Economic news released by SITA on Tuesday, January 9
Russian Oil Supplies to Slovakia Halted
Crude oil shipment from Russia to Slovakia through the Druzhba pipelines stopped on Monday evening, as was expected by Druzhba operator Transpetrol.Spokesperson for Bratislava-based crude oil refiner Slovnaft Kristina Felova informed that Slovnaft's stockpiles of crude oil enable the company to continue processing the crude oil and production of motor fuels. Moreover, the company is cooperating more intensively with the State Material Reserves Administration (SSHR) and Economy Ministry.
Economy Ministry Wants Control Over Six Large Heating Plants
The Economy Ministry wants to gain a control over six largest central heating plants in Slovakia, in which government's privatization agency the National Property Fund (FNM) is the single owner and executor of shareholders' rights. The heating plants are in Bratislava, Kosice, Trnava, Zilina, Martin, and Zvolen. This stems from a material of the Economy Ministry, according to which execution of rights and duties of shareholder in the heating plants should be transferred from the FNM to the Economy Ministry.
Chemko Group with Revenues of SKK 1.644 Bln. in Q3 2006
Chemical group Chemko, a.s. posted total revenues of SKK 1.644 billion in nine months of last year. Sales of company's own products and services amounted to SKK 1.355 billion, which represents a moderate drop of SKK 8 million. However, the loss of the company amounted to nearly SKK 3 million as of September of last year, while a profit of SKK 24.7 million was reported for 2005. "Performance of the company was influenced by a tense situation on the market with chemical products. Unfavorable situation, which could be observed on the market with the basic final product of pentaerythritol at the end of 2005, was reflected also in results of the company," explained Chemko.
Public Transport Firm DPB Sees its Sales for 2006 at SKK 973 Mln.
The public transport company in the Slovak capital, Dopravny Podnik Bratislava (DPB), a.s., expects its transport sales for last year to reach SKK 973 million. In 2005 DPB's transport sales amounted to almost SKK 970 million. Sales for bus transport, representing the biggest portion of total sales, should climb to over SKK 556 million. DPB estimates it has transported 251.5 million passengers in 2006, DPB economic director Viliam Majda informed SITA.
Asseco Slovakia Acquires a Majority Stake in Datalock, a.s.
Software company Asseco Slovakia, a.s. Bratislava signed an acquisition contract with Datalock, a.s. and became an owner of a 51-percent stake in Datalock. Asseco Slovakia's Board of Director's chairman Jozef Klein provided this information to SITA news agency on Tuesday. Asseco's goal is a long-term development of the acquired company in order to provide Asseco's clients comprehensive services in the IT field. "The relationship between both companies will be based on cooperation of partners," he added.
Twenty-Eight Companies Withdraw their Shares from BCPB Last Year
Twenty-eight companies withdrew their shares from trading on the Bratislava Stock Exchange (BCPB) last year. BCPB director general Maria Hurajova informed SITA that the stock exchange decided on termination of trading in thirty share issues of companies, whose shareholders decided to quit public trading at their general meetings. Along with shares of companies that were expelled from trading on the BCPB since they failed to meet their disclosure duty, the stock exchange stopped trading in fifty share issues in total in 2006.
Motor Fuel Prices Slightly Dropped as of January 2
As of January 2, the average retail price of 95-octane petrol decreased SKK 0.03 to SKK 36.10 per liter compared with December 20, the Slovak Statistics Office's spokesperson Eva Kelemenova informed SITA on Tuesday. The average retail price of 98-octane petrol shrank by 2 hallers to SKK 37.60 per liter. The average retail price of one liter of diesel was SKK 37.60, down by four hallers.
Insurer PCSP Rapid Estimates 2006 Written Premiums at SKK 350 Mln.
Life insurer Prva Cesko-Slovenska Poistovna (PCSP) Rapid, a.s., estimates its written premiums for 2006 at SKK 350 million. Compared with 2005 this would mean an increase by SKK 100 million. Insurer's executive vice-president Helena Vernerova told SITA that the company forecasts that it has closed the year in the black. The insurer ended the year 2005 with a profit of SKK 13.4 million. PCSP Rapid expects an increase in all monitored indicators for 2006.
Slovnaft Asks Government for Crude Oil from State Material Reserves
Slovakia's only crude oil refiner Slovnaft has asked the government to let it use crude oil from state material reserves. After Russia closed off oil supplies to Europe because of its dispute with Belarus, Slovnaft wanted to secure continued production of crude oil products. The Cabinet should deal with Slovnaft's request on Wednesday. Prime Minister Robert Fico already met with the economy minister, the head of the State Material Reserves Administration (SSHR) and Slovnaft representatives in the morning to speak about the situation.
