Slovak Spectator 1731

8/4/2019 Slovak Spectator 1731

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/slovak-spectator-1731 1/12

Slovaks remain wary consumers

SLOVAKS have been rather cautiousspenders in 2011, saving theirmoney for the possibility of worsetimes ahead. Developments in theglobal economy and double-digitunemployment in their homelandhave given them reason to hold

their purses tight, according tomarket watchers.Looking at the prospects for the

economy and the labour market forthe rest of this year, observers alsosay that Slovak consumers will not

get too many incentives to changetheirbehaviour.

The most recent macro-eco-nomic data, released in earlySeptember, confirmed somethingthat was already known: thecountry’s economy is not immunefrom trends in its major tradingpartners. Those economies areslowing – and there is little signthat they will return to fastergrowthanytimesoon.

The Slovak Statistics Office saidthat year-on-year growth inSlovakia’s gross domestic product(GDP) slowed in the second quarterto 3.3 percent,a 0.2percentagepointreduction from the previous

quarter. The figure, released onSeptember 6, confirmed data fromthe office’s August flash estimate of GDP growth. In the first quarter of 2011, the economy grew at 3.5 per-centyear-on-year;over thefirst half of 2011 Slovakia’s GDP grew by 3.4percent compared to the first half of 2010,the StatisticsOfficesaid.

The statistics authority also ex-pects the economy to grow for therest of the year at a slower rate than

originally assumed: 3 percent, asopposed to theprediction by theNa-tional Bank of Slovakia (NBS) inJuneof 3.6 percentgrowth.

SeeDOWNpg4

SELECT FOREX RATES

€ benchmark as of September 8

CANADA CAD 138

CZECH REP CZK24.41

RUSSIA RUB 4152GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.88

HUNGARY HUF 276.95

JAPAN JPY 108.41

POLAND PLN 4.24USA USD 140

NEWS

WikiLeaks'newdripsMoreleakedUS cables aboutSlovakia arebeing lappedupby thelocal media, includ-ingones referringto claimsaboutsecretparty sponsorsandbuying of MPs'votes.

pg 2

Bemoreopen,pleasePolitikaopen,a project byFair-PlayAlliance,is askingSlovakelectedofficialsandcandidatesto disclosetheirfinances andpersonalactiv-ities tothe publicviathein-

ternet. pg 3

OPINION

Jobs fortheladsMPIgor Matovič'smotivesinreleasinga list ofwhathesaysare politicalpublic-sec-torappointees aresuspect,butpublishing thelist maybringsomepositiveresults.

pg 5

BUSINESSFOCUS

Doctorsvs.ministryDoctors andthe Ministryof

Health areat loggerheadsover thelatter's plan toturnpublic hospitalsinto joint-stockcompanies, whiledoctors arethreateningtoresign en masseover thatissueand others.

pg 6

BrushingupDentists warnthat thenation's oralhealthis get-ting worse,butthe goodnewsis thatup-to-date ma-terials,technology andpro-ceduresare nowreadilyavailable– ata price.

pg 7

CULTURE

PhotomemorialTheopeningof LastFolio,anexhibitof photosby YuriDojcof Slovakia'sonce-vi-brantJewishcommunities,wasthe centrepieceof aweekenddevotedto lifeinSlovakia heldat IndianaUniversityin September.

pg10

Consensus on euro-

bailout proves elusiveTHE CAMPAIGN to get Slovak MPs toapprove changes to the eurozone

bailout mechanism is turning into yet another Sisyphean task for thegovernment of Iveta Radičová.

Leaders of Slovakia’s ruling co-alition want Slovakia to be the lastcountry to ratify the documents that

will change the European FinancialStability Facility (EFSF), which wereagreed by leaders of the eurozonecountries on July 21. They believethis will give the governmentenough time to hammer out anagreement and win enough support

for the Slovak Parliament to ratifythe documents. But Richard Sulík,the leader of the second-biggest co-

alition party, Freedom andSolidarity(SaS), has reiterated his party’s neg-ative attitude to the EFSF changes.Sulíksayshe wouldwelcomeit if an-other eurozone country were to re-ject the changes before Slovakia hastovoteon them.

The somewhat contrary posi-tion of the largest opposition party,Smer, is that it will support the

changes – but only if the ruling co-alition secures enough votes not toneed its support. The smaller Slovak

National Party (SNS) says there is no way itwillvoteforthe EFSF.

Finance Minister Ivan Miklošannounced on September 6 that theposition of his government on theimplementation of the July 21 euroarea summit statement remainsunchanged: “to ensure the financialstability of the euro area as a wholethe implementation should be swiftin order to provide sufficientsources and effective tools to helpcontain the risk of contagion andspill-over of fiscal and debt prob-lems that some euro area members

arefacing.”

SeeNETpg4

PM says taxoffice issue'is closed'

FOR OPPOSITION leader Robert Fico of the Smer party, a contract signed in Au-gustto lease spacefor taxoffices in Košiceis sufficient reason to initiate a motion of no-confidence in Prime Minister IvetaRadičová. She has responded that thecontroversy is absurd and she considerstheissueclosed. Radičováeventossedthematter back to Smer, suggesting if it wasa scandal involving party cronyism, it

was one that began under the previousFico government.

“For me, it is a closed issue,” Radičovásaid, whilerestating thestancepresentedearlier by Finance Minister Ivan Miklošthat the rental agreement signed bySlovakia’s Tax Authority with a firm

owned by a regional official of her SlovakDemocratic and Christian Union party(SDKÚ), was caused by earlier irrespons-ibilityby Fico’sgovernment.

SeeENDpg2

B YBEATAB ALOGOVÁ

Spectator staff

Hockey stardies in

plane crash

SLOVAKS at first greeted news that one of the nation’s top ice hockey players had

been killed in a Russian plane crash withdisbelief. But incredulous readers’ com-

ments under the first reports on Slovaknews websites about the tragedy weresoon overtaken by massive media cover-age, shock, grief and even tears, once re-ports of the death of the Slovak nationalhockey team’s ex-captain, Pavol Demitra,

were confirmed. At least43 people,includingalmostthe

entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockeyteam, died when their Yak-42 passengerplane crashed shortly after take-off nearthe city of Yaroslavl in central Russia onSeptember7, 2011.

The plane was heading for Minsk, Be-larus, for their first match of the new sea-son of the Kontinental Hockey League(KHL), the world’s top professional hockeyleague outside the North American NHL.Besides the many Russians killed in thetragedy,severalforeignerswere aboard the

plane as well, including the Canadiancoach of Lokomotiv and players from Ger-many,Latvia, Sweden, Belarus,three play-ersfrom theCzechRepublic, andDemitra.

SeePDpg3

B YMICHAELATERENZANISpectator staff

B YBEATAB ALOGOVÁSpectator staff


Slovakialost oneof itsmodern-dayice hockey greats onWednesday, September7, whenPavolDemitra(picturedatthisyear'sIce HockeyWorldChampionshipin Bratislava) diedin a planecrashin Russia (seestory). Photo:SITA

Vol. 17, No. 31 Monday, September 12, 2011 - Sunday, September 18, 2011On sale nowOn sale now FOCUS

of this issue

FOCUSof this issue

HEALTH-CARE

SERVICES



Radičová sues Fico over statements

PRIMEMinisterIvetaRadičová hasfiled a legal

complaintagainst RobertFico, thechairmanof Smerpartyand a deputyspeakerof parliament,allegingthatherpersonalrights werevi-olatedby theformerprimeminister, thepress depart-ment ofthe GovernmentOf-ficeannounced.

Radičováis demandingan apologyfor untrueandoffensive statement sheclaimsFico maderegardingherpurported influenceon adecision by Jozef Čentéštowithdraw his candidacy forthe GeneralProsecutor’spostinMay.AtthattimeČentéšsaid it washis per-sonal decisionbecausethe

upcoming votehadbecomelinkedto allegations thatMPs werebeing blackmailedand bribed.

TheTASR newswire wrotethatFicoaccusedČentéšof being influencedby Radičová,sayinghe wasforcedto citewhatFicotermedquite‘ridiculous reasons’.

Radičová’s complaintalsoseekscourtreviewof

Fico’saccusationsthat theprime minister wasin-

volvedin allegedcorrup-tion linked with thecon-structionof a biathlon sta-diumin Osrblie,theGov-ernmentOffice stated.

New information aboutallegedkickbackspaid inconnection withconstruc-tion of theOsrblie stadiumhasbeen reportedby themedia.Martin Novotný,oneof those accusedof cor-ruptionand a former ad- visorto Radičová,allegedlyreceivedinformationabouta plannedgovernmentsub-sidyfor construction of thestadiumdirectly from theGovernment Office,theSme dailyreported.

Novotnýhad organisedanaudiencefor biathletes withRadičová atwhichtime shepromised gov-ernmenthelp in construc-tion of thestadium,Smereported.

Novotný’s lawyer,Dušan Ivan,deniedthat hisclienthad influencedany-onein connection with ar-rangement ofa subsidy.

'Suspicious’ nominees list posted

ALISTof whatIgorMatovič,an independent MPandleader of theOrdinaryPeoplegroup, called thenames of

politicalnomineeswho arefilling postsin thepublic sec-torhas beenreleased.

“Today I cameacrossthislistof names, institutionsandpositions– plustherearesomepolitical partiesnoted.Who knowswhatit allcouldmean?If youknow someoneandyou findsomethingwrong or missing,thenlet meknow;thanks,”wrote Matovičwhenhe postedthelistonhispersonalFacebookpage.

Labelled'Part 1',the listhasthenamesof more than1,000individualsin alpha-beticalorder, alongwiththeinstitutionswheretheyworkand theirspecific posts.

MPsfrom thepartiesof thegoverningcoalitionquickly criticisedthe releaseofthe names,arguingthatitcouldharmpersons whosenominationswere transpar-entandthosewhoareex-pertsin theirfields.

“Elevenpeopleon thelist,who arelabelled asSaSnominees, havebeenthere[in theirjobs]for10 or20

years,” said RichardSulík,thechairman ofFreedomand Solidarity (SaS) party,asquotedby the TASRnewswire.

Thechairmanof Most-Hídparty, BélaBugár, saidthateven thoughparticularpersonswere nominated bya politicalparty, this doesnot automatically meanthat they arepartisancan-didates. Headded that thepractice of political partiesinstallingtheir nominees ingovernment postsis normalandnot a corruptpractice.

JozefMikuš, anMPfrom the Slovak Democrat-ic and Christian Union

(SDKÚ),statedthat thepolitical partiesbear re-sponsibilityfor their nom-inees andrejectedMatovič’sstatementsaboutlack of expertise bycertain nomineesof thepoliticalparties.

Former police VP charged

THEFORMERvice presidentof Slovakia’sPoliceCorps,StanislavJankovič, mightendup incourtona chargeof abuseof powerafterhe al-legedly returned a driving li-cenceto a businessman whohadbeenstrippedofitfor

committing a driving of-fence,the Smedaily reported.BusinessmanJán Božík

wascaughtdriving190 kilo-metresperhouron theR1dualcarriagewayin June

2010. Police officersfinedhim€400andwhenhe re-fusedto paythefinehis driv-inglicencewas confiscated.Božíkthen allegedly calledJankovič,who arrived at thepolicestationin Žiar nadHronom, andasked thatthe

driving licencebe returnedto thebusinessman andthattheoffencebe deletedfromthepublic record.

Compiledby Spectatorstaff

Slovak media laps upnew WikiLeaks

HA RDLY a day p asses without the media in Slov-akia – broadsheet or tabloid,printed or electronic – report-ing on statements fishedfrom the latest batch of leaked US diplomatic cables

released by the WikiLeaks website in late August. Theinformation and commentsthat appear in the corres-pondence between Bratislavaand Washington, DC, arerarely a surprise, but they area reflection of – and, to some

in the Slovak media, a justi-fication for – the suspicionsthat they have voiced overthe years that now turn outto have been shared by dip-lomats and others.

Some of the most eagerlyreported cables concerned al-leged sponsors of the Smerparty and alleged interfer-ence by the investment groupPenta in the legislative pro-cess. Most of the politiciansand businesspeople men-tioned in the cables have re-fused to give any detailed re-sponse to the dispatches.

“Only a few of these stor-ies [from the cables] can comeas a shock to a proper reader

of Slovak newspapers,” wrotethe Sme daily’s commentator,Konštantín Čikovský, in hiscolumn printed alongsidesome of the revelations fromthe leaked cables. He addedthat “the key characters areknown, only the details of the

cases are unverifiable andunpublishable.”“Diplomats in these dis-

patches (which are supposedto remain confidential) cango even further than the me-dia, who also know or sensemore than they are allowed toreport due to the lack of irre-futable evidence,” anothercommentator, Peter Morvay,

wrote in Sme.The Slovak media went to

considerable lengths to re-port on the possible links

between politicians and the businesspeople alleged tohave given financial supportto their parties. The Smedaily quoted from a dispatch

dated June 9, 2006 – onlydays shy of that year’s par-liamentary election, whichresulted in the demise of thecentre-right government andSmer party leader RobertFico’s ascent to prime minis-ter – which mentions names

that had been previously as-sociated with Smer. These were primarily businessmen who got rich from their gov-ernment connections in the1990s, under the govern-ments of Vladimír Mečiar,including Ivan Kiňo, the dir-ector of Slovenská Sporiteľňaunder Mečiar; Ján Gabriel,former director of VÚB bankin the 1990s; Vladimir Poór,

who privatised Nafta Gbely;Jozef Brhel; and Fedor Flašík,

who was reported, however,to have lost influence afterfalling out with Fico.

