spenders in 2011, saving their money for the possibility of worse times ahead. Developments in the global economy and double-digit unemployment in their homeland have given them reason to hold their purses tight, according to market watchers. Looking at the prospects for the economy and the labour market for the rest of this year, observers also say that Slovak consumers will not get too many incentives to change their behaviour. The most recent macro-eco- nomic data, released in early September, confirmed something that was already known: the countrys economy is not immune from trends in its major trading partners. Those economies are slowing and there is little sign that they will return to faster growthany time soon. The Slovak Statistics Office said that year-on-year growth in Slovakias gross domestic product (GDP) slowed in the second quarter to 3.3 percent, a 0.2 percentage point reduction from the previous quarter. The figure, released on September 6, confirmed data from the offices August flash estimate of GDP growth. In the first quarter of 2011, the economy grew at 3.5 per- cent year-on-year; over the first half of 2011 Slovakias GDP grew by 3.4 percent compared to the first half of 2010, the Statistics Office said. The statistics authority also ex- pects the economy to grow for the rest of the year at a slower rate than originally assumed: 3 percent, as opposed to the prediction by the Na- tional Bank of Slovakia (NBS) in June of 3.6 percent growth. SeeDOWNpg4 SELECT FOREX RATES benchmark as of September 8 CANADA CAD 1.38 CZECHREP. CZK 24.41 RUSSIA RUB 41.52 GREAT BRITAIN GBP 0.88 HUNGARY HUF 276.95 JAPAN JPY 108.41 POLAND PLN 4.24 USA USD 1.40 NEWS WikiLeaks' newdrips More leaked US cables about Slovakia are being lapped up by the local media, includ- ing ones referring to claims about secret party sponsors and buying of MPs' votes. pg 2 Bemoreopen, please Politikaopen, a project by Fair-Play Alliance, is asking Slovak elected officials and candidates to disclose their finances and personal activ- ities to the public via the in- ternet. pg 3 OPINION Jobs for thelads MP Igor Matovi's motives inreleasing a list of what he says are political public-sec- tor appointees are suspect, but publishing the list may bring some positive results. pg 5 BUSINESSFOCUS Doctors vs. ministry Doctors and the Ministry of Healthare at loggerheads over the latter's planto turn public hospitals into joint- stock companies, while doctors are threatening to resignenmasse over that issue and others. pg 6 Brushingup Dentists warnthat the nation's oral healthis get- ting worse, but the good news is that up-to-date ma- terials, technology and pro- cedures are nowreadily available at a price. pg 7 CULTURE Photomemorial The opening of Last Folio, anexhibit of photos by Yuri Dojc of Slovakia's once-vi- brant Jewishcommunities, was the centrepiece of a weekend devoted to life in Slovakia held at Indiana University inSeptember. pg 10 Consensus on euro- bailout proves elusive THE CAMPAIGN to get Slovak MPs to approve changes to the eurozone bailout mechanism is turning into yet another Sisyphean task for the government of Iveta Radiov. Leaders of Slovakias ruling co- alition want Slovakia to be the last country to ratify the documents that will change the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), which were agreed by leaders of the eurozone countries on July 21. They believe this will give the government enough time to hammer out an agreement and win enough support for the Slovak Parliament to ratify the documents. But Richard Sulk, the leader of the second-biggest co- alition party, Freedomand Solidarity (SaS), has reiterated his partys neg- ative attitude to the EFSF changes. Sulk says he would welcome it if an- other eurozone country were to re- ject the changes before Slovakia has to vote onthem. 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 to need its support. The smaller Slovak National Party (SNS) says there is no way it will vote for the EFSF. Finance Minister Ivan Miklo announced on September 6 that the position of his government on the implementation of the July 21 euro area summit statement remains unchanged: to ensure the financial stability of the euro area as a whole the implementation should be swift in order to provide sufficient sources and effective tools to help contain the risk of contagion and spill-over of fiscal and debt prob- lems that some euro area members are facing. SeeNETpg4 PM says tax office issue 'is closed' FOR OPPOSITION leader Robert Fico of the Smer party, a contract signed in Au- gust to lease space for tax offices inKoice is sufficient reason to initiate a motion of no-confidence in Prime Minister Iveta Radiov. She has responded that the controversy is absurd and she considers the issue closed. Radiov even tossed the matter back to Smer, suggesting if it was a scandal involving party cronyism, it was one that began under the previous Fico government. For me, it is a closed issue, Radiov said, while restating the stance presented earlier by Finance Minister Ivan Miklo that the rental agreement signed by Slovakias Tax Authority with a firm owned by a regional official of her Slovak Democratic and Christian Union party (SDK), was caused by earlier irrespons- ibility by Ficos government. SeeENDpg2 BYBEATABALOGOV Spectator staff Hockey star dies in plane crash SLOVAKS at first greeted news that one of the nations top ice hockey players had been killed in a Russian plane crash with disbelief. But incredulous readers com- ments under the first reports on Slovak news websites about the tragedy were soon overtaken by massive media cover- age, shock, grief and even tears, once re- ports of the death of the Slovak national hockey teams ex-captain, Pavol Demitra, were confirmed. At least 43 people, including almost the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team, died when their Yak-42 passenger plane crashed shortly after take-off near the city of Yaroslavl in central Russia on September 7, 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 worlds top professional hockey league outside the North American NHL. Besides the many Russians killed in the tragedy, several foreigners were aboard the plane as well, including the Canadian coach of Lokomotiv and players from Ger- many, Latvia, Sweden, Belarus, three play- ers fromthe CzechRepublic, and Demitra. SeePDpg3 BYMICHAELATERENZANI Spectator staff BYBEATABALOGOV Spectator staff BYBEATABALOGOV Spectator staff Slovakialost one of its modern-day ice hockey greats onWednesday, September 7, whenPavol Demitra(picturedat this year's Ice Hockey WorldChampionshipinBratislava) diedinaplane crashinRussia(see story). Photo: SITA Vol. 17, No. 31 Monday, September 12, 2011 - Sunday, September 18, 2011 On sale now On sale now FOCUS of this issue FOCUS of this issue HEALTH-CARE SERVICES Radiov sues Fico over statements PRIME Minister Iveta Radiov has filed a legal complaint against Robert Fico, the chairmanof Smer party and a deputy speaker of parliament, alleging that her personal rights were vi- olated by the former prime minister, the press depart- ment of the Government Of- fice announced. Radiov is demanding anapology for untrue and offensive statement she claims Fico made regarding her purported influence ona decisionby Jozef ent to withdrawhis candidacy for the General Prosecutors post inMay. At that time ent said it was his per- sonal decisionbecause the upcoming vote had become linked to allegations that MPs were being blackmailed and bribed. The TASRnewswire wrote that Fico accused ent of being influenced by Radiov, saying he was forced to cite what Fico termed quite ridiculous reasons. Radiovs complaint also seeks court reviewof Ficos accusations that the prime minister was in- volved inalleged corrup- tionlinked withthe con- structionof a biathlonsta- diuminOsrblie, the Gov- ernment Office stated. Newinformationabout alleged kickbacks paid in connectionwithconstruc- tionof the Osrblie stadium has beenreported by the media. MartinNovotn, one of those accused of cor- ruptionand a former ad- visor to Radiov, allegedly received informationabout a planned government sub- sidy for constructionof the stadiumdirectly from the Government Office, the Sme daily reported. Novotn had organised anaudience for biathletes withRadiov at which time she promised gov- ernment help inconstruc- tionof the stadium, Sme reported. Novotns lawyer, DuanIvan, denied that his client had influenced any- one inconnectionwithar- rangement of a subsidy. 'Suspicious nominees list posted ALIST of what Igor Matovi, anindependent MP and leader of the Ordinary People group, called the names of political nominees who are filling posts inthe public sec- tor has beenreleased. Today I came across this list of names, institutions and positions plus there are some political parties noted. Who knows what it all could mean? If you knowsomeone and you find something wrong or missing, thenlet me know; thanks, wrote Matovi whenhe posted the list onhis personal Facebook page. Labelled 'Part 1', the list has the names of more than 1,000 individuals inalpha- betical order, along withthe institutions where they work and their specific posts. MPs fromthe parties of the governing coalition quickly criticised the release of the names, arguing that it could harmpersons whose nominations were transpar- ent and those who are ex- perts intheir fields. Elevenpeople onthe list, who are labelled as SaS nominees, have beenthere [intheir jobs] for 10 or 20 years, said Richard Sulk, the chairmanof Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, as quoted by the TASR newswire. The chairmanof Most- Hd party, Bla Bugr, said that eventhoughparticular persons were nominated by a political party, this does not automatically mean that they are partisancan- didates. He added that the practice of political parties installing their nominees in government posts is normal and not a corrupt practice. Jozef Miku, anMP fromthe Slovak Democrat- ic and ChristianUnion (SDK), stated that the political parties bear re- sponsibility for their nom- inees and rejected Matovis statements about lack of expertise by certainnominees of the political parties. Former police VP charged THE FORMERvice president of Slovakias Police Corps, Stanislav Jankovi, might end up incourt ona charge of abuse of power after he al- legedly returned a driving li- cence to a businessmanwho had beenstripped of it for committing a driving of- fence, the Sme daily reported. BusinessmanJnBok was caught driving 190 kilo- metres per hour onthe R1 dual carriageway inJune 2010. Police officers fined him400 and whenhe re- fused to pay the fine his driv- ing licence was confiscated. Bok thenallegedly called Jankovi, who arrived at the police stationiniar nad Hronom, and asked that the driving licence be returned to the businessmanand that the offence be deleted from the public record. CompiledbySpectator staff Slovak media laps up new WikiLeaks HARDLY a day passes without the media in Slov- akia broadsheet or tabloid, printed or electronic report- ing on statements fished from the latest batch of leaked US diplomatic cables released by the WikiLeaks website in late August. The information and comments that appear in the corres- pondence between Bratislava and Washington, DC, are rarely a surprise, but they are a reflection of and, to some in the Slovak media, a justi- fication for the suspicions that they have voiced over the years that now turn out to have been shared by dip- lomats and others. Some of the most eagerly reported cables concerned al- leged sponsors of the Smer party and alleged interfer- ence by the investment group Penta in the legislative pro- cess. Most of the politicians and 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 come as a shock to a proper reader of Slovak newspapers, wrote the Sme dailys commentator, Kontantn ikovsk, in his column printed alongside some of the revelations from the leaked cables. He added that the key characters are known, only the details of the cases are unverifiable and unpublishable. Diplomats in these dis- patches (which are supposed to remain confidential) can go even further than the me- dia, who also know or sense more than they are allowed to report due to the lack of irre- futable evidence, another commentator, 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 to have given financial support to their parties. The Sme daily quoted from a dispatch dated June 9, 2006 only days shy of that years par- liamentary election, which resulted in the demise of the centre-right government and Smer party leader Robert Ficos 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 the 1990s, under the govern- ments of Vladimr Meiar, including Ivan Kio, the dir- ector of Slovensk Sporitea under Meiar; Jn Gabriel, former director of VB bank in the 1990s; Vladimir Por, who privatised Nafta Gbely; Jozef Brhel; and Fedor Flak, who was reported, however, to have lost influence after falling out with Fico. If Fico doesnt form the next government, his life will be in danger, because the shady money behind him will not be pleased, the cable quotes a comment allegedly heard by a diplomat from more than one credible source, the embassy wrote. SeeCABLEpg5 BYMICHAELA TERENZANI Spectator staff END: Smer to pursue recall motion Continuedfrompg1 Fico, however, has been keeping Radiov under fire on the August lease and said on September 6 that Smer would change its decision to initiate a no-con- fidence motion in parliament only if the prime minister sacked Miklo. The follow- ing day, however, Fico added that his party was prepared to submit a proposal for a special parliamentary session to vote onremoving the prime minister. Radiov recently stated that the problems in renting premises for the tax office in Koice beganin 2007 whenFicos government decided to sign a lease con- tract with VSH company with a price tag 3.5 million higher than the price agreed to withthe Nitra Invest firmthis August. Slovakias Tax Directorate signed a 6.3-million rental agreement on August 22 with Nitra Invest, a firm owned by On- drej urka, a district official of the SDK, even though his firm was the sole bidder in a re-issued tender that was criticised as unfair after being analysed by Transpar- ency International Slovensko (TIS) and Fair-Play Alliance, two watchdog NGOs. 