Analysts Expect Double Digit Industrial Output Growth for November
Industrial output should maintain a high year-on-year growth rate also in November of 2006. Analysts expect industrial output to grow at a double-digit rate in the eleventh month of last year, and their estimates are ranging between 10 percent and 11 percent. "The industrial output growth should continue to be driven by the automotive industry as production volume gradually picks up in the Trnava-based PSA plant," said ING analyst Eduard Hagara. The Zilina-based Kia should significantly help industrial output to grow in the upcoming months too, he added.
Antitrust Office Council Confirms SKK 75 Mln. Fine for ZSSK Cargo
The Antitrust Office Council as the supreme appellate body has confirmed the first-instance ruling from last June levying a SKK 75 million fine on the railway cargo company Cargo Slovakia for abusing its dominant market position. The decision came into effect on January 2, 2006, and no appeal is possible against it, informed PMU spokeswoman Alexandra Bernathova. The company refused to elaborate on the fine as it has not yet received the decision in writing.
MONEY MARKET: Central Bank Rejects Some Bids in Tuesday's Repo
The National Bank of Slovakia rejected a portion of bank bids also in this week's sterilization repo tender. UniBanka dealer Jozef Hempfinger said that banks' bids in the two-week repo tender totaled SKK 143.231 billion but the central bank accepted merely SKK 80 billion. The minimum yield was 4.45 percent p.a., the average was 4.68 percent p.a., and the maximum yield was 4.7 percent p.a. Last week, after the sitting of its Bank Board, the NBS announced its plan to reduce the volume of accepted bank bids in repo tenders to support the previous direct interventions in the FOREX market against the steeply firming local currency.
Growth of the Mutual Funds Market in Slovakia Slowed Down in 2006
Growth of the Slovak market of open-end mutual funds slowed down in 2006. Funds managed assets worth about SKK 131 billion at the end of last year, said the executive director of the Slovak Asset Management Companies Association (SASS), Lubor Kysely. This is an increase of approximately six percent compared with late 2005.
Car Sales in Slovakia Up 10.2 % y/y to 78,568 Units in 2006
Police statistics report 78,568 new registrations of passenger cars and small commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tons in Slovakia over 2006, announced the Automotive Industry Association (ZAP). Compared with the previous year this is an increase of 10.2 percent. In December alone registrations of new passenger cars and small commercial vehicles totaled 8,488, which is 13.9 percent more than in December 2005.
Mayor Wants to Solve Problems of Kosice Public Transport Firm
The mayor of Kosice, Slovakia's second largest city, Frantisek Knapik, wants to help resolve the situation in the Kosice public transportation company Dopravny Podnik Mesta Kosice (DPMK) already during the first quarter of 2007. He believes that it is necessary to solve not only personnel questions but also competencies of individual bodies of the company. A general meeting of DPMK shareholders is scheduled for February 22. "I have an interest in returning some competencies to the city. Thus, it will be necessary to change also some legal documents of the company. This must be done by the city council, which acts in this case also as the DPMK general meeting," said Mr. Knapik.
STOCK MARKET: Bratislava Exchange Stagnated on Tuesday
The Slovak share index SAX remained flat on Tuesday. Although shares of power engineering company SES Tlmace and VUB bank from the SAX base were traded on the Bratislava Stock Exchange (BCPB) floor they failed to change the SAX value, which closed the Tuesday session at 414.96 points. Turnover on the BCPB increased in particular because of direct transfers of government bonds from SKK 1.146 billion on Monday to SKK 32.43 billion on Tuesday with a mere SKK 1.139 million in share trading.
FOREX MARKET: Mood in the Region Weakens Slovak Crown
The positive mood in the region pushed the exchange rate of the Slovak currency to a stronger point during the Monday night. However, on Tuesday afternoon, it was the region that weakened the crown. "In the morning the exchange rate of the local currency was at 34.340/360 SKK/EUR, and it was below 34.400 SKK/EUR for the whole afternoon. The market was waiting for the results of the repo tender of the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS)," said OTP Banka dealer Juraj Mitosinka. The response of the crown to rejection of a part of bank bids in the sterilization repo tender was rather lax, according to Mr. Mitosinka.
Minister Assures Slovakia has Sufficient Crude Oil Stocks
Slovak Economy Minister Ludovit Jahnatek told a news conference on Tuesday evening that Slovakia has sufficient oil stocks and also has scenarios in place to bridge the disrupted supplies of Russian crude oil via the Druzhba pipeline. He said there is no reason for panicking because of long-term experience with similar situations in the past. After the split of the Soviet Union, it happened that oil stopped flowing to Slovakia, on one occasion supply was halted for twelve days. Stefan Czucz, head of the board of directors of the company Transpetrol that operates the Slovak section of Druzhba, confirmed that at 5 p.m. Tuesday supplies were still halted.