Agriculture Ministry to Deal with Compensation of Drought Damage

The Ministry of Agriculture will deal with possible compensation for crop damage caused by drought at the request of the farmers. „Employees of the Ministry, the Central Auditing and Testing Office for Agriculture and representatives of agricultural associations will survey the situation next week in regions inflicted by drought,“ Katarina Czajlikova, spokeswomen of the Agriculture Ministry told SITA.

Glassworks Rona Crystal Last Year Reported Profit of SKK 19.6 Mln.

According to data released by glassworks Rona Crystal, a.s., Lednicke Rovne, the company earned a net profit of SKK 19.6 million in 2002. Sales of the company went up 6.9 percent y/y to SKK 1.256 billion. Added value dipped 2.4 percent y/y to SKK 578.3 million. Financial results were mainly influenced by persisting problems with financing associated with extensive investment activities in 2002 and continuously increasing competition pressure from the rival glassmakers.

Pensioners Thank President for his Attempt to Increase Pensions More

According to President Rudolf Schuster, the valorization of pension of only 6-percent, approved by parliament on Tuesday despite the president’s veto, was just a political and not an economic decision, Jan Fule spokesman of the president, informed after the Thursday’s meeting of Mr. Schuster with Miroslav Knitl, director of the social security provider Socialna Poistovna over the increase of the pensions. Mr. Knitl considered an 8-percent increase of the pensions suggested by the president as realistic. He added that each percent of valorization would have cost the social security provider SKK 70 million a month. Socialna Poistovna in its budget calculated with a 5-percent valorization of pensions, however, due to the above-plan real revenues of the pension insurance fund allowed also a higher increase at 7 or even 8 percent.

Parliament to Deal with Vetoed Telecommunications Bill in Early July

Parliament will deal with the revision to the telecommunication bill vetoed by President Rudolf Schuster in early July. The bill should get on the parliamentary session agenda at the very beginning of July. Parliament made this decision this week, one of the revision’s sponsors, deputy Jaroslav Baska told SITA. If parliament approves the revision, the Slovak telecommunication market should actually become liberalized this year, and not only on paper, said Mr. Baska.

SkyEurope Happy, London and Paris Flights Almost Booked Full

SkyEurope Airlines representatives told SITA that demand for its Bratislava-London and Bratislava- Paris return flights has highly exceeded company expectations. In a single month more than 6,000 bookings were registered on these flights, with more than 80 percent of tickets booked through the Internet, commercial director Pavol Mlady told SITA. He specified that some flights to London in July and August are almost sold out, with just 10-15 free places left. This is an incentive for the company to operate four flights per week from September instead of the current three weekly. Beginning in October the company should fly to London on a daily basis.

Supreme Audit Office Finds Several Breaches in Economy Ministry

An inspection of the Supreme Audit Office (NKU) found that the contract on the transfer of shareholders‘ rights and duties in power producer Slovenske Elektrarne (SE) from the National Property Fund (FNM) to Economy Ministry was only partial and formal. The Economy Ministry was not regularly informed about works of the supervisory board in SE and for several months it had no representative on this body, said Igor Maly, NKU deputy chairman.

Chemes Humenne with SKK 50.1 Mln. Operating Profit over 5 Months

Operating profit of energy utility Chemes, a.s. Humenne was SKK 50.1 million over the first five months of this year, down 2.5 percentage points from a year ago, finance director Stanislav Rehus told SITA. He attributes this drop to the considerable increase in gas, electricity and water prices at the start of this year.

NKU Criticizes Agriculture Ministry for Level of SAPARD Funds Drawn

In its report from an audit, the Supreme Audit Office (NKU) pointed to the low level of funds drawn by the Agriculture Ministry from the SAPARD program in 2002. In mid-December of last year the ministry had at its disposal SKK 629.3 million from budgeted funds and of this it was able to draw only SKK 7.3 million, representing only 1.2 percent of the total available sum. From European Commission funds destined to co-finance the SAPARD program totaling SKK 1.57 billion, the ministry drew SKK 21.8 million last year, i.e. only 1.4 percent.

Frantisek Valasek Becomes Director General of Health Insurer VsZP

Frantisek Valasek has become the new director general of Slovakia’s largest health insurer Vseobecna Zdravotna Poistovna (VsZP). The VsZP board of trustees appointed him to this post based on results of a public contest, VsZP spokesman Milan Velecky informed SITA.

Money Market was Busy in the Morning, then it Calmed Down

On Thursday, atmosphere was quiet on the money market with busy trading in only the morning. Prices of deposits with maturity over 6-month increased under the influence of FOREX market events and the Hungarian central bank’s decision to increase the key rate by 200 basis points.

FOREX MARKET: Crown Weakens to 41.67/41.71 SKK/EUR on Thursday

The Slovak crown continued weakening against the euro on Thursday, depreciating 5 hallers from the initial 41.66/41.77 to 41.73/41.77 SKK/EUR in the morning. VUB dealer Ladislav Benedek told SITA that the Hungarian central bank increased key interest rates by 200 basis points in reaction to weakening of the Hungarian forint. „Following the increase in interest rates, the Slovak crown’s exchange rate followed the forint and moved to 41.60 SK/EUR,“ stated Mr. Benedek. At the end of the trading day the Slovak currency returned to 41.67/41.71 SKK/EUR.

STOCK MARKET: SAX Index Firms to 153.28 Points on Thursday

The official SAX share index continued strengthening on Thursday, when it rose 0.05 percent or 0.07 percentage points to 153.28 points. Turnover on the Bratislava Stock Exchange (BCPB) decreased from SKK 2.77 billion on Wednesday to SKK 220.54 million on Thursday with SKK 1.97 million in share trading.

Metalworkers Union KOVO Considers a Strike for Higher Wages

Following a failed bargaining session with employees on higher level collective agreements, representatives of metalworkers trade union OZ KOVO are preparing strikes in the electrical engineering and engineering branches. KOVO chairman Emil Machyna said that OZ KOVO should sit over the strike issue on July 8-9. If they gain the support of more than 51 percent of trade unionists, KOVO is ready to announce a strike. KOVO wants to have wage growth in the collective agreements at the rate of inflation so that employees‘ real wages do not fall. If the trade unionists fail to agree on the collective agreements, the standard enacted in the Labor Code would be applied.

Fodder Company Polnosluzby Bebrava with 2002 Profit at SKK 4.51 Mln.

Producer of fodder mixtures Polnosluzby Bebrava made a net profit of SKK 4.51 million last year, up 4.3 percent y/y. Sales decreased 20 percent to SKK 314.2 million at the end of December. Last year’s output also dropped representing SKK 342.2 million, stated the company. Long-term obligations represented SKK 6.9 million at the end of December, down over SKK 3 million from a year ago.

Dopravoprojekt Plans SKK 25.1 Mln. Profit this Year

Transport infrastructure project design company Dopravoprojekt, a.s., Bratislava, plans to earn a pre-tax profit of SKK 25.1 million this year. Over the first quarter of 2003 the company already achieved a gross profit of SKK 10 million. It plans its sales to reach SKK 166.21 million at the end of the year while costs should be SKK 141.11 million. The company does not plan to draw bank loans to cover its current economic activities. Over the first quarter the company employed 220 people, earning a monthly average wage of SKK 22,589. The company plans to invest more than SKK 20 million into software and hardware.