EconomyOther Economy

State Sells Government Bonds Worth €125.2 million

Bratislava, October 25 (TASR) - The Debt Management and Liquidity Agency (ARDAL) on Monday sold government bonds worth €125.2 million, including €50 million to non-residents, said Juraj Pekar from ARDAL's debt management department. The average interest rate reached 1.6266 percent per annum, with a minimum of 1.61284 percent and a maximum of 1.6498 percent. … read more

NBS: Prices Should Grow More Slowly This Year Than Previously Expected

Bratislava, October 25 (TASR) - The prices of goods and services in Slovakia should increase at a slightly slower rate this year than was previously expected, with bank analysts in October slightly reducing their estimates for average inflation for 2010 from the 1.8 percent expected in September to 1.6 percent, Slovakia's central bank (NBS) has reported. Estimates of… read more

Analysts: Employment Levels Will Improve, But Very Slowly

Bratislava, October 24 (TASR) - Employment rates in Slovakia will only improve slowly, according to estimates made by analysts approached by TASR. With this in mind, the year-on-year decrease in unemployment reported in October, the first since the end of 2008, is good news. "I'm expecting a slight improvement in the situation on the labour market in the next… read more

Miskov: Reverse Gas Flow From Austria to Slovakia Is Now Possible

Bratislava/Baumgarten, October 24 (TASR) - The construction work enabling a reverse gas flow from Austria to Slovakia in the case of another gas crisis was completed in Baumgarten, Austria on Sunday. The ceremonial closing down of the work was attended by Slovak Economy and Construction Minister Juraj Miskov, Foreign Affairs Minister Mikulas Dzurinda and representatives… read more

Mihal: Less Than Ten Percent of Young People Are Entering Second Pillar

Bratislava, October 23 (TASR) - The interest of young people to enter the second pillar of the pension system is lame, Labour, Social Affairs and the Family Minister Jozef Mihal (Freedom and Solidarity/SaS) has said. "At the current conditions, when entering the second pillar isn't compulsory for young people, less then ten percent of young people decide to join," he… read more

Skymoen: Slovakia Offers Quite a Good Environment for Norwegian Investors

Bratislava, October 23 (TASR) - Norwegian investors view the quality of the investment conditions in Slovakia as quite good, but the corruption still remains a barrier, Norwegian Ambassador Trine Skymoen has told TASR in an interview. "In general, the investment environment in Slovakia is quite good and most Norwegian companies haven't had significant problems so far.… read more

Kovalcik: Transport Ministry Ex-management Faked Facts About PPPs

Bratislava, October 22 (TASR) - Former management at the Transport Ministry corrupted the data on highway construction via the so-called public-private partnership (PPPs), namely in the first package of these projects - which has been discontinued by the new Government only recently, according to the ministry's Strategy Institute director Jan Kovalcik on Friday. "The… read more

Public Finances Gap Puts Slovakia Alongside Countries at EU Tail-End

Bratislava, October 22 (TASR) - Slovakia's 2009 public finances deficit reported by the Statistics Office on Friday at 7.9 percent of gross domestic product puts Slovakia alongside the European Union's worst-performing countries Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain (PIGS), said the finance ministry in reaction. The 7.93 percent gap forwarded to European Union Eurostat… read more

Stats Office Revises 2009 Deficit from 6.77 % of GDP to 7.93 %

Bratislava, October 22 (TASR) - The public finance deficit for 2009 came in at 7.93 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), a far more precipitous shortfall than the 2.09 percent in 2008 and more than the 6.77 percent estimated this spring by the Statistics Office, it was reported on Friday. The 2009 data revised by the Stats Office as of October 1 has been forwarded… read more

Miklos: Slovakia Could Have Lost €200 Million In OPIS Projects

Bratislava, October 21 (TASR) - The Finance Ministry has put a stop to all approved projects of the operational programme 'Information Society' (OPIS) that could be stopped and carried out analyses to identify items which will be classified by the national certification authority or by the European Commission as unauthorised. "Unauthorised expenditures would have to be… read more

Radicova: Slovakia Supports Banks Paying Special Fees, Not More Taxes

Bratislava, October 21 (TASR) - Slovakia assumes that the European Union's plans to introduce special fees to be paid by financial institutions represent a justified means in the Union's attempt to survive the pressure of costs that need to be used on tackling the negative impacts wrought by the economic crisis. That's why Slovakia generally supports the idea of planting… read more

Cabinet Earmarks Extra Subsidy for Villages and Regions

Bratislava, October 20 (TASR) - The state will provide villages and Higher Territorial Units (VUCs) with an additional subsidy - €52.7 million - designed to offset losses in incomes from taxes, according to a decision made by the Government on Wednesday. Of this sum, 39.5 million will flow to villages, with VUCs receiving the remainder. The shortfall in income-tax… read more

Cabinet Okays Ban on Applying Collective Agreements to Whole Sector

Bratislava, October 20 (TASR) - An amendment to the Collective Negotiations Act prohibiting the practice of making 'higher-level' collective agreements binding for all companies in the given sectors without their consent was approved at a government session on Wednesday, TASR learnt on the same day. The proposal was drawn up by a group of coalition MPs, namely Stanislav… read more

Analyst: Eastern Slovakia Holds Greatest Potential for Investors

Kosice, October 19 (TASR) - Kosice, Presov and eastern Slovakia as a whole has the best conditions for investors within the whole EU and Eurozone region, Volksbank Slovensko chief analyst Vladimir Vano said at the Kosice Invest 2010 conference on Tuesday. "Within the market of 90 million people in the eastern EU, Slovakia offers a unique mix of stability, Eurozone membership… read more

Miklos: Scheme of Sanctions for EU Spendthrifts Insufficient

Luxembourg, October 19 (TASR) - Even though EU countries' finance ministers failed to adopt a mechanism of automatic sanctions for member states that flout budgetary guidelines, Finance Minister Ivan Miklos (SDKU-DS) said on Tuesday that nonetheless, spendthrift countries will now have to "watch their backs" more carefully. Slovakia was among the countries pushing for… read more