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Carolina (English) No 324
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STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC
Charles University in Prague
Faculty of Social Sciences
Smetanovo nabr. 6
110 01 Prague 1
Czech Republic
e-mail: CAROLINA@mbox.fsv.cuni.cz
tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 24810987
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
C A R O L I N A No 324, Friday, March 19, 1999.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (March 10 - March 17)
Czech Republic Becomes NATO Member
The Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary March 12 became NATO
members. By submitting their respective ratification documents in the
American town of Independence, Missouri, three former members of the
Warsaw Pact became allies in one defense structure with their former
enemies.
Foreign Ministers Jan Kavan (CR), Bronislaw Geremek (Poland) and
Janos Martonyi (Hungary) submitted their American counterpart Madeleine
Albright the ratification documents in the auditorium of The Truman
Library, named after the American president linked with NATO's founding
in 1949. During the ceremony in Independence, Albright represented the
USA as trustee of the Washington Treaty, NATO's foundation document.
The flags of the three new NATO country members were raised in
front of the alliance's political headquarters March 16 and the
countries' leaders attended a session of the NATO Council for the first
time. In their speeches they concurred that the alliance should remain
open for other candidates. Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman mentioned
Slovakia, because he intends to lobby for its membership at the next
summit in Washington.
Jan Mates/Sofia Karakeva
Politicians and Celebrities Welcome Czech NATO Membership
Czech politicians, except those of the Communist Party of Bohemia
and Moravia (KSCM), say they consider accession to NATO a historic event
that definitively changes the postwar division of Europe.
President Vaclav Havel said that now curtain tragically dividing
Europe has fallen for good. Chamber of Deputies Chairman Vaclav Klaus
said the event reflects the teamwork of politicians and non-politicians
and no one should take the credit as his own. Czech-Moravian Chamber of
Trade Unions (CMKOS) Chairman and Senator Richard Falbr said to the
daily Lidove noviny he is rejoicing in the Czech Republic's membership
in Euro-Atlantic structures. "My children and my grandchildren will not
experience what my father did in 1948 and myself 20 years later," said
Falbr.
Security and Information Service (BIS) Director Jaroslav Jira also
positively evaluated Czech NATO membership. "We (BIS) are prepared to do
everything to acquit ourselves with dignity in our common responsibility
of protecting the values of humanity, freedom and democracy," said Jira.
Other positive statements came from Union of Freedom Fighters Chairman
Jakub Cermin, Senate Chairwoman Libuse Benesova and the Czech Bishop
Conference, which called on believers to pray for the fulfillment of
hopes connected with NATO membership.
Communist Party Chairman Miroslav Grebenicek said to the daily MF
DNES that the country's NATO membership was decided by others in another
place. Grebenicek said the USA was only interested in obtaining
strategically important territory. Members of the Communist Youth Union
demonstrated against membership in front of Prague Castle during the
celebration ball. "We don't want to die in the interest of the market,"
was on one of their signs.
Ondrej Fer, Jan Mates/Sofia Karakeva
Ball and Concert Celebrate Czech Accession into NATO
About 800 guests March 13 gathered at the Prague Castle to
celebrate the Czech Republic's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO). The ball was inaugurated by President Vaclav Havel.
Havel and Defense Minister Vladimir Vetchy thanked Czech soldiers
for their work leading to the accession. Then Vaclav Hybs' orchestra,
together with popular Czech singers Iveta Bartosova and Daniel Hulka,
began the festivities.
The highlight of the evening was the raffle - proceeds went to the
Havels' Vision (Vize) Foundation. First prize in the raffle was a new
Volkswagen.
Before the beginning of the ball, about 30 anarchists demonstrated
against NATO on the square in front of the castle. Two were arrested by
the police after creating a pyrotechnic disturbance.
Three days later, March 16, both chambers of the Czech Parliament
held a concert to celebrate NATO membership. The Czech Philharmonic, led
by chief conductor by Vladimir Ashkenazy, played the New World Symphony
of Antonin Dvorak. The concert was attended by the president and the
first lady, Senate Chairwoman Libuse Benesova and Chamber of Deputies
Chairman Vaclav Klaus. The legislators gave short speeches before the
concert.
Jan Mates/Jakub Jirovec
Senate Returns Freedom of Information Bill
The Senate March 11 returned for the second time to the Chamber of
Deputies the Freedom of Information Bill, delaying the acceptance of
a law giving all citizens access to all information in public offices.
Senators first rejected the proposal last summer, and, after a new
Chamber of Deputies was elected in June, a new version of the bill was
presented.
Senators say they want to include in the final version measures
concerning reimbursement for providing information and appeals when
information is not provided.
The bill, which should go into effect next year, should change the
present situation where the public official decides whether to provide
information. According to the bill, all information concerning official
activity should be available except classified information and trade
secrets.