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 to the General Prosecutors office claiming that the tender conditions and the lease contract were harmful to the state. The complaint was forwarded to the prosecutors office in Bansk Bystrica for investigation, Sme wrote. The original lease for tax office premises in Koice, signed early in 2011 with Nitra Invest, caused considerable tension within the SDK, the largest of the four parties in the ruling coalition, with Radiov clashing with Miklo in April and then threatening to resign as prime minister if Miroslav Mikulk, the head of the Tax Directorate, did not accept political responsibility for signing the contract without explaining the process used to select the firm. The prime minis- ter eventually prevailed and Mikulk, who had received Miklos public support, stepped down and Nitra Invest cancelled the lease. A tender was then launched but subsequently cancelled, followed by an- other tender in July in which Nitra Invest was the only bidder. Miklo now says, as reported by the Sme daily, that the crux of the matter is that three important conditions were fulfilled in the process of signing the lease agreement with Nitra Invest: the law was respected; the whole process was in accordance with the public in- terest; and party cronyism was not in- volved. On September 7 Radiov said that issues within the remit of the Finance Ministry are the responsibility of the finance minister who must bear re- sponsibility for those decisions and that she will not be taking any political re- sponsibility for the matter. My authority, if this [the process] evokes distrust, is to propose the recall of the finance minister, Radiov stated, as quoted by Sme. I am not proposing his recall. Sme reported that Radiov said the tender prepared to seek bids for leasing of the tax office premises was as good as it could have been at that moment while at the same time she indicated that it was not perfect since the firms offering bids were knownduring the process. Please go ahead; if there is an ad- dress and a price at 6 per square metre, then provide it, Radiov stated, as quoted by Sme. The Fair-Play Alliance recommended on August 11 that the Tax Directorate not go forward with signing a lease with Ni- tra Invest and urged that the second tender be 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 wasnt fair and didnt provide the same conditions for all potential bidders. Interestingly, it was the Finance Min- istry that had invited the two watchdog organisations to examine the tender, a virtually unprecedented step inSlovakia. Both Transparency International Slovensko and Fair-Play Alliance con- cluded after analysing details of the tender that it should be cancelled because of concerns that several tender criteria were discriminatory or unclear, with TIS stating that the participation criteria and the evaluation methods were unnecessar- ily strict and had been changed between the first cancelled tender and the sub- sequent tender. The watchdog group also wrote that the impact study on the rental deal was delivered late and had errors, and that changes in the tender specifications made in the course of the tender were not suffi- ciently explained to potential bidders. IvetaRadiovjoinedIvanMiklo indefendingthe deal. Photo: Sme- T. Benedikovi 2 NEWS September 12 18, 2011 Hidden party sponsors and vote-buying claims discussed Elected officials asked to be more transparent US PRESIDENT Barack Obama may be one of the most trans- parent politicians in Slovakia at least symbolically so after his personal financial profile was published in an online database created by the Politikaopen project, an initiative that encourages Slovak elected officials to dis- close more details about their personal assets and sources of income than is currently re- quired by Slovak law. Politikaopen is a project of Fair-Play Alliance, a polit- ical watchdog group, and it is asking Slovak elected offi- cials and candidates to dis- close significant aspects of their finances and personal activities to the public, via the internet, in order to im- prove the publics knowledge about those who hold or seek political office. Several Slov- ak politicians, including the prime minister and the speaker of parliament, pos- ted their financial profiles on the website before the 2010 parliamentary election. 20 years after [the fall of communism] Slovak citizens deserve that such a high standard becomes a part of the law too, said Zuzana Wienk, the head of Fair-Play Alliance. That is why the alli- ance has called on members of parliament to pass a signi- ficant reform of Slovakias law governing conflicts of in- terest and to establish a legal standard on the kinds of de- tailed information on person- al assets and personal in- terests that elected officials must release into the public domain. Wienk stressed that Slovakia also needs an over- sight body that has the ex- pertise and legal powers needed to investigate suspi- cions of conflicts of interest or other misconduct and to sanction individuals when it is necessary to do so. SharingUSexperiences The idea to create such an oversight body was inspired partly by the US Office for Government Ethics, whose deputy director, Jane Ley, spoke at an event jointly hos- ted by the Office of the Par- liament, Fair-Play Alliance and the US Embassy in Bratis- lava on September 6 about the US experience in dealing with conflicts of interest by public officials. The event was held on the first day after parlia- ment reconvened following its summer holidays and even though all MPs were invited to attend only a few were on hand to discuss ways in which more openness and transpar- ency could be brought to Slovakias public service. [Financial disclosure] en- ables voters to determine on their own whether a politi- cian may have a financial con- flict of interest between the assets they personally own and the decisions they are making as a politician, said Theodore Sedgwick, US Am- bassador to Slovakia, in his opening remarks. Sedgwick praised Slovakia for being an enthusiastic par- ticipant in a global initiative called Open Government, which is promoting more transparency in countries around the world. I do believe that countries who do actively participate in this will see greater foreign dir- ect investment, Sedgwick said, explaining that a transparent environment gives a greater sense of security to investors. Advisors, not cops The rules on greater finan- cial disclosure by public offi- cials in the US originated mostly after the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s. Cur- rently around 25,000 public of- ficials must share details about their personal finances. The purpose of the system, which became effective in 1978, was not only to keep the bad guys out but also to help prevent potential conflicts of interest and to demonstrate the high level of integrity of the vast majority of public servants, Ley said at the discussion. Its a shame that public oversight of financial dis- closures in Slovakia is per- ceived as a sort of witch-hunt and that the whole system is based on repression only. That is, if a problem occurs, the parliamentary commit- tee reviews it and the public expects some sanction to follow, Wienk stated. Ley said that her office in the US serves more like an ad- visor since the vast majority of those covered under the law want to respect it and act ethically but they sometimes run into questions or prob- lems they are unable to re- solve and they seek help from her office in determining whether their conduct will be in line with the lawor not. Slovakia does not have an office with a similar function and it does not have any kind of systematic training to help prepare those entering high public positions about the kinds of ethical challenges they might face or a con- sultative body that can advise a person whether there are possible conflicts of interest that should be resolved be- fore accepting a public posi- tion, Wienk said. TheUSapproach All federal judges, all members of Congress both in the Senate and the House of Representatives as well as those serving in the exec- utive branch such as high of- ficials in government de- partments, and all candidates for federal elected positions in the US are required to pre- pare and submit financial disclosures documents, so that those who are voting can determine what potential conflicts of interests this per- son might bring into the government, Ley said. There are also about 1,100 officials appointed by the president, including ambas- sadors, who are also required to file financial disclosure documents on a confidential basis with the Office for Government Ethics before their appointments are ac- tually made. The agency goes through the form with them, tells themwhich assets would con- flict with their duties if they are eventually appointed, and asks them to sell any of those that create a conflict and to resign from positions [with companies or other organisa- tions] that could potentially create conflicts, Ley said, adding that if that person agrees to these steps he or she then signs an ethics agree- ment that is made public, along with the financial dis- closure document, after their appointment is announced. When an individual reaches a senior level in a government 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 is that the system is enforce- able as there are sanctions for filing the documentation late, for failing to file at all, and for false statements on the document, which can be punished by financial penal- ties and evenimprisonment. Goodexamples needed Slovak citizens too often see that dishonest or unethic- al conduct, hidden conflicts of interest, or abuse of power by those in high positions goes unpunished and that in some cases those engaging in mis- conduct or conflicts of in- terest end up prospering in society, Wienk noted, adding that Slovakias current over- sight institutions are failing, including the parliamentary committee that reviews pos- sible conflicts of interest. She said this committee has never ordered a substan- tial penalty against a public official, 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 up for clear principles and not only formulate them but also believe in them and live ac- cording to them, and that in- dividuals and small groups must be the drivers of such a change, Wienk said. What Slovakia needs are these individuals and groups who will serve as a shining example, she said. People need to see politicians they can trust, because otherwise they cannot believe that fair- ness, honesty and transpar- ency really do pay off. BYMICHAELA TERENZANI Spectator staff Jane Ley (secondfromleft) Photo: Courtesyof theUSEmbassy PD: Life stopped on news of loss Continuedfrompg1 I have lost all my friends, the newcoachof the Slovak national team, CzechVladimr Javurek, who until recently coached Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, told the Sme daily inthe after- mathof the tragedy. Slovakiamourns its star InSlovakia, life for many people stopped for the rest of their day after the news ar- rived fromRussia. Political leaders refused to comment onany current issues, in- stead expressing their sym- pathy for the family of the late Demitra. Demitra, aged 36, was drafted into the NHL in1993 and started his career with the Ottawa Senators, but his real breakthroughcame witha move to the St. Louis Blues in1996, where he grew to become a star. He spent 16 seasons overseas, scoring 304 goals inthe NHL and as- sisting inanother 464. De- mitra also played inthe col- ours of Los Angeles, Min- nesota, and Vancouver. Slovaks especially valued his appearances onthe na- tional ice hockey team. De- mitra represented Slovakia at six world championships and three Olympic tourna- ments. He was a member of the teamthat wonthe bronze medal at the World Championship in2003. Hockey experts called Demitra one of the best players inthe world and a natural talent ahead of his time. They noted inpartic- ular his gentlemanly con- duct onthe ice, for which he also received the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 2000. Slovak hockey experts and enthusiasts alike re- ferred to himas a legend of Slovak ice hockey. Demitra was also per- ceived as suchby fans, who created anunprecedented atmosphere for himinMay this year inBratislava, after his last matchfor the na- tional team, against Den- mark at the 2011 Ice Hockey World Championship, the first world championship to be held inindependent Slov- akia. Despite the disappoint- ing performance of the Slov- ak team, the fans applauded and chanted their thanks to Demitra, the outgoing team captain, and he left the sta- diumwithtears inhis eyes. Its beena pleasure playing for Slovakia all these years, he said after his farewell to the national team. The 2011/12 KHL season that Lokomotiv Yaroslavl was about to launchin Minsk inearly September was supposed to be Demitras last at the top level. He announced that he was happy playing inRus- sia, but after this seasonhe was planning to returnto Slovakia and devote his time to his wife and two chil- dren, and to nurturing young hockey talent in Trenn, where he had first started playing. Yaroslavl teamwipedout Inthe aftermathof the tragedy, the future inthe KHL of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, who were RussianChampi- ons in1997, 2002 and 2003, was put indoubt. The team had beendue to play Dinamo Minsk onThursday, September 8. The heads of the KHL held anurgent meeting to discuss the measures to be takenfollowing the crash. The matchbetweenSalavat Yulaev Ufa and Atlant (a teamfromMoscowRegion), whichwas to have beenthe KHL seasonopener, was cancelled, the Russia Today news portal reported. Meanwhile, the Russi- anmedia reported that all 43 bodies had beenre- covered, of which14 sev- enof themreportedly for- eigncitizens had been identified as The Slovak Spectator went to print the day after the tragedy. Only two people, one player and one crewmember, sur- vived the tragedy, but