Job applicants sought

THE IDEAL candidate, a university

graduate, will demonstrate know-
ledge of procurement procedures,
have good managerial skills and have
at least five-years of relevant experi-
ence. So reads the states job advert-
isement seeking applicants who
might fill the top job at Slovakias
procurement watchdog agency. A
newchief for the Public Procurement
Office (VO) will be chosen under the
close watch of the public: this is the
approach Prime Minister Iveta
Radiov has chosen to take in re-
sponse to an ongoing tug-of-war
between opposition Smer party and
her government over the post.
Robert Fico, chairman of Smer,
insists that the right to nominate
the person to lead VO belongs
solely to the opposition based on an
unwritten agreement while
Radiov holds that Smer missed its
opportunity by clinging to an unac-
ceptable nominee.
Since Robert Fico did not use
his right to nominate an acceptable
candidate and since the govern-
ment is responsible for the func-
tioning of this important institu-
tion, as prime minister I chose to
resolve the situation in a way that
further processes will be under pub-
lic control, Radiov stated.
SeeNOpg9
NEWS
Hungariancitizenship
Hungarys modified citizen-
ship rules took effect this
year but Slovak sociologists
say that ethnic Hungarians
living northof the Danube
do not appear very keenon
acquiring Hungariancit-
izenship and available stat-
istics seemto prove them
right.
pg 3
Piano's goodstart
After its first monththe Pi-
ano paywall systemseems
to be off and running and is
evenplanning to expand
beyond Slovakias borders.
pg 3
OPINION
Presidential toy?
The power of the presiden-
tial veto is one of the few
held by Slovakias president
that canmake the life of
the government quite
miserable.
pg 5
BUSINESSFOCUS
Enviroheritage
Cleanup of soil and water
contaminated by the oc-
cupying Soviet army has
cost Slovakia over 40 mil-
lionsince 1993. This is
only one part of the poor
environmental heritage
that Slovakia must over-
come.
pg 6
Wasteinfocus
The government is prepar-
ing a newbill to address
waste dumps, waste collec-
tionmethods and better
separationof wastes as well
as following throughwith
recycling and recovery.
pg 7
CULTURE
Rockier folkonoffer
echomor offered a debut
performance of cuts from
their first newCDinsix
years to a lively Bratislava
audience.
pg 11
PolishPresident BronislawKomorowski andhis wife Annacompletedatwo-day visit toSlovakiaonJune 22. This
was Komorowski's first official visit toSlovakiasince he was sworninlast August. Photo: Reuters
Prosecutor elected;
controversy remains
IT MAY take several months until
Jozef ent, elected as Slovakias
next general prosecutor in a secret
ballot vote in parliament on June 17,
will be able to occupy one of
Slovakias most powerful public pos-
itions. President Ivan Gaparovi
announced that he will not appoint
ent, the ruling coalitions can-
didate, until the countrys Constitu-
tional Court rules about the consti-
tutionality of the previous action by
MPs that modified the rules of par-
liamentary order to change the vot-
ing method for choosing the general
prosecutor from a secret ballot to a
public, recorded ballot.
MPs from the opposition Smer
party had boycotted the parliament-
ary session and Smer called the vote
a black day inthe countrys history.
ent received 79 votes from
the 80 lawmakers present, which in
the end was actually conducted by
secret ballot. The Speaker of Parlia-
ment, Richard Sulk, stated that he
believes it is Gaparovis constitu-
tional duty to forthwith appoint
ent as general prosecutor.
SeeSTALLpg2
Gas prices
will rise
HOUSEHOLDS in Slovakia will start receiv-
ing heftier bills for natural gas in July even
though the increased rates do not put gas
prices at the level where Slovakias major gas
utility, Slovensk Plynrensk Priemysel
(SPP), would like to see them. The states
utility regulator, the Office for Regulation of
Network Industries (RSO), approved anav-
erage 6.92 percent increase in gas prices for
households as of July 20. Prices of gas used
for heating will climb by 9.37 percent, on av-
erage, which might also be reflected in a
6-percent hike inhouseholdheatingcosts.
SPP, which had requested an almost
8-percent price increase for household
gas use and a 40.43-percent increase in
gas prices for producing heat for house-
holds, claims that the newly-approved
prices will cover only part of the
companys costs linked to supplying gas
tothese regulatedsegments.
Based on its own analysis and calcula-
tions, the office did not agree with the pro-
posals made by SPP, stated Jozef Holjenk,
the headof RSO.
SeeUPpg4
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
Former
mayor may
face charges
THE FORMER mayor of Bratislava and a
current member of parliament, Andrej
urkovsk, has become the second sitting
MP whose immunity from criminal pro-
secution could be removed by parliament.
While the General Prosecutors Office said
it could be a lengthy process before it de-
cides on its recommendation concerning
urkovsks immunity, some MPs from
parties of the governing coalition have
already said they would vote to remove the
former mayors immunity.
Slovak media reported on June 22 that
the Bratislava Regional Prosecutors Office
requested the General Prosecutors Office
to recommend that parliament strip the
former Bratislava mayor, currently an in-
dependent MP who had been a prominent
member of the Christian Democratic
Movement (KDH), of his immunity.
See PKOpg9
BYMICHAELATERENZANI
Spectator staff
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYBEATA BALOGOV
Spectator staff
Government seeks
candidate to head
procurement office
Vol. 17, No. 25 Monday, June 27, 2011 - Sunday, July 10, 2011
On sale now On sale now
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Another Lexa court case dismissed
ACOURT case against em-
ployees of Slovakias secret
service (SIS) under its
former boss IvanLexa, has
beenthrownout of court
and all penalties previously
levied against those em-
ployees for illegal disposal of
arms and ammunitionhave
beenrescinded.
The court had cleared
Lexa of similar charges in
2004, the Sme daily repor-
ted.
The process that has las-
ted for 14 years ended in
mid-June, just a week after
the Bratislava Regional
Court had ruled that former
president Michal Kov
must apologise and indem-
nify Lexa for claims linking
himto the abductionof his
sonto Austria.
The illegal disposal of
armaments was brought up
by Lexa's successor,
Vladimr Mitro, inhis report
onthe SIS in1999.
According to Mitro,
arms were deposited iniron
waste collections inone
case for Sk25. There were
also allegations of guns be-
ing illegally transported to
unknownlocations.
The Bratislava Regional
Court ruled that the sub-
jective aspect of crime had
not beenproven, meaning
that the accused were not
shownto be motivated by
criminal intent, the Sme
daily wrote.
Hospital worker charged with murder
AHEALTH-CAREworker at
the Bratislava University
Hospital at Kramre has been
charged withkilling a
63-year-old womanby ad-
ministrating a medicationto
her to decrease hyperten-
sion. The medicine stopped
her heart.
The police have not de-
termined if it is a case of as-
sisted suicide or murder and
they are also exploring the
possibility that the hospital
worker may have previously
killed other patients.
Jaroslav D., froma vil-
lage near Trenn, is incus-
tody and has beencharged
withmurder. He did not
protest against remaining
incustody during the in-
vestigationof the case. He
faces a sentence of 25 years
to life inprison.
The private TVchannel
Markza informed that
Jaroslav D. admitted that he
did what he was accused of,
saying that he wanted to
help the dying patient.
Euthanasia is a crime in
Slovakia and this could turn
out to be first case of assisted
suicide ever prosecuted in
this country.
Scandalous dealings at STV
THE RESULTS of anaudit of
the finances of public-ser-
vice Slovak Television(STV)
for the past year are
scandalous Culture Minis-
ter Daniel Krajcer was
quoted as saying onJune 21
by the TASRnewswire. STV
merged withSlovak Radio to
formRadio and Televisionof
Slovakia (RTVS) at the begin-
ning of this year.
Under the management
of the previous general dir-
ector, tefanNiansk, STV
spent 3.8 millioninviola-
tionof its budgetary rules,
Krajcer said based onthe
results of the audit.
He added that the audit-
ors found informationthat
could lead to charges of seri-
ous crimes, including ac-
counting fraud and misap-
propriationof funds.
Inlight of these facts I
amrequired to file a criminal
complaint, whichI will do,
said Krajcer.
The minister called the
audit the first step ina
cleanup process withinthe
public-service broadcasters
whichhe said were left ina
conditionsimilar to the Au-
geanstables.
Nothing's beendone in
this area for years, Krajcer
said. No useful audits have
beenproduced, no liabilities
have beendetermined in
spite of the fact that tens of
millions of crowns have been
stolen.
Niansk rejected what
he called the vicious
accusations levelled against
himby Krajcer.
I viewthis as a case of a
politically-motivated perse-
cutionand shallowscandal-
mongering ina country
where accusations and de-
famations get published and
are viewed as facts,
Niansk said.
The former STVdirector
claimed that the contract
that was signed betweenthe
public-service broadcaster
and the Culture Ministry was
carefully prepared by STV
management and that there
were consultations witha
special commissionof that
ministry in2009.
All resources were used
infilling the demands of
producing and broadcasting
programmes, films, docu-
mentaries and various
genres. I'mconvinced that
the money was all spent in
this way, Niansk said, as
quoted by TASR.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
Euro support guarantees
divide coalition parties
THE SLOVAK cabinet ap-
proved an increase in the
amount of the countrys
guarantees to the European
Financial Stabilisation Facil-
ity (EFSF) and its participa-
tion in a future European Sta-
bility Mechanism (ESM) that
will beginin2013. But there is
no assurance that the
cabinets decision will have
enough weight in the nation-
al parliament since four min-
isters from the Freedom and
Solidarity (SaS) party and one
minister from the Christian
Democratic Movement
(KDH), both of which are
members of the four-party
governing coalition, voted
against Slovakia participat-
ing in the European pro-
grammes to assist member
countries with financial dif-
ficulties.
I am leaving for Brussels
with a clear mandate and will
inform [the EU] very pre-
cisely: it is approved by the
government but I cannot
guarantee its ratification in
parliament, said Prime Min-
ister Iveta Radiov, as quoted
by the Sme daily.
Slovakias guarantees in
the current EFSF bailout pro-
gramme would increase from
4.37 billion to 7.72 billion,
based on the draft addendum
to the EFSF framework con-
tract passed by the cabinet on
June 21. The total guarantees
of all Eurozone countries
would increase from440 bil-
lion to 779 billion so that the
effective capacity of the pro-
gramme of 440 billion is se-
cured, the SITA newswire re-
ported. The EFSF will be re-
placed by the European Sta-
bility Mechanism (ESM) be-
ginning inJune 2013.
Radiov said that her
government agreed with the
increase in Slovakias guaran-
tees to secure continuity in
European efforts to protect
the euro and to fulfil the ob-
ligations inherited from the
previous government. She
stressed that neither of the
proposals is linked to any spe-
cific loan to Greece or any oth-
er country.
The chairman of SaS,
Richard Sulk, has stated that
his party is fundamentally
opposed to Slovakias entry in-
to the ESM as well as to in-
creasing Slovakias guaran-
tees to the EFSF.
Interior Minister Daniel
Lipic of KDH also voted
against the proposals and ar-
gued that when Slovaks have
to tighten their belts it is not
fair asking them to contrib-
ute their money to Greeks
who arent responsible.
The head of Smer party,
Robert Fico, called on
Radiov to discipline Sulk,
adding that Smer would sup-
port mechanisms to protect
the euro but would not sup-
port games played by SaS,
adding that his party would
vote for the proposals only if
all the parties of the ruling co-
alitiondo so.
If the whole coalition
does not support the two pro-
posed mechanisms, I see no
reason to extend a helping
hand to the government and
to SaS, Fico said, as quoted by
SITA.
ByBeata Balogov
withpress reports
STALL: Limbo might last for months
Continuedfrompg1
He was elected in line with all the
valid rules, Sulk stated, as quoted by the
TASR newswire, adding that the
presidents rationale that he wants to
wait for the Constitutional Court ruling
is not justified.
Meanwhile, the chairwoman of the
Constitutional Court, Ivetta Macejkov,
confirmed to public-service Slovak Tele-
vision that the court will act on the legal
challenge inSeptember.
On June 15 the Constitutional Court
issued a provisional ruling that suspen-
ded the validity of the change in the rules
of parliamentary order until the court
had reached a definitive verdict on the
constitutional merits of parliaments
change in the voting procedure.
However, the courts provisional ruling
did not specifically reinstate the previous
parliamentary rules that had governed
past secret ballots, meaning that there
was a kind of legal limbo about the pro-
cess that should be followed to select the
person to fill one of the countrys most
high-level public positions.
The legislation that changed the par-
liamentary rules, passed by the MPs from
the four-party coalition led by Iveta
Radiov, was challenged before the
court by the acting general prosecutor,
Ladislav Tich. Tich, an assistant pro-
secutor, advanced to the interim position
of general prosecutor when the term of
Dobroslav Trnka expired in February. The
courts decision has the effect of allowing
Tich and Trnka (who was appointed
Tichs deputy in February) to remain in
control of the General Prosecutors Office
for anindefinite period.
A courts ruling must be officially
published in the countrys collection of
laws in order for it to become effective
and the ruling coalition, according to the
Sme daily, used this time gap to hold the
vote on June 17 because the courts de-
cision had been announced but not yet
beenpublished.
The only thing the Constitutional
Court objected to was the institution of
an open vote, but we voted in a secret
ballot, Sulk argued, noting that he un-
derstands that the opposition does not
like the fact that ent was elected.
Thecritics
Gaparovi considers the election
politicised, said his spokesman Marek
Truba.
