Slovak Spectator 1717

8/6/2019 Slovak Spectator 1717

1/12

The ESM: To join or not to join

THOUGH the new eurozone bailoutinstrument, the European StabilityMechanism (ESM), is still a work inprogress, one of Slovakias rulingparties, Freedom and Solidarity(SaS), has already agreed that itsdeputies willnot backSlovakias par-ticipation in it. The ESM is supposed

to replace the existing EuropeanFinancial Stability Fund (EFSF) from2013. On April 26 SaS party bossRichard Sulk even went so far as tocall the ESM a fraud committed onEuropean taxpayers.

Aside from SaS, the four deputiesof the Civic Conservative Party(OKS), which sits within the rulingcoalition Most-Hd party caucus inparliament, may also refuse to backthe mechanism. Faction leader PeterZajac said they might have issues

with the ESM as well. Prime Minis-ter Iveta Radiov wants the ESM toclear parliament and says she isready to hold talks with each politic-al partyuntilthe verylast moment.

Opposition leader Robert Ficocriticised SaS and said that hisparty, Smer, would not toleratestatements through which politicalparties might try to pick somecheap politicalgains.

SeeNETpg4

SELECT FOREX RATESbenchmark as ofApril 28

CANADA CAD 141CZECH REP CZK24.12RUSSIA RUB40.73GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.89

HUNGARY HUF 264.48JAPAN JPY 120.97POLAND PLN 3.94USA USD 148

NEWS

Smer'scourtcaseMPsfrom Smer,thelargest opposition party,recentlybroughta Consti-tutionalCourt caseagainstthenew lawrequiring on-linepublicationof publiccontracts.

pg 2

Nooneleads inpollA recent survey found thatmore than onethird ofSlov-aksdo nottrust anypoliti-cian.Trust in SmerleaderRobert Ficofell comparedto

last year,while trustin theprimeministerrose.pg 3

OPINION

First impressionsIcehockeyvisitorsarelikely to judgeSlovakia onwhethertaxi driverscheatthem orwaiterssmileorglare. Let'shopewe handlethischancefor internation-al promotionwith grace.

pg 5

BUSINESSFOCUS

TappingMICE tourismThoughSlovakia isan al-mostideal tourist destina-tionthecountryis failing totake a biggerbiteofthe op-portunities availableto hostlargemeetings andconfer-ences.

pg 6

Tradefairsrecovering2008was a successfulyearfortrade showsin Slovakia.While business has sincedipped,shows andfairs re-maina valuablewaytobuild contacts,and com-panies arenow exhibitingagain.

pg 7

CULTURE

VeronesemasterpieceBratislavans havea rareop-portunityto seea signific-antworkofthe ItalianRenaissanceat theBratis-lavaCity Gallery:Portraitofa Manby PaoloVeronese.

pg11

Slovaksare burningwith enthusiasmfor the2011 IceHockeyWorldChampionshipwhichbegan inBratislava andKoiceonApril 29and willclimaxon May15. Itis thebiggest-eversportingeventthe countryhas hosted. Photo:TASR

One more secret vote

for top prosecutorDOBROSLAV Trnka, whoseterm asthe countrys general prosecutorelapsedon February 2,is stillfight-ing to regain the powerful posi-tion, posing severe problems forthe ruling coalition led by IvetaRadiov. Parliament tried andfailed four times last year to selecta new general prosecutor andRadiov expressed strong opposi-tion to Trnkas eventual re-selec-

tion, even going so far as to prom-ise that she would resign if it wereto happen.

The ruling coalition has sincegone to considerable lengths toturn the previously secret ballot

used to select the general prosec-utor into a recorded vote. But theConstitutional Court, in a decisionpublished on April 20, turned backthe clock. In response to a suitbrought by Trnka, it ruled that hisconstitutional rights had been vi-olated during two of the parlia-mentaryvoteslast year.

SeeVOTEpg2

Vol. 17, No. 17 Monday, May 2, 2011 - Sunday, May 8, 2011

FOCUSof this issue

On sale nowOn sale now FOCUSof this issue

BUSINESS

TRAVEL

Lottery saga

continues

IT IS NOT any exceptionally high jackpotthat has been bringing media attention toTipos, the state-owned lottery company,

but rather a long-standing legal case in- volving a Cyprus-based firm namedLemikon that wants to collect 14 millionfrom Tipos based on a recent ruling bySlovakias Supreme Court. Tipos, however,is not planning to quickly wire money toCyprus and will challenge the decision of

the court with an appeal to the Constitu-tionalCourt.The lottery company alsotoldthe media that it is in good financial shapeand that the legal wrangling would in no

way threaten it from paying out winningtickets.

Slovak Finance Minister Ivan Miklosaidthat although he respectsthe ruling ofappellate senate of the Supreme Court hefundamentally disagrees with the basis ofthelawsuit,callingit a fraud.

SeeBETpg3

BYBEATABALOGOVSpectatorstaff

Ice hockeytakes over

Slovakia

SLOVAK flags filled the country in thedays leading up to the start of the

biggest international sporting event inthe history of independent Slovakia, the2011 Ice Hockey World Championship.

As The Slovak Spectator went to print(on April 28), Slovakia was countingdown the hours until the tournamentsfirst face-offs.

Despite initial hesitation and contro-versies about the costs of reconstructingBratislavas ice hockey stadium and cri-ticism of the countrys level of prepared-ness for such a big event, euphoria hasgradually risenamong Slovaks.

SeeICEpg9

BYMICHAELATERENZANISpectatorstaff


The online version of our publication SPECTACULAR SLOVAKIA


Financeminister callslawsuit a fraud


2/12

Slovak soldier aids EUs Libyaop

THEFIRSTSlovaksoldier to

participatein theEU-led op-erationfocusedon providinghumanitarianaid to Libyaandhelping refugees fleeingthecountryis MaroGonos,who wasdeployed toRomeonApril10 atthe request ofthe EU commander.

"Since the beginning ofthisoperationweve saidthatwe fully support the steps topromote peace in a countrywhere a mad dictator lets hisown people be killed, De-fence Minister ubomrGalkostated, asquotedby theSITAnewswire.

Accordingto Galko,theSlovaksoliderwillbe inchargeof humanresources

forthe missionwiththetask

of issuing invitationsand on

thebasisof responsesto pre-pare a command structuredatabaseas well asaid inmission planning.

Gonoswillbe basedinRome andwillnotbe dis-patched to Libya,Galko said,addingthathe will servefourmonthsin thepostandif theoperation continuesbeyondthen,another soldier willtakeoverhispost foranotherfourmonths.

Thisis a contributiontothe humanitarianaction,notthe military action, Galkotold SITA.He didnotruleoutthat theremightbe furtherrequests fromthe command-ersof theNATOoperationin

Libyain thefuture.

New detailson Turkish truck incident

AN INTERNATIONAL crimegroup basedin Sloveniaop-eratingin severalEUcoun-tries,which arranged thetransport of aceticanhydridetoTurkeyat theendof 2010,wasplanning touse thechemical to produce heroineandthenusemoneyfromthesaleofthedruginEuropetobuy weaponsthatwould besold tothe IRAandETA ter-roristorganisations,SlovakPoliceCorps PresidentJaroslav Spiiaktold a press

conference on April27.Thestoryof theCzechtruckdriverwhospentChristmas2010in a Turkishprisonafter he unwittinglybecamea part ofan interna-tionalanti-drug stinglaunchedon December 10,beganwhenhe setoff fromawarehousein DunajskStreda,loadedwith whatthedriverbelievedwere 17tonnesof disinfectant, butwhichwas actuallyaceticanhydride,a chemical usedto refinemorphineintoheroin.Thedriverwasarres-teduponhisarrival atanIstanbul warehouseonDecember24 andwasonlyre-

leasedafter severaldays,oncethe truecircumstanceswereclarified.

Accordingto SlovakiasInterior Ministry, the aceticanhydridewasstolenbythe

internationalgang fromafactoryin Europeandcouldhave been used toproducesome 400kilograms ofheroine, whichthe gang wasplanningto sell back todrugusersacross Europe,includ-ing Slovakia.The ministrysaid400 kilograms of heroine

would constitutearound 10million doses, enoughtosupply10,000drug usersfora year.The streetpriceof thefinalheroine was estimatedat about16.6 million.

Spiiaksaid thepolicestingoperationwasmeanttoexposethe entireoperation

butit endedprematurely.Wehadthe wholecrim-

inal gang underwatch,buttheTurkishpart wasmarred, Spiiak said,asquotedby theSmedaily. Hestatedthat the operation hadtobe haltedbecausethelifeofa manwhohad organisedthe wholetransportin Slov-akiawasin danger.

Theywere controllinghim, sayingthatif theaction

was marredor revealed theywould killhim, Spiiak said.

The gangsters holdingthe man,two Slovenians,

weresubsequently detainedin Slovakia,Spiiak saidandSme reportedthat anothersixpeople weredetained inMarch inSlovakiaandthreemorein Sloveniain April.

MPs' immunity to be debated again

ALAW toabolish theim-munityof MPsfor misde-meanouroffenceswillbe de-batedin parliamentat itsregular sessionin May,Speakerof ParliamentRichard Sulksaid, as repor-tedby theSITAnewswire.

Such a change,in con-trastwith abolishingthe

immunityof MPsfor crimin-aloffences,doesnot require achangein the constitutionandhence a three-fifthsvoteofall MPs.

The mostrecent attempt

tolimitMPsimmunitywasadvancedby PrimeMinisterIvetaRadiovin autumn2010.It wouldhave limitedMPsimmunity only tovotesandstatementsmadein par-liament andjudges im-munityonly to decision-makingwhile in court.

The measure failedafter

only 75MPs votedin favourof the constitutionalamendment.

Compiledby Spectatorstaff

frompress reports

Smer MPs end court caseMPs FOR the largest opposi-tion party, Smer, have re-cently questioned the consti-tutionality of a new law andthe division of power in par-

liament. In a complaint filedwith the Constitutional Courtin early April a group of SmerMPs sought to challenge thelaw which requires that state,regional and municipal bod-ies publish all their contracts,paid invoices and orders on-line a measure which has

been effective since January 1this year and which trans-parency watchdogs havecalled the strongest anti-cor-ruption measure taken by thecurrent government. TheMPs have since withdrawntheircomplaint.

The Smer MPs, represen-ted by the partys shadowjustice minister RbertMadej,

requested that the Constitu-tional Court evaluate the con-stitutionality of the provisionin the law according to whichonly contracts that are pub-lished online are valid. Thegovernment says this is ne-cessary to make the law en-forceable. Smer maintainsthat such a provision mightcause insecurity in legal rela-tions, particularly in transac-tions such as the transfer ofrealestate.

