Slovak Spectator 1737

8/3/2019 Slovak Spectator 1737

1/12

Slovakia

taxes banks

ROBERT Ficoand his oppositionSmer partyhad wanted a special tax on banks operat-ing in Slovakia to be levied at a rate of 0.7percent of their liabilities and had gone sofar as to make this one of the partys flag-ship policies. As it turns out, a special banklevy at 0.4 percent has now been passed byparliament itwas approvedby MPson Oc-tober 20 but at the initiative of the outgo-ing centre-rightgovernment.

SeeTAXpg10

The battle to pass the budget

PASSING a state budget whenthere are fears of a new reces-sion and there is a need to

bring the public finances intobalance is a thorny undertak-ing, even for a well-function-ing gove rn men t. NowSlovakias outgoing govern-ment, which collapsed under

the weight of a two-in-onevote on changes to the euro-zone bailout scheme and con-fidence in the cabinet of IvetaRadiov, is attempting topass its budget plan in par-

liament so that the state willnot need to operate using aprovisionalbudget in 2012.

While the centre-rightparties which shared powerfor the past 16 months all saythat they are committed toapproving the budget plan, itappears that actually passingthe laws required for meetingthe budget targets for next

yearwillnot beeasy.One piece of legislation

thatwould havebroughtaddi-

tional revenue to the statewas struck down on October19 when five MPs from theFreedom and Solidarity (SaS)party failed to support it.PartyleaderRichardSulksaid

the failure to vote in favourhad happened by mistake. It

was SaS MPs refusing to sup-port the proposed changes tothe European Financial Stabil-ity Facility (EFSF) on October11 that led to the fall of thegovernment in which SaS wasa member.

Oppositionparty Smerhassaid that it will not lend itssupport to the budget packagein parliament even though itsleader, Robert Fico, also said

that having an approvedbudgetis betterthangoingin-to next year with just a provi-sionalbudget.

See PLANpg 10

SELECT FOREX RATES benchmark as ofOctober 20CANADA CAD 140CZECH REP CZK24.90RUSSIA RUB43.17GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.88

HUNGARY HUF 296.24JAPAN JPY 106.07POLAND PLN 4.35USA USD 138

NEWS

PoliticsontheslopesWinteris a very unusualseasonforSlovaksto beviewing election billboardsor watching sharply-drawnpoliticaldebates.But thatiswhatthis winter promises.

pg 2

Whatkindoflegacy?IvetaRadiovand hercab-inet areleavingafter only 16monthsin office. Timewilltell ifthiswas long enoughforSlovakias firstwomanprimeminister andher cab-

inetto leavea lasting mark.pg 3

OPINION

HostagestorealityThecountry isin a constitu-tionalfix andneedsa wise,impartialand effectivepres-ident. IvanGaparovi ishavingthetimeof hispres-idential life buthe isun-ableto meetthe challenge.

pg 5

BUSINESSFOCUS

Hotlogisticsmarket

After a standstilllastingalmosttwo years, construc-tionof newdistributionandwarehousing premiseshasstarted againaftervacancyrateshit a historicallow.

pg 6

Bike-friendlycitiesCyclists canoffera longlistof complaints aboutwhy cycling toworkinmostSlovakcities is diffi-cult anddangerous ar-rogant Slovak driversbe-ingone. Bratislava plansto change that.

pg 7

CULTURE

Drumsto thunderThefirst-everSlovak festiv-alof drumswillshakeBratislavas Petralkadis-trictat theendof October,introducingdrummersandpercussionistsof variousstyles fromaroundtheworld.

pg11

SlovakPresidentIvanGaparovi andthe leadersof thefourparties ofthe ruling coalitionreachedagreementonaconstitutionallaw toend theuncertaintysurroundingthe fallof thegovernment. Photo:Sme - Vladimr imek

Deal reached overinterim governmentAFTER a period of uncertainty overwhowould govern thecountry untilthe next general election in March2012, the leaders of the centre-rightparties and Slovak President IvanGaparovi agreed on a solution onOctober 20. The constitution will berevised to allow the president tocharge the existing government ofIveta Radiov, which was defeatedin a confidence vote in parliamenton October 11, with governing thecountry until next years elections

onMarch10.

It is now up to the parliamentaryde putie s to pre pare suc h arevision,Gaparovi toldthe mediaafterhis meeting with theleadersofthe centre-right parties on October20. After the law is passed, I willimmediately charge this govern-ment with continuing its operation

untilthe elections.

On the same day, the leaderof opp os it ion p ar ty S mer,Robert Fico, also proposed revis-ing the countrys constitutionas a possible solution to thesituation. The government fellaft er one of t he c oalitionparties, Freedom and Solidarity(SaS), refused to back changes tothe eurozones European Finan-cial Stability Facility (EFSF)

bailout mechanism.

SeeDEALpg4

Vol. 17, No. 37 Monday, October 24, 2011 - Sunday, October 30, 2011On sale nowOn sale now FOCUS

of this issue

FOCUSof this issue

LOGISTICS

& TRANSPORT

Electionsdraw closer

A FEW weeks ago the next parliamentaryelections in Slovakia were nearly three

yearsaway. Butin a blinkof aneye thevoteon theEuropeanbailoutmechanism tiedtoa confidence vote in the governmentturned the Slovak political scene upside-down and politicians and the electoratenow find themselves preparing for elec-

tionsthatare only 16weeks away.The March 10 parliamentary electionsare expected to change the political land-scape in Slovakia and redistribute poweramong the political parties. Many observ-ers see Robert Ficos return to governmentas one of the most likely outcomes, de-pending mostly on the mood among those

voters who supported the centre-rightparties in 2010 and who for the momentappear to be quite disappointed with thefour-party coalition they put into powerjust 16months ago.

SeePOLLpg2

BYMICHAELATERENZANISpectator staff

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Supreme Court backsMello release

THEBRATISLAVA RegionalCourtwas correctto release

KarolMello,a manaccusedofa doublemurder, from po-licecustody,the SupremeCourtruledon October18.Therulingmarks therejec-tionofan appealby JusticeMinisterLucia itansk,theSITA newswirereported.

itanskfiledher com-plaint withthe SupremeCourton June 14,seekingtooverturnthe regionalcourt'sdecisionthat led toMellosrelease.

Mellois charged withthe 2004murder ofa womanandherchild inMostpriBratislave. He hadfled Slov-

akia butwasarrested inPo-landlast year.

Mellowasfreed onMay19,2011, afterthe regionalcourt ruled thathis re-arrestimmediately afteranothercourt hadreleased him wasillegal.The firstcourtruledthathe should be releasedduetomistakesmadein hisextradition fromPoland.

Mellosrelease promptedanoutcry inthe mediaandstrong criticismby InteriorMinisterDanielLipic.

After his release,Melloabscondedagain.He is be-lieved to havefled Slovakia

buthis currentwhereaboutsareunknown.

Slovaks join Wall Street protestsHUNDREDSof mostly youngpeoplegatheredon Hviez-doslavovoSquareon October15and then marched totheheadquartersof thePentafinancialgroup to protestagainst whatthey called theundueinfluenceof businessgroups on thedistributionofnational wealth, theTASRnewswirereported. Theprotest waspatternedaftertheOccupyWall Streetdemonstrationsthat startedinNewYorkCitywhich havespread to othercitiesacrosstheworld.

Regardless of theout-

comeof electionsin Slov-akia,it isalways thesamepeoplewho ruleSlovakia twoor threefinancialgroupsandfive, maybesix,businessmen,said EduardChmelr,one of theorgan-

isersof theprotest, asquotedbyTASR. Headded that theprofits of banksin Slovakiahavegrownby 60 percentthisyear while ordinarypeople haveneededto tight-entheirbeltsin responsetoausterity measures.

People in 1,400citieson five continents areprotesting insupport ofthesamebasic goalstoday,Chmelr stated.

Theorganiserssaid oneaim oftheprotest istowritea new constitutionforSlovakia that wouldstrengthenthe standing of

ordinary peopleand curbthe influenceof politicalparties and business groupsthatfinance them.

A petition waslaunchedtothateffect aftertheprotest, TASRwrote.

Most police 'pass' newevaluations

THENEW system toevalu-atetheworkof policeof-ficersisgoodand a newgov-ernment should notchangeit,said Slovakias nationalpolice chief, JaroslavSpiiak,as he releasedin-formationshowing that66percent of Slovakias police

officerswere evaluatedassatisfactory,the TASRnewswire reported.

Iam convincedthatthissystemis sogood,so qualit-ativethat it caneffectivelyraisethe personalprofilesofpoliceofficers;so itis notveryeasyto stop itbecauseitwould notmeanonestepback, butone hundredstepsback, Spiiaksaid,as quotedby theSITA newswire.

Spiiakbelievesthe mostrecent evaluation, conductedbetweenJuly andSeptember2011, wasvery good. ThePravda dailyhad earlierwrit-tenthatin thefirst monthofthesystem nearly 72 percent

of thepolice officerswereevaluatedpoorly,whileTASRwrote thatthe recent evalu-ation foundtheworkof only20 percent of theofficers wasunsatisfactory.

Thepolicepresidentcommentedthathewas thefirstchiefwho openly said

whathe expectedof hisof-ficersandandhow they weretodo itand stressedthathe

was willing toresign iftheofficersdid not succeed.

Theresultsachieved by

hisofficershavebeen re-volutionary thebest sinceindependent Slovakia wasestablished,Spiiak stated,asquoted byTASR,addingthatthe newevaluation sys-temwasnot preparedto pun-ishunsatisfactorypoliceof-ficers butto recognisethosedoingthe bestwork.

Former national policechiefJn Packa questionedtheevaluation process andsaidpoliceofficershadlearnedhow to writethethings thatSpiiakwantedthemto write, SITAreported.

Thesystemallowspo-liceofficerswho deceive tohavebetterresultsthan

those whowork honestly,Packastated, as quoted bySITA.

