In five months of this year 14.72 percent of all twenty-haller coins and 11.56 percent of all ten-haller coins that were canceled as of December 31 of last year were returned from circulation to the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS). The central bank thus registered the return of 40.42 million pieces of invalid twenty-haller coins and 36.77 million ten-haller coins as of June 4, the NBS informed SITA on Monday.

Budgetary Chapters‘ Spending Limit to Increase by SKK 1.579 Bln.

Following talks with representatives of all budgetary chapters [government departments — editor’s note], the Finance Ministry proposes increasing the spending limit of selected chapters in outlines of the state budget for 2005-2007 by SKK 1.579 billion in total. Individual sectors demanded an increase in budgetary spending by SKK 24.623 billion. “The Finance Ministry okayed the increase in the so-called obligatory expenditures, chiefly on fees for international organizations, fees related to membership, contributions to NATO or European Union (EU) agencies,” said the Finance Minister’s spokesman Peter Papanek. The requirements of individual sectors will be the subject of further discussions on the distribution of an SKK 9.62 billion reserve for priority governmental projects, he added.

Economy Minister Pavol Rusko Warns of an Energy Crisis in 2009

Economy Minister Pavol Rusko stated on Monday that Slovakia would face an energy crisis due to an electrical energy supply shortage in 2009. In 2008 two blocks of V1 nuclear power station Jaslovske Bohunice will be decommissioned and cease production, yet the third and fourth block of Mochovce nuclear power station will not be launched at that time. “Therefore it is very important to begin completing Mochovce, so that we can launch it in 2010 and ward off an energy crisis,” he said. Mr. Rusko hopes to launch the completion of Mochovce nuclear power station in January 2006.

Mott MacDonald Ltd Becomes Highway Construction Strategy Advisor

The London-based Mott MacDonald Limited company became the winner of a tender for a strategy advisor to seek a private investor for highway construction. SITA was informed of this development by the Slovak Roads Administration (SSC) spokesman Juraj Fuerst. SSC signed the contract with the company on Wednesday last week.

Slovak Five-Month Tax and Customs Revenues Reach SKK 100.635 Bln.

Tax and customs offices in Slovakia collected SKK 100.635 billion in the first five months of this year, exceeding the plan by 20.77 percent. The collected sum represented more than 50 percent of the annual plan. Tax revenues accounted for almost SKK 98.209 billion and were SKK 16.861 billion higher than expected. Non-tax revenues of SKK 2.426 billion were SKK 447.3 million over the plan, the Tax Directorate informed SITA on Monday.

Customs and Tax Offices Collected SKK 48.562 Bln. in VAT up to May

The collection of value-added tax (VAT) by tax offices exceeded VAT refunds by SKK 2.06 billion during the first five months of 2004, the Tax Directorate announced on Monday. Customs offices collected in VAT and allocated to the state budget SKK 46.502 billion over the first five months of 2004. Thus in total tax and customs offices allocated SKK 48.562 billion to the state budget, which is SKK 7.853 billion more than the Finance Ministry had originally budgeted. The five-month collection of VAT accounts for 49.7 percent of the sum projected for the whole year.

Central Bank Verbally Intervenes Against Slovak Crown’s Firming

The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) verbally intervened on the Slovak FOREX market on Monday. Following a meeting of the parliamentary committee for finance, budget and currency, NBS Vice-Governor Elena Kohutikova said that the central bank finds the current rate of firming by the Slovak crown against the euro too steep. The crown hit its new high against the euro at 39.76 SKK/EUR on Monday.

Changes on Boards of Bratislavska Teplarenska and SEPS Companies

The National Property Fund (FNM) has proposed some personnel changes in the board of directors of heating plant Bratislavska Teplarenska and electricity transmission provider Slovenska Elektrizacna Prenosova Sustava (SEPS). Ivan Foltin should replace Dusan Lukasik in the post of director of the board of directors of Bratislavska Teplarenska. At a request by Economy Minister Pavol Rusko, the executive committee and the presidium of the FNM authorized an Economy Ministry representative to vote at the company’s shareholder meeting to remove Stefan Bugar from his post as head of SEPS’ board of directors. Tibor Csernak should replace him. Moreover, Lubomir Stefanik should replace a member of the SEPS supervisory board Vladimir Cernak.

Continental Matador Ends Production of 17.5-Inch Truck Tires

Puchov-based truck tire maker Continental Matador, s.r.o., ended its production of 17.5-inch tires in May. The production of this type of tires moved to other plants within the Continental concern to reduce complexity in Puchov.

