Slovakia - Factors To Watch on May 23

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FINMIN ONLINE

Finance Minister Jan Pociatek will take part in an on-line debate of the daily Hospodarske Noviny, 1300 GMT.

GOVERNMENT MEETING

The government will hold a regular weekly meeting. Ministers will discuss a nominee for a central bank (NBS) board member.

DUTCH QUEEN VISIT

Dutch Queen Beatrix ends her three-day visit to Slovakia.

GOVT PARTNERS PRESS FOR MORE POWER -AGENCY

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico's two junior ruling partners demanded more power in his governing coalition on Tuesday, calling for his leftist Smer party to give up two key ministries, news agency SITA reported.

[ID:nL22574915] [RTRS-EU-EUROPE-POL-SK]

CBANKER SAYS POLICY NOT COOLING ECONOMY

Lower than expected first quarter GDP growth of around 9 percent in Slovakia did not suggest the bank's monetary policy is cooling the economy, central bank board member Ludovit Odor said on Tuesday.

[ID:nL22259701] [RTRS-CEN-PLCT-FRX-SK]

CBANK DRAINS SKK 183 BLN IN 2-WK REPO

The Slovak central bank (NBS) accepted all bids in a regular two-week repo tender on Tuesday, draining 182.982 billion crowns ($7.30 billion) from the market, the NBS data showed.

[ID:nL22222330] [RTRS-CEN-FRX-SK]

WHIRLPOOL FREEZES SLOVAK EXPANSION ON STRONG SKK

U.S. appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. has put plans to expand its Slovak operations on hold because of the rising strength of the Slovak crown, a company executive said on Tuesday.

[ID:nL22368346] [RTRS-APL-RES-SK]

PRESS DIGEST

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FUEL PRICES

Slovakia's sole refiner Slovnaft , a unit of Hungary's MOL , is expected to raise fuel prices by 50 hallers per litre as of May 24, following weeks of a price freeze due to negotiations with the government over prices.

Pravda, page 1

SOLE HEALTH INSURER

Healthcare Minister Ivan Valentovic, a nominee of Prime Minister Robert Fico's SMER party, insists on a plan to create a sole health insurance company. The plan is opposed by both Fico's coalition partners, SNS and HZDS. The government will resume debating the proposal on Wednesday.

Pravda, page 3

SECRET NUMBERS LEAK

T-Mobile Slovakia, a unit of Deutsche Telekom T-Mobile, said an unintentional error of one of its employees had caused the leak of mobile phone numbers of secret service and government officials on May 19.

Sme, page 1

INFERTILITY PROBLEM

Slovakia is facing an increasing problem of infertility, with 37 percent share attributed to men infertility.

Sme, page 1

For news on upcoming events in the United States and other Group of Seven countries, see . For a diary of forthcoming Slovak events, double click [SK/DIARY], and a calendar of east European economic indicators, see [CONV/DIARY].

News editor of the day: Peter Laca, on +421 2 5341 8402; fax: +421 2 5341 8403

E-mail: editorial@reuters.sk

Reuters Messaging: peter.laca.reuters.com@reuters.net

For real-time index quotes, double click in brackets:

Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX50 Other related news: Slovak equities [SK-E] E.Europe equities [.CEE] Slovak money [SK-M] Czech debt [CZ-D] Slovak Indicators [SK-ECI] Emerging forex [EMRG/FRX] Eastern European [EEU] All emerging markets [EMRG] Hot stocks [HOT] Stock markets [STX] Market debt news [DBT] Forex news [FRX] TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets [TOP/EMRG] TOP NEWS -- Convergence watch [TOP/EAST]

($1=24.91 Slovak Crown)

[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]