Slovaks remain wary consumers

SLOVAKS have been rather cautious

spenders in 2011, saving their
money for the possibility of worse
times ahead. Developments in the
global economy and double-digit
unemployment in their homeland
have given them reason to hold
their purses tight, according to
market watchers.
Looking at the prospects for the
economy and the labour market for
the rest of this year, observers also
say that Slovak consumers will not
get too many incentives to change
their behaviour.
The most recent macro-eco-
nomic data, released in early
September, confirmed something
that was already known: the
countrys economy is not immune
from trends in its major trading
partners. Those economies are
slowing and there is little sign
that they will return to faster
growthany time soon.
The Slovak Statistics Office said
that year-on-year growth in
Slovakias gross domestic product
(GDP) slowed in the second quarter
to 3.3 percent, a 0.2 percentage point
reduction from the previous
quarter. The figure, released on
September 6, confirmed data from
the offices August flash estimate of
GDP growth. In the first quarter of
2011, the economy grew at 3.5 per-
cent year-on-year; over the first half
of 2011 Slovakias GDP grew by 3.4
percent compared to the first half of
2010, the Statistics Office said.
The statistics authority also ex-
pects the economy to grow for the
rest of the year at a slower rate than
originally assumed: 3 percent, as
opposed to the prediction by the Na-
tional Bank of Slovakia (NBS) in
June of 3.6 percent growth.
SeeDOWNpg4
SELECT FOREX RATES
benchmark as of September 8
CANADA CAD 1.38
CZECHREP. CZK 24.41
RUSSIA RUB 41.52
GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.88
HUNGARY HUF 276.95
JAPAN JPY 108.41
POLAND PLN 4.24
USA USD 1.40
NEWS
WikiLeaks' newdrips
More leaked US cables about
Slovakia are being lapped up
by the local media, includ-
ing ones referring to claims
about secret party sponsors
and buying of MPs' votes.
pg 2
Bemoreopen, please
Politikaopen, a project by
Fair-Play Alliance, is asking
Slovak elected officials and
candidates to disclose their
finances and personal activ-
ities to the public via the in-
ternet.
pg 3
OPINION
Jobs for thelads
MP Igor Matovi's motives
inreleasing a list of what he
says are political public-sec-
tor appointees are suspect,
but publishing the list may
bring some positive results.
pg 5
BUSINESSFOCUS
Doctors vs. ministry
Doctors and the Ministry of
Healthare at loggerheads
over the latter's planto turn
public hospitals into joint-
stock companies, while
doctors are threatening to
resignenmasse over that
issue and others.
pg 6
Brushingup
Dentists warnthat the
nation's oral healthis get-
ting worse, but the good
news is that up-to-date ma-
terials, technology and pro-
cedures are nowreadily
available at a price.
pg 7
CULTURE
Photomemorial
The opening of Last Folio,
anexhibit of photos by Yuri
Dojc of Slovakia's once-vi-
brant Jewishcommunities,
was the centrepiece of a
weekend devoted to life in
Slovakia held at Indiana
University inSeptember.
pg 10
Consensus on euro-
bailout proves elusive
THE CAMPAIGN to get Slovak MPs to
approve changes to the eurozone
bailout mechanism is turning into
yet another Sisyphean task for the
government of Iveta Radiov.
Leaders of Slovakias ruling co-
alition want Slovakia to be the last
country to ratify the documents that
will change the European Financial
Stability Facility (EFSF), which were
agreed by leaders of the eurozone
countries on July 21. They believe
this will give the government
enough time to hammer out an
agreement and win enough support
for the Slovak Parliament to ratify
the documents. But Richard Sulk,
the leader of the second-biggest co-
alition party, Freedomand Solidarity
(SaS), has reiterated his partys neg-
ative attitude to the EFSF changes.
Sulk says he would welcome it if an-
other eurozone country were to re-
ject the changes before Slovakia has
to vote onthem.
The somewhat contrary posi-
tion of the largest opposition party,
Smer, is that it will support the
changes but only if the ruling co-
alition secures enough votes not to
need its support. The smaller Slovak
National Party (SNS) says there is no
way it will vote for the EFSF.
Finance Minister Ivan Miklo
announced on September 6 that the
position of his government on the
implementation of the July 21 euro
area summit statement remains
unchanged: to ensure the financial
stability of the euro area as a whole
the implementation should be swift
in order to provide sufficient
sources and effective tools to help
contain the risk of contagion and
spill-over of fiscal and debt prob-
lems that some euro area members
are facing.
SeeNETpg4
PM says tax
office issue
'is closed'
FOR OPPOSITION leader Robert Fico of
the Smer party, a contract signed in Au-
gust to lease space for tax offices inKoice
is sufficient reason to initiate a motion of
no-confidence in Prime Minister Iveta
Radiov. She has responded that the
controversy is absurd and she considers
the issue closed. Radiov even tossed the
matter back to Smer, suggesting if it was
a scandal involving party cronyism, it
was one that began under the previous
Fico government.
For me, it is a closed issue, Radiov
said, while restating the stance presented
earlier by Finance Minister Ivan Miklo
that the rental agreement signed by
Slovakias Tax Authority with a firm
owned by a regional official of her Slovak
Democratic and Christian Union party
(SDK), was caused by earlier irrespons-
ibility by Ficos government.
SeeENDpg2
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
Hockey star
dies in
plane crash
SLOVAKS at first greeted news that one of
the nations top ice hockey players had
been killed in a Russian plane crash with
disbelief. But incredulous readers com-
ments under the first reports on Slovak
news websites about the tragedy were
soon overtaken by massive media cover-
age, shock, grief and even tears, once re-
ports of the death of the Slovak national
hockey teams ex-captain, Pavol Demitra,
were confirmed.
At least 43 people, including almost the
entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey
team, died when their Yak-42 passenger
plane crashed shortly after take-off near
the city of Yaroslavl in central Russia on
September 7, 2011.
The plane was heading for Minsk, Be-
larus, for their first match of the new sea-
son of the Kontinental Hockey League
(KHL), the worlds top professional hockey
league outside the North American NHL.
Besides the many Russians killed in the
tragedy, several foreigners were aboard the
plane as well, including the Canadian
coach of Lokomotiv and players from Ger-
many, Latvia, Sweden, Belarus, three play-
ers fromthe CzechRepublic, and Demitra.
SeePDpg3
BYMICHAELATERENZANI
Spectator staff
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
Slovakialost one of its modern-day ice hockey greats onWednesday, September 7, whenPavol Demitra(picturedat
this year's Ice Hockey WorldChampionshipinBratislava) diedinaplane crashinRussia(see story). Photo: SITA
Vol. 17, No. 31 Monday, September 12, 2011 - Sunday, September 18, 2011
On sale now On sale now
FOCUS
of this issue
FOCUS
of this issue
HEALTH-CARE
SERVICES
Radiov sues Fico over statements
PRIME Minister Iveta
Radiov has filed a legal
complaint against Robert
Fico, the chairmanof Smer
party and a deputy speaker
of parliament, alleging that
her personal rights were vi-
olated by the former prime
minister, the press depart-
ment of the Government Of-
fice announced.
Radiov is demanding
anapology for untrue and
offensive statement she
claims Fico made regarding
her purported influence ona
decisionby Jozef ent to
withdrawhis candidacy for
the General Prosecutors
post inMay. At that time
ent said it was his per-
sonal decisionbecause the
upcoming vote had become
linked to allegations that
MPs were being blackmailed
and bribed.
The TASRnewswire wrote
that Fico accused ent of
being influenced by Radiov,
saying he was forced to cite
what Fico termed quite
ridiculous reasons.
Radiovs complaint
also seeks court reviewof
Ficos accusations that the
prime minister was in-
volved inalleged corrup-
tionlinked withthe con-
structionof a biathlonsta-
diuminOsrblie, the Gov-
ernment Office stated.
Newinformationabout
alleged kickbacks paid in
connectionwithconstruc-
tionof the Osrblie stadium
has beenreported by the
media. MartinNovotn,
one of those accused of cor-
ruptionand a former ad-
visor to Radiov, allegedly
received informationabout
a planned government sub-
sidy for constructionof the
stadiumdirectly from the
Government Office, the
Sme daily reported.
Novotn had organised
anaudience for biathletes
withRadiov at which
time she promised gov-
ernment help inconstruc-
tionof the stadium, Sme
reported.
Novotns lawyer,
DuanIvan, denied that his
client had influenced any-
one inconnectionwithar-
rangement of a subsidy.
'Suspicious nominees list posted
ALIST of what Igor Matovi,
anindependent MP and
leader of the Ordinary People
group, called the names of
political nominees who are
filling posts inthe public sec-
tor has beenreleased.
Today I came across this
list of names, institutions and
positions plus there are
some political parties noted.
Who knows what it all could
mean? If you knowsomeone
and you find something
wrong or missing, thenlet me
know; thanks, wrote Matovi
whenhe posted the list onhis
personal Facebook page.
Labelled 'Part 1', the list
has the names of more than
1,000 individuals inalpha-
betical order, along withthe
institutions where they
work and their specific posts.
MPs fromthe parties of
the governing coalition
quickly criticised the release
of the names, arguing that it
could harmpersons whose
nominations were transpar-
ent and those who are ex-
perts intheir fields.
Elevenpeople onthe
list, who are labelled as SaS
nominees, have beenthere
[intheir jobs] for 10 or 20
years, said Richard Sulk,
the chairmanof Freedom
and Solidarity (SaS) party,
as quoted by the TASR
newswire.
The chairmanof Most-
Hd party, Bla Bugr, said
that eventhoughparticular
persons were nominated by
a political party, this does
not automatically mean
that they are partisancan-
didates. He added that the
practice of political parties
installing their nominees in
government posts is normal
and not a corrupt practice.
Jozef Miku, anMP
fromthe Slovak Democrat-
ic and ChristianUnion
(SDK), stated that the
political parties bear re-
sponsibility for their nom-
inees and rejected
Matovis statements
about lack of expertise by
certainnominees of the
political parties.
Former police VP charged
THE FORMERvice president
of Slovakias Police Corps,
Stanislav Jankovi, might
end up incourt ona charge of
abuse of power after he al-
legedly returned a driving li-
cence to a businessmanwho
had beenstripped of it for
committing a driving of-
fence, the Sme daily reported.
BusinessmanJnBok
was caught driving 190 kilo-
metres per hour onthe R1
dual carriageway inJune
2010. Police officers fined
him400 and whenhe re-
fused to pay the fine his driv-
ing licence was confiscated.
Bok thenallegedly called
Jankovi, who arrived at the
police stationiniar nad
Hronom, and asked that the
driving licence be returned
to the businessmanand that
the offence be deleted from
the public record.
CompiledbySpectator staff
Slovak media laps up
new WikiLeaks
HARDLY a day passes
without the media in Slov-
akia broadsheet or tabloid,
printed or electronic report-
ing on statements fished
from the latest batch of
leaked US diplomatic cables
released by the WikiLeaks
website in late August. The
information and comments
that appear in the corres-
pondence between Bratislava
and Washington, DC, are
rarely a surprise, but they are
a reflection of and, to some
in the Slovak media, a justi-
fication for the suspicions
that they have voiced over
the years that now turn out
to have been shared by dip-
lomats and others.
Some of the most eagerly
reported cables concerned al-
leged sponsors of the Smer
party and alleged interfer-
ence by the investment group
Penta in the legislative pro-
cess. Most of the politicians
and businesspeople men-
tioned in the cables have re-
fused to give any detailed re-
sponse to the dispatches.
Only a few of these stor-
ies [from the cables] can come
as a shock to a proper reader
of Slovak newspapers, wrote
the Sme dailys commentator,
Kontantn ikovsk, in his
column printed alongside
some of the revelations from
the leaked cables. He added
that the key characters are
known, only the details of the
cases are unverifiable and
unpublishable.
Diplomats in these dis-
patches (which are supposed
to remain confidential) can
go even further than the me-
dia, who also know or sense
more than they are allowed to
report due to the lack of irre-
futable evidence, another
commentator, Peter Morvay,
wrote in Sme.
The Slovak media went to
considerable lengths to re-
port on the possible links
between politicians and the
businesspeople alleged to
have given financial support
to their parties. The Sme
daily quoted from a dispatch
dated June 9, 2006 only
days shy of that years par-
liamentary election, which
resulted in the demise of the
centre-right government and
Smer party leader Robert
Ficos ascent to prime minis-
ter which mentions names
that had been previously as-
sociated with Smer. These
were primarily businessmen
who got rich from their gov-
ernment connections in the
1990s, under the govern-
ments of Vladimr Meiar,
including Ivan Kio, the dir-
ector of Slovensk Sporitea
under Meiar; Jn Gabriel,
former director of VB bank
in the 1990s; Vladimir Por,
who privatised Nafta Gbely;
Jozef Brhel; and Fedor Flak,
who was reported, however,
to have lost influence after
falling out with Fico.
If Fico doesnt form the
next government, his life will
be in danger, because the
shady money behind him will
not be pleased, the cable
quotes a comment allegedly
heard by a diplomat from
more than one credible
source, the embassy wrote.
SeeCABLEpg5
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
END: Smer to pursue recall motion
Continuedfrompg1
Fico, however, has been keeping
Radiov under fire on the August lease
and said on September 6 that Smer would
change its decision to initiate a no-con-
fidence motion in parliament only if the
prime minister sacked Miklo. The follow-
ing day, however, Fico added that his
party was prepared to submit a proposal
for a special parliamentary session to vote
onremoving the prime minister.