with severe injuries. Aday after the crashits cause remained unex- plained. Russias Investig- ative Committee has launched a criminal invest- igationinto the tragic in- cident, as has the Inter- state AviationCommittee, Russia Today reported. Fans inTrennhave floodedthe areainfront of the hockey stadiumwithflowers andcandles for Demitra. Photo: TASR 3 September 12 18, 2011 NEWS NGO calls for tougher rules against conflicts of interest "It is ashame that public oversight of financial disclosures inSlovakiais perceivedas asort of witch-hunt andthat the whole systemis basedon repressiononly." Zuzana Wienk Slovakias ranking drops SLOVAKIAis the least com- petitive country incentral Europe, and ranks evenlower thanVietnamor Azerbaijan, according to the latest Index of Global Competitiveness, published annually by the World Economic Forum. In the 2011 ranking Slovakia dropped nine places and ended 69thamong the 142 countries evaluated. Slovakia dropped inthe chart of competitiveness for the fifthtime ina rowand definitely lost its lead among the Visegrad Group (V4) countries, said Rbert Kiina of the Business Alliance of Slovakia (PAS), as quoted by the SITAnewswire. He noted that while Slovakias position had slipped, the other V4 countries had retained their rankings fromlast year. Slovakia lost points for the lowlawenforcement, the in- creasing number of incidents of cronyismand non-trans- parent public procurement, and for the publics very low level of trust inpolitical de- cisions. Onthe other hand, Slovakia gained very good res- ults for the openness of its market to foreigncompanies and foreigninvestors, and for its lowcustoms barriers, SITA reported. We are late withall the reforms, Prime Minister Iv- eta Radiov said, reacting to the countrys lower ranking, as quoted by the Sme daily. Her spokespersonlater added that some of Slovakias prob- lems canbe solved relatively fast, but it will take time for the effects of other measures to show. Economy Minister Juraj Mikov blamed the previous government for the low ranking. Its proof that theyd beendoing nothing for four years, or were taking stupid decisions, he told Sme. The oppositionSmer party, the leading party inthe last gov- ernment, denied responsibil- ity for the deterioration. Observers , however, also pointed out that the ranking reflects mainly 2010, during whichSmer was inpower for the first six months. The biggest drop was recorded inthe deficit [ranking], whichresulted fromthe management of public finances by the pre- vious government, Uni- Credit Bank analyst David Derenk said inaninter- viewwithSme. Suchranking is a good hint to the government, [pointing to] clear areas where big problems persist in Slovakia, and where we are lagging behind, Derenk said, and explained that in- vestors regard the ranking as only one among many factors affecting their decisions. ByRadka Minarechov Gas reservoir extended GAS-STORAGE company Nafta has wrapped up the second, most important, phase of constructionof a newgas storage facility near the villages of Lb and Ga- jary, inBratislava Region. On September 6 it ceremonially launched a control centre for the newfacility, onwhich 106 millionhas so far been spent. Newcapacities of 500 millioncubic metres inthe area of Lb will contribute to bolstering Naftas competitiveness, Prime Minister Iveta Radiov said, as quoted by the TASRnews- wire Also the security and reliability of gas supplies for Slovakia and the central Europeanregionhas been boosted significantly by this project. The Gajary-Bdenproject is set to increase the Naftas gas storage capacities to 2.5 billioncubic metres by 2014. Newcapacities are intended to increase the flexibility of access to gas supplies. Electricity could get cheaper THE REGULATORYOffice for Network Industries (RSO) has addressed 50 motions pertaining to alleged fraud over constructionof photo- voltaic power plants. Be- cause of a shortfall inthe electricity produced by these solar power plants, the price of electricity could decrease as of January, the SITA newswire reported. Electri- city generated by other means is considerably cheaper thansolar power. RSOlaunched checks at 404 solar power plants. While its investigations have ended at 286 facilities, 118 are still being reviewed. Because of misinforma- tionor lies told about the power plants, the volume of electricity they produce will not reachthe proposed 478 megawatts. It [production of electricity] is 25 percent lower, said anRSOrepres- entative, as quoted by SITA. Lower amounts of power generated by photovoltaic plants could lower the final price for electricity paid by end-users. RSOpredicts that prices paid by domestic customers could fall signific- antly. CompiledbySpectator staff frompress reports NET: Parties spar over how to proceed Continuedfrompg1 The cabinet onSeptember 7 approved amendments to the EFSF framework agreement and the Slovak EFSF Participa- tion Ceiling Act. The proposal was backed by all ministers ex- cept those nominatedbySaS. In line with the new rules, the volume of eurozone guar- antees would go up from 440 billion to 779 billion and Slovakias share would rise from 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 secondary market, help in the recapital- isation of financial institu- tions and provide precaution- ary credit to states before such countries are shut out of private credit markets, the TASRnewswirereported. While most political lead- ers agree that the parties should negotiate over the bail- out system, there is disagree- ment over who should host the talks. Radiov has already held some talks on the issue, but Smer denounced these as fruitless and has initiated its ownroundof talks. If the chairs of the parties do not attend the talks with us, we would consider it a sig- nal that they do not need our votes and we would not vote for the bailout facility, Smer MP Marek Maari told TV Markza onSeptember 4. The invitation effectively means that Prime Minister Radiov who is not the lead- er of her party would not be invited for talks, while Chris- tian Democratic Movement (KDH) leader Jn Fige anyway rejected Ficos invitation and said that the most suitable forum for talks among all the parties would be the presiden- tial palace. President Ivan Gaparovi assured 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 persuade the ruling parties of the need to take a responsible decision over the changes to the EFSF. Westerwelle said that everything must be done to save the eurozone, adding that the German parliament would ratify the necessary docu- ments at the endof September. He suggested that German MPs decision to back the changes might influence their Slovak counterparts to do the same, according to the SITA newswire. Slovak Foreign Minister Mikul Dzurinda responded on September 2 that Slovakia should not be the country which blocks the creation of the eurozone bailout system. Sulk later commented that Slovakia might vote on the changes as late as Decem- ber but Miklo, the finance minister, responded on September 5 that even though Slovakia may aimto be the last eurozone member to okay the changes to the bailout fund, it does not mean that a vote will not take place until December. Originally it [the vote] was set for December, but as all countries have agreed on September or as soon as pos- sible, it would be absolutely unfair to let everybody wait until December once they have made their decisions in September, Miklo said, as quotedby TASR. Late on September 8 SaS publishedananti-bailout treat- ise which described the tem- porary EFSF and permanent ESM mechanisms as a path to socialism, the TASR newswire reported. The pamphlet was negatively received by SaSs co- alition partners and promised to further complicate efforts to reach a deal to approve the bailout package. RichardSulk Photo: Sme DOWN: Domestic demand declines Continuedfrompg1 Growing foreign demand as well as a continuing decline in domestic demand have had a significant impact on the growth of Slovakias economy, the Stat- istics Office reported. The economy was mostly supported by exports, which maintained their double-digit growth, while domestic consumption continued to lag behind, saidEduardHagara, senior researchana- lyst with ING Bank. Only investment activities increased, but the slowdown in global growth is a signal that such growth in investments is not sustainable. As expected, growth was exclusively driven by foreign demand, UniCredit Bankanalyst ubomr Korkalso noted. Year-on-year growth in exports slowed from 15.8 percent to 12.4 percent but growth in imports grew less as well, withthe rate falling from11.3 percent to 9 percent, Korknoted. Domestic demand fell by 0.8 percent, while consumption by the public sector dropped by 4.3 percent, the Statistics Of- fice reported. The government is trying to reduce expenditures and the situation in the Slovaklabour market has not improvedto the point that Slovaks are ready to open their wallets, Hagara said. The increasing savings of the popu- lation and the continuously low public consumption has not surprised us, Potov Banka analyst Eva Sadovsk told The Slovak Spectator. It shows that Slovaks are continuing to worry about developments in the world and at home, while being more cautious and saving for worse times. The caution of the population is fuelled by the relatively high unemploy- ment rate, whichcurrentlystands at over 13 percent, she added. Jobless ratedrops, but worries persist The unemployment rate in Slovakia in the second quarter of this year fell by 1.3 percentage points to 13.1 percent com- paredto the same periodin2010. It is now at its lowest level since the third quarter of 2009, the Statistics Office reported. Even if employment in the first half of this year showed a surprisingly signi- ficant increase, the unemployment rate remains at a high level, which means that the position of employers during wage negotiations remains strong and wages are growing only very slowly, Hagara said. According to the statistics authority, there were 356,500 jobless people in the second quarter of 2011, a drop of 31,800 compared 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-year to a total of 2.256 million. By sector, the biggest year-on-year increases were in industry, up 26,700, and thenservices, up by 26,300. The construction and real es- tate sectors, however, continued to shed jobs: employment in the construction sector fell by 8,200 and in real estate by 5,500 year-on-year. The highest numbers of unemployed people were reported in Koice Region, at 68,700, and neighbour- ing Preov Region, at 64,400. Domestic consumption Analysts had previously forecast that domestic consumption would not be among the main motors of the economy in the second quarter. Since the govern- ment has managed to cut public spend- ing, market watchers also expected a dropinpublic-sector spending. According to Sadovsk, weaker retail revenues compared to a year before had already hinted at stagnation in house- hold spending. Retailers did not report a year-on-year increase in revenue in any monthof the secondquarter. The lower unemployment rate was mainly because of revival in industry, Sadovsk said. Production close to pre- crisis levels has forced firms to re-hire employees, she added. For now, Sadovsk expects unemployment to continue to fall. However, we do not expect any rad- ical drop in the upcoming months, Sadovsk said. Moreover, the already slower recovery of the labour market could be paralysed by the expected slow- down in economic growth both in the secondhalf of 2011 and also next year. Pressureonwages remains Hand in hand with the mixed news on growth, as well as with the slower re- covery of the labour market, Slovaks will continue behaving based on present trends, Sadovsk predicted, adding that she expects Slovaks to continue saving for worse times over the coming quar- ters. The average nominal monthly salary inSlovakia rose by 3 percent year-on-year to 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 the first six months of 2011, the average nom- inal monthly salary stood at 763, with real salaries falling during the same peri- od by 0.6 percent. The top earners were in the financial and insurance sectors, where the average monthly salary was 1,693; next highest was the IT sector, where average monthly pay was 1,482, followed by the energy and gas sector, at 1,477. Bratislava Region boasted an average salary of 997, far above the average monthly wage for the whole country. By comparison, the average salary in Preov Regionwas 592. 