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Carolina (English) No 214
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STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECH REPUBLIC
Faculty of Social Science of Charles University
Smetanovo nabr. 6
110 01 Prague 1
Czech Republic
e-mail: CAROLINA@cuni.cz
tel: (+42 2) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+42 2) 24810987
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
C A R O L I N A No 214, Friday, August 30, 1996.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST TWO WEEKS (August 14 - 28)
Cuts in Budget Expenses
The Ministry of Finance demanded the government cut expenses by
9.3 billion crowns for the second half of 1996, because of
lower-than-expected state income. Corporate income taxes showed an
especially sharp drop, and Russian debt to the Czech Republic remains at
more than 5 billion crowns. Coalition partners heatedly discussed the
topic for three hours before the Cabinet approved the Finance Minister
Ivan Kocarnik's plan August 29.
The limitations will affect all branches. The Cabinet ordered the
Ministry of Finance to watch taxes more closely. "If collection offices
approach citizens strictly, they should also apply the same strictness
in appoaching large companies," said Minister of Agriculture and
Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party Chairman Josef
Lux. While Parliament Budget Committee Chairman Josef Wagner (Social
Democrats) is positive about the proposal, fellow party Vice-Chairman
Karel Machovec criticized flat cuts without thoroughly studying the
situation in individual branches.
Klaus Skeptical about EU Currency Union
Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus addressed the 52nd European Forum
in Alpbach, Austria August 28, expressing his doubts about a united
European currency functioning effectively and without conflicts. He said
a united currency could be the greatest post-war change in Europe,
perhaps even more important than the fall of Communism. Klaus stated
that the project is clearly political and in no way only economic, which
is why the project's advantages are overestimated, and the disadvantages
underestimated. The Prime Minister conceded that the original core of
the EU does have a chance to create a united currency. According to
Klaus, the currency union is the Trojan Horse "of one very specific and
very well known ideology which I do not share."
Chemapol Takes Over Omnipol
Chemapol Group (CHG) President and Chairman of the Board Vaclav
Junek confirmed that the CHG holding company obtained 80 per cent of the
shares of Omnipol, which trades mostly with machines and weapons
manufacture. The announcement was made at an August 22 press conference,
where Junek also said Chemapol is going to try to obtain a controlling
share in Aero Vodochody, which manufactures training jet aircraft.
Chemapol Group was recenty divided into five subholdings, one of which
is to focus on communications and media. CHG already controls the
Melantrich publishing house, which, among other things, publishes the
daily Svobodne slovo. The company also runs the Czech advertising agency
Ceska reklamni TBWA, and according to Junek would like to become
involved with commercial television.
More than 120 shareholders hold stock in CHG. The Petrochem
company, which was founded by and is managed by former Chemapol
managers, holds more than 15 per cent. When Czech refineries were
privatized more than two years ago, a secret report from the Ministry of
the Interior warned that two people, who had been registered as agents
of the former Secret Service, were among the company's managers. The
English-language weekly Prague Post reported that the heads of Chemapol
and Richard Hava, newly named Chairman of the Board at Omnipol "are
known for their connections to the former communist regime and to the
East."
New Public Prosecuter in Prague
Jan Krivanek was named new Prague State Attorney to replace Josef
Kredba, who was recalled (see Carolina 213). Krivanek left the State
Attorney's Office in July and became chairman of the Czech Anti-Piracy
Union, which works to protect copyrights. Before coming to Prague, he
worked as a prosecuter in Strakonice.
Karel Cernovsky, First Deputy to the former High State Attorney
Libor Grygarek, will fill his former boss' position from September 1.
A new High State Attorney should be named in the next few months.
Which Fighter Planes will the Czech Army Buy?
The McDonell Douglas company showed off their F/A-18D Hornet at the
Pardubice airshow August 19-21. One week later, the French company
Dassault Aviation introduced their fighter aircraft, the Mirage 2000-5.
The Czech Army still has not made a decision on who will supply fighter
planes. It is assumed that a part of the Czech military's aircraft will
be made up by Aero Vodochody's training jets.
Happy Return From Chechnya
Czech and Slovak employees of the Stavoinform construction company
from Kromeriz working on the reconstruction of Chechnya's capital city,
Grozny, were evacuated because of fighting. They returned home August
19. A CSAD Brno bus was sent to Grozny, and completed the return trip
within three days. Besides hard currency for transit costs (about 450
USD), drivers were equipped with Czech beer and American cigarettes for
road-patrol bribes. Construction site Manager Stefan Hajdin, a Slovak
citizen kidnapped by anonymous armed men July 29, is still missing. No
contact has been made concerning him.