We fully support theobligatory publishing of con-tractson theweb asgoverned

by the current info-law,

Smer spokesperson SilviaGlendov stated. The so-called info-law the law onpublic access to information was passed in 2000 by thefirst government of MikulDzurinda.

This provision [i.e. in-validity without online pub-lication] is the basis of the

whole law, Justice MinisterLucia itansk told the Smedaily, adding that it is import-ant that there is no need for

any further control or sanc-tionsfor thosewho violate thelaw, and that the motivationfor all concerned parties to

publish contracts is incorpor-ated directly into the law.itansk also noted she didnot encounter any complaintsabout possible unconstitu-tionality during the process ofpassing the law.

Smer did not publicise itscomplaint and soon after theConstitutional Court pub-lished its list of signatoriesand the media reported whothey were, the MPs withdrewit, so that it doesnt get mis-

used in political quarrels,Smerboss RobertFico stated.

Since the law came intoeffect over 2,200 contractshave been published on the

Central Register of Con-tracts, a website where stateministries, their budgetaryorganisations and public-service institutions publishtheir contracts, according toJustice Ministry spokesper-sonPeter Bubla.

Regional and municipalauthorities are required topublish contracts on theirown websites. Smaller muni-cipalities without websitesmust publish their contractson thewebsite of theBusinessBulletin,whichhas so farpos-ted720 contracts.

Smer questions committees

Smer also doubts the con-stitutionality of the divisionof power in parliamentarycommittees. After the 2010parliamentary elections,

when the newly-createdcommittees took shape, SmerMPs announced that they

would challenge the composi-tion of the committees whichthey believe deformed the di-

vision of powerin parliament.

SeeLAWpg5

VOTE: Coalition to try once more on GPContinuedfrompg1

According to the court, the violationhappened when deputies revealed howthey had voted in the secret ballot, byphotographing their ballots or openlydeclaring who they had supported. Indoing so, the deputies violated the basicprinciples of the secret ballot and thusTrnkas rights, thecourt found.

The Constitutional Court therebycancelled the results of a vote on Decem-

ber 2 as well as that on December 7, theSITAnewswirereported.

Complications around the secret bal-lot emerged after the ruling coalitionfailed on December 2 to have its candid-ate, Jozef ent, selected as generalprosecutor after at least six coalitiondeputies used the anonymity of thesecret ballot to vote with the opposition

Smer party to reselect Trnka. Trnkamissed out on reselection by just onevote, and the coalition MPs disloyaltyopened the door to speculation aboutplots to unseat theprime minister.

On April 5 MPs agreed to change theparliamentary rules for selecting thegeneral prosecutor, judges of the Consti-tutional Court and the chairs and deputychairsof the Supreme AuditOffice (NK),Slovakias public administration andprocurement watchdog. Instead of beingchosen by a secret ballot they will hence-forth be selected in a public vote, witheachMPs preference beingrecorded.

Smer leader Robert Fico denouncedthe move, branding the idea of an open

vote in parliament as undemocraticand calling it one of the most shamefuldecisions in the history of the Slovak

Parliament.Slovak President Ivan Gaparovi ve-toed thelaw onApril21, arguing that theruling coalition had decided to changethe law as a result of its deputies failureto select a new general prosecutor in a

secret ballot, which he did not consider

an appropriate or democratic reason.MPsare expectedto overridehis veto.

Thetrickyvote andpossible resignation

Radiov respondedon April20 totheConstitutional Court ruling by sayingthat thesecret ballotto selectthe generalprosecutor would be re-run so that theproceedings of parliamentary deputiescannotin anywaybe doubted.

Nevertheless, Radiov repeated herpromise that ifTrnkawereto bereselectedshe would quit as prime minister, againraising the political stakes. Political sci-entist Miroslav Kus said that she couldhardlyhave takenany otherattitude.

It was not very fortunate that rightat the beginning she pushed the situationto the margin: me or Trnka, Kus told

The Slovak Spectator. He wasnt such asignificant person for her to have framedthe situation in that way. Nevertheless, ithas now become a question of prestigeand she could hardly back out becausethen shewouldpublicly trampleon prom-ises confirmed severaltimes.

This nevertheless makes selection oftheprosecutor a litmustestfor therulingcoalition, Kus added, suggesting thatright now the ruling coalition does nothave anyotherchoicebut to hold a secret

ballot andthistimeto getit right.Any attempt at manipulation or ob-

struction would be unacceptable andwould send the vote again to the Consti-tutional Court, Kus said. The rulingcoalitionsimply cannotaffordthis.

For the political scientist the situ-ation withinthe rulingcoalition does not

seem any different from the situationduringthevote inDecember.There is still the phenomenon of six

or four deputies of the ruling coalition who voted for Trnka and this could berepeated, Kussaid.

As for the chances of Trnkas reselec-

tion, Kus said that he does have somechance, but that those who now vote forhim will indirectly support the fall of theruling coalition.

There is no doubt that the presidentwill assign the chairman of the strongestpolitical party to form the government,

which is Fico; and it is very probable thatFico wouldbe able toformthe governmentand g et a conf id ence vote f romparliament,Kus added.

Political scientist Juraj Maruiak saidthat Radiov has frequently used thethreat of resignation but it is unclear

whether she knows how she would pro-ceedif sheactually hadtoresign inorder tosaveface.

Maruiak suggested that the primeminister may even be seeking to establisha personalpowerbase forherself.

It is evident that she is not certainabout her own standing in the camp of theruling parties, but so far it is not clear to

whatdegreeshe iswillingto buildher ownpolitical powerbase, though the highnumber of non-partyappointeesin leadingpositionsat the Cabinet Office couldsignalsuch tendencies, he told The Slovak Spec-tator.

Maruiak added that currently no onein the ruling coalition or Radiovs ownparty, the Slovak Democratic and Christi-an Union (SDK), would benefit from herresignation, given the high popularity ofSmer.

Based on article 116 of the 5th para-graph of the constitution, along withRadiov, the whole government wouldhaveto resign, which would requirerulingcoalition talks, and these might fail, thus

threateningearly elections, Maruiaksaid.This widens Radiovs room formanoeuvre,he concluded.

MichaelaTerenzanicontributedto thisreport

TheConstitutional Court inKoice. Photo:Tibor Stanko

2 NEWSMay 2 8,2011


3/12

No one leads in pollof trustworthiness

POLITICIANS are workingvery intensively on losing

trust among the people, saidpolitical analyst MiroslavKus in hiscomments ona re-cent survey which showedthat more than one third ofSlovak citizens do not trustany of the politicians on theSlovak political scene. In fact,the numbers suggest that dis-trust exists on both sides,among ruling coalition andoppositionsupportersalike.

Theranking of politicians,based on a survey conductedby the Institute for Public Af-fairs (IVO) in the first week ofMarch 2010, changed signific-antly from a similar surveycarried out in February 2010.Perhaps most significantly,the highest percentage of re-spondents did not expresstrust in former prime minis-ter and opposition Smer party

leader Robert Fico, who ledthe previous poll. Instead, aplurality,37 percent,said theytrust nobody on the Slovakpolitical scene, a steep risefrom 24 percent a year ago.The authors reporting on thesurvey, Zora Btorov andOga Gyarfov of IVO, ex-plained the increase by point-ingto anoverall changein thecountrys political climate:the pre-election mobilisationofearly2010was replacedby adecrease in interest in politicsand disappointment about re-cent political developments,theysuggested.

Kus agreed that politi-cians very cynically have for-

gotten about their pre-elec-tion promises and have beensurrounded by scandals thatadd to their falling trustwor-thiness. Another aspect thathe said plays a part in lower-ing trust in politicians is thatthey hurl blame at each otherpublicly, through the media,and the voter is open to ac-cept their mutual invectivesas truefrom bothsides.

Ficostill themost trusted

The overall decrease inthe perceived trustworthi-ness of politicians was reflec-ted in the numbers for mostof those who appeared in the

ranking, composed by theIVO analysts from the resultsof a survey in which respond-ents were asked to name nomore than three politicianstheytrust.

Fico remained the mosttrusted politician, althoughthe number of people whotrusted him dropped from 31percent in 2010 to only 23 per-cent in March 2011. He is fol-lowed by the current primeminister, IvetaRadiov,whohad the trust of 17 percent ofthe respondents. Smersdeputy chairman and formerinterior minister under Fico,Robert Kalik, ranked third,

with 9 percent of respondentssaying they trust him (as op-posed to the 16 percent he re-ceivedayearago).

Accordingto political ana-lyst Juraj Maruiak of the In-stitute of Political Sciences ofthe Slovak Academy of Sci-ences, one of the reasons forFicos decline in popularitymight be the fact that he andhis party have been critical ofthe anti-corruption measurespassed by the current gov-ernment, such as the re-quirement to publish all statecontracts online, and haveopposed limiting the im-munityof MPs.

Meanwhile, neitherSmer nor its leader offers anypositive alternative, which inthe end leads to a kind of fa-tigue among his voters,

Maruiak told The SlovakSpectator.Slovak President Ivan

Gaparovi came in fourth,with8 percent of respondentssaying they trusted him, fourpercentage points down from2010.

Most leading politiciansin the ruling coalition partiessaw voters trust in themdrop, according to the resultsof the IVO survey. The leaderof Most-Hd, Bla Bugr, whoranked fifth with 7 percent ofpeople trusting him, andChristian Democratic Move-ment (KDH) leader Jn Fige,tenth with 3 percent, both re-ceived four percentage points

less than in February 2010.Mikul Dzurinda, the leaderof the Slovak Democratic andChristian Union (SDK) andDaniel Lipic of KDH alsodroppedto 3 percent in 2011.

Only Ivan Miklo of theSDK and Richard Sulk, theleader of Freedom and Solidar-ity (SaS) kept their scores from2010. Miklo ranked sixth,

with 6 percent, and Sulkended eighth, with 3 percentof respondents saying theytrusted him.

Radiovaddsto

her trustworthiness

Prime Minister IvetaRadiov was the only prom-inent politician to see hertrustworthiness rise from last

year, since in February 2010she was trusted by 14 percentoftherespondents.

Maruiak suggested thatthis might also be becauseRadiov is still seen by thepublic as a new face in Slovakpolitics and her name is notconnected with the previousestablishment and its pastpolitical and corruption con-troversies.