4 BUSINESS / NEWS September 12 18, 2011 Jobs for the lads and lasses INFORMATION about secret societies, clandestine lists of privileged people, or docu- ments with seven seals have always been part of politics. Some politicians have tried to prove their relevance by claiming to posses copies of such documents. Yet most things that are declared to be closely guarded secrets, turn out to be far fromsecret at all. And major revelations of such secrets are often managed in such a way that the public ends up doubting whether the politician behind them is really making a sacrifice on the altar of transparency, or is in fact pursuing some per- sonal agenda. It came as no surprise that it was actually Igor Matovi, one of the self-declared new type of politicians, who pos- ted on his Facebook profile the first part of what he claims is a list of political nominees at all levels of the public sector. It is hard to say what prompted his decisionto pub- lish the list: the countless Wikileaks reports that have recently flooded the media, or perhaps a recent opinion poll which showed Matovis Or- dinary People faction enjoy- ing an approval rate of just two percent? Let us assume for a moment that Matovi was inspired by a desire for transparency. The Ordinary People boss attached the following com- mentary: Today I came across this list of names, institutions and positions plus there are some political parties noted. Who knows what it all could mean? If you know someone and you find something wrong or missing, then let me know; thanks. Matovi has long been heralding some great revela- tion about partisan nomina- tions while accusing all those political parties which gained more than 3 percent in the last elections of corruption. He said recently that the parties are abusing political nomina- tions so that they can reward their cronies, sponsors and the people who distribute fly- ers for them, and went on to claim that professional quali- fications are not treated as be- ing important when it comes to filling posts in the public administration. On September 6, after publishing the list of people that he had dubbed party buddies, Matovi said he was uncertain whether the list ac- tually represented a roll-call of partisan nominations but that he expects his Facebook friends to help him solve the mystery, and explain what all those abbreviations on the list mean. As for transparency, Matovi refused to disclose the source of the list and hinted that the names came fromtwo sources and that he had com- piled the list himself. The ex- tra-parliamentary Party of the Democratic Left (SD) an- nounced the next day that the list came from the general manager of Robert Ficos Smers party. Matovi said he con- siders the list but a first step on the path to purification of the political environment. Doubtless, in a country where the so-called partocracy has such deep roots that people are no longer shocked or surprised when they read about party nominations, publishing the names of party nominees and the positions they hold might help to increase public awareness and remind people that these armies of party sympathisers are actu- ally paid out of their taxes. It would be preferable, after all, if they were picked only after they had also met a set of clear professional cri- teria: then the public could perhaps demand a stricter definition of positions where there would be no cushioned chair for party nominees, but instead clearly delineated jobs for top experts. Yet the fact that it was Matovi who published the list, and the way he did so, seriously undermines the initiatives credibility. The leader of the Ordinary People faction, who along with his three colleagues made it into parliament on the slate of the Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, has impressed himself on the memory of observers and probably most of Slovakias electorate as an in- curable exhibitionist with an alarming lack of understand- ing of the weight of words and his wider responsibilities. Regardless, the list has not caused any major shock in society; no mass outrage over the hundreds upon hun- dreds of names of people who have allegedly been rewarded for their political loyalty by being given the job of man- aging some very important parts of public life. The truth is that Slovaks just assume that partisan sym- pathies bring public-sector jobs and that there are some jobs that can be accessed only thanks to political connections. Slovaks are far too accus- tomed to the massive clean- outs that normally take place after parliamentary elections. But the press mostly covers changes only in the more politically-exposed positions. The public is all too familiar with the spectacle of a party nominating three or even four candidates, one after an- other, for a top job each re- jection prompting an ever more desperate search for a politically 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 almost everywhere in the world are nominated by political parties, and also features the names of people who are clearly not political nominees does end up starting a real debate that results in more pressure being brought to bear on political parties to ob- serve stricter criteria to fill state posts, then maybe it will be possible to overlook the fact that the process was helped along by someone like Matovi, in spite of everything he stands for. Pavol Demitra EACH language has terms whichare impossible to trans- late. Pavol Demitra is one of them. Saying he was one of the countrys top hockey players will not do, as this would in no way explain why his death in a plane crash left the coun- try in mourning. There are two main reasons why the tragedy has immense reson- ance withinSlovak society. The first is the degree to which the nation identifies it- self with ice hockey. After gaining independence in 1993, it was one of the few areas in which it could compete with the West and with the worlds superpowers. It was an arena to prove itself as a fully- fledged country. In an era when NATO and EU member- ship were mere distant dreams, there were few for- eign investors, and Slovakia gained headlines mainly for the authoritarian tendencies of its rulers, this was no small contribution to its self-es- teem. And Demitra, who made it in the NHL and helped the national team in many crucial moments, was a key figure of a strong generation of players who are now end- ing their active careers. The second reason for the shock is a lack of positive role models. While other societies can draw from a pool of statesmen, judges, teachers, entrepreneurs, scientists or artists, Slovakia often struggles to find its heroes. Thats why people whose name needs no translation, at least in some parts of the world, are so appreciated. And why Pavol Demitra will be missed. 5 September 12 18, 2011 OPINION/ NEWS QUOTE OF THE WEEK: For me, it is a closed issue, and if it ever was somebody's issue, it wasn't this government's." Prime Minister Iveta Radiov on the tax office lease in Koice EDITORIAL BYBEATABALOGOV Spectator staff SLOVAK WORD OF THE WEEK BYLUK FILA Special to the Spectator CABLE: Names are named Continuedfrompg2 Fico dismissed the com- ments and denied that the named men were sponsors of his party, saying that the identities of Smer donors were officially published. I cannot prevent subject- ive feelings that the staff of the US Embassy are sending to their headquarters as reports, Fico told a press con- ference. Half of it is gossip and various nonsense. Fico also said that diplo- mats often use media reports as their source of information, and that for those subjective feelings we have to thank the Sme daily. Another name mentioned in connection with Smer, businessman Juraj irok, is mentioned in a cable from Ju- ly 7, 2009. Reporting on the visit of the Chinese president to Slovakia, the cable says irok is a man with particu- lar influence on the governing of the state. The Chinese del- egation was particularly in- terested in the construction of highways in Slovakia, and the Chinese also offered to build a highway stretch under a PPP arrangement using Chinese capital, material and labour, the cable reads. But the deal fell apart, because one of the governments sponsors, later named as irok, was upset about possibly losing the con- tract to supply concrete, a source told the embassy. Allegations of vote-buying byPenta Another leaked cable quoted by the Slovak media, dating from April 2005, re- ports on the alleged buying of MPs votes by the investment group Penta during the second government of Mikul Dzurinda. In 2004 the Slovak parlia- ment passed six health-care reform laws, originally aimed at reducing the states role in health care, which legalised the franchising of pharma- cies. Several independent MPs supported the reform in par- liament. The US embassy wrote inits cables that accord- 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. The contact reported that Penta had paid Sk2 million ($67,000) each for an undisclosed num- ber of independent MPs votes to ensure passage of the law. We cannot judge the au- thenticity of the report, but we regard it a combination of nonsense and total ignorance regarding the facts, Penta spokesperson Martin Danko told The Slovak Spectator. He denied all allegations that Penta had paid for MPs votes. Danko also pointed out what he said were several fac- tual mistakes in the reports, saying that Penta never had any businesses which fran- chised pharmacies and that Penta did not control three health insurance companies in2004, but only two. The Slovak Spectator is an independent newspaper published every Monday by The Rock, s.r.o. Subscriptions: Inquiries should be made to The Slovak Spectators business office at (+421-2) 59 233 300. Printing: Petit Press a.s. Distribution: Interpress Slovakia s.r.o., Mediaprint-kapa s.r.o., Slovensk pota a.s. Mail Distribution: ABOPRESS. EV 544/08. 2010 The Rock, s.r.o. All rights reserved. Any reproduction in 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 transmission of 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 provided by Newton, IT, SMA and Slovakia Online with the approval of the publisher. Advertising material contained herein is 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., Lazaretsk 12, 811 08 Bratislava. IO: 313 86 237. J N PALLO - Publisher EDITORIAL BEATA BALOGOV - Editor - In - Chief J AMES THOMSON - Assistant Editor DONALD SPATZ - Assistant Editor J ANA LIPTKOV - Staff Writer MICHAELA TERENZANI - Staff Writer ZUZANA VILIKOVSK - Staff Writer RADKA MINARECHOV - Staff Writer & Project Manager LAYOUT, WEB & IT TATIANA TRAUCHOV - Graphic Designer ROMAN KR - IT TOM PALLO - Online Publishing SALES - FINANCES BEATA FOJ TKOV - Sales Executive MARTINA MATLKOV - PR and Marketing Manager TOM KELLEY - Circulation Manager Pavol Demitracelebratingduringamatchat the 2010Olympics inVancouver. Photo: AP More transplants done in Slovakia LAST year the number of or- gantransplant operations in Slovakia increased by six to 221. Liver transplants in- creased most, up by nine to 33. Transplantations of kid- neys and hearts decreased moderately, to 167 and 21, re- spectively. The information was contained ina report on Slovakias efforts to meet its national transplantation programme for 2010, the SITAnewswire reported. The document reports that organtransplantation inSlovakia is a fast-develop- ing sector whichhas made a significant jump forward over the last four years. Slov- akia is nowina comparable positionto Austria, Germany and the CzechRepublic, the reports states, adding that prospects for the sector are positive. In2010 transplants un- dertakeninSlovakia in- cluded those of organs such as kidney, heart and liver as well as of tissues suchskin, eye tissues, blood vessels, heart valves and bone mar- row. CompiledbySpectator staff frompress reports Chambers of medical professionals in Slovakia SlovakMedical Chamber, www.lekom.sk SlovakChamber of Pharmacists, www.slek.sk SlovakChamber of Dentists, www.skzl.sk Slovak Chamber of Nurses and Midwives, www.sksapa.sk Dual-use insurance cards on the way NATIONAL healthinsurance cards witha European HealthInsurance Card (EHIC) ontheir reverse side may soonbe inSlovaks' wal- lets, but no earlier than2012. Newcards might be is- sued during the first half of 2012, said Petra Balov, spokespersonfor Veobecn Zdravotn Poisova, the largest of Slovakia's three public healthinsurance companies, as quoted by the SITAnewswire. Union, another health insurance company, is still pondering the move and also regards 2012 as the year whenit may start issuing suchcards. Dvera, the third healthinsurer inSlovakia, is already preparing for the newcards and said newin- surees will start receiving themfromthe start of 2012. As healthinsurance is compulsory inSlovakia, each resident must have insur- ance withone of these in- surers. Withinthe European Union, citizens of member states are entitled to emer- gency healthtreatment equivalent to that provided to their owncountrys cit- izens via public healthin- surance. To obtainmedical care, they must hold anEHIC, whichthey canobtainfrom their healthinsurer. EHICs are valid for five years. Are- visionto the lawonhealth insurance companies allows for national cards and EHICs to be combined inone card as of August 2011. Health Ministry and doctors butt heads IN HIS attempt to heal ailing public hospitals burdenedwith large debts, Health Minister IvanUhliarikhas beenpushing the idea of transforming them into joint-stock companies. But the Medical Trade Unions Association (LOZ) does not think the minister has the right prescription and has launched a protest campaign with four demands, including dumping the ministers trans- formationidea. Inspired by doctors in the CzechRepublicwhoearlier this year threatened mass resigna- tions, LOZ is asking doctors in Slovakias public hospitals to sign notices terminating their employment contracts unless their four demandsaremet. LOZ cannot look on any longer at howSlovakias health care is being driven to destruc- tion by incompetent decisions fromtheHealthMinistry, LOZ states on its website. It is now a sinking ship on which all are sailing together doctors, nurses, andalsoour patients. LOZ has taken its four de- mands to Minister Uhliarik as well as to Prime Minister Iveta Radiov, saying their aimis to reverse the current crisis situ- ation in Slovakias health-care system and to secure better health care for citizens in the future. The four demands are for hospitals to observe the re- quirements of the Labour Code, to change the current funding system for health care, to stop the transformation of public hospitals into joint-stock com- panies, and to gradually in- crease the salaries of health- careemployees. The chairman of LOZ, Miroslav Kollr, has said that the doctors believe achieving all four of their demands is the only way to achieve compre- hensive reform of the health- care system but the doctors demand to stop the transform- ationof their hospitals to joint- stock companies seems to have become the most contentious issue between the ministry andLOZ. In its response to the de- mands from LOZ, the Ministry of Health wrote in mid July that it agrees with nearly all of the doctors points but insists on transforming the structure of the hospitals, a step that has already been approved by Slovakias parliament. The ministry says that transform- ing the hospitals into joint- stock companies will provide a more transparent way to gauge the economic performance of medical facilities. The aim of the transform- ation is more effective and transparent operation of hospitals, Katarna Zollerov, the spokesperson for the Health Ministry, told The Slov- ak Spectator. Joint-stock companies, contrary to gov- ernment-subsidised organisa- tions, must use transparent bookkeeping according to standardised