Jan Mates/Sofia Karakeva
Government Passes Bill on Homosexual Partnership
The government March 10 passed almost unanimously a bill on the
partnership of homosexual couples, which was prepared by deputies across
the political spectrum except for the Christian Democrats. Deputy Prime
Minister Pavel Rychetsky said one minister voted against the bill.
The law should allow partners of the same sex to conclude an
agreement guaranteeing them most social and property rights now accorded
only to married couples. Homosexuals would have right to receive their
partner's pension, the right to visit their partner in the hospital or
the right to refuse to bear witness against their partner. They would
also have some tax breaks.
The government did point out some legislative defects to be removed
by the Parliament.
Tomas Polacek/Jakub Jirovec
NEWS IN BRIEF
* About 300 people protested against violations of human rights in
Tibet March 10 in front of the Chinese Embassy in Prague. Despite the
peaceful nature of the demonstration, the embassy building was sealed
off by police. Only Senator Daniel Kroupa (Civic Democratic Alliance,
ODA) was allowed to approach the gate, where he tried unsuccessfuly to
contact embassy officials and to present a protest petition.
* A homemade bomb exploded in the waiting room of the Vysocany
Hospital March 10. The explosion damaged the furnishings of the waiting
room and broke glass partitions in the corridors. According to Police
spokeswoman Eva Brozova, there were no injures, although five people
complained of hearing problems.
* Senator Dagmar Lastovecka (Civic Democratic Party, ODS) took her
oath of office. The Senate is now ready to function with its full
complement of 81 senators. Lastovecka's seat was called into question
after the November Senate election by an unsuccessful Social Democrat
candidate, who accused Lastovecka of breaking the Election Act by
appearing in the media when such appearances were prohibited. The
Supreme Court ruled the election invalid. ODS lodged a complaint with
the Constitutional Court, which reversed the previous decision.
Ondrej Fer/Katerina Kolarova
FROM SLOVAKIA
Slovakia Stops Importing Russian S-300 Anti-Missile System
The Slovak Government March 12 decided to wind up imports of the
Russian S-300 anti-missile system planned as part of the payments of
past Russian debt to Bratislava. The Government said it wanted to
confirm its drive for NATO membership.
Premier Mikulas Dzurinda also said that the S-300 system is not
appropriate for the needs of the Slovak Army and is unnecessarily
expensive.
Dzurinda also said Slovakia will probably destroy six s-23
missiles, which Washington has long been demanding without result. He
said that one can deduce the future steps of the Government in related
matters from the steps now taken.
Tomas Polacek/Katerina Kolarova
ECONOMY
Shake-Up in Czech Savings Bank, Commerce Bank to Be Privatized Soon
The extraordinary general meeting of the Czech Savings Bank (Ceska
sporitelna, CS) dismissed four of seven members of the board of
directors, General Director Jaroslav Klapal. The other three recalled
board members were Rudolf Hanus, Josef Kotrba (spouse of Social Democrat
politician Petra Buzkova) and Kamil Ziegler. The general meeting
appointed two new directors - Jaroslav Svoboda and Vladimir Kotlar - and
named Klapal's former deputy Dusan Baran the new general director and to
chairman of the board. Bank shareholders also reconstructed the
supervisory board where, however, Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Chairman
Vaclav Klaus's wife Livia retained her post. The general meeting also
approved an increase of basic capital by 7.6 billion crowns without
specifying the method of increase.
The shake up of bank management had been expected since the bank
several months ago reported substantial losses and experienced its worst
economic results ever last year (see Carolina 322).
Another state-controlled bank, the Commerce Bank (Komercni banka,
KB) is not going to call a general meeting soon, said Finance Minister
Ivo Svoboda.
The privatization of both banks was discussed at the Cabinet
meeting March 10, where the Social Democrat Government decided to speed
up the process of privatization. The privatization announcement of the
Czech Savings Bank should be published in April, a similar announcement
for the Commerce Bank in June. Bids for the state shares in the banks
(in CS 44.99 per cent, in KB 48.7 per cent) will be accepted for six
months after the announcement, with the privatization to be completed in
2000.
The Prague Stock Exchange responded to the news with a significant
increase in the volume of the trading of both banks' shares.
Pavlina Hodkova/Milan Smid
Will Chemapol Group Split?
Chemapol Group shareholder Radim Masny March 11 presented some
members of the Government with a proposal for the creation of a new
company called Unichem from some firms in the Chemapol Group. "Our
interest is avoid the threat of bankruptcy as soon as possible for the
healthy part of Chemapol Group. (Unichem) concerns Aliachem, Koramo and
Spolana Neratovice," said Masny to the daily Lidove noviny. Deputy Prime
Minister Pavel Mertlik rejected the project, saying it would benefit
only Masny, who is a shareholder and not a creditor of Chemapol.