“If Fico doesn’t form thenext government, his life will

be in danger, because the

shady money behind him willnot be pleased,” the cablequotes a comment allegedlyheard by a diplomat frommore than one crediblesource, the embassy wrote.

SeeCABLEpg5

B YMICHAELA

TERENZANI

Spectator staff

END: Smer to pursue recall motionContinuedfrompg1

Fico, however, has been keepingRadičová under fire on the August leaseand said on September 6 that Smer wouldchange its decision to initiate a no-con-

fidence motion in parliament only if theprimeminister sacked Mikloš. The follow-ing day, however, Fico added that hisparty was prepared to submit a proposalfor a special parliamentary session to voteon removingthe primeminister.

Radičová recently stated that theproblems in renting premises for the taxofficein Košicebegan in2007whenFico’sgovernment decided to sign a lease con-tract with VSH company with a price tag€3.5 million higher than the price agreedtowiththe NitraInvest firm this August.

Slovakia’s Tax Directorate signed a€6.3-million rental agreement on August22 with Nitra Invest, a firm owned by On-drej Ščurka, a district official of the SDKÚ,even though his firm was the sole bidderin a re-issued tender that was criticised asunfair after being analysed by Transpar-

ency International Slovensko (TIS) andFair-PlayAlliance, twowatchdogNGOs.The Sme daily reported on September

8 that a citizen who chose to remain an-onymous submitted a criminal com-plaint against an unknown offender tothe General Prosecutor’s office claimingthat the tender conditions and the leasecontract were harmful to the state. Thecomplaint was forwarded to theprosecutor’s office in Banská Bystrica forinvestigation, Smewrote.

The original lease for tax officepremises in Košice, signed early in 2011

with Nitra Invest, caused considerabletension within the SDKÚ, the largest of the four parties in the ruling coalition,

with Radičová clashing with Mikloš in April and then threatening to resign asprime minister if Miroslav Mikulčík, the

head ofthe TaxDirectorate,did not acceptpolitical responsibility for signing thecontract without explaining the processused to select the firm. The prime minis-ter eventually prevailed and Mikulčík,

whohad received Mikloš’s public support,

stepped down and Nitra Invest cancelledthe lease. A tender was then launched butsubsequently cancelled, followed by an-other tender in July in which Nitra Invest

wasthe onlybidder.Mikloš now says, as reported by the

Sme daily, that the crux of the matter isthat three important conditions werefulfilled in the process of signing the

lease agreement with Nitra Invest: thelaw was respected; the whole process was in accordance with the public in-terest; and party cronyism was not in-

volved.On September 7 Radičová said that

issues within the remit of the FinanceMinistry are the responsibility of thefinance minister who must bear re-sponsibility for those decisions and thatshe will not be taking any political re-sponsibilityfor thematter.

“My authority, if this [the process]evokesdistrust, is toproposethe recallof the finance minister,” Radičová stated,as quoted by Sme. “I am not proposinghis recall.”

Sme reported that Radičová said thetender prepared to seekbids forleasingof the tax office premises was as good as it

could have been at that moment while atthe same time she indicated that it wasnot perfect since the firms offering bids

were known during theprocess.“Please go ahead; if there is an ad-

dress and a price at €6 per square metre,

then provide it,” Radičová stated, asquoted by Sme.

The Fair-Play Alliance recommendedon August 11 that the Tax Directorate notgo forward with signing a lease with Ni-tra Invest and urged that the secondtenderbe cancelled.

“The [tender] competition gave an ad- vantage to Nitra Invest,” the alliance

stated. “The competition was not an-nounced with criteria that other bidders would be able to fulfil. Therefore we be-lieve it wasn’t fair and didn’t provide thesameconditionsfor allpotential bidders.”

Interestingly, it was the Finance Min-istry that had invited the two watchdogorganisations to examine the tender, a

virtuallyunprecedentedstep inSlovakia.Both Transparency International

Slovensko and Fair-Play Alliance con-cluded after analysing details of thetender that it should be cancelled becauseof concerns that several tender criteria

were discriminatory or unclear, with TISstating that the participation criteria andthe evaluation methods were unnecessar-ily strict and had been changed betweenthe first cancelled tender and the sub-sequent tender.

The watchdog group also wrote thatthe impact study on the rental deal wasdelivered late and had errors, and thatchanges in thetender specificationsmadein the course of the tender were not suffi-cientlyexplainedto potentialbidders.

IvetaRadičovájoinedIvanMikloš indefendingthedeal. Photo:Sme - T.Benedikovič

2 NEWSSeptember12 – 18,2011

Hidden partysponsors and vote-buying

claims discussed



Elected officials asked to be more transparent

US PRESIDENT Barack Obamamay be one of the most trans-parent politicians in Slovakia– at least symbolically so –after his personal financialprofile was published in an

online database created bythe Politikaopen project, aninitiative that encouragesSlovak elected officials to dis-close more details about theirpersonal assets and sources of income than is currently re-quired by Slovak law.

Politikaopen is a projectof Fair-Play Alliance, a polit-ical watchdog group, and it isasking Slovak elected offi-cials and candidates to dis-close significant aspects of their finances and personalactivities to the public, viathe internet, in order to im-prove the public’s knowledgeabout those who hold or seekpolitical office. Several Slov-

ak politicians, including theprime minister and thespeaker of parliament, pos-ted their financial profiles onthe website before the 2010parliamentary election.

“20 years after [the fall of communism] Slovak citizensdeserve that such a highstandard becomes a part of the law too,” said ZuzanaWienk, the head of Fair-PlayAlliance. That is why the alli-ance has called on membersof parliament to pass a signi-ficant reform of Slovakia’slaw governing conflicts of in-terest and to establish a legalstandard on the kinds of de-tailed information on person-

al assets and personal in-terests that elected officialsmust release into the publicdomain. Wienk stressed thatSlovakia also needs an over-sight body that has the ex-pertise and legal powersneeded to investigate suspi-cions of conflicts of interestor other misconduct and tosanction individuals when itis necessary to do so.

SharingUS experiences

The idea to create such anoversight body was inspiredpartly by the US Office forGovernment Ethics, whosedeputy director, Jane Ley,

spoke at an event jointly hos-ted by the Office of the Par-liament, Fair-Play Allianceand the US Embassy in Bratis-lava on September 6 about theUS experience in dealing with

conflicts of interest by publicofficials. The event was heldon the first day after parlia-ment reconvened followingits summer holidays and eventhoughall MPswereinvitedtoattend only a few were onhand todiscussways in whichmore openness and transpar-ency could be brought toSlovakia’s public service.

“[Financial disclosure] en-ables voters to determine ontheir own whether a politi-cian mayhavea financialcon-flict of interest between the

assets they personally ownand the decisions they aremaking as a politician,” saidTheodore Sedgwick, US Am-

bassador to Slovakia, in hisopening remarks.

Sedgwick praised Slovakiafor being an enthusiastic par-ticipant in a global initiativecalled Open Government,

which is promoting moretransparency in countriesaround theworld.

“I do believe that countries who do actively participate inthis will see greater foreign dir-ect investment,” Sedgwick said,explaining that a transparentenvironment gives a greatersenseof security to investors.

Advisors,not cops

The rules on greater finan-cial disclosure by public offi-cials in the US originated

mostly after the Watergatescandal in the early 1970s. Cur-rently around 25,000 public of-ficials mustshare details abouttheir personal finances. Thepurpose of the system, which

became effective in 1978, wasnot only to “keep the bad guysout” but also to help preventpotential conflicts of interestand to demonstrate the highlevel of integrity of the vastmajority of public servants,Leysaid at thediscussion.

“It’s a shame that publicoversight of financial dis-closures in Slovakia is per-ceived as a sort of witch-huntand that the whole system is

based on repression only.That is, if a problem occurs,the parliamentary commit-tee reviews it and the publicexpects some sanction tofollow,”Wienkstated.

Ley said that her office inthe US serves more like an ad- visor since the vast majorityof those covered under thelaw want to respect it and actethically but they sometimesrun into questions or prob-lems they are unable to re-solve and they seek help fromher office in determining

whether their conduct will beinlinewiththe lawor not.

Slovakia does not have anoffice with a similar functionand it does not have any kindof systematic training to helpprepare those entering highpublic positions about thekinds of ethical challengesthey might face or a con-

sultative bodythat canadvisea person whether there arepossible conflicts of interestthat should be resolved be-fore accepting a public posi-tion, Wienk said.

TheUS approach

All federal judges, allmembers of Congress – bothin the Senate and the Houseof Representatives – as wellas those serving in the exec-utive branch such as high of-ficials in government de-partments, andall candidatesfor federal elected positionsin the US are required to pre-pare and submit financial

disclosures documents, “sothatthosewhoare votingcandetermine what potentialconflicts of interests this per-son might bring into thegovernment”,Ley said.

There are also about 1,100officials appointed by thepresident, including ambas-sadors, who are also requiredto file financial disclosuredocuments on a confidential

basis with the Office forGovernment Ethics beforetheir appointments are ac-tuallymade.

“The agency goes throughthe form with them, tellsthemwhich assets would con-flict with their duties if theyare eventually appointed, andasks them to sell any of thosethat create a conflict and toresign from positions [withcompanies or other organisa-tions] that could potentially

create conflicts,” Ley said,adding that if that personagrees to these steps he or shethen signs an ethics agree-ment that is made public,along with the financial dis-closure document, after theirappointment is announced.

When an individualreaches a senior level in agovernment agency or de-partment, he or she is also re-quired to file a financial dis-closure document.

Ley noted that a very im-portant feature in the US isthat the system is enforce-able asthereare sanctionsforfiling the documentationlate, for failing to file at all,

and for false statements onthe document, which can bepunished by financial penal-tiesand evenimprisonment.

Goodexamples needed

Slovak citizens too oftensee that dishonest or unethic-al conduct, hidden conflictsof interest, or abuse of power bythose in high positions goesunpunished and that in somecases those engaging in mis-conduct or conflicts of in-terest end up prospering insociety, Wienk noted, addingthat Slovakia’s current over-sight institutions are failing,including the parliamentary

committee that reviews pos-sibleconflicts of interest.She said this committee

has never ordered a substan-tial penalty against a publicofficial, not even when a con-flict of interest or other mis-conduct was crystal clear.

A change will come only if a majority in society stand upfor clear principles and notonly formulate them but also

believe in them and live ac-cording to them, and that in-dividuals and small groupsmust be the drivers of such achange, Wienksaid.

“What Slovakia needs arethese individuals and groups

who will serve as a shining

example,” she said. “Peopleneed to see politicians theycan trust, because otherwisethey cannot believe that fair-ness, honesty and transpar-ency reallydo payoff.”

B YMICHAELA

TERENZANI

Spectator staff

JaneLey(second fromleft) Photo:Courtesyof theUSEmbassy

PD: Life stoppedon news of loss

Continuedfrompg1

“Ihavelostallmyfriends,”the newcoach of

theSlovak national team,Czech VladimírJavurek, whountil recentlycoachedLokomotivYaroslavl, toldtheSmedailyinthe after-mathof thetragedy.

Slovakiamourns itsstar

In Slovakia, lifefor manypeoplestoppedfor therest of theirday afterthenewsar-rivedfromRussia. Politicalleadersrefusedto commenton anycurrentissues,in-steadexpressingtheir sym-pathyfor thefamilyof thelateDemitra.

Demitra,aged 36, wasdrafted into theNHLin 1993

andstartedhis career withtheOttawa Senators,but hisrealbreakthrough came

witha move tothe St.LouisBluesin 1996,wherehegrewtobecome a star.He spent16seasons overseas,scoring304goals inthe NHLandas-sisting in another 464.De-mitraalsoplayed inthe col-oursof LosAngeles,Min-nesota, andVancouver.

Slovaks especiallyvaluedhisappearances on thena-tionalice hockey team.De-mitra representedSlovakiaat six world championshipsandthree Olympic tourna-ments.He wasa memberof theteamthatwonthe

bronze medalat theWorldChampionship in 2003.Hockeyexperts called

Demitraone ofthe bestplayersin theworldand anaturaltalentaheadof histime.They notedin partic-ular hisgentlemanlycon-ducton theice,for whichhealso received theLadyByngMemorialTrophy in2000.Slovak hockeyexpertsand enthusiastsalike re-ferred tohimasa legend of Slovakice hockey.

Demitra wasalso per-ceivedas such byfans,whocreated an unprecedentedatmospherefor himin Maythisyear in Bratislava,after

hislastmatch forthena-tionalteam,against Den-markat the2011 IceHockey

World Championship,thefirstworldchampionshipto

beheld in independent Slov-akia.Despitethe disappoint-

ingperformanceof theSlov-ak team,the fansapplaudedandchantedtheir thanks toDemitra,the outgoingteam

captain,and heleftthesta-dium with tearsin hiseyes.“It’sbeena pleasureplayingforSlovakiaall theseyears,”hesaidafterhisfarewell tothenationalteam.