Radiov recently stated that the
problems in renting premises for the tax
office in Koice beganin 2007 whenFicos
government decided to sign a lease con-
tract with VSH company with a price tag
3.5 million higher than the price agreed
to withthe Nitra Invest firmthis August.
Slovakias Tax Directorate signed a
6.3-million rental agreement on August
22 with Nitra Invest, a firm owned by On-
drej urka, a district official of the SDK,
even though his firm was the sole bidder
in a re-issued tender that was criticised as
unfair after being analysed by Transpar-
ency International Slovensko (TIS) and
Fair-Play Alliance, two watchdog NGOs.
The Sme daily reported on September
8 that a citizen who chose to remain an-
onymous submitted a criminal com-
plaint against an unknown offender to
the General Prosecutors office claiming
that the tender conditions and the lease
contract were harmful to the state. The
complaint was forwarded to the
prosecutors office in Bansk Bystrica for
investigation, Sme wrote.
The original lease for tax office
premises in Koice, signed early in 2011
with Nitra Invest, caused considerable
tension within the SDK, the largest of
the four parties in the ruling coalition,
with Radiov clashing with Miklo in
April and then threatening to resign as
prime minister if Miroslav Mikulk, the
head of the Tax Directorate, did not accept
political responsibility for signing the
contract without explaining the process
used to select the firm. The prime minis-
ter eventually prevailed and Mikulk,
who had received Miklos public support,
stepped down and Nitra Invest cancelled
the lease. A tender was then launched but
subsequently cancelled, followed by an-
other tender in July in which Nitra Invest
was the only bidder.
Miklo now says, as reported by the
Sme daily, that the crux of the matter is
that three important conditions were
fulfilled in the process of signing the
lease agreement with Nitra Invest: the
law was respected; the whole process
was in accordance with the public in-
terest; and party cronyism was not in-
volved.
On September 7 Radiov said that
issues within the remit of the Finance
Ministry are the responsibility of the
finance minister who must bear re-
sponsibility for those decisions and that
she will not be taking any political re-
sponsibility for the matter.
My authority, if this [the process]
evokes distrust, is to propose the recall of
the finance minister, Radiov stated,
as quoted by Sme. I am not proposing
his recall.
Sme reported that Radiov said the
tender prepared to seek bids for leasing of
the tax office premises was as good as it
could have been at that moment while at
the same time she indicated that it was
not perfect since the firms offering bids
were knownduring the process.
Please go ahead; if there is an ad-
dress and a price at 6 per square metre,
then provide it, Radiov stated, as
quoted by Sme.
The Fair-Play Alliance recommended
on August 11 that the Tax Directorate not
go forward with signing a lease with Ni-
tra Invest and urged that the second
tender be cancelled.
The [tender] competition gave an ad-
vantage to Nitra Invest, the alliance
stated. The competition was not an-
nounced with criteria that other bidders
would be able to fulfil. Therefore we be-
lieve it wasnt fair and didnt provide the
same conditions for all potential bidders.
Interestingly, it was the Finance Min-
istry that had invited the two watchdog
organisations to examine the tender, a
virtually unprecedented step inSlovakia.
Both Transparency International
Slovensko and Fair-Play Alliance con-
cluded after analysing details of the
tender that it should be cancelled because
of concerns that several tender criteria
were discriminatory or unclear, with TIS
stating that the participation criteria and
the evaluation methods were unnecessar-
ily strict and had been changed between
the first cancelled tender and the sub-
sequent tender.
The watchdog group also wrote that
the impact study on the rental deal was
delivered late and had errors, and that
changes in the tender specifications made
in the course of the tender were not suffi-
ciently explained to potential bidders.
IvetaRadiovjoinedIvanMiklo indefendingthe deal. Photo: Sme- T. Benedikovi
2
NEWS
September 12 18, 2011
Hidden party
sponsors and
vote-buying
claims discussed
Elected officials asked to
be more transparent
US PRESIDENT Barack Obama
may be one of the most trans-
parent politicians in Slovakia
at least symbolically so
after his personal financial
profile was published in an
online database created by
the Politikaopen project, an
initiative that encourages
Slovak elected officials to dis-
close more details about their
personal assets and sources of
income than is currently re-
quired by Slovak law.
Politikaopen is a project
of Fair-Play Alliance, a polit-
ical watchdog group, and it is
asking Slovak elected offi-
cials and candidates to dis-
close significant aspects of
their finances and personal
activities to the public, via
the internet, in order to im-
prove the publics knowledge
about those who hold or seek
political office. Several Slov-
ak politicians, including the
prime minister and the
speaker of parliament, pos-
ted their financial profiles on
the website before the 2010
parliamentary election.
20 years after [the fall of
communism] Slovak citizens
deserve that such a high
standard becomes a part of
the law too, said Zuzana
Wienk, the head of Fair-Play
Alliance. That is why the alli-
ance has called on members
of parliament to pass a signi-
ficant reform of Slovakias
law governing conflicts of in-
terest and to establish a legal
standard on the kinds of de-
tailed information on person-
al assets and personal in-
terests that elected officials
must release into the public
domain. Wienk stressed that
Slovakia also needs an over-
sight body that has the ex-
pertise and legal powers
needed to investigate suspi-
cions of conflicts of interest
or other misconduct and to
sanction individuals when it
is necessary to do so.
SharingUSexperiences
The idea to create such an
oversight body was inspired
partly by the US Office for
Government Ethics, whose
deputy director, Jane Ley,
spoke at an event jointly hos-
ted by the Office of the Par-
liament, Fair-Play Alliance
and the US Embassy in Bratis-
lava on September 6 about the
US experience in dealing with
conflicts of interest by public
officials. The event was held
on the first day after parlia-
ment reconvened following
its summer holidays and even
though all MPs were invited to
attend only a few were on
hand to discuss ways in which
more openness and transpar-
ency could be brought to
Slovakias public service.
[Financial disclosure] en-
ables voters to determine on
their own whether a politi-
cian may have a financial con-
flict of interest between the
assets they personally own
and the decisions they are
making as a politician, said
Theodore Sedgwick, US Am-
bassador to Slovakia, in his
opening remarks.
Sedgwick praised Slovakia
for being an enthusiastic par-
ticipant in a global initiative
called Open Government,
which is promoting more
transparency in countries
around the world.
I do believe that countries
who do actively participate in
this will see greater foreign dir-
ect investment, Sedgwick said,
explaining that a transparent
environment gives a greater
sense of security to investors.
Advisors, not cops
The rules on greater finan-
cial disclosure by public offi-
cials in the US originated
mostly after the Watergate
scandal in the early 1970s. Cur-
rently around 25,000 public of-
ficials must share details about
their personal finances. The
purpose of the system, which
became effective in 1978, was
not only to keep the bad guys
out but also to help prevent
potential conflicts of interest
and to demonstrate the high
level of integrity of the vast
majority of public servants,
Ley said at the discussion.
Its a shame that public
oversight of financial dis-
closures in Slovakia is per-
ceived as a sort of witch-hunt
and that the whole system is
based on repression only.
That is, if a problem occurs,
the parliamentary commit-
tee reviews it and the public
expects some sanction to
follow, Wienk stated.
Ley said that her office in
the US serves more like an ad-
visor since the vast majority
of those covered under the
law want to respect it and act
ethically but they sometimes
run into questions or prob-
lems they are unable to re-
solve and they seek help from
her office in determining
whether their conduct will be
in line with the lawor not.
Slovakia does not have an
office with a similar function
and it does not have any kind
of systematic training to help
prepare those entering high
public positions about the
kinds of ethical challenges
they might face or a con-
sultative body that can advise
a person whether there are
possible conflicts of interest
that should be resolved be-
fore accepting a public posi-
tion, Wienk said.
TheUSapproach
All federal judges, all
members of Congress both
in the Senate and the House
of Representatives as well
as those serving in the exec-
utive branch such as high of-
ficials in government de-
partments, and all candidates
for federal elected positions
in the US are required to pre-
pare and submit financial
disclosures documents, so
that those who are voting can
determine what potential
conflicts of interests this per-
son might bring into the
government, Ley said.
There are also about 1,100
officials appointed by the
president, including ambas-
sadors, who are also required
to file financial disclosure
documents on a confidential
basis with the Office for
Government Ethics before
their appointments are ac-
tually made.
The agency goes through
the form with them, tells
themwhich assets would con-
flict with their duties if they
are eventually appointed, and
asks them to sell any of those
that create a conflict and to
resign from positions [with
companies or other organisa-
tions] that could potentially
create conflicts, Ley said,
adding that if that person
agrees to these steps he or she
then signs an ethics agree-
ment that is made public,
along with the financial dis-
closure document, after their
appointment is announced.
When an individual
reaches a senior level in a
government agency or de-
partment, he or she is also re-
quired to file a financial dis-
closure document.
Ley noted that a very im-
portant feature in the US is
that the system is enforce-
able as there are sanctions for
filing the documentation
late, for failing to file at all,
and for false statements on
the document, which can be
punished by financial penal-
ties and evenimprisonment.
Goodexamples needed
Slovak citizens too often
see that dishonest or unethic-
al conduct, hidden conflicts of
interest, or abuse of power by
those in high positions goes
unpunished and that in some
cases those engaging in mis-
conduct or conflicts of in-
terest end up prospering in
society, Wienk noted, adding
that Slovakias current over-
sight institutions are failing,
including the parliamentary
committee that reviews pos-
sible conflicts of interest.
She said this committee
has never ordered a substan-
tial penalty against a public
official, not even when a con-
flict of interest or other mis-
conduct was crystal clear.
A change will come only if
a majority in society stand up
for clear principles and not
only formulate them but also
believe in them and live ac-
cording to them, and that in-
dividuals and small groups
must be the drivers of such a
change, Wienk said.
What Slovakia needs are
these individuals and groups
who will serve as a shining
example, she said. People
need to see politicians they
can trust, because otherwise
they cannot believe that fair-
ness, honesty and transpar-
ency really do pay off.
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
Jane Ley (secondfromleft) Photo: Courtesyof theUSEmbassy
PD: Life stopped
on news of loss
Continuedfrompg1
I have lost all my
friends, the newcoachof
the Slovak national team,
CzechVladimr Javurek,
who until recently coached
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, told
the Sme daily inthe after-
mathof the tragedy.
Slovakiamourns its star
InSlovakia, life for many
people stopped for the rest of
their day after the news ar-
rived fromRussia. Political
leaders refused to comment
onany current issues, in-
stead expressing their sym-
pathy for the family of the
late Demitra.
Demitra, aged 36, was
drafted into the NHL in1993
and started his career with
the Ottawa Senators, but his
real breakthroughcame
witha move to the St. Louis
Blues in1996, where he grew
to become a star. He spent 16
seasons overseas, scoring
304 goals inthe NHL and as-
sisting inanother 464. De-
mitra also played inthe col-
ours of Los Angeles, Min-
nesota, and Vancouver.
Slovaks especially valued
his appearances onthe na-
tional ice hockey team. De-
mitra represented Slovakia
at six world championships
and three Olympic tourna-
ments. He was a member of
the teamthat wonthe
bronze medal at the World
Championship in2003.
Hockey experts called
Demitra one of the best
players inthe world and a
natural talent ahead of his
time. They noted inpartic-
ular his gentlemanly con-
duct onthe ice, for which
he also received the Lady
Byng Memorial Trophy in
2000. Slovak hockey experts
and enthusiasts alike re-
ferred to himas a legend of
Slovak ice hockey.
Demitra was also per-
ceived as suchby fans, who
created anunprecedented
atmosphere for himinMay
this year inBratislava, after
his last matchfor the na-
tional team, against Den-
mark at the 2011 Ice Hockey
World Championship, the
first world championship to
be held inindependent Slov-
akia. Despite the disappoint-
ing performance of the Slov-
ak team, the fans applauded
and chanted their thanks to
Demitra, the outgoing team
captain, and he left the sta-
diumwithtears inhis eyes.
Its beena pleasure playing
for Slovakia all these years,
he said after his farewell to
the national team.
The 2011/12 KHL season
that Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
was about to launchin
Minsk inearly September
was supposed to be
Demitras last at the top
level. He announced that he
was happy playing inRus-
sia, but after this seasonhe
was planning to returnto
Slovakia and devote his time
to his wife and two chil-
dren, and to nurturing
young hockey talent in
Trenn, where he had first
started playing.
Yaroslavl teamwipedout
Inthe aftermathof the
tragedy, the future inthe
KHL of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl,
who were RussianChampi-
ons in1997, 2002 and 2003,
was put indoubt. The team
had beendue to play Dinamo
Minsk onThursday,
September 8.
The heads of the KHL
held anurgent meeting to
discuss the measures to be
takenfollowing the crash.
The matchbetweenSalavat
Yulaev Ufa and Atlant (a
teamfromMoscowRegion),
whichwas to have beenthe
KHL seasonopener, was
cancelled, the Russia Today
news portal reported.
Meanwhile, the Russi-
anmedia reported that all
43 bodies had beenre-
covered, of which14 sev-
enof themreportedly for-
eigncitizens had been
identified as The Slovak
Spectator went to print the
day after the tragedy. Only
two people, one player and
one crewmember, sur-
vived the tragedy, but with
severe injuries.
