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Belousovova Urges Lawmakers to Back Salary Reductions

Bratislava, August 12 (TASR) - Opposition Slovak National Party (SNS) vice-chair Anna Belousovova on Thursday urged all members of Parliament to show solidarity with people facing difficult social conditions by agreeing to have their remuneration package cut, as has been proposed by the governing Coalition. It emerged from a Coalition Council meeting that the Government… read more

Danube Wings Carried Over 50,000 Passengers Between January-July

Bratislava, August 12 (TASR) - Private Slovak airline Danube Wings has announced that it handled 57,034 passengers in the first seven months of this year, with 49,469 clients using regular routes and 7,565 taking charter flights. In the summer months of June and July, some 12,000 tourists travelled with Danube Wings to Croatian, Bulgarian and Italian destinations.… read more

Miklos to File Criminal Complaint Against Harabin

Bratislava, August 12 (TASR) - Finance Minister Ivan Miklos told journalists on Thursday that he has already signed the documents imposing fines on the Supreme Court and its chairman Stefan Harabin for blocking audits. The fines have been set at €33,000 (the Court) and €1,000 (Harabin). At the same time, the ministry will file a criminal complaint against Harabin… read more

Expert: SkyToll Has Failed to Meet One Requirement in Collecting Tolls

Bratislava, August 11 (TASR) - Slovakia's road-toll system provider SkyToll has met all requirements apart from one that concerns the effective collecting of tolls, according to a report released by an independent expert on Wednesday. The expert analysed the individual parameters of the contract signed last year between the state-run National Highway Company (NDS) and… read more

Belousovova Says SNS Not Beholden to Smer-SD

Bratislava, August 11 (TASR) - Slovak National Party (SNS) deputy chair Anna Belousovova rejected accusations from the fellow opposition Smer-SD that her party works with the governing coalition in parliament after she and another SNS MP Igor Stefanov voted on Wednesday to advance the immunity curbing bill to second reading. "We are not beholden to Smer-SD and will not… read more

Figel: I Might Reconsider Changing PPP for D1 Motorway Project

Bratislava, August 11 (TASR) - Transport Minister Jan Figel said on Wednesday that he may reconsider building the D1 motorway via private public partnerships (PPP) unless all the money needed to bankroll the €4-billion project is secured by the deadline of August 31. The deadline has been moved back many times, starting from mid-April to the end of the month, then to… read more

Parliamentary Committee to Look Into Slap Across Face in Parliament

Bratislava, August 11 (TASR) - The parliamentary immunity and mandate committee will discuss the slap across the face administered on Tuesday by Slovak National Party (SNS) deputy chairwoman Anna Belousovava to co-ruling Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MP Igor Matovic after receiving a petition to do so from SaS lawmaker Natalia Blahova, committee chief Gabor Gal told TASR the… read more

Parliament Rejects Loan to Greece

Bratislava, August 11 (TASR) - Parliament decided on Wednesday that Slovakia won't provide Greece with a bilateral loan that was supposed to reach €816 million over the next three years. Parliament thereby followed the Government's recommendation on the issue. The former government led by Robert Fico (Smer-SD) agreed to Slovakia taking part in a rescue package… read more

Parliament Approves Slovakia\'s Participation in EFSF

Bratislava, August 11 (TASR) - Parliament on Wednesday almost unanimously approved Slovakia's participation in the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), which will reach almost €4.4 billion in the form of potential guarantees. Out of the 142 MPs present, 140 lawmakers voted in favour of the EFSF. The only MP opposed to it was Most-Hid's Ondrej Dostal, while… read more

Fico: Smer May Support Curbing Lawmakers\' Immunity

Bratislava, August 11 (TASR) - The opposition Smer-SD party could back the Government's bill aimed at curbing the immunity of lawmakers and judges in Parliament provided it doesn't include judges, Smer chairman and former premier Robert Fico said after the bill was passed to its second reading in parliament earlier on Wednesday. "We won't support criminalising judges,… read more

Parliament Amends Criminal Code to Make Court Cases Shorter

Bratislava, August 11 (TASR) - As of January, Slovak courts will only be allowed to return criminal cases to the prosecuting authorities if procedural flaws have been identified in a given case, according to an amendment to the Criminal Code that was approved by Parliament on Wednesday. Justice Minister Lucia Zitnanska (SDKU-DS) explained that the amendment is designed… read more

Ministries to Look Into Contracts Concluded Around Election Date

Bratislava, August 11 (TASR) - Ministries and other central public-administration bodies will carry out analyses of contracts worth more €500,000 that were concluded between May 1-July 8, 2010, looking for any high-risk aspects within them, reads a document approved by government ministers on Wednesday. Other inspections should be carried out in 2011. This is how Prime… read more

Environment Ministry to Become Stand-Alone Authority Again

Bratislava, August 11 (TASR) - As of September 1, the Environment Ministry will re-emerge as a separate, stand-alone authority, Parliament decided on Wednesday. This is in line with an amendment to the General Administration Act, which returns to the arrangement in place in the period before July 1 - the day on which the old environment ministry merged with the Agriculture… read more

Galko: Former Ministry Managers Signed Shady Helicopter Contracts

Bratislava, August 11 (TARS) - The former Defence Ministry management just before the general election in June signed a contract for installing new devices in ten helicopters, one of which officially became obsolete on July 31, 2010, said new Defence Minister Lubomir Galko (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) on Wednesday. Galko stated that his ministry has already filed a criminal… read more

Foreign Trade Surplus in 1H10 3.7 Times Higher Than in 1H09

Bratislava, August 11 (TASR) - Slovakia posted a foreign trade surplus of €838.4 million in the first half of this year, a figure 3.7 times higher than the surplus recorded in the same period last year, the Slovak Statistics Office reported on Wednesday. In annual terms, the country's exports rose by 21.7 percent to €22.57 billion, while imports were up 18.6 percent,… read more