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Coalition: Repeated Vote on GP to Take Place on Tuesday

Bratislava, December 2 (TASR) - Parliament will sit on for a repeated vote within the second attempt at electing a prosecutor- general, Coalition leaders agreed at a meeting on Thursday afternoon. The repeated vote was originally set for later Thursday afternoon, according to SDKU-DS chairman Mikulas Dzurinda but shortly afterwards SaS Chairman and Parliamentary Chairman Richard… read more

Stats Office: GDP Grew by 3.7 percent in 3Q10

Bratislava, December 2 (TASR-SLOVAKIA) - The Slovak economy grew by 3.8 percent y-o-y in the third quarter of this year, Statistics Office reported on Thursday, after revising its preliminary estimate of 3.7 percent. The tempo of growth therefore decelerated slightly (by 0.4 percentage points) compared to the first second of 2010, when it reached 4.2 percent y-o-y.… read more

MVK Poll: Prime Minister Radicova Most Trustworrthy Politician

Bratislava, December 1 (TASR) - Prime Minister Iveta Radicova has registered as the most trustworthy politician in Slovakia in an MVK agency poll released Wednesday, thus displacing former premier Robert Fico, who has consistently headed such polls over the past decade. Radicova is seen as reliable by 34.5 percent in the survey, carried out on a representative sample… read more

MPs Back Tobacco Tax Hike, State to Earn Extra €16 million in 2011

Bratislava, December 1 (TASR) - Parliament at its session on Wednesday voted in favour of an increase in excise-tax on tobacco products, with the move expected to bring an extra €15.9 million into the state budget next year and another €21.2 million in 2012, TASR learnt later in the day. The Government decided to amend the relevant law partly in order to meet a European… read more

Parliament Rejects Beer Tax Hike as Four KDH MPs Abstain From Vote

Bratislava, December 1 (TASR) - Beer prices won't go up after all because Parliament on Wednesday voted down Finance Minister Ivan Miklos's proposal to raise excise-tax on this type of beverage. The move failed to garner support among some Christian Demcorat (KDH) MPs, with four of them abstaining from the vote. Under the amendment, the excise-tax on beer was to… read more

Parliament Okays 80-percent Tax on Surplus Emission Quotas

Bratislava, December 1 (TASR) - Surplus emission quotas that some companies received in allegedly excessive amounts under the tenure of the previous government will be subject to a newly-introduced 80-percent tax in 2011 and 2012 after Parliament voted in favour of a respective proposal on Wednesday. The move was backed by the entire Coalition, while most MPs representing… read more

Budget Deficit Surpassed €3.5 billion in November

Bratislava, December 1 (TASR) - The state budget deficit rose by €138 million on monthly terms to reach €3.511 billion in November, the Finance Ministry announced on Wednesday. The deficit was more than double the figure recorded to November 2009, which stood at €1.576 billion. A total deficit of €3.746 billion was originally projected for the whole of… read more

Profit of Slovakia\'s Banks Rose by 47% Between January-October

Bratislava, November 30 (TASR) - The net profit of the banking sector in Slovakia in January-October rose to €430.25 million, which represents an almost 47-percent increase year-on-year, the central bank (NBS) reported on Tuesday. The net profit from interests over the first three quarters of 2010 rose by €77.5 million to €1.4 billion, with the non-interest profits… read more

Parliament: Public Deficit to Reach 7.84 percent of GDP in 2010

Bratislava, November 30 (TASR) - The public administration deficit will reach 7.84 percent of GDP in 2010, according to a revision of the state budget approved by Parliament on Tuesday. The Finance Ministry, which drew up the revised budget, explains this by saying that parameters of the previous budget (passed by the former Government) and the economic reality differ… read more

Parliament Approves VAT Rate Increase to 20 percent

Bratislava, November 30 (TASR) - The basic VAT rate will be temporarily increased from 19 percent to 20 percent as of January 1, while the 6-percent VAT rate on foods at yard sales will be abolished, the Parliament decided on Tuesday. The VAT rate increase is part of Government's package aimed at a consolidation of the public finances, which should reach a deficit of… read more

STV and SRo to Merge, Radio and Television Slovakia on Airwaves Jan. 1

Bratislava, November 30 (TASR) - Public-service Slovak Television (STV) and Slovak Radio (Sro) will merge into a brand new public broadcaster Radio and Television Slovakia (RTS) as of the beginning of 2011, as 77 MPs backed the respective proposal at a parliamentary session on Tuesday. The initiative, submitted by Culture Minister Daniel Krajcer (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS),… read more

Austrians Interested in Investing in Wind Energy in Slovakia

Bratislava, November 30 (TASR) - The issues of economic development and energy dominated a meeting between Slovak Economy Minister Juraj Miskov (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) and Austrian Ambassador to Slovakia Josef Markus Wuketich on Monday, the Economy Ministry told TASR on Tuesday. Wuketich pointed to the interest among Austrian investors in developing wind energy in… read more

Tipos to Pay Over €14 mn to Lemikon Over Use of Sportka Trademarks

Bratislava, November 30 (TASR) - Slovakia's Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that national lottery company Tipos illegally used the trademarks of Czech betting company Sportka in the past. Tipos will therefore have to pay more than €14 million to Cypriot firm Lemikon Limited, which owns Sportka's financial claim. In its ruling, the Appeal Court also partially recognised… read more

Employers From RUZ Agree With Government Austerity Package

Bratislava, November 30 (TASR) - The Republican Union of Employers (RUZ) supports the package of measures adopted by the Government aimed at balancing public finances, albeit with certain reservations, said RUZ representatives at a press conference on Tuesday. According to RUZ president Marian Jusko, it wouldn't be beneficial if the proposal were weakened by various amending… read more

NBS: Real-estate Loans Over Past 12 Months Grew By €1.24 billion Y-o-y

Bratislava, November 30 (TASR) - The total amount of loans provided for real-estate in Slovakia in the past 12 months grew by €1.24 billion year-on-year, the Slovak central bank (NBS) said on Tuesday. To the end of October 2010, banks provided a total of €10.32 billion to households in order to finance real-estate activities. The largest share of finances provided… read more