Mr. President is convinced that
neither the elected Jozef ent nor
Dobroslav Trnka should be candidates
and be elected to the position of prosec-
utor general, Truba said, as quoted by
the SITA newswire. Today they both are
so politically separated that no one can
predict that they will not decide infavour
of one or the other of these political
parties.
Smer had backed the bid of the previ-
ous general prosecutor, Trnka, for anoth-
er seven-year term but Prime Minister
Radiov strongly opposed Trnkas re-
turn and had on several occasions stated
she would resign if Trnka would be re-
electedby MPs.
Trnka withdrew his candidacy
shortly before the vote on June 17 based
on what he called an unconstitutional
situation.
This day can be compared to the
Night of the Long Knives on November 3,
1994, said Fico, the chairman of Smer, as
quoted by TASR, referring to the date
when Vladimr Meiar's Movement for a
Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) seized power
in all parliamentary committees and
completely eliminated oppositionparties
fromany influence inthe committees.
Fico stated that ent will only
serve the interests of the ruling coali-
tion parties and this will destroy the in-
dependence of the General Prosecutors
Office. The Smer chairman said his
party will do everything possible to
make sure that a general prosecutor is
elected by another secret vote, thereby
restoring the independence of the office.
Adifferent vision
ent said his vision of managing
the General Prosecutors Office is differ-
ent from how Trnka had managed it.
ent indicated he would not replace
all prosecutors but would initiate cer-
tain selection procedures. ent re-
fused to comment on whether Trnka
would be offered a position in the
prosecutors office, saying that he does
not want to build the office around par-
ticular names but rather so that it be-
comes more functional, SITAreported.
ent stressed that talking about
filling positions is premature.
I have not promised any prosecutors
any positions at the General Prosecutors
Office, ent stated.
2
NEWS
June 27 July 10, 2011
ent was electedGPbut has yet tobe appointed. Photo: Sme- Tom Benedikovi
New rules lead few to
seek dual citizenship
ALTHOUGH the international
dispute over Hungary granting
citizenship to ethnic Hungari-
ans living in surrounding
countries under less demand-
ing conditions than in the past
is still raging, it seems to be a
much less serious problem in
Slovakia than some alarmist
nationalist voices have
claimed. Hungarys modified
rules took effect on the first of
this year but sociologists in
Slovakia say that ethnic Hun-
garians living north of the
Danube do not appear very
keen on acquiring Hungarian
citizenship and available stat-
isticsseemtoprovethemright.
BeingatrueHungarian
I am a Hungarian living
in Slovakia is how most eth-
nic Hungarians who particip-
ated in the Slovak part of a re-
search project entitled ENRI
East termed themselves. The
international, collaborative
studyfocusedontheinterplay
of European, national and re-
gional identities. Sixty-eight
percent of the respondents in
Slovakia defined themselves
as a Hungarian living in
Slovakia while 16 percent
chose the option I am a
Hungarian and 13 percent
opted for I am a Slovak of
Hungarian origin according
tothestudy.
Ladislav Machek from
the Institute of Social Sci-
ences of the University of Ss.
Cyril and Methodius in
Trnava wrote in a recent art-
icle titled The Slovak Republic
and its Hungarian Ethnic
Minority: Sociological Reflec-
tions, published in the Slovak
Journal of Political Sciences,
that the predominant self-
definitionof national identity
as a Hungarian living in
Slovakiaisnot onlyaresult of
comparisons between the
Hungarian minority and the
Slovak majority living in
Slovakia but is a comparison
also between Hungarians liv-
ing in Slovakia and Hungari-
anslivinginHungary.
When they [Hungarians
living in Slovakia] visit Hun-
gary, they are identified as
Hungarians from Slovakia,
not simply as Hungarians,
Machekwrote.
The ENRI East research
was conducted at the end of
2009 and the beginning of
2010 when the issue of dual
citizenshipwas not yet sucha
fiery issue. A key question in
the poll asked what essential
aspect makes a person feel
likeatrueHungarian.
And the most frequent
answer was speaking the
Hungarian language and also
simply feeling like a
Hungarian, Machek told
The Slovak Spectator. Actually
having Hungarian citizenship
was important to only just
over 10percent of the respond-
ents from older generations
and to only 15.5 percent of the
younger respondents.
Political analyst Miroslav
Kus stressed in an interview
with The Slovak Spectator
earlier this year that citizen-
ship granted by Hungary
should not be treated as a big
issueinSlovakia.
As it turns out, there are
rather large numbers of ap-
plicants for Hungarian cit-
izenship in Romania or in
Croatia, but that doesnt seem
to be the case in Slovakia,
Kusstated, addingthat he be-
lieved the reason is that Slov-
akia is currently doing much
better economically than
Hungary, given the hard im-
pact of the economic crisis on
that country.
And that is reflected in
the mentality of ethnic Hun-
garians living in Slovakia,
Kus told The Slovak Spectat-
or. Why would they apply for
Hungarian citizenship if Hun-
gary is in worse shape, eco-
nomicallyandpolitically?
LosingSlovakcitizenship
The controversy over dual
citizenship began when
newly-installed Hungarian
Prime Minister Viktor Orbn,
in almost his first act, moved
to amend Hungarys citizen-
ship legislation to enable eth-
nic Hungarians living in other
countries, including Slovakia,
to acquire Hungarian citizen-
ship with relative ease.
Around 10 percent of
Slovakias population is made
upof ethnicHungarians.
The Slovak government,
led by Robert Fico at that time,
responded by passing an
amendment to Slovakias Cit-
izenship Act specifying that
any Slovak citizen who sought
to obtainthe citizenshipof an-
other country would be re-
quired to report that fact to
Slovak authorities who would
then automatically strip the
person of Slovak citizenship.
Slovak citizens who could
show what was termed a real
link to another country, such
as permanent residence or
close family relations, were
later excluded from losing
their Slovakcitizenshipif they
acquired citizenship from an-
other country.
The Slovak lawhas beenin
effect sinceJuly17, 2010andby
mid-June 2011, 80 persons had
lost their Slovak citizenship,
the Interior Ministry in-
formed The Slovak Spectator.
Many of these persons, 35 of
them, had acquired Czech cit-
izenship. The others who lost
their Slovak citizenship had
acquired citizenship from
Austria (15), Germany (12), the
UK(9) as well as one eachfrom
the USA, Italy, the Nether-
lands and Canada. Only five of
those stripped of their Slovak
citizenship had received Hun-
gariancitizenship.
The current Slovak gov-
ernment has pledged to res-
cind this loss-of-citizenship
rule but to date none of the
proposed solutions, such as a
bilateral treaty with Hungary,
have been accepted by all in-
volvedparties.
Many of the prominent
representatives of the Hun-
garian minority living in Slov-
akia have publicly stated that
they will not apply for Hun-
gariancitizenship. Among the
few who announced that they
would do so was Jzsef
Bernyi, the head of the non-
parliamentary Hungarian Co-
alition Party (SMK), who
stated immediately after the
new law was effective that he
would seek Hungarian cit-
izenship. Since then, he has
not stated whether he has ac-
tually done so, which could
mean he would be stripped of
hisSlovakcitizenship.
The Slovak National Party
(SNS) was most disturbed by
Bernyis unknown citizen-
ship status and filed a motion
with the Interior Ministry
seeking further information.
Inresponse, the Interior Min-
istry requested Bernyi to
state whether he was a Slovak
citizen on April 16, 2011 when
he was elected the chairman
of SMK.
Bernyi responded by
writing I acknowledge the
content of your letter.
Bernyi also publicly cri-
ticised the governing coali-
tion for reneging on what he
called its promise that no
Slovak citizen would lose his
or her citizenship during their
term, adding that he sees this
as an attempt to weaken his
party so that Most-Hd can
run in the next election
without areal challenger.
CoEbodycomments on
Hungarianconstitution
Hungary has recently met
criticism for several changes
inits laws and the most recent
questions have been raised
about its newconstitution. On
June18theCouncil of Europes
European Commission for
Democracy through Law,
more commonly knownas the
Venice Commission, issued an
opinion about Hungarys new
constitution that was passed
by the Hungarian parliament
inmid-April 2011.
The commission wrote
that it found certain wording
in the constitution that
states Hungary shall bear re-
sponsibility for the fate of
Hungarians living beyond its
borders as unfortunate, not-
ing that using the term
responsibility may be in-
terpreted as authorising
Hungarian authorities to ad-
opt decisions andtake actions
beyond its borders on behalf
of persons of Hungarian ori-
ginand this could lead to con-
flicts regarding the appropri-
ate legal powers of concerned
countries. The commission
stressed that responsibility
for protection of [national]
minorities lies primarily with
the home-states of the
minorities and that unilat-
eral measures by a state with
respect to kin-minorities are
only legitimate if the prin-
ciples of territorial sover-
eignty of states, friendly rela-
tions and the respect of hu-
man rights and fundamental
freedoms arerespected.
Slovakias Foreign Minis-
ter, Mikul Dzurinda,
quickly welcomed the opin-
ion issued by the Venice
Commission and said that in
many respects it confirmed
Slovakias earlier position re-
garding some provisions in
theproposedconstitution.
The Venice Commis-
sion report is a serious re-
minder to Hungary to cor-
rect its policies in several
areas, including its relations
with neighbours, Dzurinda
stated.
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
SMK's Jzsef Bernyi will not discuss his citizenship. Photo: Sme
Piano finds success
in Slovakia
WHENseveral Slovak pub-
lishers agreed that they
would require online media
viewers to beginpaying for
some of their websites con-
tent inMay and to do this
by centralising the pay-
ment systeminto one pack-
age, doubts quickly arose
about the viability of such
anidea. But after its first
monththe systemknown
as Piano seems to be off and
running and is evenplan-
ning to expand beyond
Slovakias borders.
Piano Media, the official
name of the provider of the
online payment system, an-
nounced that by mid-June
the company had netted over
40,000 inits first month.
The company described it as
the most revenue ever
earned througha publication
subscriptiononthe Slovak
internet eventhoughthe
fact is that nobody had ever
launched a project like this
inSlovakia or anywhere else
inthe world.
The company said anoth-
er positive indicator was the
number of newvisitors to
websites of those publishers
who are part of the Piano sys-
tem. Figures gathered by the
Associationof Internet Me-
dia showthat the number of
visitors to those publishers
websites actually increased.
The Tdeweekly re-
ported that it had garnered
more online subscriptions
throughthe Piano payment
systemthanthroughinde-
pendent subscriptions to
their website.
Compared withApril,
whenyou could buy web
access to the text of the
magazine alone, we got six
times the number of online
subscribers [inMay] while
our site visits remained
stable despite the payment
requirement, said tefan
Hrb, the editor-in-chief of
Tde.
Piano Media is a premi-
um-content payment ser-
vice for newspapers, TVsta-
tions and other online ser-
vices jointly operated by
Etarget, a provider of online
advertising, and NextBig, a
Prague-based newmedia
consultancy company. Its
purpose is to enable pay-
ment for access to websites
ina way that reduces barri-
ers that discourage readers
frompaying for content and
likewise discourage pub-
lishers fromtrying to charge
for that content. Participat-
ing media outlets place all,
or a portion, of their content
behind a paywall that canbe
accessed only by those who
pay a flat monthly fee of
2.90, giving unlimited ac-
cess to all participating pub-
lications, muchlike a cable-
TVpackage. Users pay-
ments are split betweenthe
publications based onhow
muchtime is spent onindi-
vidual sites.
Whenthe systemwas
launched, 34 services from
nine participating publish-
ers, including major Slovak
news media suchas the Sme
daily and Trend and Tde
weeklies, were included in
the package.
Tom Bella, the director
of the Piano project, said the
successful first monthmight
motivate publishers to move
more parts of their websites
behind the paywall.
Several publishers now
see after the first testing
monththat the project is vi-
able and they nowplanto
add more sections of exist-
ing material as well as some
completely newservices and
content, Bella told The
Slovak Spectator.
Piano hopes to add sev-
eral newpublishers in
September.
At the moment tenpub-
lishers are interested injoin-
ing the systembut it is not
likely that so many would be
added at once, Bella said.
According to Bella, the
price of the Piano subscrip-
tionis unchanged, at 2.90
per month, 0.99 per week
or 29 per year.
We would like to keep it
at this level as long as pos-
sible, evenafter adding new
services, Bella said.
Slovakia is the first coun-
try inthe world where this
kind of commonpayment
systemhas beenestablished
and Piano Media and Bella
have beengetting a lot of at-
tentionfromaround the
globe. Some foreignpublish-
ers have showninterest in
Piano and would like to know
howit could work intheir
countries and Bella admitted
that the company is actively
exploring expansionpossib-
ilities withinEurope. He
said he expects Piano to
move into another European
market withina year.
We are currently nego-
tiating withpublishers in
five Europeancountries and
planto launchPiano ina
second country by the end of
this year, Bella said.
3 June 27 July 10, 2011
NEWS
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
Online payment
systemseeks to
expand to other
parts of Europe
Tom Bella. Photo: Sme
Sale of six heating state plants begin
THE NATIONAL Property
Fund (FNM) has begunthe
process of selling six state-
owned heating plants, the
Sme daily reported onJune
22. The process will not end
incomplete private owner-
ship as the state has prom-
ised that 5-percent of the
shares of eachheating com-
pany will remainunder the
control of the six municipal-
ities. Local authorities will
also be guaranteed a seat on
the boards of directors.
The municipalities,
however, are still saying
they would like to have a ma-
jority ownership so that they
canmanage and control the
companies, Sme reported.
The municipalities are warn-
ing that sale of the heating
plants might bring higher
prices to household con-
sumers of the heat.
