OtherOther Economy

Salaries Rose Most in IT and Communications in January

Bratislava, March 10 (TASR) - Nominal monthly salaries in Slovakia in January grew fastest in information and communications, and fell most sharply in transport, the Statistics Office reported on Wednesday. According to data for January, nominal monthly salaries rose by 6.1 percent to €1,530 in information and communications. Other increases were: in industry - by 5.6… read more

Belousovova: We Won\'t Keep Quiet About Smer\'s Failings Anymore

Bratislava, March 10 (TASR) - The Slovak National Party (SNS) views Prime Minister Robert Fico's (Smer-SD) call for Construction and Regional Minister Igor Stefanov (an SNS nominee) to resign as a gesture of open criticism of Smer's coalition partners, SNS vice-chair Anna Belousovova said at a press conference on Wednesday. Stefanov said that he doesn't see any reason… read more

SNS: Stefanov Won\'t Resign Despite Fico\'s Call

Bratislava, March 10 (TASR) - The Slovak National Party (SNS) announced at an extraordinary press conference on Wednesday that it has recommended its nominee in the post of Construction and Regional Development Minister Igor Stefanov not to resign despite a call issued by Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) the day before. Stefanov, who was present at the press conference… read more

AZEN to Release List of Candidates and Platforms on Friday

Bratislava, March 9 (TASR) - The new Alliance for the Europe of Nations party said on Tuesday it would release its entire list of candidates for the June 12 parliamentary election as well as election programme this coming Friday, adding that the top two spots are taken by Chairman Milan Urbani and Deputy Chair Zdenka Kramplova. A third will be an unnamed entrepreneur… read more

Fuel Prices to Be Marked Up Again as of Wednesday

Bratislava, March 9 (TASR) - Fuel prices are set to go up again as of Wednesday, with petrol due to increase by 1.5 eurocents and diesel to be marked up by 2 eurocents per litre, Tomas Novotny of natankuj.sk web portal told TASR on Tuesday. The average price of the best-selling Natural 95 petrol will thus be slightly below €1.22 per litre, while the average diesel price… read more

Parliament Elects Six Out of 11 SPF Board Members

Bratislava, March 9 (TASR) - Parliament on Tuesday elected the first six new members of the Slovak Land Fund (SPF) board who had been nominated by Cabinet, TASR learnt on the same day. Jozef Lalo, Jozef Kubinec, Viliam Hoferica, Anton Martvon, Jan Tucek and Maria Fridrichova became SPF board members in a non-secret vote. The remaining five members of the 11-strong… read more

Kuzma Criticises Government Approach to Tackling Roma Education

Bratislava, March 9 (TASR) - Opposition SDKU-DS MP Stefan Kuzma on Tuesday slammed Premier Robert Fico and Vice-premier for Minorities Dusan Caplovic's recent plans to address the problematic issue of Roma education by setting up boarding schools for Roma children, saying government is dealing with a few hundred children rather than the hundreds of thousands of Roma living in… read more

AI Brands Idea of Boarding Schools for Roma Children as Disriminatory

Bratislava, March 9 (TASR) - Amnesty International (AI) has come out against setting up boarding schools for Roma children and believes endeavours "to separate the children gradually off the way of lives that they lead in settlements" represent a discriminatory practice and an outright attack on the Roma's way of life, head of AI Slovensko Branislav Tichy told TASR on Tuesday.… read more

Mikolaj and French Ambassador Seal Deal on Cooperation in Education

Bratislava, March 9 (TASR) - Education Minister Jan Mikolaj and French Ambassador to Slovakia Henry Cuny on Tuesday signed an agreement between the ministry and the French Foreign Affairs Ministry on establishing closer links in the areas of education, language training as well as co-operation in the university and scientific fields, TASR learnt later in the day. According… read more

Kramplova Accepts Invitation to Join Urbani\'s Party

Bratislava, March 9 (TASR) - Independent MP and former foreign affairs minister (1997-98) Zdenka Kramplova said on Tuesday that she has accepted an offer from her former fellow member in co-ruling LS-HZDS, Milan Urbani, to be a deputy chair of the recently-formed Alliance for the Europe of Nations (AZEN), of which he is chairman. "I am excited about our continued partisan… read more

Kotleba Running in General Election, Believes in Success of LSNS Party

Banska Bystrica, March 9 (TASR) - Former leader of far-right organisation Slovenska Pospolitost (Slovak Togetherness) Marian Kotleba on Tuesday confirmed that he will take part in the general election scheduled for June 12, running as a candidate of the People's Party Our Slovakia (LSNS). "We haven't submitted out slate yet, but we're intending to do so by the end of… read more

Steel and Consumer Electronics Leading Rise in Industrial Production

Bratislava, March 9 (TASR) - The month-on-month increase of 4.4 percent in industrial production in January was due to a revival at steel works and another rise in the production of consumer electronics, UniCredit Bank analyst David Derenik told TASR on Tuesday in reaction to newly-released statistics on industrial production in Slovakia. Industrial production in January… read more

Vasaryova: President Gasparovic Prefers His Interests to His Duties

Bratislava, March 9 (TASR) - Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic has never dealt with international politics, doesn't speak any foreign languages, and isn't sufficiently educated in European history, and that's why he can't be an equal partner with thoroughly-prepared European politicians, said SDKU-DS MP Magda Vasaryova in Parliament on Tuesday. Vasaryova was speaking during… read more

Construction Work Continued to Shrink in January - by 8.1 percent Y-o-Y

Bratislava, March 9 (TASR) - Construction work carried out by Slovak companies both at home and abroad in January of this year reached a value of €257.5 million, a year-on-year drop of 8.1 percent, the Statistics Office reported on Tuesday. After seasonal effects are taken into account, construction fell by 3.3 percent in January compared to December 2009. "Developments… read more

MVK Poll: SNS Drops Below Threshold Needed to Get Into Parliament

Bratislava, March 9 (TASR) - If parliamentary elections had been held in early March, the Slovak National Party (SNS) would not have got into Parliament, according to a poll conducted by the MVK agency in late February and released on Tuesday. According to the survey, SNS received only 4.9 percent, which falls just short of the 5-percent threshold needed to get into Parliament.… read more