Aday after the crashits
cause remained unex-
plained. Russias Investig-
ative Committee has
launched a criminal invest-
igationinto the tragic in-
cident, as has the Inter-
state AviationCommittee,
Russia Today reported.
Fans inTrennhave floodedthe areainfront of the hockey
stadiumwithflowers andcandles for Demitra. Photo: TASR
3 September 12 18, 2011
NEWS
NGO calls for
tougher rules
against conflicts
of interest
"It is ashame that public
oversight of financial
disclosures inSlovakiais
perceivedas asort of
witch-hunt andthat the
whole systemis basedon
repressiononly."
Zuzana Wienk
Slovakias ranking drops
SLOVAKIAis the least com-
petitive country incentral
Europe, and ranks evenlower
thanVietnamor Azerbaijan,
according to the latest Index
of Global Competitiveness,
published annually by the
World Economic Forum. In
the 2011 ranking Slovakia
dropped nine places and
ended 69thamong the 142
countries evaluated.
Slovakia dropped inthe
chart of competitiveness for
the fifthtime ina rowand
definitely lost its lead among
the Visegrad Group (V4)
countries, said Rbert Kiina
of the Business Alliance of
Slovakia (PAS), as quoted by
the SITAnewswire. He noted
that while Slovakias position
had slipped, the other V4
countries had retained their
rankings fromlast year.
Slovakia lost points for the
lowlawenforcement, the in-
creasing number of incidents
of cronyismand non-trans-
parent public procurement,
and for the publics very low
level of trust inpolitical de-
cisions. Onthe other hand,
Slovakia gained very good res-
ults for the openness of its
market to foreigncompanies
and foreigninvestors, and for
its lowcustoms barriers, SITA
reported.
We are late withall the
reforms, Prime Minister Iv-
eta Radiov said, reacting to
the countrys lower ranking,
as quoted by the Sme daily.
Her spokespersonlater added
that some of Slovakias prob-
lems canbe solved relatively
fast, but it will take time for
the effects of other measures
to show.
Economy Minister Juraj
Mikov blamed the previous
government for the low
ranking.
Its proof that theyd
beendoing nothing for four
years, or were taking stupid
decisions, he told Sme. The
oppositionSmer party, the
leading party inthe last gov-
ernment, denied responsibil-
ity for the deterioration.
Observers , however, also
pointed out that the ranking
reflects mainly 2010, during
whichSmer was inpower for
the first six months.
The biggest drop was
recorded inthe deficit
[ranking], whichresulted
fromthe management of
public finances by the pre-
vious government, Uni-
Credit Bank analyst David
Derenk said inaninter-
viewwithSme.
Suchranking is a good
hint to the government,
[pointing to] clear areas
where big problems persist in
Slovakia, and where we are
lagging behind, Derenk
said, and explained that in-
vestors regard the ranking as
only one among many factors
affecting their decisions.
ByRadka Minarechov
Gas reservoir extended
GAS-STORAGE company
Nafta has wrapped up the
second, most important,
phase of constructionof a
newgas storage facility near
the villages of Lb and Ga-
jary, inBratislava Region. On
September 6 it ceremonially
launched a control centre for
the newfacility, onwhich
106 millionhas so far been
spent.
Newcapacities of 500
millioncubic metres inthe
area of Lb will contribute to
bolstering Naftas
competitiveness, Prime
Minister Iveta Radiov said,
as quoted by the TASRnews-
wire Also the security and
reliability of gas supplies for
Slovakia and the central
Europeanregionhas been
boosted significantly by this
project.
The Gajary-Bdenproject
is set to increase the Naftas
gas storage capacities to 2.5
billioncubic metres by 2014.
Newcapacities are intended
to increase the flexibility of
access to gas supplies.
Electricity could get cheaper
THE REGULATORYOffice for
Network Industries (RSO)
has addressed 50 motions
pertaining to alleged fraud
over constructionof photo-
voltaic power plants. Be-
cause of a shortfall inthe
electricity produced by these
solar power plants, the price
of electricity could decrease
as of January, the SITA
newswire reported. Electri-
city generated by other
means is considerably
cheaper thansolar power.
RSOlaunched checks at
404 solar power plants.
While its investigations have
ended at 286 facilities, 118 are
still being reviewed.
Because of misinforma-
tionor lies told about the
power plants, the volume of
electricity they produce will
not reachthe proposed 478
megawatts. It [production
of electricity] is 25 percent
lower, said anRSOrepres-
entative, as quoted by SITA.
Lower amounts of power
generated by photovoltaic
plants could lower the final
price for electricity paid by
end-users. RSOpredicts
that prices paid by domestic
customers could fall signific-
antly.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
NET: Parties spar over how to proceed
Continuedfrompg1
The cabinet onSeptember 7
approved amendments to the
EFSF framework agreement
and the Slovak EFSF Participa-
tion Ceiling Act. The proposal
was backed by all ministers ex-
cept those nominatedbySaS.
In line with the new rules,
the volume of eurozone guar-
antees would go up from 440
billion to 779 billion and
Slovakias share would rise
from 4.37 billion to 7.72 bil-
lion. If the changes are rati-
fied, the EFSF will also be per-
mitted to purchase govern-
ment bonds on the secondary
market, help in the recapital-
isation of financial institu-
tions and provide precaution-
ary credit to states before such
countries are shut out of
private credit markets, the
TASRnewswirereported.
While most political lead-
ers agree that the parties
should negotiate over the bail-
out system, there is disagree-
ment over who should host
the talks. Radiov has already
held some talks on the issue,
but Smer denounced these as
fruitless and has initiated its
ownroundof talks.
If the chairs of the parties
do not attend the talks with
us, we would consider it a sig-
nal that they do not need our
votes and we would not vote
for the bailout facility, Smer
MP Marek Maari told TV
Markza onSeptember 4.
The invitation effectively
means that Prime Minister
Radiov who is not the lead-
er of her party would not be
invited for talks, while Chris-
tian Democratic Movement
(KDH) leader Jn Fige anyway
rejected Ficos invitation and
said that the most suitable
forum for talks among all the
parties would be the presiden-
tial palace.
President Ivan Gaparovi
assured German Foreign Af-
fairs Minister Guido Wester-
welle, who paid a visit to Slov-
akia on September 2, that he
would do his best to persuade
the ruling parties of the need
to take a responsible decision
over the changes to the EFSF.
Westerwelle said that
everything must be done to
save the eurozone, adding that
the German parliament would
ratify the necessary docu-
ments at the endof September.
He suggested that German
MPs decision to back the
changes might influence their
Slovak counterparts to do the
same, according to the SITA
newswire.
Slovak Foreign Minister
Mikul Dzurinda responded
on September 2 that Slovakia
should not be the country
which blocks the creation of
the eurozone bailout system.
Sulk later commented
that Slovakia might vote on
the changes as late as Decem-
ber but Miklo, the finance
minister, responded on
September 5 that even though
Slovakia may aimto be the last
eurozone member to okay the
changes to the bailout fund, it
does not mean that a vote will
not take place until December.
Originally it [the vote]
was set for December, but as all
countries have agreed on
September or as soon as pos-
sible, it would be absolutely
unfair to let everybody wait
until December once they have
made their decisions in
September, Miklo said, as
quotedby TASR.
Late on September 8 SaS
publishedananti-bailout treat-
ise which described the tem-
porary EFSF and permanent
ESM mechanisms as a path to
socialism, the TASR newswire
reported. The pamphlet was
negatively received by SaSs co-
alition partners and promised
to further complicate efforts to
reach a deal to approve the
bailout package.
RichardSulk Photo: Sme
DOWN: Domestic demand declines
Continuedfrompg1
Growing foreign demand as well as a
continuing decline in domestic demand
have had a significant impact on the
growth of Slovakias economy, the Stat-
istics Office reported.
The economy was mostly supported
by exports, which maintained their
double-digit growth, while domestic
consumption continued to lag behind,
saidEduardHagara, senior researchana-
lyst with ING Bank. Only investment
activities increased, but the slowdown
in global growth is a signal that such
growth in investments is not
sustainable.
As expected, growth was exclusively
driven by foreign demand, UniCredit
Bankanalyst ubomr Korkalso noted.
Year-on-year growth in exports
slowed from 15.8 percent to 12.4 percent
but growth in imports grew less as well,
withthe rate falling from11.3 percent to 9
percent, Korknoted.
Domestic demand fell by 0.8 percent,
while consumption by the public sector
dropped by 4.3 percent, the Statistics Of-
fice reported.
The government is trying to reduce
expenditures and the situation in the
Slovaklabour market has not improvedto
the point that Slovaks are ready to open
their wallets, Hagara said.
The increasing savings of the popu-
lation and the continuously low public
consumption has not surprised us,
Potov Banka analyst Eva Sadovsk told
The Slovak Spectator. It shows that
Slovaks are continuing to worry about
developments in the world and at home,
while being more cautious and saving for
worse times.
The caution of the population is
fuelled by the relatively high unemploy-
ment rate, whichcurrentlystands at over
13 percent, she added.
Jobless ratedrops, but worries persist
The unemployment rate in Slovakia
in the second quarter of this year fell by
1.3 percentage points to 13.1 percent com-
paredto the same periodin2010. It is now
at its lowest level since the third quarter
of 2009, the Statistics Office reported.
Even if employment in the first half
of this year showed a surprisingly signi-
ficant increase, the unemployment rate
remains at a high level, which means
that the position of employers during
wage negotiations remains strong and
wages are growing only very slowly,
Hagara said.
According to the statistics authority,
there were 356,500 jobless people in the
second quarter of 2011, a drop of 31,800
compared to the same period of last year.
The number of people with jobs contin-
ued to rise in the second quarter of 2011,
increasing by 43,100 people year-on-year
to a total of 2.256 million. By sector, the
biggest year-on-year increases were in
industry, up 26,700, and thenservices, up
by 26,300. The construction and real es-
tate sectors, however, continued to shed
jobs: employment in the construction
sector fell by 8,200 and in real estate by
5,500 year-on-year. The highest numbers
of unemployed people were reported in
Koice Region, at 68,700, and neighbour-
ing Preov Region, at 64,400.
Domestic consumption
Analysts had previously forecast that
domestic consumption would not be
among the main motors of the economy
in the second quarter. Since the govern-
ment has managed to cut public spend-
ing, market watchers also expected a
dropinpublic-sector spending.
According to Sadovsk, weaker retail
revenues compared to a year before had
already hinted at stagnation in house-
hold spending. Retailers did not report a
year-on-year increase in revenue in any
monthof the secondquarter.
The lower unemployment rate was
mainly because of revival in industry,
Sadovsk said. Production close to pre-
crisis levels has forced firms to re-hire
employees, she added. For now, Sadovsk
expects unemployment to continue to
fall.
However, we do not expect any rad-
ical drop in the upcoming months,
Sadovsk said. Moreover, the already
slower recovery of the labour market
could be paralysed by the expected slow-
down in economic growth both in the
secondhalf of 2011 and also next year.
Pressureonwages remains
Hand in hand with the mixed news
on growth, as well as with the slower re-
covery of the labour market, Slovaks will
continue behaving based on present
trends, Sadovsk predicted, adding that
she expects Slovaks to continue saving
for worse times over the coming quar-
ters.
The average nominal monthly salary
inSlovakia rose by 3 percent year-on-year
to reach 781 in the second quarter of
2011, according to the Statistics Office.
That meant that real wages actually fell
by 0.9 percent year-on-year. During the
first six months of 2011, the average nom-
inal monthly salary stood at 763, with
real salaries falling during the same peri-
od by 0.6 percent.
The top earners were in the financial
and insurance sectors, where the average
monthly salary was 1,693; next highest
was the IT sector, where average
monthly pay was 1,482, followed by the
energy and gas sector, at 1,477.
Bratislava Region boasted an average
salary of 997, far above the average
monthly wage for the whole country. By
comparison, the average salary in Preov
Regionwas 592.
4
BUSINESS / NEWS
September 12 18, 2011
Jobs for the lads and lasses
INFORMATION about secret
societies, clandestine lists of
privileged people, or docu-
ments with seven seals have
always been part of politics.
Some politicians have tried to
prove their relevance by
claiming to posses copies of
such documents. Yet most
things that are declared to be
closely guarded secrets, turn
out to be far fromsecret at all.
And major revelations of such
secrets are often managed in
such a way that the public
ends up doubting whether
the politician behind them is
really making a sacrifice on
the altar of transparency, or
is in fact pursuing some per-
sonal agenda.
It came as no surprise that
it was actually Igor Matovi,
one of the self-declared new
type of politicians, who pos-
ted on his Facebook profile the
first part of what he claims is a
list of political nominees at all
levels of the public sector.
It is hard to say what
prompted his decisionto pub-
lish the list: the countless
Wikileaks reports that have
recently flooded the media, or
perhaps a recent opinion poll
which showed Matovis Or-
dinary People faction enjoy-
ing an approval rate of just
two percent? Let us assume
for a moment that Matovi
was inspired by a desire for
transparency.
The Ordinary People boss
attached the following com-
mentary: Today I came across
this list of names, institutions
and positions plus there are
some political parties noted.
Who knows what it all could
mean? If you know someone
and you find something
wrong or missing, then let me
know; thanks.
Matovi has long been
heralding some great revela-
tion about partisan nomina-
tions while accusing all those
political parties which gained
more than 3 percent in the last
elections of corruption. He
said recently that the parties
are abusing political nomina-
tions so that they can reward
their cronies, sponsors and
the people who distribute fly-
ers for them, and went on to
claim that professional quali-
fications are not treated as be-
ing important when it comes
to filling posts in the public
administration.