Compiledby Spectatorstaff

frompressreports

Mulled wine, ski slopes and politics

WINTER isa very unusual sea-son for Slovaks to be viewing

billboards with party slogansor watching sharply-drawnpolitical debates on TV. Never-theless, after the fall of thefour-party coalition govern-ment onOctober 11 theleadersof Slovakias political partiesagreed that the next parlia-mentary elections would beheld in March, perhaps beforethe last snow melts even insouthern partsof the country.

Slovaks will beaskedtocast

their ballots on March 10, lessthan two years since the lastparliamentary elections. Whenthe date was announced some

voices argued that the wintermonths are less suitable forpolitical campaigning thanother seasons and that the late

winter balloting, the first inthecountrys history,mightin-fluence voter turnout and intheend, theresultsas well.

Winter months in Slov-akia are usually filled withvarious social events, startingwithHalloween parties in late

October, St Nicolas parties forchildren in early Decembersoon followed by Christmasand New Years Eve events,and ending withcarnivaldaysfilled with balls which cul-minate next year on February21. Another calendar high-

light of the official electioncampaigning could be Inter-national Womens Day onMarch 8, only two days before

the vote. On that day, politi-cians, mainly from the Smerparty, have traditionally heldevents for women featuringcultural programmes andgiftsfor theguests.

Given that Slovakia has no

historical experience of hav-ing an election at this time, itis difficult to predict whatimpact it might have on voterturnout and actual results, so-ciologist Martin Slosiarikfrom the Focus polling agencytoldThe Slovak Spectator.

Obviously, the politicalparties will have to adjusttheir campaigning to theperiod when the electionstake place, Slosiarik told TheSlovak Spectator, adding that

while much will depend onthe actual weather it is verylikely that there will be nolarge, lengthy meetings in thesquares of Slovak towns andthat smaller encounters, with

mulled wine or on ski slopes,canbe expected.

See2012pg5

BYMICHAELA

TERENZANI

Spectator staff

POLL: Some MPs may face problemsContinuedfrompg1

Questionsalso remain about the polit-icalfuture of IvetaRadiov, the outgoingprime minister, as well as several MPs

wholeft theirparliamentary caucuses andmay now find it difficult to gain voterssupport.Thetwopoliticalpartiesspeakingfor the ethnic Hungarian minority inSlovakia, one of which, Most-Hd,emergedprior tothe 2010electionsfollow-

ing a split in the Hungarian CoalitionParty (SMK), may also find it difficult toclimb above the 5-percent threshold forenteringparliament.

If electionshad takenplacein mid-Oc-tober, Ficos Smer party would have wonan absolute majority in parliament, cap-turing 83 seats in the 150-member body,according to a poll conducted by the Polisagency. Smer recorded 45.5 percent in thepoll, which was held shortly after theRadiov government lost the no-confid-encevoteonOctober11.

The poll indicated that the only otherparties that would have made it into par-liament are the members of the outgoingcoalition: the Slovak Democratic andChristian Union (SDK) received 14.3 per-cent support in the poll, enough for 26seats; the Christian Democratic Move-

ment (KDH) had 8.8-percent support, res-ulting in 16 MPs; Freedom and Solidarity(SaS) would have gained 15 seats with8.3-percent support; and Most-Hd party

would have finished just over the 5-per-cent threshold at 5.3 percent, gaining 10seatsinparliament.

Comeandgo?

Several MPs currently sitting in par-liament who have left their parties since2010 could now face an early end to theirparliamentarycareers.They include AnnaBelousovov and Rudolf Puk, whoresigned from the Slovak National Party(SNS) this year and who have recently re-gistered a new political party, Nation andJustice (NaS).

Similarly, several MPs who entered

parliament in 2010 on the candidate listsof parties other than their own mightstruggleto gainenoughvotesin 2012. IgorMatovisOrdinary People movementwasable to attract enough preferences for itsfour candidates, who appeared at the bot-

tomoftheSaSslatein2010,togetintopar-liament. However, SaS expelled Matovifrom its caucus in February. He has an-nounced that Ordinary People will estab-lish a political party that will help inde-pendentcandidates reach parliament.

Two other current MPs Andrejurkovsk, formerly of KDH, and Igortefanovof SNS arecurrently thesubjectof criminal investigations and could faceprosecution. Although the current par-

liamentisnotlikelytowithdrawtheirpar-liamentary immunity they will automat-ically lose it if they are not re-elected.urkovskhas already announcedthat he

will not be a candidate for parliament in2012, while tefanov has said he will runontheSNSslateifheisofferedaslot.

The future representation ofSlovakias ethnic Hungarian minority inparliament may also change, with Most-Hd hovering around the 5-percentthreshold and the Hungarian CoalitionParty (SMK), which is not currently rep-resented in parliament, polling around 4percent. The leaders of these two partieshave not commented directly on theforthcoming elections but sources withinthe SMK have reportedly said that theparties should unite so as to provide eth-nic Hungarians with strong representa-

tionin thenextparliament.ButGborGlofMost-HdtoldtheSmedaily that he was not keen on the idea ofjoint representation with SMK, sayingthat the party still includes people withopinions close to those of Mikls Duray, apolitician known for his Hungarian na-tionalist rhetoric and for advocatingautonomyfor Hungarians living in south-ern Slovakia.

Radiovs future

Outgoing Prime Minister Radiovhas not commented directly about her fu-ture political plans. But her party, theSDK,needsher among itsleadingfiguresand would likely lose many supporters

without her, accordingto Jn Barnek, ananalystwith Polis.

If shedoesnthead the SDK[candid-ate list] it could be reflected in the partysresult,Barnektold TheSlovakSpectator,adding that the decision depends on herpersonal desires as wellas her discussions

withMikul Dzurinda,the partysleader.

In herrecentinterview withthe Smedaily Radiov did not answer questionsabout whether she would seek to headtheSDKscandidate listor whether she

wantstobeonthepartyslistatall.

Whatof thecentre-rightvoters?

Because most political analysts be-lieve Smer has a fairly stable voter base,they are predicting that the outcome of

the March elections will depend to alarge extent on the willingness of pastsupporters of the centre-right parties to

vote forthem again despitethe fallof thecoalitionformedafterthe2010 election.

Surelysome centre-right voters willremain disappointed or apathetic butcentre-right voters are characterised bygreat flexibility and the ability to closenotone buteventwo eyes [over themis-haps of their politicians], Barnek toldThe Slovak Spectator. So I think they

will come to vote even if that meansgrinningand bearingit.

Barnek added, however, that hiscurrent assumptions could be chal-lenged once the campaign actuallystarts.

It is difficult to predict at this time whether disappointment among those

whovoted for thecentre-right parties in2010 will be more compelling than theirdesire to prevent Ficos return to power,Slosiarikbelieves.

It will depend on how the centre-right parties communicate, he said,adding that if they concede there is thepossibility of forming a governmentcomposed of Smer and one or more oftheir parties, this might discouragesomeof their supporters.

Forthe centre-rightpartiesit wouldbebetterif they made a clear distinctionandkeptusingthethreat ofthereturn ofRobert Fico, Slosiarik said. In thatcasethey could maintain fear among their

voters that could lead to voting for thecentre-right parties despite theirdisappointment. But the sociologistadded that the centre-right parties are

facing a much more difficult challengenow in motivating potential supportersthantheydidin2010.

For a longer versionof this storyplease go to www.spectator.sk.

Politiciansmighttake tothe slopesto reachvoters. Photo:Sme

2 NEWSOctober 24 30, 2011

Ready for awintertime

campaign?


3/12

What legacy does theRadiov cabinet leave ?

IVETA Radiov and hercabinet are leaving afteronly one year and fourmonths in their posts. Timewill tell whether this was

long enough for Slovakiasfirst woman prime ministerand her cabinet to have left

a lasting mark on the coun-try and be remembered asthey wanted to be seen: as agovernment bringingtransparency to public af-fairs and managing theeconomy responsibly.

Though Radiov and hercabinet had not been form-ally dismissed as The SlovakSpectator went to print onOctober 20, and it remainedquite possible that she wouldcontinue as prime ministeruntil the election nextMarch, it is unlikely that sheand her cabinet will be ableto undertake any further re-forms or implement ground-

breaking measures during

the interim period. The endcame for some ministers be-fore they managed to initiateany major changes in theirareas of responsibility, whileothers were able to use theirbrief time in power to im-

plement several elements ofthe programme statementadopted in 2010.

ThefirstwomanPM

History will surely re-member Iveta Radiov asthe first woman to head aSlovak government and thefirst academic to occupy thechair of prime minister.

Both these factors are

immensely important be-cause they helped the officeto acquire some seriousness

when compared to[Radiovs] predecessors inthe post, political analystMiroslav Kus told The Slov-ak Spectator.

But the Radiov gov-ernment had too little timeto leave a strong impressionon voters, Kus added. Thatopinion was shared by Dar-ina Malov, the head of thePolitical Sciences Depart-ment at Comenius Uni-versity in Bratislava.

Another thing is thatclearly-defined reforms wereabsent, Malov said, adding

that the changes the gov-ernment started, includingthe tax reform, health-carereform, and reforms in high-way construction, brought re-latively few concrete results.

Some of what the gov-ernment enacted, such asthe increase in the VAT rate, was not positively perceived by citizens, as the govern-ment took office during aperiod still affected by theglobal economic crisis andan increase in global com-modity prices.

But Grigorij Mesenikov,

the head of the Institute forPublic Affairs (IVO), wasmore sanguine about the im-pression Radiovs cabinethas made on voters.

After some time passes,the evaluation will be moresober, Mesenikov told TheSlovak Spectator. For themoment, emotions prevailand the impression at firstsight is that the governmentfell due to its inherentinstability.

A more analytical ap-proach will show that thegovernment of IvetaRadiov stabilised the coun-try economically and intro-duced elements of transpar-

ency, Mesenikov argued.After all, it was a gov-ernment that with the excep-tion of one issue althoughthat was an important issue reached agreement on allprogramme points [of itsstatement], Mesenikovstated, adding that the ap-proach of all four parties wassimilar: towards more trans-parency and liberalisation ofthe economy.