Either knowingly or un-wittingly she has accepted therole of th e good-newsmessenger, Maruiak said,explaining that Radiov iscritical of some measures ofthe ruling coalition when itcomes to their adverse social

consequences, something which helps her popularityevenon thefrequentoccasions

when she is not able to pushthrough a concrete result.Maruiak notedthat the primeminister is also often criticaltowards political controver-s ies w ith in t he rulingcoalition,and is willing toenter into conflicts with othercoalition politicians, eventhosewithinherownparty.

In fact, Radiov also rep-resented the only exception tothe rule that the leaders ofpolitical parties were the mosttrusted politicians withintheir respective parties. Themajority 65percent ofSDK

supporterssawherasthemosttrustworthy politician in herparty, while Dzurinda, thechairman, ranked only third(on 17 percent), after deputyleaderMiklo(32 percent).

The poll was carried outbefore Fico broke the scandalabout the Tax Directorate

building lease, which promp-ted several questions aboutRadiovs independence andthe strength of her position

withinthe SDK.According to Kus, the re-

cent developments mighteven have strengthened herposition, because in the endshe came out of the contro-

versythe winner.There is this strong feel-

ing of wrongdoing that thepublic is so sensitive to, Kus

told The Slovak Spectator.Miklo and Dzurinda wantedto face her with a ready-madepartisandecision, butit turnedinto her advantage. Althoughhers wasnt a clear decisionthat she would claim from the

very beginning, she reached itgradually [realising] that sheneeded to act decisively. Andthat turnedoutto bea factorinhersuccess.

According to the survey,Radiov is not only numberone among supporters of herown party. She is also thesecond most trusted politi-cian in the eyes of the sup-porters of all the other rulingcoalition parties her pop-

ularity thus extends well bey-ondthe SDKelectorate.The trustworthiness of

politicians as perceived bysupporters of their respectiveparties has also dropped signi-ficantly in comparison with2010. The largest portions ofrespondents who said they donot trust any politician werefound among those who votedfor SaS and Smer (both 29 per-cent)andthe KDH(27percent).Trust in specific leaders ofpolitical parties has declinedtoo, particularly in the case ofSmer,where only 57 percent ofthe partys supporters saidthey trusted Robert Fico, com-pared with 83 percent in 2010.

It was a similar tale for Most-Hd, whose leader Bla Bugr was trusted by 54 percent ofthe partys supporters inMarch 2011, as opposed to 81percent inFebruary2010.

BYMICHAELA

TERENZANI

Spectator staff

OnepoliticalanalystcalledRadiova 'good-newsmessenger'. Photo:Sme -Vladimrimek

BET: Ministerstrade barbs

Continuedfrompg1

I consider thiswholecase a fraudfromits very be-

ginning,based on whichspeculatorswant to stripthestateof billionsof Slovakcrowns, Miklostated,asquotedby theSITAnews-

wire.The Finance Ministryas shareholder[of Tipos]willdoits best anduseall legalmeansat itsdisposal topro-tectthe moneyof taxpayers.

The legaldisputein-volving Tiposarose in Janu-ary2000whenanotherlot-terycompany,portka fromthe CzechRepublic, suedSlovakia'sstate-runTiposover what itcalled unau-thorised useof lotterytrademarksas well astech-nicalknow-how.The com-

paniesalso litigated theis-sue of appropriatedbusinesspracticesand lost profittoportka, with theCzechfirmdemanding Sk300millionfromTipos in2000.

A Cyprus-based firm,Lemikon Limited, whichisassociatedwith business-manRadovanVitek, pur-chasedportkaslegal claiminOctober2008.Thatsame

yearTipos paidroughly 16million to Lemikonsac-count.Tiposnow, however,said itexpects Lemikon topayback around1.9 millionasthe payment made in2008

was that much more thanthedamagesawardedby the

Supreme Court.Tipossaidit will also fileanappealinthenextfewdays onthe grounds that itsrightto courtprotection,particularlythe constitu-tionally-guaranteed righttofaircourt proceedings,wasinfringed.

Thisright alsoincludestherightto a high-qualityra-tionale behinda courtruling, saidTipos generaldirector MiloRonec,statingthatthe Supreme Courtsreasoningspans onlyfourpagesout ofa rulingof morethan 100pages,the TASRnewswire wrote.

Ronecalsotoldthe me-

diathatTiposhasfiledan-otherproposalto restructurethecompanyaftera similarproposal was rejected byBratislavaI District Courtlastweek.

Thatapplication wasturneddownby thecourtforwhatit calleda failure toobserve requirements pre-

scribed by law.TASR wrotethatTipos hasbeen seekingto restructurethe companyin orderto gainprotectionfromcreditorswhoseclaims, Tiposasserts, arequestionable.

The current FinanceMinistryblamed theprevi-ous managementof Tiposandtheministryforthe re-centdevelopments.Formerfinance ministerJnPoiatek rejected thecharges thatthe ministryunderhis managementdidnotprotectthepublic in-terest.

Always whenMiklohas someproblems,which

heis nowobviously having,he blames the previousmanagementof theministry, Poiatek stated,asquotedby SITA.

Poiatek respondedthatthe Finance Ministry underhisdirection hadacted aspermittedby lawandthathiseffortwas to assurethatTipos,as oneof themostlucrativestate firms, wasnotbroughtto itsknees.

Miklo asserted that in2008the FinanceMinistrysignedan out-of-courtset-tlement with Lemikon inasomewhat secretivemannerunderwhich Lemikon wastoreceive66 million from

the Slovakstate, TASRwrote, andthatan initialpayment of16 million wasmade toLemikonevenbe-forechangesin legislationmade itpossibleforthen-general prosecutorDobroslavTrnkato seek apostponement in theen-forcementof courtrulings.

Theformerstate secret-ary (deputy minister) of theFinanceMinistry,PeterKaimr, told themedia on

April26 that Miklohasal-wayspreferred to seeTiposgointo bankruptcyto re-solvethe wholeissue,addingthat he thoughtsomeprivatefinancialentit-

ies wouldprobablywelcomeitif thestate-run lotterycompany went bustso theycouldtakeoverits positioninthe Slovakmarket,TASRreported.

Tiposis stillwaitingfora winintheportkacase. Photo:Sme

3May 2 8,2011NEWS

More than onethird of Slovaks

do not trust anypolitician


4/12

Public debt reaches 40 percent of GDP

SLOVAKIAS public debtas a

percentage ofGDP hasin-creased by over13 percent-age points since2008,withthetotal debtgrowingfrom27.79percentof GDPin 2008to35.42percentin 2009 andto lastyears40.97 percent,theSITA newswirerepor-ted,addingthat largebudget deficitsrecordedinthepasttwoyearsareprimarilyto blame.

In 2009the public budgetdeficit was7.96 percentofGDPandit wasonlyslightlylesslast year,at 7.90percentof GDP,according toSlovakiasStatisticsOffice.SITAwrotethat theglobaleconomiccrisis thatcaused

Slovakiaseconomicdeclinein2009 can beblamedto acertain degreefor thehigherbudgetdeficitsbut thatthefailure ofthe stateto reigninspendingwas another factor.

Thebad budgetarysitu-ationoverthe past twoyears

isa resultof shrinking

budgetaryrevenueswithout adequate cutsinexpendituresover the pasttwo years, EduardHagara,ananalyst with INGBank,toldSITA.

Analyst Michal Mukof Slovensk Sporiteashareda similar opinion.

The stateimplementedhardlyany measures tocurb thedeficitin 2009 and2010 andlaunched thedefi-citreductionprocess as lateasthisyear,he said,asquoted by SITA.

Mukaddedthat thisyear's consolidation of publicfinancesthat areprojected tocutthedeficitthisyearto 4.9

percent ofGDP must beevenmoreradical.Asforthisyear,I cannot

seeanysignsof thedeficitsignificantly deviating fromthe[budget]planbut itis stilltoosoonto evaluatethe

whole year, Muksaid.

Customofficesget radiationdetectors

SLOVAKIAscustomsadmin-istration hasreceivedfivehand-held IDENTIFIERGR-135Plus radioactive isotopedetectiondevicesfrom theUnitedStatesgovernment,theSITA newswirereported.

Thedeviceswill makepossible better monitoring,identifying, measuring,and

localisingof thepresenceofionisingradiation, alongwitheasier identificationof theac-tual radioactivematerial.

Thedeviceswereprovidedby US embassy rep-resentatives on April27.

US AmbassadorTheodoreSedgwicksaid hehopedthat the portable de-tection devices wouldin-crease the overall safetyofSlovak citizens.

Thespokeswoman forthe Customs Directorate,MiroslavaSlemensk, saidthe highly sensitive

devices candetect gammaandneutron radiationandcanbe usedas wellto de-tectextremelylow levels ofradiationor traffickingofcamouflagednuclearma-terials.

800 new jobs to cometoTrnava

EXPANSION of a productionhall atthe Fine DNCSlov-akiacompany, a supplier ofcomponentsto Samsung,operating in the Voderadyindustrialpark nearTrnava,isexpectedto bring800newjobs,theSITA news-wirereported.

The company currentlyproduces LCD componentsforproducers ofwhiteandblackgoods andemploys400 people.

The companyan-

nounced that itplansto in-crease itsproduction areafrom6,300 square meters to7,800 square meters andtomorethan double itsstoragearea,with theadditionalcapacityto beusedfor pro-duction,storageand hand-lingof itsLCD components.

Thecompanydid notdisclosethe amountit wasplanning to invest.


frompressreports

NET: Divisions re-emerge over ESMContinuedfrompg1

Fico, whose party couldplay a crucial role inthe eventthat SaSrefusesto vote fortheESM in parliament, addedthat he expects the govern-

ment to support the ESM un-ambiguously.SaSs partnersin theruling

coalition have expressed re-servationsabout thewayit haschosen to communicate itsstance. SaS has retorted that itis the only parliamentaryparty that will not succumb to

whatit callsfalsesolidarity.We havent forgotten

that first and foremost we areherefor thepeopleof Slovakia,to represent their interests,not the interests of foreign

banks, which for a long timehave been earning from highinterestrateson loansgiventoirresponsiblecountries, Sulksaid on April 20, as quoted by

theTASRnewswire.Sulk added that it is amatter of principle for Slov-akia and that he is aware thatpoliticians in Brussels wont

be enthusiastic, but we havetolivewiththat.

Most-Hd party boss BlaBugr said that SaS was usingthe topic simply to differenti-ate itself from the rest of therulingcoalitionat anyprice.

As for the OKS, Zajac saidthat he and his colleagueshad serious doubts about theESM but would explain howthey intended to vote in a

weekor two.