On September 6, after
publishing the list of people
that he had dubbed party
buddies, Matovi said he was
uncertain whether the list ac-
tually represented a roll-call
of partisan nominations but
that he expects his Facebook
friends to help him solve the
mystery, and explain what
all those abbreviations on
the list mean.
As for transparency,
Matovi refused to disclose the
source of the list and hinted
that the names came fromtwo
sources and that he had com-
piled the list himself. The ex-
tra-parliamentary Party of the
Democratic Left (SD) an-
nounced the next day that the
list came from the general
manager of Robert Ficos
Smers party.
Matovi said he con-
siders the list but a first step
on the path to purification of
the political environment.
Doubtless, in a country
where the so-called
partocracy has such deep
roots that people are no
longer shocked or surprised
when they read about party
nominations, publishing the
names of party nominees
and the positions they hold
might help to increase public
awareness and remind
people that these armies of
party sympathisers are actu-
ally paid out of their taxes.
It would be preferable,
after all, if they were picked
only after they had also met a
set of clear professional cri-
teria: then the public could
perhaps demand a stricter
definition of positions where
there would be no cushioned
chair for party nominees, but
instead clearly delineated
jobs for top experts.
Yet the fact that it was
Matovi who published the
list, and the way he did so,
seriously undermines the
initiatives credibility. The
leader of the Ordinary People
faction, who along with his
three colleagues made it into
parliament on the slate of the
Freedom and Solidarity (SaS)
party, has impressed himself
on the memory of observers
and probably most of
Slovakias electorate as an in-
curable exhibitionist with an
alarming lack of understand-
ing of the weight of words and
his wider responsibilities.
Regardless, the list has
not caused any major shock
in society; no mass outrage
over the hundreds upon hun-
dreds of names of people who
have allegedly been rewarded
for their political loyalty by
being given the job of man-
aging some very important
parts of public life.
The truth is that Slovaks
just assume that partisan sym-
pathies bring public-sector jobs
and that there are some jobs
that can be accessed only
thanks to political connections.
Slovaks are far too accus-
tomed to the massive clean-
outs that normally take place
after parliamentary elections.
But the press mostly covers
changes only in the more
politically-exposed positions.
The public is all too familiar
with the spectacle of a party
nominating three or even
four candidates, one after an-
other, for a top job each re-
jection prompting an ever
more desperate search for a
politically reliable alternative
who might still meet the pro-
fessional criteria.
When all is said and done,
if this list which incident-
ally includes the names of
ministers, who almost
everywhere in the world are
nominated by political
parties, and also features the
names of people who are
clearly not political nominees
does end up starting a real
debate that results in more
pressure being brought to
bear on political parties to ob-
serve stricter criteria to fill
state posts, then maybe it will
be possible to overlook the
fact that the process was
helped along by someone like
Matovi, in spite of
everything he stands for.
Pavol Demitra
EACH language has terms
whichare impossible to trans-
late. Pavol Demitra is one of
them.
Saying he was one of the
countrys top hockey players
will not do, as this would in
no way explain why his death
in a plane crash left the coun-
try in mourning. There are
two main reasons why the
tragedy has immense reson-
ance withinSlovak society.
The first is the degree to
which the nation identifies it-
self with ice hockey. After
gaining independence in 1993,
it was one of the few areas in
which it could compete with
the West and with the worlds
superpowers. It was an arena
to prove itself as a fully-
fledged country. In an era
when NATO and EU member-
ship were mere distant
dreams, there were few for-
eign investors, and Slovakia
gained headlines mainly for
the authoritarian tendencies
of its rulers, this was no small
contribution to its self-es-
teem. And Demitra, who
made it in the NHL and helped
the national team in many
crucial moments, was a key
figure of a strong generation
of players who are now end-
ing their active careers.
The second reason for the
shock is a lack of positive role
models. While other societies
can draw from a pool of
statesmen, judges, teachers,
entrepreneurs, scientists or
artists, Slovakia often
struggles to find its heroes.
Thats why people whose
name needs no translation, at
least in some parts of the
world, are so appreciated. And
why Pavol Demitra will be
missed.
5 September 12 18, 2011
OPINION/ NEWS
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: For me, it is a closed issue, and if it ever was somebody's issue, it
wasn't this government's."
Prime Minister Iveta Radiov on the tax office lease in Koice
EDITORIAL
BYBEATABALOGOV
Spectator staff
SLOVAK WORD
OF THE WEEK
BYLUK FILA
Special to the Spectator
CABLE: Names are named
Continuedfrompg2
Fico dismissed the com-
ments and denied that the
named men were sponsors of
his party, saying that the
identities of Smer donors
were officially published.
I cannot prevent subject-
ive feelings that the staff of
the US Embassy are sending to
their headquarters as
reports, Fico told a press con-
ference. Half of it is gossip
and various nonsense.
Fico also said that diplo-
mats often use media reports
as their source of information,
and that for those subjective
feelings we have to thank the
Sme daily.
Another name mentioned
in connection with Smer,
businessman Juraj irok, is
mentioned in a cable from Ju-
ly 7, 2009. Reporting on the
visit of the Chinese president
to Slovakia, the cable says
irok is a man with particu-
lar influence on the governing
of the state. The Chinese del-
egation was particularly in-
terested in the construction of
highways in Slovakia, and the
Chinese also offered to build a
highway stretch under a PPP
arrangement using Chinese
capital, material and labour,
the cable reads. But the deal
fell apart, because one of the
governments sponsors, later
named as irok, was upset
about possibly losing the con-
tract to supply concrete, a
source told the embassy.
Allegations of vote-buying
byPenta
Another leaked cable
quoted by the Slovak media,
dating from April 2005, re-
ports on the alleged buying of
MPs votes by the investment
group Penta during the
second government of
Mikul Dzurinda.
In 2004 the Slovak parlia-
ment passed six health-care
reform laws, originally aimed
at reducing the states role in
health care, which legalised
the franchising of pharma-
cies. Several independent MPs
supported the reform in par-
liament. The US embassy
wrote inits cables that accord-
ing to a reliable contact
Penta wanted to use fran-
chising agreements and its
ownership of health insur-
ance companies to steer cus-
tomers to its pharmacies. The
contact reported that Penta
had paid Sk2 million ($67,000)
each for an undisclosed num-
ber of independent MPs votes
to ensure passage of the law.
We cannot judge the au-
thenticity of the report, but
we regard it a combination of
nonsense and total ignorance
regarding the facts, Penta
spokesperson Martin Danko
told The Slovak Spectator. He
denied all allegations that
Penta had paid for MPs votes.
Danko also pointed out
what he said were several fac-
tual mistakes in the reports,
saying that Penta never had
any businesses which fran-
chised pharmacies and that
Penta did not control three
health insurance companies
in2004, but only two.
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Pavol Demitracelebratingduringamatchat the 2010Olympics inVancouver. Photo: AP
More transplants done in Slovakia
LAST year the number of or-
gantransplant operations in
Slovakia increased by six to
221. Liver transplants in-
creased most, up by nine to
33. Transplantations of kid-
neys and hearts decreased
moderately, to 167 and 21, re-
spectively. The information
was contained ina report on
Slovakias efforts to meet its
national transplantation
programme for 2010, the
SITAnewswire reported.
The document reports
that organtransplantation
inSlovakia is a fast-develop-
ing sector whichhas made a
significant jump forward
over the last four years. Slov-
akia is nowina comparable
positionto Austria, Germany
and the CzechRepublic, the
reports states, adding that
prospects for the sector are
positive.
In2010 transplants un-
dertakeninSlovakia in-
cluded those of organs such
as kidney, heart and liver as
well as of tissues suchskin,
eye tissues, blood vessels,
heart valves and bone mar-
row.
CompiledbySpectator
staff frompress reports
Chambers of medical professionals
in Slovakia
SlovakMedical Chamber, www.lekom.sk
SlovakChamber of Pharmacists, www.slek.sk
SlovakChamber of Dentists, www.skzl.sk
Slovak Chamber of Nurses and Midwives,
www.sksapa.sk
Dual-use insurance cards on the way
NATIONAL healthinsurance
cards witha European
HealthInsurance Card
(EHIC) ontheir reverse side
may soonbe inSlovaks' wal-
lets, but no earlier than2012.
Newcards might be is-
sued during the first half of
2012, said Petra Balov,
spokespersonfor Veobecn
Zdravotn Poisova, the
largest of Slovakia's three
public healthinsurance
companies, as quoted by the
SITAnewswire.
Union, another health
insurance company, is still
pondering the move and also
regards 2012 as the year
whenit may start issuing
suchcards. Dvera, the third
healthinsurer inSlovakia, is
already preparing for the
newcards and said newin-
surees will start receiving
themfromthe start of 2012.
As healthinsurance is
compulsory inSlovakia, each
resident must have insur-
ance withone of these in-
surers. Withinthe European
Union, citizens of member
states are entitled to emer-
gency healthtreatment
equivalent to that provided
to their owncountrys cit-
izens via public healthin-
surance.
To obtainmedical care,
they must hold anEHIC,
whichthey canobtainfrom
their healthinsurer. EHICs
are valid for five years. Are-
visionto the lawonhealth
insurance companies allows
for national cards and EHICs
to be combined inone card as
of August 2011.
Health Ministry and
doctors butt heads
IN HIS attempt to heal ailing
public hospitals burdenedwith
large debts, Health Minister
IvanUhliarikhas beenpushing
the idea of transforming them
into joint-stock companies.
But the Medical Trade Unions
Association (LOZ) does not
think the minister has the
right prescription and has
launched a protest campaign
with four demands, including
dumping the ministers trans-
formationidea.
Inspired by doctors in the
CzechRepublicwhoearlier this
year threatened mass resigna-
tions, LOZ is asking doctors in
Slovakias public hospitals to
sign notices terminating their
employment contracts unless
their four demandsaremet.
LOZ cannot look on any
longer at howSlovakias health
care is being driven to destruc-
tion by incompetent decisions
fromtheHealthMinistry, LOZ
states on its website. It is now
a sinking ship on which all are
sailing together doctors,
nurses, andalsoour patients.
LOZ has taken its four de-
mands to Minister Uhliarik as
well as to Prime Minister Iveta
Radiov, saying their aimis to
reverse the current crisis situ-
ation in Slovakias health-care
system and to secure better
health care for citizens in the
future. The four demands are
for hospitals to observe the re-
quirements of the Labour Code,
to change the current funding
system for health care, to stop
the transformation of public
hospitals into joint-stock com-
panies, and to gradually in-
crease the salaries of health-
careemployees.
The chairman of LOZ,
Miroslav Kollr, has said that
the doctors believe achieving
all four of their demands is the
only way to achieve compre-
hensive reform of the health-
care system but the doctors
demand to stop the transform-
ationof their hospitals to joint-
stock companies seems to have
become the most contentious
issue between the ministry
andLOZ.
In its response to the de-
mands from LOZ, the Ministry
of Health wrote in mid July
that it agrees with nearly all of
the doctors points but insists
on transforming the structure
of the hospitals, a step that has
already been approved by
Slovakias parliament. The
ministry says that transform-
ing the hospitals into joint-
stock companies will provide a
more transparent way to gauge
the economic performance of
medical facilities.
The aim of the transform-
ation is more effective and
transparent operation of
hospitals, Katarna Zollerov,
the spokesperson for the
Health Ministry, told The Slov-
ak Spectator. Joint-stock
companies, contrary to gov-
ernment-subsidised organisa-
tions, must use transparent
bookkeeping according to
standardised rules, must un-
dergo annual audits and must
publish financial statements.
The management of joint-
stock companies is under
much greater pressure to oper-
ate efficiently than govern-
ment-subsidisedfacilities.
Kollr responded to that
argument by saying the hos-
pitals will still not operatewith
a balanced budget after such a
change in their structure be-
cause the hospitals are de-
pendent on payments from
Slovakias health insurance
companies and LOZ believes
the insurers reimbursements
do not reflect the real cost of
hospital treatment and care,
theSITAnewswirewrote.
LOZ states on its website
that Slovakias current legisla-
tion makes payment of health
insurance obligatory as well
as the hospitals duty to
provide treatment to patients,
but adds that there is no law
requiring health insurance
companies to cover the actual
costs for the medical care the
hospitalsprovide.
SeeLOZpg9
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
6
Health-care institutions
in Slovakia
Ministryof Health
www.health.gov.sk
Minister: IvanUhliarik
Public HealthAuthority
www.uvzsr.sk
HealthCare SupervisionAuthority
www.udzs.sk
National HealthInformationCentre
www.nczisk.sk
State Institute for Drug Control
www.sukl.sk
September 12 18, 2011
Positions are fixed
on transforming
public hospitals
into joint-stock
companies
Doctors may stoptheir rounds. Photo: Sme- Tom Benedikovi
FOCUS shorts
Medical tourism in Slovakia?
PRICE, but particularly a good
ratio betweenprice and quality
of medical treatment, is what
speaks in favour of so-called
medical tourism developing
here at least that is what
Slovak doctors and represent-
atives of medical and aesthetic
facilities in Slovakia say. But
this alone has not turned Slov-
akia into a popular destination
for medical tourism, as most
Slovak health-care facilities do
not narrow their focus to only
this particular market seg-
ment. Nevertheless, foreigners
living inSlovakia or Slovaks re-
turning fromstays abroad tend
to use the services of private
medical andaesthetic centres.
