Slovakia - Factors To Watch on May 20

                                
 BRATISLAVA, May 20 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press
reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial
markets on Thursday.
                                
 
                                
 CROATIA'S JOSIPOVIC VISIT
                                
 Croatia's President Ivo Josipovic will end his two-day visit
to Slovakia.
                                
 
                                
 SLOVENSKE ELEKTRARNE GA MEETING
                                
 Power company Slovenske Elektrarne, unit of Italy's utility
ENEL, will hold a general assembly meeting.
                                
 
                                
 DEBUTANTS SLOVAKIA NEED TO KEEP UP QUALIFYING FORM 
                                
 If World Cup debutants Slovakia can repeat their fine
qualifying form in South Africa, they should have a fair chance
of reaching the knockout round.
                                
 [ID:nLDE643237] related news [RTRS-SPO-SOCC-WCUP-SK-LEN]
                                
 
                                
 TALE OF THREE VLADIMIRS MAKES FAMILY PROUD
                                
 Confusingly, Slovakia coach Vladimir Weiss is the son of
former Czechoslovakia defender Vladimir Weiss and the father of
20-year-old international winger Vladimir Weiss.
                                
 [ID:nLDE6451AU] related news [RTRS-SPO-SOCC-WCUP-SK-LEN]
                                
 
                                
 YOUNG HAMSIK IS SLOVAKIA'S JACK OF ALL TRADES
                                
 Marek Hamsik is a gifted attacking midfielder with
outstanding playmaking abilities and a keen eye for goal.
                                
 [ID:nLDE6442BF] related news [RTRS-SPO-SOCC-WCUP-SK-LEN]
                                
 
                                
 DOWN THE WING, SESTAK MAKES THE SLOVAKS SING
                                
 Slovakia's most influential player in the World Cup
qualifiers, Stanislav Sestak, topped the scoring chart and most
of his six goals in eight games were vital for the team's
progress to South Africa.
                                
 [ID:nLDE64804Z] related news [RTRS-SPO-SOCC-WCUP-SK-LEN]
                                
 
========================= PRESS DIGEST =========================
                                
 
                                
 SMER FINANCING ISSUES
                                
 The attorney general will investigate sources of financing
of the 2002 election campaign of Prime Minister Robert Fico's
SMER party. SMER senior ex-member said costs of the rally were
around 8 million euros. Fico said there were no wrongdoings.
                                
 Sme, page 1
                                
 
                                
 ELECTRONICS SECTOR'S UPBEAT
                                
 Slovak electronics sector, centred around assembly plants of
Panasonic, Samsung Electronics, UMC Slovakia and Sony Slovakia,
was boosting production and analysts expected the industry to be
among key drivers of the economic growth.
                                
 Hospodarske Noviny, page 1
                                
 
                                
 QUALITY OF BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT SLIDES
                                
 Survey of Swiss-based Institute for Management Development
showed quality of Slovak business environment has deteriorated,
confirming businesses perception of the situation. The
government rebuffed such complaints.
                                
 Hospodarske Noviny, page 4
                                
 
                                
 News editor of the day: Martin Santa on +421 2 5341 8402
fax: +421 5341 8403 e-mail: martin.santa@thomsonreuters.com,
martin.santa@thomsonreuters.com, Reuters Messaging:
matin.santa.areuters.com@reuters.net

For real-time index quotes, double click in brackets:
Warsaw WIG20 <.WIG20>  Budapest BUX <.BUX>  Prague PX50 <.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]
 (compiled by Martin Santa)