Thesafetynet

Eurozone leaders agreedonthe rulesof theESM, whichshould begin operating fromJuly 2013, at meeting in Brus-sels in March. The bailoutmechanism must be ratified

by the national parliaments ofindividual member states. It

willbebackedby 80billionincash, paid in directly by mem-

ber states, plus 620 billion incapital that can be called on

when a lending requirementemerges. Its effective lendingcapacity will be 500 billion;the extra 200 billion is beingraised in order to provide thefund with a premium creditrating. The 80 billion should

be collected within threeyears, with 40 billion avail-able from launch and the restreceivedby 2016.

Slovakias share shouldamount to0.824 percentof thetotal fund, as opposed to the0.99 percent which is thecountrys contribution to theexisting EFSF. The reductioncame as a result of a com-promise proposed by Estonia which allows smaller coun-tries like Slovakia, Sloveniaand Estonia itself to contrib-ute around 17 percent less incontributions than they cur-rentlydototheEFSF.

Outsidepolitics

I would not rush in withexcessively fast or sensation-seeking conclusions, espe-cially when the subject of dis-cussion concerns not only

5-million-strong Slovakia, butthe stability of the 331-million-person eurozone and the cred-ibility of the euro, the second

most important global reservecurrency, Volksbank chiefanalyst Vladimr Vaotold TheSlovak Spectator.

The creation of the EFSF was subject to criticism, aswell as bold statements aheadof the general election lastsummer, but in fact Slovakparticipation in it was suppor-ted in an August 2010 parlia-mentary vote by 140 out of 142MPspresent,Vaonoted.

Participation in the EFSFas well as in its planned con-tinuation, the ESM, are benefi-cial for Slovakia in raising itscredibility in bond marketsand hence lowering the cost ofservicing its public debt,

which has jumped from lessthan 28 percent of GDP in 2008to over 45 percent of GDP, asforecast,nextyear, Vaosaid.

As for the impact thatSlovakias refusal might haveon the functioning of theeurozone, Vao said that ag-gravationof theturbulenceoneurozone debt markets mightin the worst case affect the re-covery ofthe realeconomy.

Such a scenario mightmean a risk of repeated reces-sion, with all its consequencesnot only for the biggest eco-nomies like Germany, but alsofor their trading partners, likeSlovakia,saidVao.

Listing other risks, Vao

said that a potential loss ofcredibility for the euro as thesecond most important reservecurrency might curtail the de-mand of global central banksfor the sovereign debt of euro-zone member countries andthat this would mean a highercost of borrowing for virtuallyall eurozonemembers.

The consequences ofSlovakias refusal to supportthe ESM would depend on

whether other and largercountries were to followSlovakias lead, or whether theESM could be constructed

without Slovakia, said JurajKarpi, an analyst with the In-stitute of Economic and Social

Studies(INESS).Nevertheless, Karpi toldThe Slovak Spectator that theexistence of the ESM will makeitpossibleforcountries withir-responsible fiscal policies and

influential financial institu-tions to shift their losses andrisks to the taxpayers of othercountries, which strengthens

themoral hazardin themonet-ary union and might lead togrowing tension between par-ticular member countries or tonationalistictendencies.

According to Karpi, theESM and its credit sources aresiphoning resources awayfrom the private sector, in-creasing the cost of refinan-cing and thus decreasing fu-tureeconomicgrowth.

The ESM can be viewed asthe European version of theInternational Monetary Fund(IMF), i.e. a safety net for ex-tremesituations,Vaosaid.

Itisneithera panaceanora replacement for necessaryfiscal consolidation and

healthy long-term fiscalpolicies, Vao said.As in thecase of the IMF, the use of thissafety net is associated withfierce restrictive measuresand de facto temporary loss ofa major part of national sover-eignty with regards to man-agementof publicfinances.

The example of Irelandsuggests that voters are nothappy to see decisions aboutpublic finances being takenover by an external multina-tionalcreditor,be ittheIMF ortheESM,he added.

A safety net is associated with conditions that dontmake it such an alluring, orpalatable option to seek, but

ratheroneto avoid, Vao toldTheSlovakSpectator.

Alternatives

In terms of an alternativetothe ESM, Vao saidthat thisamounts to the same as wasthe case for Hungary in Octo-

ber 2008: international assist-ancethroughtheIMF.

The biggest contributor tothe IMF is the USA, and suchan alternative would henceequal nothing more than apublic admission that even 60

years after the Marshall Plan,Europe is not able to stand onitsown andresolveits internalcrisesand turbulenceswithout

the external assistance of the worlds biggest economy,Vaoconcluded.

Karpi, however, identi-fied another alternative: debtrestructuring.

An adequate solutionwouldbe a directedrestructur-ing of the debts of problemcountries with the impositionof part of the losses on in-

vestors and subsequent sup-port for systematically im-

portant financial institutionsnegativelyaffectedby thisstepfrom the public funds of theirhomecountries, Karpi said.

Some have expressed con-cern that Slovakias eventualrefusal to support the ESMmight somehow impact thecountrys position in relationto the future EU budget. ButKarpi argued that acceptanceor rejection of changes to theLisbon Treaty, necessary to le-gitimise the existence of theESM, should be left up tomember countries and sharedEU sources should not be usedto influencethisdecision.

Despite this, it would bestill worth Slovakia exiting

the ESM even under threat ofreduced European transfers,hesaid.

Solidarity?

Nevertheless, advocatesof the European safety netstress that it is an expres-sion of European solidarity,one of the pillars of theEuropean Union.

Karpi rejected this in-terpretation, however: TheESM is not an expression ofsolidarity.

He added that thanks tothe safety net it is possible topass losses that came as a con-sequence of bad decisions

made by commercial financialinstitutionsor politiciansontothe shoulders of taxpayers, of-tenin other countries.Accord-ing to Karpi, the safety net istaking its toll on socially

weaker groups through taxhikes and cuts to subsidiesfromthe socialsystem.

Considering the state ofthe public finances of someEuropean countries, which aredrawing or in the future willdraw assistance from the ESM,there is a real possibility, thatthey will not be able to paythese obligations and part ofthese costs, via guarantees,

will fall on Slovak taxpayers,Karpi told The Slovak Spectat-

or. Such a scenario, consider-ing the low living standards inSlovakia compared to thecountries that have beenprofiting from the existence oftheEFSFand thefactthatSlov-akia, from its own resources,has carried out a costly re-structuringof the banking sec-tor and consolidation of itspublic finances, is undesirableandindefensible.

Karpi added that highertaxes flowing from the need tocover the expenses of eurozoneguarantees would decreaseSlovakias competitivenessandof those firms operating inSlovakia compared to othernew member countries, which

have not yet introduced theeuro and thus also the eco-nomic growth and the pace

with which Slovakia catchesup with the living standard ofoldermember countries.

RichardSulk saysSaSwillvoteagainstthe ESM. Photo:Sme

4 BUSINESSMay 2 8,2011

Banks object tomore taxes

BANKSpaid 266.90millionin direct andindirecttaxesto Slovakialast year, theSlovak Banking Association(SBA)stated onApril26,say-ing that173.40millionwaspaid inincome taxandtherestcame fromindirect

taxes, non-deductibletaxesandVAT.Thismoneyendsupin

thestate budget as availableincome, Ladislav Unovsk,theSBAs executivedirector

toldthe TASRnewswire.Thehigherthe sector'sprofits,the higher thetaxes

wepayintothebudget.So,wedon't understand FinanceMinisterIvan Miklo'siniti-ativeto introduceanotherspecialtax on banks.

Theidea oflevyingaspecialtax on banks begin-ning in2012is includedinthe Slovak governmentsStabilityProgramme for2011-2014.


5/12

Goooly

NAMING the championshipmascot after testicles (in Brit-ish slang) was an unconven-tionalmove. But Gooolywasperhaps not the last surprisethe local organisers of the IceHockey World Champion-ships have prepared. Here is abrief list of all the things thatcanstill go wrong:

1. Icewill melt.The Brat-islava arena was finished justweeks ahead of the event.

After early preliminarymatches, players complained

that the stadium was hot.The ice was decent maybe forthe first half of the first third;then it was worse. But guyssaidthatit wasstill much bet-ter than before, said goalieJaroslav Halk a week beforethe start of the tournament,when he played his first

matchfor thenationalteam.2. Posters will peel off.

Ever since Slovakia got thechance to host the event, citycouncils, government offi-cials, and local entrepreneursstarted talking about all thereconstruction work thatwould have to be done. The

result? Dozens of posters andlast-minute graffiti designed

to cover-upthe mess.3. Therewillbe too fewtoilets. Bratislava is notoriousfor its lack of public re-strooms. There is already talk

of insufficient sanitary facilit-ies in the fan zones. Visitorsshould re member thatMcDonalds or shopping mallsare always a good option. Butifthosearefullas well?

4. Theftwillthrive.Thefact that even before the startof the tournament someone

broke into star center PavolDemitras room in the Bratis-lava hotel where the Slovakteam is staying wasnot a goodsign. But many worry thatfans wallets will be cleanedout not only by old-schoolthieves but also by taxidrivers, pub owners and hotelmanagers massively over-chargingfor theirservices.

Lets hope none of theseconcerns will materialise. And the world will not re-member Slovakia as a countryof goolies.

LAW: Court case withdrawnContinuedfrompg2

This isdespitethefactthatthe oppositionhadsupportedthe shareof MPsin parliament-arycommitteesin a parliamentary vote.

While therulingcoalitiononly has thesupport of 79 MPsin parliament, it effectivelyhas 83 votesin parliamentarycommittees,sincefiverulingcoalition MPs siton twocommittees.Withoutsuch an arrangementthecoalitionwouldnothavea majority insome committees andwould beunable topasssomelaws throughcommitteesto theirsecondreadingin parliament.

Smer MPMiroslav claims that such anarrangement is unconstitutionaland arguesthatduringthe previous,Smer-led govern-ment,eachMP saton only onecommittee.said heis readyto file a complaintabout thear-rangementbut admittedthat hisparty doesnotseeit asa priorityat themomentas itcould overshadowactualpoliticaltopics.

Isupposewe will getbackto that atsomepointin May, said, asquoted bythe Smedaily.

ByMichaelaTerenzaniwithpressreports

First impressions countTHE ARENAS open on April29, giving the masses theirice rink gladiators and somelong-awaited entertainment,shared euphoria and, forsome, even shared grief. En-tertainment it is, but the Ice

Hockey World Champion-ship can also be an import-ant tool of diplomacy andinternational promotion ifhandled skilfully.

