PKO.

(From The Slovak Spectator)

Naughty by Nature, The Prodigy, Jethro Tull, Bobby McFerrin and Chick Korea are just some of the hundreds of artists that have, over the last couple of decades, performed at Park Kultury a Oddychu, known simply as PKO. The Culture and Leisure Park is neither a park, nor a good place to relax, but despite its sub-optimal acoustics, communist design, and complete lack of car parking, the building's two concert halls represent a musical shrine. If Slovakia has a Carnegie Hall, this is it. PKO's story perfectly illustrates much of what is wrong with local government in Slovakia. The building stands on the Danube river bank, right in the middle of Bratislava. In 2005, the city council decided to sell it along with surrounding property to a private developer, allowing the developer to tear the building down as soon as a replacement was found. There was no call for bids, the real estate was sold well beneath the market price to an unknown firm, widely believed to be owned by financial sharks from the J&T investment company, and objections from residents and concert-goers were ignored. It seemed that PKO's fate was sealed.

But then came the economic crisis and lavish new developments no longer seemed such a good idea. Suddenly, Mayor Andrej Durkovsky started talking about the need to buy back what had been sold. At a much higher price, of course. Dubious deals, disregard for citizens, and close ties between public officials and investors, all of that is typical for all levels of government in Slovakia.

But PKO's tale also ...