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SkyToll Collected €1.5 million During Nine Days

Bratislava, January 9 (TASR) - Operator of the recently-introduced electronic road-toll system in Slovakia - SkyToll - has collected €1.5 million as of Saturday. The system was launched on January 1, 2010. "Vehicles obliged to pay toll have been driving on 9,926,140km of tariffed road sections in total," SkyToll spokesperson Lenka Lendacka told TASR on Saturday, adding… read more

Vazny: Protesting Hauliers To Face Consequences

(Slovak Radio, January 9, 'Sobotne dialogy') The hauliers protesting against the new road-toll system, who do not respect the Law on Strike and create problems in the traffic flow, have to bear the consequences for their actions, said Slovak Transport Minister Lubomir Vazny on the Slovak Radio politics discussion programme Sobotne Dialogy ('Saturday Dialogues'). "If… read more

UNAS: Cilek\'s Statements Can Radicalise Situation in Bratislava

Zvolen, January (TASR) - The Association of Slovak Hauliers (UNAS) considers statements made by Bratislava deputy mayor Milan Cilek on Friday as harmful and warns that they may radicalise the situation in Bratislava, Jaroslav Polacek from UNAS told TASR on Saturday, adding that they don't want the situation to become even more complicated. Cilek said on Friday that Bratislava… read more

Road Transporters: We\'ll Stay on Roads in Bratislava

Zvolen/Bratislava, January 8 (TASR) - Small and medium-sized road carriers are ending their street-blocking protest in towns around Slovakia. However, after two days of protesting by blocking roads of Bratislava, they stay on roads in Slovakia's capital. That's the outcome of a Friday session of the Slovak Road Transporters Union (UNAS) representatives who met in Zvolen… read more

Fico Calls for Fair Rules in Paying Toll on Motorways

Bratislava, January 8 (TASR) - Prime Minister Robert Fico on Friday met with representatives of the National Highway Company (NDS) and SkyToll, the company that runs the newly introduced electronic toll-collection system. Fico called on them to find a more candid way for lorry drivers paying toll for using sections of motorways and other toll-related roads. "Premier has… read more

Transportation Ministry to Introduce Ticketing and Lower Penalties

Bratislava, January 8 (TASR) - Lorries will be able to use an alternative payment method for travelling on toll roads, TASR learned from Transportation, Post and Telecommunication ministry spokesman Stanislav Jurikovic on Friday. After holding talks with road transporters association CESMAD, the Transportation Ministry intends to temporarily introduce the so-called ticketing.… read more

No Irish Inspector Dispatched to Slovakia, Say Interior Ministry Officials

Bratislava, January 8 (TASR) - The rumour that an Irish police official has been deployed to Slovakia is without foundation, Interior Ministry spokesman Erik Tomas informed media on Friday. Tomas says that Superintendant Martin McLauglin from the Irish Police (An Garda Siochana) has asked his Slovak counterparts for a full report on the circumstances regarding the January… read more

SDKU-DS: Kalinak No Longer Legitimate Interior Minister for Us

Bratislava, January 8 (TASR) - Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kalinak is no longer a legitimate minister for the main opposition party SDKU-DS, the party's law, order and justice team leader Lucia Zitnanska said at a press conference in Bratislava on Friday. According to former justice minister (2006) Zitnanska, SDKU-DS is calling on Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico… read more

Most-Hid Would Like to See Graduated Pension Payments Reconsidered

Bratislava, January 8 (TASR) - Slovakia's social-security system has come under fire from the extraparliamentary Most-Hid party, which described it Friday as chaotic, complicated and incompatible with the system of taxation and social contributions. "The social system should feature solidarity. The wealthier should, in part, share their wealth with the poor," Ivan Svejna,… read more

NBS Has Already Withdrawn 97 percent of Koruna Notes and Coins

Bratislava, January 8 (TASR) - The Slovak central bank (NBS) has already withdrawn Slovak-koruna banknotes and coins worth Sk150 billion (€5 billion) from circulation, which represents 96.9 percent of the total circulation as at December 31, 2007, NBS informed on Friday. According to NBS managing director for payment system and money circulation Milena Korenova, 111.5… read more

SaS Calls for Cut in Excise Tax on Diesel to Offset Costs of Toll System

Bratislava, January 8 (TASR) - Extraparliamentary Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) called Friday for the reduction in high excise tax on diesel oil in order to offset the costly toll collection system brought on line as of January 1. SaS chairman Richard Sulik also told journalists that the excise tax on diesel is the second highest (behind Great Britain) in the European… read more

Lawmakers Agree that Airport Security Bungle Is Intl Embarrassment

Bratislava, January 7 (TASR) - In rare show of political unity, lawmakers of every stripe view the most recent incident, when a Slovak man was found in Ireland to have unwittingly flown in explosives planted into his luggage by Slovak authorities in a bungled airport security exercise, as international embarrassment. Having apologised to the the Irish justice minister,… read more

SkyToll Expects Situation vis-a-vis Road Toll to Calm Down in February

Bratislava, January 7 (TASR) - Matej Okali, general director of the company SkyToll, which operates the road-toll system in Slovakia, expects that the situation that has emerged vis-a-vis the introduction of the electronic road-toll system on January 1 will calm down at the beginning of February. The long queues at the border crossings are mostly made up by foreign carriers,… read more

Minarik Anxious to Remove Undue Benefits for Gaming Project

Bratislava, January 7 (TASR) - Independent MP Pavol Minarik said Thursday he had submitted a bill to remove the phrase "casino as part of the recreation complex" from the Games of Chance Act effective as of January 1, as it gives undue benefits for the project favoured by the Finance Ministry that had initiated inclusion of the phrase. The billion-plus euro project featuring… read more

Unions Laud Social Dialogue at Tripartite Level Last Year

Bratislava, January 7 (TASR) - Reviewing the past year on Thursday, Slovakia's Trade Union Confederation (KOZ) said that it's satisfied with the state of social dialogue at tripartite level, which worked in 2009, notwithstanding the global economic crisis complicating negotiations. "As a negative consequence of the crisis we see unemployment, which rose from 9 to 13 percent,"… read more