Economy Minister Pavol Rusko will assert the completion of Mochovce nuclear power plant. He told a news conference in Bratislava on Monday that Slovakia will need more electric energy based on estimated economic growth. If Mochovce power plant was not completed, and if the nuclear power station in Jaslovske Bohunice was shut down and some boilers in heating power stations Novaky and Vojany that are not meeting ecological norms, were laid up as well, annual production capacity for Slovakia would decrease by 9 TWh. “We would cease exporting and turn from a net electricity exporter to an importer,” added Mr. Rusko.

Rona Glassmaking Group with over SKK 1.8 Bln. Output in 2003

Glassmaker group Rona, a.s., Lednicke Rovne reported sales of SKK 1.743 billion last year. Output amounted to SKK 1.805 billion. The group generated added value of SKK 730.1 million. Profit climbed to SKK 32.4 million in 2003. In 2002, before it merged with the Rona company and operated under the name Rona Crystal, the company showed sales of SKK 1.256 billion and net profits of SKK 19.6 million, according to data disclosed by Rona.

Multicredit Real Earns SKK 10.2 Mln. Profit Last Year

Real estate agency Multicredit Real, a.s. Bratislava closed last year with a profit of SKK 10.2 million, compared with a loss of SKK 33.2 million it showed in 2002 .The company made a profit from financial operations of SKK 12.6 million, while operating losses exceeded SKK 2 million in 2003. The profit should be used to reduce unsettled losses from the previous period. This year Multicredit Real plans to sell the remaining Czech shares from its portfolio, which should influence its economic result this year. It expects to end this year SKK 24.9 million in the red, according to data disclosed by the company.

EXIM Bank Reduces Share Capital by SKK 1 Billion

The Slovak EXIM Bank plans this year to decrease its share capital by SKK 1 billion to SKK 2 billion via a transfer to insurance funds. At the same time, SKK 30 million from last year’s profit distribution and SKK 141 million out of the bank’s reserve fund should be transferred to these funds. The financial resources in the funds should increase in this manner from SKK 1.94 billion to SKK 2.365 billion. The funds’ insurance capacity will be almost doubled from SKK 9.55 billion to SKK 18.92 billion. The share capital decrease must first be approved by the cabinet, reported EXIM Bank Governor Ladislav Vaskovic.

Bucina Wood-Processing Group SKK 520 Mln. in the Red in 2003

Wood-processing companies clustered around the Bucina a.s. company reported, according to consolidated results, output of SKK 969.4 million on production costs of SKK 661.1 million for 2003. The group generated added value of SKK 319.8 million. The aggregate loss of the group amounted to almost SKK 520.1 million. Operating loss stood at SKK 498.3 million and financial operations brought it a loss of SKK 21.3 million. The balance sheet total of the group was SKK 1.367 billion at the end of 2003. Short-term obligations accounted for SKK 305.4 million.

Dairy Milex Galanta Deepens Loss to SKK 40.7 Million over 2003

Dairy Milex Galanta deepened its losses over the last year by SKK 37.5 million to SKK 40.7 million. The firm made an operating loss of SKK 35.2 million, which was a significant decrease from a profit of SKK 6.6 million in 2002. Sales of its own products and services stood at SKK 220.8 million, down 22.3 percent from 2002, while output dropped 40.7 percent to SKK 187.4 million. Sales of goods decreased to SKK 6.7 million, which was less than half of the figure for 2002. The company earned SKK 43 million selling its long-term assets and materials.

Employers Associations Meet over Future Relations

The Slovak Association of Employers’ Federations (AZZZ) and the newly formed National Union of Employers (RUZ) agreed at their joint meeting on Monday to cooperate constructively in pursuing the needs of the Slovak business environment. The AZZZ intends to create its future relations with RUZ on principles of mutual respect and bilateral correctness.

EcoMin to Launch Sector Operational Plan’s Measures in June

Already in mid June the Economy Ministry will launch other measures of the Sector Operational Plan of industry and services. Economy Minister Pavol Rusko told the press on Monday that the aim of his ministry and organizations sheltering these measures would be to seal contracts worth the available funds as soon as possible. He set the deadline as July 2005. “Any lower usage of funds allocated for the years 2004 to 2006 would be a failure of the ministry,” added the minister. These funds should increase the competitiveness of Slovak products and services via projects meeting the set criteria.