rules, must un- dergo annual audits and must publish financial statements. The management of joint- stock companies is under much greater pressure to oper- ate efficiently than govern- ment-subsidisedfacilities. Kollr responded to that argument by saying the hos- pitals will still not operatewith a balanced budget after such a change in their structure be- cause the hospitals are de- pendent on payments from Slovakias health insurance companies and LOZ believes the insurers reimbursements do not reflect the real cost of hospital treatment and care, theSITAnewswirewrote. LOZ states on its website that Slovakias current legisla- tion makes payment of health insurance obligatory as well as the hospitals duty to provide treatment to patients, but adds that there is no law requiring health insurance companies to cover the actual costs for the medical care the hospitalsprovide. SeeLOZpg9 BYJANALIPTKOV Spectator staff 6 Health-care institutions in Slovakia Ministryof Health www.health.gov.sk Minister: IvanUhliarik Public HealthAuthority www.uvzsr.sk HealthCare SupervisionAuthority www.udzs.sk National HealthInformationCentre www.nczisk.sk State Institute for Drug Control www.sukl.sk September 12 18, 2011 Positions are fixed on transforming public hospitals into joint-stock companies Doctors may stoptheir rounds. Photo: Sme- Tom Benedikovi FOCUS shorts Medical tourism in Slovakia? PRICE, but particularly a good ratio betweenprice and quality of medical treatment, is what speaks in favour of so-called medical tourism developing here at least that is what Slovak doctors and represent- atives of medical and aesthetic facilities in Slovakia say. But this alone has not turned Slov- akia into a popular destination for medical tourism, as most Slovak health-care facilities do not narrow their focus to only this particular market seg- ment. Nevertheless, foreigners living inSlovakia or Slovaks re- turning fromstays abroad tend to use the services of private medical andaesthetic centres. The motivation of a per- son towards medical tourism is often financial, Renta Mihlyov, managing director of Bratislava-based Medis- simo, a private hospital and medical clinic, told The Slovak Spectator. She added that fa- vourable prices in Slovakia make it an affordable destina- tion to seek quality medical care for a wide range of people. But an important fact is that our doctors have a good repu- tation in the world. Many of them had settled abroad or worked abroad for a certain period of time and a person who is deciding [whether to undergo medical treatment] must have certainty and trust inhis or her doctor. Medissimo, which emerged as a greenfield project to provide comprehensive private health care in 2009, does not consider itself a typical medical tourism facility as its philo- sophy is to be a good hospital and clinic for those seeking modern and quality diagnostic services and medical treat- ment. Mihlyov stated that Medissimo provides medical care at the same high standard as other private European clin- ics and hospitals and that standard is welcomed by visit- ing tourists as well as expats from the diplomatic and busi- ness communities living here. Our patients are especially interested in treatment and therapy at a scheduled time, without waiting, in a nice en- vironment with a pro-patient attitude, Mihlyov said, adding that thanks to the time Medissimos doctors have spent at health-care facilities in the US and in other parts of Europe they communicate well inseveral foreignlanguages. Mihlyov said that those who come to Medissimo in- clude those who have urgent medical needs but also pa- tients who return from places such as the US, India, Spain, Germany and Sweden and that no particular country prevails. Medissimo also co- operates with foreign health insurance companies. Medissimo is following current trends inmedical care and focuses more on short- term diagnostic or therapeut- ic stays, one-day outpatient surgeries, and physiothera- peutic stays after more de- manding surgery. The trend shows that people are beginning to value their healthmore and are will- ing to invest in prevention and physiotherapy, Mihlyov stated. But we are also registering interest in plastic and aesthetic surgery from people from neighbour- ing countries. SeeTRENDpg9 Initial efforts seemto have yielded results BYJANALIPTKOV Spectator staff IT Next issue: BUSINESS FOCUS HEALTH-CARE SERVICES Several kinds of dental care are not covered by health insurance Slovakia is losing its medical graduates Getting the best teeth you can afford HUMANS have been getting their teeth drilled for several thousands of years and in spite of all the technological advances in dentistry the dental drill still remains one of the most important instruments available to dentists. The good news for Slovaks is that top-quality dental treat- ment in terms of materials, technology and procedures is available here: the question is only how much patients are willing to pay. Most of the latest dental techniques are not coveredfullyor at all by the public health insurance scheme. But for most people there is a cheaper alternat- ive, which is also the main current trend indentistry: prevention. Dental treatment in Slovakia, as elsewhere in the world and in other de- veloped countries inEurope, focuses espe- cially on prevention of diseases of the oral cavity and on raising the awareness of cit- izens about oral health, Simona Dianikovof the SlovakChamber of Dent- ists, told The Slovak Spectator. Along with this we also focus more on preven- tion in the case of children and other vul- nerable members of the population. Dentists, when asked about trends in their practice, also list efforts to minimise interventions, and say that the question of aesthetics is becoming more and more important. But they warn that dentistry cannot exist without the drill. Dentistry has not actually made any major break- throughs in dental medicine with respect to toothhealthinthe last fewyears. Tom Pnek, a dentist who runs a private practice in Bratislava with a branch in Malacky and who specialises in dental implants and dentures, recalled that the first evidence of cavities being treated by drilling have been found on bones that are 10,000 years old. Thus in all those years we have not improved on the dental drill, except to make it muchmore sophisticated, Pnek toldThe SlovakSpectator. But while drills are still with us, many improvements have been achieved, espe- cially in new materials, technologies and procedures. Huge headway has beenmade in dental implants and dentures, with more stress laid on aesthetics to make teeth not only healthy but also look good, according to Pnek. Dentist Alexander Schill, who runs a private clinic in Bratislava, agrees that even though there are new technologies, for example laser and ultrasound instru- ments, no practice cando without a dental drill. When asked about the latest trends he reiterated that prevention is best, and also mentionedbetter diagnostics. See CAREpg 8 Meeting the challenges of health tourism HEALTHtourismhas beenre- cognised as a promising business inmany countries around the world. The Slovak Spectator spoke to Zeno Veselk, director of KPMGin the CzechRepublic, about the current positionof Slovakia inthis sector and its pro- spects for becoming a major health-tourismdestination. The Slovak Spectator (TSS): What is the current position of Slovakia in health tour- ism, especially in compar- ison with neighbouring countries? Zeno Veselk (ZV): Com- pared withAustria or the CzechRepublic Slovakia has not reached a fully compar- able level so far. But incom- parisonwithits other neighbours and withother countries ineasternEurope it is better off inmany as- pects, and inthis respect its potential is good. Also, wage costs may be a positive factor for Slovakia for a cer- tainperiod of time, but only onthe conditionthat Slov- akia invests sufficiently in the necessary infrastructure and inthe quality of the whole spectrumof person- nel withwhichit provides the givenservices. TSS: What are the chances of Slovakia becoming a major health-tourismdestination? ZV: Slovakia is certainly anexceptionally interesting country fromthe viewpoint of natural beauties, but it has not yet developed services for tourists and especially for those willing to pay for healthtourism. The infra- structure is for now, either inits extent or interms of the quality of services, insuf- ficient and the reputationof Slovak healthcare does not unambiguously belong among the countrys strong points. Last but not least, it is important that the quality of client-oriented care by workers inother words, the attitude of the personnel at suchfacilities towards cli- ents and patients attains a Europeanlevel and becomes anautomatic part of the ser- vices provided. TSS: Howdo youperceive opportunities for invest- ments inmedical facilities whichmay provide health- tourismservices? SeeZVpg9 7 September 12 18, 2011 BUSINESS FOCUS Tnc ptivarc Mcdissimo Hospira| and C|inic nas now cnrctcd irs rnitd ycat sctving paricnrs. Tlis bold gieenlield pio}ect to piovide compielensive le- ultl cuie olleis u new ulteinu- tive to tle Slovuk leultlcuie system. Tle Medissimo Hos- pitul, witl its stute-ol-tle-uit teclnicul equipment, uims to compete witl tle top cli- nics in Centiul Euiope. Tle Depuitment ol Rudiology tle piide ol tle lospitul is equipped witl lully compu- teiized equipment. Mugnetic iesonunce imuging, compu- ted tomogiuply, und densi- tometiy uie uvuiluble to ull clients witlout wuiting times und witlout iestiictions. Tle lospitul's opeiuting iooms uie equipped loi tle most demunding piocedu- ies, und loi clients tleie uie well-uppointed inputient io- oms pioviding u ligl level ol comloit not only loi putients but ulso loi lumily membeis uccompunying tlem. Tle Medissimo Hospitul is giuduully becoming un ultei- nutive loi people wlo uppie- ciute quulity leultl cuie witl minimul wuiting times, und witl ull seivices piovided in one pluce. ,We lud to oveicome initiul piesumptions ubout tle los- pitul only being loi weultly people, tliougl tiunspuient und positive ud}usted piicing, us well us by olleiing tle op- poitunity loi clients to undei- tuke u single pioceduie, suid Munuging Diiectoi Renutu Milulyovu. It is ulso giutilying tlut oui seivice is used by moie und moie exputiiutes und loiei- gneis living und woiking not only in Slovukiu but ulso in neiglbouiing countiies. We ollei tlem quulity le- ultl cuie to tle stunduid tley uie used to ut lome, quulity customei seivice, tle possi- bility ol booking loi conciete time, und we coopeiute witl loieign insuiunce compunies like BUPA, TRICARE, AXA und Aetnu. Outpatient surgery as a priority In tle coming peiiod tle muin locus ol tle Medissi- mo Hospitul's munugement will be to iuise its piolile us u top outputient suigeiy. Tlis kind ol suigeiy (und suigicul exuminution), witl tle minimum umount ol time spent in lospitul, is in ligl demund. ,Tle Medissimo Hospitul, given its piolessionul buck- giound, is viituully piede- stined to piovide tlis loim ol suigicul tieutment. Tle iole ol my teum will be to develop tlis uieu continu- ously und to conliim tle position ol tle Medissimo Hospitul us tle leudei in outputient suigeiy, suid . Hiicisuk, M.D., leud sui- geon ol tle Depuitment ol Outputient Suigeiy ol Me- dissimo Hospitul. We luve iecently be- gun to peiloim unique lu- puioscopic suigeiy using miciosuigicul instiuments intioduced tliougl u single incision, u teclnique known us SILS, in gull-bluddei ope- iutions, loi uppendicitis, loi leiniu opeiutions, in gynuecologicul suigeiy, loi biopsies und in ieviews ol tle ubdominul cuvity. Moie tlun six montls ugo we be- gun peiloiming impluntuti- ons ol pucemukeis. Anotlei pillui loi tle lutuie is tle development ol oui Diugnostic und Tle- iupeutic Centie, wlicl loi clients meuns u compie- lensive ussessment ol tleii leultl stutus und medicul tieutment iequiiements cun be peiloimed duiing u sloit-teim lospitul stuy. In iecognition ol tle quu- lity ol oui woik we luve been uwuided un NIAHO (Nutionul Integiuted Accie- ditution loi Heultlcuie Oi- gunizutions) ceitilicute. Oui piioiity is to piovide ulloiduble, quulity leultl cuie in one locution, ut u time wlen oui clients ieul- ly need it, in oidei to lelp tlem ietuin us quickly us possible to tleii woik, lu- mily, lobbies, und u noi- mul lile. Two years oI the Medlsslmo Hospltal SP90611/2 hk}ly{pzltlu{ BYJANALIPTKOV Spectator staff Top-quality treatment is available in Slovakia at a price BYJANALIPTKOV Spectator staff Moderndentistry stresses preventionthroughregular checkups. Photo: Sme CARE: Prevention is the best approach Continuedfrompg7 Prevention and related measures should reduce and can possibly eliminate the oc- currence of oral health diseases, Schill told The Slovak Spectator, adding that when intervention is needed then also the aesthetic ques- tion is taken into considera- tion, for instance dental im- plants are used instead of dental bridges or dentures. Pnek added that now the trend is to keep as many healthy teeth or as much ori- ginal tissue in patients mouths as possible. Any substitute is only a substitute. We are only rarely able to create in the mouth something that is better than what nature can create in op- timum circumstances, Pnek said, adding that of course some people are un- lucky enough to have a gener- ic predisposition for teeth which are naturally ugly, bad or prone to cavities. Thelevel of dental care inSlovakia With regards to dental care and trends in Slovakia, Pnek identified two view- points. One is what dental care is able to achieve and provide in individual prac- tices, and the second is where the general level of dental care and oral health in Slov- akia is. While he believes that some practices in Slovakia provide top-quality dental care, he believes that from a national point of view stand- ards are only gradually ap- proaching the general Europeanlevel. In general I think that the level of dental health of Slovaks is bad and that the population of dentists is aged, Pnek said, adding that this means that those who have not caught up with new trends continue to work ac- cording to old ones that can- not be