The motivation of a per-
son towards medical tourism
is often financial, Renta
Mihlyov, managing director
of Bratislava-based Medis-
simo, a private hospital and
medical clinic, told The Slovak
Spectator. She added that fa-
vourable prices in Slovakia
make it an affordable destina-
tion to seek quality medical
care for a wide range of people.
But an important fact is that
our doctors have a good repu-
tation in the world. Many of
them had settled abroad or
worked abroad for a certain
period of time and a person
who is deciding [whether to
undergo medical treatment]
must have certainty and trust
inhis or her doctor.
Medissimo, which emerged
as a greenfield project to
provide comprehensive private
health care in 2009, does not
consider itself a typical medical
tourism facility as its philo-
sophy is to be a good hospital
and clinic for those seeking
modern and quality diagnostic
services and medical treat-
ment. Mihlyov stated that
Medissimo provides medical
care at the same high standard
as other private European clin-
ics and hospitals and that
standard is welcomed by visit-
ing tourists as well as expats
from the diplomatic and busi-
ness communities living here.
Our patients are especially
interested in treatment and
therapy at a scheduled time,
without waiting, in a nice en-
vironment with a pro-patient
attitude, Mihlyov said,
adding that thanks to the time
Medissimos doctors have
spent at health-care facilities
in the US and in other parts of
Europe they communicate well
inseveral foreignlanguages.
Mihlyov said that those
who come to Medissimo in-
clude those who have urgent
medical needs but also pa-
tients who return from places
such as the US, India, Spain,
Germany and Sweden and
that no particular country
prevails. Medissimo also co-
operates with foreign health
insurance companies.
Medissimo is following
current trends inmedical care
and focuses more on short-
term diagnostic or therapeut-
ic stays, one-day outpatient
surgeries, and physiothera-
peutic stays after more de-
manding surgery.
The trend shows that
people are beginning to value
their healthmore and are will-
ing to invest in prevention
and physiotherapy,
Mihlyov stated. But we are
also registering interest in
plastic and aesthetic surgery
from people from neighbour-
ing countries.
SeeTRENDpg9
Initial efforts
seemto have
yielded results
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
IT
Next issue:
BUSINESS FOCUS
HEALTH-CARE SERVICES
Several kinds of dental care are
not covered by health insurance
Slovakia is losing its medical
graduates
Getting the best teeth you can afford
HUMANS have been getting their teeth
drilled for several thousands of years and
in spite of all the technological advances
in dentistry the dental drill still remains
one of the most important instruments
available to dentists. The good news for
Slovaks is that top-quality dental treat-
ment in terms of materials, technology
and procedures is available here: the
question is only how much patients are
willing to pay. Most of the latest dental
techniques are not coveredfullyor at all by
the public health insurance scheme. But
for most people there is a cheaper alternat-
ive, which is also the main current trend
indentistry: prevention.
Dental treatment in Slovakia, as
elsewhere in the world and in other de-
veloped countries inEurope, focuses espe-
cially on prevention of diseases of the oral
cavity and on raising the awareness of cit-
izens about oral health, Simona
Dianikovof the SlovakChamber of Dent-
ists, told The Slovak Spectator. Along
with this we also focus more on preven-
tion in the case of children and other vul-
nerable members of the population.
Dentists, when asked about trends in
their practice, also list efforts to minimise
interventions, and say that the question
of aesthetics is becoming more and more
important. But they warn that dentistry
cannot exist without the drill. Dentistry
has not actually made any major break-
throughs in dental medicine with respect
to toothhealthinthe last fewyears.
Tom Pnek, a dentist who runs a
private practice in Bratislava with a
branch in Malacky and who specialises in
dental implants and dentures, recalled
that the first evidence of cavities being
treated by drilling have been found on
bones that are 10,000 years old.
Thus in all those years we have not
improved on the dental drill, except to
make it muchmore sophisticated, Pnek
toldThe SlovakSpectator.
But while drills are still with us, many
improvements have been achieved, espe-
cially in new materials, technologies and
procedures. Huge headway has beenmade
in dental implants and dentures, with
more stress laid on aesthetics to make
teeth not only healthy but also look good,
according to Pnek.
Dentist Alexander Schill, who runs a
private clinic in Bratislava, agrees that
even though there are new technologies,
for example laser and ultrasound instru-
ments, no practice cando without a dental
drill. When asked about the latest trends
he reiterated that prevention is best, and
also mentionedbetter diagnostics.
See CAREpg 8
Meeting the challenges
of health tourism
HEALTHtourismhas beenre-
cognised as a promising
business inmany countries
around the world. The Slovak
Spectator spoke to Zeno
Veselk, director of KPMGin
the CzechRepublic, about the
current positionof Slovakia
inthis sector and its pro-
spects for becoming a major
health-tourismdestination.
The Slovak Spectator (TSS):
What is the current position
of Slovakia in health tour-
ism, especially in compar-
ison with neighbouring
countries?
Zeno Veselk (ZV): Com-
pared withAustria or the
CzechRepublic Slovakia has
not reached a fully compar-
able level so far. But incom-
parisonwithits other
neighbours and withother
countries ineasternEurope
it is better off inmany as-
pects, and inthis respect its
potential is good. Also, wage
costs may be a positive
factor for Slovakia for a cer-
tainperiod of time, but only
onthe conditionthat Slov-
akia invests sufficiently in
the necessary infrastructure
and inthe quality of the
whole spectrumof person-
nel withwhichit provides
the givenservices.
TSS: What are the chances of
Slovakia becoming a major
health-tourismdestination?
ZV: Slovakia is certainly
anexceptionally interesting
country fromthe viewpoint
of natural beauties, but it has
not yet developed services for
tourists and especially for
those willing to pay for
healthtourism. The infra-
structure is for now, either
inits extent or interms of
the quality of services, insuf-
ficient and the reputationof
Slovak healthcare does not
unambiguously belong
among the countrys strong
points. Last but not least, it
is important that the quality
of client-oriented care by
workers inother words, the
attitude of the personnel at
suchfacilities towards cli-
ents and patients attains a
Europeanlevel and becomes
anautomatic part of the ser-
vices provided.
TSS: Howdo youperceive
opportunities for invest-
ments inmedical facilities
whichmay provide health-
tourismservices?
SeeZVpg9
7 September 12 18, 2011
BUSINESS FOCUS
Tnc ptivarc Mcdissimo
Hospira| and C|inic nas now
cnrctcd irs rnitd ycat sctving
paricnrs.
Tlis bold gieenlield pio}ect
to piovide compielensive le-
ultl cuie olleis u new ulteinu-
tive to tle Slovuk leultlcuie
system. Tle Medissimo Hos-
pitul, witl its stute-ol-tle-uit
teclnicul equipment, uims
to compete witl tle top cli-
nics in Centiul Euiope. Tle
Depuitment ol Rudiology
tle piide ol tle lospitul is
equipped witl lully compu-
teiized equipment. Mugnetic
iesonunce imuging, compu-
ted tomogiuply, und densi-
tometiy uie uvuiluble to ull
clients witlout wuiting times
und witlout iestiictions.
Tle lospitul's opeiuting
iooms uie equipped loi tle
most demunding piocedu-
ies, und loi clients tleie uie
well-uppointed inputient io-
oms pioviding u ligl level ol
comloit not only loi putients
but ulso loi lumily membeis
uccompunying tlem.
Tle Medissimo Hospitul is
giuduully becoming un ultei-
nutive loi people wlo uppie-
ciute quulity leultl cuie witl
minimul wuiting times, und
witl ull seivices piovided in
one pluce.
,We lud to oveicome initiul
piesumptions ubout tle los-
pitul only being loi weultly
people, tliougl tiunspuient
und positive ud}usted piicing,
us well us by olleiing tle op-
poitunity loi clients to undei-
tuke u single pioceduie, suid
Munuging Diiectoi Renutu
Milulyovu.
It is ulso giutilying tlut oui
seivice is used by moie und
moie exputiiutes und loiei-
gneis living und woiking not
only in Slovukiu but ulso in
neiglbouiing countiies.
We ollei tlem quulity le-
ultl cuie to tle stunduid tley
uie used to ut lome, quulity
customei seivice, tle possi-
bility ol booking loi conciete
time, und we coopeiute witl
loieign insuiunce compunies
like BUPA, TRICARE, AXA
und Aetnu.
Outpatient surgery
as a priority
In tle coming peiiod tle
muin locus ol tle Medissi-
mo Hospitul's munugement
will be to iuise its piolile
us u top outputient suigeiy.
Tlis kind ol suigeiy (und
suigicul exuminution), witl
tle minimum umount ol
time spent in lospitul, is in
ligl demund.
,Tle Medissimo Hospitul,
given its piolessionul buck-
giound, is viituully piede-
stined to piovide tlis loim
ol suigicul tieutment. Tle
iole ol my teum will be to
develop tlis uieu continu-
ously und to conliim tle
position ol tle Medissimo
Hospitul us tle leudei in
outputient suigeiy, suid
. Hiicisuk, M.D., leud sui-
geon ol tle Depuitment ol
Outputient Suigeiy ol Me-
dissimo Hospitul.
We luve iecently be-
gun to peiloim unique lu-
puioscopic suigeiy using
miciosuigicul instiuments
intioduced tliougl u single
incision, u teclnique known
us SILS, in gull-bluddei ope-
iutions, loi uppendicitis,
loi leiniu opeiutions, in
gynuecologicul suigeiy, loi
biopsies und in ieviews ol
tle ubdominul cuvity. Moie
tlun six montls ugo we be-
gun peiloiming impluntuti-
ons ol pucemukeis.
Anotlei pillui loi tle
lutuie is tle development
ol oui Diugnostic und Tle-
iupeutic Centie, wlicl loi
clients meuns u compie-
lensive ussessment ol tleii
leultl stutus und medicul
tieutment iequiiements
cun be peiloimed duiing u
sloit-teim lospitul stuy.
In iecognition ol tle quu-
lity ol oui woik we luve
been uwuided un NIAHO
(Nutionul Integiuted Accie-
ditution loi Heultlcuie Oi-
gunizutions) ceitilicute.
Oui piioiity is to piovide
ulloiduble, quulity leultl
cuie in one locution, ut u
time wlen oui clients ieul-
ly need it, in oidei to lelp
tlem ietuin us quickly us
possible to tleii woik, lu-
mily, lobbies, und u noi-
mul lile.
Two years oI the Medlsslmo Hospltal
SP90611/2
hk}ly{pzltlu{
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Top-quality treatment
is available in Slovakia
at a price
BYJANALIPTKOV
Spectator staff
Moderndentistry stresses preventionthroughregular checkups. Photo: Sme
CARE: Prevention is the best approach
Continuedfrompg7
Prevention and related
measures should reduce and
can possibly eliminate the oc-
currence of oral health
diseases, Schill told The
Slovak Spectator, adding that
when intervention is needed
then also the aesthetic ques-
tion is taken into considera-
tion, for instance dental im-
plants are used instead of
dental bridges or dentures.
Pnek added that now the
trend is to keep as many
healthy teeth or as much ori-
ginal tissue in patients
mouths as possible.
Any substitute is only a
substitute. We are only rarely
able to create in the mouth
something that is better than
what nature can create in op-
timum circumstances,
Pnek said, adding that of
course some people are un-
lucky enough to have a gener-
ic predisposition for teeth
which are naturally ugly, bad
or prone to cavities.
Thelevel of dental care
inSlovakia
With regards to dental
care and trends in Slovakia,
Pnek identified two view-
points. One is what dental
care is able to achieve and
provide in individual prac-
tices, and the second is where
the general level of dental
care and oral health in Slov-
akia is. While he believes that
some practices in Slovakia
provide top-quality dental
care, he believes that from a
national point of view stand-
ards are only gradually ap-
proaching the general
Europeanlevel.
In general I think that
the level of dental health of
Slovaks is bad and that the
population of dentists is
aged, Pnek said, adding that
this means that those who
have not caught up with new
trends continue to work ac-
cording to old ones that can-
not be regarded as up-to-date
dentistry. Thus I basically be-
lieve that practices in large
cities, which due to their
higher incomes [for upper-
standard treatment] are able
to provide quality dental care,
are not lagging in any para-
meter compared to their peers
elsewhere inEurope."
Dentists agree that pa-
tients willingness to pay for
dental care defines the level of
care that can be provided, as
all the new materials, meth-
ods and procedures are not
cheap. Moreover, in Slovakia
only some dental care is
covered by public health in-
surance and some practices do
not even have contracts with
health insurance companies.
This means that their patients
must cover the full cost of
dental care from their own
pockets. Peoples willingness
and/or ability to pay for treat-
ment therefore significantly
influences the level of care
they receive. This particularly
affects people in rural areas
who tend to be much less in-
terested infine dentistry.
Pnek said his experience
inMalacky proves this.
Of course, there are
people in Malacky who can af-
ford top dental treatment but
the majority of people only
want to get rid of pain, said
Pnek, adding that the latter
are generally not interested in
any follow-up solutions.
There are many more such
people than in Bratislava,
even though Malacky can be
regarded as almost the peri-
phery of the capital.
With regards to imple-
mentation of the latest trends,
Schill points to the difference
in payments which Slovak
dentists receive for their work
compared withthose abroad.
