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Caplovic: Matovic’s Plans Confirm Smer-SD Claims of 6-party Coalition

Bratislava, December 29 (TASR) – The statements of leader of Freedom and Solidarity's (SaS) faction called 'Ordinary People' (OL) Igor Matovic concerning his plans to set up a new party in the first quarter of 2011 confirms the words of opposition Smer-SD that the current centre-right Government does not consist of four but of six political parties, said Smer-SD vice-chair… read more

Spisiak: Police Action Went Awry due to Turkey\'s Failure to Stick to Deal

Bratislava, December 29 (TASR) - The international police operation, during which a Czech lorry driver unwittingly carrying substance used in production of heroin was detained in Turkey, was handled in a brilliant manner by the Slovak police while it was botched by Turkish authorities, Slovak Police Corps President Jaroslav Spisiak told a press conference on Wednesday. Within… read more

Jurzyca: Public Finances in Bad Shape, We Had To Let People Go

Bratislava, December 29 (TASR) – The Education Ministry, under the remit of Eugen Jurzyca (SDKU-DS), is reducing the number of its employees from 507 to 473 as of January 1, TASR learned from Jurzyca on Wednesday. "Due to the situation in public finances, we were forced to let people go. The truth is that at the beginning some of the employees were made redundant due… read more

Galko Refuses to Sign Car Insurance Contract, Negotiates Cheaper Price

Bratislava, December 29 (TASR) – Slovak Defence Minister Lubomir Galko refused to sign an already-agreed-upon contract concerning the insurance of vehicles used by the ministry, TASR was told by ministry spokesman Ivan Rudolf on Wednesday. Galko claimed that the initial sum for the insurance - €2.61 million – was too high and he insisted on a cheaper deal. … read more

Galko Closing Down Office With Shady Tender History

Bratislava, December 28 (TASR) - Defence Minister Lubomir Galko on Tuesday ordered the closure of the ministry's Maintenance Office in Trencin - where officials charged with fraud involving public procurements were working, TASR learned on the same day from the ministry's press department head Ivan Rudolf. "This branch office will be terminated on January 31, 2011. This… read more

Zitnanska: Court Rulings That Could Harm Children Won\'t Be Published

Bratislava, December 28 (TASR) - Even if President Ivan Gasparovic's veto of an amendment to the Judges and Judicial Assistants Act is broken in Parliament, the provision vis-a-vis making court rulings public on the web as of 2012 won't apply in all cases, Justice Minister Lucia Zitnanska told TASR on Tuesday. "The rule is that if court proceedings aren't public, then… read more

Jurzyca: Teachers\' Active Work With Pupils Should be Rewarded

Bratislava, December 28 (TASR) - Teachers needn't be concerned about any substantial changes in the upcoming year, but the Education Ministry is committed to improving the education system, with teachers set to receive remuneration for extra-curricula activities with pupils, Education Minister Eugen Jurzyca has said in an interview for TASR. Jurzyca noted that teachers… read more

Miskov: 2010 Saw Squandering Halted and New Rules Instituted

Bratislava, December 28 (TASR) - An end to squandering and the introduction of new rules for spending at the Economy Ministry are the main achievements in the way that the ministry functions, Economy Minister Juraj Miskov has said in an interview for TASR. "What I view as most important is that I've taken over the ministry and stopped wasting in spending and established… read more

Analyst: 2010 Saw Shift From Leftist to Rightist Patchwork

Bratislava, December 28 (TASR) - The parliamentary elections in June and the changeover from a "leftist patchwork of Jan Slota (Slovak National Party/SNS), Vladimir Meciar (LS-HZDS) and Robert Fico (Smer-SD) to a rightist patchwork was the key event in the year about to end, political analyst Michal Horsky told TASR on Tuesday. At the same time, Horsky admitted that what… read more

Zervan Views His Dismissal as Political

Bratislava, December 27 (TASR) - Slovak Ambassador to Great Britain Juraj Zervan said on Monday that he considers the decision to dismiss him from his post to be a political one, although he's willing to accept it. Zervan protested against the reason given for his dismissal by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, however. He claims that the information is misleading, incorrect… read more

IES: Confidence in Slovak Industry Grew by 2 points M-o-M in December

Bratislava, December 27 (TASR) - Confidence in the Slovak economy as expressed by the Index of Economic Sentiment (IES) grew by 2 points on monthly terms to reach 94.8 points in December, the Statistics Office announced on Monday. The increase was mainly due to increased confidence in industry, retail and the construction industry. In a y-o-y comparison, the IES… read more

Sulik to Decide on RTS Temporary Boss by End of Week

Bratislava, December 27 (TASR) - Parliamentary Chairman Richard Sulik (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) is set to decide by the end of the week who will become interim director of Radio and Television Slovakia (RTS) following the merger of public broadcasters Slovak Television (STV) and Slovak Radio (SRo) as of January 1, Sulik's secretary Tatiana Tothova told TASR on Monday.… read more

Two Rail Companies to Receive €200 million Each for Services to State

Bratislava, December 27 (TASR) - The state has ordered services totalling over €400 million for 2011 from the country's rail-infrastructure operator Slovak Railways (ZSR) and passenger-transport provider Railway Company Slovakia (ZSSK), with the contracted sums divided more or less evenly between the two, Transport Minister Jan Figel (Christian Democrats/KDH) told a press… read more

PAS: Entrepreneurs View 2010 With Very Wary Optimism

Bratislava, December 26 (TASR) - Entrepreneurs when looking back at 2010 feel a very wary level of optimism for the future, executive director of the Slovak Business Alliance (PAS) Robert Kicina has told TASR. The quality of the business environment was influenced by two major events in 2010 - the rightist Coalition taking power and a cautious post-crisis recovery in… read more

Cargo Transport at Bratislava Airport Breaks Records

Bratislava, December 26 (TASR) - Volumes of cargo passing through Bratislava airport (BTS) continue to rise, with the airport breaking last year's record of 12,000 tonnes of cargo handled as early as in October of this year, BTS spokesperson Dana Madunicka has told TASR. The growth was due to more air routes and more interest on the part of transport companies, she added.… read more