Democracymeansconflicts

Analysts concede thatRadiov lacked strong back-ing within her own party butat the same time rejected the

criticism that she was a weak prime minister, as theopposition has claimedthroughout her term.

Mesenikov called herposition within the coalition

untraditional. It wouldsurely have been stronger ifshe had led the party sherepresented, Mesenikovstated, noting that giveneverything Radiovs gov-ernment had achieved herposition was not weak, asRobert Fico of Smer partyhad attempted to convincethe public.

History will rememberthis government via politicalfactors, mainly the conflicts

within the coalition, Malovtold The Slovak Spectator.

But Mesenikov rejectedthe idea that a clash of opin-ions was behind the cabinetsfailure to rule for longer something that Fico begansuggesting as early as July2010, when the new govern-ment was formed.

The constant disputeswithin the coalition are typ-ical for broad alliances suchas the one that Radiov led,Kus commented.

Democracy is a hard wayof ruling when it is carried

out sincerely, Kus said.But we know nothing betterthan that. [Democracy] bringsalong the need to debate andto debate really hard. There isno way to go on unless anagreement is reached.

For that reason Kus ar-gues that the need to con-stantly discuss everythingand struggle to find agree-ment within the ruling coali-tion was not a minus for thegovernment, as Fico had triedto make it appear.

It proves that they wereequal partners and not pup-pets on strings that just did

what they were told, Kussaid.

Transparencyto remain?

When the media andpolitical analysts evaluatedRadiovs first year in power

this June, the measures thatwere most often praised in-cluded the requirement thatpublic institutions publish alltheir contracts online andthe enactment of severalchanges in the judicial sys-tem, such as the amendedlaws on judges and publicprosecutors offices. Observ-ers of the Slovak political

scene also mentioned theanti-corruption and trans-parency measures introduced by the Defence Ministry assignificant pluses for thegovernment.

Four months later, as thegovernment ends its rule,most observers are of theopinion that Justice MinisterLucia itansk was amongthe most successful ministersin making marked changes,

while the education ministerand the health minister werethe two most widely-criti-cised members of the cabinet.

Kus strongly believes themost significant reform made

by the Radiov cabinet was

its unprecedented transpar-ency: there was open debateabout various issues andthese issues were discussedin public rather than beingkept behind closed dooors.

Regardless of what gov-ernment takes power afterthe March elections, analystsbelieve it will not be easy todo away with the pro-trans-parency measures introducedby the outgoing cabinet, par-ticularly the obligation forpublic bodies to publish theircontracts online.

I believe that in a way itwill have to be preserved be-cause civic movements,NGOs and activists would

criticise it [if these measures were cancelled altogether]but I presume there will besome minor modifications,Malov told The SlovakSpectator.

BYMICHAELATERENZANI

Spectatorstaff

IvetaRadiovwasSlovakia'sfirstwomanprimeminister. Photo:Sme -Vladimrimek

Doctors vow tocontinue protest

NEITHER thefallof thegov-ernmentof IvetaRadiovnorthe desireof themainoppositionparty Smerto haltthe transformation of hos-pitalsinto joint-stockcom-panieshas changed themindsof doctors abouttheircurrent massprotest. Hos-pitaldoctorssubmittedtheirresignationsen masseinSeptember to demonstratetheiroppositionto theHealthMinistrys plantochangethe legalformofstate-run hospitals.They arealsodemandingmorehealth-carefunding,higher

salaries andadherencebyhospitalsto theLabour Code.HealthMinisterIvan Uh-

liarikand representativesofthe doctors tradeunionsfailedon October 19in yetanother attemptto find acompromise. Nevertheless,Smer hasofferedthe protest-ing physicianssome consola-tion bysubmittinga parlia-mentaryproposalto haltthetransformationof hospitalsa process whichwas ap-provedby parliamentearlierin2011and shouldbecom-pletedby theendof theyear.

The fall ofthe govern-ment does notchangeany-thing westillinsist onour

four demands andtheneedforurgent steps tosecure afunctioningsystem ofhealth-care provisioninSlovakia,said MarianKollr, chairmanof theMedicalTrade Unions Asso-ciation(LOZ). Since thehealth-care system is in acriticalcondition in Slov-akiait is crucial,regardlessofwho will beour partneronthe otherside,tofindconstructivesolutions andtakeprompt stepsto repairthecurrentsituation,which is endangering cit-izens health.

Another roundof negoti-ationsto resolvethesitu-

ationcreated by the decisionof2,411doctorsworking inhospitalsacross Slovakia tosubmittheir resignationsonSeptember 29 is scheduledforthe last weekof October.Nevertheless,on October17the doctors unionsaid that

itwas continuing toseekresignationsfrom doctors.

Uhliarikrestated thatthelaw which stipulates

thechange of legal formforhospitals is stillvalidandhisministry hasto followit,despite thefall ofthegovernment followingitsfailureto secure theconfid-ence of parliamentin a voteonOctober11.

Theunions andUhliarikdidmakesomeprogress

whenthey agreedto estab-lishan expertgroup consist-ingof representativesof theunionand ministry to assesstheunions proposal forsalaryincreases.

Thechairman ofthe par-liamentaryhealth commit-tee, ViliamNovotnof theSlovak Democraticand

ChristianUnion (SDK),saidthatdoctorsshould followtheexampleof teachersandsuspend theirprotest activit-iesin lightof thecurrentpolitical situation.

Kollr responded thatthetransformation of hospitalsiscontinuingand that a halttothisprocess isa pre-condi-tionfor meeting the doctorsotherdemandsas well.

In earlyOctober,Uh-liarik, whowas nominatedtohispostby theChristianDemocratic Movement(KDH), saidthat somedoc-torswere withdrawingtheirresignationsand thattheministry wouldcontinueen-

couragingothers todo so.Theministryalsosaidthathospital directorswould ac-ceptthe withdrawalofresignationletters onlyuntiltheendof October.

Kollrhas repeatedlydeniedthatany doctorshavewithdrawntheir resigna-tions,whichare dueto comeintoeffectatthe endofNovember.

Weare continuingtocollectterminationnoticeseven fromthose colleaguesandthose hospitalswhichforvarious reasonsdidnotjoinus inthe first wave,Kollrtold TheSlovakSpec-tator,adding thatthenum-

berof resignationsis in-creasingeverydayand thathedid notknowof anyonewhohad withdrawn theirresignation becauseof thefallof thegovernment.

SeeDOCSpg4

Doctors seekto halthospitaltransformations. Photo:Sme

3October 24 30, 2011NEWS

Analysts evaluatethe departing

government



4/12

FNM suspends privatisations

THENATIONALPropertyFund(FNM),Slovakiasprivatisationagency, willindefinitelysuspend theplanned privatisation ofseveral companiesin whichthestate holds anowner-shipinterest, theTASRnewswirereported on Octo-ber14.

Currently, theprivat-isationprocessof mostofthese companiesis onlyintheinitialphaseof announ-cing international tendersfor privatisation advisers,

said MiloslavHomolaof theFNM, asquotedby TASR.

Headdedthatfor thepreviouslyplannedsale ofsix state-ownedcentralheat-ing companies,the processofselectingan adviserforthesale hadnotgone beyondevaluationof submittedbids.

Homolasaidthatthe

FNMsdecisionto suspendthesesaleswouldhave noimpacton itslegalor finan-cialcommitments.

CompiledbySpectatorstaff

frompress reports

EBRD slashes GDP growth forecast

THE LATESTGDP-growthes-timatesreleasedby theEuropean Bankfor Recon-

structionand Development(EBRD) for countriesin cent-ralandeastern Europewithstrongties tothe eurozoneindicater a majoreconomicslowdown,especiallyforSlovakia andHungary,theSITAnewswire reported.

TheEBRD nowpredictsthatSlovakiaseconomywillgrow byonly 1.1per-centin 2012,compared toitsJuly prognostication of 4.1percent.

The EBRDalso reducedits estimate of economicgrowthin Slovakia for2011fromitspreviousforecastof3.7percentto 3.1percent.

The forecast for econom-

icgrowthin Hungarythis

yearwas reduced to1.1 per-cent andwascut for2012to0.5 percent.

Forthe entireregion theEBRD isnow predictingGDPgrowthof only 4.5percentin2011 compared toits July es-timateof 4.8percent,anditpredicts thateconomicgrowthfor thecountries ofcentral andeastern Europe

willaverage only3.2 percentin2012comparedto its4.4-percentgrowth predic-tion inJuly.

TheEBRDsaidthatthemain reasonfor cutting itsgrowthestimatesis Europessovereign debtcrisis, whichthebanksaidis preventingcountriesin theregion fromfullyrecovering fromtheglobaleconomiccrisisof

2008-2009.

Moodys warns about deficit targets

THEFALLof Slovakiasfour-partycoalitiongovernmentcouldendangerthe creditratingof thecountryandin-creasethe cost ofservicingstatedebt, according to ana-lystsfrom Moodys ratingagency. It commentedthatthe uncertainpoliticalsitu-ationcouldthreaten fiscalconsolidation of the statebudget, theSITA newswirereported.

The coalitiongovern-menthadpromisedto lower

the public finance deficit toless than 3 percentof GDPin2013.Moodyswrotethatre-centpolls indicate thatSmerparty couldwin theearlyparliamentary elections

scheduledforMarch10 andconsiders thatpossibilityapotential riskbecause thepast governmentledby Smerhadacceleratedthe countrysindebtedness.

Smerstillhasnot con-firmedits intentionto ob-servethese commitmentstoreducethedeficit under3percentif itgainspoweragain,statedMoodys,asquotedby SITA.

Moodys statedthat anew governmentmust reject

looseningitsfiscalpolicyif itwantsto eliminate whattheratingagency called fiscalimbalancesand negative ef-fectsof thesovereigndebtcrisisin Europe.

