OtherOther Economy

Fico: State Can\'t Afford to Compensate Judges

Bratislava, February 15 (TASR) - The state budget can't bear the financial claims of judges who want to be compensated for alleged discrimination in salaries compared to judges of the erstwhile Special Court, Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Monday. The premier added that he therefore expects the Justice Ministry to present a solution. "Any notion of the state paying… read more

Analyst: No Steep Increase in Unemployment Expected this Year

Bratislava, February 15 (TASR) - This year Slovakia may not experience such a steep increase in unemployment as was the case following the outbreak of the economic crisis, even though the industrial sector, the draught horse of Slovakia's economy, may continue in slump, analysts told TASR on Monday. "We expect that the development may take a curve similar to the letter… read more

Economy Ministry Outlines Priorities for Near Future

Bratislava, February 15 (TASR) - The Economy Ministry has neglected nothing contained in the Cabinet's manifesto, Minister Lubomir Jahnatek said after Prime Minister Robert Fico declared himself satisfied with the ministry's performance following his inspection of the ministry earlier on Monday. In keeping with Fico's statement, Jahnatek said "there are two important… read more

Gasparovic Signs Bill Allowing Certain Prisoners to Vote in Elections

Bratislava, February 15 (TASR) - People who are incarcerated, except for those convicted of extremely serious crimes, will be allowed to cast their votes in parliamentary and europarliamentary elections as of March 2010 following passage of the Elections Act amendment signed by President Ivan Gasparovic on Monday. The amendment, which was passed by Parliament last week,… read more

Caplovic: TV Broadcasts for Slovaks Abroad Should Begin in 2010

Bratislava, February 15 (TASR) - Deputy Prime Minister Dusan Caplovic expects that the launch of television broadcasts for Slovaks living abroad will take place this year, his spokesman Michal Kalinak told TASR on Monday. Caplovic on Monday met director of the Slovaks Living Abroad Office Vilma Privarova to discuss television broadcasts for Slovaks abroad. The meeting… read more

Fico: We\'ve Done Much in Terms of Energy, EcoMin Has Met Obligations

Bratislava, February 15 (TASR) - Energy issues have gained great importance for the current Government and this is how things should stay in the next term of office as well, said Prime Minister Robert Fico on Monday when assessing an inspection day at the Economy Ministry. According to Fico, the importance of energy issues is growing across the whole European Union,… read more

Slovakia to Lend Up to €440 million to IMF

Bratislava, February 15 (TASR) - Slovakia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have signed a bilateral agreement according to which Slovakia will provide the IMF with a loan amounting up to €440 million, TASR learnt on Monday. The agreement, signed by governor of Slovakia's central bank (NBS) Jozef Makuch and IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, came into… read more

Incomes of Healthcare Insurers Grew by 4.62 percent Y-o-Y in 2009

Bratislava, February 15 (TASR) - The total incomes of health-insurance companies reached €3.4 billion in 2009, which represents year-on-year growth of €151.2 million or 4.62 percent, head of the Health Care Supervisory Authority (UDZS) Richard Demovic announced at a press conference on Monday. Compared to health-insurance companies' planned budgets, total profits… read more

Pricemania.sk Shopping Portal Has New Strategic Partner

Bratislava, February 15 (TASR) - Swiss investment fund Centralway Holding has gained a 30-percent stake in Slovak company Digital Dreams, which operates internet online shopping portals www.pricemania.sk and www.pex.sk. Pricemania.sk provides its users with the opportunity to compare the prices of more than 500,000 products from more than 800 online stores. Reviews, video-reviews… read more

Commissions in Slovak Industry Reached €2.21 billion in December

Bratislava, February 15 (TASR) - New commissions in Slovak industry reached a value of €2.21 billion in December 2009, growing by 22.5 percent y-o-y, the Slovak Statistics Office told TASR on Monday. After seasonal influences are taken into consideration, new commissions grew by 1.9 percent month-on-month in December 2009. In 2009 as a whole, new commissions… read more

Prime Minister Fico Congratulates \"Golden\" Kuzmina In a Letter

Bratislava, February 14 (TASR) - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Sunday sent a congratulatory letter to Slovak representative of Russian origin Anastasia Kuzmina, who won the gold medal in the women's biathlon 7.5-km sprint at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics on Saturday afternoon local time, Government Office Press Department informed TASR. In his letter, Fico… read more

Rafaj: Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Bratislava, February 14 (TASR) - Voters in June's Parliamentary election should decide whom to vote for based on the actions and not words of the political parties, Slovak National Party's (SNS) parliamentary caucus Chairman Rafael Rafaj told TASR on Sunday. Rafaj said that SNS represents the only true patriotic party there is, with the serious intention of promoting… read more

Csaky: SDKU-DS Doesn\'t Deserve Label Of Problematic Party

(STV, February 14, 'O pat minut dvanast') Strongest opposition party SDKU-DS does not deserve the unidimensional label of a problematic party, said ethnic-Hungarian party SMK chairman Pal Csaky in the Slovak Television's (STV) politics show "O pat minut dvanast" (Five Minutes to Twelve) on Sunday, referring to the much-discussed shady financing of the party. Csaky… read more

UNAS Remains in Strike Alert and Files Lawsuits

Zvolen, February 13 (TASR) - The Union of Slovak Road Hauliers (UNAS) remains in strike alert. UNAS representatives on Saturday decided to organise the next protest on February 25 in Bratislava. "We've agreed that UNAS is a legitimate and liable organisation. We won't be fighting the (state) power, but we remain in strike and we are awaiting the declaration from the Slovak… read more

Halecky: Kramplova Attracted to Smer-SD Rather Than To Urbani\'s AZEN

Bratislava, February 13 (TASR) - Independent MP (former LS-HZDS) and former agriculture minister Zdenka Kramplova is more attracted to coalition Smer-SD than to the newly-established party called the Alliance for a Europe of Nations (AZEN) of her former party colleague Milan Urbani, who was ousted from the coalition LS-HZDS party in December 2009, LS-HZDS MP Jozef Halecky told… read more