Sports do help to tran-scend cultural differences,provided the very purpose ofa football match, for in-stance, is not to provideshaven-headed men fuelled

by hate an opportunity to letoff steam and lash out at

whatever or whoever is de-fenceless and easily to hand.

Foreign diplomats, whocould be forgiven for havinggrown tired of politicalsmall talk or of trying to ex-tract any meaningful inter-

pretation from statements by Slovak politicians whoare themselves less thansure about what they wantto say, have been relieved tohave the subject of icehockey to fall back on.

Diplomats, especiallythose whose home countrieshave some ice hockey tradi-tion, now have an escaperoute to avoid chattingabout yet another fruitcakepolitician announcing theestablishment of yet anotherpolitical party.

One story in the Slovakpress on April 28 reportedthat in Russia the champi-onship is helping to renew a

direct air link between Brat-islava and Moscow. Morespecifically, Slovakiascharg daffaires to Moscowtold the daily that thechampionship is a very goodargument for this effort bySlovakia.

Tourism industry profes-sionals say that the event isa huge chance for this smallcentral European country toimplant its name into theconsciousness of hundredsof thousands of potentialtourists as a result of icehockey visitors recommend-

ing Slovakia to their friendsand families or simply be-ing inspired to return be-cause they liked it here.

But the frail beauty of wooden churches, thecharm of small towns and

the majesty of the Tatra

Mountains will not be thefirst thing that a foreign vis-itor encounters when arriv-ing in Bratislava.

The most run-downparts of the city have beencleaned up or, where it wasnot possible to obscure thedecay with billboards andplastic or overspray it withartistic graffiti, simply left

alone in the hope that tour-ists will simply not go there.The better informed vis-

itors might deliberately seekout the forget-me-not sym-

bol awarded to services and bu sinesses that havepledged to smile and bepleasant to customers something which is by nomeans guaranteed in Slov-akia, no matter how much

you pay. Locals can onlyhope that the lessons taxidrivers and restaurateurslearn from the fair-playgame will stick with them

for longer than the two weeks of the ice hockeychampionship.

Such internationalevents always evoke a sud-den rush of national pride inpoliticians and public fig-

ures, with most of them try-ing to get a bite of the cake.There are, of course, the

notorious ones who want tomake sure that their prideis more than visible. Theleader of the Slovak NationalParty (SNS), Jn Slota, and

Vincent Luk, an MP forthe party a man whosequalities can be judged ac-cording to his recent state-ment that he would stand

behind Slota until the day hedies since Slota is a god forhim have appeared on bill-

boards all around Bratislavawearing the outfit of the na-tional ice hockey team.

Fortunately, most for-

eign visitors will have noclue about the identity ofthese grinning figures, orthe meaning of the slogan(in Slovak) SNS trusts our

boys. Fortunately, most for-eign visitors will also notgive a damn about anotherclone of the nationalist SNSthat is now emerging, estab-lished by Anna Belousovov,Slotas former colleague andarch-enemy.

They will care very littleabout Slovakias politics atall and are unlikely to sub-merge themselves in the tor-tured details of the selectionof Slovakias next generalprosecutor or the ruling

coalitions attempt to get it-self out the latest, relatedpickle.

Of course, the visitorsare not coming to under-stand Slovak politics or tocomprehend the depth orperhaps shallowness of thenational pride and nationalfrustrations of Slovaks.Rather, they are more likelyto judge Slovakia basedsolely on whether the taxidr iver ch eats the m or

whether their waiter smilesor glares at them when theyask for an extra napkin.

5OPINION / NEWS

QUOTEOFTHEWEEK: It is basicallya fraud [committed] on the taxpayersof the EU.

SaS leader Richard Sulk on the European Stability Mechanism,a permanentmechanismdesignedto safeguard the stability of the eurozone

SLOVAKWORDOFTHEWEEK

EDITORIAL

BYBEATABALOGOVSpectator staff

BYLUKFILASpecial to the Spectator

May 2 8, 2011

Gooolyis anxious topresentSlovakia tothe world. Photo:SITA


6/12

Tapping MICE tourism

SLOVAKIA is an almost idealtourist destination: it boastsevery possible natural and his-

torical advantage, if one over-lookstheabsenceofacoastline.But the country is currentlyfailing to tapall itsopportunit-ies and take a bigger bite of theincentivetourismcake.

Slovakia has great pro-spects in incentive tourism,but this segment has not beensatisfactorily tapped so far,Jozef Orgon, general secret-ary of the Association of Tradeand Tourism (ZOCR), told TheSlovak Spectator. Even Bratis-lava, which is predestined forsuch tourism, does not organ-ise any special events to sup-portincentivetourism.

What organisations andentities active in tourism in

Slovakia say they lack is betterand more comprehensivepromotion of the country as a

tourist destination. Anotherhindranceis thelackof a prop-ercongresscentre able tohold,for example, a congress with2,000 participants. However,the range of smaller venuesable to hold events with300-600 participants has in-creased over the last few yearsas new hotels with conferencefacilities have mushroomed inBratislavaandbeyond.

According to Orgon, it is

the duty of the Slovak TouristBoard (SACR) to promote Slov-akiaasatouristdestination.He

told The Slovak Spectator thatits activities have intensifiedsince the government of IvetaRadiovreplacedthe previousmanagementinthefallof2010.

But, since what is at is-sue is conceptual work andlong-term activities, resultsmay arrive only in five to ten

years, said Orgon, addingthat SACR has all the precon-ditions to present Slovakiapositively as a MICE (Meet-

ings, Incentives, Conferencesand Exhibitions) destination.It is doing this and we be-

lieve that its activities willbearfruitverysoon.

On the other hand, he be-lieves that bigger activityfrom regions and hotels withproper capacities themselvesmay help development ofMICEtourisminSlovakiatoo.

Itis notenoughthat onlyLiptov klaster [a local group-ing of entities active in tour-ism], Bratislava Region andthe High Tatras are active,said Orgon. Slovakia haseverything that creates tour-

ism except the sea, i.e. caves,spas, and so on up to MICEtourism.

TheSlovak

ConventionBureau

To support MICE tourism,SACR launched the non-profitSlovak Convention Bureau(SCB)inOctober2010.

The main aim of the SCBis to actively promote Slovakiaas a MICE destination, to in-crease the number of MICEevents held in Slovakia and tosupport tourism in the regionsin this way, Jaroslavaujkov from the incentivetourism department at SACR

toldThe Slovak Spectator.

SeeSCBpg8

Exhibition and fair premises

in Slovakia

Agrokomplex-VstavnctvoNitraFairgroundarea:143 haTotalcapacity of exhibitionhallsand openareas (roofedandopen exhibitionspace):90,906m2; including40,906m2of indoorand50,000m2of outdoor exhibitionarea.www.agrokomplex.sk

ExpoCenter,TrennFairgroundarea:35,000m2Totalexhibitionarea: 17,000m2;including 7,000m2ofindoorand10,000m2of outdoor exhibitionarea.www.expocenter.sk

InchebaExpo BratislavaTotalexhibitionarea: 100,000m2;including 60,000m2ofindoorand40,000m2of outdoor exhibitionarea.www.incheba.sk

Hotel CentrumDomTechnikyZSVTS,KoiceTotalindoorexhibition area: 1,800 m2.

www.dtke.sk,www.hotel-centrum.skCompiledby Spectatorstaff

Institutions involved in tourism

-Ministryof Transport,Constructionand RegionalDevelopment,www.telecom.gov.sk-SlovakTouristBoard (SACR),www.sacr.sk-SlovakConvention Bureau,www.slovakconvention.sk-SlovakAssociationofCommerceand Tourism,www.biznis.sk-AssociationofHotelsandRestaurantsof Slovakia(ZHRSR),www.zhrsr.sk-SlovakAssociationofTravel Agencies,www.sacka.sk-AssociationofTourism (ZCR) launchedin January2011-HistoricHotelsof Slovakia,www.historickehotelyslovenska.sk

BY JANALIPTKOVSpectator staff

TheHighTatrasarea greatvenueforMICEtourism. Photo:Sme

MICE market shows signs of revival

THE ECONOMIC crisis has affected theorganisers of MICE (Meetings, Incentive,Conferences and Exhibitions) tourismevents, with companies and organisa-tions now spending a lot longer ponder-ing whether each conference and meet-ing is really necessary and how much

they want to invest in holding it. But thesituation is now improving as JozefDek, executive officer of Congress Mar-ket, and Katarna Bil, managing directorof FarmiProfi,told TheSlovak Spectator.

The Slovak Spectator (TSS): What arethe latest trends in organising confer-ences, educational events, meetingsand other MICE tourism events withinSlovakia?Do theydifferfrom abroad?

Jozef Dek (JD): The development inthe business sector has, of course, beenreflected in behaviour of clients. Auster-ity measures led to limits in terms ofwhat companies are willing to invest insuch events and this affects not only theprice but also the category of the accom-modation facility.

Katarna Bil(KB): Certainly, organ-

ising of such events requires an attract-ive location within Slovakia, i.e. a hotelwith quality services and good accessib-ility bycar.

With regards to abroad, I do not thinkthat the trends differ.The stressis laid on

the space where the programme is held,i.e. it should be large enough and air-con-ditioned in the summer, with sufficientrestaurant capacity if the event is linkedto accommodation. All the premisesshould be at a proper level three andfour-starhotels are preferred.

TSS: How has the economic crisis af-fected the requirements of your cli-ents?

JD: Put simply, the requirements

changed in the direction of more musicrequired for less money. Nevertheless,requirements remained unchanged aspeople like to combine work with a pleas-antstay, qualityservicesand accompany-ingactivities.

KB: Clients are increasingly ponder-ing the intention to hold an event. Theyequally analyse costs in more detail. Theyare re-assessing a number of projects andlowering the budgets of official medicalcongressesand conferences,for instance.

TSS: What is the current interest in or-ganising conferences, educationalmeetings, and other events withinMICEtourism?

JD: The situation is improvingslightly, with a revival apparent.Companies are slowly lifting the strict

economic requirements and this trendis visible in a higher number of com-pany events organised this year com-pared to 2010.

KB: Clients are still interested insuchevents.

TSS: How is usage of technologies,for example teleconferencing, affect-ing yourbusiness?

JD: I do not see any visible impacton conference events. This kind ofcommunication has better justificationin the case of smaller chamber events,

which are more expert and highly spe-cialised meetings.

KB: We do not detect higher in-terest in such services. But there arespecific events, whose number is not

veryhigh,wherethereis a requirementalso to hold a teleconference. Mostlythis involves some specialised medicalfields, for exampletransplantsurgery.