The price of dental
treatments in Slovakia are
somewhere around one-
quarter to one-third of the
prices in western Europe,
Schill said, explaining that all
the costs of materials, techno-
logies and procedures used in
Slovakia are basically equal to
those abroad, so the differ-
ence comes in the amount
that the dentists and nurses
are paid. This means that
when a Slovak dentist wants
to invest in more modern
equipment, he has to work
longer to get it. But even
though Schill perceives this as
a limiting factor, he believes
that dentists here can nowob-
tain modern equipment, al-
beit a few years after it is first
launched, once prices de-
crease somewhat.
For example, 10 years ago
it was a luxury for a small
dental clinic to have panor-
amic dental X-ray equipment,
whereas nowadays it is not a
problem for a clinic with four
to five dental chairs to obtain
a dental CT, Schill said.
The better diagnoses
which such equipment allows
is another facet of new trends
penetrating dental care, ac-
cording to Schill. Now it is
much easier than it was 10
years ago to make diagnoses
of much higher quality and to
plan implants or dental sur-
gery. Updated methods to
produce dental restorations
also save patients time and
shorten the whole processes
to one patient visit.
Moreworkinthefuture?
It seems that dentists in
Slovakia need not worry
about work in the future.
Statistics showing that the
dental health of Slovak chil-
dren is poor indicates that
dental treatment will be very
much in demand for some
time to come.
The dental health of
Slovak children is not good,
said Dianikov, citing sur-
veys that the Slovak Cham-
ber of Dentists regularly
conducts at approximately
five-year intervals. Alas, we
have to say that Slovakia has
been placed in the lowest
rankings over recent years in
terms of the oral health of its
children.
In this respect
Dianikov pointed to the
breakdown of the old scheme
of school dental practices.
Even though this system had
its flaws, its demise means
care for childrens teeth now
falls squarely on the
shoulders of parents. But
when parents neglect their
own oral health, there is a
high chance that they will
also neglect the oral health of
their children, even though
the public health-care
scheme pays for two check-
ups a year for children.
Pnek said that, based on
his experience, the amount
of attention people pay to
their teeth and oral health
varies greatly between indi-
viduals and added that, des-
pite what one might think,
there is no direct link to so-
cial status or wealth.
People and their attitude
to their teeth and to their
health on the whole is a very
individual and intimate is-
sue, which has actually noth-
ing in common with their
ranking in society or wealth,
said Pnek. There are people
who are enormously wealthy
but have a total cemetery in
their mouth, and by contrast
there are people who have to
count eacheuro before spend-
ing it but arrive regularly for
preventive checks and when
they need some more expens-
ive treatment ask me to make
a later appointment and save
up for it.
I think that this is linked
to how each person perceives
the question of health and
what importance he or she
ascribes to it in one's ranking
of values, Pnek concluded.
8
BUSINESS FOCUS
September 12 18, 2011
e-Heultl leultl cuie sup-
poited by electionic piocesses
is one ol tle ten piioiities
ol tle eEuiope 200S Action
Plun, un initiutive ol tle Euio-
peun Union to piovide Inteinet
uccess to Euiopeun citizens und
compunies. e-Heultl's uim is to
cieute usei-liiendly und inteio-
peiuble inloimution systems
loi putients und leultl-cuie
piolessionuls in Euiope.
Tle busis ol e-Heultl in
Slovukiu will be tle Nutionul
Heultl Inloimution System
tle system intended to pio-
vide seivices und inloimution
ieguiding leultl cuie. It is ex-
pected to be uvuiluble in 2012.
A common communicution in-
teiluce loi peisons und otlei
inloimution systems to uccess
tlis system will be piovided
by tle Nutionul Heultl Poitul.
It will ollei inloimution on
medicinul pioducts, medicul
equipment leultl-cuie piovi-
deis, und it will ulso be tle site
tlut publisles inloimution
und wuinings in tle event ol
epidemics oi otlei medicully-
ielevunt mutteis oi tlieuts.
Tle liist step ol suppoiting
leultl cuie tliougl electio-
nic piocesses is tle intioduc-
tion ol tle Electionic Heultl
Recoid, wlicl is sluted loi tle
beginning ol 2013 und will
include impoitunt inloimution
on un individuul's leultl und
medicul tieutment.
Among otlei udvuntuges
ol usleiing in electionic
piocesses uie tle possibility ol
scleduling doctoi's uppoint-
ments und ieceiving inloimu-
tion ubout plunned exums oi
lub iesults online. Tlis slould
lelp putients sulleiing liom
clionic diseuses to ieduce tle
numbei ol visits to tleii doctois,
us tleii leultl condition cun
be monitoied online. Piogiess
in implementing tlese usei-
liiendly udvuntuges into Slovu-
kiu's legislution lints ut u veiy
modeiute piogiess so lui.
Tle undeilying document
loi tle implementution ol tle
e-Heultl initiutive in Slovukiu
wus tle so culled Action Plun
loi u Euiopeun e-Heultl Aieu"
(leieinultei ieleiied to us tle
Action Plun) diulted by tle
Euiopeun Commission.
A 2008 iesolution by tle go-
veinment ol tle Slovuk Repub-
lic uppioved tle stiutegic gouls
ol e-Heultl u key instiument
ol inloimutisution ol public ud-
ministiution in leultl cuie.
Tle stiutegic gouls ol e-
Heultl include: setting tle le-
gislutive, noimutive und system
uiclitectuie liumewoik; cieu-
ting secuie inliustiuctuie; inloi-
mutisution undsuppoiting new
piocesses und loims ol leultl
cuie und leultl-cuie seivices.
As one ol tle piioiities
on tle ugendu ol tle Slovuk
goveinment, inloimutisuti-
on cun occui only lollowing
tle cieution ol tle legislu-
tive, noimutive und system
uiclitectuie liumewoik ol
e-Heultl, wlicl is one ol its
busic stiutegic points.
Tle Slovuk legul liumewoik
slould incoipoiute tle ele-
ments ol tle EU Action Plun,
wlile lollowing tle Feusibility
Study loi e-Heultl Pio}ects
diulted by tle Finunce Mi-
nistiy ol tle Slovuk Republic
in Muicl 2009 wlicl iecom-
mends tlut e.g. lollowing
luws slould be umended: Act
on leultl cuie; Act on leultl
cuie piovideis; Act on scope ol
leultl cuie coveied by public
leultl insuiunce; Act on leultl
insuiunce; Act on diugs; Act
on peisonul dutu piotection;
Act on public leultl piotection
including udoption ol seveiul
implementution iegulutions.
In connection witl tle e-
Heultl pio}ect, tle Ministiy ol
Heultl udopted in Septembei
2008 tle Regulution on mini-
mum iequiiements ieguiding
stull und muteiiul und teclni-
cul equipment ol leultl-cuie
lucilities", obliging tle piovi-
deis ol outputient tieutment,
no lutei tlun 31.12.2008, und
piovideis ol inputient cuie, no
lutei tlun 31.12.2011, to equip
tleii lucilities witl inloimuti-
on-communicution teclnology
witl connection to tle Intei-
net so tlut tleii systems ullow
bioudbund tiunsmission und
piocessing ol dutu in electionic
loim. Tleie is no cuiient
inloimution wletlei tlese
busic e-Heultl pieconditions
luve been met by tlose leultl-
cuie piovideis.
Bused on inloimution liom
tle Nutionul Heultl Inloimu-
tion Centie ieceived ut tle
time ol wiiting tlis uiticle, no
bills to umend tle uboveno-
ted ucts luve been submitted
to Slovukiu's puiliument und
no pioposed umendments to
do so luve been pussed by tle
Slovuk goveinment otlei
tlun tle one iegulution issued
by tle Ministiy ol Heultl in
Septembei 2008.
Among otlei issues, tle
piotection ol sensitive peisonul
dutu us uie detuils ol tle putient's
leultl seems to be u lot
discussion point wlicl needs to
be piopeily coveied in tle bills to
be diulted und udopted.
Mgt. Sy|via Szab6, Juniot
Patrnct, Ruzicla Csclcs s.t.o.
Tnis atric|c is oj an injotmarivc
narutc on|y. lot motc
injotmarion p|casc conracr
out law Ojjicc.
Ru2cku Csekes s.r.o.
Te/: +421 (0)2 3233-3421
sy/vu.szubo@rc-cms.sk
www.rc-cms.sk
e-Health ln Slovakla?
Mgt. Sy|via Szab6, Juniot Patrnct,
Ruzicla Csclcs s.t.o.
SP90542/3
Slovakia is losing its medical graduates
THE STATE invests a huge amount of
money into educating doctors, but hun-
dreds of them leave Slovakia after gradu-
ation, drawn by higher earnings and bet-
ter working conditions abroad.
After veterinary science, medicine is
the second most expensive field of study.
Training a doctor costs the state three
times more than, for example, an eco-
nomist. But one in 10 Slovak medical
school graduates look for jobs abroad,
where doctors receive better wages,
working conditions, and prospects for
career advancement. As a result, the
generation of doctors now serving in
Slovak hospitals is generally older, the
Pravda daily wrote in early August.
While there are no official statistics
of howmany doctors are leaving Slovakia
and what the average age of medical
practitioners is, the lack of young doc-
tors has already become a public issue.
And the increasing age of doctors is con-
firmed by representatives of medical and
professional organisations.
The highest number of young doc-
tors go to the Czech Republic but also to
Germany and Austria, said Anton Szalay,
the head of the Slovak Trade Unions of
Health and Social Services, as quoted by
the daily. The wages of our doctors are
discouraging. They are too low to enable
them to have families and to pay mort-
gages. We have been pointing out the
need to stabilise wages in order that
young doctors do not leave for a long
period of time.
Students and graduates of medical
faculties confirmed Szalays words, while
many Slovaks attending medical schools
in the Czech Republic are also pondering
staying because, they say, health care
there is at a higher level, hospitals are
better equipped, wages are higher and
the approach of people is also different.
Apart from the lack of younger gener-
al practitioners, there is also a lack of
young dentists, both leading to an older
average age for practising doctors and
dentists. And this phenomenon affects
other professions like nursing and mid-
wifery too.
The Health Ministry as well as dent-
ists ascribe the shortage of young dentists
to the education sector, which fails to
generate enoughgraduates due to the low
number of students accepted, the Sme
daily wrote inearly September.
CompiledbySpectator staff frompress reports
Wanted: youngdoctors. Photo: AP
ZV: Good customer
service is important
Continuedfrompg7
ZV: Undoubtedly Slov-
akia is a well-knowncountry
inthe field of physiotherapy
or spa treatment, even
thoughthe related infra-
structure does not reach
Europeanstandards so far.
Probably it would be neces-
sary to think over the target
clients/patients inthis re-
spect, either fromthe view-
point of their originor their
economic potential and real
preferences, i.e. those re-
quirements whichwill be
decisive intheir choices.
TSS: What factors most af-
fect the potential of the
countryand its utilisation?
ZV: These are demon-
strable quality, good refer-
ences and reputation, the
generally perceived success
of a facility, the recommend-
ationof patients, but also in-
ternationally recognised cer-
tificationof facilities and
their ability to become con-
tract partners for potential
payers of healthcare, for ex-
ample insurance companies
or national institutions
covering healthcare. Other
factors are the price of the
medical services provided,
the scope and quality of
supplementary services and
programmes for patients
and accompanying persons,
as well as the ability to se-
cure protectionof personal
data and privacy of pa-
tients. Among other factors
I would add the behaviour
and attitude of the person-
nel to patients and, last but
not least, the ability to offer
quality post-surgical or fol-
low-up care.
Fake drugs find a way into Slovakia
AS WITHfake Adidas T-
shirts or phony Nike train-
ers, nowimitationdrugs
have found their way into
Slovakia. During the first
half of 2011 alone, Slovak cus-
toms officers prevented the
distributionof over 128,000
pieces of imitationmedica-
tions, the Hospodrske Nov-
iny daily reported inAugust.
Most of themwere ac-
counted for by steroids or
blue diamond-shaped pills,
Miroslava Slemensk,
spokespersonof the director
general of the Customs Of-
fices Directorate, said, as
quoted by the daily.
The haul represented an
increase fromlast years ag-
gregate contraband of more
than12,000 pieces.
The daily warned that
while fake sports brands
cause little physical damage,
this is not the case with
phony drugs.
The imitation[drug]
does not have the same effect
[and thus the illness remains
untreated], it might be close
to the original, or it may
evenharmhealth, Tom
Turiak, vice-president of the
Slovak Chamber of Phar-
macists, said, adding that
neither compositionnor hy-
giene is checked inproduc-
tionof phony drugs.
The State Institute for
Drug Control reported that it
most oftenencounters fake
anabolic steroids and drugs to
boost sexual performance,
but also finds imitation
weight-loss and anti-smoking
drugs that are sold online.
Slovakias experience is
inline withthe EUsituation
inwhichas muchas 99 per-
cent of the imitationmedic-
ationintercepted in2010
was so-called lifestyle drugs.
Most come fromChina and
India but there are also local
producers.
CompiledbySpectator staff
frompress reports
Insurers spent over 1bn on drugs
THE ANNUAL consumption
of prescriptiondrugs covered
by Slovakias public health
insurance scheme exceeded
94.4 millionpackages in
2010, a drop from95.7 million
packages in2009, the Health
Ministry informed the TASR
newswire, citing its own
statistics.
Intotal, healthinsurance
companies spent nearly
1.04 billionondrugs in2010,
a drop of about 20 million
fromthe previous year. Ex-
penditures for drugs by
healthinsurers exceeded 1
billionfor the first time in
2008, whenthey totalled
1.008 billion. In2007 the
expenditure was 907 mil-
lionand in2006 882 million.