Eurostat reports on inflation

THERATEof inflation inSlovakia grew faster inSeptember thanthe aver-ageacrossthe eurozoneandall countries of theEuropeanUnion, accordingtoa Eurostatreporton theHarmonisedIndexof Con-sumer Prices, theSITAnewswirereported.

The averageinflationratein theeurozoneinSeptember was3 percentyear-on-year and3.3 per-centin theentire EU,whileSlovakia's inflationrate

wasreportedat 4.4-per-cent.

TheNational Bankof Slov-akia(NBS)predictedthatprices

willcontinuerising in October,theTASR newswirereported.TheNBS expectsthe higher in-flationrate dueto increasingenergy prices andserviceslinked tothe beginningof the

schoolyear, TASRwrote.Nevertheless, Jozef

Makch,thegovernorof theNBS,expects Slovakiasinfla-tion rate todropbelow2 per-cent in2012.

DEAL: Parties agree torevise constitution

Continuedfrompg1

The agreement betweenthe ruling coalition parties the Slovak Democratic andChristian Union (SDK), theChristian Democratic Move-ment(KDH),Most-HdandSaS andthepresidentalsomeantthat Prime Minister IvetaRadiovwouldbe able to rep-resent Slovakia at an October23 European Council summitinvolvingeurozoneleaders.

Thecentre-right solution

The party leaders presen-ted the president with anagreement supported by 78

MPs to support an interimgovernment,which couldstillact even if the plan to revisetheconstitutionweretofail.

Nevertheless, SaS chair-man Richard Sulk told themedia that the agreement onOctober 20cameafterFico hada day earlier rejected the ideaof revising the constitution,

which is why his party waswilling to negotiate with theotherright-wingparties.

Most-HdleaderBla Bugralso stressed that the coalitionparties had reached agreement

withoutthe helpof Smer.Based on the deal, SaS

should, following approval ofthe state budget, be able to

push through parliament theabolition of MPs immunityfrom punishment for non-criminal offences and thescrapping of so-called conces-sionary fees that electricityusers pay to fund the publicservice television and radio

broadcasters. Both these wereamong the subjects of a refer-endum that SaS launchedahead of the 2010 parliament-ary elections, but which wasr ul ed i nv al id due to l owturnout. The last condition ofSaS was passage of legislationthat would allow the public toenter military forests. Theparty will also see its nomineeJozef Kollr getting one of

parliaments deputy speakerseats, the SITA newswire re-ported. Sulk was ejected fromhis job as speaker soon after

the government lost the con-fidencevote.

KDH chairman Jn Figeapplaudedthefactthathiscol-leagues on the right hadcommitted themselves tosupporting the state budget,saying this was positive notonlyforthestabilisationoftheeconomy and public finances

but also for the developmentoftheregions.

SDK leader MikulDzurinda said that the agree-ment reached on October 20

was in fact the culmination ofefforts he had begun the pre-

vious week, when he first metFige,Bugrand Sulk.

As early as Friday [Octo- ber 14], when I heard thatthere was a constitutionalproblem, it was clear to methat we had to overcome thepastandthatitwasourdutytoattempt to reach agreement,Dzurinda said, adding thatsuch agreement offers Slov-akiagreaterstability.

Ficos take

After presenting his offerof support for a constitutionalamendment, Fico said that re-

vising the countrys funda-mental law via a fast-trackedlegislative procedure wouldnot testify to the stability and

certainty of the parliamentaryand constitutional system, butthatin thecurrentsituationheconsideredit thebest solution.

The constitution after allhas certain legislative holesthat must be filled, Fico saidon October 20.

Fico restated that untilMarch 10, his party would not

be interestedin sharing powerand intended to operate untilthe elections solely as an op-position party.

Radiovgoestoeurozonesummit

The agreement among thepolitical parties and Gaparovion who should govern thecountry in the interim perioduntil the March 10 elections

also provided an answer to aquestion which had been oc-cupying politicians, analystsa nd the media sinc e theRadiov government fell: whoshould represent Slovakia atthe eurozone summit in Brus-selsonOctober23?

While the leaders of thecoalition parties wantedRadiov to go to the summit,Ficohad insistedthat thepres-ident should represent Slov-akiainstead. Inthe end, itwasagreed that Radiov wouldattend the summit, as wasplanned before the govern-mentcrisis erupted.

Before agreement wasreached, however, Gaparovi

repeatedly stated that he wasready to represent Slovakia atthe summit himself. He citedthe constitution, which says

that the president representsthe state and negotiates andratifies international treaties,

with the option to delegatethe negotiation of treaties tothe cabinet. The cabinet can-not decide who should attendthe summit if it does not havethe confidence of parliament,Gaparovi said on October 19,theSITA newswire reported.

Gaparovi always usesEnglish-language interpretersin international settings andthere were concerns amongobservers that he might havetrouble representing Slovakiaat the closed meeting of euro-zoneleadersin Brussels.

There are several primeministers and presidents whodontspeak English either, hesaid,as quotedbySITA.

Radiov asserted that theeurozone negotiations are ledexclusively by prime minis-ters, that their posts are notreplaceable and that no otherofficials are allowed into suchmeetings.

The working language isEnglish, and there is the op-tion to use French, German orSpanish, which are translatedintoEnglish,she toldthe Smedaily. It is always conductedat the level of prime minis-ters, with the exception ofFrance, whose president ful-

filsdifferentfunctions.

MichaelaTerenzanicontributedto thereport

SmerchairmanRobertFico haspromised tostay inopposition. Photo:TASR

DOCS: Hospitals debts to be clearedContinuedfrompg3

Haltingthetransformation

Meanwhile, the opposition hasbeen arguing that the transformationof hospitals should not go ahead as theinterim government of Radiov is

what Smer leader Robert Fico callednon-existent.

It is a harsh intervention in the

health-care system and decisions aboutsuch steps should be made by agovernment, Fico said, as quoted by theSITA newswire.

Uhliarik has argued throughout thedispute, as he did in the lead-up to the

parliamentary vote that authorised thetransformation of the hospitals intojoint-stock companies, that the process

will stop waste and the ineffective useof public funds.

Endless indebtedness is the road toperdition and this is also the case withhospitals, Uhliarik stated, as quoted

by SITA in early October. The condi-tion of some state hospitals is bad. Thisis because of debt and ineffective fin-

ancial management. And we want tochange this.The revision to the law on health

insurance companies assumes thetransformation of 31 hospitals, and par-liament has already approved 350 mil-

lion to clear their debts. The soleshareholder in the joint-stock compan-ies will be the state.

LOZ leader Kollr commented thatthe poor financing of health care and

what he called the bankrupting limitsset by health insurers on how muchthey pay hospitals to perform treat-ments and procedures cannot be ad-dressed just by clearing hospitals debts.

For the hospitals which under

present circumstances will be trans-formed to joint-stock companies thisstep would only mean additional in-debtedness and the related threat ofclosure or bankruptcy, Kollr toldthe media.

4 BUSINESS / NEWSOctober 24 30, 2011


5/12

It happens

SHIT happens is becoming astandard political phrase.Prime Minister IvetaRadiovs spokesperson RadoBao used it in his Facebookstatus after the governmentwas brought down. Former

speaker of parliament RichardSulk drew on it to explainwhy, despite previous agree-ments, his SaS party failed tosupport a bill proposed by theFinance Ministry.

And they are right. In fact,

it is surprising just how muchcan go wrong in a country.Earlier this month the cabinetfell, early elections werecalled, and the door wasopened for the return ofRobert Fico. But anyone whothought that was the end of itwasterriblymistaken.

This week, local politi-cians pushed the country tothe brink of anarchy on threedifferent fronts oppositionparty Smer says that theformer ruling coalition hasno legitimacy to pass laws inparliament. That, of course,is nonsense since MPs stillhave their mandates andthere is nothing to prevent

them from working until the

election. But there seems to

be no general rule for whichlegislation will be approvedand which not, since evenlaws drafted based on thegovernment manifesto, suchas the tax and levy reform,are being excluded. A dead-lockmay yetarise.

The second problem isthat of the government. Thecountrys constitution is

vague about what preciselyshould happen after a vote ofno confidence. The presidentappeared keen to appoint anon-partisan caretaker gov-ernment, the SDK, KDH,a nd Most-Hd wante dRadiov to continue, but

without SaS, which in turn

wanted to stay, and although

Fico helped create the chaos,he said it was not for him tohelpcleanup themess.

Then there was the ques-tion of who should representSlovakia at the EU summit onOctober 23. Radiov said she

was in charge for now. But inEuropean affairs, which costher the premiership, she hasno mandate to negotiate any-thing. Pr esid en t I vanGaparovi said he could stepin to take charge. But giventhat during his years in officehe has been seen mainly atfootball and hockey games,sending him to Brussels

would have been a risky en-terprise. Its far from certain

that Sarkozy and Merkel couldconverse about the NHL at alevel befitting the Slovak headof state. Gaparovi proudlydeclared that his right to go tothe summit was prirne (a

word he invented, whichnicely highlights the qualitieshe is ready to bring to the ne-gotiating table), but as TheSlovak Spectator went to printit emerged that Europes lead-ers would be spared the pleas-ureof hiscompany, atleastonthisoccasion.

Considering the circum-stances, the foul language oflocal politicians, normally initself a cause for concern,seems a mere trifle. Its just

somethingthat happens.

2012: Choosing how to address votersContinuedfrompg2Campaigningonline

It is definitely an unfor-tunate date but all the partieswill have to adjust to it, JnBarnek of the Polis pollingagency told The Slovak Spec-tator, noting that many tradi-tional campaign methodsmight not work well in thewinter season and that theparties will be forced to use al-ternative methods.

Itsa goodopportunity forthem to make use of virtualspace, Barnek said, citing

the example of Freedom andSolidarity (SaS), which intens-ively communicated via theinternet, blogs and various so-cial networks prior to the 2010elections.

Social networks, blogs andthe internet will play an im-portant role in the 2012 cam-paign, Slosiarikagreed.

But that doesnt meanthe parties will completelygive up their billboard cam-paigns because that is im-portant too; they need tomake themselves visible,Slosiarik stated.