The2011/12KHL seasonthat LokomotivYaroslavl

was aboutto launchinMinsk in earlySeptember

wassupposed to beDemitra’slast at thetoplevel. He announcedthathe

washappyplayingin Rus-sia,but afterthisseasonhe

wasplanning to return toSlovakiaand devote histimetohiswifeandtwo chil-dren,and to nurturing

young hockey talent in

Trenčín,wherehe hadfirststarted playing.

Yaroslavl teamwipedout

Inthe aftermathofthetragedy,the future in theKHLof LokomotivYaroslavl,

whowereRussian Champi-onsin 1997,2002and2003,

was putin doubt.Theteamhadbeendueto play DinamoMinskon Thursday,September8.

Theheadsof theKHLheldan urgent meetingtodiscuss themeasuresto betakenfollowingthe crash.Thematch betweenSalavatYulaevUfaandAtlant(a

teamfrom Moscow Region), whichwasto have been theKHLseason opener,wascancelled, theRussia Todaynewsportalreported.

Meanwhile,the Russi-an mediareportedthatall43bodieshadbeen re-covered,of which14 – sev-enof them reportedlyfor-eign citizens– hadbeenidentifiedas The SlovakSpectatorwentto printthedayafterthetragedy.Onlytwopeople,one playerandonecrewmember,sur-

vivedthetragedy,but withsevereinjuries.

Aday after thecrashitscauseremainedunex-

plained. Russia’s Investig-ativeCommitteehaslaunched a criminal invest-igation intothetragicin-cident, as hasthe Inter-stateAviationCommittee,RussiaToday reported.

Fansin Trenčínhave floodedthe areain front ofthe hockeystadiumwith flowersand candlesforDemitra. Photo:TASR

3September12 – 18,2011NEWS

NGO calls for tougher rules

against conflicts

of interest

"Itisashamethatpublic

oversightof financial

disclosuresin Slovakia is

perceivedas a sortof

witch-huntand thatthe

wholesystemis basedon

repressiononly."

ZuzanaWienk



Slovakia’s ranking dropsSLOVAKIAis theleast com-petitivecountryin centralEurope, andranks evenlowerthanVietnamor Azerbaijan,accordingto thelatest Indexof Global Competitiveness,publishedannuallyby the

WorldEconomic Forum. Inthe 2011rankingSlovakiadropped nineplacesandended69thamong the142countries evaluated.

“Slovakiadroppedin thechartof competitivenessforthefifth time ina rowanddefinitelylost itslead amongthe VisegradGroup (V4)countries,” saidRóbertKičinaof the BusinessAllianceof Slovakia(PAS),as quotedbythe SITAnewswire. He notedthatwhile Slovakia’s positionhadslipped, theother V4countrieshad retainedtheirrankingsfrom lastyear.

Slovakia lostpointsfor thelowlaw enforcement,the in-

creasingnumberof incidentsof cronyismand non-trans-parent public procurement,andforthepublic’sverylowlevelof trustin politicalde-cisions.On theotherhand,Slovakia gained verygood res-ults fortheopenness ofitsmarket toforeigncompaniesandforeigninvestors,and foritslow customsbarriers,SITAreported.

“Weare late withallthereforms,” PrimeMinister Iv-eta Radičová said,reactingtothe country’slower ranking,asquotedbythe Smedaily.

Her spokespersonlater addedthat some ofSlovakia’sprob-lemscan be solvedrelativelyfast, butit will take time fortheeffectsof othermeasurestoshow.

Economy Minister Juraj

Miškovblamedthe previousgovernmentfor thelowranking.

“It’sproofthat they’d beendoingnothingfor four years, or weretakingstupiddecisions,”he toldSme. TheoppositionSmerparty,theleading partyin thelastgov-ernment, denied responsibil-ityfor thedeterioration.

Observers, however,alsopointedout thatthe rankingreflects mainly 2010, during

whichSmer wasinpowerforthefirst sixmonths.

“Thebiggestdrop wasrecordedin thedeficit[ranking],which resultedfromthe managementof

public financesby thepre- vious government,”Uni-Credit BankanalystDavidDereníksaid in an inter-

viewwith Sme.“Suchrankingis a good

hintto thegovernment,[pointingto] clearareas

wherebig problemspersistinSlovakia,and wherewe arelagging behind,” Dereníksaid,and explainedthat in-

vestorsregard therankingasonlyone among manyfactorsaffectingtheir decisions.

ByRadkaMinarechová

Gas reservoir extended

GAS-STORAGE companyNaftahas wrappedup thesecond, mostimportant,phaseof constructionof anewgas storagefacility nearthevillagesof LábandGa-jary,in BratislavaRegion. OnSeptember 6 it ceremoniallylauncheda control centreforthenew facility,on which€106 million hasso farbeenspent.

“Newcapacities of 500million cubicmetresin the

area ofLábwillcontributetobolstering Nafta’s

competitiveness,”PrimeMinisterIveta Radičovásaid,asquoted bythe TASR news-

wire “Alsothe securityandreliabilityof gassuppliesforSlovakiaand thecentralEuropeanregionhas been

boostedsignificantlyby thisproject.”

TheGajary-Bádenprojectisset toincreasetheNafta’sgasstoragecapacities to2.5

billioncubic metres by 2014.Newcapacities areintended

to increasethe flexibility of accessto gassupplies.

Electricity could get cheaper

THE REGULATORYOffice forNetworkIndustries (ÚRSO)has addressed50 motionspertaining to alleged fraudover construction of photo-voltaic powerplants. Be-causeof a shortfallin theelectricityproducedby thesesolarpowerplants,the priceof electricitycoulddecreaseasof January,the SITAnewswirereported.Electri-citygeneratedby othermeansis considerably

cheaperthan solarpower.ÚRSOlaunchedchecksat404 solarpower plants.While its investigations haveendedat 286facilities, 118arestillbeing reviewed.

Because of misinforma-tion orliestoldaboutthepower plants, thevolumeof electricitythey produce willnotreachtheproposed478megawatts. “It [productionof electricity]is 25 percentlower,”saidanÚRSOrepres-entative, as quotedby SITA.

Lower amounts of powergenerated by photovoltaicplantscouldlower thefinalpricefor electricitypaid byend-users.ÚRSO predicts

that pricespaidby domesticcustomerscould fallsignific-antly.


frompress reports

NET: Parties spar over how to proceedContinuedfrompg1

Thecabineton September7 approved amendments to theEFSF framework agreementand the Slovak EFSF Participa-tion Ceiling Act. The proposal

wasbackedby all ministersex-ceptthosenominatedby SaS.In line with the new rules,

the volume of eurozone guar-antees would go up from €440

billion to €779 billion andSlovakia’s share would risefrom €4.37 billion to €7.72 bil-lion. If the changes are rati-fied, the EFSF will also be per-mitted to purchase govern-ment bonds on the secondarymarket, help in the recapital-isation of financial institu-tions and provide precaution-ary credit to states before suchcountries are shut out of private credit markets, theTASRnewswire reported.

While most political lead-

ers agree that the partiesshould negotiate over the bail-out system, there is disagree-ment over who should hostthe talks.Radičováhas alreadyheld some talks on the issue,

but Smer denounced these asfruitless and has initiated itsownround oftalks.

“If the chairs of the partiesdo not attend the talks withus, we would consider it a sig-

nal that they do not need our votes and we would not votefor the bailout facility,” SmerMP Marek Maďarič told TVMarkíza onSeptember4.

The invitation effectivelymeans that Prime Minister

Radičová– whois notthe lead-er of her party – would not beinvited for talks, while Chris-tian Democratic Movement(KDH) leader Ján Figeľ anywayrejected Fico’s invitation andsaid that the most suitableforum for talks among all theparties would be the presiden-tialpalace.

President Ivan Gašparovičassured German Foreign Af-

fairs Minister Guido Wester- welle, who paid a visit to Slov-akia on September 2, that he

would do his best to persuadethe ruling parties of the needto take a responsible decisionoverthe changestothe EFSF.

Westerwelle said thateverything must be done tosavethe eurozone, adding thatthe German parliament wouldratify the necessary docu-mentsat theendof September.He suggested that GermanMPs’ decision to back thechanges might influence theirSlovak counterparts to do thesame, according to the SITAnewswire.

Slovak Foreign MinisterMikuláš Dzurinda respondedon September 2 that Slovakiashould not be the country

which blocks the creation of theeurozonebailout system.

Sulík later commented

that Slovakia might vote onthe changes as late as Decem- ber but Mikloš, the financeminister, responded onSeptember 5 that even thoughSlovakiamay aimto bethe lasteurozone member to okay thechanges to the bailout fund, itdoes not mean that a vote willnottake placeuntilDecember.

“Originally it [the vote] wasset forDecember,butas allcountries have agreed onSeptember or as soon as pos-sible, it would be absolutelyunfair to let everybody waituntilDecember oncethey havemade their decisions inSeptember,” Mikloš said, asquoted byTASR.

Late on September 8 SaSpublishedan anti-bailout treat-ise which described the tem-porary EFSF and permanentESM mechanisms as ‘a path tosocialism’, the TASR newswirereported. The pamphlet wasnegatively receivedby SaS’s co-alition partners and promisedto further complicate efforts toreach a deal to approve the

bailoutpackage.

RichardSulík Photo:Sme

DOWN: Domestic demand declinesContinuedfrompg1

Growing foreign demandas well as acontinuing decline in domestic demandhave had a significant impact on thegrowth of Slovakia’s economy, the Stat-istics Office reported.

“Theeconomywas mostly supported by exports, which maintained theirdouble-digit growth, while domesticconsumption continued to lag behind,”saidEduardHagara,senior researchana-lyst with ING Bank. “Only investmentactivities increased, but the slowdownin global growth is a signal that suchg ro wth i n in ve st me nts i s no tsustainable.”

As expected, growth was exclusivelydriven by foreign demand, UniCreditBankanalyst ĽubomírKoršňákalsonoted.

Year-on-year growth in exports

slowed from 15.8 percent to 12.4 percent but growth in imports grew less as well, withthe ratefallingfrom11.3percent to9percent, Koršňák noted.

Domestic demand fell by 0.8 percent, while consumption by the public sectordropped by 4.3 percent, the Statistics Of-ficereported.

The government is trying to reduceexpenditures and the situation in theSlovak labour markethas notimprovedtothe point that Slovaks are ready to opentheirwallets,Hagarasaid.

“The increasing savings of the popu-lation and the continuously low publicconsumption has not surprised us,”Poštová Banka analyst Eva Sadovská toldThe Slovak Spectator. “It shows thatSlovaks are continuing to worry aboutdevelopments in the world and at home,

whilebeingmorecautiousand savingfor worsetimes.”The caution of the population is

fuelled by the relatively high unemploy-mentrate, whichcurrently stands at over13percent, sheadded.

Joblessratedrops,butworriespersist

The unemployment rate in Slovakiain the second quarter of this year fell by1.3percentage pointsto 13.1 percentcom-paredtothesameperiodin2010.Itisnowat its lowest level since the third quarterof 2009,the StatisticsOffice reported.

“Even if employment in the first half of this year showed a surprisingly signi-ficant increase, the unemployment rateremains at a high level, which meansthat the position of employers during

wage negotiations remains strong and wages are growing only very slowly,”Hagarasaid.

According to the statistics authority,there were 356,500 jobless people in thesecond quarter of 2011, a drop of 31,800compared to the same period of last year.The number of people with jobs contin-ued to rise in the second quarter of 2011,

increasing by 43,100 people year-on-yearto a total of 2.256 million. By sector, the biggest year-on-year increases were inindustry,up 26,700, andthen services, up

by 26,300. The construction and real es-tate sectors, however, continued to shedjobs: employment in the constructionsector fell by 8,200 and in real estate by5,500 year-on-year. The highest numbersof unemployed people were reported inKošice Region, at 68,700, and neighbour-

ing PrešovRegion,at 64,400.

Domesticconsumption

Analysts had previously forecast thatdomestic consumption would not beamong the main motors of the economyin the second quarter. Since the govern-ment has managed to cut public spend-

ing, market watchers also expected adropin public-sectorspending. According to Sadovská, weaker retail

revenues compared to a year before hadalready hinted at stagnation in house-hold spending. Retailers did not report a

year-on-year increase in revenue in anymonthof thesecond quarter.

The lower unemployment rate wasmainly because of revival in industry,Sadovská said. Production close to pre-crisis levels has forced firms to re-hireemployees, she added. For now,Sadovskáexpects unemployment to continue tofall.

“However, we do not expect any rad-ical drop in the upcoming months,”Sadovská said. “Moreover, the alreadyslower recovery of the labour marketcould be paralysed by the expected slow-down in economic growth both in thesecondhalf of2011and also next year.”

Pressureonwages remains

Hand in hand with the mixed newson growth, as well as with the slower re-covery of the labour market, Slovaks will

continue behaving based on presenttrends, Sadovská predicted, adding thatshe expects Slovaks to continue savingfor worse times over the coming quar-ters.