The government decided
earlier this year to privatise
the companies, arguing that
they brought only meagre
dividends to the state.
There have also been
several reports of poor or
questionable business prac-
tices by the state-appointed
managers. Sme wrote that
the Bratislava heating com-
pany bought software pro-
grams for 9.1 millionin
2008 without any public
tender and that its man-
agement also bought luxuri-
ous furniture that cost over
2.6 million.
Health insurer to cut hospital beds
THE STATE-OWNEDhealth
insurer, Veobecn
Zdravotn Poisova (VZP),
has announced it is seeking
to reduce the number of beds
inthe health-care systemby
15 percent and to do so it has
decided not to renewcon-
tracts with156 wards in
Slovak hospitals beginning
inJuly 2011.
The insurers master plan
calls for just over 29,000 beds
inthe entire hospital net-
work while this current ac-
tionwill leave the system
withsome 31,000 beds, the
SITAnewswire reported.
The changes will affect
all kinds of hospitals
throughout Slovakia but
will most radically affect
hospital wards dealing with
ear, nose and throat malad-
ies. The loss of overnight
beds will be partly offset by
transferring some patients
to one-day health-care
centres and handling more
medical treatment onan
outpatient basis.
Complex or expensive
treatments are to be trans-
ferred to specialised centres
under the insurers planand
university hospitals will be
expected to merge more
wards and clinics. SITA
wrote that Dvera, a private
healthinsurer, supports the
restructuring planproposed
by VZP.
The director of Dveras
purchasing section,
Miroslav ilinek, stated that
the proposed changes are
aninevitable step towards
increasing the quality and
effectiveness of healthcare
and improving conditions
for health-care workers in
Slovakia. If VZPs pub-
lished planis fully imple-
mented, ilinek said pa-
tients insured by Dvera
will have less dramatic
changes to deal withthan
VZP policyholders since
Dvera had previously re-
duced its eligible wards.
The Slovak Association
of Hospitals has criticised
the plan, saying the reduc-
tionof beds will leave Slov-
akia witha lower total than
the EUmedian.
Google opens office in Slovakia
GOOGLE has opened a new
office inBratislava that will
be led by Raso Kulich.
Slovakia is one of a few
countries withonly five-mil-
lionpeople to have direct
Google representation, Ku-
lichsaid, as quoted by the
SITAnewswire.
The goal of Google Slov-
akia is to support the devel-
opment of electronic trading
inSlovakia througheduca-
tionand support inthe area
of e-marketing, withanem-
phasis onexporters, entre-
preneurs and small and me-
dium-sized businesses.
We cansee that con-
sumers are interested in
shopping on-line; so inthe
first phase we will focus on
educating the corporate sec-
tor to help companies gain
anonline presence and get
ready for e-commerce, Ku-
lichexplained, as quoted by
SITA. Inthe next phase, we
want to connect firms with
potential clients withthe
help of on-line tools and
e-marketing.
Google Slovakia has also
offered cooperationto the
Slovak Associationof
Tradesmeninthe area of e-
commerce training. The Bo-
stonConsulting Group repor-
ted ina recent study that on-
line shopping inSlovakia
remains at a very lowlevel
despite its quality infrastruc-
ture and the fact that almost
70 percent of its households
have internet access.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
Jobless rate remains stuck over 12 %
THOUGHgraduationceremon-
ies might put some extra pres-
sure on Slovakias struggling
labour market as 122,000
young people leave their uni-
versities and secondary
schools, economic analysts
expect the countrys jobless
rate to remain at its same level
or even decline slightly
through the remaining
months of 2011. But they are
also clear that the pre-crisis
levels of unemployment are
well beyond reach right now
and will remain so for the next
three or four years.
The jobless rate in Slovakia
stood at 12.84 percent in May, a
drop of a tenth of a percentage
point from April and an 0.6
percentage point increase
compared to May last year, the
Labour, Social Affairs and Fam-
ily Centre (PSVaR) reported
on June 20, with 380,016 Slov-
aks registered as unemployed
at job centres in May and
342,410 of them immediately
readytotake a job.
In the coming month we
assume stabilisation or a mod-
erate decline in the jobless
rate, said Ivan Jur,
PSVaRs director, as quoted
by the SITA newswire, adding
that his office predicts a June
jobless rate of 12.83 percent.
The jobless rate in May
dropped in all regions except
Koice Region, with the
biggest drop recorded in
BanskBystricaRegion.
Market watchers expected
the small decrease in unem-
ployment in May, said Eva
Sadovsk of Potov Banka,
adding that the drop was
slightly larger that the ana-
lysts expectations.
Of course, an unem-
ployment rate revolving
around 13 percent cannot be
considered favourable,
Sadovsk told The Slovak
Spectator.
Sadovsk expects that a
reviving economy has helped
to improve the labour market
with the countrys largest
employer, the industrial sec-
tor, showingrenewedinterest
inhiring newemployees from
month to month. But she
noted that industrial employ-
ers still do not have as many
employees as before the eco-
nomic crisis.
At the same time, May is
when graduates of universit-
ies start to register withthe la-
bour offices, Sadovsk stated,
adding that so far 2,900 have
registered with the offices, in-
creasing their numbers to
4,668. But the largest influxof
[registered] university gradu-
ates takes place in June. The
labour offices then record a
higher number of unemployed
for several months even after
[June] since it takes some time
until the graduates settle into
the labour market.
Jur of PSVaR said that
his office expects that by the
endof the summer breakabout
122,000 young people will have
enteredthe labour market.
Young people are having
a tough time finding em-
ployment and in this aspect
we are at the tail of the
European Union, Jur said,
referring to Slovakias weak-
ness in bringing school-leav-
ers and graduates into active
employment.
Sadovsk agreed that
when about one in every sev-
en-eight economically-active
Slovaks are without jobs, the
job search by new graduates
will be tough.
Jur told the media that
PSVaR and the Education
Ministry are now working on
developing statistics which
would show which schools
are adding the highest num-
ber of graduates to the jobless
registry.
Sadovsk said she and oth-
er economic analysts expect
the upcoming months to re-
cord a gradual drop in the un-
employment rate but that no
one should dream about a rate
lower than 12 percent for the
foreseeable future, with the
under 8 percent pre-crisis
level beingwell out of reach.
We expect a returnto pre-
crisis levels only in three to
four years, Sadovsksaid.
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
Youngpeople are havingatoughtime findingjobs. Photo: TK
UP: More gas competition is coming
Continuedfrompg1
Holjenk said, as reported by the
SITA newswire, that if RSO had
agreed with SPPs proposals for house-
hold gas prices then the annual costs
for households would have increased
by 8 to 340, depending on the
households category of gas consump-
tion. RSO calculated that the ap-
proved increases would increase annu-
al costs for households which use gas
for both cooking and heat by an aver-
age of 77, SITAwrote.
According to an official release
from SPP, its losses in 2010 in the regu-
lated gas-supply segments reached 70
million, which the company claims is
backed up by an independent auditors
report.
The European gas market is inter-
connected and in its gas policies SPP
must consider the same factors as in the
surrounding countries, Ondrej ebesta,
SPPs spokesman, told The Slovak Spec-
tator. The key factor which influences
the purchase price of natural gas is the
price of oil.
ebesta said the actual price for oil is
40 percent higher than the figure used by
the regulator when setting the regulated
prices for natural gas for 2011, adding
that this is such an extraordinary situ-
ationthat SPP had to react.
The increase in household gas prices,
which will take effect on July 20, has set
off a political blame game.
The opposition claims that the gov-
ernment of Iveta Radiov has cut itself
off from influencing the energy sector
and Smer party chairman Robert Fico
went on to claim that RSO, led by a
nominee of his party, has acted to pro-
tect peoples wallets and purses. The
Economy Ministry then responded, as
reported by Sme daily, that Ficos party
is responsible for the higher cost of gas
since the issues is under the authority
of RSO.
SPP is 51-percent owned by Slovakias
National Property Fund and the remain-
ing 49 percent is held by Slovak Gas Hold-
ing B.V., a consortium of E.ON Ruhrgas
AGand Gaz de France.
Energy security experts say that dis-
cussionof gas prices is likely to intensify
across Europe in coming years in the
wake of Germanys decision to gradually
close its nuclear power plants and
switch at least partially to natural gas,
increasing overall gas consumption
withinthe EU.
Regulated gas prices in Slovakia for
household use increased by an average of
4.47 percent at the beginning of 2011 and
prices of gas used for production of heat
went by anaverage of 6.12 percent.
Competitionarrives
Beginning this year, households can
choose their natural gas provider.
Peter Maran of the Institute of En-
ergy Security, an energy think-tank,
said that SPP is pressed to a certain de-
gree by the arrival of new suppliers of
gas but that this is occurring primarily
among larger-scale users such as indus-
trial enterprises.
The competition is coming for
households, though slowly, and the fact
that this is a positive development is
proven by the fact that these firms say
that they will not hike prices and will
again press on SPP, Maran told The
Slovak Spectator.
Maran added that the difference in
consumer prices offered by SPP and oth-
er suppliers emerges at the point of the
wholesale purchase of gas.
While SPP has a long-term contract
where a mechanism for the purchase of
gas from Gazprom is set, alternative
providers to a larger degree are able to
purchase gas in the spot markets,
Maran said. Moreover, it is always
more attractive for a new player to have
a zero margin, in some cases even a neg-
ative margin, since this player needs to
break through in the market and gain a
certain share while developing its brand
perceptionwithpotential customers.
Regarding Germanys decision to
gradually shut down its nuclear sta-
tions, Maran said this will increase
demand for natural gas and prices will
climb as well.
Maran believes much of the lost
output from Germanys nuclear power
plants, more than 22,000 megawatts,
will probably be replaced by gas-fired
steam generators as these are also
needed as a backup source for wind gen-
erators, the source Germany has said it
will seek to build as a replacement for
the shuttered nuclear plants. But he ad-
ded that adding 22,000 megawatts in
electricity capacity by wind power is
most likely impossible.
Moreover, there will be increased
gas consumption in the European Union
in connection with the new period for
trade in greenhouse gases [within the
Emission Trading Scheme] which will
start in2013, Maranadded.
The energy expert said that since
energy-producing firms must purchase
these quotas, it will show up in their
costs and for that reason firms will
search for cleaner fuels, meaning that
some will switch fromcoal to gas so that
they canremaincompetitive.
This reason will also realistically
push up demand for natural gas,
Maransaid.
4
BUSINESS / NEWS
June 27 July 10, 2011
Anjel smrti
IT IS not often that both main
tabloids in the country share
the same opening headline.
This week they did: Anjel
smrti, the Angel of Death.
Yes, Slovakia is on a streak.
Within months of finding its
first mass murderer and its
first cannibal, there is the
first angel of death. You have
to wonder whats next. A re-
surrectionof Jack the Ripper?
The case of the male nurse
who confessed to administer-
ing a lethal injection to a pa-
tient at a Bratislava intensive
care unit is different from the
two previous cases not only in
that the perpetrator survived
but also that his intent didnt
necessarily have to be mali-
cious. It is far from clear
whether we have here a
copycat of the Czech heparin
killer, who was found guilty
of murdering seven people
and attempting to kill at least
ten more, and whose main
motivation seemed to be a de-
sire to play god. So far, the
suspect claims he just wanted
to ease the suffering of the pa-
tient. It remains unclear
whether she was in a condi-
tionto ask himto help her die.
The uncertainty is to a
great extent the result of im-
proper legislation that bans
all forms of euthanasia. Doc-
tors privately admit that in
extreme cases, medical staff
help terminal patients die.
But under current laws, they
risk the same penalty as a
murderer. This case illus-
trates why it would help to
legalise a practice that is
anyway a part of life. That
way there would be no doubts
about who is a killer and who
is just trying to help others
end their suffering. Because
it seems that angels, too,
sometimes have to take care
of dark tasks.
Slovakia's lawbans all forms of euthanasiaor assistedsuicide. Photo: Sme- Tom Benedikovi
Just a presidential toy?
THE ROOTS of a many presid-
ents favourite plaything
stretch back to the Roman Re-
public, where the institution
of the veto emerged to protect
the interests of common cit-
izens, the plebs, in a senate
dominatedby elitefamilies.
It seems that President
Ivan Gaparovi likes apply-
ingthis ancient traditionwith
as much zeal as possible to a
wide range of legislation
passed by the Slovak parlia-
ment. The power of the pres-
idential veto is one of the few
held by Slovakias president
that can make the life of the
government quite miserable,
especiallyif it holds just a slim
majority in parliament while
at the same time needs to hold
together four independently
ambitiousparties.
With a president whose
heart officially should beat
neither for nor against any par-
ticular political party, one
would think that the Slovak
presidents veto power is a tool
that will protect theinterestsof
the public. Though there is no
unambiguous answer to the
question of whose interests are
protected or advanced by
Gaparovis vetoes, it is widely
said that he has always owed
his political success to support-
ers, opponents or other politic-
al figures that neededhimto do
aparticularjob.
The advent of summer has
unleashed Gaparovis zest
for vetoes, when on June 15 he
first refused to sign the
amendment to the Act on Use
of Minority Languages. That
amendment would have re-
duced the current 20-percent
threshold for official use of
minority languages in ethnic-
ally mixed municipalities to 15
percent while making the
rule effective only 10 years
fromnow.
That presidential veto
immediately pleased the Slov-
akNational Party(SNS), which
had labelled the legislation
treason against the Slovak na-
tion, joinedbySmer partythat
described the bill as serving a
purely Hungarian agenda.