Several months remainbe-fore the official campaignperiod starts but unofficialcampaigning began essen-tially the day after the fall ofthe government. The fact thatthe parties recognise a need to

be online and to communic-ate with their supporters wasillustrated by the numerous

blogs and posts on social networks in which politiciansexplained their positions on

the euro bailout mechanismand blamed each other for thefall of the government. EvenJn Slota, the chairman of thenationalist Slovak NationalParty (SNS), has started a blogeven though he has not previ-ously used this method ofcommunication.

Even though the internetmight be of more importancein the 2012 elections, the suc-cess of the parties will not de-pend entirely on how skilledthey are in this area sinceeach party must adjust itscommunication style to dif-ferent kindsof voters.

It would be useless for aparty to communicate only onthe internet if 80 percent of its[traditional] voters do nothaveinternet access or do not usethe internet at all, Slosiarik

said, noting that while SaS cancount on more success in us-ing the internet, the ChristianDemocratic Movement (KDH)must take a different approachinvolving a more standardface-to-face campaign.

Slosiarik added that face-to-face meetings with votersare a very powerful campaigntool whose value should not

be underestimated.Sometimes it works in a

peculiar way. You might thinkthat a certain political partyhasno supportin a little villagesomewhere in Slovakia but thesole fact that a politician of

that party appears there inperson can harvest some votesjust because the people appre-ciate that he or she left Bratis-lava and came to meet them inperson,Slosiarik said.

Hostages to circumstanceI VAN Gaparovi is havingthe time of his presidentiallife. If the government hadnot fallen, the rest of his termin office would probably have

been occupied with ribbon-cutting ceremonies, attend-

ingfolk festivalsand cheeringat sporting stadiums an out-come with which the manySlovaks who have long sincegiven up any hope of detect-ing even a hint of statesman-shipor politicalwisdomin hisactions would have beenmorethan happy.

But now the country is ina constitutional fix and actu-ally needs a wise, impartialand effective president. Un-fortunately, Gaparovi isunable to meetthe challenge.

Some fairly serious defi-ciencies havenow emerged inthe countrys fundamentallaws in terms of what proced-ure should be followed in the

event that the governmentloses a no-confidence motion,as happened on October 11.Into the breach has steppedthe president. The drawbackis that this is a man who hasconsistently owed his politic-al success to others; duringhis 2009 re-election, for ex-ample, he relied heavily onthe support of the then-rulingSmerparty.

The president can nowenjoy a sudden rush of im-portance even more intensethan the one he experiences

when booting laws back toparliament by denying hissignature something hetook to doing increasingly

frequently after IvetaRadiovs government tookoffice. After lecturingRadiov about the nuancesof dismissing governments,Gaparovi was toying withthe idea of representingSlovakia at the crucialsummit of eurozone leaderson October 23. The leaders

will address in English,French, German and Span-ish, none of which he speaks the existential challengesfacing the elite economicclub as well as the globaleconomy.

The very thought ofGaparovi negotiating on be-half of Slovakia at sucha high-level meeting sends a chilldown thespines ofhis critics and it is not a frisson of ex-citement.

Many voters now findthemselves hostage to a polit-

ical situation that they neverdesired. They will now have toendureanotherseasonof polit-ical campaigning with thepopulist parties presumablyaiming their pitches at the

basest instincts of the elector-ate,whilethe partiestargetingthe intellectual high groundrepeat slogans that even theythemselves no longer believe.

Armies of SaS-sympathising bloggers and cyber-soldiershave loaded their guns to take

down, by delivering verbal barrages assembled by theirleaders and parroted adnauseam into cyberspace,anyone with the temerity tosuggest that SaS chose partypolitics over the fate of theRadiovgovernment.

Radiov is still trying torecover from the blow shesuffered when her govern-ment collapsed, and it cannot

be helping her much to hearalready the blare of campaigntrumpets. She too is a hostageto the situation. It might betoo late, with less than half a

year before the elections, forher to establish a politicalparty, meaning that she willalso have to answer sometough questions about her po-sition within the SDK: willshe again serve as the partys

election leader? Will she rununderthe SDK flag atall?Some observers promptly

noted that they can envisionRadiov in the presidentialpalace, where her work

would not hinge on the de-fects of ruling coalition part-ners. Yet, an eventual presid-ential candidacy will not bean issue for Radiov for atleast two years or so andsince she obviously does nothave the rhinoceros-like hideor the inflated ego of some ofher colleagues she will face atoughtime untilMarch.

Unlike Radiov, the am- bitions of Smer boss RobertFico are flowering again. So

much so that on October 20he backed a solution to thepolitical deadlock: Smer

would be willing to support arevision to the constitution

which would make it pos-sible for Gaparovi to recallRadiovs government butthen re-appoint it to governuntilthe electionsin March.

Anyone who attempts toseek signs of statesmanshipor political generosity inFicos act will search in vain:it simply works much betterfor Fico to let the Radiovgovernment wrap up its termand deal with the increas-ingly threatening economicclimate while watching the

coalition partners woo eachothers potential voters andengage in the political com-

bat that shared-ruling duringa stressful time will inevit-ablybring.

Fico wants to run hiscampaign from the conveni-entpositionof opposition andthen, of course, to win pos-sibly with enoughvotes to al-lowhimto rule alone,or withthe help of a mute partner.But being taken hostage byFico for the next four years isnot an outcome that at leasthalf thenationwantsto see.

5October 24 30, 2011OPINION / NEWS

QUOTEOFTHEWEEK:Iwillget inthe caron Tuesday [October18] and,metaphoricallyspeaking, Illbe backon March9.

Smer leaderRobertFicoon hisplans tohit theroadand campaign before theMarch 10general election.

SLOVAKWORDOFTHEWEEK

EDITORIAL


BYLUKFILASpecial to the Spectator

Inthe end,PresidentGaparoviwillnot represent Slovakiain Brusselson October23. Photo:SITA

The Slovak Spectatori s an independent newspaper published every Monday by The Rock, s .r .o .Subscrptions: Inquiries should be made to The Slovak Spectatorsbusiness office at (+421-2) 59 233 300.Printing: Petit Press a.s. Dstributon: Interpress Slovakia s.r.o., Mediaprint-kapa s.r.o., Slovensk pota a.s.Mail Distribution: ABOPRESS. EV 544/08. 2010 The Rock, s.r.o. All rights reserved. Any reproductionin whole or in part without permission is prohibited by law. The authors of articles published in this issue,represented by the publisher, reserve the right to give their approval for reproducing and public transmissionof articles marked The Slovak Spectator, as well as for the public circulation of reproductions of these articles,in compliance with the 33rd article and 1st paragraph of the Copyright Law. Media monitoring is providedby Newton, IT, SMA and Slovakia Online with the approval of the publisher. Advertising material contained hereinis the responsibility of the advertiser and is not a written or implied sponsorship, endorsement or investigation of suchcommercial enterprises or ventures by The Slovak Spectatoror The Rock s.r.o. ISSN1335-9843.Address: The Rock, s.r.o., Lazaretsk 12, 811 08 Bratislava. IO: 313 86 237.

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6/12

Organisations supporting cyclingasa means of transport

Cyklokoalcia, www.cyklokoalicia.sk- a coalitionof individuals andorganisations supportingthe developmentof urbancyclingin Bratislava.Mulica, www.mulica.sk- an independent,voluntary grouppromoting

sustainablemobilityin ilina. Its nameis derivedfroma shortenedversion ofmojaulica (mystreet).Compiledby Spectatorstaff

Institutionsandorganisations in

transport in Slovakia

Ministryof Transport, Constructionand RegionalDevelopment, www.telecom.gov.sk

Association ofRoadTransportOperatorsof theSlovakRepublic (ESMAD), www.cesmad.sk

SlovakUnion ofMotor Carriers (UNAS),www.uniadopravcov.sk

TransportResearch Institute(VD), www.vud.sk

Air transport companiesactive in Slovakia

ABSJets, www.absjets.czAirTransportEurope, www.ate.sk

Belle Air, www.belleair.itSACzechAirlines, www.csa.czDanubeWings, www.danubewings.euElAl (Sund'Or International), www.elal.co.ilOpera Jet, www.operajet.euRyanair, www.ryanair.skSmartWings, www.smartwings.netTravelService, www.travelservice.aeroUTair, www.utair.ruVRJET, www.vrjet.biz

Air transport sectorhopes for calmer skies

IT IS said that budget airlineSkyEuropetaughtSlovakstofly.In the early 2000s the now-de-funct low-cost carrier showedSlovaks, who werethen enjoy-ing the fruits of their nationsrapid economic growth, thatan air ticket did not need tocost a fortune and helped tomake air travel a much morepopular means of transport.However, the economic crisishelped push SkyEurope andother airlines from the Slovakskies and hit the domestic airtransportsectorhard.

Airtransport,as oneof thelittle-number sectors, is very

closely linked to economicgrowth, Antonn Kazda, headof the Air Transport Depart-ment at the University ofilina, told The Slovak Spectat-or as he explained the currentchallenges facingthe air trans-port business. Business airtravel is directly linked to thegrowth of the economy andleisure airtransportor packagetours are luxury products, andtherefore one of the first itemsto be deleted from the familybudget. Thechallengeof all air-line companies in Europe nowis to survive and many airlinecompanies that have not man-aged their finances reasonablyor did not create reserves over

the summer will not live to seethespring.

In terms of passenger airtransport, Bratislava Airportaccounts for the country's

biggestshare.Butdespitesomepositive developments,suchasthelaunchbyCzechairlineSAof a base in Bratislava earlierthis year, the airport reporteda drop in the total number ofpassengers it handled and the

number of take-offs and land-ings this year compared withthefirsthalfof2010,accordingto Kazda. The only increase

was in the area of charterflights.Domesticairtransport(from Bratislava to Koice)also registered a significantfall,by22percent.

