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Vazny: Blockade of Border Crossings Has to Be Lawful

Bratislava, December 22 (TASR) - The threatened blockade of border crossings on January 3 by transport companies, who are demanding discounts on road-toll tariffs, could end up in the courts if it isn't carried out in line with the law, warned Transport Minister Lubomir Vazny on Tuesday. "Either it will have the requisites of a strike and the blockade will be in line… read more

Matica Slovenska Calls for Preservation of Minority Funding in Hungary

Martin, December 22 (TASR) - Slovakia's foremost cultural organisation Matica Slovenska (MS) issued an appeal to relevant Hungarian institutions to prevent their country from curtailing resources in 2010 for its ethnic minorities, including the Slovak one, in the spheres of culture, media and information. Plans to cut such resources have been reported to Matica by the… read more

Vazny: Price for Installation of OBUs Must Be Lowered

Bratislava, December 22 (TASR) - The price of €134.90 without VAT for installing road-toll onboard units (OBU) into lorries will have to be reduced, Transport, Posts and Telecommunication Minister Lubomir Vazny said on Tuesday. "This price is, in my opinion, exaggerated," he said. The installation of the OBUs is being carried out by road carriers association… read more

Agriculture University in Nitra Receives University Decree

Nitra, December 22 (TASR) - Education Minister Jan Mikolaj on Tuesday handed rector of the Slovak Agriculture University (SPU) in Nitra Mikulas Latecka a decree that places the university among higher education institutions of the university type, it was announced on the same day. SPU thus successfully completed its accreditation process, after having being told in June… read more

Johnson Controls New Slovak Centre to Complement Centre in Juarez

Bratislava, December 22 (TASR) - U.S. based Johnson Controls, one of the world's leading auto-parts suppliers, has gone on record as saying that it began building its new global financial centre in Slovakia in November and expects to complete it in July of next year. The Slovak centre is meant to complement the already-existing Central-American centre in the Mexican town… read more

Median Sk. Poll: Smer Would Have Won Recent Election on 41.7 percent

Bratislava, December 22 (TASR) - If a general election had been held around November, the winner would have been the main coalition party Smer-SD with 41.7 percent of the votes, according to a poll carried out by Median Sk. The poll, which was carried out between November 9-December 6 on a sample of 1,154 respondents, showed that the main opposition party SDKU-DS would… read more

Austria Expected to Return Labsi to Slovakia Soon

Bratislava, December (TASR) - Austria may within a month return to Slovakia suspected Algerian terrorist Mustafa Labsi, who fled a refugee camp nearby Samorin (Trnava region) amid decision-making procedures on his asylum application on Saturday, a migration officer from the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday. Head of the migration office Bernard Priecel further stated… read more

Production at PSA Peugeot-Citroen to Pause for Holidays as of Wednesday

Bratislava, December 22 (TASR) - Production at the PSA Peugeot-Citroen plant in Trnava will be put on hold as of Wednesday, December 23, with the factory resuming work on January 4, 2010, company spokesman Peter Svec said on Tuesday. According to Svec, during this time the company will carry out regular maintenance of technical equipment, which will be necessary to allow… read more

Volkswagen to Begin Two-Week All-Company Holiday as of Thursday

Bratislava, December 22 (TASR) - Volkswagen Slovakia employees will have a two-week all-company holiday as of Thursday, December 24, and production will be re-launched on Tuesday, January 7, 2010, the company's spokesman Vladimir Michalik has told TASR. During the holiday, the company plans to carry out technological changes in the assembly hall in connection with the… read more

Town in Myjava Surprised That Moody\'s Has Lowered Its Rating

Myjava, December 22 (TASR) - The authorities in the town of Myjava (Trencin region) are surprised that Moody's Investors Services agency has lowered the town's rating and changed its outlook status from stable to negative, said Myjava council spokesman Marek Hrin on Tuesday. "We're surprised, as last week we received a message from Moody's that the rating was Aa2 with… read more

NBS: There are Risks in Fiscal Consolidation Strategy

Bratislava, December 21 (TASR) - Slovak Central Bank (NBS) sees risks in the national fiscal consolidation strategy, it was announced on Monday. As planned, the deficit should start decreasing next year from 6.3 percent to the requested 3 percent in 2012. The biggest risk is the absence of active measures on the expenditure side of the balance to restore the public… read more

Finance: Around 69 percent of Slovak Companies Pay Debts on Time

Bratislava, December 21 (TASR) - Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) has decided not to lower its investment return risk rating for Slovakia due to most Slovak firms meeting their obligations on time, TASR learned from D&B marketing manager Barbora Florkova on Monday. This means that Slovakia will retain its DB2d rating, which indicates low risks on investment returns. According… read more

Suspect Terrorist Labsi Allegedly Fled to Austria

Bratislava, December 21 (TASR) - Algerian national Mustafa Labsi, who is suspect of co-operation with the international terrorist network Al-Qa'ida, allegedly escaped from a sojourn camp in Rohovce (Trnava region) on Saturday. According to a TV Joj report on Monday, Labsi didn't report to the Migration Office of Slovakia's Interior Ministry on Saturday. The guards of… read more

Akcenta CZ Demands Financial Compensation from Banks for Cartel

Bratislava, December 21 (TASR) - Akcenta CZ suffered immense financial losses due to the cartel agreement between VUB Bank, Slovenska Sporitelna (SLSP) and CSOB, Akcenta spokesman Juraj Martiny told TASR on Monday. "It should be noted that the fine that has been imposed by the Anti-monopoly Office (PMU) will go fully into Slovakia's state accounts. Akcenta CZ considers… read more

Banks Disagree With PMU\'s Decision, Ready to Turn to Courts

Bratislava, December 21 (TASR) - All three Slovak banks - VUB, Slovenska Sporitelna (SLSP) and CSOB - that have been fined by Slovakia's Anti-monopoly Office (PMU) for creating a cartel against Czech company Akcenta CZ disagree with the decision and are ready to turn to the courts, TASR learnt on Monday. "We reject the decision of the PMU Council, and we're convinced… read more