Macek Back in Government
Former Civic Democratic Party Vice-Chairman Miroslav Macek, the
former Chairman of the last Czechoslovak Federal Government in 1992, and
known for the role he played in the Wholesale Book Affair (see Carolina
41), is returning to politics. Macek accepted Minister of Health Jan
Strasky's offer of deputy minister.
Brno Hosts SVU Congress
The 18th World Congress of the Society of Science and Art (SVU) was
inaugurated August 26 in Brno's City Theater by Masaryk University
Rector Eduard Schmidt. The SVU, headquartered in Washington, was founded
in 1958 and has about 2,000 members throughout the world. Its main task
is to help cooperation between those abroad and their former home. The
congress is being attended by about 400 scientists, artists and experts,
focusing on the theme of the co-existence of science, technology and
art.
Czech Bus Crashes in Austria
A Czech tour bus carrying tourists to Bibione, Italy, crashed on
the A2 highway near Graz, Austria August 24. The Zlintour bus ran into
the highway's protective wall and immediatly burst into flames,
incinerating a 10-year-old boy. Both drivers and 15 of the 43 travelers
were either injured or burnt. The driver claims that he was forced to
the wall by a passing truck, but Austrian police say the cause of the
accident may have also been one of the driver's "mini-naps".
Triplets Turn into Quadruplets
Drahomira Glaserova gave birth August 21 in Prague to quadruplets
Vit, Daniel, Leos and Eliska. Doctors had predicted triplets for
Glaserova, a 34-year-old lawyer from Bozetice, Pisek county, who
received hormones to induce fertility. The fourth child was discovered
in a Prague clinic before the birth, which took place in the 26th week
of pregnancy.
FROM SLOVAKIA
Meciar Changes Three Ministers
Slovak Premier Vladimir Meciar's proposal for the removal of
Interior Minister Ludovit Hudek, Foreign Minister Juraj Schenk and
Economy Minister Jan Ducky was carried out August 27 by Slovak President
Michal Kovac August 27.
The new Interior Minister is Gustav Krejci, the secretary of
Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, while Ducky's replacement
is Slovak Electric Director Karol Cesnek, and in place of Schenk,
a sociologist, will be former ambassador to Germany and Moscow
Diplomatic School graduate Pavol Hamzik.
The move was conventionally interpreted as a ploy to aid
Slovakia's international reputation by recalling three questionable
ministers, but their replacements are also considered among Meciar's
faithful.
ECONOMY
Stock Exchange Better Informed from September
The Securities Center will September 2 begin publishing daily lists
of shareholders owning 10 per cent or more of publicly traded
corporations. The lists will also be available at 30 Securities Center
branches throughout the Czech Republic. Ownership reporting at the
center was required by the new Securities Law's so-called Jezek
Amendments, which attempt to make the capital market more transparent.
Critics of the amendments, named for Prague Stock Exchange Chamber
Chairman Tomas Jezek, claim ownership should be reported beginning with
5-per-cent stakes, as it is in the U.S. Before the amendments took
effect July 1, the capital markets, often attacked for lack of
transparency, had no reporting requirements.
Klaus Does Not Invite Soudek
Lubomir Soudek, general director of Skoda Plzen, was not among 26
captains of industry invited to an August 23 informal meeting with Prime
Minister Vaclav Klaus and six cabinet members called the Opinion of the
Business and Banking Sphere on Business Climate Development in the Czech
economy. Soudek was not invited, according to opposition daily Pravo,
because of the open letter written to the government after June's
parliamentary elections by Soudek, the head of one of the nation's
largest industrial conglomerates. In part, the letter said, "we cannot
have a government which unthinkingly enacts a bad healthcare model,
neglects the safety of citizens, slowly destroys agriculture, searches
for money in education, leaves the defense of the country to chance and
for whom the development of industry is a burden."
Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank
(valid from August 30)
country currency
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 20.634
Belgium 100 BEF 85.597
Great Britain 1 GBP 40.610
Denmark 1 DKK 4.562
Finland 1 FIM 5.807
France 1 FRF 5.145
Ireland 1 IEP 42.222
Italy 1000 ITL 17.204
Japan 100 JPY 24.049
Canada 1 CAD 19.049
Luxemburg 100 LUF 85.597
Netherlands 1 NLG 15.726
Norway 1 NOK 4.064
New Zealand 1 NZD 18.051
Portugal 100 PTE 17.193
Austria 1 ATS 2.506
Greece 100 GRD 11.016
Slovakia 100 SKK 84.836
Germany 1 DEM 17.638
Spain 100 ESP 20.835
Sweden 1 SEK 3.930
Switzerland 1 CHF 21.812
USA 1 USD 26.039
ECU 1 XEU 33.164
SDR 1 XDR 37.978
CULTURE
Cesky Krumlov Festival Gains Respect
The fifth-annual Cesky Krumlov International Music Festival ended
August 25 with the Czech Philharmonic's performance of Brahms' Symphony
in E Minor and Dvorak's G-Minor Cello Concerto. The philharmonic was
conducted by Petr Vronsky, and Michaela Fukacova was the soloist. In its
short existence, the festival, which takes place in the local castle,
has gained not only a regular audience but also respect and recognition
among critics.
Pop Stars in Prague
Rock grandmother Tina Turner performed at Bohemians Stadium in
Prague August 22 in front of 20,000 spectators. Czech President Vaclav
Havel, at that time on holiday, met Turner before the concert.
The Czech media is thoroughly informing its public about
preparations for Michal Jackson's Prague concert September 7, which will
be the kickoff for the World Tour of the self-crowned King of Pop. On
Letna Plain, where the concert will take place, a crowd of 135,000 is
expected. Jackson will stay at the Hotel Intercontinental and thus will
be able to gaze from his window at the larger-than-life statue of
himself, which is to be placed before the concert on the spot once
occupied by the world's largest statue of Josef Stalin.
CORRECTION
American Soprano Renee Fleming did not perform in Nelahozeves
August 14 at the Dvorak Summer Music Festival, as was reported in
Carolina 213, but rather August 16. The August 14 concert in the
courtyard of the local chateau was rained out.
SPORT
Czech Debacle in World Cup
The Czech hockey team, with a complement of Czech NHL players, lost
its first World Cup match with Finland 7-3 August 23 in Helsinki. The
Czechs were knocked out in the 10th minute of the game when the Finns
scored three goals in 40 seconds.
Czech hockey players also lost their second match, against Sweden
August 29 in Prague. After the 3-0 defeat, spectators in Prague's Sport
Hall booed the Czech team off the ice.
European Soccer Cup Drafts
Opponents for Czech soccer teams in European Cup play were drawn in
Geneva August 23. Slavia, which lost the chance to play in the Champions
League (Slavia also lost the return match with Grasshopper Zurich 1-0 in
Prague August 21), will meet the Swedish team Malmo FF in the UEFA Cup.
Sigma Olomouc did not advance in UEFA Cup play, after being defeated by
the Polish team Hutnik Cracow in the return match 3-1. Sparta, which won
both matches with North Ireland's cup winner Glentoran Belfast (2-1,
8-0) in qualification, will meet the Austrian team Sturm Graz in the
first round of the Cup Winners Cup.
Boby Brno Leads Soccer League Standings
Results of the 3rd round August 23-5: Hradec Kralove - Opava 0-0,
Drnovice - Liberec 1-3, Slavia Praha - Ceske Budejovice 3-0, Banik
Ostrava - FK Teplice 3-1, Boby Brno - Sigma Olomouc 1-0, FK Jablonec
- Viktoria Zizkov 3-1, Bohemians Praha - FC Karvina 0-2, Viktoria Plzen
- Sparta Praha 1-1.
Standings after 3 rounds: 1. Brno 9 (points), 2. Ostrava 6, 3.
Jablonec 6, 4. Slavia 5, 5. Opava 5, 6. Olomouc 4, 7. Drnovice 4, 8.
Liberec 4, 9. Teplice 4, 10. Karvina and Ceske Budejovice 4, 12. Plzen
3, 13. Sparta 2, 14. Bohemians 1, 15. Zizkov 1, 16. Hradec Kralove 1.
WEATHER
After a week of sun and summer temperatures of more than 25 degrees
Celsius/77 degrees Fahrenheit came clouds, showers, thunder and a cold
stream with temperatures fluctuating around 20 degrees Celsius/68
degrees Fahrenheit. Prague's Ruzyne Airport already delayed two morning
flights because of fog. Is summer over? Is fall coming?
Czech version compiled from the Czech media by Milan Smid.
Translation by Michael Bluhm, Andrea Snyder, Milan Smid.
English version edited by Michael Bluhm.
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