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President Signs Law on Advantageous Credit for Young Married Couples

Bratislava, November 26 (TASR) - Advantageous credit for newly-wed couples is set to become a reality as of April 2010, with President Ivan Gasparovic signing the Payment Services Act on Thursday. The Finance Ministry expects that, in combination with a contribution from commercial banks, this type of credit should lead to a 4.5-percentage-point reduction in the interest… read more

Slovak Post Office to Lose Monopoly on Sale of Payment Stamps

Bratislava, November 26 (TASR) - The Slovak Post Office will lose its monopoly on the sale of payment stamps as of December, according to the Payment Services Act signed by President Ivan Gasparovic on Thursday. The bill, which was drawn up by governing-coalition Smer-SD MP Michal Luksa, re-introduces the state of affairs that existed before August 2008, when the current… read more

SGI: EU Won\'t Repay €26.5 milion Used to Support Social Enterprises

Bratislava, November 26 (TASR) - Financial support reaching €26.56 million that was provided to so-called social enterprises by the Government using EU Funds was unjustified, said board chairman of the Slovak Governance Institute (SGI) Miroslav Beblavy at a press conference on Thursday. According to Beblavy, these non-governmental organisations were subsidised at odds… read more

Fico: Slovak Tourism Satellite Account to Test-Run as of 2010

Bratislava, November 26 (TASR) - The development of tourism in Slovakia should be significantly boosted by three tourism pillars - new protected areas zonation, the Tourism Act and the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), said Prime Minister Robert Fico after the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. "The satellite account is a way of gaining information about tourism. We'll start… read more

Medved: Ministry Will Do Everything It Can to Replace Interblue Group

Bratislava, November 26 (TASR) - The Environment Ministry will do everything possible in order to change its business partner, which is currently Interblue Group, when it comes to further sales of carbon-dioxide emission quotas, minister Jozef Medved told journalists on Thursday. The Interblue Group last year bought 15 million tonnes of emissions from Slovakia, with the… read more

Gasparovic: Slovakia Is Educated, But Has to Link Knowledge to Practice

Bratislava, November 26 (TASR) - Slovak universities have great potential vis-a-vis knowledge, but aren't applying this enough, as co-operation between Slovak universities, the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) and the business sphere is falling behind, said Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic at the beginning of a conference entitled 'Science, Politics and the State' in Bratislava… read more

Lajcak and Sikorski to Speak in Warsaw About Strengthening EU Voice

Bratislava, November 25 (TASR) - The ways to strengthen the European Union's (EU) voice on the international scene are the main topic of a meeting between the Slovak Foreign Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajcak and his Polish counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski, TASR was told by the Foreign Affairs Ministry press department on Wednesday. The meeting is to take place on November… read more

Terminal of Poprad-Tatry Airport Will Be Reconstructed for €1 million

Bratislava, November 25 (TASR) - Terminal of Poprad-Tatry airport (Presov region) will be reconstructed, the Government agreed during its session in Poprad on Wednesday. "The amount of the investment will reach €1 million. The terminal will be reconstructed in compliance with the Schengen criteria," said board director of the airport Peter Suca. During the summer… read more

Canadian Ambassador Raymond Presents Her Credentials to Algayerova

Bratislava, November 25 (TASR) - Designated Canadian Ambassador to Slovakia (based in Prague) Valerie Raymond on Wednesday presented her credentials to Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry state secretary Olga Algayerova. Algayerova praised the positive level of bilateral relations with Canada and expressed interest in its further development in areas of mutual interest.… read more

SDKU Files Complaint at Constitional Court over Election Fraud

Kosice, November 25 (TASR) - Regional SDKU-DS office on Wednesday filed a complaint at the Constitutional Court due to the election frauds that allegedly took place during the elections to the Higher Territorial Units (VUCs) in Kosice II election district on November 14. According to SDKU-DS regional chairman for Kosice VUC Viliam Novotny, Slovakia hasn't seen such election… read more

Fico: Roma Issue Separate Topic at Government\'s Meeting

Poprad, November 25 (TASR) - In reaction to criticism from Opposition SDKU-DS chairman that the Roma issue was not being addressed during Government's meeting in Poprad (Presov region), Prime Minister Robert Fico said Wednesday that this will be the subject of a separate discussion. Dzurinda also listed infrastructure and unemployment as problems plaguing the area.… read more

Expert Opinion on Tent Collapse at Pohoda Festival Not Ready in 2009

Trencin, November 25 (TASR) - The expert opinion concerning the tragic accident at Bazant Pohoda music festival in July, when O2 Arena tent collapsed on hundreds of people, won't be finished this year, according to the information provided for TASR by court expert Gustav Kasanicky on Wednesday. Kasanicky specified that the tent has already been examined by experts, and… read more

Dzurinda Says Government Meeting in Poprad a Pre-Election Show

Poprad, November 25 (TASR) - Pre-election theatre is the phrase used on Wednesday by the strongest opposition SDKU-DS party leader Mikulas Dzurinda to describe the Government's away-from-home session earlier on Wednesday in Presov. The Government, according to Dzurinda, failed to address the region's pressing problems such as the troubled Roma minority, infrastructure… read more

Fico: Tatras in Urgent Need of Zoning Regime and New Tourism Act

Poprad, November 25 (TASR) - Tourism forms a significant part of the development of Presov and Zilina regions, and we need to focus on three chief tasks in this respect on top of the removal of the barriers hampering development of the regions, Prime Minister Robert Fico said following a Government session in Poprad (Presov region) on Wednesday. "We'll hardly be able… read more

Dzurinda: Privatisation Under My Government Went On Transparently

Bratislava, November 25 (TASR) - SDKU-DS chairman and former prime minister Mikulas Dzurinda is convinced that privatisation carried out under his government (1998-2006) took place in a standard and transparent way, he told TASR on Wednesday. Dzurinda was speaking in reaction to publicised accusations by former employees of Erste Bank that this Austrian financial institution… read more