Transpetrol to Boost Russian Crude Oil Transport to Czech Republic

Slovak crude-oil transport firm Transpetrol, a.s., wants to increase the volume of Russian crude oil transported to the Czech Republic by about 500,000 tons annually along with a planned construction of a crude oil pipeline from Bratislava to Austrian Schwechat and a connection of pipe-line networks Druzba and Adria. Ray Leonard, vice-president for development of new projects of the Russian company Yukos Oil Company, holding 49 percent in Transpetrol, informed on Monday. He said that Transpetrol gradually increases the supply of Russian crude oil to Czech processing companies. “Along with fulfillment of the projects that are already signed, the capacity of the crude oil pipeline should be fully used,” he added.

Holcim Invests SKK 16 Mln. into Concrete Mixing Plant in Trnava

The largest cement producer in Slovakia, Holcim Slovensko, a.s., Rohoznik, has invested SKK 16 million into Georoc mixing facility, located in the concrete mixing plant of its affiliation Hirostavbet Trnava. This project is linked with the construction of car assembly plant PSA Peugeot Citroen. It will mix materials specifically for the changing local conditions to stabilize the subsoil and will provide technical support for the specific requirements of the building company during construction. “The dynamic economic growth in Slovakia, including foreign investments, positively influences the construction industry sector as well,” Mario Grassl, member of the Holcim’s board of directors said at the ceremonial opening of the mixing facility.

Slovenske Aerolinie Airlines Plan New Regular Air Routes

Slovenske Aerolinie, a.s. (SA) airline will open a new air route from Bratislava to Warsaw on June 15. The airline together with Austrian Airlines plan daily flights to London and Paris. As SITA was informed by Marek Revilak from the airline’s communication and advertisement department, the firm plans an increase of frequency of fights to Brussels with respect to growing interest from the part of European Union officials and tourists. „Slovenske Aerolinie and Austrian Airlines will be flying to Brussels twice a day,“ said Mr. Revilak.

FOREX MARKET: After Hitting New High the Slovak Crown Weakened

After the Slovak crown achieved a new historically strongest level of 39.760 SKK/EUR on Monday, verbal intervention of the central bank weakened it to the opening level of 39.850/870 SKK/EUR. CSOB dealer Richard Brza said that after the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) Vice-Governor Elena Kohutikova said that the Slovak currency is firming too steeply, closing of positions weakened the local currency. The Slovak currency was quoted at 33.020/060 SKK/USD against the dollar. The cross rate of the Slovak and Czech crowns was at 1.2620/2650 SKK/CZK.

STOCK MARKET: VUB Shares Weaken SAX Index to 195.31 Points

The official share index SAX lost 1.56 percent or 3.09 points to close at 195.31 points on Monday, weakened by shares of VUB bank. The turnover on the Bratislava Stock Exchange (BCPB) decreased from SKK 1.042 billion on Friday to SKK 878.5 on Monday with SKK 2.4 million in share trading.

Highway to Puchov to be Finished by August 15

From mid August, when all four lanes of the Ladce-Belusa highway stretch will be open to traffic, motorists will be able to get on the highway from Bratislava to Puchov (north-west Slovakia). The Slovak Transport, Post Office and Telecommunications Minister Pavol Prokopovic, who during an inspection day on Monday visited the highway construction sites in the regions of Povazie and Kysuce informed. It is expected that the highway up to Sverepec (just before Povazska Bystrica) will be completed by December of next year.

MONEY MARKET: Banks’ Bids in T-Bills Auction Climbed to SKK 13 Bln.

Considerable liquidity excess on the interbank market pushed bids of banks to almost SKK 13 billion during an auction of one-year T-bills on Monday. “But the Finance Ministry accepted out of the total bid only SKK 2.929 billion,” said Tatra banka dealer Michal Stano. The yield in the auction was only 3.9 percent p.a. “Commercial banks kept SKK 14.321 billion in their minimal reserves accounts in the central bank, which represented a cumulative meeting of the reserve requirement at 119.03 percent,” said the dealer.

Union Poistovna Starts Indemnifying CK Travel L + B Clients

On Monday, Union Poistovna insurance company started to pay out indemnities of 80 percent of advance payments to harmed clients of bankrupt travel agency CK Travel L + B. It started doing so after it received a confirmation that the travel agency has really gone bankrupt. Director general and the head of the board of directors of the insurance company Tibor Borik said at a press conference on Monday that the insurer would pay the remaining indemnities after it collects all the eligible applications and given the total claims of the harmed clients do not exceed the travel agency’s risk coverage, i.e. SKK 16.3 million. The number of harmed clients is estimated at about 1,700.