TSS: From which sector of businessor society do you register the biggestinterest in your services? Have younoticesany changerecently?

JD: Interest is reviving, particu-larly from pharmaceutical firms andcompanies in the banking and finan-cial sector which have distributors orrepresentatives across the whole coun-try. With regards to the changes, com-petition among business hotels has in-tensified in terms of their offers andclient care.

KB: Because we specialise in themedical and health-care sector, we re-

gister most interest from the side ofspecialised medical organisations andpharmaceutical companies. Interesthas decreased, but this could also belinked to greater competition in thissector.

BYJANALIPTKOVSpectatorstaff

6

OUTSOURCING

Next issue:BUSINESS FOCUS

BUSINESSTRAVEL

Slovakia is

looking forwaysto attract more

May28,2011

Visitorsand exhibitorslookformorevaluefrom tradeshows

NewHiltonhotel opens nexttoBratislava's icehockey stadium

SP90552/1

SP90551/2


7/12

Visitors look for morefrom trade shows

THE TRADE fair and exhibi-tion sector now recalls 2008with some nostalgia as a re-cord year. But while businesshas since dipped, shows andexhibitions remain a tradi-tional marketing instrumentfor establishing and develop-ingcontactsbetweencompan-

ies and potential clients. Slov-akia is no exception, thoughlocal conveners of fairs andtrade shows are reporting thatexhibitors as well as visitorsare now focusing more oncostsand onwhattheycan getfromattendingafair.

2008 was a successful yearfor companies that organisetrade shows: they reportedsound numbers of exhibitorsas well as visitors, the Trendeconomic weekly wrote inDecember2010.But in thefirsthalf of 2009 the global eco-nomic crisis hit, and the sec-tor reported a drastic fall inbusiness in Slovakia and

around the globe. Some fairs

or exhibitions were even can-celled or had their regularityreduced. Hopes that 2010would bring a revival werevindicated, butonly latein theyear. Trend reported that, es-pecially in the case of fairs de-signed for the general public,entertainment has become animportant element and thatvisitors arrive at shows to en-joy the atmosphere and notonly to see products and ser-vices presented or to collectinformation, as they take thelatter forgranted.

Also for us, just as formost fair and exhibition com-panies, 2008 was the mostsuccessful year, Alexander

Rozin Jr from Incheba ExpoBratislava told the Trendweekly. Even though it wasexpected that the sectorwould revive along with theeconomy in 2010, we re-gisteredan increasecomparedto the previous year only inthe third quarter; and we didnot get close to the positivefiguresfrom 2008.

According to Rozin Jr, theB2B (business-to-business)fairs and exhibitions sectorwas particularly badly af-

fected, while the B2C (busi-ness-to-consumer) sector,which is more oriented to-wards end-customers, faredbetter.

This was also the experi-ence of Viliam Hrudl, direct-or of the exhibitions depart-ment at HCDT ZSVTS, themain organiser of fairs andexhibitionsin Koice.

All our exhibitions [ineastern Slovakia] have re-gistered an increase in thenumber of exhibitors in spiteof the economic situation,Hrudl told The Slovak Spec-tator. But in the case of spe-cialised exhibitions the num-

ber of visitors decreased. Vis-itors are choosing which ex-hibitionthey willvisit.

Hrudl specified that thecomplicated situation in

North Africa has affected theorganisation of tourism fairs.On the other hand, the num-

berof visitors to hobbyexhib-itionshas increased.

Hobby fairs and exhibi-tions focusing, for example,on gardening, hunting, fish-ing and s o on are sti llpopular, said Hrudl, addingthat during the last few yearshis company has registeredincreasing interest from ex-hibitors abroad. The personalcontact of the buyer with theseller is irreplaceable. A lot ofpeople in our region still dontuse the internet or dont trustinternet sales and prefer topurchasegoods directly.

According to MarekBaluka, marketing managerat Agrokomplex-VstavnctvoNitra, current trends includeshorteningof fairsand exhibi-tions as well as their openinghours, maximum rationalisa-tion during planning, simplerand lighter construction ma-terials, active preparationfrom the side of exhibitors,and usage of all means ofcommunications both beforeand during a fair. He thinksthat these trends do not differfromthoseabroad.

The role of exhibitionsand fairs in Slovakia dependson their concept, Balukatold The Slovak Spectator. In

the case of events focusing onthe end-user, for example ourfurniturefair,the maingoal ofmost exhibitors is to supportsales, and orders are closedduring the fair. The decision-

making process is quitesimple here a normal visitorlooksforfurnitureand ata fairhecomparesandorders.

In the case of B2B eventsthere are more goals, ex-plained Baluka, adding thatsuch an event is the tradition-al international engineeringfair held in Nitra. This kind ofevent provides the opportun-ity to get new informationabout possible solutions to

problems, or to hear about or view new trends. The de-cision-making process forpurchase of products or tech-nologies is more complicatedand usually there are alsomore people involved in sucha process. A decision to buymay be reached as late as sev-eral months after the fair, ac-cordingto Baluka.

In Nitra they have not re-gistered any fundamentalchanges in requirementsfromexhibitors.

They have to trust the or-ganisersto attract an adequatetarget group of clients, saidBaluka, who added that pre-event administration is now

largely conducted by electron-ic means. Clients are very de-liberately choosing only thosefairs and exhibitions that arehigh quality from the point of

view of infrastructure, ser-vicesandvisitrate.

The economic crisis hasmeant that exhibitors are se-lecting the events they attendmore carefully according toquality, said Baluka. Theycompare events and chooseonly the best ones. Somecompanies are judging

whether it is effective forthem to participate at an ex-hibition each year or whetherit is enough to take part everysecondyear.

New technologies havealsochanged thebusiness.Theinternet helps exhib-

iting companies to sell, savescosts as it is not necessary toprint so many materials it is

enough for the client to showthe price list on a notebook[computer], said Baluka.The internet, social net-

works, or virtual exhibitionsextend possibilities for com-munication with targetgroups before the fair, duringit, as well as after it. Thus thecommunication media areimportant, as tools to get re-action and feedback from ex-isting as well as potential cli-

ents. Blogs enable specialiseddiscussionsof certaintopics.

Plansfor2011

Agrokomplexexpectsthatthe number of exhibitors and

visitors will remain stableduring 2011. So far this year ithas organised a national pi-geon exhibition, its furniturefair,the Agrosalon agriculturemachinery fair and exhibi-tions covering gardening,

bonsai and products made bysecondary school and con-struction students.

This was the most de-manding spring season in ourhistory, said Baluka, adding

that all the events were verysuccessful. Along with thiswe managed to create a largecongresshall in the K pavilionand two smaller conferencerooms through which we in-tend to improve conditionsforexhibitors andvisitors.Weare now preparing for the in-ternational engineering fairi n late May and then

Agrokomplex and the Autos-alon Nitra car show At theendof2011we expect toreport3,000 exhibitors and 400,000

visitors.InKoice,HCDTZSVTSbe-

lieves that everything de-pends on the economic situ-ationinSlovakia.

We want to try to renewthetradition offood fairs andto launch a new fair of a typeso far missing in our region

with a focus on IT, saidHrudl.

BY JANALIPTKOVSpectator staff

'Hobby'fairs likeflowershowsare increasinglypopularin Slovakia. Photo:SITA

7BUSINESS FOCUS

SP90551/1

May 2 8,2011

Some specialisedevents report adrop in visitors


8/12

Destinationmanager wanted

BRATISLAVA CityCouncilis

invitingapplications forthepost ofheadof itstourismand destinationmanage-mentdepartment.Those in-terestedin thejobcanapply

byMay2, ubomr An-drassy, spokespersonofBratislavaMayorMilan

Ftniktold theTASR

newswire.The headof thedepartment of tourismanddestinationmanagement

willdeal withcreation ofprojectsand programmes inthesegmentof tourism anddestinationmanagementforthe citycouncil.

SCB: Bureau aims to promote SlovakiaContinuedfrompg 6

ujkov specified that theSCBs goals include carryingout activities to promote in-centive tourism in Slovakia,to create a system to present

and promote Slovakia, and tosupport and promote existingand new incentive tourismproducts.

A precondition for moreeffective operation of the SCBis more significant interestfrom relevant subjects inmembership, ujkov said,adding that for now the SCBhas 10 members. These in-clude hotels, travel agencies,Incheba, the City of Bratis-lava, andothers.

The SCB acts as a centralrepresentative of itsmembersand conveys the require-ments of foreign clients tothem. It participates in spe-cialisedfairs,organises famil-

iarisation tours and presstrips, searches for usable con-tacts and cooperates with in-ternational associations. Ithasisown websiteand isnowpreparing promotional ma-terials.

According to SACR re-search,no universal model forsuch an organisation exists,butexperienceshowsthaten-tities operating in incentivetourism directly or indirectlyas suppliers are strongly in-terested in the functioning ofsuch organisations. The SCBsmodel ofoperationis based onclustering the finances ofprivate entities and the re-sources of municipal, region-aland statebudgets.

So far the SCB has parti-cipatedin a number of exhibi-tions and fairs focusing onMICE tourism in the CzechRepublic and Great Britain where it attended the mostprestigious business-to-busi-ness fair, WTM, in London as wellin Spain andGermany.It wants to continue in suchactivities in the coming

months as well as to use its website to convey informa-tion about unique aspects ofSlovakias MICE offering.

Pavol Kauba, the secret-ary general of the Associationof Hotels and Restaurants of

Slovakia(ZHR SR),thinks thatit is too early to assess theactivities of the SCB. But he

believes that, apart from theabsence of a proper congresscentre, Bratislava as well asthe rest of Slovakia lacks anadequate range of leisureactivities and that this is

where Bratislava and Slovakialag behind popular incentivedestinations like Vienna,Prague and Budapest.

ujkov agrees, sayingthat in order to become an at-tractive and competitive con-gress and MICE destinationSlovakia needs to build spe-cialised congress centres, im-prove infrastructure, focuson

details and constantly in-crease its quality of service.Here she pointed to develop-ment projects which are inthe pipeline, for example theproject to construct a special-ised congress centre inKoice, which is the numbertwo MICE destination afterBratislava. In the capital, ac-cording to her, the newly re-constructed ice hockey stadi-um may also serve for somecongressevents.

Of course, the capital,Bratislava,has thebest condi-tions for development ofMICE, followed by Koice andthe High Tatras mountainregion, said ujkov. Over

recentyearsnew hotels ofthehighest categories have also

been built outside Bratislava,for example in the HighTatras, Koice, ilina andTrnava. The latter are also in-teresting for incentive tour-ism as it is possible to linkMICE events and touristattractions.