Healthinsurers spent
the largest amount ondrugs
to treat cardio-vascular dis-
eases. Last year these cost
the public healthinsurance
firms over 206.7 million.
Drugs for cancer patients
followed, withalmost 173.4
millionspent. Drugs for
treatment of diseases of the
central nervous systemcost
130.6 million.
The ministry noted the
increased amount of uncon-
sumed drugs that people can
dispose of inspecial baskets
at pharmacies after they are
past their expiry date.
People threwaway more
drugs in2010 thanat any
time inthe past six years:
97.7 tons.
9
BUSINESS FOCUS
September 12 18, 2011
FOCUS shorts
LOZ: Doctors to give notice en masse
Continuedfrompg6
Kollr stated that his or-
ganisation believes that less
money coming to the hospit-
als will be reflected in a drop
in the quantity as well as the
quality of health-care services
provided in the hospitals as
well as an increase in fees.
LOZ has also said it is fearful
of possible distraint proceed-
ings against the hospitals to
collect debts as well as by the
possible sale or privatisation
of hospitals by various
groups that Kollr did not fur-
ther identify, the SITA news-
wire wrote.
Zollerov told The Slovak
Spectator that after trans-
formation of the hospitals into
joint-stock companies the
state will remain the exclus-
ive owner of 100 percent of the
shares in each hospital.
The government is not
pondering any sale of the
shares, Zollerov stated,
adding neither the past gov-
ernment nor the current gov-
ernment had sold any of the
shares of six hospitals that
were transformed into joint-
stock companies in 2006. This
will also be the case after the
origination of the additional
joint-stock companies.
The plan is to transform
public hospitals under the
control of the Ministry of
Health into joint-stock com-
panies by the end of 2011,
though that deadline might be
postponed by six months for
certain hospitals. Hospitals
not operated by the Ministry
of Health are expected to
change their form by mid
2012. The state will be the legal
founder and 100-percent
shareowner of the newly-cre-
ated joint-stock hospitals and
the ministries that currently
control the hospitals will con-
tinue to administer the hos-
pitals on behalf of the state.
The plan calls for 31 facilities
to be transformed into joint-
stock companies and the cab-
inet has already allocated 350
million to cover those facilit-
ies current debts. The parlia-
ment approved its allocation
on September 8.
In late August LOZ started
collecting signed notices from
doctors in which they state
they are terminating their
employment contract with
their health-care facility. LOZ
had previously said it had re-
ceived commitments from
3,830 doctors working in 51
hospitals to sign a notice of
termination of their employ-
ment contract. LOZ estimates
that about 5,300 doctors work
in public hospitals in Slovakia.
The first information
about mass termination no-
tices on paper came from the
Preov-based Jn Adam Re-
iman Faculty Hospital and
Polyclinic, with Michal Poli-
cian, the head of the local
trade union telling SITA that
about half of 300 doctors
working in the hospital indic-
ated signing the termination
notices. Polician did not spe-
cify exactly how many notices
had already been signed.
Polician said the doctors
main reason for signing the
notices is disagreement with
the idea of fast transforming
their hospital into a joint-
stock company, as well as low
salaries. Polician said a
doctors average monthly
salary at the hospital is 1,500
and that includes all supple-
mental pay and overtime pay.
He added that after working
for 33 years as a surgeon his
monthly salary is 1,200
without supplemental pay-
ments and that is why he had
signed a termination notice,
SITA wrote.
LOZ told The Slovak Spec-
tator that it is satisfied with
its campaign. "We can say
for now that everything is
going according to plan,"
adding that in the end even a
higher number of doctors
may sign the termination
notices. "The notices will be
delivered to all hospitals at
the same moment."
Miroslav Kollr Photo: TASR
TREND: Austrians seek cosmetic work
Continuedfrompg6
Alexandra Semanov from stav
Lekrskej Kozmetiky (LK), the Institute
of Medical Cosmetics, told The Slovak
Spectator that her institute, one of the
first specialised centres for health,
beauty and anti-aging procedures in
Slovakia, has found considerable interest
inthe treatments it offers.
We register interest especially by
[persons from] neighbouring Austria, fol-
lowed by Slovaks who live on a long-term
basis abroad, especially in England,
France andItaly, Semanov stated.
Semanov said Hungarians are not
frequent patients due to an extensive
network of similar centres in the north-
ern part of Hungary as well as in Bud-
apest, adding that Austrians are inter-
ested in the whole spectrum of services
and treatments offered by LK. While
some individuals first try only one ser-
vice and order others only after they are
satisfied with the treatment, others un-
dertake several treatments at one ses-
sion. Semanov said the highest interest
is in LKs various body programmes
(such as slimming programmes and cel-
lulite treatment) and dermatological
treatments (botulinum toxin applica-
tions to reduce wrinkles, and laser sur-
gery) but added that people from the
United Kingdom, France and Italy are
also interested in plastic surgery breast
surgery or rhinoplasty (nose surgery)
liposuctionand facelifts.
Semanov told The Slovak Spectator
that recommendations from acquaint-
ances, information on the internet, as
well as a good price, especially for
plastic-aesthetic surgery, are among the
reasons why individuals seek out LK.
The price for comparable services of
the quality offered by LK is more expens-
ive abroad, said Semanov, adding that it
is possible to find cheaper services in some
other countries but the quality is also lower.
Is dental tourismnext?
Prices of dental treatments in Slov-
akia are somewhere at one-third or one-
quarter of the prices in western
Europe, Alexander Schill, founder of
the private Schill Dental Clinic, told The
Slovak Spectator, explaining that the
costs of materials and technologies
used in Slovakia are basically the same
as those abroad but that there is a signi-
ficant difference in the salaries of dent-
ists and nurses in Slovakia compared to
westernEurope.
Though there may be some excep-
tions, Slovakia is generally not thought
of as a destinationfor dental tourism.
Dental tourism works especially in
Hungary, where it has a tradition,
Schill said. Dentists in Hungary even
during the previous communist regime
could have private practices. They
were prepared for dental tourism much
earlier.
Schill also pointed out that that be-
ing successful in medical or dental tour-
ism is not only about receiving proper
treatment. It also requires other well-
functioning tourism services such as
hotels and restaurants, as well as a well-
developed business concept in the areas
of logistics andmarketing.
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C 3655
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C 3573
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Bratislava International Church
Sundays, 9:30 at historic Small Lutheran Church
(Maly evanjelicky kostol) in central Bratislava
(near Hodzovo namestie); on Lycejna at
intersection with Panenska 26/28.
Children's Sunday School provided.
Everyone Welcome.
Information at 02-5443-3263
Web Site: www.bratislavainternationalchurch.org
Take your
chance
and place your
classified advertisement.
For information call:
02 / 59 233 312,
or e-mail:
beata.fojtikova@spectator.sk
C 3634
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NOTE:
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Choir festival
returns to Trnava
TRNAVAis sometimes
knownas the Little Rome
due to the many churches
scattered around the city,
but locals, especially those
witha musical ear, also
knowit as the townwiththe
highest concentrationof
choirs per square metre. The
long traditionof choral mu-
sic inTrnava had been
maintained inpart thanks
to the autumnfestival of
choirs which, after a recent
hiatus, re-emerged ina very
newformat the end of this
summer.
The last Choral Days of
Trnava, anevent whichused
to welcome choirs fromall
around Slovakia and beyond,
took place in2008. That
event was followed by three
year of silence, until the
first weekend of September
2011, whenthe 21st editionof
the Choral Days of Trnava
was organised, predomin-
antly by the civic association
Trnavsk Mestsk Zbory
(Trnava City Choirs). During
the interlude, the festival
has lost most of its interna-
tional character, since only
Slovak choirs participated in
the 2011 editionand the only
international participants
were the soloists who per-
formed at the highlight con-
cert of the festival. But that
is not the only change that
the event has undergone
since 2008.
Froma festival which
was once held solely inside
Trnavas churches, withone
day devoted strictly to
churchmusic and another
to non-sacral music, the or-
ganisers have nowturned
the Choral Days of Trnava
into anopen-air event, mak-
ing use of the towns re-
cently reconstructed amphi-
theatre. Thanks to this, vis-
itors and participants alike
were allowed to let their hair
down, and people injeans
and t-shirts could be seenin
the audience listening to
arias fromVerdis operas
while enjoying a hot-dog or
a glass of beer.
The evenings of the fest-
ival were divided according
to genre: onjazz-musical-
rock Friday the choir of
Trnavas secondary schools
Cantica Nova and young
Slovak singers offered a per-
formance of Missa Criola by
Ariel Ramrez, withsoloist
ViliamCsontos, and the rock
oratorio Eversmiling Liberty
by Danishcomposers Jens
Johansenand Erling Kull-
berg, withsolos sung by
Mria rov and Kamil
Mikulk. Trnavas Tirnavia
choir added its interpreta-
tionof ALittle Jazz Mass by
Bob Chilcott and a selection
of melodies fromthe musical
West Side Story.
Saturday was devoted to
all the participating choirs
Bradlan, Vox Aurumque,
Cantica Nova, Tirnavia,
Cantica /Z/nova, and Technik
Akademik who got the
chance to showoff their rep-
ertoire during the Choirs to
Choirs concert.
The highlight of the fest-
ival, a concert entitled
Verdis Opera Choirs and de-
voted to the 110than-
niversary of the composers
death, gathered anunpre-
cedented number of people
onthe stage of the (rather
small) city amphitheatre:
the choir and orchestra of
the Slovak National Theatre
were joined by Trnava
choirs Cantica /Z/nova and
Technik Akademik to create
one powerful voice while in-
terpreting a number of
Verdis most famous choirs
and arias, led by Pavol
Prochzka who at one
point conducted whichsuch
force that he snapped his
batoninto two pieces.
The soloists represented
all the countries of the cent-
ral Europeanregion: sop-
ranos Karina Skrzeszewska
fromPoland and Jolana
Fogaov fromSlovakia,
tenor Lszl Boldizsr from
Hungary and bass Richard
Novk fromthe CzechRe-
public.
The organisers promise
that the choral event will not
fall silent for so long again:
they planto make the festiv-
al a biennial event, pledging
to attract more international
participants infuture years.
10
CULTURE
September 12 18, 2011
Images immortalise
Jewish past in Slovakia
THE OPENING of Last Folio, an
exhibit of Yuri Dojcs pictures
of what remains of once-vi-
brant Jewish communities
throughout Slovakia, served
as the centrepiece of a week-
end devoted to life in Slovakia,
past and present, held at the
Bloomington campus of Indi-
ana University (IU) in early
September. Peter Burian,
Slovak ambassador to the
United States, represented the
Slovak government at the
event.
The Dojc exhibit originally
opened at the Slovak National
Museum, followed by present-
ations in Cambridge, England,
and at the Museum of Jewish
History in NewYork City.
Katya Krausovas short
documentary film, which she
plans to extend to full length,
was also featured in Bloom-
ington. The short version can
be seen online at
http://vimeo.com/20779058.
Dojc and Krausova both
left Czechoslovakia in 1968.
He now works as a photo-
grapher in Canada and she is a
film producer in London. The
two met in London in 2005 at
a meeting of expats.
The exhibit was designed
by Daniel Weil, a native of Ar-
gentina, who also designed
the interior of the new Ar-
chaeological Wing of the Is-
rael Museum in Jerusalem, as
well as aeroplane and airport
interiors for United Airlines.
Every time I see Yuri
Dojcs haunting photos of the
objects left behind in a Slovak
Jewish school after the towns
Jewish community was de-
ported to concentration
camps in 1942, I feel the hor-
ror of that moment, observed
professor Jeffrey Veidlinger,
the director of IUs Jewish
Studies Program.
The exhibition is also a
message of perseverance and
hope, added Veidlinger,
whose great-great grandfath-
er emigrated from Slovakia.
Despite all attempts to erase
any memory of the Jewish
community of that town, over
60 years later, the objects are
still telling their story
screaming for remembrance.
We were looking for the
specks of dust, for the com-
munity that doesnt exist
anymore, Dojc told a Bloom-
ington symposium on the eve
of the exhibits opening.
When I photograph the
books, I feel like Im photo-
graphing people.
The poignancy of the pic-
tures is the neglect they
show, said history professor
Mark Roseman. Nothing so
powerful connects to the hu-
man tragedy. He expressed
the fear that their preserva-
tion will destroy this image.
The exhibit also marked
the renaming of Indiana
Universitys School of Fine
Arts Gallery to the Grunwald
Gallery, thanks to a gift from
Rita Grunwald in honour of
her late husband John, who
was born in 1935 in Budapest
to Jewish parents. He sur-
vived the Holocaust and came
to New York and eventually to
Bloomington.
Patrick OMeara, Vice-
President Emeritus of Inter-
national Affairs at the uni-
versity, helped coordinate the
weekend in Bloomington. He
conducted an hour-long radio
interview with Dojc and
Krausova during their visit,
which will be broadcast later
this year on WFIU, the
universitys radio station. He
also presided over a half-hour
discussion at the opening of
the exhibit attended by sever-
al hundred people.
As the people of Slovakia
move forward, its important
that they recognise the legacy
and problems of the past,
OMeara observed after the
opening night ceremony.
Ambassador Burian is the
first Slovak ambassador to vis-
it Indiana University though
Rita Klimova, the last ambas-
sador from Czechoslovakia,
visited Bloomingtonin 1992.