The average nominal monthly salaryinSlovakiaroseby 3 percentyear-on-yearto reach €781 in the second quarter of 2011, according to the Statistics Office.That meant that real wages actually fell

by 0.9 percent year-on-year. During thefirst sixmonths of2011,theaveragenom-inal monthly salary stood at €763, withreal salaries falling during the same peri-odby 0.6percent.

The top earners were in the financialandinsurancesectors, wherethe averagemonthly salary was €1,693; next highest

was the IT sector, where averagemonthly pay was €1,482, followed by the

energyandgas sector, at€1,477.Bratislava Region boasted an averagesalary of €997, far above the averagemonthly wage for the whole country. Bycomparison, the average salary in PrešovRegionwas €592.

4 BUSINESS / NEWSSeptember12 – 18,2011



Jobs for the lads and lassesINFORMATION about secretsocieties, clandestine lists of privileged people, or docu-ments with seven seals havealways been part of politics.Some politicians have tried toprove their relevance by

claiming to posses copies of such documents. Yet mostthings that are declared to beclosely guarded secrets, turnoutto befar from secretat all.

Andmajor revelations of such‘secrets’are often managed insuch a way that the publicends up doubting whetherthe politician behind them isreally making a sacrifice onthe altar of transparency, oris in fact pursuing some per-sonalagenda.

It came as no surprise thatit was actually Igor Matovič,one of the self-declared ‘newtype’ of politicians, who pos-ted on his Facebook profile thefirstpartof what heclaims isa

list of political nominees at alllevelsof thepublic sector.It is hard to say what

prompted his decisionto pub-lish the list: the countless

Wikileaks reports that haverecentlyfloodedthe media, orperhaps a recent opinion poll

which showed Matovič’s Or-dinary People faction enjoy-ing an approval rate of justtwo percent? Let us assumefor a moment that Matovič

was inspired by a desire fortransparency.

The Ordinary People bossattached the following com-mentary:“Today I cameacrossthis list of names, institutionsand positions – plus there are

some political parties noted. Who knows what it all couldmean? If you know someoneand you find something

wrong or missing, then let meknow; thanks.”

Matovič has long beenheralding some great revela-tion about partisan nomina-tions while accusing all thosepolitical parties which gainedmore than 3 percent inthe lastelections of corruption. Hesaid recently that the partiesare abusing political nomina-tions so that they can rewardtheir cronies, sponsors andthe people who distribute fly-ers for them, and went on toclaim that professional quali-

fications are not treated as be-ing important when it comesto filling posts in the publicadministration.

On September 6, afterpublishing the list of peoplethat he had dubbed party

buddies, Matovič said he wasuncertain whether the list ac-tually represented a roll-callof partisan nominations – butthat he expects his Facebookfriends to help him solve themystery, and explain what‘all those abbreviations’ onthelistmean.

As for transparency,Matovič refused to disclosethesource of the list and hintedthat thenames came from two

sources and that he had com-piled the list himself. The ex-tra-parliamentary Party of theDemocratic Left (SDĽ) an-nounced the next day that thelist came from the general

manager of Robert Fico’sSmer’s party.

Matovič said he con-siders the list but a first stepon the path to purification of the political environment.Doubtless, in a country

where the so-called‘partocracy’ has such deeproots that people are nolonger shocked or surprised

when they read about partynominations, publishing thenames of party nomineesand the positions they holdmight helpto increasepublicawareness and remindpeople that these armies of party sympathisers are actu-allypaid outof their taxes.

It would be preferable,

after all, if they were pickedonly after they had also met aset of clear professional cri-teria: then the public couldperhaps demand a stricterdefinition of positions wherethere would be no cushionedchair for party nominees, butinstead clearly delineatedjobsfor top experts.

Yet the fact that it wasMatovič who published thelist, and the way he did so,seriously undermines theinitiative’s credibility. Theleader of the Ordinary Peoplefaction, who along with his

three colleagues made it intoparliament on the slate of theFreedom and Solidarity (SaS)party, has impressed himself on the memory of observersan d prob ab ly most of Slovakia’s electorate as an in-

curable exhibitionist with analarming lack of understand-ingof theweightof words andhis widerresponsibilities.

Regardless, the list hasnot caused any major shockin society; no mass outrageover the hundreds upon hun-dreds of names of people whohave allegedly been rewardedfor their political loyalty by

being given the job of man-aging some very importantpartsof public life.

The truth is that Slovaksjust assume that partisan sym-pathies bring public-sector jobsand that there are some jobsthat can be accessed onlythanks to politicalconnections.

Slovaks are far too accus-tomed to the massive clean-outs that normally take placeafter parliamentary elections.But the press mostly coverschanges only in the morepolitically-exposed positions.The public is all too familiar

with the spectacle of a partynominating three or evenfour candidates, one after an-other, for a top job – each re-jection prompting an evermore desperate search for apolitically reliable alternative

who might still meet the pro-fessional criteria.

When all is said and done,if this list – which incident-ally includes the names of

ministers, who almosteverywhere in the world arenominated by politicalparties, and also features thenames of people who areclearly not political nominees– does end up starting a realdebate that results in morepressure being brought to

bear on political parties to ob-serve stricter criteria to fillstateposts,thenmaybeit will

be possible to overlook thefact that the process washelped along by someone likeMatovič, in spite of everything he standsfor.

Pavol Demitra

EACH language has termswhich areimpossibleto trans-late. Pavol Demitra is one of them.

Saying he was one of thecountry’s top hockey playerswill not do, as this would inno way explain why his deathin a plane crash left the coun-try in mourning. There aretwo main reasons why thetragedy has immense reson-ancewithinSlovak society.

The first is the degree to

which the nation identifies it-self with ice hockey. Aftergaining independencein 1993,it was one of the few areas inwhich it could compete withthe West and with the world’s

superpowers. It was an arenato prove itself as a fully-fledged country. In an era

when NATO and EU member-ship were mere distantdreams, there were few for-

eign investors, and Slovakiagained headlines mainly forthe authoritarian tendenciesof its rulers, this was no smallcontribution to its self-es-teem. And Demitra, whomade itin theNHLand helpedthe national team in manycrucial moments, was a keyfigure of a strong generationof players who are now end-ingtheir activecareers.

The second reason for theshock is a lack of positive rolemodels. While other societiescan draw from a pool of statesmen, judges, teachers,entrepreneurs, scientists orartists, Slovakia oftenstruggles to find its heroes.

That’s why people whosename needs no translation, atleast in some parts of the

world, are so appreciated. And why Pavol Demitra will bemissed.

5September12 – 18,2011OPINION / NEWS

QUOTE OF THEW EEK: “For me,it isa closedissue,and ifit ever wassomebody'sissue,itwasn't thisgovernment's."

PrimeMinisterIveta Radičová onthe taxofficeleasein Košice

EDITORIA L


SLOVAKW ORDOF THE WEEK

B YLUKÁŠFILASpecial to the Spectator

CABLE: Names are namedContinuedfrompg2

Fico dismissed the com-ments and denied that thenamed men were sponsors of his party, saying that the

identities of Smer donorswere officially published.“I cannot prevent subject-

ive feelings that the staff of theUS Embassy aresendingtotheir h eadqu arter s asreports,” Fico told a press con-ference. “Half of it is gossipandvarious nonsense.”

Fico also said that diplo-mats often use media reportsas theirsourceof information,and that “for those subjectivefeelings we have to thank theSmedaily”.

Another name mentionedin connection with Smer,businessman Juraj Široký, ismentioned in a cable from Ju-ly 7, 2009. Reporting on the

visit of the Chinese presidentto Slovakia, the cable saysŠiroký is a man with particu-lar influenceon the governingof the state. The Chinese del-egation was particularly in-

terestedin the construction of highways in Slovakia, and theChinese also offered to build ahighway stretch under a PPParrangement using Chinesecapital, material and labour,

the cable reads. But the dealfell apart, because “one of thegovernment’s sponsors”, laternamed as Široký, was upsetabout possibly losing the con-tract to supply concrete, asource toldthe embassy.

Allegationsof vote-buyingbyPenta

Another leaked cablequoted by the Slovak media,dating from April 2005, re-ports on the alleged buying of MPs’ votes by the investmentgroup Penta during thesec ond g ove rnment of Mikuláš Dzurinda.

In 2004 the Slovak parlia-

ment passed six health-carereform laws, originally aimedat reducing the state’s role inhealth care, which legalisedthe franchising of pharma-cies. Several independent MPs

supported the reform in par-liament. The US embassy

wrote in its cables thataccord-ing to a “reliable contact”Penta wanted to use fran-chising agreements and its

ownership of health insur-ance companies to steer cus-tomers to its pharmacies. Thecontact reported that Pentahad paid Sk2 million ($67,000)each for an undisclosed num-

ber of independent MPs’ votestoensurepassage ofthe law.

“We cannot judge the au-thenticity of the report, but

we regard it a combination of nonsense and total ignoranceregarding the facts,” Pentaspokesperson Martin Dankotold The Slovak Spectator. Hedenied all allegations thatPentahadpaidfor MPs’ votes.

Danko also pointed out what he said were several fac-tual mistakes in the reports,

saying that Penta never hadany businesses which fran-chised pharmacies and thatPenta did not control threehealth insurance companiesin2004,butonlytwo.

T he Slovak Spectator i s an independent newspaper publi shed every Monday by The Rock, s .r .o.Subscrptions: Inquiries should be made to The Slovak Spectator’s business office at (+421-2) 59 233 300.Printing: Petit Press a.s. Dstributon: Interpress Slovakia s.r.o., Mediaprint-kapa s.r.o., Slovenská po‰ta 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 such

commercial enterprises or ventures by The Slovak Spectator or The Rock s.r.o. ISSN 1335-9843.Address: The Rock, s.r.o., Lazaretská 12, 811 08 Bratislava. IâO: 313 86 237.

JÁN PALLO - Publisher

EDITORIALBEATA BALOGOVÁ - Editor - In - Chief JAMES THOMSON - Assistant Editor

DONALD SPATZ - Assistant Editor JANA LIPTÁKOVÁ - Sta ff Writer

MICHAELA TERENZANI - Staff Writer ZUZANA VILIKOVSKÁ - Staff Writer

RADKA MINARECH OVÁ - Staff Writer & Project Manager

LAYOUT, WEB & ITTATIANA ŠTRAUCHOVÁ - Graphic Designer

ROMAN KRÁĽ - IT TOMÁŠ PALLO - Online Publishing

SALES - FINANCESBEATA FOJTÍKOVÁ - Sales Executive

MARTINA ŠMATLÁKOVÁ - PR and Marketing Manager TOMÁŠ KELLEY - Circulation Manager

PavolDemitracelebratingduringamatchat the2010Olympics inVancouver. Photo:AP



More transplants done in Slovakia

LAST year thenumberof or-gantransplant operationsinSlovakiaincreasedby six to221.Liver transplants in-creased most,up bynineto33. Transplantations of kid-neysand hearts decreasedmoderately,to 167and21,re-spectively. Theinformation

was containedin a reportonSlovakia’sefforts to meetitsnational transplantation

programmefor 2010, theSITA newswirereported.Thedocumentreports

thatorgan transplantationin Slovakiais a fast-develop-ingsectorwhichhasmadea

significant jumpforwardoverthe lastfour years. Slov-akia isnow ina comparableposition to Austria, Germanyandthe CzechRepublic,thereportsstates, adding thatprospectsfor thesectorarepositive.

In 2010transplantsun-dertakenin Slovakiain-cludedthose of organs suchas kidney,heart and liveras

wellas oftissuessuchskin,eyetissues,blood vessels,heart valves andbone mar-row.

Compiledby Spectator

stafffrompressreports

Chambers ofmedical professionalsin Slovakia

Slovak MedicalChamber, www.lekom.skSlovak Chamberof Pharmacists, www.slek.skSlovak Chamberof Dentists, www.skzl.skSlovak ChamberofNurses andMidwives,

www.sksapa.sk

Dual-use insurance cards on the way

NATIONALhealthinsurancecards witha EuropeanHealth InsuranceCard(EHIC) on theirreverse sidemaysoonbe inSlovaks'wal-lets,but no earlierthan 2012.

“New cardsmightbeis-sued duringthefirst half of 2012,” saidPetra Balážová,spokespersonfor VšeobecnáZdravotnáPoisťovňa, thelargestof Slovakia'sthreepublic health insurancecompanies,as quoted by theSITA newswire.

Union, another healthinsurancecompany,is stillponderingthe moveand alsoregards2012 as theyear

when it may startissuing

suchcards.Dôvera,the thirdhealth insurer in Slovakia,isalreadypreparing forthenewcardsand said newin-

surees willstart receivingthem from thestart of2012. As health insuranceis

compulsoryin Slovakia,eachresidentmust haveinsur-ance with oneof thesein-surers.Within theEuropeanUnion,citizens of memberstatesare entitled to emer-gency health treatmentequivalent to thatprovidedto theirown country’scit-izensvia public health in-surance.

