITA
Woman football referee
debuts in Trenn match
THE FOOT-
BALL match
between AS
Trenn and FK
Dac Dunajsk
Streda in the
6th round of Slovakias top-
flight Corgo League on Au-
gust 20will be rememberedfor
two historic moments. The
first was when AS Trenn re-
corded its first win, after the
team, which is coached by
Adrin Gua, scored a goal in
the 85th minute; it had only
recorded draws in its previous
matches. The more notable
historic moment was the de-
but of Mria Skenkov as the
first woman referee super-
vising a match in the Corgo
League.
Skenkov, from Martin,
served as an assistant to the
main referee at the match and
has beenservingas a referee at
lower-level football matches
in Slovakia since 2002. She is
the daughter of a long-time
football organiser and the wife
of aformer player for theilina
football club and had been
named to FIFAs list of referees
in2005.
Three years later she was a
referee at the Under-19
European Championship for
WomeninFrance. Skenkov
also refereed at the Under-17
World Championship for
WomeninNewZealandandin
TrinidadandTobago.
My schoolmates were
shocked to see me on TV as a
football referee, Skenkov
told the SITA newswire. She
said their main surprise was
her level of physical fitness, as
she had been excused from
participating in physical edu-
cation at school due to a heart
murmur as achild.
Over the course of time,
my status improved and cur-
rently I can run and train
without any difficulties, she
told the port daily. My feel-
ings after the premiere are
good. I hope all my decisions,
as well as those by my col-
leagues, were right. I am
happy to be the first womanto
referee in the Corgo League,
Skenkov stated. Her whole
family attended the match in
Trenntosupport her.
Draught horses compete in Cerov
TEAMSTERS and their
draught horses have been
an important part of Slov-
ak history and even
though they have mostly
been pushed aside by mo-
torised vehicles, they are not totally for-
gotten as horse-drawn wagons are still
needed in poor terrain. In addition, there
are multiple competitions staged across
Slovakia to test the skills of the horses
and their handlers.
Jozef Pukr, the head of the Associ-
ation of Teamsters of Slovakia told the
TASR newswire that 28 competitions
were planned for Slovakia in 2011. Own-
ers of draught horses can choose from
various contests so that they can collect a
maximum of points within our
associations league and then participate
in the Slovak Championship, he said.
Competitions with horses are a show of
an ancient craft that has not disappeared
and is a tourism offer. Our members help
attract visitors and spark life into villages
and towns throughout Slovakia at
weekends.
A competition to find the strongest
horse team was organised in August in
the village of Cerov for the first time by
the local civic association. The event had
three disciplines: first, teams with a full
wagon zigzagged through a slalom track;
the second event required completing a
marked track carrying huge logs; and the
third, the culmination of the competi-
tion, sought to find the strongest team of
horses. In that event two horses covered
a track of 50 metres and their load was in-
creased after each race with heavier logs.
The winning team was chosen based on
the heaviest load and the shortest time.
We agreed with competitors that we
did not want to abuse the animals, just to
show their real power. Therefore, the
time limit for the last discipline was two
minutes and the drivers were not al-
lowed to hit the horses, said Jn Fran-
cisty, one of the organisers.
Jn Francisty Jr, from Krupina, was
named the overall winner at the first
year of the Cerov competition and anoth-
er horse he owns, Tango, was chosen as
the most beautiful horse. The oldest hu-
man participant in Cerov was Jn Slva
from Hrocho. More than 2,000 visitors
watched the competition.
That was not bad; we are satisfied
with the course of the competition but
there is still something left to improve in
the coming years, said Miriam
Hamuliakov, the head organiser.
Flooded
shelter
seeks help
THE FLOODS
in Kemarok
in eastern
Slovakia at
the end of
August des-
troyed the towns animal
shelter.
We have been building
the shelter for several years
and it was one of the best in
Slovakia, Juraj Elia, the
president of the Slovak Alli-
ance for Animal Protection
(Slovensk aliancia ochran-
cov zvierat) told the TASR
newswire. And in a few
minutes, a disastrous tor-
rential wave came and des-
troyed it.
Elia appealed for help
for the rescue centre, asking
for funds to buy dog food,
construction materials and
to rebuild the fence around
the shelter, as well as ask-
ing people to temporarily
take care of an animal or to
permanently adopt one.
If the public wants to
help, people and NGOs have
prepared collection points
for citizens throughout all
of Slovakia where they can
bring food, collars, leashes,
bowls, and muzzles for dogs
or cats all things that can
be put into a car, Elia
stated.
The Facebook page of
the Slovak Alliance of An-
imal Protection lists the col-
lection points and posts up-
dated information.
1
2
4
3
AROUND SLOVAKIA
compiled by Zuzana Vilikovsk from press reports
15 September 26 October 2, 2011
FEATURE
JnFrancisty Jr andhis teamof horses
took home the topprize. Photo: TASR
16
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September 26 October 2, 2011
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