regarded as up-to-date dentistry. Thus I basically be- lieve that practices in large cities, which due to their higher incomes [for upper- standard treatment] are able to provide quality dental care, are not lagging in any para- meter compared to their peers elsewhere inEurope." Dentists agree that pa- tients willingness to pay for dental care defines the level of care that can be provided, as all the new materials, meth- ods and procedures are not cheap. Moreover, in Slovakia only some dental care is covered by public health in- surance and some practices do not even have contracts with health insurance companies. This means that their patients must cover the full cost of dental care from their own pockets. Peoples willingness and/or ability to pay for treat- ment therefore significantly influences the level of care they receive. This particularly affects people in rural areas who tend to be much less in- terested infine dentistry. Pnek said his experience inMalacky proves this. Of course, there are people in Malacky who can af- ford top dental treatment but the majority of people only want to get rid of pain, said Pnek, adding that the latter are generally not interested in any follow-up solutions. There are many more such people than in Bratislava, even though Malacky can be regarded as almost the peri- phery of the capital. With regards to imple- mentation of the latest trends, Schill points to the difference in payments which Slovak dentists receive for their work compared withthose abroad. The price of dental treatments in Slovakia are somewhere around one- quarter to one-third of the prices in western Europe, Schill said, explaining that all the costs of materials, techno- logies and procedures used in Slovakia are basically equal to those abroad, so the differ- ence comes in the amount that the dentists and nurses are paid. This means that when a Slovak dentist wants to invest in more modern equipment, he has to work longer to get it. But even though Schill perceives this as a limiting factor, he believes that dentists here can nowob- tain modern equipment, al- beit a few years after it is first launched, once prices de- crease somewhat. For example, 10 years ago it was a luxury for a small dental clinic to have panor- amic dental X-ray equipment, whereas nowadays it is not a problem for a clinic with four to five dental chairs to obtain a dental CT, Schill said. The better diagnoses which such equipment allows is another facet of new trends penetrating dental care, ac- cording to Schill. Now it is much easier than it was 10 years ago to make diagnoses of much higher quality and to plan implants or dental sur- gery. Updated methods to produce dental restorations also save patients time and shorten the whole processes to one patient visit. Moreworkinthefuture? It seems that dentists in Slovakia need not worry about work in the future. Statistics showing that the dental health of Slovak chil- dren is poor indicates that dental treatment will be very much in demand for some time to come. The dental health of Slovak children is not good, said Dianikov, citing sur- veys that the Slovak Cham- ber of Dentists regularly conducts at approximately five-year intervals. Alas, we have to say that Slovakia has been placed in the lowest rankings over recent years in terms of the oral health of its children. In this respect Dianikov pointed to the breakdown of the old scheme of school dental practices. Even though this system had its flaws, its demise means care for childrens teeth now falls squarely on the shoulders of parents. But when parents neglect their own oral health, there is a high chance that they will also neglect the oral health of their children, even though the public health-care scheme pays for two check- ups a year for children. Pnek said that, based on his experience, the amount of attention people pay to their teeth and oral health varies greatly between indi- viduals and added that, des- pite what one might think, there is no direct link to so- cial status or wealth. People and their attitude to their teeth and to their health on the whole is a very individual and intimate is- sue, which has actually noth- ing in common with their ranking in society or wealth, said Pnek. There are people who are enormously wealthy but have a total cemetery in their mouth, and by contrast there are people who have to count eacheuro before spend- ing it but arrive regularly for preventive checks and when they need some more expens- ive treatment ask me to make a later appointment and save up for it. I think that this is linked to how each person perceives the question of health and what importance he or she ascribes to it in one's ranking of values, Pnek concluded. 8 BUSINESS FOCUS September 12 18, 2011 e-Heultl leultl cuie sup- poited by electionic piocesses is one ol tle ten piioiities ol tle eEuiope 200S Action Plun, un initiutive ol tle Euio- peun Union to piovide Inteinet uccess to Euiopeun citizens und compunies. e-Heultl's uim is to cieute usei-liiendly und inteio- peiuble inloimution systems loi putients und leultl-cuie piolessionuls in Euiope. Tle busis ol e-Heultl in Slovukiu will be tle Nutionul Heultl Inloimution System tle system intended to pio- vide seivices und inloimution ieguiding leultl cuie. It is ex- pected to be uvuiluble in 2012. A common communicution in- teiluce loi peisons und otlei inloimution systems to uccess tlis system will be piovided by tle Nutionul Heultl Poitul. It will ollei inloimution on medicinul pioducts, medicul equipment leultl-cuie piovi- deis, und it will ulso be tle site tlut publisles inloimution und wuinings in tle event ol epidemics oi otlei medicully- ielevunt mutteis oi tlieuts. Tle liist step ol suppoiting leultl cuie tliougl electio- nic piocesses is tle intioduc- tion ol tle Electionic Heultl Recoid, wlicl is sluted loi tle beginning ol 2013 und will include impoitunt inloimution on un individuul's leultl und medicul tieutment. Among otlei udvuntuges ol usleiing in electionic piocesses uie tle possibility ol scleduling doctoi's uppoint- ments und ieceiving inloimu- tion ubout plunned exums oi lub iesults online. Tlis slould lelp putients sulleiing liom clionic diseuses to ieduce tle numbei ol visits to tleii doctois, us tleii leultl condition cun be monitoied online. Piogiess in implementing tlese usei- liiendly udvuntuges into Slovu- kiu's legislution lints ut u veiy modeiute piogiess so lui. Tle undeilying document loi tle implementution ol tle e-Heultl initiutive in Slovukiu wus tle so culled Action Plun loi u Euiopeun e-Heultl Aieu" (leieinultei ieleiied to us tle Action Plun) diulted by tle Euiopeun Commission. A 2008 iesolution by tle go- veinment ol tle Slovuk Repub- lic uppioved tle stiutegic gouls ol e-Heultl u key instiument ol inloimutisution ol public ud- ministiution in leultl cuie. Tle stiutegic gouls ol e- Heultl include: setting tle le- gislutive, noimutive und system uiclitectuie liumewoik; cieu- ting secuie inliustiuctuie; inloi- mutisution undsuppoiting new piocesses und loims ol leultl cuie und leultl-cuie seivices. As one ol tle piioiities on tle ugendu ol tle Slovuk goveinment, inloimutisuti- on cun occui only lollowing tle cieution ol tle legislu- tive, noimutive und system uiclitectuie liumewoik ol e-Heultl, wlicl is one ol its busic stiutegic points. Tle Slovuk legul liumewoik slould incoipoiute tle ele- ments ol tle EU Action Plun, wlile lollowing tle Feusibility Study loi e-Heultl Pio}ects diulted by tle Finunce Mi- nistiy ol tle Slovuk Republic in Muicl 2009 wlicl iecom- mends tlut e.g. lollowing luws slould be umended: Act on leultl cuie; Act on leultl cuie piovideis; Act on scope ol leultl cuie coveied by public leultl insuiunce; Act on leultl insuiunce; Act on diugs; Act on peisonul dutu piotection; Act on public leultl piotection including udoption ol seveiul implementution iegulutions. In connection witl tle e- Heultl pio}ect, tle Ministiy ol Heultl udopted in Septembei 2008 tle Regulution on mini- mum iequiiements ieguiding stull und muteiiul und teclni- cul equipment ol leultl-cuie lucilities", obliging tle piovi- deis ol outputient tieutment, no lutei tlun 31.12.2008, und piovideis ol inputient cuie, no lutei tlun 31.12.2011, to equip tleii lucilities witl inloimuti- on-communicution teclnology witl connection to tle Intei- net so tlut tleii systems ullow bioudbund tiunsmission und piocessing ol dutu in electionic loim. Tleie is no cuiient inloimution wletlei tlese busic e-Heultl pieconditions luve been met by tlose leultl- cuie piovideis. Bused on inloimution liom tle Nutionul Heultl Inloimu- tion Centie ieceived ut tle time ol wiiting tlis uiticle, no bills to umend tle uboveno- ted ucts luve been submitted to Slovukiu's puiliument und no pioposed umendments to do so luve been pussed by tle Slovuk goveinment otlei tlun tle one iegulution issued by tle Ministiy ol Heultl in Septembei 2008. Among otlei issues, tle piotection ol sensitive peisonul dutu us uie detuils ol tle putient's leultl seems to be u lot discussion point wlicl needs to be piopeily coveied in tle bills to be diulted und udopted. Mgt. Sy|via Szab6, Juniot Patrnct, Ruzicla Csclcs s.t.o. Tnis atric|c is oj an injotmarivc narutc on|y. lot motc injotmarion p|casc conracr out law Ojjicc. Ru2cku Csekes s.r.o. Te/: +421 (0)2 3233-3421 sy/vu.szubo@rc-cms.sk www.rc-cms.sk e-Health ln Slovakla? Mgt. Sy|via Szab6, Juniot Patrnct, Ruzicla Csclcs s.t.o. SP90542/3 Slovakia is losing its medical graduates THE 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- ter working conditions abroad. After veterinary science, medicine is the second most expensive field of study. Training a doctor costs the state three times more than, for example, an eco- nomist. But one in 10 Slovak medical school graduates look for jobs abroad, where doctors receive better wages, working conditions, and prospects for career advancement. As a result, the generation of doctors now serving in Slovak hospitals is generally older, the Pravda daily wrote in early August. While there are no official statistics of howmany doctors are leaving Slovakia and what the average age of medical practitioners 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 and professional organisations. The highest number of young doc- tors go to the Czech Republic but also to Germany and Austria, said Anton Szalay, the head of the Slovak Trade Unions of Health and Social Services, as quoted by the daily. The wages of our doctors are discouraging. They are too low to enable them to have families and to pay mort- gages. We have been pointing out the need to stabilise wages in order that young doctors do not leave for a long period of time. Students and graduates of medical faculties confirmed Szalays words, while many Slovaks attending medical schools in the Czech Republic are also pondering staying because, they say, health care there is at a higher level, hospitals are better equipped, wages are higher and the approach of people is also different. Apart from the lack of younger gener- al practitioners, there is also a lack of young dentists, both leading to an older average age for practising doctors and dentists. And this phenomenon affects other professions like nursing and mid- wifery too. The Health Ministry as well as dent- ists ascribe the shortage of young dentists to the education sector, which fails to generate enoughgraduates due to the low number of students accepted, the Sme daily wrote inearly September. CompiledbySpectator staff frompress reports Wanted: youngdoctors. Photo: AP ZV: Good customer service is important Continuedfrompg7 ZV: Undoubtedly Slov- akia is a well-knowncountry inthe field of physiotherapy or spa treatment, even thoughthe related infra- structure does not reach Europeanstandards so far. Probably it would be neces- sary to think over the target clients/patients inthis re- spect, either fromthe view- point of their originor their economic potential and real preferences, i.e. those re- quirements whichwill be decisive intheir choices. TSS: What factors most af- fect the potential of the countryand its utilisation? ZV: These are demon- strable quality, good refer- ences and reputation, the generally perceived success of a facility, the recommend- ationof patients, but also in- ternationally recognised cer- tificationof facilities and their ability to become con- tract partners for potential payers of healthcare, for ex- ample insurance companies or national institutions covering healthcare. Other factors are the price of the medical services provided, the scope and quality of supplementary services and programmes for patients and accompanying persons, as well as the ability to se- cure protectionof personal data and privacy of pa- tients. Among other factors I would add the behaviour and attitude of the person- nel to patients and, last but not least, the ability to offer quality post-surgical or fol- low-up care. Fake drugs find a way into Slovakia AS WITHfake Adidas T- shirts or phony Nike train- ers, nowimitationdrugs have found their way into Slovakia. During the first half of 2011 alone, Slovak cus- toms officers prevented the distributionof over 128,000 pieces of imitationmedica- tions, the Hospodrske Nov- iny daily reported inAugust. Most of themwere ac- counted for by steroids or blue diamond-shaped pills, Miroslava Slemensk, spokespersonof the director general of the Customs Of- fices Directorate, said, as quoted by the daily. The haul represented an increase fromlast years ag- gregate contraband of more than12,000 pieces. The daily warned that while fake sports brands cause little physical damage, this is not the case with phony drugs. The imitation[drug] does not have the same effect [and thus the illness remains untreated], it might be close to the original, or it may evenharmhealth, Tom Turiak, vice-president of the Slovak Chamber of Phar- macists, said, adding that neither compositionnor hy- giene is checked inproduc- tionof phony drugs. The State Institute for Drug Control reported that it most oftenencounters fake anabolic steroids and drugs to boost sexual performance, but also finds imitation weight-loss and anti-smoking drugs that are sold online. Slovakias