The ambassador visited
over lunch with IU Provost
Karen Hanson. Also attending
the lunch was Steve Zlatos,
Honorary Consul for Slovakia,
who serves Slovak interests in
the states of Indiana, Ken-
tucky and Tennessee. They
were joined by Maj. Gen. R.
Martin Umbarger, commander
of the Indiana National Guard,
which is paired with the Slov-
ak armed forces under NATOs
Partnership for Peace program.
Earlier this year, Gen.
ubomr Bulk, the Slovak
Defence Chief, paid a visit to
Indiana as guest of the Na-
tional Guard.
After the lunch, Burian
talked with IU faculty and
graduate students interested
in central and eastern
European studies. He de-
scribed the successes of Slov-
ak foreign policy since the
countrys founding and said
relations between the US and
Slovakia were very good.
Burian pointed out that a
joint military team from the
Indiana National Guard and
from Slovakia will deploy to
Afghanistanlater this year.
The ambassador ex-
pressed his hope that in an era
of declining US federal sup-
port for academic studies of
central Europe more uni-
versity-to-university connec-
tions could be arranged. Buri-
an was also interviewed by
WFIUfor later broadcast.
BYOWENV. JOHNSON
Special to the Spectator
Yuri Dojc (l) withMajor General R.MartinUmbarger (c) at
IndianaUniversity. Photo: Courtesyof Yuri Dojc
'Amessage of perservance andhope.' Photo: Courtesyof Yuri Dojc
Last Folio
To accompany the Last Folio
exhibit in both New York and
Bloomington, Indiana Uni-
versity Press published a book
titled Last Folio: Textures of
JewishLife inSlovakia.
The book includes 34
photographs of the remains
of a Jewish school in Barde-
jov where everything
stopped when the students
were taken away to concen-
tration camps, as well as
pictures of the ruins of
schools, synagogues, mik-
vahs and cemeteries. There
are also 15 portraits of sur-
vivors of the camps.
In a section entitled The
Journey, Katya Krausova
wrote two stories in journal
format about how she and
Dojc came to gather the story
and how they had amazingly
found a book that had be-
longed to Jakub Deutsch,
Yuri Dojcs grandfather.
Azar Nafisi, the director
of Cultural Conversations at
the Foreign Policy Institute
of Johns Hopkins
Universitys School of Ad-
vanced Studies also wrote an
essay, All That Remains.
These photographs, in
their anguished beauty, as-
sert that there will always be
art after Auschwitz, because
there will always be life, and
that art is ultimately on the
side of life, she wrote in her
essay. I believe this is the
message the spirits guiding
Yuri wanted us to know.
Lucia Faltins short essay
helps non-specialists orient
themselves to Jewish history
in Slovakia, with primary
emphasis on the 20th cen-
tury experience.
When I was travelling
around Slovakia in the 1970s
and 1980s, doing research on
interwar Slovakia, I occa-
sionally saw an empty syn-
agogue. I knew from my re-
search on Slovak secondary
schools and Comenius Uni-
versity that Jewish students
had studied in those schools,
but found it hard to imagine
them as living, breathing
human beings. This book
brings me much closer to see-
ing them.
Two years ago, IU Press
also published Rediscovering
Traces of Memory: The Jew-
ish Heritage of Polish Galicia
by Jonathan Webber. That al-
bum includes 74 images of
synagogues, cemeteries,
Holocaust memorials, Nazi
camps, and other evidence of
Jewishpresence and absence.
Last Folio: Textures of Jew-
ish Life in Slovakia can be
ordered from Indiana University
Press, www.iupress.indiana.edu,
for $24.95 .
ByOwenV. Johnson
BYMICHAELA
TERENZANI
Spectator staff
SopranoJolanaFogaov Photo: JordankaHomolov
The wagoners of Hol
THE SQUARES of towns and
also their streets usually give
the impression of being bigger
in old photos than
they are today. The
clue to this mystery
is simple: there
were no cars then.
Thus, we can also
see the cobbles and lower parts
of houses inold photographs.
Instead of cars, their fore-
runners filled urban streets:
horse-drawn wagons and car-
riages. In this postcard from
the period immediately after
World War I, we see two wag-
ons pulled by horses.
Wagons were once the
most important means of
transporting goods, together
with wooden rafts. This was
true not only in Slovakia, but
also in neighbouring coun-
tries. In several areas here,
specialised groups of men
called furmani (wagoners)
dealt with horse-drawn wag-
ons and transported goods as
well as sometimes people. In
the Horehronie region, whole
horsemens villages existed.
By the end of the 19th
century, the
wagoners profes-
sion had become a
craft. Wagoners spe-
cialised mainly in
delivering fuel to of-
fices, or in moving people
from one place to another.
Furmani from some re-
gions also travelled abroad
and thus secured the import
and export of various goods
to and fromSlovakia.
ByBranislavChovan
HISTORY TALKS
WesternSLOVAKIA
Bratislava
l ETHNO MUSIC: Idan Rai-
chel This Israeli star of world
music comes for the first time
to Slovakia to present his mix-
ture of piano playing and
singing in exotic languages,
such as Hebrew, Arabian, Ara-
maic, Spanishand Swahili.
Starts: September 15,
19:00; Nov Scna, Kollrovo
Square. Admission: 20-25.
Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.
ticketportal.sk.
Bratislava
l TENNIS CUP: Davis Cup
Slovakia - Ukraine After two
years, the best Slovak tennis
players get the chance to play
before a local crowd for the
next round of this world fam-
ous competition. Players
should include Martin Klian,
Michal Mertik, Filip
Polek, Luk Lacko, Pavol
ervenk, and possibly others.
Starts: September 16-18,
from 13:00 (Sunday) or 14:00
onwards; Sibamac Arna NTC,
Prkopova 6. Admission: 10.
Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.
ticketportal.sk, www.stz.sk.
Bratislava
l JAZZ MUSIC: Jazz v Arne /
Jazz in the Arena - Martin Va-
lihora Trio featuring Marcel
Palonder (vocals) This popu-
lar jazz grouping (comprising
Eugen Vizvry on piano, Juraj
Griglk on double bass and Va-
lihora on drums) has invited
Palonder to sing withthem.
Starts: September 15,
20:00; Arna Theatre,
Viedensk 10. Admission: 6.
Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.
ticketportal.sk.
Bratislava
l LIVE MUSIC: Steve Reich in
the Club Cluster Ensemble, a
grouping focused on contem-
porary art will perform three
works by Steve Reich (US), a
representative of minimal
music.
Starts: September 13, 21:
00; Nu Spirit Club, afrikovo
Square 7. Admission: 5-7.
Tel: 0948/855-449; www.
nuspirit.sk.
Bratislava
l EXHIBITION: Omara SM
This Mexican visual artist is
holding his first solo exhibi-
tion in Europe in Slovakias
capital. He created his black-
and-white images last year
with etching or aquatint, the
main themes being whales
and Mexicanstreet dogs fight-
ing for survival.
Open: Mon-Fri 10:00-
18:00, Sat 9:00-17:00 until
September 27; TGallery, Pan-
sk 24 (basement). Admission:
free. Tel: 0903/601-656; www.
tgallery.sk.
Trnava
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Trnav-
sk organov dni / Trnava Or-
gan Days The 16th year of
this organ festival culminates
with a concert by the official
organ player of Pariss Notre
Dame Cathedral, Olivier
Latry. He plays works by A. P.
F. Boly, C. Franck, C. Widor,
G. Piern, L. Vierne and M.
Dupr, and his ownworks.
Starts: September 16,
20:00; St. Nicholas Basilica, St
Nicholas Square. Admission:
10-12. Tel: 0905/269 -971; w
ww.bachsociety.sk/trnavaorg
andays.
Central SLOVAKIA
BanskBystrica
l LIVE MUSIC: Kroke This
Polish trio from Krakow plays
world music, including
Klezmer.
Starts: September 12, 19:
00; Evangelical Church, La-
zovn Street. Admission: 12.
Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.
ticketportal.sk.
LiptovskMikul
l PHOTOEXHIBITION: Photo-
School Final Exhibition The
annual summer photo-school
in Liptovsk Mikul ends
with the best works by its 45
participants from 8 countries
being put onshow.
Open: Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00
until September 17; Great Hall,
Liptovsk Galria P. M. Boh-
a, Tranovskho 3. Admis-
sion: 0.50-1. Tel: 044/5522-
758; www.galerialm.sk.
EasternSLOVAKIA
Koice
l LIVEMUSIC: Richard Mller
Potichu Tour 3 The Silently
Tour by popular singer/
musician/ songwriter Richard
Mller will also feature Czech
musicianDanBrta.
Starts: September 15,
19:00; Spoloensk Paviln,
Trieda SNP 31. Admission:
22.90. Tel: 02/5293-3321;
www.ticketportal.sk.
Kemarok
l CLASSICAL MUSIC: 41. Me-
dzinrodn Organov Festival
Ivana Sokola The 41st Inter-
national Organ Festival of I.
Sokol visits several towns
and cities between September
14 and 27 with a rich organ
programme. In Kemarok,
Irena Chibkov (CZ) plays
works by Linek, Rokovsk,
Rigler, Pachelbel, Buxtehude,
Brixi, ernohorsk, Bach,
Guilmant, Grek and Boell-
man. Other festival concerts
take place in Koice and else-
where.
Starts: September 16, 19:00;
Wooden Articular Church and
the New Evangelical Church.
Admission: voluntary. Tel:
055/2453-106; www.sfk.sk,
www.festivaly .sk.
ByZuzana Vilikovsk
EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE
The 12th year of the Konvergencie festival brings, once again, a
merger of different musical genres. The opening concert, on
September 18 at 19:00 in St Martins Cathedral, Bratislava, com-
bines Cello Colosseum (a cello ensemble led by Jozef Luptk)
with Gregoriana from Koice, offering works by J. S. Bach, A.
Ptro, R. Shchedrin, J. Irai and Gregorian chorale. Other con-
certs include Doric String Quartet (UK), ASGUESTS (a jazz group
from Slovakia), Uhrovec 1730 (a Slovak group playing early mu-
sic, folklore and improvisations), local pop singer Jana Kirschner
with afterPhurikane, and more. Tickets can be obtained at Tick-
etportal and Eventim; for more information, go to
www.konvergencie.sk. Photo: Courtesyof Konvergencie
tefan Pita Bartu & JazzBrothers will be joined by Andy
Middleton for a concert in Caffe Passe in Ruomberok on
September 16 at 20:00. JazzBrothers comprises Bartu on double
bass, M. Bugala on guitar, L. rmek on piano and P. Solrik on
drums. Andy Middleton, a renownedAmericansaxophonist, will
play withthemas part of the 33Birthday Tour. Their music is a fu-
sionof modernLatino, classical andfree music. For more inform-
ation, visit www.passe.sk/eventy. Photo: Courtesyof . Bartu
Celebrations of laughter
THE ANNUAL Slovak festival
of humour which marks the
end of summer vacations, be-
stowed several awards this
year and offered a lot of fun
and entertainment for both
children and adults. Golden
Gander is the name given to
the top prizes awarded to the
best representatives of hu-
mour of all genres at the
Kremnick Gagy / Kremnica
Gags event which celebrated
its 31st editionin 2011.
Yet fun and irony can be a
serious thing sometimes, es-
pecially when politics is in-
volved. One of the prizes
awarded is called Trafen Hus
(The Hit Goose) and is awarded
for things that stun even hu-
morists who are used to mak-
ing fun of almost everything,
the TASR newswire wrote.
This year it was awarded to the
Bratislava District Court for,
the citation sarcastically pro-
claimed, securing justice after
15 years by issuing a verdict
requiring former Slovak pres-
ident Michal Kov to apolo-
gise to Ivan Lexa, the former
head of the SIS spy agency, for
stating that the latter had
ordered the abduction of
Kovs son.
Other, more compli-
mentary, prizes included
those for theatre and cab-
aret, music, street and mo-
tion performances. Humour
for children had a special
category.
Artistic humour and car-
toons were represented by
another category. Only Slov-
aks were eligible for the lit-
erary humour and journal-
ism awards. The Stano Radi
Prize, named after the late
entertainer and humorist,
went to the Discovery of the
Year and was awarded by
Radis widow, Slovak Prime
Minister Iveta Radiov, to
the Divadeln Sbor Kud
from Kladzany and to Peter
Raev, in memoriam, for his
political satire.
Part of the Kremnick
Gagy was a travelling exhibi-
tion of political cartoons by
Slovakias Martin Shooty
tovec and Daryl Cagle of
the USA that had previously
visited several Slovak towns
and cities. It will now con-
tinue onto Nitra.
The Kremnica festival is
also popular thanks to ac-
companying events that lure
a host of visitors and locals.
Starting as bit of intimate
fun, it has grown into large
international event that, its
organisers say, draws ever
more people and ever more
attention, and reminds us of
what is inevitable in our lives
and what improves them
humour inall its forms.
CompiledbySpectator staff
11 September 12 18, 2011
CULTURE
Various gags took tothe streets of Kremnica. Photo: TASR
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 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1
Monday
Mria
Ria
September 12
Tuesday
Ctibor
September 13
Wednesday
udomil
September 14
Thursday
Jolana
Bank Holiday
September 15
Friday
udmila
September 16
Saturday
Olympia
September 17
Sunday
Eugnia
September 18
12
ADVERTISEMENT
September 12 18, 2011
SP90617/2
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