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Carolina (English) No 105
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STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECH REPUBLIC
School of Social Sciences of Charles University
Smetanovo nabr. 6
110 01 Prague 1
Czech Republic
E-mail address: carolina@n.fsv.cuni.cz
Fax: (+422) 24810987
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C A R O L I N A No 105, Friday, February 11, 1994.
EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (FEBRUARY 2 - 9)
NOVA - the New Star on the Czech TV Sky
The first nation-wide private television channel in
a post-communist country began broadcasting Friday, February 4, in the
Czech Republic.
With the debut of NOVA Television, the monopoly of state-run Czech
Television came to the end. NOVA broadcasts to 98 percent of the
territory of the Czech Republic. Since June 1993, the regional private
television station PREMIERA has been broadcasting to the Prague area.
Several local cable-television companies also operate in the country.
Following a competition of 20 applicants, NOVA received a 12-year
license for nation-wide broadcasting from the Council of the Czech
Republic for Radio and TV Broadcasting in February 1993. The operator of
the channel is Czech Independent Television Company comprising the
limited Czech company CET 21, the Czech Saving Bank and the
American-Canadian investment company Central European Development
Corporation. CEDC will invest about 45 million U.S. dollars into the
project, said Chairman Mark Palmer, former U.S. ambassador to Hungary.
All of NOVA's revenue will come from sales of advertising. NOVA
officials hope to increase the volume of advertising, and will insert
ads in the middle of films and programs, a new approach in the Czech
Republic.
More than 80 percent of NOVA's staff were lured from Czech
Television by the offer of higher salaries. NOVA hired several top Czech
journalists for its newscasts and current affairs programs.
Programming and scheduling will be concentrated on the "average
viewer", with priority in news bulletins given to the news of crime over
political news.
(One of the new faces on the NOVA screen is our colleague and
co-editor of Carolina Pavel Poulicek.)
Prime Minister Visits Israel
Nearly two-years of negotiations between the Czech Republic and
Israel on protection of investments and repatriation of profits have
ended in success, and a final agreement should be prepared for signature
very soon, said Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus on Tuesday, February 8,
after returning from a state visit to Israel.
"The primary aim of our visit was to get to know Israel, to get
maximum knowledge of the political, social, economical and security
situation there, and to establish personal contacts with the leading
Israel representatives," Klaus said. "The second task was to pass
information about our country to Israel, to tell who we are, where we
are, where we are heading, and at what stage our country is situated
now. The third part of our visit was made up of discussing more concrete
cooperation in different areas - from politics to economics."
Klaus and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin issued a joint
declaration on trade liberalization between the countries. Fast-track
negotiations on establishing a free-trade zone would send a positive
signal sent to the outside world, officials said.
Vaclav Havel Travels to India
Czech President Vaclav Havel accepted the Indira Gandhi
International Peace Prize for 1993 in Delhi, Tuesday, February 8, during
a visit to India and Thailand.
In his acceptance speech, Havel said, "Decolonization and the fall
of the communism has meant the end of the artificially made world
order."
"This artificial order is still not replaced by the new, more natural
order," Havel continued. "It can be said that the world is situated at
this moment in some transitional stage which enables all previously
latent conflicts to erupt with their full force."
"If our world should resist all the big dangers, then mankind has to
find its inner power to accept the new kind of the global
responsibility. The climate of multicultural coexistence - if it
happened to be established - could be the first sign of this
responsibility" he said.
Havel said he wants the Gandhi prize money of 2.5 milions Indian
rupees to be used for humanitarian purposes, part to the Dali Lama of
Tibet and part to the Foundation for the Development of the Prague
Castle.
First Bank Failure in Czech Republic
The Czech National Bank took legal action at the Regional Court of
Commerce and submitted a proposal to start bankruptcy procedures with
the Credit and Industrial Bank, the first such action in the Czech
Republic.
In 1992, the amount of credit provided by the Credit and Industrial
Bank grew while the bank's liquidity declined because debt retirement
and repaying of credits were delayed.
A foreign auditor has analyzed the assets and the debts of the
Credit and Industrial Bank and found that indebtness is several times
higher than the basic liquid capital of half a billion Czech crowns
(nearly 20 million U.S. dollars).