STOCK MARKET: Nafta and VUB Shares Firm SAX Index on Monday

Shares of gas storage company Nafta and banking house VUB firmed the official SAX share index at the beginning of the last week of May. The index grew 0.52 percent or 1.01 points, to 194.15 points. However, turnover on the Bratislava Stock Exchange (BCPB) decreased from SKK 431.4 million on Friday to SKK 282.1 million on Monday with SKK 5.6 million in share trading.

MONEY MARKET: Ministry Accepted SKK 2.5 Bln. in Bond Auction

The Ministry of Finance accepted SKK 2.534 billion out of a total bid of SKK 4.135 billion in an auction of ten-year government bonds on Monday. The minimum yield in the auction was 5.096 percent p.a., average yield was 5.17 percent p.a. and the maximum yield was 5.195 percent p.a., informed ING Bank dealer Martin Koska. Commercial banks deposited SKK 14.997 billion in their reserve accounts in the central bank, meeting the minimum reserve requirement on a cumulative basis at 108.4 percent.

FOREX MARKET: Crown Reports Minimum Movement Against Euro on Monday

The Slovak FOREX market started the last May week in a quiet atmosphere. Tatra Banka dealer Bibiana Valachova told SITA that the Slovak crown opened the day at 40.12/40.17 SKK/EUR. “Just a small volume of euro purchases took place, besides this almost nothing happened on the market for the whole day,” she said. The local currency thus moderately weakened to the closing 40.13/40.17 SKK/EUR on Monday. The US dollar oscillated around 1.1957/1.1959 USD/EUR on Monday. The crown was thus quoted at 33.54/33.59 SKK/USD. The cross exchange rate of the Slovak and Czech crowns was 1.2635/1.2650 SKK/CZK.

Economic Ministers Recommend Cabinet Sells Remaining 51% in ZSE

Ministers with an economic portfolio are recommending the Slovak cabinet to complete the privatization of power distribution company Zapadoslovenska Energetika, a.s., (ZSE) and to sell the remaining 51 percent state stake in ZSE. Finance Minister Ivan Miklos informed after the ministers’ session on Monday that a 10-percent stake should be sold via the Slovak capital market and 41 percent in ZSE should be sold directly via an option to the ZSE strategic investor, German company E.ON Energie. According to Mr. Miklos, the price might be higher that the option price set within the privatization contract with the strategic investor. “The option price is now SKK 14 billion,” added Mr. Miklos.

Elektrokarbon Earned Profit of SKK 5.2 Million Last Year

Elektrokarbon, a.s., Topolcany, manufacturing products from carbon materials, improved its profit to SKK 5.2 million over 2003, up SKK 3.8 million compared with 2002. The company’s output shrank by SKK 58.6 million to SKK 249.9 million. The operating profit dropped SKK 27.6 million to SKK 7.9 million, but the company managed to reduce its loss from financial operations from SKK 27.7 million to SKK 1.3 million over 2003, the company disclosed on Monday.

Bearings Producer ZVL Auto Closed 2003 with Sales of SKK 340.9 Mln.

The bearings producer for the automotive industry, ZVL Auto based in Presov (eastern Slovakia) closed last year with sales of its own products and services of SKK 340.9 million. Compared with the previous year this represents a drop of SKK 63.1 million. After the profit of SKK 1.2 million in 2002, the company closed last year with a loss of SKK 20.1 million. This result substantially stemmed from the operating loss of SKK 27.9 million, as in 2002 the ZVL company reported the operating profit of SKK 10.9 million. On the contrary, within the financial operations, after the loss of SKK 10. 1 million in 2002, the company managed to close last year with the profit amounting to SKK 8.2 million. This year, the company expects to reach sales of its own products and services of SKK 388 million.

Sales of Nafta Climbed to SKK 789 Mln. in Q1

Gas storage company Nafta reported sales from the sale of own products and services at SKK 789 million over the first three months of the year, what is an increase by SKK 63 million when compared with the same period of the last year. The profit of the company reached SKK 325.7 million according to the Slovak accounting standards, what is a year-on-year drop by SKK 74.7 million. This stems from non-audited and non-consolidated data published by the company.