Gaparovi apparently felt
that extending the rights of
minorities, in the way it was
passed by the ruling coalition,
limits the rights of a state-
formingnationsomethinghe
says the constitution prohib-
its.
Those whocampaignedon
behalf of Gaparovi in the
2009 presidential election
widely played the so-called
Hungarian card. Before the
first round vote in that elec-
tion, SNS boss Jn Slota vigor-
ously expressed his regret and
concern over the support he
said Iveta Radiov,
Gaparovis strongest oppon-
ent, had received from the
Hungarian minority. Duan
aplovi from Smer added at
the same time that he expec-
tedRadiovwoulddefendthe
interests of nationalist forces
in Slovakias Hungarian
minority. Gaparovi cer-
tainly has proved he was the
right presidential pick for
them.
Gaparovi then followed
with a veto of the amendment
to the Press Code that was de-
signedto curbthe right of pub-
lic officials to have their
responses published by the
media in almost all circum-
stances. That part of the Press
Code was a widely-criticised
additionput inplace by Robert
Ficos government. Gaparovi
seems to be disturbed by the
fact that the media would not
be required to publish a re-
sponse if it contradicts good
manners or morals so he
asked that this be more clearly
definedinthelegislation.
Prime Minister Iveta
Radiov quickly noted that
the president hadsignedeight
laws between 2006 and 2010
that included the very same
term and she stated that she
suspected the president's veto
was more connected to the
amendments purpose to re-
strict the right of response by
politicians such as the presid-
ent, MPs, ministers, mayors
andpolitical partyleaders.
But Gaparovis veto sea-
son did not stop there. He re-
cently refused to sign the bill
that would modify the work of
prosecutors offices and open
them up to more public over-
sight. It would, for example,
introduce a competitive pro-
cess for selecting prosecutors
and require that prosecutors
decisions be published.
Among other things, the pres-
ident objected that having a
competitive process for choos-
ing prosecutors does not guar-
antee the privacyof the applic-
ants personal information.
How could Gaparovi be pro-
tecting the interests of com-
moncitizenshere?
All in all, Gaparovis re-
cent vetoes wouldseemmore
genuine and legitimate if he
did not owe such large
chunks of his success in the
2009 presidential election to
Fico, who the president loy-
ally supported during his
first term after Fico became
primeministerin2006.
There is a very important
pieceof historythat must not
sink into oblivion:
Gaparovi was closely wed
for many years to three-time
prime minister Vladimr
Meiar and those years were
certainly not the golden age
of political democracy in
Slovakia. So lets not forget
that ones past actions do
shape ones present integrity
in a very fundamental way
even if some people seem to
have lost sight of this im-
portanttruthsomeyearsago.
5
OPINION
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
Smer will support the government's proposals only if Radiov
puts things in order with Sulk.
Smer leader Robert Fico commenting on whether his party will support the ESM
SLOVAK WORD
OF THE WEEK
EDITORIAL
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYLUK FILA
Special to the Spectator

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BUSINESS FOCUS
ENVIRONMENT
Firmrecycles tonnes of PET bottles
RESIDENTS of Slovakia gen-
erate about 40,000 tonnes of
PET (polyethylene tereph-
thalate) waste annually,
primarily bottles made of
this plastic, and about 40
percent of the waste is now
being collected for recycling.
General Plastic, based in
Kolrovo, is the largest pro-
cessor of PET bottles inSlov-
akia, handling about 12,000
tonnes eachyear. Currently
the company is one of the
biggest processors of PET
bottles incentral Europe and
also produces high-grade PET
granulate, said the
companys director, Peter
Krasnec, as reported the
TASRnewswire.
General Plastic was
launched inMay 2002 and
has received subsidies from
the Recycling Fund for build-
ing its modernrecycling fa-
cilities, whichoperate inac-
cordance withall interna-
tional standards.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
Minister presents enviro awards
ONTHE occasionof World
Environment Day celebrated
onJune 5, Jzsef Nagy,
Slovakias Environment Min-
ister presented environ-
mental awards to those who
care for environmental
awareness and protectionof
nature inthe country, Be-
atrice Hudkov, spokesper-
sonfor the ministry, told the
TASRnewswire.
Minister Nagy presen-
ted several kinds of awards:
ministers awards, honor-
ary mentions and thank-
you-letters for exceptional
activities, a long-termcon-
tributionto the environ-
ment and for development
of environmental sciences
inSlovakia. The ministers
awards went to tefan
Mihlik, Jlius Burkovsk,
DuanSlvik, Viliam
Klescht, JnPag, tefan
Danko, Anna Juskov, a
teamof students fromthe
secondary school inNin
nad Oravou, the association
of villages SEZO-Spi, the J.
vermubasic school in
Michalovce and the Bratis-
lava Regional Protection
Association(Bratislavsk
Regionlne Ochranrske
Zdruenie), the ministry
wrote onits website.
The ministry selected the
recipients of the awards,
honorary mentions and
thank-you-letters from
among many nominations,
all representing exceptional
stories, life experiences and
many years working to pro-
tect the natural environment.
Minister Nagy said se-
lecting the winners was not
aneasy task, adding he be-
lieves that all those who
make environmental pro-
tectiona missionintheir
lives will be awarded.
The ministers awards
are granted to municipalit-
ies, firms, civic associ-
ations, individuals or a
teambased onnominations
fromexpert and civic
groups as well as by mem-
bers of the general public.
Three basic schools
whichjoined the project
called CleanUp Slovakia
also received awards dur-
ing the ceremony. Atotal
470 schools fromacross
Slovakia are part of that
initiative.
Institutions and organisations
active in environmental areas
The Ministryof Environment
Minister: Jzsef Nagy
www.minzp.sk
Environmental Fund, www.envirofond.sk
Recycling Fund, www.recfond.sk
SlovakEnvironmental Agency, www.sazp.sk
State Nature Conservancy, www.sopsr.sk
NGOs
Ekopolis Foundation, www.ekopolis.sk
For Mother Earth, www.zmz.sk
Greenpeace Slovensko, www.greenpeace.sk
Priatelia Zeme-SPZ (Friends of the Earth-SPZ),
www.priateliazeme.sk/spz
Remediating past
environmental damage
SLOVAKIA just celebrated 20
years since the departure of
the Soviet army from what
was then the Czechoslovak
Republic after the country
was occupied following the
events of Prague Spring in
1968. The Soviet military left
more than just wounds to
the national psyche as the
cleanup of soil and water
contaminated by the oc-
cupying army has cost Slov-
akia over 40 million since
1993, theSmedailyreported.
This is only part of the
poor environmental herit-
age that Slovakia must over-
come because policies and
programmes to protect the
environment and remediate
past damage only came into
societys spotlight after the
communist regime fell in
1989.
As in other countries, per-
manently sustainable devel-
opment is now identified as
one of the determinant prin-
ciples for future growth in
Slovak society and its eco-
nomy. It means satisfying the
needs of the current genera-
tion without endangering the
opportunities of future gener-
ations to satisfy their needs,
according to the 2010-2015
State Programme for Remedi-
ation of Environmental Bur-
dens adopted by the Slovak
government last March.
Sustainable development
and protection of the envir-
onment were, however, alien
concepts inthepast.
SeeBURDENpg8
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Adumpof waste oil products near Bratislavaas it lookedin2007. Photo: Sme
Slovakia struggles to meet EUs
wastewater directive by 2015
SLOVAKIA had promised to provide
wastewater treatment in all its muni-
cipalities with more than 2,000 resid-
ents by 2015. But according to a state-
ment by Slovakias Environment Minis-
ter, Jzsef Nagy, on World Water Day in
mid March, it is unlikely the country
will meet this commitment it made be-
fore its entry into the EU in 2004, the
TASRnewswire reported.
The minister also stated at that time
that other countries of the European
Union are having difficulties in meeting
their obligations.
Others are lagging behind these
goals, which might have been set up as
too ambitious and unrealistic, said Nagy,
who hopes the European Commission
will revise its attitude in this area.
Currently, 86.3 percent of the Slovak
population is connected to public water
supply pipes but only 60 percent have
sewage connections, according to Nagy,
who reported that around 80 percent of
the countrys municipalities have func-
tioning water supply systems but only 30
percent have built wastewater treatment
infrastructure. The Pravda daily wrote in
mid March that this situation exists even
though disposal of wastewater is more
expensive in municipalities without this
infrastructure than in those that have
functioning systems.
The side of having the comfort of tap
water was more appealing than dealing
with wastewater in an environmentally-
friendly way, Nagy stated.
The minister also stated there is an
additional problem because some resid-
ents do not connect to the municipal sys-
tem even after one has been built. He ad-
ded that until people are economically
encouraged to use the local sewage sys-
tem, for example by having to pay a spe-
cial tax on use of a septic hole or tank,
some will fail to connect to municipal
sewage systems.
One of Slovakias pre-entry obliga-
tions to the European Union was to
provide urban wastewater treatment in-
frastructure by 2010 for areas with a popu-
lation exceeding 10,000 citizens and to do
likewise for areas with more than 2,000
citizens by 2015. Municipalities with
more than 2,000 citizens as well as smal-
ler ones can obtain funds from the EU for
this purpose. Smaller municipalities can
also request subsidies or low-cost loans
from Slovakias Environmental Fund for
wastewater treatment facilities.
Pravda wrote that building
wastewater treatment infrastructure is
expensive and municipalities generally
are not able to cover the expense from
their own resources. Even though mu-
nicipalities can apply for funds from the
EU as well as the state budget, Pravda
wrote that the process is demanding
and only a few villages have sought this
assistance. Pravda reported that the
worst situation is in Trenn Region
where less than 23 percent of the
regions municipalities have a sewage
system, adding that a current 25 mil-
lion project undertaken by Trenianske
Vodrne a Kanalizcie, the local water
utility, should improve the situation.
The European Union requires what
it calls agglomerations (towns, cities,
villages and settlements) to collect and
treat their sewage under the Urban
Wastewater Treatment Directive, ac-
cording to the EUs website.
Untreated wastewater can contain
harmful bacteria and viruses and present
a risk to public health as well as damage
freshwater sources and the marine envir-
onment with high levels of nitrogen and
phosphorous which promotes excessive
growth of algae, a process known as eu-
trophication.
ByJana Liptkov
6
Ministry drafts
bill to identify
environmental
burdens and
those responsible
June 27 July 10, 2011
FOCUS shorts
The contest for the best
compost in the country
Six solar-powered rubbish
bins installed in Bratislava
BigBelly Solar bins in Bratislava
BRATISLAVAis testing spe-
cial solar-powered rubbish
bins. BCProduct Slovakia has
loaned six special solar bins
called BigBelly Solar that are
mechanically compacting the
volume of waste and reducing
the frequency of collectionat
six sites inthe city. The SITA
newswire wrote that this
frees resources, slashes fuel
costs and increases recycling
opportunities.
SRrailway company has
started using three of the
bins, placing two at the main
railway stationand one at the
railway stationinPetralka.
Another two are being used
by the city public transport
company, Dopravn Podnik
Bratislava, and are situated at
major bus stations in
Petralka. The district gov-
ernment office of Nov Mesto
is using the sixthone at the
Riazansk bus station.
RomanSlimk, the dir-
ector of BCProduct Slovakia,
told SITAthat the solar bins
are onloanfor two months,
until July 17, and thenthey
canbe bought by the trans-
port companies or the gov-
ernment office or the rental
termcanbe extended.
BigBelly Solar waste bins
are fuelled by solar energy
and mechanically press and
compact waste, reducing the
frequency of waste collection
by a factor of 17 times. The
bins also reduce disposal costs
and noxious emissions as well
as eliminating pests and over-
filling. The cost for one Big-
Belly Solar ranges between
1,000 and 4,000 depending
onwhether it is a binfor mu-
nicipal waste or sorted waste
and whether it automatically
recycles the waste.
CompiledbySpectator staff
Disposing of old cars in Slovakia
THE NUMBERof authorised
car disposal businesses cur-
rently operating inSlovakia
is 37 along withanextens-
ive network of additional
collectionsites. The SITA
newswire wrote inmid
June that Slovakias Recyc-
ling Fund has aided inde-
veloping this comprehens-
ive systemfor collection
and processing the com-
ponents of old cars.
The businesses suppor-
ted by the Recycling Fund
collected and processed
37,889 old vehicles last year.
They processed 72,508
vehicles in2009 but this
highnumber was due to the
governments special car-
scrapping bonus scheme.
Enter the Miss Compost contest
THOSE environmentally-
friendly residents of Slovakia
who are composting organic
household wastes cannow
enter a competitionthat will
find the best compost inthe
country. Two environmental
organisations, Priatelia
Zeme-SPZ (Friends of the
Earth-SPZ) and the Centre for
Environmental Activities,
announced the first year of
the national contest called
Miss Compost inearly May,
withanenrolment deadline
of August 31.
The aimof the competi-
tionis to increase awareness
about composting as part of a
modernlifestyle and to sup-
port creativity among people
inusing biological wastes.
The competitionis opento
anyone who is composting
for his or her ownneeds re-
gardless of the method being
used, MartinValentovi from
Friends of the Earth-SPZ told
the TASRnewswire.
Another goal is to pro-
mote composting as part of
good gardening practices,
added Branislav Mook from
the same organisation. He
said that live organisms help
degrade household biological
wastes into compost, anor-
ganic fertilizer ideal for
growing plants.
Inthis way we canutilise
nutritious substances inwaste
and returnthemback to the
soil fromwhichwe took them
whengrowing plants, said
Mook. Moreover, by com-
posting we canreduce house-
hold waste by almost one-half
ina very simple way.