To obtain medicalcare,they must holdan EHIC,

which theycan obtainfromtheirhealthinsurer. EHICsarevalid forfiveyears.A re-

vision tothe lawonhealth

insurance companies allowsfornationalcards andEHICstobe combinedin onecardasof August 2011.

Health Ministry anddoctors butt heads

IN HIS attempt to heal ailingpublic hospitalsburdenedwithlarge debts, Health MinisterIvanUhliarikhasbeenpushingthe idea of transforming theminto joint-stock companies.But the Medical Trade UnionsAssociation (LOZ) does not

think the minister has theright prescription and haslaunched a protest campaignwith four demands, includingdumping the minister’s trans-formationidea.

Inspired by doctors in theCzechRepublicwhoearlierthis

year threatened mass resigna-tions, LOZ is asking doctors inSlovakia’s public hospitals tosign notices terminating theiremployment contracts unlesstheirfourdemandsaremet.

“LOZ cannot look on anylonger athow Slovakia’shealthcare is being driven to destruc-tion by incompetent decisionsfromtheHealthMinistry,”LOZstateson itswebsite. “Itis now

a sinking ship on which all aresailing together – doctors,nurses,andalsoourpatients.”

LOZ has taken its four de-mands to Minister Uhliarik as

well as to Prime Minister IvetaRadičová,saying theiraimis toreverse the current crisis situ-ation in Slovakia’s health-caresystem and to secure betterhealth care for citizens in thefuture. The four demands arefor hospitals to observe the re-quirementsoftheLabourCode,

to change the current fundingsystem for health care, to stopthe transformation of publichospitals into joint-stock com-panies, and to gradually in-crease the salaries of health-careemployees.

The chairman of LOZ,Miroslav Kollár, has said thatthe doctors believe achievingall four of their demands is theonly way to achieve compre-

hensive reform of the health-care system but the doctors’demand to stop the transform-ationof theirhospitalsto joint-stockcompaniesseemsto have

become the most contentiousissue between the ministryandLOZ.

In its response to the de-mands from LOZ, the Ministryof Health wrote in mid Julythat it agrees with nearly all of the doctors’ points but insistson transforming the structure

ofthe hospitals, a step that hasalready been approved bySlovakia’s parliament. Theministry says that transform-ing the hospitals into joint-stock companies will provide amoretransparentwayto gaugethe economic performance of medicalfacilities.

“The aim of the transform-ation is more effective andtransparent operation of

hospitals,” Katarína Zollerová,the spokesperson for theHealth Ministry,told The Slov-ak Spectator. “Joint-stockcompanies, contrary to gov-ernment-subsidised organisa-tions, must use transparent

bookkeeping according tostandardised rules, must un-dergo annual audits and must

publish financial statements.The management of joint-stock companies is undermuch greater pressure to oper-ate efficiently than govern-ment-subsidisedfacilities.”

Kollár responded to thatargument by saying the hos-pitalswill stillnotoperatewitha balanced budget after such achange in their structure be-cause the hospitals are de-pendent on payments fromSlovakia’s health insurancecompanies and LOZ believesthe insurers’ reimbursementsdo not reflect the real cost of hospital treatment and care,theSITAnewswirewrote.

LOZ states on its website

thatSlovakia’scurrent legisla-tion makes payment of healthinsurance obligatory as wellas the hospitals’ duty toprovide treatmentto patients,

but adds that there is no lawrequiring health insurancecompanies to cover the actualcosts for the medical care thehospitalsprovide.

SeeLOZpg9

B Y J ANALIPTÁKOVÁSpectator staff

6

Health-care institutions

in Slovakia

Ministryof Health www.health.gov.skMinister:Ivan Uhliarik

Public HealthAuthority www.uvzsr.sk

Health CareSupervisionAuthority www.udzs.sk

NationalHealthInformationCentre www.nczisk.sk

State Institutefor DrugControl www.sukl.sk

September12 – 18,2011

Positionsare fixedon transformingpublic hospitalsinto joint-stock

companies

Doctorsmay stoptheirrounds. Photo:Sme -TomášBenedikovič

FOCUS shorts

Medical tourism in Slovakia?

PRICE, but particularly a goodratiobetween priceand qualityof medical treatment, is whatspeaks in favour of so-calledmedical tourism developinghere – at least that is whatSlovak doctors and represent-atives of medical and aestheticfacilities in Slovakia say. Butthis alone has not turned Slov-akia into a popular destination

for medical tourism, as mostSlovak health-care facilities donot narrow their focus to onlythis particular market seg-ment. Nevertheless, foreignersliving inSlovakiaor Slovaksre-

turningfrom stays abroad tendto use the services of privatemedicaland aestheticcentres.

“The motivation of a per-son towards medical tourismis often financial,” RenátaMihályová, managing directorof Bratislava-based Medis-simo, a private hospital andmedical clinic, told The SlovakSpectator. She added that fa-

vourable prices in Slovakiamake it an affordable destina-tion to seek quality medicalcare for a wide range of people.“But an important fact is thatour doctors have a good repu-tation in the world. Many of them had settled abroad or

worked abroad for a certainperiod of time and a person

who is deciding [whether toundergo medical treatment]

must have certainty and trustinhisor herdoctor.”Medissimo,which emerged

as a greenfield project toprovide comprehensive privatehealth care in 2009, does not

consideritselfa typical medicaltourism facility as its philo-sophy is to be a good hospital

and clinic for those seekingmodern and quality diagnosticservices and medical treat-ment. Mihályová stated thatMedissimo provides medicalcare at the same high standardas other private European clin-ics and hospitals and thatstandard is welcomed by visit-ing tourists as well as expatsfrom the diplomatic and busi-nesscommunitieslivinghere.

“Ourpatientsare especiallyinterested in treatment andtherapy at a scheduled time,

without waiting, in a nice environment with a pro-patientattitude,” Mihályová said,adding that thanks to the timeMedissimo’s doctors have

spent at health-care facilitiesin the US and in other parts of Europe theycommunicatewellin severalforeign languages.

Mihályová said that those who come to Medissimo in-

clude those who have urgentmedical needs but also pa-tients who return from places

such as the US, India, Spain,Germany and Sweden andthat no particular countryprevails. Medissimo also co-operates with foreign healthinsurancecompanies.

Medissimo is followingcurrenttrendsin medicalcareand focuses more on short-term diagnostic or therapeut-ic stays, one-day outpatientsurgeries, and physiothera-peutic stays after more de-mandingsurgery.

“The trend shows thatpeople are beginning to valuetheirhealthmoreand arewill-ing to invest in preventiona nd physiotherapy,”Mihályová stated. “But we are

also registering interest inplastic and aesthetic surgeryfrom people from neighbour-ing countries.”

SeeTRENDpg9

Initial efforts

seemtohave

yielded results

B Y J ANALIPTÁKOVÁSpectator staff

IT

Next issue:BUSINESS FOCUS

HEALTH-CARE SERVICESSeveral kindsof dentalcarearenot covered by health insurance

Slovakia is losing itsmedical graduates



Getting the best teeth you can afford

HUMANS have been getting their teethdrilled for several thousands of years andin spite of all the technological advancesin dentistry the dental drill still remainsone of the most important instrumentsavailable to dentists. The good news forSlovaks is that top-quality dental treat-ment – in terms of materials, technologyand procedures – is available here: thequestion is only how much patients arewilling to pay. Most of the latest dentaltechniquesare notcoveredfullyor atall bythe public health insurance scheme. Butformostpeoplethereisacheaperalternat-ive, which is also the main current trendin dentistry:prevention.

“Dental treatment in Slovakia, as

elsewhere in the world and in other de-veloped countriesin Europe, focuses espe-ciallyon prevention ofdiseasesof theoralcavityandon raising theawarenessof cit-izens about oral health,” SimonaDianišková ofthe SlovakChamberof Dent-ists, told The Slovak Spectator. “Alongwith this we also focus more on preven-tion in the case of children and other vul-nerablemembersof thepopulation.”

Dentists, when asked about trends intheirpractice,also listefforts to minimiseinterventions, and say that the questionof aesthetics is becoming more and moreimportant. But they warn that dentistrycannot exist without the drill. Dentistry

has not actually made any major break-throughs in dental medicine with respecttotooth healthinthelastfewyears.

Tomáš Pánek, a dentist who runs aprivate practice in Bratislava with a

branch in Malacky and who specialises indental implants and dentures, recalledthat the first evidence of cavities beingtreated by drilling have been found on

bonesthat are10,000yearsold.“Thus in all those years we have not

improved on the dental drill, except tomakeit muchmore sophisticated,” PánektoldThe Slovak Spectator.

Butwhile drillsare stillwithus, manyimprovements have been achieved, espe-

cially in new materials, technologies andprocedures. Hugeheadwayhas beenmadein dental implants and dentures, withmore stress laid on aesthetics – to maketeeth not only healthy but also look good,accordingto Pánek.

Dentist Alexander Schill, who runs aprivate clinic in Bratislava, agrees thateven though there are new technologies,for example laser and ultrasound instru-ments,no practicecan dowithouta dentaldrill. When asked about the latest trendshe reiterated that prevention is best, andalsomentioned betterdiagnostics.

See CAREpg 8

Meeting the challengesof health tourism

HEALTH tourismhas beenre-cognisedas a promising

businessin manycountriesaround theworld. The SlovakSpectatorspoketo Zeno

Veselík,directorof KPMGintheCzech Republic,about thecurrent positionof Slovakiainthissector anditspro-spects forbecominga majorhealth-tourismdestination.

The Slovak Spectator (TSS): Whatis thecurrentpositionof Slovakia in health tour-ism, especially in compar-ison with neighbouringcountries?

ZenoVeselík(ZV):Com-

paredwithAustriaor theCzechRepublicSlovakiahasnotreacheda fullycompar-able levelso far. But incom-parisonwithits otherneighbours andwithothercountriesin easternEuropeitis betteroffinmany as-pects, andin thisrespectitspotentialis good. Also,wagecostsmaybe a positivefactor forSlovakiafora cer-tainperiodof time, butonlyon thecondition thatSlov-akiainvests sufficientlyinthenecessary infrastructure

andinthequality ofthe whole spectrumof person-nelwithwhich it providesthegivenservices.

TSS: What arethechancesof Slovakia becoming a majorhealth-tourismdestination?

ZV: Slovakiais certainlyan exceptionallyinterestingcountry fromthe viewpointof natural beauties,but it hasnotyet developedservicesfortouristsand especiallyforthosewillingto payfor‘health tourism’.The infra-structureis fornow, eitherinitsextentor intermsof thequality of services, insuf-ficient and the reputationof Slovakhealthcaredoesnotunambiguously belongamongthe country’s strongpoints.Lastbutnotleast, itis important thatthe quality

of client-orientedcare by workers– inotherwords,theattitude of thepersonnelatsuchfacilitiestowardscli-ents andpatients– attainsaEuropeanlevel andbecomesanautomaticpartof theser- vicesprovided.

TSS:How do youperceiveopportunitiesfor invest-mentsin medical facilities

which may providehealth-tourism services?

SeeZVpg9

7 September12 – 18,2011BUSINESS FOCUS

SP90611/2

B YJ ANALIPTÁKOVÁSpectatorstaff

Top-quality treatmentis available in Slovakia –

at a price

B YJ ANALIPTÁKOVÁ

Spectatorstaff

Modern dentistrystressespreventionthroughregularcheckups. Photo:Sme



CARE: Prevention is the best approachContinuedfrompg7

“Prevention and relatedmeasures should reduce andcan possibly eliminate the oc-currence of oral healthdiseases,” Schill told TheSlovak Spectator, adding that

when intervention is neededthen also the aesthetic ques-tion is taken into considera-tion, for instance dental im-plants are used instead of

dental bridges or dentures.Pánek added that now thetrend is to keep as manyhealthy teeth or as much ori-ginal tissue in patients’mouths as possible.

“Any substitute is only asubstitute. We are only rarelyable to create in the mouthsomething that is better than

what nature can create in op-timum circumstances,”Pánek said, adding that of course some people are un-lucky enough to have a gener-ic predisposition for teeth

which are naturally ugly, bador proneto cavities.

Thelevelof dentalcare

inSlovakia

With regards to dentalcare and trends in Slovakia,Pánek identified two view-points. One is what dentalcare is able to achieve andprovide in individual prac-tices, and the second is wherethe general level of dentalcare and oral health in Slov-akia is. While he believes thatsome practices in Slovakiaprovide top-quality dentalcare, he believes that from anational point of view stand-ards are only gradually ap-proac hing the g en er alEuropeanlevel.

“In general I think that

the level of dental health of Slovaks is bad and that thepopulation of dentists isaged,” Pánek said, adding thatthis means that those whohave not caught up with new

trends continue to work ac-cording to old ones that can-not be regarded as up-to-datedentistry.“Thus I basicallybe-lieve that practices in largecities, which due to theirhigher incomes [for upper-standard treatment] are ableto provide quality dental care,are not lagging in any para-meter compared to their peerselsewhere in Europe."

