The Health Ministry has drawn up a revision to the law on medicaments, necessary for harmonization of legislation with the prepared health-sector reform bills that are currently in parliament. The revision proposes the introduction of so-called patient medicament passbooks and the duty to inform patients about substitute generic drugs. It also stipulates that pharmacists working for the Health Ministry, health insurance companies, the prepared Health-Care Supervision Office and regional government cannot hold a license for treatment with drugs and medical aids.

Building Chemistry Firm Stachema with SKK 120 Mln. Output Last Year

Building chemistry supplier Stachema Bratislava, s.r.o., reported output of almost SKK 120 million last year, which is an increase of over 15 percent y/y. Production consumption reached SKK 64 million in 2003, the company representatives informed SITA. Stachema earned a net profit of SKK 16.6 million. Its balance-sheet total stood at 60.3 million at the end of last year.

Saris Brewery Nets SKK 133.5 Mln. Last Year

Saris Brewery, a member of the SAB Miller-owned Plzensky Prazdroj group, earned a net profit of SKK 133.5 million over 2003, thus exceeding the 2002 profit by almost 22 percent. Operating profit of the brewery went up SKK 11.8 million y/y to SKK 161.8 million. Profit from financial operations more than doubled that of 2002 to reach SKK 49.5 million at the end of December 2003. Based on last year’s results, Saris Brewery paid SKK 54.3 million to the state budget in income tax, according to data disclosed by the company.

Printing House Zilinske Tlaciarne with 2003 Sales of SKK 62.9 Mln.

Printing house Zilinske Tlaciarne reported sales of its own production and services of SKK 62.9 million over the previous year, while in 2002 its sales stood at SKK 76.4 million. The company closed last year SKK 2.7 million in the red, while in 2002 the loss was SKK 2.4 million. This year the company expects to improve its position on the market, stabilizing its financial situation, and reaching a profit.

Coal Mining Company HBP Significantly Deepened its Loss in 2003

Coal mining company Hornonitrianske Bane Prievidza (HBP) closed last year with a loss of SKK 432.5 million. Compared with the previous year the company deepened its loss by SKK 356.9 million. The company posted a significant decline in operating results, down from a profit of SKK 104.9 million in 2002 to a loss of SKK 354.7 million in 2003. But it managed to cut losses from financial operations by 71.4 percent y/y to SKK 29.5 million. Total revenues shrank by SKK 300 million to SKK 5.392 billion. Output decreased by SKK 327.6 million to SKK 2.8 billion.

Limestone Extracting Company Dolkam Suja Netted SKK 12 Mln. in 2003

Joint-stock company Dolkam Suja, a.s., Rajec, operating quarries for building stone, closed last year with a net profit of SKK 12 million, down 29.7 percent y/y, while operating profit was SKK 15.4 million. Volume of production over 2003 dropped 12.2 percent to SKK 74 million. Production consumption was SKK 37.8 million, informed the company.

SCA Hygiene Products Posts SKK 3.7 Bln. Sales in 2003

Sales of SCA Hygiene Products, s.r.o., Gemerska Horka, exceeded SKK 3.655 billion in 2003. The company’s financial director, Anna Balazova, reported that sales of its own products and services accounted for SKK 2.69 billion and sales of other goods amounted to SKK 963.8 million. “The company generated a profit of SKK 158 million last year,” said Ms. Balazova.

Construction Firm Doprastav Reports Q1 Output of SKK 1.594 Bln.

Doprastav, a.s., Bratislava, one of the biggest construction companies in Slovakia, reported output of SKK 1.594 billion for the first quarter of this year. Sales of the company were SKK 1.282 billion. Due to cold winter, conditions were unfavorable for construction works and the company did not work for the first two months of the year, leaving its employees on holiday and paying them sixty percent of their wage, stated Doprastav director general Dusan Mraz. In previous years, the company used to halt operations only in January due to cold weather. Therefore, Doprastav failed to meet the planned output target and exceeded the planned costs in Q1 2004. Doprastav made a Q1 loss of over SKK 55.4 million. The firm generated added value of SKK 217.7 million.

Police Officers Caught Smuggling Cigarettes from Ukraine

Slovak customs officers detained two policemen smuggling almost 6,000 packages of BOSS classic and light cigarettes worth SKK 119,600 from Ukraine to Slovakia on Sunday evening. Customs Directorate spokeswoman Silvia Balazsikova informed the press that the policemen were caught at the Slovak-Ukrainian border crossing near the village Jablonov nad Turnou. The investigation has determined that the two brothers are officers of the Slovak Police Corps. Thus, the case has been moved to the Inspection Service Office of the Police Corps.

Healthcare Insurers Closed 2003 with a Gap of SKK 2.38 Bln.

Five Slovak healthcare insurance companies closed the year 2003 with an aggregate gap of almost SKK 2.38 billion. Total real revenues amounted to SKK 66.792 billion, 5.7 percent above the plan. Funds carried overs from the previous year amounted to SKK 3.618 billion and thus the revenues in the current year reached SKK 63.174 billion including of external resources, which the healthcare insurers obtained in the form of borrowings of SKK 4.6 billion from Veritel, a.s., a company set up by the government to settle debts within the healthcare system. The Finance Ministry presents these figures in the draft final account of the 2003 state budget.