Ajury will shortlist the
five best entries fromamong
the nominations and experts
and lay representatives will
choose the best compost based
onits quality at a public event.
The challenge of wastes
ILLEGAL waste dumps, waste
collection methods, better
separation of wastes and fol-
lowingthroughwithrecycling
and recovery: all these issues
are to be addressed in a new
law on waste management
which the Ministry of Envir-
onment is preparing with the
help of municipalities, busi-
nesses and the general public.
Environment Minister Jzsef
Nagywants to present the text
of a new law this autumn and
have it adopted by parliament
bytheendof theyear.
The goal of the Ministry of
Environment is toincreasethe
amount of solid waste that is
separated and recycled and re-
duce the amount that goes to
landfills. It would also like to
adopt the principle of the
European Union that inciner-
ation of waste will increase to
thesamelevel as recycling.
This is very economical
and todays technological pos-
sibilities no longer endanger
the environment, said Nagy,
as quoted by the SITA news-
wireinearlyJune.
According to Peter
Krasnec, president of the As-
sociation of Businesses in
Waste Management (APOH),
preparation of a totally new
law on waste issues stems
from the need to implement
EU legislation as well as from
too many changes made to the
existing lawthat dates back to
2001. He stated that the cur-
rent lawis no longer transpar-
ent enough and does not re-
flect the latest trends in waste
management.
We praise the way the
Ministry of Environment is
approaching preparation of
this demanding legislation
and we firmly hope that this
law will be modern and make
a contribution for overall
waste management in
Slovakia, saidKrasnec.
The Association of Towns
and Villages of Slovakia
(ZMOS) agrees that Slovakia
needs a new law reflecting
more modern trends in pro-
tection of the environment
and hopes that the law will
focus on what it considers
priority fields such as waste
management.
ZMOS is dealing intens-
ively with comprehensive
waste management and
waste recovery, Michal
Kalik, ZMOS spokesperson
told The Slovak Spectator.
The main problems we see
are a lack of money as well as
technical criteria.
The new legislation is also
expected to address the seri-
ous problem of illegal waste
dumps which the Ministry of
Environment estimates at
6,000, containing various
kinds of wastes amounting to
about 150,000tonnes.
Jnerbk, thedirector of
the waste management de-
partment at the ministry, told
The Slovak Spectator that the
legislation would bring fun-
damental changes in the hier-
archy of waste management
and would begin a new pro-
gramme to reduce creation of
wastes, adding that it would
also rework the current rules
on packaging and better
define the extended respons-
ibility of producers for certain
products. erbk added that
the law would increase waste
disposal charges at landfills to
the level of neighbouring
countries and change sanc-
tions for violationof thelaw.
Wasteseparation
andrecovery
The Ministry of Environ-
ment and ZMOS both com-
mented that the current situ-
ation in separating wastes for
reprocessing or recycling is
not ideal.
We have to say that the
economy of collecting and
separating wastes from
towns and cities is not
balanced, said Kalik of
ZMOS. Costs exceed reven-
ues and that results in some
negativeimpacts.
Kalik added that collec-
tion of separated wastes is
currentlyaneconomicburden
on municipalities, stating
that available statistics show
that only 20 percent of total
waste is separated in Slovakia
and that a significant portion
ends in landfills. ZMOSs cal-
culations indicate that the
cost of collecting separated
wastes is 4-5 times more ex-
pensive than handling mixed
municipal waste. He also
noted that responsibility for
textile waste, construction
waste and old furniture has
not beenresolved.
erbk said he believes
the current motivation for
Slovak citizens to separate
wastes is negligible because
the price for collection of mu-
nicipal waste also includes the
cost for separatingit.
In the bill under prepara-
tion, the responsibility for se-
curing collection and hand-
ling of separated waste is be-
ing transferred to producers,
erbk told The Slovak Spec-
tator. The charge for deposit-
ing mixed municipal waste at
landfills will be increased,
through which a higher de-
gree of separation of indi-
vidual ingredients from mu-
nicipal waste by citizens will
be reached. Towns and vil-
lages will be responsible only
for mixed municipal waste.
This change should motivate
people to separate a higher
degree of wastes and muni-
cipalities to more extens-
ively educate their citizens
about doingso.
erbk believes more ex-
tensive separation of wastes
and sending more of it for re-
cyclingor recovery, rather than
dumping it in landfills, will
savepeoplemoneyintheend.
The scope of recycling of
wastes in Slovakia varies
among the regions and accord-
ing to the type of wastes separ-
ated, erbksaid.
Krasnec of the waste man-
agement association views
Slovakias effectiveness in
waste separation and repro-
cessing as somewhere in the
middle of the Europeanaverage
but sees room for improve-
ment, saying Slovakia lags be-
hindincollectingandrecycling
some kinds of wastes, for ex-
ampleplastics.
This is why waste separa-
tion must be made even more
effective, with sufficient en-
vironmental education be-
cause that is not yet at the
level of Slovakias western
neighbours, Krasnecstated.
SlovakiasRecyclingFund
Slovakia created a Recyc-
ling Fund that collects fees
from importers and produ-
cers of certain commodities
and then uses these funds
for subsidies and loans that
support projects to improve
collection of separated
wastes and their recovery.
At this time the Association
of Businesses in Waste
Management and the Slovak
Industrial Association for
Packages and Environment
(SLICPEN), as well as other
groups, are calling for ter-
mination of the fund and its
fees.
The Recycling Fund
played its role during con-
struction of recycling capacit-
ies and early support for
waste separation, said
Krasnec, adding that his asso-
ciation now has the opinion
that the functioning of the Re-
cycling Fund, anchored in the
current law on waste, is no
longer sufficient. This is why
we are curious how the Min-
istry of Environment will deal
with it in the new law. We
think that the market for sep-
arated wastes is already star-
ted well and can secure
enoughinvestment to support
waste separation as well as
reprocessing.
ZMOS reacted that consid-
ering termination of the Re-
cycling Fund should be pre-
ceded by a thorough discus-
sion about a new mechanism
tosupport wasterecovery.
erbk stated that a de-
cision about the Recycling
Fund should be made by the
government, adding that
the Ministry of Environ-
ment has prepared an ana-
lysis of the fund that will be
submitted to a tripartite
committeefor review.
Ambitiousgoal for 2020
Slovakia has endorsed a
plan to recover at least 50
percent of municipal waste
by2020.
This is a very ambitious
goal because approximately 80
percent of municipal waste is
currently deposited in
landfills, said Krasnec. Sep-
arated collection of waste
alone will not lead to 50 per-
cent of municipal waste being
reprocessed so it is necessary,
following the example from
abroad, to start thinking about
municipal waste as a possible
fuel for cement factories,
limekilns or power stations. A
combination of recycling and
using waste as an alternative
fuel and burning it in facilities
to use its further energy can
meanthat Slovakia will be able
tofulfil this demandinggoal.
ZMOS is asking for clearer
rules that will show definitive
support for higher levels of
wasteseparation.
People as well as muni-
cipalities have to feel that
separation is an effective way
of recovering wastes,
Kalik said. It is necessary
to remember that interna-
tional obligations of the Slov-
ak Republic are not obliga-
tions of towns and cities but
of the state. Thus, it is a mat-
ter of the states responsibil-
ityhowit will create adequate
conditions for fulfilment of
its obligations.
erbk said the Ministry
of Environment considers
raising fees for waste disposal
at landfills, better support for
waste separation, encour-
aging the use of materials
from recycled waste and in-
creasing the incineration of
wastes for energy recovery as
the most important steps to
reachthe2020goals.
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Thousands of illegal waste dumps exist inSlovakia. Photo: Sme
7
BUSINESS FOCUS
FOCUS shorts
Slovakia
begins preparing
a newlaw
June 27 July 10, 2011
The car-scrappingbonus was abigsuccess. Photo: Sme
BURDEN: Hundreds of millions of euro
Continuedfrompg6
Industrial production in
Slovakia was accompanied by
heaps of waste and multiple
kinds of uncontrolled pollu-
tion. Localities contaminated
with hazardous wastes or
materials or barren land-
scapes from various kinds of
pollution are now labelled as
sites with environmental
burdens: areas which present
a serious risk to human
health or to the environment
in regard to current or future
use of the site, the pro-
gramme document states.
Environmental burdens
received insufficient atten-
tion in the past and this is
why Slovakias policy of tar-
geting and remediating en-
vironmental burdens is in its
early phases. The communist
regime paid no attention to
the problem and finding ways
to resolve these burdens had
low priority during Slovakias
privatisation phase and more
recently these issues were
brushed aside so that compan-
ies would not face higher costs
during the economic crisis.
Now, the government of
Iveta Radiov states that it is
determined to make headway
on the problem. It adopted the
State Programme for Remedi-
ation of Environmental Bur-
dens last year and the Min-
istry of Environment is now
working on a specific law to
deal with remediation of en-
vironmental burdens. A
primary objective of this new
legislation is to establish a
mechanismfor identifying re-
sponsibility for existing en-
vironmental burdens and de-
termining who should be re-
sponsible for remediation of
the hazards. Preparation on
various aspects of this legisla-
tionstartedas early as 2003.
elmra Greifov, the dir-
ector of Environmental Geo-
logy at the Ministry of Envir-
onment, told The Slovak Spec-
tator that the wording of the
bill, formally known as the
Act on Identification of En-
vironmental Burdens and
Identifying the Responsible
Person for Environmental
Burdens, is currently being
finalised with the hope that it
will receive parliamentary
approval later this year.
The newlawwill determ-
ine responsibility, also in re-
spect to changes in owner-
ship of property, Greifov
told The Slovak Spectator. If
the responsible person is not
identified, the state, repres-
ented by a respective ministry
whose scope of operation is
linked with the origin of the
environmental burden, will
provide the performance of
duties as the responsible per-
son. The law further removes
the possibility of speculative
transfers, also retrospect-
ively, and also gives powers
to resolve environmental
burdens without the approval
of an irresponsible owner of
the property.
The cost for remediation
of existing environmental
burdens is estimated at 487
million between 2010 and
2027. Environment Minister
Jzsef Nagy estimates that 84
percent of that amount would
be covered from the state
budget and EU funds and the
remainder would come from
identified responsible per-
sons, the aktualne.sk news
portal reported.
The number of localities
across Slovakia with possible
environmental burdens is es-
timatedat about 30,000.
Greifov said a registry of
identified sites with envir-
onmental burdens, which is
part of a publicly-accessible
information system about
environmental hazards avail-
able at www.enviroportal.sk,
lists 1,845 locations in Slov-
akia. She added that the pro-
cess of identifying the re-
sponsible person can start
only after the proposed law is
adopted. These environ-
mental burdens include the
heritage left by the Soviet
armies inthe formof contam-
ination of soil by crude oil
products as well as the negat-
ive impacts of mining, indus-
trial production, waste
dumping and many other
negative impacts.
Juraj Rizman, director of
Greenpeace Slovensko, told
The Slovak Spectator that de-
ciding which of the existing
environmental burdens are
the most dangerous and have
the most urgent need for re-
mediation is a difficult and
complex task. He added that
sites with an environmental
burden can also include old
waste dumps, neglected
storehouses of agricultural
chemicals, old mining facilit-
ies, dangerous tailings piles
from mining by-products and
industrial settling basins.
Basically we consider
those environmental burdens
which represent an immedi-
ate risk to human health or
contamination of soil and wa-
ter as the most dangerous
ones, Rizman said. These
number more than1,500 sites;
one of which is, for example,
the regioncontaminated with
PCBs, polychlorinated bi-
phenyls, around Strske in
easternSlovakia.
Rizman told The Slovak
Spectator that the industrial
sector in Slovakia is not uni-
fied in its approach to re-
mediating existing environ-
mental burdens.
Greenpeace Slovensko is
pursuing the principle that is
respected in Europe which is
partly inour legislationas well
the principle that the pol-
luter pays, Rizman said.
Thanks to this [future] law
some industrial companies
the polluters can be identi-
fied and confronted with the
requirement to financially
cover remediation of the bur-
den. Logically, many [compan-
ies] do not like this.
But Rizman also said that
his organisation has also seen
companies in Slovakia, both
industrial and chemical firms,
which have started to remedi-
ate environmental burdens
without any legislation in
place, noting that these com-
panies have voluntarily un-
dertaken various measures to
decontaminate localities or at
least prevent a hazardous
conditionfromgetting worse.
Rizman believes that the
biggest headway in remedi-
ating environmental bur-
dens has beenineliminating
the hazards left by the Soviet
Army.
Among activities by in-
dustrial companies to elim-
inate environmental bur-
den, he cited the example of
ZSNP iar nad Hronom, an
aluminium producer, to re-
mediate its hazardous set-
tling basin. According to
Rizman, this is one of a few
examples when remediation
activities go beyond gener-
ally accepted practices.
Greenpeace Slovakia be-
lieves the current language
of the draft bill could be
made somewhat tougher
and less tolerant of polluters
but understands that this
may not be possible in the
current situation.
We are realists; we know
the situation of Slovak in-
dustry and we know that
when drafting legislation it is
necessary to search for an ac-
ceptable compromise, Riz-
man said, adding that Green-
peace had initiated the dis-
cussion and drafting of this
bill and participated in its
preparation. It seems that
the wording of the law pro-
posed by the Ministry of En-
vironment might be a mutu-
ally acceptable compromise.
