Slovakia - Factors To Watch on Jan 8

    Here are news stories, press 
reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial 
markets on Monday. 
     
    RULING PARTIES TO MEET 
    Leaders of the three ruling coalition parties will meet. The 
preliminary agenda includes debate on several nominations to 
state posts. 
     
    STATE BOND AUCTION 
    The Debt and Liquidity Management Agency will auction 
5-year, zero-coupon state bonds on behalf of the finance 
ministry. 
     
    TRANSPORTATION MINISTER BRIEFING 
    Transportation and Telecommunications Minister Lubomir Vazny 
will meet journalists. 
     
    SAMSUNG SAYS SLOVAKIA LIKELY TO WIN NEW LCD PLANT 
    Samsung Electronics is in the final phase of talks with the 
Slovak government and is likely to choose the EU member as the 
location for a new LCD factory, a senior manager at the 
company's Slovak operation said on Friday. 
    [nL05320649] [RTRS-ELC-ELI-EMRG-SK] 
     
    SLOVAK PM RIDING HIGH ON POPULAR MEASURES 
    Many Slovaks began the year with a little extra cash in 
their pockets thanks to a new leftist government which has 
brought few of the dire consequences economic analysts warned of 
six months ago. [ID:nL05419572] 
 
    SLOVAKIA STOPS TESCO FROM BUYING CARREFOUR STORES 
    Slovakia's Antimonopoly Office said on Friday it had banned 
British retailer Tesco  from acquiring local stores of 
French Carrefour . 
    [nL05584120] [RTRS-RET-MRG-REGS-SK] 
     
    C.BANK FOREX RESERVES RISE TO $14.1 
    The Slovak central bank's (NBS) foreign currency reserves 
jumped to 14.096 billion as of Jan. 3, from $13.394 billion one 
week earlier, the bank said on Friday. 
    [nL05806291] [RTRS-CEN-FRX-SK] 
     
    CROWN REBOUNDS FROM 1-WK LOWS VS EURO 
    The Slovak crown recovered on Friday from a one-week low 
against the euro hit early in the session, helped by news that 
Slovakia is close to sealing a major investment project and 
improved regional mood, dealers said. 
    [nL05927197] [RTRS-MMT-FRX-SK] 
     
    PRESS DIGEST 
    ------------ 
    POLITICAL PRESSURE IN STATE TV 
    The newly appointed head of the public Slovak Television, 
Radim Hreha, has dismissed several senior news personnel, who 
said the move was a result of political pressures. 
    Sme, page 1 
     
    PM SAYS LABOUR CODE TOO LIBERAL 
    Prime Minister Robert Fico has said the government will 
change Slovakia's labour market regulations to increase powers 
of employees and labour unions. Employers warned of a negative 
impact on the labour market if the new rules worsened market 
flexibility. 
    Sme, page 6 
     
    RECORD GDP PACE OVERRATED, ECONOMIN SAYS 
    Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek has said the country's 
record 9.8 percent GDP growth in the third quarter should not be 
overrated. Jahnatek said Slovakia still lagged behind regional 
peers in GDP per capita. 
    Sme, page 7 
     
    GOVT TO AUDIT $284 MLN MILITARY TENDER 
    Slovakia's Supreme Audit Office will audit the 7.5 billion 
crowns ($284 million) military tender, won by the BAE Systems, 
for a new mobile military communication system MOKYS. The tender 
was conducted by the former cabinet of Mikulas Dzurinda. 
    Pravda, page 1 
     
    For an economic indicator diary for the euro zone, 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: bratislava.newsroom@reuters.com 
    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] 
 ((Bratislava Newsroom; Email: bratislava.newsroom@reuters.com; 
+421-905-602-847)) 
 ($1=26.41 Slovak Crown) 
  

[BRATISLAVA/Reuters/Finance.cz]