Farmers Delivered 10,900 Direct Subsidy Applications by Friday

From the total of 16,000 applications distributed by the Agricultural Paying Agency, farmers delivered 10,900 applications for direct farm subsidies within the deadline of May 14. Farmers thus sent over 9,000 applications to the agency after last Monday, when the agriculture minister made note of the low number of delivered applications, Juraj Sestak of agency’s public relations department told SITA.

FOREX MARKET: Slovak Crown Firms to 40.100/140 SKK/EUR on Monday

The Slovak crown firmed against its reference currency, the euro, on Monday from its opening of 40.170/220 SKK/EUR to reach 40.100/140 SKK/EUR. According to Tatra Banka dealer Roman Farkas, sales of the euro by foreign banks contributed to the strengthening of the local currency. “The crown should be traded in the band between 40.050 SKK/EUR to 40.350 SKK/EUR in the upcoming days”, thinks the dealer. The US dollar stood at 1.2050 USD/EUR (middle). The crown was thus quoted at 33.280 SKK/USD. The cross exchange rate of the Slovak and Czech crowns was 1.2592/2605 SKK/CZK.

Dopravoprojekt Bratislava Ended 2003 with Profit of SKK 32.3 Mln.

Transport infrastructure project design company Dopravoprojekt, a.s., Bratislava netted SKK 32.28 million last year. Compared with the previous year the company increased its profit by over 7 percent. At a general meeting on Monday, the company’s shareholders decided to allocate SKK 31.781 million to an account of undistributed profit and SKK 500,000 to the social fund. Total revenues of the company amounted to SKK 267.2 million, up SKK 10 million, company representatives informed on Monday.

STOCK MARKET: SAX Index at Almost Seven-Year Maximum

The official share index SAX reached an almost seven-year maximum by increasing 0.69 percent, or 1.3 points, to 190.54 points on Monday, pulled up by shares of petrochemical and oil refinery company Slovnaft . The SAX index has not reached a higher value since June 3, 1997, when it stood at 190.73 points. Turnover on the Bratislava Stock Exchange (BCPB) moderately dropped from Friday’s SKK 2.237 billion to SKK 2.190 billion, of which only SKK 579,100 was in share trading.

Prokopovic Debated Toll Collection System with Austrian Counterpart

A highway toll collection system was one of themes discussed by Slovak Minister of Transport, Postal Services and Telecommunications Pavol Prokopovic and his Austrian counterpart Hubert Gorbach on Monday. Austria introduced an electronic highway toll collection system for trucks based on microwave transmission technology as of January 1. The Slovak minister views this system as one of possibilities to collect money for use of highways in Slovakia. Austrian Minister of Transport, Innovations and Technology Gorbach said that the collection of tolls has exceeded expectations. “We have estimated the annual revenues at EUR 600 million; now it seems it will be between EUR 700 million and EUR 750 million,” he added. In Slovakia, drivers pay for usage of highways by purchase of highway stickers valid for ten days or one year.

MONEY MARKET: Ministry Accepts SKK 3 Billion in T-Bill Auction

The Finance Ministry accepted SKK 3 billion out of SKK 8.993 billion in bank’s bids in an auction of T-bills on Monday. The average yield in the auction reached 4.599 percent p.a., maximum yield was 5.3 percent p.a. and minimum 5.16 percent p.a., informed ING Bank dealer Marian Tatar. Commercial banks deposited SKK 15.715 billion in their reserve accounts in the central bank, meeting the minimum reserve requirement on a cumulative basis at 112.49 percent.

Social Security Provider Closed 2003 with a Budget Surplus

Social security provider Socialna Poistovna closed the year 2003 with a budget surplus of SKK 1.265 billion, what is SKK 1.174 billion above the plan. After funds carried over from previous years are taken into considerations, the surplus increases to SKK 6.776 billion. The basic pension fund ended the year with the preliminary deficit of SKK 3.431 billion. Socialna Poistovna will cover the gap with funds from the sickness insurance fund and the reserve fund totaling SKK 4.630 billion. Thus the basic pension fund will report a surplus of SKK 1.199 billion, the Finance Ministry presents these figures in the draft final account of the 2003 public budget.

Slovak Investment Roadshow Starts in Toronto

The representatives of the U.S. Steel Kosice (USSK) Economic Development Center in cooperation with the Slovak Agency for Investment and Trade Development (SARIO) launched, already for the third time, an investment roadshow in the North America. Its aim is to bring foreign direct investments to the region of eastern Slovakia. This time the roadshow started in Toronto on Monday. This event is the first time presented in Canada. A team of experts will all the week present investment opportunities of eastern Slovakia to the potential investors in cities of North America, including New York, Chicago and Detroit.

(SITA, oz) 0405170394