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Supreme Court Employee Files Against FinMin as Private Individual

Bratislava, August 13 (TASR) - A private individual has filed a criminal complaint against the Finance Ministry with the Prosecutor-General's Office, citing unlawful attempts to carry out a financial audit at the Supreme Court, said Prosecutor-General Dobroslav Trnka on Friday, stopping short of disclosing the name of the complainant. The complainant is an employee but… read more

Gov\'t: Regional Development to Come Under Remit of Transport Ministry

Bratislava, August 13 (TASR) - The powers of the Transport Ministry will be broadened to cover the co-ordination of regional development policies, tourism and the distribution of eurofunds, according to a Government decision on Friday. At the same time, the name of the ministry will be changed to the Transport, Regional Development and Tourism Ministry as of November… read more

Analysts Comment on Premier\'s Austerity Plans for State Offices

Bratislava, August 13 (TASR) - Analysts approached by TASR have commended Prime Minister Iveta Radicova for her plans to slash state spending by 10 percent but are less than convinced about their feasibility. According to Rastislav Toth, the planned reductions in salaries for lawmakers and especially ministers should be offset in some way. "It remains to be seen whether… read more

Chmel to Take Over Support of Ethnic Minority Culture

Bratislava, August 13 (TASR) - Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Rudolf Chmel (Most-Hid) will acquire the agenda of support for ethnic minority culture, which until now has been overseen by the Culture and Tourism Ministry, the Government decided on Friday. Meanwhile, the Culture and Tourism Ministry will go back to its old name of the Culture Ministry… read more

Analysts: Foreign Demand Behind Better Than Expected Growth in 2Q10

Bratislava, August 13 (TASR) - Slovakia's economy expanded faster than analysts expected in the second quarter of 2010, rising by 4.6 percent according to a preliminary estimate released by the Statistics Office on Friday, versus the average analyst prediction of 4 percent. The analysts see foreign demand as the main reason behind the robust growth. "Slovakia's… read more

Smer Would Have Won General Election in June-July on 39.7 percent

Bratislava, August 13 (TASR) - The latest opinion poll out on Friday reveals that the opposition Smer-SD party would have won a general election on 39.7 percent voter-support in July, ahead of the co-ruling SDKU-DS and the Christian Democrats (KDH) on 15.3 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively. The survey, which was conducted between June 21-July 18 by the MEDIAN SK… read more

Inflation Accelerated to 1.1 percent Y-o-Y in July

Bratislava, August 13 (TASR) - Inflation in Slovakia accelerated from 1 percent year-on-year in June to 1.1 percent in July, the Statistics Office announced on Friday. Core inflation reached 1.4 percent, while net inflation stood at 0.7 percent y-o-y in July. Prices in July rose only slightly month-on-month - by 0.1 percent. Inflation in July was mainly influenced… read more

Stats Office Preliminary Estimate - GDP Grew by 4.6 percent in 2Q10

Bratislava, August 13 (TASR) - According to a quick estimate published by the Statistics Office on Friday, the Slovak economy grew by 4.6 percent y-o-y in the second quarter of this year. The tempo of growth therefore decelerated only slightly compared to the first quarter of 2010, when it reached 4.8 percent y-o-y. Analysts expected an even more significant deceleration… read more

Fewer People Applying for Certificate of Slovak Living Abroad

Bratislava, August 12 (TASR) - The number of people applying for Slovak living abroad certificates dropped last year to 958, the Office of Slovaks Living Abroad announced on Thursday. The Office explained that this was because of a fall in applications from Slovaks living in Serbia in the third quarter of 2009, due to the expected abolition of the visa duty for those… read more

Horsky: Bill on Reducing MPs Immunity May Have Chance

Bratislava, August 12 (TASR) - The proposal aimed at reducing the immunity of MPs may have a chance of being passed if the immunity of judges is excluded and its wording undergoes considerable changes that would allow the Smer-SD party to support it, political analyst Michal Horsky told TASR on Thursday. "Robert Fico and Smer-SD have to think hard about whether they… read more

Radicova: I Expect that EU Will Respect Slovakia\'s Decision on Greece

Bratislava, August 12 (TASR) - I assume that representatives of the European Union respect Slovakia's democratic principles, so they also will respect the voting in the Slovak Parliament concerning the financial assistance to Greece, Prime Minister Iveta Radicova said on Thursday. Slovak Parliament on Wednesday refused to provide the loan to the indebted country, which… read more

Regional Development to Come Under Remit of Transport Ministry

Bratislava, August 12 (TASR) - Agriculture Minister Zsolt Simon (Most-Hid) and Transport Minister Jan Figel (Christian Democrats/KDH) on Thursday agreed on how powers concerning the regional development agenda should be divided up. "The current powers of the Agriculture Ministry will remain as they are stipulated by the current Competencies Act. The powers of the Transport… read more

Miklos: Training for Pociatek and Co. Cost €30,000 Each Year

Bratislava, August 12 (TASR) - The Finance Ministry spent more than €30,000 each year on media training courses for former finance minister Jan Pociatek (Smer-SD), ministry state secretary Peter Kazimir (Smer-SD) and spokesman Miroslav Smal between 2007-10, Finance Minister Ivan Miklos (SDKU-DS) said on Thursday. "It was money that was supposed to improve the qualifications… read more

Lipsic: Fines on Hauliers for Violating Toll Collection May Go Down

Bratislava, August 12 (TASR) - Penalties for hauliers violating toll-collection regulations may be differentiated depending on whether the hauliers acted deliberately or not, Interior Minister Daniel Lipsic said on Thursday. The fine level that can be imposed on the spot reaches almost €1,700 at the moment. "It's important to make distinctions when hauliers don't… read more

Miklos: Finance Ministry Given Extra Time to Complete 2011 Budget

Bratislava, August 12 (TASR) - The Government has extended the Finance Ministry's deadline for submitting the state-budget bill for 2011 from August 15 to the end of September, Minister Ivan Miklos announced on Thursday. Miklos blamed the delay on Robert Fico's former government. "The previous government hadn't worked on the budget, nor had it prepared the budgetary parameters… read more