OtherOther Economy

Total Unemployment in Slovakia 5 Percent Higher Than European Average

Bratislava, December 16 (TASR) - Slovakia is perpetually plagued by long-term unemployment, which reached 9.1 percent in 2Q10 while the average long-term unemployment in the EU countries is only 3.8 percent, according to a market analysis drafted by the Financial Policy Institute (IFP). Also, total unemployment rate in Slovakia belongs among the highest within the EU.… read more

Matovic Likens Fico to Stalin and Hitler

Bratislava, December 16 (TASR) - Ordinary People/Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) MP Igor Matovic couldn't resist taking potshots at Smer-SD chairman Robert Fico during Thursday's extraordinary Parliamentary session, calling him a crook and likening his practices to those of Stalin or Hitler. "In what way is he different than Stalin or Hitler? Weren't they using the same… read more

Radicova: EU Must Send Clear Signal to Markets, But It Might Not Work

Brussels, December 16 (TASR-correspondent) - The premiers of the Visegrad Four countries (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland) agreed in Brussels on Thursday that there is a need to send a clear signal to the markets when it comes to a definite agreement on creating a permanent crisis mechanism to replace the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) in 2013. Only… read more

RUZ: Trade Unions Failing to Defend Employee Interests

Bratislava, December 16 (TASR) - The fact that trade unionists walked out of a session of the commission tasked with drawing up a new version of the Labour Code on Thursday only shows that they are failing to represent employees' interests and are pursuing their own policies instead, vice-president of the Republican Union of Employers (RUZ) Jozef Spirko said later in the day.… read more

Figel: PPP Projects Should Only Be Used When EU Money Isn\'t Available

Bratislava, December 16 (TASR) - The first public-private partnership (PPP) package for road construction was supposed to cost around €9 million over 30 years and the third one €8.5 billion, but this isn't how the current Transport Ministry management will do things, said Transport Minister Jan Figel (Christian Democrat/KDH), adding that people must bear responsibility for… read more

Nagy: Slovakia Won\'t Try to Acquire €15 million From Interblue by Court

Bratislava, December 16 (TASR) - Slovakia won't try to obtain an additional payment of €15 million from the notorious carbon-dioxide emission quota deal with the Interblue Group via legal action, Environment Minister Jozsef Nagy (Most-Hid) indicated on Thursday. "We won't take action in commercial-legal terms, as we can't see any rational basis vis-a-vis the money being… read more

EU-Harmonised Inflation Stood at 1 percent in November

Bratislava, December 16 (TASR) - Year-on-year inflation measured according to EU methodology stood at 1 percent in November, TASR learnt from the Statistics Office on Thursday. Meanwhile, the prices of goods and services rose by 0.3 percent on a monthly basis. Average inflation measured over the past 12 months amounted to 0.6 percent in November. This represented… read more

Kia Motors Slovakia Output Grows by More Than Half Y-o-Y

Zilina, December 15 (TASR) – Over the first 11 months of this year, carmaker Kia Motors Slovakia enjoyed growth of more than 50 percent in its output year-on-year, producing 207,400 cars in its Zilina plant, the Korean company reported on Wednesday. Kia spokesman Dusan Dvorak informed at a news conference that in 2010 so far the plant has hired some 100 new employees,… read more

MPs Break President\'s Veto on New RTS but Appreciate His Comments

Bratislava, December 15 (TASR) - With 80 yea votes, Parliament on Wednesday broke President Ivan Gasparovic's veto of a law on merging public-service Slovak Television (STV) and Slovak Radio (SRo) that was for the first time approved by the House some two weeks ago. The new broadcaster's name will be Radio Television Slovakia (RTS). The law was passed again by… read more

Sulik: Construction Costs for D1 Motorway Will Go Down By Half

Bratislava, December 15 (TASR) - Construction costs for the section of the D1 motorway between Hricovske Podhradie and Dubna Skala (both Zilina region) will be lowered almost by half, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) chairman Richard Sulik said at a press conference Wednesday. If the third package of the D1 had been carried out via the public-private partnership (PPP) project,… read more

Slovakia Will Support Founding of International Anti-Corruption Academy

Bratislava, December 15 (TASR) - Slovakia will support the establishment of the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA) as an international organisation with headquarters in Vienna, with the Government passing the proposal of its founding treaty on Wednesday. The International Anti-Corruption Academy is an international intergovernmental organisation aimed to overcome… read more

Radicova: Trnava Peugeot Plans to Create 800 New Jobs

Trnava, December 15 (TASR) - Trnava-based automobile producer PSA Peugeot Citroen plans to create 800 new jobs and its suppliers another 200, Prime Minister Iveta Radicova said after her talks with company representatives on Wednesday. "The jobs will be created under new projects and I, for one, am glad that it's Trnava where these projects will take place," said Radicova.… read more

UNDP: Slovakia Ranked 31st in Table Indicating Quality of Life

Bratislava, December 15 (TASR) - Slovakia is a country with a very high level of human development, states the Human Development Report 2010 presented at the Bratislava Regional Centre of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States on Wednesday. Listed among countries with only a high development last year and… read more

Kanik: Deformity in 2nd Pension Pillar Should Have Been Fixed by Now

Bratislava, December 15 (TASR) - The changes to the second pillar of the pension system introduced by the former Labour Ministry administration under Viera Tomanova (Smer-SD) should have been done away with a long time ago. SDKU-DS MP Ludovit Kanik said at a briefing held on Wednesday. "One of the first moves to take place should have been to get rid of this deformity,"… read more

Foreign Affairs Ministry Welcomes Miroslav Lajcak\'s Appointment

Bratislava, December 14 (TASR) - The Foreign Affairs Ministry welcomes the appointment of [ex-foreign affairs minister under Robert Fico's government - ed.note] Miroslav Lajcak to the post of European External Action Service (EEAS) Managing Director for the relations with the Western Balkans, Eastern Partnership and Russia, TASR learned Tuesday from Foreign Affairs Ministry… read more