Bratislava  - Slovakia has partially relaxed its controversial law requiring the ending "ova" to be added to women's name on official documents.

Until now, a Slovak woman who married a German national by the name of Mueller, for example, had to list herself on all official Slovak documents as Meuellerova.

This will change conditionally in early 2009 under the new law. From then, a woman in such a situation can use the simple name, Mueller, on her driver's licence and other Slovak documents.

However, this will only be permitted if in addition to her Slovak citizenship she has citizenship in another country in which the "ova" ending is not used.

Bratislava - Czech energy firm CEZ is to build a new nuclear power plant in Slovakia to help offset a closure of its two Soviet-era reactors, an official said Wednesday.

The Slovak leftist government of Prime Minister Robert Fico selected CEZ as its strategic partner for building a new unit in the Jaslovske Bohunice nuclear energy complex, Slovak Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek said.

Slovakia vowed to shut down two Soviet-era units in Jaslovske Bohunice by 2009 as part of its accession deal with the European Union, which the country of 5.3 million entered in 2004.

Bratislava - Slovakia, which adopts the euro on January 1, slashed its borrowing costs Tuesday to match the European Central Bank's (ECB) latest cut, the country's central bank said.

The Slovak National Bank slashed the key two-week repo rate by three quarters of a percentage point to 2.5 per cent in line with the ECB's dramatic cut on December 4.

Slovakia's benchmark rate has stood at 4.25 per cent since April 2007 until October this year when the country began matching the ECB's cuts aimed at boosting the eurozone's sliding economy.

Bratislava - The Slovak economy slowed down to 7 per cent in the third quarter of 2008, the weakest annual growth in three years, but remained strong as the
15-member eurozone plunged into recession, revised government data showed Thursday.

The annual gross domestic product (GDP) slowed from a revised 7.9 per cent in the second quarter, the Slovak Statistical Office said.

While the GDP fell by more than half from the record 14.3 per cent posted in the last three months of 2007, Slovakia still outpaced its central European neighbours in the July-September period.

Bratislava - Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico rejected Wednesday demands by his Hungarian counterpart Ferenc Gyurcsany aimed at easing nationalist tensions between the two historical foes.

At a November 15 meeting in Slovakia, Gyurcsany among others asked Fico to allow use of Hungarian textbooks in minority schools, set up an ombudsman for minorities and jointly investigate cases of minority rights violations.

"There is no reason for any adjustments as the legal protection of minority rights is on the European level," the CTK news agency cited Fico as saying.

Bratislava - The former second-highest official in the Slovakian football federation SFZ is to face trial for corruption, the country's general prosecution service confirmed Thursday in Bratislava.