The Association of Chem-
ical and Pharmaceutical In-
dustry of the Slovak Republic
(ZCHFP), as an association
with member companies
which have environmental
burdens that need to be re-
solved, perceives adoptionof a
law dealing with environ-
mental burdens as necessary
for maintaining and improv-
ing Slovakias environment in
the future. But it also urges
that the law be implemented
in a way that will not harm
the national economy or
companies which have
already managed to remediate
environmental burdens or are
working to do so.
The fundamental prob-
lemis adoption of a lawwhich
would open space for effective
actions by producers and
owners of these environ-
mental burdens but simul-
taneously would not be
retroactive, Roman Karlubk,
president of ZCHFP told The
Slovak Spectator, adding that
such an approach would
mean that owners could not
challenge the law before the
Constitutional Court. He
stated that neighbouring
countries had dealt with this
question by either having the
state take over financial re-
sponsibility for existing en-
vironmental burdens or
providing a long time frame
for companies to undertake
remediation, 50 years and
more, or a combination of
these two solutions. But our
association was told that the
current condition of state fin-
ances does not allow such a
solution.
Karlubk said ZCHFP co-
operated intensively with the
Ministry of Environment in
developing the text of the
proposed bill and hopes that
it will be adopted in a form
which would open such op-
portunities.
One should realise that
Slovakias GDP is created
more than 80 percent by ex-
ports and that it would be the
biggest exporters who could
be potentially affected,
Karlubk stated, adding that
this could then impact the
whole population of Slovakia.
Under the leadership of
ZCHFP, representatives of
employers organisations
participated in raising objec-
tions and provided remarks
and along with the Ministry
of Environment we have ad-
justed a number of technical
issues in the bills wording.
But two fundamental issues,
the threat of retroactivity and
financing, are still not com-
pletely resolved. However,
we have a promise from the
Ministry of Environment and
the government that the is-
sue of financing would be re-
solved together and in the in-
terest of all involved.
Closedfacilities canleadtoenvironmental hazards. Photo: Sme
8 June 27 July 10, 2011
Integiution piocesses gene-
iully go lund in lund witl tle
loundution ol luige multinuti-
onul coipoiutions in ull lields
ol seivices, und witl tle cieu-
tion ol u wide non-tiunspuient
pioduct iunge. To piotect cus-
tomeis us seivice consumeis
liom economicully stiongei
puitnei, new legislution on tle
Euiopeun level lus been udop-
ted to stiengtlen tle position
ol consumeis in individuul li-
elds ol tle consumei society,
including touiism.
Witl tle uim to piovide
piotective iegulution in tle
single Euiopeun muiket witl
some speciul touiism seivices
Diiective 2008/122/EC ol
tle Euiopeun Puiliument und
ol tle Council ol 14 Junuuiy
2009 on tle piotection ol con-
sumeis in iespect ol ceituin
uspects ol timesluie, long-
teim loliduy pioduct, iesule
und exclunge contiucts (tle
Diiective") wus udopted. Tle
Diiective wus lully tiunsposed
into Slovuk luw by tle Act No.
161/2011 Coll. on tle piote-
ction ol customeis in piovisi-
on ol ceituin touiism seivices
(tle Act"); tle Act is sluted
to come into ellect on July 11,
2011. Tle new legul ieguluti-
on is impoitunt loi consumeis
contiucting speciul seivices in
touiism und ulso loi piovideis
ol tle specilic touiism seivices
(tiudeis"), oi loi tlose wlo
intend to include some new
pioducts piovided in tle Act
in tleii seivices poitlolio.
Tle Act iegulutes inde-
pendent contiuctuul types loi
specilic loims ol touiism pio-
ducts:
m Timesluie (i.e. ieseivution
ol one oi moie oveiniglt
uccommodutions loi u du-
iution ol moie tlun one
yeui loi moie tlun one pe-
iiod ol occupution, pievi-
ously ieguluted by tle Civil
Code),
m Long-teim loliduy pioduct
(piovides to tle consumei,
e.g. in loim ol puid mem-
beislip loi moie tlun one
yeui, u iiglt to obtuin dis-
counts oi otlei benelits in
iespect ol touiism seivices),
m Puiticipution in un exclun-
ge system (ullows loi u
consideiution tlut tle con-
sumei puiticiputes in u sys-
tem ol exclunge ol benelits
liom u timesluie between
tle consumeis puiticipu-
ting in tle exclunge sys-
tem),
m Inteimediution ol iesule
(ullows u consumei to sell
oi buy u timesluie oi u lon-
g-teim loliduy pioduct loi
u consideiution).
Tle Act imposes on tle
tiudeis u wide iunge ol disc-
losuie obligutions tlut tley
must piovide witl iespect to
consumeis. Wlile tlis pie-
contiuctuul inloimution must
be olleied to tle consumeis
beloie tle consumei is bound
by tle iespective contiuct und
tlut by meuns ol tle stunduid
inloimution loim us set out
in tle Act loi puiticului con-
tiuctuul types.
In teims ol muiketing uctivi-
ties ol tle tiudeis, puiticuluily
inteiesting is, tlut it is pioli-
bited to piesent timesluie oi
long-teim loliduy pioducts us
un expedient investment.
An integiul puit ol eucl
contiuct must ulwuys be u
loim piesciibed by tle Act - it
delines in detuil tle teims und
conditions undei wlicl tle
consumei muy witldiuw liom
tle contiuct und ut tle sume
time seives us u templute loi
contiuct witldiuwul. Consu-
meis muy witldiuw liom tle
ubove contiucts witlout giving
uny ieuson witlin u peiiod ol
14 culendui duys liom tle duy
wlen tle consumei ieceives
tle contiuct oi uny binding
pieliminuiy contiuct. Beloie
tle end ol tle witldiuwul pe-
iiod, uny udvunce puyment,
piovision ol guuiuntees, iesei-
vution ol money on uccounts,
explicit ucknowledgement
ol debt oi uny otlei conside-
iution to tle tiudei oi to uny
tliid puity by tle consumei is
piolibited. In tle cuse ol tle
consumei's timely witldiuwul
liom tle contiuct, tle tiudei is
not entitled to puyment ol uny
seivice costs loi tle peiiod un-
til witldiuwul.
In conclusion, ultlougl tle
ubove quusi new loliduy pio-
ducts muy be un inteiesting
tool loi tiudeis, it is impoitunt
to muke suie tlut tlis business
uctivity is in compliunce witl
legul stunduids ol tle consu-
mei piotection iegulutions.

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BUSINESS FOCUS / ADVERTORIAL
NO: Smer wants to choose VO chief
Continuedfrompg1
The top post at VO has been vacant
since April 11 when Roman ipo resigned
after receiving withering criticism from
Radiov. She pointed to what she called a
sharp rise in cancelled public tenders as
well as the authoritys failure to effi-
ciently publish its decisions after under-
taking audits. ipo, who was in office for
less than a year, was tight-lipped about
his reasons for resigning.
The Government Office published its
call for candidates to seek the post on June
20, inviting any persons who feel they are
qualified to submit an application by July
4. The governments announcement
stated an applicant should have at least
five years hands-on experience with pub-
lic procurement and possess managerial
skills and moral integrity.
The chairman of VO should guaran-
tee that public procurement will be
handled in the interest of the public,
Radiov said, while asking potential
candidates to consider the call with ut-
most seriousness and responsibility.
Meanwhile, Fico responded with an
openletter accusing Radiov of ignoring
a political agreement under which the
head of VO has been nominated by an
oppositionparty inthe past.
I will take the liberty to remind you
of your public statements and personal
promises linked to this position as well
as to the fact that between 2006 and 2010
Smer, as a ruling party, fully respected a
political nominee of the opposition SMK
party for the post of chairmanof the Pub-
lic Procurement Office as well as repres-
entative of your party to the post of
deputy chairman, Fico stated in his
June 15 letter.
Jn Valko, the opposition candidate
nominated by Smer for the post, failed to
receive support from the government at
its meeting on June 8, with the cabinet
stating that JAVYS, Slovakias nuclear
decommissioning company, had avoided
using public tenders to conduct its pro-
curement while Valko was its CEO.
Radiov responded that Fico had
been repeatedly offered the possibility to
submit the name of an acceptable can-
didate, while stressing that a profes-
sional approach, actual experience, nat-
ural leadership, independence and in-
tegrity are the necessary attributes. The
prime minister said the nomination
submitted by Smers Robert Fico did not
meet the agreed upon qualities assert-
ing that Valkos background did not
provide a guarantee of expertise and ex-
perience inpublic procurement.
Radiov also stated that Valko had
twice run for a significant public post
but had failed to win support and viewed
this as a serious drawback to his nomin-
ation to head VO. Radiov added that
Fico had a chance to propose another
candidate who would have the required
qualities, but that Fico insisted onValko.
Since Smer insists on a candidate
who does not meet the agreed uponqual-
ities and preconditions for the post, it
has not kept the agreement on nomina-
tion criteria, Radiov stated. Since he
refused to propose a candidate who
would meet the agreed-upon profession-
al and personal qualities, he has not used
the right of the opposition to [nominate]
the VO top post and thus he prevented
the cabinet from proposing to parlia-
ment a candidate from the opposition.
Such procedure by the chairman of Smer
party is regrettable and irresponsible.
Fico, however, insisted that Valko
meets the professional criteria, stating
that Smer does not in any way accept the
arguments Radiov levelled against
Valko. Fico stated it has never been
proven that Valko managed state prop-
erty in an uneconomical way and that
the contract between JAVYS and the
Czech EZ company for the construction
of the new nuclear block in Jaslovsk
Bohunice was described by your minis-
ter, Mr. [Juraj] Mikov, as correct, bal-
anced and alright.
Fico said his party is convinced that
it is an effort by the ruling coalition to
control public procurement at any price
and to take away from the opposition a
significant controlling position that is
behind the governments rejection of
Smers nominee.
Fico stated he believes the ruling co-
alition wants to strip the opposition of a
significant function that involves check-
ing and auditing other parts of the gov-
ernment.
If you fill the position of chairman of
this institution by a candidate other than
an opposition nominee, you will only fur-
ther deepen the distrust towards yourself
which you have caused by the way you
handled your public statements and
promises given as prime minister of
Slovakia, Fico stated inhis letter.
In early April, Radiov reported that
VO had cancelled 111 out of 220 public
procurements during ipos tenure and
that she had received several complaints
about the tender watchdog offices opera-
tions. The prime minister also has al-
leged that VOs current deputy chair-
man, Marek Vladr, has a conflict of in-
terest.
Vladr was responsible for public
procurement at the Interior Ministry
under the previous government and as
deputy head of VO he is now respons-
ible for overseeing or reviewing several
tenders that he had originally initiated,
including tenders for production of elec-
tronic identification cards and for a re-
gistry of citizens.
Political observers and non-govern-
mental organisation earlier this year said
they would prefer an independent, non-
partisan professional watching over pub-
lic tenders.
It should be an independent person,
the president of the Institute for Public
Affairs (IVO), Grigorij Mesenikov, told
The Slovak Spectator. If the coalitionand
the opposition had been able to agree on a
joint candidate, this would have been the
best solution. However, claiming that the
opposition should have the right to con-
trol the coalition through this public in-
stitutionis quite wrong.
Mesenikov added that the prime re-
sponsibility of the office is to assure ad-
herence of public procurement processes
to the law regardless of any links to a
political party.
Mesenikov said Ficos insistence
that the post belongs to the opposition is
without foundation.
The previous chairmanof VO, [Bla]
Angyal, was not a nominee of the opposi-
tion at all, Mesenikov said, noting that
he had been appointed by the second gov-
ernment of Mikul Dzurinda.
Mesenikov explained that Ficos incom-
ing government had accepted Angyal in
the same way that the current ruling co-
alition accepted ipo, as someone who
was not nominated as a representative of
the opposition but by a party of the gov-
ernment in this case Ficos government
before the 2010 election.
Based ona change inthe lawonpublic
procurement that took effect on April 1
the head of VO is to be appointed by par-
liament based on a recommendation from
the cabinet.
Robert Fico Photo: SITA
PKO: Contract
haunts ex-mayor
Continuedfrompg1
The Bratislava Regional
Prosecutors Office has been
investigating allegations
that urkovsk had illegally
given consent to the Hen-
bury Development company
to demolish the buildings of
Bratislavas Culture and
Leisure Park (PKO) that are
owned by the city.
In 2005 the Bratislava
municipal council approved
the sale of the land lying un-
der the PKO buildings, situ-
ated on prime real estate on
the northbank of the Danube
River to the west of centre
city. It is alleged that
urkovsk later gave per-
mission to demolition of the
buildings without approval
of the municipal council.
The buildings have not
been demolished but the
whole matter has been under
investigation by Slovakias
Office of the Fight against
Corruption.
Jana Tklyov, the
spokesperson for the General
Prosecutors Office, told the
TASR newswire that her of-
fice had received the motion
from the Bratislava Regional
Prosecutors Office on June
21 but said it is a demanding
issue that will require appro-
priate time for assessment of
the whole file. There is no
time deadline for the General
Prosecutors Office to make a
decision on the motion and
unless that office forwards a
recommendation to parlia-
ment, there can be no vote
about stripping an MP of
immunity.
MPs quicktostateopinions
The controversy sur-
rounding the PKO became an
issue already last year after
urkovsk took his seat in
parliament as a KDH candid-
ate. At that time he ex-
pressed his opinion in favour
of limiting immunity for
MPs for criminal offenses, a
change that Prime Minister
Iveta Radiov has attemp-
ted to move through parlia-
ment without success.
My opinion hasnt
changed, urkovsk said, as
quoted by the Sme daily,
after the news about the mo-
tion to strip him of im-
munity surfaced, maintain-
ing that he broke no laws and
the actions he took as mayor
were correct.