Bratislava Airport believesfinding a concessionaire tolease the airport is its biggestcurrent challenge. The Trans-port Ministry is now selectingan adviser for the process,

which should then find an in- vestor to lease what is thecountrys biggest airport bysummer 2012. According to thecurrent plan, the concession-

aire will beoffereda contracttooperatetheairportfor30years.

Another challenge Bratis-lavaAirportfaces isthe currenteconomicsituation.

We continue to feel theconsequences of the currenteconomic situation the fluc-tuating euro,companies ongo-ing problems, reduced house-hold budgets and the resultinglower interest in flying, Dana

Madunick, spokesperson ofLetisko M. R. tefnika Bratis-lava Airport, told The SlovakSpectator. She added thatcompanies are using newtechnology to save on corpor-ate travel and households aremore cautious with theirspendingandtendnottogoon

weekend breaks or second orthird holidays. So probablythe second biggest challenge

we face is to revive i nterest inflying,of course withthe helpof other parties involved intourism, so as to return to thelevelfrom2008,whenourair-port served over 2.2 millionpassengers [compared to 1.67millionin2010].

Assessing the perform-ance of Bratislava Airport,Madunicksaidthatinspiteofthe factors she outlined, theairport had just experiencedits most successful half-yearsince the departure of severalsignificant carriers(SkyEurope,SeagleAir,andAirSlovakia) from the market.

Apart from a 16-percent in-crease in cargo transport,which she described as a his-torical success, Madunickhighlighted the arrival of twonew carriers with almost 30newroutesperweek .

At the beginning of thesummer season, SA connec-tedBratislavawith almostthe

whole world, Madunicksaid, adding that Bratislavahad direct flights to Europeanhubssuchas Paris,Rome,Am-sterdam, Barcelona, Larnacaand Brussels during the sum-mer season. The arrival oftraditional Russian carrierUTair Aviation with a dailyflight to Moscows Vnukovo

airport proves thatthe airportin Bratislava cannot be la-belledlow-cost.

IrishbudgetairlineRyanairhas maintained its most popu-lar routes from Bratislava andadded flights to Gran Canaria,

which according to Madunickare popular not only amongSlovaks but also Austrian andHungarianpassengers.

Ryanair remains thebiggest carrier operating out ofBratislava. Between JanuaryandSeptemberitcarried797,700of the airport's total of 1.32 mil-lion passengers, based on datafromtheairportswebsite.

SeeSKYonpg9

BY JANALIPTKOVSpectator staff

BratislavaAirport'snew terminalopenedin 2009. Photo: Sme

Market for logistics facilities revives

AFTER a standstill lasting almost twoyears, construction of new distributionand warehousing premises has startedagainin Slovakia.Now thatvacancyrates

have reached critically low levels theowners and developers of distribution fa-cilities have begun building newpremises and are even talking about con-struction on a speculative basis, that iswithoutpre-leasecontracts.

There are huge prospects beforeSlovakia as [the country has] the lowest

vacancyratewithin thecentraland east-ernEuropean(CEE) region,PeterJnoi,the head of the industrial department atCBRichardEllis (CBRE),a global providerof corporateand institutionalservicesinthe real estate industry, told The SlovakSpectator, adding that demand and sup-ply might potentially increase along

with construction of infrastructure, es-peciallyinregionsoutsideBratislava.

The industrial stock vacancy rate incentral Europe (the Czech Republic,Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) stood at

an average of 11.8 percent for the firsthalf of2011,Cushman& WakefieldProp-ertyServicesreported in lateAugust.Va-cancy rates between 10 and 12 percentare consideredhealthy.

Slovakia and its 2.5 percent vacancy

rate represents an absolutely uniquesituation within Europe, said FerdinandHlobil of Cushman & Wakefield, asquotedinapressrelease.

CBRE put the vacancy rate at the endof June at 4.4 percent, out of a total of1,040,000 square metres of modern ware-house and distribution premises in Slov-akia.Of this space,85 percentis inBratis-lavaanditsvicinity.

Jnoi expects that future develop-ment will be affected in particular by the

willingness of banks to finance suchprojects, as well as by the courage of de-

velopers to respond to actual market de-

mand by building speculatively or partlyspeculatively. He view the current low vacancy rate in Slovakia as stemmingfromadropinpricesduringthecrisis.

SeeNEWpg8

BYJANALIPTKOVSpectatorstaff

6 October 24 30, 2011

A record low in

vacancies is encouraging

new construction

NewSlovakairline

plans to launchoperations

SP90523/1

SP90656/1

REAL ESTATE

Next issue:BUSINESS FOCUS

LOGISTICS&TRANSPORTEncouragingcyclingto workisnowa goal forBratislava

Freight transporters facemuchmarketuncertainty


7/12

Cyclists lament unfriendly cities

WHEN discussing transport prob-lems in Slovakia, finishing thecountrys highway connections isprobably the first thing that jumpsto many peoples minds. But themissing stretches of the backbonehighway between Bratislava andKoice are not the only problem inthe transport system because usablecycling routes are also lacking inmost parts of the country. Thoughmore has been accomplished in

promoting cycling as a tourismproduct in Slovakia, the opportunit-ies that regular commuting by bi-cycle can bring to cities and townshave mostly been overlooked. Manycities in other parts of the worldhave encouraged the use of bicyclesto overcome recurrent traffic jamsand inadequate parking for cars.Though it has mostly been non-profit organisations that have beenpushing for better cycling possibilit-ies in Slovakia, some positive signalshave recently come from state insti-tutions and Bratislavas city councilhas declared its intention to aug-

ment cycling as part of the citysoverall transport system.Cyclists can offer a long list of

complaints about the current situ-ation, such as a lack of concept plan-ning at local and national levels tosupport cycling as a transport meth-od, missing cycling routes or routes

with little logic, and arrogant Slovakdrivers who often place cyclists inlife-threatening situations.

The current situation for cyclingin Slovakia is critical particularly be-cause systematic support is lackingfrom the Ministry of Transport,Marin Gogola of the ilina-based

NGO Mulica told The Slovak Spectat-or. Because of this we are laggingbehind in legislation and technicalnorms as well as in building a cyc-ling infrastructure in Slovakia. TheCzech Republic and Germany, for ex-ample, have comprehended that cyc-ling is not only a sport but also anecological means of transport that isparticularly usable in cities; this has

been missed here in Slovakia, butthings are slowly moving forwardthanks to civicactivists.

Gogola said the Ministry ofTransport has declared its supportfor cycling, at least on paper, in its

Transport Policy for the Slovak Re-public through 2015, but added thatnothing tangible has been accom-plished at the state level. Gogola re-ported that some regional govern-

ments such as those in ilina, Koiceand Bratislava have become moreactive but this is mostly limited tocycling tourism because the regionalgovernments have limited powers

within cities and towns. Some citiessuch as Pieany, Preov andLiptovsk Mikul have realised that

by building cycling infrastructurethey can help to improve mobility

within their towns, Gogola said, butadded that other towns such asTrenn and Bansk Bystrica havetotally ignored cycling as a means ofurbantransport.

Canbikesbe a solution

forBratislava?

While the development of cyc-

ling routes and encouragement ofcycling as a means of transport islimited in nearly all parts of Slov-akia, the impact of this is particu-larly apparent in Bratislava, as astrong pro-cycling policy could bringthe capital city some relief from itsover-burdened transport system andreduce the number of cars jammingitsstreetsand usingits pavementsasparking areas.

We are lagging behind by 30 to40 years, Daniel Duri fromCyklokoalcia, an association thatsupports urban biking in Bratislava,told The Slovak Spectator. In nearby

Vienna, as well as in Poland andSlovenia, attention has been paid todevelopment of cycling over the longterm, while cycling as a transportmeans has been absolutely ignored

for 20 years in Slovakia Even Tiranaand Bucharest are further ahead thanBratislava as they have bigger net-

works of cyclingpaths.Roman Bahnk, a Bratislava-

based architect, told The Slovak Spec-tator that the capital citys entiretransport system is in a dismal state,not limited to its failure to encouragegreater use of bicyclesfor transport.

The transport system has beencollapsing in Bratislava for years,Bahnk stated, adding that Bratislavahas failed to build city bypass routesto eliminate transiting vehicles fromtravelling through the city centre.We have not solved the backbonetransport system here, not to men-tion cycling transport.

Bahnk sees the capitals under-

developed cycling infrastructure asonly one part of a wider transportplanning problem, arguing that thecitys priority thus far has been tosupport the interests of property de-

velopers to the detriment of con-struction projects which would bein the public interest. He believesthat this approachhas resultedin aninsufficient number of parkingplaces for cars, undersized roads andfailure to conceptualise plans forcycling routes as well as rest areasandpublic parks.

SeeRIDEpg9

BYJANALIPTKOVSpectator staff

Bratislavasays itwill seekto improve itscyclinglanesandpaths. Photo:TASR

7October 24 30, 2011

Encouragingmorecycling could improve

transport in towns

and cities

BUSINESS FOCUS

SP90627/3


8/12

Freight transporters face uncertainty

ALMOSTthe entire Europeanfreight market, includingthe

Slovak market, is sufferingfrom insufficientcapacityandthatispushingup trans-portprices,accordingto apressreleaseissuedby theSlovak branch of DHLFreightin earlyOctober.

Thecompanywrotethateventhoughincreased de-mandis commontowardstheendof a year,the currentsituationdiffersfrom previ-ousyears and isto a largeex-tent anoutcome ofthe per-sistingeconomiccrisisas

wellas a poor outlook fortheEuropeanand global eco-nomy. It specifiedthat theeconomicclimate intheeurozoneworsenedduring

thethird quarter of2011forthefirst time since2009andthatthe complicated debtsituationin theeurozoneandtheslowdownin economicactivitydoes notindicateanythingpositive for theforeseeable future.

Thisyear theimpactsofthecrisis ontransportersarefully manifested,RastislavBreni,managing directorofDHLFreightin SlovakiaandRomania,statedin thepressrelease. These [impacts]

wereextremely harshand

theirconsequence wasanover30-percentdrop in

[transport]capacities. Manytransporterswere forced towind downtheirbusinessesduring thefirst post-crisis

yearand eventhoughthesecond halfof 2011broughtsomerevival, newcapacitiesarearrivingvery slowly andcautiously becauseof scepti-cismand distrustin futuredevelopments.