Dentists agree that pa-

tients’ willingness to pay fordental care defines the level of care that can be provided, asall the new materials, meth-ods and procedures are notcheap. Moreover, in Slovakiaonly some dental care iscovered by public health in-surance and some practices donot even have contracts withhealth insurance companies.This means that their patientsmust cover the full cost of dental care from their ownpockets. People’s willingnessand/or ability to pay for treat-ment therefore significantlyinfluences the level of carethey receive. This particularlyaffects people in rural areas

who tend to be much less in-terested in finedentistry.Pánek said his experience

in Malacky proves this.“Of course, there are

people in Malacky who can af-ford top dental treatment butthe majority of people only

want to get rid of pain,” saidPánek, adding that the latterare generally not interested inany follow-up solutions.“There are many more suchpeople than in Bratislava,even though Malacky can beregarded as almost the peri-pheryof thecapital.”

With regards to imple-mentationof the latesttrends,Schill points to the difference

in payments which Slovakdentists receive for their workcomparedwith thoseabroad.

“The price of dentaltreatments in Slovakia aresomewhere around one-

quarter to one-third of theprices in western Europe,”Schill said, explaining that allthe costsof materials,techno-logies and procedures used inSlovakia are basically equal tothose abroad, so the differ-ence comes in the amountthat the dentists and nursesare paid. This means that

when a Slovak dentist wantsto invest in more modernequipment, he has to work

longer to get it. But eventhough Schill perceivesthis asa limiting factor, he believesthat dentistsherecan nowob-tain modern equipment, al-

beit a few years after it is firstlaunched, once prices de-crease somewhat.

“For example, 10 years agoit was a luxury for a smalldental clinic to have panor-amic dental X-ray equipment,

whereas nowadays it is not aproblem for a clinic with fourto five dental chairs to obtaina dental CT,”Schillsaid.

The better diagnoses which such equipment allowsis another facet of new trendspenetrating dental care, ac-

cording to Schill. Now it ismuch easier than it was 10 years ago to make diagnosesof much higher quality and toplan implants or dental sur-gery. Updated methods toproduce dental restorationsalso save patients’ time andshorten the whole processesto onepatientvisit.

Moreworkin thefuture?

It seems that dentists inSlovakia need not worryabout work in the future.Statistics showing that thedental health of Slovak chil-dren is poor indicates thatdental treatment will be very

much in demand for sometimeto come.“The dental health of

Slovak children is not good,”said Dianišková, citing sur-

veys that the Slovak Cham-

ber of Dentists regularlyconducts at approximatelyfive-year intervals. “Alas, wehave to say that Slovakia has

been placed in the lowestrankings overrecent years interms of the oral health of itschildren.”

In this respectDianišková pointed to the

breakdown of the old schemeof school dental practices.Even though this system had

its flaws, its demise meanscare for children’s teeth now falls squarely on theshoulders of parents. But

when parents neglect theirown oral health, there is ahigh chance that they willalso neglect theoralhealth of their children, even thoughthe public health-carescheme pays for two check-upsa year forchildren.

Pánek said that, based onhis experience, the amountof attention people pay totheir teeth and oral health

varies greatly between individuals and added that, des-pite what one might think,there is no direct link to so-

cialstatusor wealth.“People and their attitudeto their teeth and to theirhealth on the whole is a veryindividual and intimate is-sue, which has actually noth-ing in common with theirranking in societyor wealth,”said Pánek. “There are people

who are enormously wealthy but have a total cemetery intheir mouth, and by contrastthere are people who have tocount eacheuro before spend-ing it but arrive regularly forpreventive checks and whentheyneed some moreexpens-ivetreatmentask meto makea later appointment and saveupforit.”

“Ithinkthatthis islinkedto how each person perceivesthe question of health and

what importance he or sheascribes to it in one's rankingof values,”Pánek concluded.

8 BUSINESS FOCUSSeptember12 – 18,2011

SP90542/3

Slovakia is losing its medical graduatesTHE STATE invests a huge amount of money into educating doctors, but hun-dreds of them leave Slovakia after gradu-ation, drawn by higher earnings and bet-terworkingconditions abroad.

After veterinary science, medicine isthesecondmost expensivefield ofstudy.

Training a doctor costs the state threetimes more than, for example, an eco-nomist. But one in 10 Slovak medicalschool graduates look for jobs abroad,

where doctors receive better wages, working conditions, and prospects forcareer advancement. As a result, thegeneration of doctors now serving inSlovak hospitals is generally older, thePravda dailywrotein early August.

While there are no official statisticsof howmany doctors areleavingSlovakiaand what the average age of medicalpractitioners is, the lack of young doc-tors has already become a public issue.

And the increasing age of doctors is con-firmed by representatives of medical andprofessional organisations.

“The highest number of young doc-tors go to the Czech Republic but also to

Germany andAustria,”said AntonSzalay,the head of the Slovak Trade Unions of Health and Social Services, as quoted bythe daily. “The wages of our doctors are

discouraging. They are too low to enablethem to have families and to pay mort-gages. We have been pointing out theneed to stabilise wages in order that

young doctors do not leave for a longperiodof time.”

Students and graduates of medical

faculties confirmed Szalay’s words, whilemany Slovaks attending medical schoolsin the Czech Republic are also ponderingstaying because, they say, health carethere is at a higher level, hospitals are

better equipped, wages are higher andtheapproach ofpeopleis also different.

Apart from the lack of younger gener-al practitioners, there is also a lack of

young dentists, both leading to an olderaverage age for practising doctors anddentists. And this phenomenon affectsother professions like nursing and mid-

wifery too.The Health Ministry as well as dent-

istsascribethe shortageof young dentiststo the education sector, which fails togenerate enough graduatesdue to thelownumber of students accepted, the Smedailywrote in earlySeptember.

Compiledby Spectatorstafffrompressreports

Wanted: youngdoctors. Photo:AP



ZV: Good customerservice is importantContinuedfrompg7

ZV:Undoubtedly Slov-akiais a well-knowncountryin thefield of physiotherapy

orspa treatment,eventhoughthe relatedinfra-structuredoes notreachEuropean standardsso far.Probably itwouldbe neces-saryto thinkoverthe targetclients/patientsin thisre-spect,eitherfromthe view-point oftheiroriginor theireconomic potential andrealpreferences,i.e. thosere-quirementswhich willbedecisive in theirchoices.

TSS:What factorsmostaf-fect thepotentialof thecountryand itsutilisation?

ZV:Theseare demon-strable quality,good refer-encesand reputation,the

generally perceived success

of a facility,the recommend-ationof patients,butalsoin-ternationally recognisedcer-tificationof facilitiesandtheirabilityto becomecon-

tractpartnersfor potentialpayersof healthcare, forex-ample insurancecompaniesor nationalinstitutionscoveringhealthcare. Otherfactors arethepriceof themedical services provided,thescope andquality of supplementary services andprogrammes for patientsand accompanyingpersons,aswellas theabilityto se-cureprotectionof personaldata andprivacyof pa-tients.Amongother factorsI wouldadd thebehaviourandattitudeof theperson-nel topatientsand, last butnotleast,the ability toofferquality post-surgicalor fol-

low-up care.

Fake drugs find a way into Slovakia

ASWITHfakeAdidas T-shirtsor phonyNiketrain-ers, nowimitationdrugshave foundtheirwayinto

Slovakia. During the firsthalf of2011 alone,Slovakcus-tomsofficers prevented thedistributionof over128,000piecesof imitation medica-tions,the HospodárskeNov-iny dailyreportedin August.

“Most ofthem wereac-countedforby steroids or

bluediamond-shapedpills,”Miroslava Slemenská,spokespersonof the directorgeneralof theCustomsOf-ficesDirectorate, said,asquotedby thedaily.

The haulrepresentedanincrease fromlastyear’sag-gregatecontraband of morethan12,000 pieces.

The dailywarnedthat

whilefake sportsbrandscauselittlephysicaldamage,this isnot thecasewithphonydrugs.

“Theimitation[drug]does nothavethe same effect

[andthus theillness remainsuntreated],it mightbe closetothe original,or itmayevenharm health,” Tomáš

Turiak,vice-presidentof theSlovak Chamber of Phar-macists, said,addingthatneither compositionnor hy-giene ischecked inproduc-tion ofphonydrugs.

TheState InstituteforDrugControlreportedthat itmostoften encountersfakeanabolic steroids anddrugs to

boostsexualperformance, butalso findsimitation weight-loss andanti-smokingdrugsthat aresold online.

Slovakia’s experienceisinline with theEU situationinwhichas much as99 per-centof theimitationmedic-ation interceptedin 2010 was so-calledlifestyle drugs.

Most come fromChinaandIndia butthereare alsolocalproducers.


frompressreports

Insurers spent over €1bn on drugsTHE ANNUAL consumptionof prescriptiondrugs covered

bySlovakia’spublichealthinsurancescheme exceeded94.4millionpackages in2010,a drop from95.7millionpackages in 2009,the HealthMinistry informed theTASRnewswire, citingits ownstatistics.

Intotal, healthinsurancecompaniesspent nearly€1.04billionon drugs in2010,a drop ofabout€20millionfrom thepreviousyear. Ex-pendituresfor drugsbyhealthinsurersexceeded€1 billion forthefirsttimein2008,when theytotalled€1.008 billion. In2007 theexpenditurewas €907mil-lion andin 2006 €882million.

Health insurersspentthelargestamounton drugsto treatcardio-vasculardis-eases. Lastyear these costthepublic health insurancefirms over€206.7million.Drugsfor cancer patientsfollowed,withalmost€173.4millionspent.Drugs fortreatmentof diseasesof the

central nervoussystemcost€130.6 million.

Theministry noted theincreasedamountof uncon-sumeddrugsthat people candispose of inspecialbasketsat pharmaciesafterthey arepasttheirexpirydate.People threw awaymoredrugsin 2010 thanat anytime inthepastsixyears:97.7tons.

9BUSINESS FOCUS September12 – 18,2011

FOCUS shorts

LOZ: Doctors to give notice en masseContinuedfrompg 6

Kollár stated that his or-ganisation believes that lessmoney coming to the hospit-als will be reflected in a dropin the quantity as well as the

quality of health-care servicesprovided in the hospitals aswell as an increase in fees.

LOZ has also said it is fearfulof possible distraint proceed-ings against the hospitals tocollect debts as well as by thepossible sale or privatisationof hospitals by ‘variousgroups’ that Kollár did not fur-ther identify, the SITA news-wire wrote.

Zollerová told The SlovakSpectator that after trans-formation of the hospitals intojoint-stock companies thestate will remain the exclus-ive owner of 100 percent of theshares in each hospital.

“The government is not

pondering any sale of theshares,” Zollerová stated,adding neither the past gov-ernment nor the current gov-ernment had sold any of theshares of six hospitals thatwere transformed into joint-stock companies in 2006. “This

will also be the case after theorigination of the additionaljoint-stock companies.”

The plan is to transformpublic hospitals under thecontrol of the Ministry of Health into joint-stock com-panies by the end of 2011,though that deadline might be

postponed by six months forcertain hospitals. Hospitalsnot operated by the Ministryof Health are expected tochange their form by mid2012. The state will be the legalfounder and 100-percentshareowner of the newly-cre-

ated joint-stock hospitals andthe ministries that currentlycontrol the hospitals will con-tinue to administer the hos-pitals on behalf of the state.The plan calls for 31 facilitiesto be transformed into joint-

stock companies and the cab-inet has already allocated €350million to cover those facilit-ies’ current debts. The parlia-ment approved its allocationon September 8.

In late August LOZ startedcollecting signed notices fromdoctors in which they statethey are terminating theiremployment contract withtheir health-care facility. LOZhad previously said it had re-ceived commitments from3,830 doctors working in 51hospitals to sign a notice of termination of their employ-ment contract. LOZ estimatesthat about 5,300 doctors workin public hospitals in Slovakia.

The first informationabout mass termination no-tices ‘on paper’ came from thePrešov-based Ján Adam Re-iman Faculty Hospital andPolyclinic, with Michal Poli-cian, the head of the localtrade union telling SITA that

about half of 300 doctors working in the hospital indic-ated signing the terminationnotices. Polician did not spe-cify exactly how many noticeshad already been signed.

Polician said the doctors’

main reason for signing thenotices is disagreement withthe idea of fast transformingtheir hospital into a joint-stock company, as well as lowsalaries. Polician said adoctor’s average monthlysalary at the hospital is €1,500and that includes all supple-mental pay and overtime pay.He added that after workingfor 33 years as a surgeon hismonthly salary is €1,200

without supplemental pay-ments and that is why he hadsigned a termination notice,SITA wrote.

LOZ told The Slovak Spec-tator that it is satisfied withits campaign. "We can say

for now that everything isgoing according to plan,"adding that in the end even ahigher number of doctorsmay sign the terminationnotices. "The notices will bedelivered to all hospitals atthe same moment."

MiroslavKollár Photo:TASR

TREND: Austrians seek cosmetic work Continuedfrompg6

Alexandra Semanová from ÚstavLekárskej Kozmetiky (ÚLK), the Instituteof Medical Cosmetics, told The SlovakSpectator that her institute, one of thefirst specialised centres for health,

beauty and anti-aging procedures inSlovakia, has found considerable interestin thetreatmentsit offers.