A leader of the Christian
Democratic Movement,
urkovsks former party,
has stated his party would
have no problem in voting to
strip the independent MP of
his immunity.
When there was a re-
quest from the General
Prosecutors Office to strip
an MP of immunity, KDH
deputies have always voted
in favour of it, Pavol Ab-
rhan, KDHs deputy chair-
man, told the TASR news-
wire. I presume they will do
the same now.
Another party in the gov-
erning coalition has also
stated it is inclined to sup-
port a motion to strip
urkovsk of his immunity
if it comes before parlia-
ment. Representatives of
Most-Hd party said they
would vote in favour of it
while representatives of the
Freedom and Solidarity (SaS)
party and the Slovak Demo-
cratic and Christian Union
(SDK) said they would wait
to learn more details before
making a decision about
sucha motion.
Out of theKDHcaucus
The allegations against
urkovsk in his handling of
the PKO building as well as
another controversy during
his mayoral term already
have had consequence to his
political career. In January
2011 he resigned from the
Christian Democratic
Movement after a six-hour
meeting with the partys
presidency that was con-
vened for him to explain his
actions in two particular
controversies. The first was
about an alleged hidden
privatisation and question-
able financial transactions
involving Bratislavas water
utility, BVS, and the second
concerned his alleged over-
stepping of authority by
signing an agreement for
demolitionof the PKO.
At that time urkovsk
denied any improprieties
and stated that information
that appeared in the media
was false but said he was
leaving KDH so that he
would not harmit, vowing to
clear his name and then re-
jointhe party.
TwoMPs facecriminal
charges
urkovsk is not the only
sitting MP who might see a
vote in parliament to strip
himof his immunity. The po-
lice have been seeking to
bring criminal charges
against MP Igor tefanov of
the Slovak National Party
(SNS), a former construction
minister in Robert Ficos
government, in connection
with the so-called bulletin-
board tender.
The General Prosecutors
Office, however, did not for-
ward a recommendation to
parliament to strip tefanov
of immunity and instead re-
turned the case to the police
for further investigation.
C 3573
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Children's Sunday School provided.
Everyone Welcome.
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Web Site: www.bratislavainternationalchurch.org
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or (91 x 43 mm) 50
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Frequency discounts:
3x - 10x 5%
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20x and more 15%
NOTE:
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2. Prices for business
classified ads (according to size):
CLASSIFIEDS
9
NEWS / BUSINESS
June 27 July 10, 2011
Andrej urkovsk Photo: Sme
A mountain haven for bandits
THE VACATION VILLAGE of
Oravice, whose roots go back
to 1608, lies north of the
Zpadn Tatry (West-
ern Tatras) mountain
range. In that year,
the owner of Orava
Castle, Juraj Thurzo,
began to colonise the
heavily-forested region.
The first settlement,
Bystr, was founded in 1643
but the lord of the castle,
tefan Thkly, dispersed the
settlement after 16 years be-
cause most of the settlers,
due to the harsh living condi-
tions, earned their living
through poaching and ban-
ditry. The territory lost al-
most its entire population, a
development which was wel-
comed by the town of
Tvrdon as the lord allowed
its citizens to continue to
graze cattle in the area,
scythe grass and harvest
wood. Tvrdon did not,
however, begin a new set-
tlement in the area and it
remained virtually uninhab-
ited until inthe 19thcentury.
Increased interest in
this beautiful area caused a
minor building boominthe
1930s when 15 fam-
ily vacation homes
were built.
But at the be-
ginning of 1945,
Oravice stood on
World War IIs eastern
front for nine weeks and all
its buildings were levelled
except for the chapel.
This postcard dating back
to 1950s shows the meadows
of this region framed by the
Magura mountains.
ByBranislavChovan
HISTORY TALKS
WesternSLOVAKIA
Bratislava
l FASHION SHOW: Nu Spirit
Fashion presents Puojd &
NovestaThenewseriescalled
Popular Fashion Show
presents the creations of up-
and-coming Slovak fashion
designers. Puojd is a Slovak
textile-designer brand of a
street/urban style. Michaela
Bednrov will present her
brand Puojd's "Wink" collec-
tion and Martin Hra, the
winner of Brillance Fashion
Talent competition, his "XCol-
lection". Warm-up and music-
al support will be supplied by
DJ Rafo and DJs Yanko Kral &
Vili:am.
Starts: June 30, 21:00; Nu
Spirit Club, afrikovo Square
7. Admission: free. More info:
www.nuspirit.sk.
Bratislava
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Egyp-
tian Philharmonic Chamber
Orchestra As part of its
European tour, the EPChO
conducted by Ahmed El Saedi
offers Chamber SymphonyOp.
110b by Dmitry Shostakovich,
Antiche Danze ed Arie per Li-
uto by Ottorino Respighi,
Taquasiem for Clarinet and
Strings by Ahmed El Saedi, as
well as the premier of a com-
position by Hossam Mah-
moud, Elegy of the Martyrs of
the25th JanuaryRevolution.
Starts: July 2, 19:00; Grand
Concert Hall of theSlovakRadio,
Mtna 1. Admission: free. More
info: www. slovakradio.sk.
Bratislava
l BENEFIT COMPETITION:
Preteky kac / Ducks Race
The fourth year of the this be-
nefit event urges people to
adopt a plastic duck for a 3
contribution (everyone can
choose which of the eight
charities they want to sup-
port) and compete with it in
theraftingchannel.
Starts: July 2, 12:00; Divo-
k voda complex in unovo.
Admission: free for onlookers,
each duck is 3. Tel: 02/5464
-8004; www.pretekykacic.sk.
Bratislava
l EXHIBITION: Otvoren de-
pozitr / Open Depository A
permanent exhibition of cur-
ator Nina Vrbanov offers a
host of Slovak artists, such as
A. ierny, R. Fila, V. Freo, K.
Fulierov, V. Havrilla, P. Ja-
nik, S. Masr, M. Murin, V.
Popovi, P. Rnai, V. Rnai-
ov, J. elibskandothers.
Open: Tue-Sat 14:00-18:00;
Cyprin Majernk Gallery,
Ventrska 9. Admission: free.
Tel: 02/5920-1605.
Nitra
l SACRED MUSIC: Musica
Sacra The last concert of the
festival of sacred music brings
the Capella Istropolitana Or-
chestra and the folklore en-
semble Lnica with Elena
Matukov as choirmaster
and Adrin Koko as conduct-
or performing Requiem in C
Minor byL. Cherubini.
Starts: July 3, 21:00;
Svtopluk Square (in bad wea-
ther, A. Bagar Theatre). Ad-
mission: free. More info:
www.nitra.sk.
DolnSaliby
l LIVE MUSIC: Benk Dixie-
land Band Part of the
Dolnosalibsk jurta/ Doln
Saliby Yurt cultural festival
comprising many genres and
events will feature aHungarian
jazzbandledbySndor Benk.
Starts: July 2, 20:30. Ad-
mission: free. More info:
www.dolnesaliby.sk.
Central SLOVAKIA
ilina
l ANIMATION FESTIVAL: Fest
Ana The festival of anima-
tion, short films andvideo-clips
also offers lectures, workshops
anddiscussionsat varioussites.
Starts: June 30-July 3;
Stanica ilina-Zrieie, City
Cinemas movie theatre and
other venues. Admission: 17-
24 for the whole festival. Tel:
041/5005-064; www.festanca.
sk, www.tixy.sk(tickets).
Bansktiavnica
l JAZZMUSIC: Jazznica- The
two evenings of the 5th year
of the jazz festival present
the Milo elezk trio; Trio
Valihora-Rzsa-Vizvry (SK),
the Zuzana Lapkov Quar-
tet (CZ), Mulasta Trio (PL),
the Viktor Hrs Trio (HU) and
the Grigoriy Palamarczuk
Trio(RU).
Starts: July 1 and 2; St
Katarna Church; Divn pani
caf; Art Cafe. Admission:
10 (for one day) and17. Tel:
02/5293-3321; www.ticket-
portal.sk, www.jazznica.sk.
LiptovskMikul
l PHOTO SCHOOL: The 15th
Summer Photo School The
House of Photography organ-
ises its summer school of pho-
tography again, opening a
maximum of 15 classes in
various genres and will offer
an exhibition of the best work
in the Big Hall of P.M. Boh
Gallery at the end of the
school.
Starts: July 7-July 17, Sec-
ondary Polytechnical School.
Tuition fees: 250. Tel: 0905/
288-717; www.domfoto.sk.
EasternSLOVAKIA
Preov
l DRIFTRACE: King of Europe
Slovakia 2011 The creme de la
creme of drift drivers (parti-
cipating in the most popular
current motor racing sport:
driving by controlled sliding)
meet at two races, King of
Europe and King of Drift Slov-
akia, with many accompany-
ing events including trainings
and a parade of racing vehicles
throughPreov.
Starts: July 1-2, 12:00-to
late night; parking lot of the
City Sports Hall. Admission:
13. Tel: 02/5464-8445; 02/5293
-3321; www.koe.sk.
ByZuzanaVilikovsk
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
THE UPCOMING concert of a recently-formed Bratislava per-
cussion band in Klub za Zrkadlom in Petralka, Bratislava, is
called Eddy Portella presents BATATIMBA and will be held on
June 30 at 20:00. The band showcases Afro-Cuban and Brazilian
percussion music; guest artists will be the Sherpa Band and
Azcar Cubana. Tickets cost 4 (in advance) and 5 (at the door)
and can be purchased through Ticketportal. More info at
www.kzp.sk. Photo: Courtesyof KZP
The concert by lafur Arnalds - an Icelandic musician mixing
classical music with various genres including indie-pop and
soundtracks - is the last concert at Koice's Kasrne/Kulturpark
before the venues reconstruction. Arnalds is a multi-instru-
mentalist with electronic music in his repertory. The concert
starts on June 29 at 20:00. Tickets cost 5-7. For more info,
please call 055/6854-299or gotowww.kulturpark.sk.
Photo: Courtesyof Kasrne-Kulturpark
10
CULTURE
Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia
can be found at www.spectator.sk/weather.
A Slovaks name day (meniny) is as important as his or her birthday. It is traditional to present friends or co-workers with a small gift,
such as chocolates or flowers, and to wish them Vetko najlepie k meninm (Happy name day)
N A M E D A Y J U N E - J U L Y 2 0 1 1
Monday
Ladislav
Ladislava
June 27
Tuesday
Beta
June 28
Wednesday
Peter a Pavol
Petra
June 29
Thursday
Melnia
June 30
Friday
Diana
July 1
Saturday
Berta
July 2
Sunday
Miloslav
July 3
June 27 July 10, 2011
Travel around Slovakia
with our SPECTACULAR SLOVAKIA travel guides
Every year we take a fresh look at Slovakia through the eyes
of a different foreign journalist.
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a special package of the 3 most recent editions
lstunning photographs l interesting observations by each author
lremarkable and little-known destinations across Slovakia
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Art will soon invade public spaces
PUBLICart will hit the
streets and openspaces of
the Slovak capital and the
spa townof Pieany as the
16thyear of Socha a objekt
(Statue and Object) begins on
June 23 inBratislava and on
June 24 inPieany. Art-
works will be installed on
streets or inparks, as well as
inseveral smaller galleries,
to make the work of artists
from13 countries visible to
people who do not normally
visit galleries or museums.
The chance to encounter
artwork without any barriers
inthe outdoors of bothcities
enriches cultural events and
helps build peoples relation
towards art and cultivate the
aesthetic feeling of viewers,
Viktor Hulk, the mainorgan-
iser of the event, told the
TASRnewswire. He said con-
tact withworks of art inan
outdoor setting is a com-
pletely newexperience for
many people, adding that the
works of art juxtaposed inan
outdoor environment with
local architecture as a back-
drop creates unique composi-
tions and anextraordinary
atmosphere.
Over the past years, Brat-
islavans and visitors alike
have become comfortable
withstrange objects sud-
denly appearing intheir fa-
miliar milieu. This summer
statues and sculptures will
be placed inHviezdoslavovo
Square and inthe Clarissen
Churchcourtyard inBratis-
lava and onSpa Island in
Pieany as well as inthe
capitals House of Culture,
the Gallery of the Slovak
Artists Unionand innumer-
ous other small galleries and
national cultural institutes.
Inall, 162 artists from13
countries fromall over the
world will present their
works, among themViktor
Vasarely, MilanDobe,
Claudia Christoffel, John
Hiigli, Kyungwoo Chun,
Mria and Andrej Rudavsk,
Marco Goldenbeld, Jozef
Jankovi, Hugo Demartini,
Aot Haas, Christina Ku-
bisch, Peter Jansen, Stan-
islav Pamukev, Judit
Rabczky, Francoise Morel-
let, Kamil Kuskowski, An-
drea Maria Krenn, Getulio
Alviani, Petar Barisic.
The artworks will stay in
their summer residences
until August 28. More in-
formationcanbe found at
www.galeria-z.sk.
CompiledbySpectator staff
The 4th puppet festival: a Grimm affair
THE FOURTH international puppet fest-
ival, organised by the Bratislava Puppet
Theatre (Bratislavsk bbkov divadlo,
BBD) between June 16 and 19 was dedic-
ated to the work of the Grimmbrothers.
Organiser Jn Brti told the TASR
newswire that the festival commem-
orated the 225th birthday of Wilhelm
Grimm. Wilhelm and his brother Jac-
ob are widely recognised as the most
renowned collectors of folk tales in
history.
The festival brought together pup-
peteers from all across Europe. From
among 28 applications from 21 countries,
the organisers invited 11 ensembles from
the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia,
Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy,
Germany and Slovakia.