Brenialso seessomeadditional problems:insuffi-cient imports,a largefluctu-ationin transported volumes,

badpayment discipline, prob-lematic accessto financing,andrisingprices fordieselfueland highwaytolls. Headdedthat thecurrentsitu-

ationis complicatedbecausetransportersneed to raisetheirpricesdue toincreasedcosts anda mismatch

betweensupply anddemand.Itis difficultto say which

ofthese factors hasa biggerimpacton price growthbut itis certainthat until uncer-tainty stopsrulingthemarket

wecannotexpecta significantincreasein vacantcapacitiesandthus a drop inprices,Brenistated.


NEW: More warehouse space comingContinuedfrompg6

The prices of existingpremises decreased to a his-torical low during the crisisyears, Jnoi said, addingthatprices havenot decreased

anyfurtherforsometime.Fornew developments, prices areslightly higher compared tospace offered in projects thatwere built on a speculativebasis. The location of the

premises, the duration of theleaseand thesizeof theleasedspace are the three factorsthat continue to have themost effect on price. Cur-rently, build-to-suit construc-tion prevails, which is sup-plemented by sporadic, smal-ler speculative developments.

Prologis, which domin-ates the Slovak market forleased warehousepremises, isreportinga zerovacancy rate.

We are fully leased [in

Slovakia], Martin Polk, Pro-logis director for the CzechRepublic and Slovakia, toldThe Slovak Spectator. Due tothe low vacancy rate acrossthe country, we have been fo-cusing on build-to-suitprojectsthis year.

Polk, who sees the lowvacancy rate in Slovakia asexceptional given that theneighbouring countrieshavevacancyratesof around10 percent,puts this down tofewer speculative develop-ments.

There have been fewerspeculative developmentscompared to other countriesin the region and also not allthe big players entered themarket at the right time, orlets say soon enough, said

Polk. Slovakia is a market with little new demand,which is kept in balance by afew dominant and discip-lineddevelopers.

Comparisonwithabroad

Jnoi of CBRE sees Slov-akia as occupying a middleposition in the central andeasternEuropeanmarket.

Slovakia, when com-pared to the Czech Republicin modern warehousingpremises close to the capital,is about 10 percent cheaper,said Jnoi. On the otherhand Poland continues to of-fer existing premises for bet-

ter p rice s com pa re d toSlovakia.Polk reported that, in

general, Prologis parks in theCEE region have had a good

year sofar.In Poland, for example,

Prologis parks signed leaseagreements totalling 110,000square metres in July andAugust, hesaid.Prologisinthe CEE region extendedlease agreements totallingmore than 300,000 squaremetres in the second quarterof 2011.

Prologis currently hasthree distribution parkswith a total area of 387,000square metres in Slovakia,all of them located aroundBra tislava (in Sen ec,Galanta and Nov Mesto

nad Vhom), which togeth-er represent 36 percent ofthe Slovak market, accord-ingto Polk.

Newdevelopments

Market watchers expecta rise inconstructionsoon.

So far this year about30,000 square metres werebuilt and another space willbe finished by the end of the year, Martin Bal fromCushman & Wakefield Prop-erty Services Slovakia toldthe Hospodrske Novinydaily in mid October, notingthat in contrast to the pre-crisis period, when new con-

struction was focused inwestern Slovakia, attentionis now being paid to centralandeastern Slovakia.

For example, CTP Invest, which operates in Preov,Trenn and ilina Regions,is preparing for the con-struction next year of a7,000-square metre ware-house in Preov, accordingto Hospodrske Noviny.Immorent Delta has alsoannounced the launch ofconstruction of new ware-housepremises in Koice.

Experts see new invest-ments in industrial produc-tion as being behind the con-struction of warehouse facil-ities.

We see especially highpotential in Koice and

ilina, said Peter Ber, man-aging director of PointParkProperties (P3) for the CzechRepublic and Slovakia, as heintroduced his companysplans in mid October. Thesearenatural logisticshubs.

PointPark Properties iscurrently building around40,000 square metres of in-dustrial property, of which25,000 square metres will bein PointPark Bratislava, a

build-to-suit project forSchnellecke Slovakia locatedin Lozorno, 25 kilometresfrom Bratislava. P3 is also

building a new 15,000-squaremetre production hall for the

American companies Wash-

ington Penn and UniformColorCompanyin Trnava.Prologis is currently

building18,126 squaremetresof additional space for an ex-isting client at Prologis ParkGalanta-G (DC4), which itexpects to complete in thefourth quarter of 2011. Theexpansion will leave the DC4facility with a total of 93,590square metres of modern

warehouse space, making itone of the largest distribu-tion buildings in Slovakia,according to Polk.

8 BUSINESS FOCUSOctober 24 30, 2011

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Revitalisation of rail firms continues

ALLthree of Slovakiasstaterailway companiesare con-tinuing theirrevitalisation

programmesdespitethe fallof theIveta Radiovgov-ernment. Together, thecompanieshave so farlaidoffover 3,000employeesfroman aggregatetotalof31,000, theSITA newswirereportedon October17.

Thelayoffs arepartofanextensiveplan to stabilisethefinancesof allthree rail-

waycompaniesadoptedbytheRadiovcabinetonMarch16. Inadditionto thedismissalof thousandsofemployees,the planenvis-agespassenger routes beingreducedand a strategicpart-nerbeing foundfor freightoperatorCargo. Transport

MinisterJn Fige, speakingwhen theplan wasadopted,saidthat theexistingsitu-ationwas unsustainable,

withthe overallindebted-nessof thethree companiesclimbingtowards1 billion.

Itisnt aboutlayoffsbutaboutrescue, Figestressedatthe time, asquoted bytheTASR newswire.

Cargo Slovakiacon-firmed in midOctoberthatithaddismissed 1,224 employ-eesduringthe firstninemonths of2011, reducingitsstaffto 8,104as ofOctober1,SITA reported.

Theplannednumberofemployeesas of December31,

2011,is 7,507,in line with theadopted business plan,saidCargospokespersonMonikaSchmidtov,as quoted bySITA.Thismeansthatthecargocompanyintendstoshedanother597 people bytheendof theyear.

Next year Cargois ex-pecting thatstaff departures

willbe restrictedto naturalattrition through retirementor employeesleavingthecompany by choice.

Reductionof its labourforceis nottheonlyrevital-isationmeasure Cargois car-ryingout. It hasimplemen-tedfinancialmeasures thataffect allits activities.

Thehalf-year resultsaswell as thecurrentdevelop-mentin theeconomicresultsofthe companyshowthat itis pursuingthe right path,saidSchmidtov. Thecom-

pany endedthefirsthalfof2011with an operatingprofitof 29.1million, 3 million

morethan envisionedin theoriginalplan. Comparedwiththe firsthalfof 2010 thismarked an improvementof28.8million. In spiteofthis,the company stillrepor-tedan overall loss duringthesameperiodof 6.2million,althoughthiswasalsoanimprovement on the36.3million itlostin thefirsthalfof 2010.

The year-on-yeargrowth in operatingprofitandthe reductionof overalllossesby 83percentis a clearsign that thecompanyisheaded towards a balancedeconomicperformance andfinancialstabilisation,said

Schmidtov.elezniceSlovenskej Re-publiky (SR), Slovakiasrailway infrastructureoper-ator,alsocontinuedin itsre-

vitalisation programme.Over thefirst nine monthsitlaidoff 1,806 people, redu-cingits labour force to 15,194asof October1.

SRhas fulfilled mostofthereductions planned for2011withinthe approvedprogrammeof revitalisationsofar this year,MarinaPavlkov,SR spokespersonsaid,as quotedby SITA,adding thatanother100people willleavethe com-pany bythe endof theyear.

eleznin SpolonosSlovenska (ZSSK), Slovakiaspassengerrailway company,dismissed116 people up totheend of September,redu-cing itsstaff to4,793 em-ployees.

Therevitalisationis con-tinuing inlinewiththe setparameters, companyspokesperson JanaGrenerovtold SITA,addingthat itis notknown what po-sition thenext government

willtaketowardsthe pro-gramme. ZSSKestimatesthatitwillend 2011 with a loss ofabout7.5 million, andthattheresults of revitalisation

willonly become visible in

early2012.ZSSK willcontinuelaying offemployeesnextyearfollowinga reductionintheroutes it serves.


SKY: Trying to attract business flyersContinuedfrompg6

A bigger range of destina-tions and more frequentflights may help BratislavaAirport to retain business cli-entele, as in the past such pas-

sengers have tended to leakawayto Vienna.Especially inthe sector for

scheduled flights, most busi-ness passengers do not haveany other alternative but to flyfrom Vienna, said Kazda.Apart from the direct connec-tion, a business passenger alsoprefers moredaily connectionsto a destination, while thepriceof the ticketis not alwaysthemost importantfactor.

Having most of its sched-uled routes operated by Ry-anair puts Bratislava at a dis-advantagecompared to Viennawhen it comes to attractinglucrative business travellers,Kazdasaid.

The growth in charterflights up by 15 percent year-on-year during the summerJuly-August season gaveBratislava Airport a very posit-ive surprise, according toMadunick.

Apart from extending thelist of destinations offeredfrom Bratislava the airport isconstructing the second partof its terminal, with plans forit to be completed in June2012. This 96-million projectwill increase the annual capa-city of the airport to 5 millionpassengers. The first part wasopenedin June2009.

Bratislava Airport is alsopreparing, in cooperation

with global logistics companyDHL, the construction of aground base for servicing airshipments to Slovakia, the

Czech Republic, Austria andHungary.