“We register interest especially by[persons from]neighbouringAustria,fol-lowedby Slovaks wholiveon a long-termbasis abroad, especially in England,

Franceand Italy,”Semanovástated.Semanová said Hungarians are not

frequent patients due to an extensivenetwork of similar centres in the north-ern part of Hungary as well as in Bud-apest, adding that Austrians are inter-ested in the whole spectrum of servicesand treatments offered by ÚLK. Whilesome individuals first try only one ser-vice and order others only after they aresatisfied with the treatment, others un-dertake several treatments at one ses-sion. Semanová said the highest interest

is in ÚLK’s various body programmes(such as slimming programmes and cel-lulite treatment) and dermatologicaltreatments (botulinum toxin applica-tions to reduce wrinkles, and laser sur-gery) but added that people from theUnited Kingdom, France and Italy are

also interested in plastic surgery – breastsurgery or rhinoplasty (nose surgery) –liposuctionand facelifts.

Semanová told The Slovak Spectatorthat recommendations from acquaint-ances, information on the internet, as

well as a good price, especially forplastic-aesthetic surgery, are among thereasonswhy individuals seekout ÚLK.

“The price for comparable services of the quality offered by ÚLK is more expens-ive abroad,” said Semanová, adding that itis possible to find cheaper services in someothercountriesbut the quality is alsolower.

Isdentaltourismnext?

“Prices of dental treatments in Slov-akia aresomewhere at one-thirdor one-quarter of the prices in western

Europe,” Alexander Schill, founder of the private Schill Dental Clinic, told TheSlovak Spectator, explaining that thecosts of materials and technologiesused in Slovakia are basically the sameas those abroad but thatthere is a signi-ficant difference in the salaries of dent-

ists and nurses in Slovakia compared to western Europe.Though there may be some excep-

tions, Slovakia is generally not thoughtofas a destination fordental tourism.

“Dental tourism works especially inHungary, where it has a tradition,”Schill said. “Dentists in Hungary – evenduring the previous communist regime– could have private practices. They were prepared for dental tourism muchearlier.”

Schill also pointed out that that be-ingsuccessful inmedical ordentaltour-ism is not only about receiving propertreatment. It also requires other well-functioning tourism services such ashotelsandrestaurants, aswellas a well-developed business concept in the areasoflogisticsand marketing.

REAL ESTATE

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

• 1-2-roomapartments – Vajnorská,Ružinov,KarlovaVes...

• 3-4-roomapartments – Drotárska,

downtown,Ružinov,Koliba,Bôrik...• family houses – Koliba, Bôrikarea, Polus area, Horský park,Ružinov...

[email protected],0905659156,www.madison.sk

C 3655

CLASSIFIEDS

C 3573

ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORSHIPBratislava International Church

Sundays, 9:30 at historic Small L utheran Church

(Maly evanjelicky kostol) in central Bratislava

(near Hodzovo namestie); on Lycejna at

intersection with Panenska 26/28.

Children's Sunday School provided.

Everyone Welcome.Information at 02-5443-3263

Web Site: www.bratislavainternationalchurch.org

Take your

chanceand place yourclassified advertisement.For information call:

02 / 59 233 312,or e-mail:

[email protected]

C 3634

1. Prices of classified ads

(according to no. of words)

● Up to 20 words - € 10

● Up to 50 words - € 20

● Up to 70 words - € 30

● Up to 100 words - € 40

● Up to 150 words - € 60

Additional options● Logo or picture insertion + € 7

● Bold or capital bold letters+ €0.3/word

● Box + € 3

● Box with shading + € 7

1/48 page (43 x 44 mm) € 251/24 page (43 x 92 mm) € 50

or (91 x 43 mm) € 501/12 page (91 x 92 mm) € 100

Frequency discounts:● 3x - 10x 5%● 11x - 19x 7,5%● 20x and more 15%

NOTE:Prices do not include value added tax (VAT 19%)!

2. Prices for businessclassified ads (according to size):



Choir festivalreturns to Trnava

TRNAVA is sometimesknown as theLittleRomedueto themanychurchesscatteredaroundthe city,

butlocals,especiallythose with a musical ear,alsoknow itas thetown with thehighestconcentration of choirs persquare metre. Thelongtradition of choral mu-sicinTrnava had beenmaintained inpart thanksto theautumnfestivalof choirs which,after a recenthiatus,re-emerged ina verynewform attheend ofthissummer.

Thelast ChoralDaysof

Trnava, an event which usedto welcomechoirs fromallaround Slovakiaand beyond,took placein 2008.Thateventwas followedby three

yearof ‘silence’, untilthefirstweekend of September2011,whenthe21steditionof theChoralDaysof Trnava

wasorganised, predomin-antlyby thecivic associationTrnavskéMestskéZbory(Trnava CityChoirs).Duringtheinterlude, thefestivalhaslostmostof itsinterna-tionalcharacter,since onlySlovak choirs participatedinthe2011 edition andtheonlyinternational participants

were thesoloistswho per-

formed at thehighlight con-cert ofthe festival.Butthatisnot theonlychangethattheevent hasundergonesince2008.

Froma festivalwhich wasonce heldsolelyinsideTrnava’schurches, withonedaydevotedstrictlytochurch musicand anotherto non-sacralmusic,the or-ganisershave nowturnedtheChoralDays of Trnavaintoan open-airevent,mak-inguseof the town’sre-cently reconstructedamphi-theatre.Thanksto this, vis-itors andparticipantsalike

wereallowed to lettheir hairdown, andpeople in jeans

andt-shirts couldbe seen intheaudiencelisteningtoarias fromVerdi’soperas

while enjoyinga hot-dog ora glassof beer.

Theeveningsof thefest-ivalwere dividedaccordingto genre:on jazz-musical-rock Fridaythechoir of

Trnava’s secondary schoolsCantica Novaand youngSlovak singers offereda per-formanceof MissaCriolaby

Ariel Ramírez, withsoloist Viliam Csontos, andthe rockoratorio EversmilingLiberty

by Danish composersJensJohansenand Erling Kull-

berg, with solossungbyMáriaČírováand KamilMikulčík. Trnava’s Tirnaviachoiraddedits interpreta-tion ofA LittleJazzMassbyBobChilcottand a selectionof melodiesfrom themusical

WestSide Story.Saturdaywas devotedto

allthe participating choirs –Bradlan,Vox Aurumque,

Cantica Nova,Tirnavia,Cantica /Z/nova, andTechnik Akademik– whogotthechancetoshowoff theirrep-ertoireduring theChoirs toChoirs concert.

Thehighlight of thefest-ival, a concert entitled

Verdi’sOpera Choirs andde- votedto the110than-niversaryof thecomposer’sdeath, gatheredan unpre-cedentednumber of peopleonthestageof the(rathersmall) city amphitheatre:thechoir andorchestra of theSlovakNational Theatre

werejoinedby Trnavachoirs Cantica /Z/nova andTechnik Akademikto create

onepowerfulvoicewhile in-terpreting a number of Verdi’smost famous choirsandarias,led byPavolProcházka– who atonepoint conductedwhichsuchforcethathe snappedhis

baton intotwo pieces.The soloistsrepresented

allthe countriesof thecent-ralEuropeanregion:sop-ranos Karina SkrzeszewskafromPolandand JolanaFogašováfrom Slovakia,tenorLászlóBoldizsárfromHungaryand bassRichardNovák fromthe CzechRe-public.

Theorganisers promisethat thechoralevent will not

fall silentforso long again:they plan tomakethefestiv-al a biennialevent, pledgingto attract moreinternationalparticipantsin future years.

10 CULTURESeptember12 – 18,2011

Images immortaliseJewish past in Slovakia

THEOPENINGof Last Folio,anexhibit of Yuri Dojc’s picturesof what remains of once-vi-brant Jewish communities

throughout Slovakia, servedas the centrepiece of a week-end devoted to life in Slovakia,past and present, held at theBloomington campus of Indi-ana University (IU) in earlySeptember. Peter Burian,Slovak ambassador to theUnited States, represented theSlovak government at the

event.The Dojc exhibit originallyopened at the Slovak NationalMuseum, followed by present-ations in Cambridge, England,and at the Museum of JewishHistory in NewYork City.

Katya Krausova’s shortdocumentary film, which sheplans to extend to full length,was also featured in Bloom-ington. The short version can

be seen online athttp://vimeo.com/20779058.

Dojc and Krausova bothleft Czechoslovakia in 1968.He now works as a photo-grapher in Canadaand sheis afilm producer in London. Thetwo met in London in 2005 at

a meeting ofexpats.The exhibit was designedby Daniel Weil, a native of Ar-gentina, who also designedthe interior of the new Ar-chaeological Wing of the Is-rael Museum in Jerusalem, aswell as aeroplane and airportinteriorsfor United Airlines.

“Every time I see YuriDojc’s haunting photos of theobjects left behind in a SlovakJewish school afterthe town’sJewish community was de-ported to concentrationcamps in 1942, I feel the hor-ror of that moment,” observedprofessor Jeffrey Veidlinger,the director of IU’s JewishStudies Program.

“The exhibition is also amessage of perseverance andhope,” added Veidlinger,whose great-great grandfath-er emigrated from Slovakia.“Despite all attempts to eraseany memory of the Jewishcommunityof that town, over

60 years later, the objects arestill telling their story –screaming for remembrance.”

“We were looking for thespecks of dust, for the com-munity that doesn’t existanymore,” Dojc told a Bloom-ington symposium on the eveof the exhibit’s opening.“When I photograph the

books, I feel like I’m photo-graphing people.”

“The poignancy of the pic-tures is the neglect theyshow,” said history professorMark Roseman. “Nothing sopowerful connects to the hu-

man tragedy.” He expressedthe fear that their preserva-tionwill destroy thisimage.

The exhibit also markedthe renaming of IndianaUniversity’s School of Fine

Arts Gallery to the GrunwaldGallery, thanks to a gift fromRita Grunwald in honour of her late husband John, who

was born in 1935 in Budapestto Jewish parents. He sur-

vived the Holocaust and cameto New York and eventually toBloomington.

Patrick O’Meara, Vice-President Emeritus of Inter-national Affairs at the uni-

versity, helped coordinate the weekend in Bloomington. He

conducted an hour-long radiointerview with Dojc andKrausova during their visit,

which will be broadcast laterthis year on WFIU, theuniversity’s radio station. Healso presided over a half-hourdiscussion at the opening of

the exhibit attended by sever-al hundred people.

“As the people of Slovakiamove forward, it’s importantthat they recognise the legacyand problems of the past,”O’Meara observed after theopening nightceremony.

Ambassador Burian is thefirstSlovakambassadorto vis-it Indiana University thoughRita Klimova, the last ambas-sador from Czechoslovakia,

visited Bloomington in 1992.The ambassador visited

over lunch with IU ProvostKaren Hanson. Also attending

the lunch was Steve Zlatos,Honorary Consul for Slovakia, who serves Slovak interests inthe states of Indiana, Ken-tucky and Tennessee. They were joined by Maj. Gen. R.Martin Umbarger, commanderof the Indiana National Guard, which is paired with the Slov-ak armed forces under NATO’sPartnership for Peace program.

Earlier this year, Gen.Ľubomír Bulík, the SlovakDefence Chief, paid a visit toIndiana as guest of the Na-tional Guard.

After the lunch, Buriantalked with IU faculty andgraduate students interestedin ce ntral and eastern

European studies. He de-scribed the successes of Slov-ak foreign policy since thecountry’s founding and saidrelations between the US andSlovakia were very good.Burian pointed out that ajoint military team from theIndiana National Guard andfrom Slovakia will deploy to

Afghanistan laterthis year.The ambassador ex-

pressed hishopethatin aneraof declining US federal sup-port for academic studies of central Europe more uni-

versity-to-university connec-tions could be arranged. Buri-an was also interviewed by

WFIUfor laterbroadcast.

B YO WEN V. JOHNSON

Special to the Spectator

YuriDojc(l) withMajor GeneralR.MartinUmbarger(c) at

Indiana University. Photo:Courtesyof YuriDojc

'Amessageof perservance andhope.'Photo:Courtesyof YuriDojc

Last FolioTo accompany the Last Folioexhibit in both New York andBloomington, Indiana Uni-

versityPress publisheda booktitled Last Folio: Textures of JewishLife inSlovakia.

The book includes 34photographs of the remainsof a Jewish school in Barde-jov where everythingstopped when the students

were taken away to concen-tration camps, as well aspictures of the ruins of schools, synagogues, mik-

vahs and cemeteries. Thereare also 15 portraits of sur- vivorsof thecamps.

In a section entitled TheJourney, Katya Krausova

wrote two stories in journalformat about how she andDojc came to gather the storyand how they had amazinglyfound a book that had be-longed to Jakub Deutsch,YuriDojc’sgrandfather.

Azar Nafisi, the directorof Cultural Conversations atthe Foreign Policy Instituteof Johns HopkinsUniversity’s School of Ad-

vanced Studies also wrote anessay, All ThatRemains.

“These photographs, in

their anguished beauty, as-sert that there will always beart after Auschwitz, becausethere will always be life, andthat art is ultimately on theside of life,” she wrote in her

essay. “I believe this is themessage the spirits guidingYuriwantedus to know.”