Joining Czech National Bank in the action were Komercni banka,
Agrobanka, Ceska sporitelna, Bohemia and Ceska banka, the main creditors
of the Credit and Industrial Bank.
Officials of the creditor banks said that monitoring the practices
of Credit and Industrial and subsequent supervision measures should have
come earlier and more vigorously.
Slower Wage Raise in 1994
Following an economic ministers' meeting February 1, Czech Prime
Minister Vaclav Klaus commented on wage development throughout 1993.
While wages in industry increased 24 per cent in 1993, last December
saw only 20.5 per cent increase. The rise in building industry was as
high as 28.8 per cent.
Klaus said he finds these figures positive because they reflect the
process of slowing wage increases. According to government data
published in Hospodarske noviny this January, the average month salary
in 1993 was about 5,600 Kc.
Tension Between Czechs and Austria Over Nuclear Plant Called Unnecessary
Czech Foreign Minister Josef Zieleniec said at a February 3 press
conference that he feels very sorry for unnecessary tension with Austria
because of nearing completion of the Temelin nuclear power plant.
Despite that, he said he is convinced that the Czech Republic acts
in accordance with international law and good neighborly relations. His
statement followed Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus's expressed will to
complete the plant in Temelin and accused Austria of attacking a "weaker
partner than Germany or Switzerland", although both those countries have
nuclear plants close to the Austrian border.
Zhirinovsky invited to the Czech Republic
Miroslav Sladek's Association For the Republic-Czechoslovak
Republican Party has decided to invite Vladimir Zhirinovsky, head of
Russia's Liberal-Democratic party to the Czech Republic.
A statement from the presidium of the Repubican Party said the
reason for this invitation is an effort to learn more about the aims and
program of the Liberal-Democratic party and its chairman.
Although Zhirinovsky's visits to other countries have met mostly
with negative reactions, Minister of Foreign Affairs Josef Zieleniec
doesn't think that the invitation merits special steps or measures.
Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus said the invitation from the Republicans
didn't surprise him, and that rather, he would have been surprised if it
didn't happen.
CULTURE
Philharmonic Conductor Albrecht stands by decision not to play in
Vatican
Despite unfavorable reactions, Chief Conductor Gerd Albrecht said
February 4 that he would stick to his decision not to have the Czech
Philharmonic perform March 7 in the Vatican on the occasion of mutual
recognition between Israel and the Vatican.
Gerd said the orchestra could not attend because of preparation for
a June concert tour to Japan and a recording for the company Pony
Canyon. Preparation for the Vatican concert would take at least four
rehearsals, he said. Albrecht said the majority of the orchestra
supports his decision.
SPORT
Radomir Simunek Begins Prison Term.
Bicycling star Radomir Simunek, who was sentenced to an 18-month
term for a 1992 car accident in which three people died, began serving
his sentence in Plzen-Bory February 1.
He was initially set to start his term January 31. The day before,
Simunek took part in the world championship in cross-race biking in
Koksijde, Belgium. He was best among Czech racers, finishing ninth
overall.
Simunek came to Bory on January 31, but after working hours there
were over, so he was asked to come the next day. In two weeks, Simunek
should be moved to prison with lower security, where he will be able to
train.
Exchange Rates of the Czech National Bank (valid from February 6)
CASH CHECKS
Buy Sell Buy Sell Middle
Great Britain 1GBP 43,43 46,27 44,268 45,076 44,852
France 1FRF 4,88 5,28 5,053 5,103 5,078
Italy 1 000ITL 17,10 18,54 17,777 17,955 17,866
Japan 100JPY 26,59 29,19 27,749 28,057 27,888
Canada 1CAD 21,69 23,47 22,470 22,696 22,583
Netherlands 1NLG 14,90 15,86 15,300 15,454 15.377
Austria 1ATS 2,39 2,51 2,438 2,462 2,450
Germany 1DEM 16,77 17,69 17,140 17,312 17,226
Switzerland 1CHF 20,13 21,13 20,527 20,733 20,630
USA 1USD 29,60 31,00 30,144 29,446 30,295
EMS-ECU 1XEU - - 33,354 33,690 33,522
Slovakia 1XCU - - - - 32,516
WEATHER
Temperatures ranged around the zero, with snow in the countryside
and mountains, and rain in Prague.
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