The artistic interpretations varied,
fromclassic Russian, throughimprovisa-
tional styles to the Italian performance,
modified into contemporary story, said
Duan tauder, the artistic director of
BBD. The performances were held in the
BBD theatre as well as in the garden of
the Preporok Mansion and the Academy
of Performing Arts.
BBD spokesperson Lujza Kittlerov
told The Slovak Spectator that the biggest
successes which drew the largest audi-
ences were the marionette theatre of
Dresden with its version of The Brave
Little Tailor, a Slovenian ensemble per-
forming Sleeping Beauty, the Czech
theatre called Buchty a loutky presenting
The Golden Goose and the Ivanovsk
Regional Theatre from Russia offering
The Grimms Tales. An Italian modern-
isation, called Bianca e Neve (White and
Snow) was aimed more at adults than
small children as this version of Snow
White was rather ephemeral, a secret
dream more about inaccessible beauty
and jealousy thana person.
An interesting and slightly confus-
ing feature was the two-sided auditori-
um with viewers sitting facing each oth-
er on both sides of the puppet stage. The
festival attracted both children and
adults and students from Hungarian,
German and Russian language schools
were invited to the performances.
ByZuzana Vilikovsk
withpress reports
AnItaliangroup offeredanephemeral SnowWhite. Photo: Courtesyof BBD
Ruthenians ink pact with US group
THE MUSEUMof Ruthenian
(Rusyn) Culture from
Preov, a branchof the Slov-
ak National Museum,
signed anagreement on
June 16 withthe Carpatho-
RusynSociety (CRS) based
inPittsburghand has be-
come the first minority mu-
seuminSlovakia to signan
exchange agreement witha
US organisation.
The agreement is inten-
ded to openanera of co-
operationand exchange
betweenRuthenians in
NorthAmerica and Europe,
JohnRigetti of CRS told The
Slovak Spectator.
Inadditionto a regular
exchanges of exhibits and
displays, bothorganisations
will participate injoint pro-
gramming and educational
efforts to informpeople on
bothcontinents about
Ruthenianculture.
It is also most fitting
that this relationship exists
since the city of Pittsburghis
a sister city withPreov, Ri-
getti added.
Baroque opera comes to Schlosshof
THE BAROQUE style of the
Great HungarianEmpire will
be revived onJuly 3 in
Austrias Schlosshof Palace
whenthe opera Il Parnaso
Confuso by ChristophWil-
libald Gluck will be staged at
this venue.
Gluck composed this op-
era onthe occasionof the
wedding of Archduke Joseph
(later Emperor JosephII) to
Maria Josepha of Bavaria.
The opera, directed and
staged by Josef Wallnig and
Reinhold Kubik, will en-
chant audiences onthe even-
ing of July 3 inanenviron-
ment very similar to where
the opera premiered, striv-
ing to replicate the original
Baroque spirit as muchas
possible.
Schlosshof Palace is close
to the Slovak-Austrianbor-
der, located betweenHain-
burg and Marchegg, 28 kilo-
metres fromBratislava.
11
CULTURE
June 27 July 10, 2011
echomor brings "rockier"
folk music on its new CD
THE CZECH band known as echomor,
popular in Slovakia, plays a rockier ver-
sionof traditional Czechfolkmusic, espe-
cially Moravian songs. The group per-
formed at Bratislavas newtheatre-music
club, Atelir Babylon, on June 10 and
offered a debut performance of cuts from
their first newCDinsixyears (except for a
liverecording), titledMsteko.
echomor is known for adapting and
remaking traditional folk tunes, some-
times winding up with a form that is
hardly recognisable. Musically well-
versed, the band often works with other
foreignand local musicians. They invited
Gerry Leonard not only to produce their
new CD but also to participate in the stu-
dio recording. Another guest musicianon
the CD is Tony Levin who played with
Peter Gabriel, the TASR newswire wrote,
but for their recent Bratislava concert the
bandperformedsans guests.
The title song, Msteko, was adapted
by Slovak musician Ivan Tsler from a
song about the last resting place for
everybody the grave. The song is not
sad or morbid but rather quite funny and
kind, TASRwrote. The CDhas 13 cuts that
present the new, tougher and defter
soundof theband.
A swingy and coarser sound was our
goal andit is the logical result of our effort
to change the perception of our music.
The song Msteko has already found its
place on the radio and its popularity has
confirmed that we have chosen the right
direction, Karel Holas, the bands violin-
ist andsinger, toldtheSITAnewswire.
At their crowded concert at Atelir
Babylon, echomor played cuts from its
new CD, including the debut of Msteko
as well as its older tunes which were
warmly welcomed by connoisseurs and
fans. They also played some folk instru-
ments. Holas joked that the band usually
premieres its songs and CDs in Brno but
this time they moved eastwards to
launch their CD and baptise it in this
symbolic ritual used for both musical
works and books. To evoke the atmo-
sphere of the title song, Msteko was
baptised with ashes from an urn. The
band hopes that its current CD will find
favour even with those who do not know
the Czech language or its Moravian dia-
lect usedinmost songs.
ByZuzanaVilikovsk
withpress reports
Rockers canbe quite playful at their concerts. Photo: JanaLiptkov
Baptisingthe newalbumwithapuff of ash. Photo: JanaLiptkov
Ascene from Il ParnasoConfuso. Photo: Courtesyof Schlosshof
Arboretum
awakens after a
restful winter
THE BEST
known, oldest
and largest
arboretum in
Slovakia, loc-
ated near Ni-
tra in Tesrske Mlyany, re-
ported that it had suffered no
serious damage last winter as
it opened its gates to visitors
in May. The previous years
winter, with deep frosts and
much moisture, was positive
for the arboretum. The
ground woods did not have a
moisture deficit so there
were no losses due to the soil
losing moisture from a big
frost, Peter Hoka, the head
of the arboretum explained
to the SITAnewswire.
The arboretum opened
its summer season on May 13
with an event it calls
Ambrzyho dni (Ambrzys
Days) which lasted the en-
tire weekend. Free tours
with an expert lecturer were
offered, along withpresenta-
tions about the arboretums
activities, musical perform-
ances and attractions for
children. The number of vis-
itors in 2010 about 31,000
people was less than in
previous years due to unusu-
ally poor weather.
The most popular time to
visit the arboretum is late
spring when its rhododen-
drons, azaleas, Japanese
cherry trees sakuras as
well as apple tress and many
other species are in bloom.
In recent years, our rose
garden has also become a big
attraction, Huka said.
About 17,000 people visited
the arboretum in the month
of May, 4,500 of themduring
Ambrzys Days. The arbor-
etum mounted new inform-
ation boards last year and a
new brochure describing
the arboretums attractions
is being readied this year to
replace one first published
in1992.
Another popular attrac-
tion is the arboretums 25
redwoods. Four years ago,
we lost a memorial tree.
However we still do have an-
other Sierra redwood (Se-
quoiadendron giganteum or
Wellingtonia) about the
same age as the lost one
which is still growing and
captures visitors attention,
Hoka said, adding that it
was planted around 1864 and
is about 117 years old. It is a
young redwood as this spe-
cies can live up to 2,000
years, he noted, reporting
that this redwood is about
40 metres tall and can grow
up to 100 metres. These im-
pressive trees, not typical
for Slovakias latitude, were
brought here from Califor-
nia by tefan Ambrzy-
Migazzi, the founder of the
arboretum.
The arboretums 67 hec-
tares are home to more than
2,300 tree species from all
over the world, but mostly
from milder areas of the
northern hemisphere. Fores-
ted areas representing North
America, Central Asia, the
Caucasus Mountains, Korea,
Japan, China, the Himalayas
and South America can be
seenat the arboretum.
Mlyany Arboretum was
foundedby Ambrzy-Migazzi
in 1892. He was able to ac-
quire foreign tree species and
acclimatise them to Slovak
conditions and built the first
evergreen arboretum in
central Europe.
Today the arboretum is a
branchof the Botanical Insti-
tute of the Slovak Academy of
Sciences.
The arboretuminMlyany. Photo: TASR
Aweddingandthensometimes, adivorce. Photo: Sme- MiroslavaCibulkov
Bratislava has the oldest
newlyweds in Slovakia
LAST YEAR,
3,335 men liv-
ing in the Brat-
islava Region
married, 74 less
than the previ-
ous year, the TASR newswire
reported based on data from
Slovakias Statistics Office.
The most weddings 806 in-
volved grooms from Bratis-
lava V district and the fewest,
238, lived in Bratislava I dis-
trict. Last years nuptials were
the first marriages for 80.93
percent of the men and 84.2
percent of the women.
The most numerous group
of lovebirds tying the knot in-
volved men between age 30
and 34 (34.6 percent) with
brides from age 25 to 29 (40
percent). There were 241 men
and 124 women who were
newlyweds at age 50 or older.
The average age of those
married in Bratislava Region
last year was 34.43 for men
and 31.35 for women and this
was the highest average age
among all of Slovakias eight
regions. The lowest average
age was in Preov Region with
men marrying at an average
age of 29.44 and women at an
average age of 26.67. The over-
all average age for newlyweds
across Slovakia was 31.91
years for men and 28.84 years
for women.
The number of divorces
also declined last year. In
2009, there were 1,713 divorces
and the number decreased
last year to 1,686. Women had
filed the majority of petitions
for divorce 61.9 percent. Par-
ents with minor children
were involved in 53.7 percent
of the divorces.
The average length of
marriage of those who di-
vorced last year was 14.6
years. The most frequent
reasons for divorce stated by
both the men and women
(78.6 percent) were differ-
ences in temperament, char-
acter, opinions and interests.
The average ages of those who
divorced in 2010 was 42.4 for
menand 39.9 for women.
The Statistics Office repor-
ted that the divorce rate, the
number of divorces per 1,000
residents in Bratislava, fell
from 2.76 percent in 2009 to
last years 2.69. The highest
divorce rate, at 2.97 percent,
was in Bratislava III and the
lowest rate, 2.21 percent, was
inBratislava I.
However, the divorce in-
dex the number of divorces
per 100 weddings grew from
50.1 in 2009 to 50.4 in 2010
with the Malacky district,
near Bratislava, having the
highest divorce index, at
65.64, and Bratislava I district
having the lowest, at 37.82.
utina to get wooden church models
ON A PILGRIMAGE hill in
utina, near the Greek Or-
thodox Basilica Minor, a
mini-Skansen of wooden
churches is being con-
structed. Skansen is a
name sometimes used for open-air mu-
seums and is derived from the Skansen,
the first open-air museum and zoo in
Sweden. The newmuseumwill consist of
about 50 models of actual wooden
churches from Slovakia and Poland. Ba-
silica Minor is the only Greek Orthodox
basilica inSlovakia.
The project will be co-financed from
the EUs Regional Development Fund for
cross-border cooperation thanks to the
efforts of the Greek Orthodox parish. The
first phase is expected to cost 61,400,
with 50,000 covered by EU funds and
the remaining amount coming from the
Slovak state as well as 5 percent from the
Greek Orthodox parishinutina.
The mini-museum will include 36 mod-
els of Greek Orthodox churches as well as
wooden churches of other religious denom-
inations in Slovakia. Because it is a cross-
border project between Poland and Slovakia
it will include miniatures of several wooden
churches fromsouth-easternPoland.
Daniel Dzurovk of the Greek Ortho-
dox Archbishopric told the SITA news-
wire that the mini-Skansen will be built
on a gentle slope near Basilica Minor. It
will be divided into four areas based on
the locations of the actual churches
three areas for the Bardejov, Svidnk, and
Snina regions in Slovakia and one area
for churches from Poland. The models
will be about 1.5 metres tall and are ex-
pected to be exact replicas of the original
churches inanagreed-uponscale.
Eachreplica will have aninformation
board describing the actual church and
its history.
The wooden models will remain out-
doors year-round and visitors will be able
to freely wander between the churches,
sit on benches and enjoy the relaxing en-
vironment.
Dzurovk said that the first phase
of preparatory work for the project was
started at the end of May. Modifying
the landscape, building a supporting
wall and constructing access paths will
consume most of the funds but the first
ten model churches will also be built
using the first tranche of funds. The
Greek Orthodox parish will raise addi-
tional funds to finish the project, build-
ing 40 more model churches and com-
pleting the landscaping and terrain
modifications.
Memorial
silver coin
SLOVAKIAS central bank,
the National Bank of Slov-
akia (NBS) recently issued a
collectors silver coin with a
nominal value of 10 to
mark the 150th anniversary
of the adoption of the
Memorandum of the Slovak
Nation.
The coins motif focuses
on this important event in
the nations history when
on June 7, 1861 leaders of
Slovak political and cultural
life released a comprehens-
ive document about the cul-
tural and educational life of
Slovaks living in the Great
HungarianKingdom.
The most important
points in the document in-
cluded a desire to establisha
Slovak cultural and enlight-
enment institution that
later was to become Matica
Slovensk, which still ex-
ists, and to establish three
Slovak-language secondary
grammar schools. The offi-
cial language and the only
language used in schools at
that timewas Hungarian.
Petra Pauerov, spokes-
person for the NBS, told the
TASR newswire that Andrea
Rolkov and Pavel Karoly
designed the obverse side of
the coin, while Mria Pol-
daufov designed the re-
verse side. The coinwas pro-
ducedat theKremnicaMint.
1
2
3
AROUND SLOVAKIA
compiled by Zuzana Vilikovsk from press reports
12
FEATURE
June 27 July 10, 2011
The 10coin. Photo: TASR