OtherOther Economy

Foreign Trade Posted €150.9-million Surplus in November 2009

Bratislava, February 11 (TASR) - Slovakia's foreign trade in November posted a surplus of €150.9 million, the Statistics Office reported on Thursday. Total exports fell by 0.7 percent year-on-year to €3.86 billion, while total imports were down 9.3 percent to €3.71 billion. Over the January-November 2009 period, meanwhile, the trade balance was in black to… read more

Foreign Trade Balance Posted Surplus of €1.26 billion in 2009

Bratislava, February 11 (TASR) - Slovakia's foreign trade posted a surplus of €1.26 billion in 2009, according to preliminary data released by Slovakia's Statistics Office on Thursday. Total exports fell by 19.9 percent year-on-year to €39.68 billion, while total imports dropped by 23.6 percent to €38.43 billion. In December 2009, meanwhile, the country's… read more

President Names New Ambassadors

Bratislava, February 10 (TASR) - Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic on Wednesday presented credentials to Ambassador Designate to China Frantisek Dlhopolcek and Ambassador Designate to Kuwait Ivan Lancaric at a ceremony that was also attended by Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak. Gasparovic noted that the diplomats will represent Slovakia in countries it has good… read more

Paska Meets Turkish Ambassador, Praises Bilateral Relations

Bratislava, February 10 (TASR) - Parliamentary Chairman Pavol Paska on Wednesday met Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkey in Slovakia Tunc Ugdul and praised his personal contribution to all-round development of Slovak-Turkish relations, Paska's spokesman Jozef Plsko told TASR on the same day. The Turkish ambassador spoke in glowing terms of several events… read more

Transport Ministry to Help Out Bratislava Airport

Bratislava, February 10 (TASR) - The Transport Ministry intends to help Bratislava's M.R. Stefanik Airport (BTS) with acquiring new carriers, Transport Minister Lubomir Vazny (a Smer-SD nominee) said after Wednesday's Government session. "We sit in negotiations with Asian transport companies, namely Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese transporters," said Vazny. According… read more

Government Receives Inspection Report on Drawing EU Funds

Bratislava, February 10 (TASR) - The Slovak Government on Wednesday received the inspection report from the Supreme Audit Office (NKU) on drawing EU funds in 2009 and has taken it under advisement. The audit of 211 Slovak entities with respect to the European funds revealed 1,021 mistakes. These mistakes were of various types, from formal imperfections to system flaws… read more

Bugar: SaS Has Buried Chance to Create Viable Alternative to Fico

Bratislava, February 10 (TASR) - Through its decision not to join a possible broad rightist coalition, the non-parliamentary Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party buried an opportunity to create a viable alternative to the Smer-SD-led government, chair of another non-parliamentary party Most-Hid Bela Bugar told TASR on Wednesday. "We were convinced, me personally as well,… read more

KDH Miffed at Seeing All Proposals Rubbished in Parliament

Bratislava, February 10 (TASR) - Opposition Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) acted indignant in Parliament after having had all of its "publicly beneficial" proposals voted down earlier on Wednesday. The legislative bills included proposals to diminish lawmakers' immunity, prevent mega-casinos such as that planned on by the ruling coalition in Jarovce area of Bratislava… read more

Kosice City Transport Co. Sents Letter to Fico, Complains about Toll

Kosice, February 10 (TASR) - Kosice City Transport Company (DPMK) has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Robert Fico about the negative effects of the electronic road toll on the city transportation system, DPMK general director Michal Tkac told TASR on Wednesday. Tkac says the tariffication of roads on Kosice's territory to be unjust, with as many as 11 sections of… read more

SDKU: SaS\'s Decision to Run Solo Is Unfair and Playing into Fico\'s Hands

Bratislava, February 10 (TASR) - The opposition SDKU-DS party on Wednesday heavily criticised Tuesday's decision of non-parliamentary party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) to run on its own in the parliamentary elections in June. According to SDKU, the decision may cause many centre-right votes to be wasted. SaS's approach is unfair to those who are unhappy with the current… read more

President Pledges Backing Co-operation of Science and Universities

Bratislava, February 10 (TASR) - President Ivan Gasparovic had pledged his support for the country's cash-strapped science and research sector in talks with the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) by backing scientific co-operation with top universities and respective ministries, his spokesman told TASR later on Wednesday. Acting on the conclusion of the last year's conference… read more

Three State-run Rail Companies to Merge Into One in 2012

Bratislava, February 10 (TASR) - Slovakia's three state-owned rail carriers are slated to merge into one entity in 2012, as the Government at its session on Wednesday approved a legislative initiative on merging rail company ZSR, rail passenger transport company ZSSK and rail freight company ZSSK Cargo Slovakia into a single entity to be called Slovak Railways, TASR learnt on… read more

Fico to Attend V4 Energy Security Session in Budapest

Bratislava, February 10 (TASR) - Prime Minister Robert Fico will lead the Slovak delegation at an extended plenary session of the Visegrad Four (V4) countries in Budapest on February 24, as approved by the Slovak Government on Wednesday. The topics covered at the session will concern energy security, including crude-oil and natural gas transport, an early warning system… read more

SaS to Run for Election on Its Own Due to SDKU\'s Uncertain Background

Bratislava, February 10 (TASR) - Non-parliamentary party Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), which, according to some pre-election polls, has a good chance of making it into Parliament, will run in the general election on June 12 on its own, SaS chairman Richard Sulik said at a press conference on Wednesday. "We've come to the conclusion that if we want to be a party that is… read more

Trnka: Investigation Into SDKU Funding Is Going Well

Bratislava, February 10 (TASR) - Prosecutor-General Dobroslav Trnka said on Wednesday that the investigation into the suspect funding of the SDKU-DS opposition party is going well. Trnka didn't disclose any more details. He said on February 2 that his office will begin formal investigations within a month. Trnka also said that he has sent out requests to counterpart… read more