experience is inline withthe EUsituation inwhichas muchas 99 per- cent of the imitationmedic- ationintercepted in2010 was so-called lifestyle drugs. Most come fromChina and India but there are also local producers. CompiledbySpectator staff frompress reports Insurers spent over 1bn on drugs THE ANNUAL consumption of prescriptiondrugs covered by Slovakias public health insurance scheme exceeded 94.4 millionpackages in 2010, a drop from95.7 million packages in2009, the Health Ministry informed the TASR newswire, citing its own statistics. Intotal, healthinsurance companies spent nearly 1.04 billionondrugs in2010, a drop of about 20 million fromthe previous year. Ex- penditures for drugs by healthinsurers exceeded 1 billionfor the first time in 2008, whenthey totalled 1.008 billion. In2007 the expenditure was 907 mil- lionand in2006 882 million. Healthinsurers spent the largest amount ondrugs to treat cardio-vascular dis- eases. Last year these cost the public healthinsurance firms over 206.7 million. Drugs for cancer patients followed, withalmost 173.4 millionspent. Drugs for treatment of diseases of the central nervous systemcost 130.6 million. The ministry noted the increased amount of uncon- sumed drugs that people can dispose of inspecial baskets at pharmacies after they are past their expiry date. People threwaway more drugs in2010 thanat any time inthe past six years: 97.7 tons. 9 BUSINESS FOCUS September 12 18, 2011 FOCUS shorts LOZ: Doctors to give notice en masse Continuedfrompg6 Kollr stated that his or- ganisation believes that less money coming to the hospit- als will be reflected in a drop in the quantity as well as the quality of health-care services provided in the hospitals as well as an increase in fees. LOZ has also said it is fearful of possible distraint proceed- ings against the hospitals to collect debts as well as by the possible sale or privatisation of hospitals by various groups that Kollr did not fur- ther identify, the SITA news- wire wrote. Zollerov told The Slovak Spectator that after trans- formation of the hospitals into joint-stock companies the state will remain the exclus- ive owner of 100 percent of the shares in each hospital. The government is not pondering any sale of the shares, Zollerov stated, adding neither the past gov- ernment nor the current gov- ernment had sold any of the shares of six hospitals that were transformed into joint- stock companies in 2006. This will also be the case after the origination of the additional joint-stock companies. The plan is to transform public hospitals under the control of the Ministry of Health into joint-stock com- panies by the end of 2011, though that deadline might be postponed by six months for certain hospitals. Hospitals not operated by the Ministry of Health are expected to change their form by mid 2012. The state will be the legal founder and 100-percent shareowner of the newly-cre- ated joint-stock hospitals and the ministries that currently control the hospitals will con- tinue to administer the hos- pitals on behalf of the state. The plan calls for 31 facilities to be transformed into joint- stock companies and the cab- inet has already allocated 350 million to cover those facilit- ies current debts. The parlia- ment approved its allocation on September 8. In late August LOZ started collecting signed notices from doctors in which they state they are terminating their employment contract with their health-care facility. LOZ had previously said it had re- ceived commitments from 3,830 doctors working in 51 hospitals to sign a notice of termination of their employ- ment contract. LOZ estimates that about 5,300 doctors work in public hospitals in Slovakia. The first information about mass termination no- tices on paper came from the Preov-based Jn Adam Re- iman Faculty Hospital and Polyclinic, with Michal Poli- cian, the head of the local trade union telling SITA that about half of 300 doctors working in the hospital indic- ated signing the termination notices. Polician did not spe- cify exactly how many notices had already been signed. Polician said the doctors main reason for signing the notices is disagreement with the idea of fast transforming their hospital into a joint- stock company, as well as low salaries. Polician said a doctors average monthly salary at the hospital is 1,500 and that includes all supple- mental pay and overtime pay. He added that after working for 33 years as a surgeon his monthly salary is 1,200 without supplemental pay- ments and that is why he had signed a termination notice, SITA wrote. LOZ told The Slovak Spec- tator that it is satisfied with its campaign. "We can say for now that everything is going according to plan," adding that in the end even a higher number of doctors may sign the termination notices. "The notices will be delivered to all hospitals at the same moment." Miroslav Kollr Photo: TASR TREND: Austrians seek cosmetic work Continuedfrompg6 Alexandra Semanov from stav Lekrskej Kozmetiky (LK), the Institute of Medical Cosmetics, told The Slovak Spectator that her institute, one of the first specialised centres for health, beauty and anti-aging procedures in Slovakia, has found considerable interest inthe treatments it offers. We register interest especially by [persons from] neighbouring Austria, fol- lowed by Slovaks who live on a long-term basis abroad, especially in England, France andItaly, Semanov stated. Semanov said Hungarians are not frequent patients due to an extensive network 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 services and treatments offered by LK. While some individuals first try only one ser- vice and order others only after they are satisfied with the treatment, others un- dertake several treatments at one ses- sion. Semanov said the highest interest is in LKs various body programmes (such as slimming programmes and cel- lulite treatment) and dermatological treatments (botulinum toxin applica- tions to reduce wrinkles, and laser sur- gery) but added that people from the United Kingdom, France and Italy are also interested in plastic surgery breast surgery or rhinoplasty (nose surgery) liposuctionand facelifts. Semanov told The Slovak Spectator that recommendations from acquaint- ances, information on the internet, as well as a good price, especially for plastic-aesthetic surgery, are among the reasons why individuals seek out LK. The price for comparable services of the quality offered by LK is more expens- ive abroad, said Semanov, adding that it is possible to find cheaper services in some other countries but the quality is also lower. Is dental tourismnext? Prices of dental treatments in Slov- akia are somewhere at one-third or one- quarter of the prices in western Europe, Alexander Schill, founder of the private Schill Dental Clinic, told The Slovak Spectator, explaining that the costs of materials and technologies used in Slovakia are basically the same as those abroad but that there is a signi- ficant difference in the salaries of dent- ists and nurses in Slovakia compared to westernEurope. Though there may be some excep- tions, Slovakia is generally not thought of as a destinationfor dental tourism. Dental tourism works especially in Hungary, where it has a tradition, Schill said. Dentists in Hungary even during the previous communist regime could have private practices. They were prepared for dental tourism much earlier. Schill also pointed out that that be- ing successful in medical or dental tour- ism is not only about receiving proper treatment. It also requires other well- functioning tourism services such as hotels and restaurants, as well as a well- developed business concept in the areas of logistics andmarketing. REAL ESTATE NEW.....for..... 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Prices of classifi ed 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 Addi ti onal opti ons Logo or picture insertion + 7 Bold or capital bold letters+ 0.3/word Box + 3
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1/48 page (43 x 44 mm) 25 1/24 page (43 x 92 mm) 50 or (91 x 43 mm) 50 1/12 page (91 x 92 mm) 100 Frequency di scounts: 3x - 10x 5% 11x - 19x 7,5% 20x and more 15% NOTE: Prices do not include value added tax (VAT 19%)! 2. Prices for business classified ads (according to size): Choir festival returns to Trnava TRNAVAis sometimes knownas the Little Rome due to the many churches scattered around the city, but locals, especially those witha musical ear, also knowit as the townwiththe highest concentrationof choirs per square metre. The long traditionof choral mu- sic inTrnava had been maintained inpart thanks to the autumnfestival of choirs which, after a recent hiatus, re-emerged ina very newformat the end of this summer. The last Choral Days of Trnava, anevent whichused to welcome choirs fromall around Slovakia and beyond, took place in2008. That event was followed by three year of silence, until the first weekend of September 2011, whenthe 21st editionof the Choral Days of Trnava was organised, predomin- antly by the civic association Trnavsk Mestsk Zbory (Trnava City Choirs). During the interlude, the festival has lost most of its interna- tional character, since only Slovak choirs participated in the 2011 editionand the only international participants were the soloists who per- formed at the highlight con- cert of the festival. But that is not the only change that the event has undergone since 2008. Froma festival which was once held solely inside Trnavas churches, withone day devoted strictly to churchmusic and another to non-sacral music, the or- ganisers have nowturned the Choral Days of Trnava into anopen-air event, mak- ing use of the towns re- cently reconstructed amphi- theatre. Thanks to this, vis- itors and participants alike were allowed to let their hair down, and people injeans and t-shirts could be seenin the audience listening to arias fromVerdis operas while enjoying a hot-dog or a glass of beer. The evenings of the fest- ival were divided according to genre: onjazz-musical- rock Friday the choir of Trnavas secondary schools Cantica Nova and young Slovak singers offered a per- formance of Missa Criola by Ariel Ramrez, withsoloist ViliamCsontos, and the rock oratorio Eversmiling Liberty by Danishcomposers Jens Johansenand Erling Kull- berg, withsolos sung by Mria rov and Kamil Mikulk. Trnavas Tirnavia choir added its interpreta- tionof ALittle Jazz Mass by Bob Chilcott and a selection of melodies fromthe musical West Side Story. Saturday was devoted to all the participating choirs Bradlan, Vox Aurumque, Cantica Nova, Tirnavia, Cantica /Z/nova, and Technik Akademik who got the chance to showoff their rep- ertoire during the Choirs to Choirs concert. The highlight of the fest- ival, a concert entitled Verdis Opera Choirs and de- voted to the 110than- niversary of the composers death, gathered anunpre- cedented number of people onthe stage of the (rather small) city amphitheatre: the choir and orchestra of the Slovak National Theatre were joined by Trnava choirs Cantica /Z/nova and Technik Akademik to create one powerful voice while in- terpreting a number of Verdis most famous choirs and arias, led by Pavol Prochzka who at one point conducted whichsuch force that he snapped his batoninto two pieces. The soloists represented all the countries of the cent- ral Europeanregion: sop- ranos Karina Skrzeszewska fromPoland and Jolana Fogaov fromSlovakia, tenor Lszl Boldizsr from Hungary and bass Richard Novk fromthe CzechRe- public. The organisers promise that the choral event will not fall silent for so long again: they planto make the festiv- al a biennial event, pledging to attract more international participants infuture years. 10 CULTURE September 12 18, 2011 Images immortalise Jewish past in Slovakia THE OPENING of Last Folio, an exhibit of Yuri Dojcs pictures of what remains of once-vi- brant Jewish communities throughout Slovakia, served as the centrepiece of a week- end devoted to life in Slovakia, past and present, held at the Bloomington campus of Indi- ana University (IU) in early September. Peter Burian, Slovak ambassador to the United States, represented the Slovak government at the event. The Dojc exhibit originally opened at the Slovak National Museum, followed by present- ations in Cambridge, England, and at the Museum of Jewish History in NewYork City. Katya Krausovas short documentary film, which she plans to extend to full length, was also featured in Bloom- ington. The short version can be seen online at http://vimeo.com/20779058. Dojc and Krausova both left Czechoslovakia in 1968. He now works as a photo- grapher in Canada and she is a film producer in London. The two met in London in 2005 at a meeting of expats. The exhibit was designed by Daniel Weil, a native of Ar- gentina, who also designed the interior of the new Ar- chaeological Wing of the Is- rael Museum in Jerusalem, as well as aeroplane and airport interiors for United Airlines. Every time I see Yuri Dojcs haunting photos of the objects left behind in a Slovak Jewish school after the towns Jewish community was de- ported to concentration camps in 1942, I feel the hor- ror of that moment, observed professor Jeffrey Veidlinger, the director of IUs Jewish Studies Program. The exhibition is also a message of perseverance and hope, added Veidlinger, whose great-great grandfath- er emigrated from Slovakia. Despite all attempts to erase any memory of the Jewish community of that town, over 60 years later, the objects are still telling their story screaming for remembrance. We were looking for the specks of dust, for the com- munity that doesnt exist anymore, Dojc told a Bloom- ington symposium on the eve of the exhibits opening. When I photograph the books, I feel like Im photo- graphing people. The poignancy of the pic- tures is the neglect they show, said history professor Mark Roseman. Nothing so powerful connects to the hu- man tragedy. He expressed the fear that their preserva- tion will destroy this image. The exhibit also marked the renaming of Indiana Universitys School of Fine Arts Gallery to the Grunwald Gallery, thanks to a gift from Rita Grunwald in honour of her late husband John, who was born in 1935 in Budapest