Bratislava is not the onlyairport in Slovakia to see thearrival of new airlines. As ofDecember 8, Polish airlineEurolot will add two regular

routes, to Gdansk andWarsaw,to the one route currently op-erated fromthe Poprad airport,Letisko Poprad-Tatry, by SAto Prague. The SITA newswirereported on October 17 thatthese should serve Polish tour-ists heading to the High Tatrasfor skiing, but there is also aplan to keep the routes insummer in orderto takeSlovaktouriststo theBaltic coast. ThePoprad airport alsohopesto at-tract winter charter flightsfromUkraineand Russia.

Koice Airport agrees thatthe current economic situ-ation is having a direct impacton air transport and the intro-ductionof newroutes.

Basically, it is not such aproblem to open a new route, but it is very complicated tokeep the route from the view-point of occupancy rates,Marta Horvthov, a memberof the board of directors ofKoice Airport, told The SlovakSpectator. This is also whyairline companies are beingextraordinarily cautious whenexpanding."

Three airlines currentlyoperate scheduled flights fromKoice: Danube Wings, whichflies to Bratislava; SA, toPrague; and Austrian Airlines,toVienna.

According to unofficial in-formation, Koice Airport

served 266,000 passengers in2010, a drop of over 24 percent,the SITA newswire reported inearly September. The airport

reported its biggest number ofpassengers, almost 591,000, in2008, but has not released offi-cial figures for 2010, accordingtoSITA.

With regards to the mainchallenges facing air trans-

port, Horvthov and TomJanu, another member ofKoice Airports board of dir-ectors, told The Slovak Spec-tator that airline companiesand airports are often key act-ors in the economy of the re-gion in which they operate.Making more remote regionsaccessible via air transport en-ables the development of tour-ism and enhances the localeconomys performance. Airtransport follows internation-al rules and regulations whichairports as well as airline com-panies have to meet. This re-quires extensive investment

by both airports as well as air-line companies. At the mo-

ment pressure from competi-tion is having a direct impacton the prices that can bechargedand thusthe return oninvestment is long, accordingtoHorvthovand Janu.

AnewSlovakairline

Slovakia does not have anynational carrier, but Kazdadoes not see this as a problem.

A new carrier, Slovakian Air-lines, plans to launch opera-tions by the end of this year,adding to a group of local com-panies that includes AirTransport Europe, VR Jet, Op-eraJet andothers.

Under thecurrentderegu-

lation of air transport the termnational carrier is obsolete,said Kazda, adding that mostformer national carriers are

loss-making. Thus he believesthat the arrival of any carrierin Slovakia and the courage ofanyinvestor willing to developthe local market should be

welcomed.Kazda highlighted three

basic factors for an airlinecompany to be successful: themarket, financing, and the in-ternal system ofthe company.

The growth of air trans-port in Slovakia stems, as inother countries, from therichness of the nation, andrises along with GDP percapita, Kazda said. Thus, un-til Slovaks get wealthier themarket will not be interesting.On the other hand, insuffi-cient or poorly accessible net-

works of scheduled routescovered by traditional airlinecompaniescreated opportunit-iesfor thelaunchof companiesinthe businessjet segment.

Kazda believes that a

decent airline with a base inBratislava might revive theSlovak market.

A carrier with a baseproviding scheduled transportfor a reasonable price to a suf-ficient number of destinations

would fit the profile of theSlovak passenger and his orher needs the most, saidKazda. Simultaneously itshould be a contribution forBratislava Airport. Thus, Ry-anairis notthebestsolution.Adecent low-cost airline com-pany with a model similar to

Air Berlin, Norwegian or Niki,with its main base in Bratis-lava might be able to revivethe market. But I consider

political influence and inter-ference in the air transportmarket tobe themain problemof Slovakia.

Slovakia'srailfirmsaretryingto cuttheirlosses. Photo:Sme

9BUSINESS FOCUS October 24 30, 2011

RIDE: Bratislava plans new bike routesContinued frompg7

Bahnk also believes there is anotherphenomenon at play: many Slovaks cur-rently perceive owning and driving a carasastatussymbol.

If a car continues to be one of thestatuselementsamong citizenshere,ourmovementtowardscyclingas a means oftransport will be slower, Bahnk stated.Cycling as a means of transport in Brat-

islava as well as in the rest of Slovakiafaces a shortage of biking routes, non-conceptualised planning, insufficientbike stands at buildings and, last but notleast,aggressivecardrivers.

TheBratislavacity councilappearstoagree with that assessment and has re-solved to improve the situation in thecapital.

If transport trends continuein an un-changed way,tens of thousandsmore carswill flood Bratislava, ubomr Andrassy,spokesperson for Bratislava Mayor MilanFtnik, told The Slovak Spectator. To re-verse this trend, we are starting to preferan alternative to motor vehicles such aspublic transport,cyclingandwalking.

Andrassy concedes that cycling routesbuilt in the capital so far were almost ex-clusively for recreational purposes, but

said the city council is seeking to changethat approach.

We will orient much more towardsurban cycling paths so that Bratislavanscan use bikes to commute to work aswell, Andrassy stated, adding that it is

necessary to build infrastructure such ascycling paths and bike stands, while atthe same time to start changing peoples

way of thinking, particularly gettingdrivers to understand that bicycles alsohaveaplaceontheroad.

Andrassy said Vienna can serve asgreat inspirationfor Bratislava,as 20 yearsago it had less than 200 kilometres of cyc-ling routes but now has more than 1,100kilometres. Bratislava currently has about

100 kilometres of cycling paths, of whichabout 25 kilometres were built over thepastfiveyears,accordingto Andrassy.

The large difference in the availabilityofcyclingroutes isat leastpartof thereas-on why only about 2 percent of Bratis-lavans use a bicycle to commute to workcompared to about 30 percent of Viennaresidents, theTASR newswirereported.

Bratislava wants to follow the samedirection as other modern cities," An-drassystated. "Our goal is toincreasetheshare of cycling in the mix of transporta-tion methods. This cannot be carried outin any way other than by a strategic de-cision that the city will significantly sup-portcyclingas a means of transport."

Earlier thisyear Bratislava'scity coun-cil created a cycling commission as an ad-

visory body to the mayor in order to in-

volve those who are concerned about theissue intomovingthe development of urb-an cycling forward. Employees of the citycouncil, representatives of individual citydistricts and members of civic cycling as-sociationsserve onthe commission.

The task of the cycling commissionisto definea strategyfor developmentofcycling transport and to propose imple-mentation of specific routes, AndrassytoldThe Slovak Spectator.

The commission has thus far pro-posed fiveprioritycycling routes. One ofthese routes has already opened and theremaining four are in various phases ofpreparationor implementation.

The aim is to build main radial cyc-

ling routes within the next few years,Andrassysaid.Cyklokoalcia has prepared and pro-

posed a number of steps for Bratislava,such as allocating 5 percent of the citystransport budget for bicycle transportinfrastructure, about 3 million annu-ally. The association has developed itsproposalsbasedon the experiencesof itsmembers and by monitoring the beha-

viour of cyclists within the city. It haspresented the city council with a list of11 priority routes that are currentlymost-used by cyclists that lack lanes forcyclistsor separatecyclingpaths.

We are proposing bike paths forcity districts; we are holding talks withthe Ministry of Transport, which haspromised to designate a national cyc-ling coordinator, said Gogola, adding

that the Environment Ministry alsopromised to create a grant scheme forthedevelopment of cyclingpathsin vil-lages and towns. We will see how thecurrent [political] changes will affecttheseplans.

FOCUSshort


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PLAN: 'Tax mix' for cities draws fireContinuedfrompg1

If the Slovak Democraticand Christian Union (SDK),the Christian DemocraticMovement (KDH), and Most-Hd party pass the budget

with the help of SaS deputies,Fico has nevertheless saidthat the budget priorities willchange if Smer is returned topower in theMarch elections.

Smer has stated its op-position to the changes pro-posed by the Finance Min-istry to the way local and re-gional governments wouldbe financed in the future.Smer, as the largest party inparliament, has said it fa-vours a new tax on banks asadvanced by the coalition,but Fico wantsto seethe levytripled from what parlia-ment approved on October20,a special taxcalculatedon0.4 percent of a banks liabil-

ities, less the banks equitycapital and its depositscovered under Slovakias de-positor protection system(seestoryonpg1).

SaSpreventsoverrideof veto

Parliament made an at-tempt to override a presiden-tial veto on a revision to thelaw on construction savingsaccounts which would have

brought additional annualrevenue of 33 million to thestate beginning in 2013 by re-ducing the bonus that thestate pays to those saving fora home from 66 a year to 15a year, tied with a reduction

in banking fees associatedwiththe savings programme.Sulk responded to the

failed vote by saying, Some-times shit happens, in Eng-lish, as quoted by the SITAnewswire, to explain thevotesof thefive deputies fromSaS. We are very sorry aboutit. We will seek an agreementwith the finance minister onhow to solve the shortfall itcauses.

Sulk insisted that thefailure of five SaS deputies tovote for the override was notintentional. Parliament mustnowwaitsix monthsbefore itcan try to override the presid-entialvetoagain.

During the demandingpolitical negotiations aboutthe future form of state sup-port for construction savings,SaS repeatedly raised the issueof completely cancelling thesubsidies [for these savers],said Martin Jaro, spokesman

for the Finance Ministry,adding angrily that todays vote in parliament, when thepresidential veto was notoverridden due to the actionsof some deputies from thisparty, shows how [poorly] SaSobserves its principledapproach.

SaS MPs Juraj Droba andStanislav Fot voted againstthe override while MartinFecko, Peter Kalist and ErikaJurinov abstained.

The Sme daily reported onOctober 19 that Fot, who hadsupported the legislation inits initial vote, said that atthat time he did not want toundercut the fragility of the

governing coalition but thatunder the current condi-tions, professional argumentsprevailed. The daily also

wrote that until 2010 Fot hadworked as a manager at one ofthe construction savings in-stitutions in Bratislava. TheSaS MP claimed that this didnotinfluence hisvote.

In vetoing the law, Presid-ent Ivan Gaparovi statedthat the legislation retroact-ively intervenes into alreadyconcluded contracts and af-fects those currently holding

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