Lucia Faltin’s short essayhelps non-specialists orientthemselves to Jewish historyin Slovakia, with primaryemphasis on the 20th cen-turyexperience.

When I was travellingaround Slovakia in the 1970sand 1980s, doing research oninterwar Slovakia, I occa-sionally saw an empty syn-agogue. I knew from my re-

search on Slovak secondaryschools and Comenius Uni- versity that Jewish studentshad studied in those schools,

but found it hard to imaginethem as living, breathinghuman beings. This book

brings memuchcloser tosee-ingthem.

Two years ago, IU Pressalso published RediscoveringTraces of Memory: The Jew-ish Heritage of Polish Galicia

by Jonathan Webber. That al- bum includes 74 images of synagogues, cemeteries,Holocaust memorials, Nazicamps, and other evidence of Jewish presenceand absence.

Last Folio: Textures of Jew-

ish Life in Slovakia can beordered from Indiana University Press, www.iupress.indiana.edu,

for$24.95.

ByOwenV.Johnson

B YMICHAELA

TERENZANI

Spectator staff

Soprano Jolana Fogašová Photo:JordankaHomolová



The wagoners of Holíč

THE SQUARES of towns andalso their streets usually givethe impression of being biggerin old photos than

they are today. Theclue to this mysteryis simple: therewere no cars then.Thus, we can alsoseethe cobbles andlower partsof houses inold photographs.

Instead of cars, their fore-runners filled urban streets:horse-drawn wagons and car-riages. In this postcard fromthe period immediately afterWorld War I, we see two wag-onspulledby horses.

Wagons were once themost important means of transporting goods, together

with wooden rafts. This wastrue not only in Slovakia, butalso in neighbouring coun-tries. In several areas here,specialised groups of mencalled furmani (wagoners)dealt with horse-drawn wag-ons and transported goods as well as sometimes people. In

the Horehronie region, wholehorsemen’svillagesexisted.

By the end of the 19thcentury, the

wagoner’s profes-sion had become acraft. Wagoners spe-cialised mainly indelivering fuel to of-

fices, or in moving peoplefrom one place to another.“Furmani” from some re-gions also travelled abroadand thus secured the importand export of various goodsto andfrom Slovakia.

ByBranislavChovan

HISTORY T ALKS

WesternSLOVAKIA

Bratislaval ETHNO MUSIC: Idan Rai-chel – This Israeli star ofworldmusic comes for the first timeto Slovakiato present hismix-ture of piano playing andsinging in exotic languages,suchas Hebrew, Arabian, Ara-maic,Spanishand Swahili.

Starts: September 15,19:00; Nová Scéna, KollárovoSquare. Admission: €20-€25.Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.ticketportal.sk.

Bratislaval TENNIS CUP: Davis CupSlovakia - Ukraine – After two years, the best Slovak tennisplayers get the chance to play before a local crowd for thenext round of this world fam-ous competition. Playersshould include Martin Kližan,Michal Mertiňák, FilipPolášek, Lukáš Lacko, PavolČervenák,and possibly others.

Starts: September 16-18,from 13:00 (Sunday) or 14:00onwards; Sibamac Aréna NTC,Príkopova 6. Admission: €10.Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.ticketportal.sk, www.stz.sk.

Bratislaval JAZZ MUSIC: Jazz v Aréne /Jazz in the Arena - Martin Va-lihora Trio featuring MarcelPalonder (vocals) – This popu-lar jazz grouping (comprisingEugen Vizváry on piano, JurajGriglák ondouble bass andVa-lihora on drums) has invitedPalonderto singwith them.

Starts: September 15,2 0: 00; Aréna Th eatre ,

Viedenská 10. Admission: €6.Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.ticketportal.sk.

Bratislaval LIVE MUSIC: Steve Reich inthe Club – Cluster Ensemble, agrouping focused on contem-porary art will perform three

works by Steve Reich (US), arepresentative of minimalmusic.

Starts: September 13, 21:00; Nu Spirit Club, ŠafárikovoSquare 7. Admission: €5-€7.Tel: 0948/855-449; www.nuspirit.sk.

Bratislaval EXHIBITION: Omara SM –This Mexican visual artist isholding his first solo exhibi-tion in Europe in Slovakia’s

capital. He created his black-and-white images last year

with etching or aquatint, themain themes being whalesandMexicanstreet dogsfight-ingfor survival.

Open: Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat 9:00-17:00 untilSeptember 27; TGallery, Pan-ská 24 (basement). Admission:free. Tel: 0903/601-656; www.tgallery.sk.

Trnaval CLASSICAL MUSIC: Trnav-ské organové dni / Trnava Or-gan Days – The 16th year of this organ festival culminates

with a concert by the officialorgan player of Paris’s NotreDame Cathedral, OlivierLatry. He plays works by A. P.

F. Boëly, C. Franck, C. Widor,G. Pierné, L. Vierne and M.Dupré, andhis ownworks.

Starts: September 16,20:00; St. Nicholas’ Basilica, StNicholas Square. Admission:€10-€12. Tel: 0905/269 -971; w

ww.bachsociety.sk/trnavaorgandays.

CentralSLOVAKIA

BanskáBystrical LIVE MUSIC: Kroke – This

Polish trio from Krakow plays world music, includingKlezmer.

Starts: September 12, 19:00; Evangelical Church, La-zovná Street. Admission: €12.Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.ticketportal.sk.

LiptovskýMikulášl PHOTO EXHIBITION: Photo-School Final Exhibition – Theannual summer photo-schoolin Liptovský Mikuláš ends

with the best works by its 45participants from 8 countries

beingputon show.Open: Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00

untilSeptember 17;Great Hall,Liptovská Galéria P. M. Bohú-ňa, Tranovského 3. Admis-sion: €0.50-€1. Tel: 044/5522-

758; www.galerialm.sk.

EasternSLOVAKIA

Košicel LIVEMUSIC: Richard MüllerPotichu Tour 3 – The SilentlyTour by popular singer/musician/ songwriter RichardMüller will also feature Czechmusician DanBárta.

Starts: September 15,19:00; Spoločenský Pavilón,Trieda SNP 31. Admission:€22.90. Tel: 02/5293-3321;

www.ticketportal.sk.

Kežmarokl CLASSICAL MUSIC: 41. Me-dzinárodný OrganovýFestivalIvana Sokola – The 41st Inter-national Organ Festival of I.

Sokol visits several townsand cities between September14 and 27 with a rich organprogramme. In Kežmarok,Irena Chřibková (CZ) plays

works by Linek, Roškovský,Rigler, Pachelbel, Buxtehude,Brixi, Černohorský, Bach,Guilmant, Grešák and Boell-man. Other festival concertstake place in Košice and else-

where.Starts:September16, 19:00;

Wooden Articular Church andthe New Evangelical Church.

Admission: voluntary. Tel:055/2453-106; www.sfk.sk,

www.festivaly.sk.

ByZuzana Vilikovská

E VENTS COUNTRYWIDE

The 12th year of the Konvergencie festival brings, once again, amerger of different musical genres. The opening concert, onSeptember 18 at 19:00in St Martin’sCathedral, Bratislava, com-bines Cello Colosseum (a cello ensemble led by Jozef Lupták)with Gregoriana from Košice, offering works by J. S. Bach, A.Pätro, R. Shchedrin, J. Iršai and Gregorian chorale. Other con-certs include DoricStringQuartet(UK), ASGUESTS (a jazzgroupfrom Slovakia), Uhrovec 1730 (a Slovak group playing early mu-sic,folkloreand improvisations), localpop singerJana KirschnerwithafterPhurikane, and more. Tickets can be obtained at Tick-etportal and Eventim; for more information, go towww.konvergencie.sk. Photo:Courtesyof Konvergencie

Štefan “Pišta” Bartuš & JazzBrothers will be joined by AndyMiddleton for a concert in Caffe Passe in Ružomberok onSeptember16 at 20:00.JazzBrotherscomprisesBartušon doublebass, M. Bugala on guitar, L. Šrámek on piano and P. Solárik ondrums. AndyMiddleton,a renownedAmerican saxophonist,willplay with themas partof the33BirthdayTour.Theirmusic isa fu-sionof modern Latino,classicaland freemusic.Formore inform-ation,visitwww.passe.sk/eventy. Photo:Courtesyof Š.Bartuš

Celebrations of laughterTHE ANNUAL Slovak festival

of humour which marks theend of summer vacations, be-stowed several awards thisyear and offered a lot of funand entertainment for bothchildren and adults. GoldenGander is the name given tothe top prizes awarded to thebest representatives of hu-

mour of all genres at theKremnické Gagy / KremnicaGags event which celebratedits31st editionin 2011.

Yet fun and irony can be aserious thing sometimes, es-pecially when politics is in-volved. One of the prizes

awarded is called Trafená Hus(The Hit Goose)andis awardedfor things that stun even hu-

morists who are used to mak-ing fun of almost everything,the TASR newswire wrote.This year itwas awarded totheBratislava District Court for,the citation sarcastically pro-claimed, securing justice after15 years by issuing a verdictrequiring former Slovak pres-ident Michal Kováč to apolo-gise to Ivan Lexa, the formerhead of the SIS spy agency, forstating that the latter hadordered the abduction of Kováč’s son.

Other, more compli-mentary, prizes includedthose for theatre and cab-

aret, music, street and mo-

tion performances. Humourfor children had a specialcategory.

Artistic humour and car-toons were represented byanother category. Only Slov-aks were eligible for the lit-erary humour and journal-ism awards. The Stano RadičPrize, named after the lateentertainer and humorist,

went to the “Discovery of theYear” and was awarded byRadič’s widow, Slovak PrimeMinister Iveta Radičová, tothe Divadelný Súbor Kľudfrom Kladzany and to PeterRašev, in memoriam, for hispolitical satire.

Part of the Kremnické

Gagy was a travelling exhibi-

tion of political cartoons by

Slovakia’s Martin ‘Shooty’Šútovec and Daryl Cagle of the USA that had previously

visited several Slovak townsand cities. It will now con-tinue onto Nitra.

The Kremnica festival isalso popular thanks to ac-companying events that lurea host of visitors and locals.Starting as bit of intimatefun, it has grown into largeinternational event that, itsorganisers say, draws evermore people and ever moreattention, and reminds us of

whatis inevitable in ourlivesand what improves them –humourin allitsforms.


11September12 – 18,2011CULTURE

Various gagstookto thestreetsof Kremnica. Photo:TASR

Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia

can be found at www.spectator.sk/weather.

A Slovak’s 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 Všetko najlepšie k meninám (Happy name day)

N A M E D A Y S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1

Monday

Mária Ria

September 12

Tuesday

Ctibor

September 13

Wednesday

ªudomil

September 14

Thursday

JolanaBank Holiday

September 15

Friday

ªudmila

September 16

Saturday

Olympia

September 17

Sunday

Eugénia

September 18



12 ADVERTISEMENTSeptember12 – 18,2011

SP90617/2

Namaskar –

A Warm Welcome!

7000 kilometers of coastline with

tropical dream beaches, paradise

islands with fantastic dive sites,

3000 kilometers of spectacular

Himalayan scenery with some of

the highest mountain peaks on the

planet, vast nature reserves with

the largest tiger population world-

wide, important world heritage si-

tes, magni-ficent maharaja palaces

converted into luxury hotels, a rich

colonial heritage …

India Tourism

Baseler Str. 48 . 60329 Frankfurt

Tel. 069-2429490, [email protected]

www.india-tourism.com

www.incredibleindia.org

Some of the most beautiful beaches can be

found in the South Indian State of Kerala – renowned for its backwaters, unparalleledin the world – an intricate network of waterchannels and lagoons, scenic palm tree jungleswith a breathtaking tropical background. What is then more obvious than to combinea tour on a house boat in the backwaterswith a seaside holiday to recharge one’sbatteries in one of the numerous Ayurvedaresorts. Culture lovers do get their money’sworth at the West Coast. The hinterlandattracts with world-renowned culturalheritage sites, colonial atmosphere, churchesand monasteries from Portuguese times,beautiful national parks and animal sanctuaries,traditional villages and colourful markets.

India’s East Coast is best be explored viaKolkata or Chennai, and enchants withremote, untouched beaches. Those wholike to combine culture with seasideholidays should make a detour to the Stateof Orissa. The famous temple sitesof Bhubaneshwar, Puri and Konark arethe destinations for millions of pilgrimsevery year. Some of the best beachesare spread along the famous CoromandelCoast, south of Chennai. And thereis a lot to discover after swimming in the ocean: The interior offers fantasticnature reserves, important temple sitesand a cool climate in the mountain regions.

The most popular beaches are locatedon the Indian West Coast. From the Stateof Gujarat in the far West all the wayto Kerala in the South, the tourist is often

spoiled for choice amongst tropical beacheswith shady palm trees, stretching forkilometers, like in a picture story book. Attractive accommodation can be foundin all bigger seaside resort areas, a numberof resorts and 5-star hotels in the seasideparadise of Goa, in Kerala’s popular seasideresort area of Kovalam and aroundthe metropolis of Mumbai. Goa scoreswith a whole range of dream beaches,much colonial atmosphere and attractsdivers as well.

Slovak Spectator 1731

Documents