to Jewish parents. He sur- vived the Holocaust and came to New York and eventually to Bloomington. Patrick OMeara, Vice- President Emeritus of Inter- national Affairs at the uni- versity, helped coordinate the weekend in Bloomington. He conducted an hour-long radio interview with Dojc and Krausova during their visit, which will be broadcast later this year on WFIU, the universitys radio station. He also presided over a half-hour discussion at the opening of the exhibit attended by sever- al hundred people. As the people of Slovakia move forward, its important that they recognise the legacy and problems of the past, OMeara observed after the opening night ceremony. Ambassador Burian is the first Slovak ambassador to vis- it Indiana University though Rita Klimova, the last ambas- sador from Czechoslovakia, visited Bloomingtonin 1992. The ambassador visited over lunch with IU Provost Karen Hanson. Also attending the lunch was Steve Zlatos, Honorary Consul for Slovakia, who serves Slovak interests in the states of Indiana, Ken- tucky and Tennessee. They were joined by Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, commander of the Indiana National Guard, which is paired with the Slov- ak armed forces under NATOs Partnership for Peace program. Earlier this year, Gen. ubomr Bulk, the Slovak Defence Chief, paid a visit to Indiana as guest of the Na- tional Guard. After the lunch, Burian talked with IU faculty and graduate students interested in central and eastern European studies. He de- scribed the successes of Slov- ak foreign policy since the countrys founding and said relations between the US and Slovakia were very good. Burian pointed out that a joint military team from the Indiana National Guard and from Slovakia will deploy to Afghanistanlater this year. The ambassador ex- pressed his hope that in an era of 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 later broadcast. BYOWENV. JOHNSON Special to the Spectator Yuri Dojc (l) withMajor General R.MartinUmbarger (c) at IndianaUniversity. Photo: Courtesyof Yuri Dojc 'Amessage of perservance andhope.' Photo: Courtesyof Yuri Dojc Last Folio To accompany the Last Folio exhibit in both New York and Bloomington, Indiana Uni- versity Press published a book titled Last Folio: Textures of JewishLife inSlovakia. The book includes 34 photographs of the remains of a Jewish school in Barde- jov where everything stopped when the students were taken away to concen- tration camps, as well as pictures of the ruins of schools, synagogues, mik- vahs and cemeteries. There are also 15 portraits of sur- vivors of the camps. In a section entitled The Journey, Katya Krausova wrote two stories in journal format about how she and Dojc came to gather the story and how they had amazingly found a book that had be- longed to Jakub Deutsch, Yuri Dojcs grandfather. Azar Nafisi, the director of Cultural Conversations at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins Universitys School of Ad- vanced Studies also wrote an essay, All That Remains. These photographs, in their anguished beauty, as- sert that there will always be art after Auschwitz, because there will always be life, and that art is ultimately on the side of life, she wrote in her essay. I believe this is the message the spirits guiding Yuri wanted us to know. Lucia Faltins short essay helps non-specialists orient themselves to Jewish history in Slovakia, with primary emphasis on the 20th cen- tury experience. When I was travelling around Slovakia in the 1970s and 1980s, doing research on interwar Slovakia, I occa- sionally saw an empty syn- agogue. I knew from my re- search on Slovak secondary schools and Comenius Uni- versity that Jewish students had studied in those schools, but found it hard to imagine them as living, breathing human beings. This book brings me much closer to see- ing them. Two years ago, IU Press also published Rediscovering Traces of Memory: The Jew- ish Heritage of Polish Galicia by Jonathan Webber. That al- bum includes 74 images of synagogues, cemeteries, Holocaust memorials, Nazi camps, and other evidence of Jewishpresence and absence. Last Folio: Textures of Jew- ish Life in Slovakia can be ordered from Indiana University Press, www.iupress.indiana.edu, for $24.95 . ByOwenV. Johnson BYMICHAELA TERENZANI Spectator staff SopranoJolanaFogaov Photo: JordankaHomolov The wagoners of Hol THE SQUARES of towns and also their streets usually give the impression of being bigger in old photos than they are today. The clue to this mystery is simple: there were no cars then. Thus, we can also see the cobbles and lower parts of houses inold photographs. Instead of cars, their fore- runners filled urban streets: horse-drawn wagons and car- riages. In this postcard from the period immediately after World War I, we see two wag- ons pulled by horses. Wagons were once the most important means of transporting goods, together with wooden rafts. This was true not only in Slovakia, but also in neighbouring coun- tries. In several areas here, specialised groups of men called furmani (wagoners) dealt with horse-drawn wag- ons and transported goods as well as sometimes people. In the Horehronie region, whole horsemens villages existed. By the end of the 19th century, the wagoners profes- sion had become a craft. Wagoners spe- cialised mainly in delivering fuel to of- fices, or in moving people from one place to another. Furmani from some re- gions also travelled abroad and thus secured the import and export of various goods to and fromSlovakia. ByBranislavChovan HISTORY TALKS WesternSLOVAKIA Bratislava l ETHNO MUSIC: Idan Rai- chel This Israeli star of world music comes for the first time to Slovakia to present his mix- ture of piano playing and singing in exotic languages, such as Hebrew, Arabian, Ara- maic, Spanishand Swahili. Starts: September 15, 19:00; Nov Scna, Kollrovo Square. Admission: 20-25. Tel: 02/5293-3321; www. ticketportal.sk. Bratislava l TENNIS CUP: Davis Cup Slovakia - Ukraine After two years, the best Slovak tennis players get the chance to play before a local crowd for the next round of this world fam- ous competition. Players should include Martin Klian, Michal Mertik, Filip Polek, Luk Lacko, Pavol ervenk, and possibly others. Starts: September 16-18, from 13:00 (Sunday) or 14:00 onwards; Sibamac Arna NTC, Prkopova 6. Admission: 10. Tel: 02/5293-3321; www. ticketportal.sk, www.stz.sk. Bratislava l JAZZ MUSIC: Jazz v Arne / Jazz in the Arena - Martin Va- lihora Trio featuring Marcel Palonder (vocals) This popu- lar jazz grouping (comprising Eugen Vizvry on piano, Juraj Griglk on double bass and Va- lihora on drums) has invited Palonder to sing withthem. Starts: September 15, 20:00; Arna Theatre, Viedensk 10. Admission: 6. Tel: 02/5293-3321; www. ticketportal.sk. Bratislava l LIVE MUSIC: Steve Reich in the Club Cluster Ensemble, a grouping focused on contem- porary art will perform three works by Steve Reich (US), a representative of minimal music. Starts: September 13, 21: 00; Nu Spirit Club, afrikovo Square 7. Admission: 5-7. Tel: 0948/855-449; www. nuspirit.sk. Bratislava l EXHIBITION: Omara SM This Mexican visual artist is holding his first solo exhibi- tion in Europe in Slovakias capital. He created his black- and-white images last year with etching or aquatint, the main themes being whales and Mexicanstreet dogs fight- ing for survival. Open: Mon-Fri 10:00- 18:00, Sat 9:00-17:00 until September 27; TGallery, Pan- sk 24 (basement). Admission: free. Tel: 0903/601-656; www. tgallery.sk. Trnava l CLASSICAL MUSIC: Trnav- sk organov dni / Trnava Or- gan Days The 16th year of this organ festival culminates with a concert by the official organ player of Pariss Notre Dame Cathedral, Olivier Latry. He plays works by A. P. F. Boly, C. Franck, C. Widor, G. Piern, L. Vierne and M. Dupr, and his ownworks. Starts: September 16, 20:00; St. Nicholas Basilica, St Nicholas Square. Admission: 10-12. Tel: 0905/269 -971; w ww.bachsociety.sk/trnavaorg andays. Central SLOVAKIA BanskBystrica l LIVE MUSIC: Kroke This Polish trio from Krakow plays world music, including Klezmer. Starts: September 12, 19: 00; Evangelical Church, La- zovn Street. Admission: 12. Tel: 02/5293-3321; www. ticketportal.sk. LiptovskMikul l PHOTOEXHIBITION: Photo- School Final Exhibition The annual summer photo-school in Liptovsk Mikul ends with the best works by its 45 participants from 8 countries being put onshow. Open: Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00 until September 17; Great Hall, Liptovsk Galria P. M. Boh- a, Tranovskho 3. Admis- sion: 0.50-1. Tel: 044/5522- 758; www.galerialm.sk. EasternSLOVAKIA Koice l LIVEMUSIC: Richard Mller Potichu Tour 3 The Silently Tour by popular singer/ musician/ songwriter Richard Mller will also feature Czech musicianDanBrta. Starts: September 15, 19:00; Spoloensk Paviln, Trieda SNP 31. Admission: 22.90. Tel: 02/5293-3321; www.ticketportal.sk. Kemarok l CLASSICAL MUSIC: 41. Me- dzinrodn Organov Festival Ivana Sokola The 41st Inter- national Organ Festival of I. Sokol visits several towns and cities between September 14 and 27 with a rich organ programme. In Kemarok, Irena Chibkov (CZ) plays works by Linek, Rokovsk, Rigler, Pachelbel, Buxtehude, Brixi, ernohorsk, Bach, Guilmant, Grek and Boell- man. Other festival concerts take place in Koice and else- where. Starts: September 16, 19:00; Wooden Articular Church and the New Evangelical Church. Admission: voluntary. Tel: 055/2453-106; www.sfk.sk, www.festivaly .sk. ByZuzana Vilikovsk EVENTS COUNTRYWIDE The 12th year of the Konvergencie festival brings, once again, a merger of different musical genres. The opening concert, on September 18 at 19:00 in St Martins Cathedral, Bratislava, com- bines Cello Colosseum (a cello ensemble led by Jozef Luptk) with Gregoriana from Koice, offering works by J. S. Bach, A. Ptro, R. Shchedrin, J. Irai and Gregorian chorale. Other con- certs include Doric String Quartet (UK), ASGUESTS (a jazz group from Slovakia), Uhrovec 1730 (a Slovak group playing early mu- sic, folklore and improvisations), local pop singer Jana Kirschner with afterPhurikane, and more. Tickets can be obtained at Tick- etportal and Eventim; for more information, go to www.konvergencie.sk. Photo: Courtesyof Konvergencie tefan Pita Bartu & JazzBrothers will be joined by Andy Middleton for a concert in Caffe Passe in Ruomberok on September 16 at 20:00. JazzBrothers comprises Bartu on double bass, M. Bugala on guitar, L. rmek on piano and P. Solrik on drums. Andy Middleton, a renownedAmericansaxophonist, will play withthemas part of the 33Birthday Tour. Their music is a fu- sionof modernLatino, classical andfree music. For more inform- ation, visit www.passe.sk/eventy. Photo: Courtesyof . Bartu Celebrations of laughter THE ANNUAL Slovak festival of humour which marks the end of summer vacations, be- stowed several awards this year and offered a lot of fun and entertainment for both children and adults. Golden Gander is the name given to the top prizes awarded to the best representatives of hu- mour of all genres at the Kremnick Gagy / Kremnica Gags event which celebrated its 31st editionin 2011. Yet fun and irony can be a serious thing sometimes, es- pecially when politics is in- volved. One of the prizes awarded is called Trafen Hus (The Hit Goose) and is awarded for things that stun even hu- morists who are used to mak- ing fun of almost everything, the TASR newswire wrote. This year it was awarded to the Bratislava District Court for, the citation sarcastically pro- claimed, securing justice after 15 years by issuing a verdict requiring former Slovak pres- ident Michal Kov to apolo- gise to Ivan Lexa, the former head of the SIS spy agency, for stating that the latter had ordered the abduction of Kovs son. Other, more compli- mentary, prizes included those for theatre and cab- aret, music, street and mo- tion performances. Humour for children had a special category. Artistic humour and car- toons were represented by another category. Only Slov- aks were eligible for the lit- erary humour and journal- ism awards. The Stano Radi Prize, named after the late entertainer and humorist, went to the Discovery of the Year and was awarded by Radis widow, Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radiov, to the Divadeln Sbor Kud from Kladzany and to Peter Raev, in memoriam, for his political satire. Part of the Kremnick Gagy was a travelling exhibi- tion of political cartoons by Slovakias Martin Shooty tovec and Daryl Cagle of the USA that had previously visited several Slovak towns and cities. It will now con- tinue onto Nitra. The Kremnica festival is also popular thanks to ac- companying events that lure a host of visitors and locals. Starting as bit of intimate fun, it has grown into large international event that, its organisers say, draws ever more people and ever more attention, and reminds us of what is inevitable in our lives and what improves them humour inall its forms. CompiledbySpectator staff 11 September 12 18, 2011 CULTURE Various gags took tothe streets of Kremnica. Photo: TASR Weather updates and forecasts from across Slovakia can be found at www.spectator.sk/weather. A Slovaks 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 Vetko najlepie k meninm (Happy name day) N A M E D A Y S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 1 Monday Mria Ria September 12 Tuesday Ctibor September 13 Wednesday udomil September 14 Thursday Jolana Bank Holiday September 15 Friday udmila September 16 Saturday Olympia September 17 Sunday Eugnia September 18 12 ADVERTISEMENT September 12 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-cent maharaja palaces converted into luxury hotels, a rich colonial heritage India Tourism Baseler Str. 48 . 60329 Frankfurt Tel. 069-2429490, info@india-tourism.com 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, unparalleled in the world an intricate network of water channels and lagoons, scenic palm tree jungles with a breathtaking tropical background. 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Nikitas Spiros Koutsoukis Spyridon Roukanas Auth. Anastasios Karasavvoglou Persefoni Polychronidou Eds. Economic Crisis in Europe and The Balkans Problems and Pros