Weekly

Robert Fico deciding factor
The message that was delivered to the Government yesterday by Joaquín Almunia, Eurocommissioner for Monetary Affairs, was short and to the point: Meeting the criteria for Euro acceptance must not only be fulfilled, but also maintained! “Introduction of the Euro in Slovakia in 2009 is possible, but today it is not possible to foresee the decision”.
According to the man who will evaluate and then co-decide whether or not Slovakia may enter the Eurozone in 2009, keeping to the criteria, chiefly as relating to the public financing deficit and inflation, is imperative. “You still have a large deficit, this must be corrected, and we will be monitoring its sustainability“.
Economist Eugen Jurzyca feels that the criterion of the deficit is problematic for Premier Robert Fico because it prevents him from implementing more social policies, which are tied to higher state spending. In his view, as stated in the Ineko Institute’s research, “These would lead to the growth of unrealistic expectations on the part of the publicand accordingly, after entering the Eurozone, maintaining the stability of public finances would be seriously threatened, as a result of political moves“. July 18

Lack of quality people
Growing employment in Slovakia has shown its less attractive face: the lack of a qualified workforce is starting to be one of the most serious problems for foreign investors.
From May of this year, about one hundred Romanian workers have been employed at the Trnava PSA automobile factory, while until recently two hundred Poles were employed at the Kia plant in Žilina. The employment agencies who mediated the employment of Romanians and Ukrainians have now started offering work in Slovakia to job-seekers from Bulgaria and Kosovo.
At the end of March, the Slovak economy had almost 22,000 unfilled positions, as a result of a 40 percent year-on-year jump in labour demand. When the Sony plant in Nitra starts up in the autumn, it and its suppliers will further increase this demand.
Despite the staff shortages, large investors are at this point not planning recruiting abroad. Labour, Social Affairs and the Family deputy chief Ján Gramata confirmed for HN however that the Government is attempting to lure back to Slovakia those people who, at a time of peak unemployment in the second half of the 1990s, left to work in Czech factories. At the present time there are an estimated 66,000 Slovak workers and tradesmen employed in the Czech Republic. July 16

Police investigations on stock market
The Afin Brokers company, which last year was stripped of its stock-trading licence by the Czech National Bank, is now under police investigation in Slovakia. Office of the General Prosecutor spokesperson Jana Tökölyová confirmed this for HN. “The Bratislava District Prosecutor has registered a criminal complaint from a citizen. Criminal proceedings in the matter of fraud have been launched”. According to our findings there have been several clients who claim to have been damaged by the company’s dealings. They maintain that Afin operatives promised them huge profits from share-trading, but the dealers then deliberately bought shares at peak price and then they only went downwards. Clients reportedly lost from hundreds to millions of Crowns. Up to now, no-one has been charged in connection with the affair.
The firm has gone on the defensive – “I know about one complaint submitted in Slovakia. It is probably the same individual who made a complaint in the Czech Republic, but the proceedings there have been adjourned, which means in fact that they are not planning to carry on with the proceedings”, reacted the former head of the Slovak unit of Afin Brokers, Adriana Šklíbová. According to our information however an appeal has been lodged against the adjournment in the Czech Republic. July 16