For smaller events, sem-inars andtrainingcoursesshe

sees historical and spa townsor centres in the mountainsasbeingideal.

For the time being the bigger stress in incentivetourism is being laid on theuniqueness of programmes

that include culture, enter-tainment, family-orientedelements, an individual ap-proach to dining and to selec-tion of quality restaurants,private visits to attractions,shops and museums, saidujkov. All these Slovakiacan offer.

With regards to accom-modation capacities Orgonsaid that even though theremay be some regional differ-ences, in general Slovakia hasmorecapacity than it actuallyneeds a nd that it ha severything from pensions upto five-starhotels.

Orgon believes thatsatellite events held in Slov-

akia and accompanyingevents in Vienna would helpto develop tourism in Slov-akia, but it would be better todraw congresses and MICEeventsdirectly to Slovakia.

ujkov added that suchsatellite congress events havealready been held in Bratis-lava, for example last yearsInternational Press Institutecongress.

Neighbouring cities andcountries with developed in-frastructure and facilities be-long among the strong play-ers in incentive tourism,said ujkov. Slovakia facesa difficult task to change thetraditional flows of events.

Historicalvenues

While Slovakia still doesnot have a full-size congresscentre, it is full of historical

buildings which no longerserve their original purposes.Many of them have beenturned into hotels and cultur-al sites which lure visitors

with their unique atmo-

sphere, something that nonew building can offer. Walls

which breathe historyprovide added value and cancreate a pleasant environ-ment with a positiveeffect onthe final results of business

meetings, educationalevents, company celebra-tions, conferences and so on.Thanks to these, interest inholding MICE events in his-toric buildings is high.

To hold a successfulevent, conference or trainingsession requires a stress ondetails, which is exactly whathistoric hotels provide,Michal uridlo, secretarygeneral of the Association ofHistoric Hotels of Slovakia(HHS), which clusters ninehotels located in castles,mansions and historic build-ings in Slovakia, told TheSlovakSpectator.

The historic hotels differ

in size as well as amenitiesand not all of them have largeconference halls at their dis-posal. According to uridlo,instead they have small ormedium-sized conventionpremises. This factor is often

balanced by the possibility ofextending an event into adja-cent historical gardens andparks.

With regards to their cli-entele, historical hotels are adesired venue for a wide port-folio of customers rangingfrom pharmaceutical com-panies to car importers, anduridlo does not see any sec-toral limitations.

The interest in present-ing companies at a high leveland in an original way ishigh, he said, adding that inthe case of companies withforeign capitalit is possibletosee a difference in interestbe-cause historic hotels abroadhave a greater tradition thanin Slovakiaand thuscompanymanagers are more inclinedto select a historic hotel as a

venue forsuch anevent.

8 BUSINESS FOCUSMay 2 8,2011

FOCUSshorts

Agrokomplexboss fired

AGRICULTUREMinister ZsoltSimon sacked ubomr Mar-tinkaas headof Agrokom-plex,oneof thethree biggestfairand exhibitionpremisesin Slovakiain earlyApril.

WhileSimon says that hedidso because Martinkahad not

fulfilled histasks,the formerAgrokomplexboss saidpolit-icswere behind hisdismissal,theSme dailywrote.

Martinkaled Agrokom-plex-Vstavnctvo Nitra, thestate-owned convenerof fairsandtradeshows focusingonagriculture,for justoverthreemonths. Smereportedthat heplannedto layofffouremployeesand claimed tohaveuncovered somelegal

violations.Simon toldthe agricul-

turalweeklyRonckeNovinyearlier inApril that

Agrokomplexunder Martinkatooka baddirection.

Thenew director ofAgrokomplexshould emerge

froma competition forwhichcandidatescouldapply up toApril27.JozefBukaiscur-rently theorganisations act-inghead. MartinkareplacedMiloslavPisr, whohad beenappointedby thepreviousgovernment, afterwinning aselectioncompetitionfor thepost inlate2010.He didnotmeetthe formal educationrequirements,but is a teacher

by profession.

NewHilton opens in Bratislava

BRATISLAVAgot anotherconferencevenuein late

Aprilwiththeopeningof a

newDoubleTree byHiltonhotelin Bratislava.It is loc-ated just next tothe re-

vampedstadiumthat hoststheIce HockeyWorldCham-pionship.The hotelis cur-rently hostingSlovak nation-al teamplayerswho, along

withtheir Czechpeers,arethefirst guestsofthe four-star hotel.Thehotelis aproject bybusinessmanJurajirok'sTehelnPole firm

andstartedas anillegal struc-tureafter construction began

withoutthe necessaryper-

mits, accordingto theSmedaily. Rudolf Kus,the mayorof Bratislavas NovMestodistrict,told Smethat thisin-fringement resulted intheinvestorbeingfined 45,000.

Thehotelhas 120roomsandwhatit claimsis thecapitalsbiggest conferenceroom, at 600squaremetres.


frompressreports

21374


9/12

ICE: Championship startsContinuedfrompg1

Apart from some of the worlds leading hockey starswho will appear on the ice in

Bratislava and Koice, Slovakia was also expecting severalprominent guests and thou-sands of regular hockey fans tofill the streets of its two biggestcities.

Politicians taketothestadiumstoo

German Chancellor AngelaMerkel, whom Slovak PrimeMinisterIveta Radiovinvitedto see the match between Slov-akia and Germany on May 1,

will not make it to Bratislava.But Prince Albert of Monaco isexpected to visit Slovakia dur-ing the championship, as isFinlands President Tarja

Halonen, the Sme daily repor-ted.The ice hockey matches

will thus become a partly dip-lomatic event. Speaker of Par-liament Richard Sulk said he

wanted to use the occasion tomeet his counterparts fromSlovenia and Russia, and pos-siblyalso theCzech Republic.

The first match involvingthe Slovak national team on

April 29, against Slovenia, wasdueto be attendedby Slovakiasthree highest constitutionalrepresentatives: Radiov,Sulk and President IvanGaparovi. Radiov andGaparovi were reported to beplanni ng t o att en d all

Slovakiasother matches.

Extrasecurityin force

The streets of Bratislava will be patrolled by between700 and 1,000 police officersevery day during the champi-onship, which ends on May 15.The number will depend on theassessed risk related to thematchesbeing playedeachday.

According to Csaba Faragof the Bratislava Regional Po-lice Directorate, there will beabout 670 regular police of-ficers, 130 traffic police, 60railway police, 130 special op-erations officers, 16 explosivesspecialists, andothers.

Locations where thegreatest concentration of for-eign visitors is expected will becovered by policemen whospeak at least one foreignlanguage, Farag said, asquotedby theTASR newswire.

A total of 550 volunteerscladin yellow jacketsand wear-ing caps of the same colour willhelp with press accreditation,accommodation, manninghelp-desks, and handling lo-gistics during the champion-ship,TASR reportedon April26.

The volunteers, mostlystudents and retirees, willalso provide assistance atairports as well as at stadi-u ms i n B ratis lava andKoice. They will informhockey fans about, for ex-ample, items that can orcannot be brought intohockey arenas.

Many high-qualitypeople haveapplied and theyare all well-versed in termsof foreign languages, saidthe volunteers manager,

Zuzana Janoov. The aver-age age of the volunteers,

who aside from Slovakiacome from countries such asCanada, Poland, HungaryandtheCzech Republic, is25.

Women account for onethirdof thevolunteers.

For more information aboutthe championship, including

practical hints and tips, see TheSlovak Spectators Hockey FanGuide, available at informationstands, hotels and online atwww.spectator.sme.sk.

Goooly,thechampionshipmascot, inaction. Photo:TK

CLASS IF IEDS

F r e q u e n c y d i s c o u n t s : 3x - 10x 5% 11x - 19x 7,5% 20x and more 15%

N O T E :Prices do not include value added tax(VAT 19%)!

D E A D L I N E : Wednesday, 12:00,for publication that week; otherwise,the advert will be published thefollowing Friday.

F O R M O R E I N F O R M A T I O N :email:[email protected]: +421 2 59 233-311fax: +421 2 59 233-319or write:The Slovak Spectator, Lazaretsk 12811 08 Bratislava, Slovakia.

1/48 page

44 x 41 mm

2 5

1 / 1 2 p a g e91,5 x 87 mm

1 0 01 / 2 4 p a g e44 x 87 mm

91,5 x 41 mm

5 0

A d v e r t i s in g r a t e s f o r b u s i n e s s c l a s s i fi e d s

or

2 . P r ic e s fo r bus ine s s c la s s i f ie d a ds (a c c or d ing to s iz e ) :

1 . P r i c e s o f c l a s s i f i e d a d s(according to no. of words)

Up to 20words - 10 Up to 50 words - 20 Up to 70 words - 30 Up to 100 words - 40 Up to 150 words - 60A d d i t i o n a l o p t i o n s Logo or picture insertion + 7 Bold or capital bold letters + 0 .3 /wor d Box + 3 Box with shading + 7

2

Take your

chanceand place yourclassified advertisement.For information call:

02 / 59 233 311,or e-mail:

[email protected]

C 3573

ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORSHIPBratislava International ChurchSundays, 9:30 at historic Small Lutheran Church(Maly evanjelicky kostol) in central Bratislava

(near Hodzovo namestie); on Lycejna atintersection with Panenska 26/28.

Children's Sunday School provided.

Ever yo n e W e l co m e .I n fo r ma t io n a t 0 2 - 5 4 4 3 - 3 2 6 3Web S i te : www.br a t is la va in te r na t io na lchur ch .o r g

REAL ESTATE

NEW.....for..... RENT:

1-2-room apartments Vajnorsk,Ruinov, Karlova Ves...

3-4-room apartments Drotrska,downtown, Ruinov,Koliba, Brik...

family houses Koliba, Brikarea, Polus area, Horsk park,Ruinov...

[email protected], 0905 659156,www.madison.sk

REAL ESTATE

Family HomeFor Sale in Bernolakovo

L-shaped living, dining, kitchen5 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms + WCHouse 260m + Garage 49 m + Lot 5.4a6 years oldSprinkler system, automatic gateCustom-built with 40cm blockLocated in beautiful new subdivisionNear golf course279,900

Call 0904-363-747C 3655 C 3677

REAL ESTATE

Rent:

new house, Bratislava III,located in a quiet street, with6 rooms, 3 bathrooms,garage for 2 cars, gardenwith grill.

