EconomyOther Economy

INEKO: SaS, SDKU and Most-Hid Have Best Manifestos for Public Finances

Bratislava, May 27 (TASR) - Three political parties appear most able to ensure that public finances will be sustainable - the non-parliamentary Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), SDKU-DS and non-parliamentary Most-Hid, according to a survey carried out by the INEKO institute that was published on Thursday. Nine economists from banks and the non-government sector looked at… read more

Simon: Agriculture Ministry Plans for Tender Are Waste of Money

Bratislava, May 26 (TASR) - The Agriculture Ministry's plans to invite tenders for identifying plants in forested areas that are officially listed in the Land Register as non-forested is a waste of money because the ministry already has this data, opposition political party Most-Hid vice-chairman Zsolt Simon said on Wednesday. The former agriculture minister further… read more

NBS: Economy Did Better than Expected in 1Q10 but Not Job Growth

Bratislava, May 25 (TASR) - Developments in Slovak economy in the first quarter of 2010 were slightly more favourable than the country's central bank NBS expected but, in turn, a year-on-year drop in the employment rate was greater than NBS had foreseen, according to NBS's latest monthly report on the Slovak economy released on Tuesday. The Slovak Statistics Office said… read more

Fico: Mochovce Nuclear Power Plant Will Be Among World\'s Safest

Bratislava, May 25 (TASR) - Nuclear energy is gaining in importance, therefore Slovakia adopted several measures to increase the output of the existing nuclear blocks in Slovakia and to support construction of additional resources of nuclear energy, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said at the fifth European Nuclear Energy Forum in Bratislava on Tuesday. "In nuclear… read more

Bank Analysts: Slovak Economy Should Grow by 2.9 percent in 2010

Bratislava, May 25 (TASR) - Commercial bank analysts predict that the Slovak economy will grow by 2.9 percent in 2010, which means that they are more optimistic than they were in April, when they went for 2.7 percent. According to commercial banks' current macroeconomic predictions, which are published by Slovakia's central bank (NBS) on a monthly basis, expectations… read more

Slovak Households Fairly Optimistic About Future Finances

Bratislava, May 25 (TASR) - Around 37 percent of Slovak households assessed their current financial situation as worse than it was last year, according to a survey that was carried out by the GfK agency for MasterCard and published on Tuesday. In general, more optimistic expectations prevail, however, as 72 percent of households think that their financial situation will… read more

SaS Urges Government to Factor Loans to State Companies Into Deficit

Bratislava, May 24 (TASR) - Non-parliamentary party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) on Monday expressed concern that Slovakia's public finance deficit for 2009 was actually well in excess of the figure announced by European Union (EU) and Slovak statistics offices in April (6.8 percent), as the loans granted to state-run entities weren't factored into the figures as extra expenditures.… read more

Injured by Banks Association Delays Blockade of Banks in Bratislava

Bratislava, May 24 (TASR) - A civil association called Injured by Banks has decided to postpone its planned blockade of the headquarters of Vseobecna uverova banka (VUB), Slovenska sporitelna (SLSP) and Ceskoslovenska obchodna banka (CSOB) in Bratislava that was supposed to take place on Monday, association spokesman Andrej Kulaviak said on the same day. Injured by Banks… read more

Janis Slams Transport Ministry, Vazny Takes Different View

Bratislava, May 23(TASR) - As the polling day of June 12 draws near in Slovakia, the Government and Opposition are crossing swords over the work of government ministries such as the one in charge of the transport sector. Opposition SDKU-DS party lawmaker Stanislav Janis claims that motorway-building projects via private-public partnerships (PPPs) are overpriced by €1… read more

Survey: Consumers in Slovakia Still Largely Pessimistic About Prices

Bratislava, May 23 (TASR) - Two out of three Slovak citizens are convinced that the country's economic situation has worsened over the past 12 months, although the number of pessimists has fallen by 17 percentage points on the year, according to the latest Consumer Barometer issued by the Slovak Stats Office that the Government is due to examine at its next session on Wednesday,… read more

Euro Exchange Rates

European Central Bank Euro exchange rates valid until the new exchange-rates list is published on May 24, 2010. Currency Country Rate USD United States 1.2497 JPY Japan 112.08 CZK Czech Republic 25.917 GBP United Kingdom 0.87035 HUF Hungary 281.33 PLN Poland 4.1530 CHF Switzerland 1.4408 RUB Russia 39.0459… read more

SME Daily on Saturday, May 22

When it comes to post-election talks held between parties to discuss possible coalitions, the now-strongest opposition SDKU-DS will not even sit down at a table with the currently strongest ruling Smer-SD party. SDKU election leader Iveta Radicova ruled it out in an interview for SME daily, published on page 5 on Saturday. "For four years, Smer has been rejecting any… read more

Euro Exchange Rates

Slovenske Elektrarne to Invest Their Profit into Mochovce Power Plant

Bratislava, May 21 (TASR) - The energy producer Slovenske Elektrarne (SE) made a net profit of €279.9 million in 2009, SE spokesperson Jana Burdova reported on the approved conclusions passed by Thursday's SE General Assembly. "The proceeds were €2.05 billion in 2009, with EBITDA at €827 million and the company's debt of €187 million," said Burdova. She… read more

Bratislava Airport Gets Another Carrier, Adds New Destination

Bratislava, May 21 (TASR) - Israeli airline Sun d'Or International Airlines will conduct scheduled return flights three times a week between Slovakia's capital Bratislava and the Israeli capital Tel Aviv from June, Radek Zabransky, marketing director of the Bratislava's M.R. Stefanik Airport, announced on Friday. Reeling from a flurry of bankrupcies last year to air… read more