Price: 1800 EUR + E

0903 234 999, 0903 471 999

C 3675

C 3634

9NEWS

SP90256/12

JOB OFFERS

www.profesia.sk

Database Administrator

Project Engineer

Networking Pricing Manager

Regional Channel Manager

Process Engineer

Strategic Sourcing Specialist/Junior

Senior General Procurement Manager

Advanced C/C++ Software developer

HR Specialist - Recruiter

Senior Design Engineer for HVAC

ERP specialist

Supply Controller

ERP Functional Consultant (Invoicing)

May 2 8,2011

Thebronze,gold andsilverchampionshipmedals. Photo:TASR


10/12

Sweet product of the East

THIS precious postcard, dat-ing back to before World WarI, depicts the bee-house of beekeeperLajosRetzman.

He kept bees inthe village of Baka

in the Zempln re-gion and was photographedstanding by his bee-housewithhis family.

In Slovakia, beekeepingwas frequent near mining

towns, as well as in easternregions.

The beekeeping traditiongoes back to the Middle Ages:

as early as in the 10th to 11thcenturies, extensive produc-tion of honey has been con-firmed on the territories in-habited by Slavs. In the medi-eval royal and ducal courtsthere were servants whose

duty was to supply their lordswith honey.

In the 12th cen-tury, trade in honey

began and it is inter-esting that it wasmostly exported

fromthe eastern partof Europe to western Europe.Until the 19th century, honey

was the only sweetener avail-able and only members of theupper classes could afford toinclude it in theirdiet.

ByBranislavChovan

HISTORYTALKS

WesternSLOVAKIA

Bratislaval TANGOMUSIC: KoncertTrioTango This concert byUrsulaFiedler (vocals and violin),Thomas Kirsten (cello) andChristian Heitler (piano andarrangements) comes with

works reflecting early Mod-ernism in music. TangoNuevo by Astor Piazolla will

be performed with works bySilesian late-Romantic com-poserConradAnsorge.

Starts: May 5, 18:00; Moz-art Hall of the Austrian Em-

bassy, Ventrska 10. Admis-sion: free. Tel: 02/5930-1533;

www.rakusko.eu.

Bratislaval CONTEMPORARY DANCE:GASP 3 The dance-rhythmic-alshow preparedby theSlovakDance Theatre / Slovensk di-

vadlo tanca bears the typicaltraces of choreographer Jnurovk, this time includinga combination of classical andless traditional forms, a touchofhumourandfolklore.

Starts: May 5, 19:00; Hei-neken Tower Stage. Admis-

sion: 16-19. Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.ticketportal.sk.

Bratislaval CLASSICAL MUSIC:Jubilujci velikni hudby /Great Musicians Celebrating

Anniversaries The Opera ofthe Slovak National Theatrehas prepared a special concertcommemorating the an-niversaries of some renownedcentral European composers:JnCikker,GustavMahler and

Antonn Dvok. The cast in-cludes, among others, A.Kohtkov, P. Mikul andIlyaSilchukov(Belarus).

Starts: May 6, 19:00; SNDnew building, Pribinova 17.

Admission: 3-10. Tel: 02/2047-2299; www.snd.sk.

Bratislaval EXHIBITION: Lentilky Thisexhibition offers a thorough

view of the small-format works of Dvid Baffi. Smallformats, known as Lentilky (aSlovak brand of chocolatesweets similar to Smarties orM&Ms), are combination ofstudies, essays and archivesdocumenting the researchprocess.

Open: Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri8:00-19:00, Wed 12:00-19:00until May 13; Artotka, CityLibrary, Kapucnska 1. Admis-

sion:free. Tel:02/5443-3244 6;www.mestskakniznica.sk.

Nitral GASTRONOMY: Akadmiakvy - zdrav kva / AcademyofCoffee - Healthy Coffee Foranyonewantingto learn moreaboutchoosing, preparingandservingcoffee,the Academy ofCoffee offers lessons, work-shopsandtastingsessions.

Starts: May 7, 13:00-17:00;Coffee Shop, Mostn 7. Admis-sion:45 (includingsnackandtasting of coffee). Tel: 02/5293-3321;www.ticketportal.sk.

Trnaval THAI BOXING: HanumanCup 9 - A series of professional

Thaiboxing matches under K1rules culminate in a duel

between Slovakia's MichalHalada and Ukrainian Cup

winnerIvan Schevchenko.Starts: May 6, 19:00; Town

Sports Hall, Rybnikova 15. Admission: 10 (in advance)or 13 (on the door). Tel:02/ 5293-3321, 0905/647-192;

www. ticketportal.sk, www.hanumancup.sk.

CentralSLOVAKIA

BanskBystrical OPERA: Eugen Sucho -

Krtava/TheWhirlpoolThemost performed opera by aSlovak composer is based onMilo Urbans short novel. Thestoryofloveandhatredendingin a drama of consciousness issetin a folk environmentafter

WorldWarI.Starts: May 3, 19:00; Sta

te Opera, Nrodn11. Admis-sion: 4- 6. Te l: 048 /2457- 123-4, 048/2457-120;

www.stateopera.sk.

Martinl CIRCUS: In front of the HMTesco Turiec, circus perform-ances will be offered for freeduringthe wholeweekend, in-cluding acrobats, a magician,juggler,clown,andmore.

Starts: May 6 (14:00, 15:30and 17:00), May 7 and May 8(10:30, 14:00 and 16:00), shop-ping centre Turiec 1. Admis-sion: fr ee. More info:

www.kamdomesta.sk.

EasternSLOVAKIA

Vranovnad Topoul LIVE MUSIC: IMT Smile Ak-ustik Tour 2011 Very popularSlovakbandshavesetoffonanunpluggedtour, introducing

young and emerging musi-cians like Xindl X, SamoTome ek , LeRa, Peterervenka,andNocade.

Starts: May 5, 19:00; EKGNight Club, U Boeny Nm-covej 1134. Admission: 12.Tel: 0907/256-274; 02/5293-3321;

www.ticketportal.sk.

Koicel LIVEMUSIC&DJS:DATPolit-ics+ The Uniques + Chunk-FooFighters The French elec-troglitchbandDATPoliticshasjoined forces with two Slovakgroups, the post-punk TheUniques and DJs Chunk-FooFighters who are breathingfreshairintotheelectro-houseandbass-linescene.

Starts: May 6, 22:00;Kasrne Kulturpark, Kuku-nova 2. Admission: 8(in advance) or 10 (onthe door). Tel: 055/6854-299;

www.kulturpark.sk.ByZuzanaVilikovsk

EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE

A TRADITIONAL spring exhibition of naive art is currently tak-ing place at the Typo & Ars Gallery, Roncka 349 in the Vajnorydistrict ofBratislava. It is dedicated to Slovak artists from themainly Slovak village of Kovaica in the Vojvodina region of Ser-bia, and ranges from older masters like Zuzana Chalupov andJn Kazovic, to contemporary oil paintings. The exhibition In-sitaz Kovaice is opendailyuntil May22,butplease contact theowner/manager at 0903/477-074 or check www.typoars.sk toconfirmopening hours. Photo:Courtesyof TAG

The United States Air Forces in Europe Band gives a series ofconcerts in Slovakia in the beginning of May. It will perform onMay 7 at 19:00 in the tiavniky Sports Hall in Bansk Bystrica.Tickets canbe purchasedthrough theInformationCentrein SNPSquare1 (tel.048/4155-085). Photo:Courtesyof USEmbassy

10 CULTURE

I n c o op e ra t i on w i th t h e S l o va k H y dr o me t eo r ol o g ic a l I n st i t ut e

Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia

can now be found atwww.spectator.sk.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 M A Y 2 0 1 1

Mondayigmund

May 2

TuesdayGalina

May 3

WednesdayFlorin

May 4

ThursdayLesanaLesia

May 5

FridayHermna

May 6

SaturdayMonika

May 7

SundayIngrida

May 8

Nitra Theatre Festival aimsto honour its volunteers

THISYEAR theDivadeln Ni-tra Theatre Festival is celeb-rating its 20th anniversaryand over the years it hasdrawn on the help of morethan 120 volunteers everyyear. With 2011 being the

European Year of Volunteer-ing, festival organisers areasking all people who havevolunteered for various jobsin previous years to contactthem via their webpage,www.nitrafest.sk, and checkwhether their name is on thelistofvolunteers.

Ifnot,onecaneasilycom-

plete a simple form and then be listed in the festivalsforthcoming publication en-titled20rokovdobrovonctvana Divadelnej Nitre (TwentyYears of Volunteering at theNitra Theatre Festival) which

will highlight past years ofthe festival and, by namingthem,paytributetoallthevo-lunteerswhohavehelped.

The authors of the pub-lication not only want tothank the volunteers fortheir past cooperation butalsopublicisethe value ofvo-lunteering, which helps the

festival and the cultural mi-lieu of any community aswell as giving personal satis-factiontovolunteers.

The authors noted that volunteer work can buildyoung peoples willingness tohelp their communities,draw them closer to culturallife and promote volunteer-ingasa toolof personaldevel-opment. The EC designated2011 as the European Year of

Volunteering.

CompiledbySpectatorstafffrompressreports

May 2 8,2011

Manyvolunteershelpedthe festival.Wereyou among them? Photo:Collavino, Courtesyof DN


11/12

Veronese masterpiece visits Bratislava

EVEN the best reproductioncannot replace the emotionalexperience of viewing an ori-ginal masterpiece of art. Thatis why people keep visitingart galleries rather than ad-miring works of art only inbooks or on the internet.

Now,Bratislavans havea rareopportunity to see a signific-ant work of art from the lateItalian Renaissance at the

Bratislava CityGallery(GMB):Portrait of a Man by PaoloVeronese.

On the occasion of the150th anniversary of the uni-fication of Italy and the 50thanniversary of the GMB, thePalatine Gallery of Florenceloaned this masterpiece tothe GMB. The exhibition isanother success flowing fromthe fruitful cooperationbetween the Italian CulturalInstitute in Bratislava andthe gallery.

Im very glad that curat-or AnnaBiscegliahas brought

us this astonishing painting,said Ivan Janr, GMBs dir-ector, atthe ceremonial open-ing of the exhibition on April15.This masterpiece is oneofthe top works the PalatineGalleryhas inits collections.

The masterpiece is byPaolo Cagliari (Caliari), anItalian Renaissance artist

who later became known asPaolo Veronese after his

birthplace in Verona. Thepainting dates back to

1560-1565, the period whenItalian Mannerism art,

which evolved during thelater years ofthe Ita

Documents

Slovak Spectator 1717