"I'll settle with the large creditors, then I'll buy C.H. Chem from
the bankruptcy trustee, so several hundred million (crowns) will flow
into the system. After that there would still remain a huge amount of
assets, which will be far less burdened by creditors, and there would be
more space for the smaller firms. The state would certainly be
satisfied," said Masny. Masny also said he is representing the interests
of an unnamed bank. Experts consider the best possible solution to be
the sale of Aliachem shares to investors who would restructure it.
Chemapol Group was placed into receivership January 27 (see
Carolina 317, 319, 320), and since then 176 creditors have made claims
of 7.8 billion crowns. Among them are Czech tax collectors, who claim
more than 700 million crowns in unpaid taxes and penalties.
Pavlina Hodkova/Michael Bluhm
ECONOMY IN BRIEF
* The Czech National Bank (CNB) reduced all key interest rates again
March 11 effective the next day. The repo rate decreased from 8 per cent
to 7.5 per cent, the discount rate from 7.5 per cent to 5 per cent, and
the Lombard rate from 12.5 per cent to 10 per cent. The crown declined
immediately by 30 hellers to 38.06 crowns to the euro, but it soon
recovered and returned below the 38-crown barrier.
* At the end of December the average gross monthly wage in the Czech
Republic reached 13,041 crowns, the average wage in the business sector
was 13,341 crowns per month, while the average wage in the non-business
sphere was 12,043 crowns. The figures were published in the daily Lidove
noviny March 12.
* The Anti-Monopoly Office, after two years of rejecting the merger
between the Pilsner Urquell (Plzensky prazdroj) and Radegast breweries,
reached the conclusion that the breweries actually merged in 1998, when
Nomura Securities gained control of both, according to the daily
Hospodarske noviny March 17. The new firm is the biggest Czech brewery,
with about 45-per-cent market share.
Pavlina Hodkova/Denisa Vitkova
Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid March 19)
------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 37.86 CZK
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 21.667
Great Britain 1 GBP 55.986
Denmark 1 DKK 5.093
Japan 100 JPY 29.090
Canada 1 CAD 22.610
IMF 1 XDR 47.005
Hungary 100 HUF 14.874
Norway 1 NOK 4.452
New Zealand 1 NZD 18.223
Poland 1 PLN 8.779
Greece 100 GRD 11.781
Slovakia 100 SKK 84.778
Slovenia 100 SIT 19.655
Sweden 1 SEK 4.231
Switzerland 1 CHF 23.718
USA 1 USD 34.379
Exchange Rates of countries particpating in the euro
(converted from the euro rate)
country currency CZK
-----------------------------------------
Germany 1 DEM 19.358
Belgium 100 BEF 93.852
Finland 1 FIM 6.368
France 1 FRF 5.772
Ireland 1 IEP 48.072
Italy 1000 ITL 19.553
Luxemburg 100 LUF 93.852
Netherlands 1 NLG 17.180
Portugal 100 PTE 18.884
Austria 1 ATS 2.751
Spain 100 ESP 22.754
CULTURE
European Film Days in Prague and Brno
The film Life Is Beautiful March 11 opened the sixth European Film
Days in Prague's 64 U hradeb cinema. The Italian film, directed by and
starring Roberto Benigni, has been nominated for a number of Academy
Awards. Twenty-two European countries are presenting 32 films and nine
short films during 10 days in the Lucerna and U hradeb cinemas. The
Prague portion of the festival ends March 21, audiences in Brno can see
the festival's films from March 22-30.
The organization of the festival was again divided among the
European Commission Delegation to the Czech Republic, the Czech Ministry
of Culture and the City of Prague. The Czech-French film Dual Role
(Dvojrole) will represent Czech production to close the Prague portion
of the festival. Director Jaromil Jires gave the leading roles in the
film to Tereza Brodska and Slavka Budinova.
A ticket costs 70 crowns, and the number of people who would like
to see the films far exceeds the number of seats in cinemas. On the
weekend evening of March 20-21 the traditional Marathon of European Film
is planned, where film fans can purchase tickets to three films without
Czech translation starting at midnight for the price of 100 crowns. The
festival also includes a film market, which in recent years has found
distributors for more than 35 films.
Lenka Nejezchlebova/Lenka Nejezchlebova
Dagmar Peckova as Carmen Captivates Prague
Famous mezzosoprano Dagmar Peckova made her debut as the
temperamental Carmen in the premiere of Georges Bizet's opera March 15.
Director Josef Bednarik, whose work always attracts attention, took
hold of the romantic and naturalistic opera non-traditionally. "My
conception of Carmen will be neither reverent nor irreverent," Bednarik
said before the premiere. The story is presented as the memories of Don
Jose as he awaits in prison the verdict for Carmen's murder.
Peckova made her Prague opera debut after more than 10 years of
appearing on tour in prominent European opera houses. Belorussian tenor
Valentin Prolat performed the second main role, together with Helena
Kaupova and Roman Janal in supporting roles.
The Carmen role in the second premiere March 17 was performed by
Marina Domasenko from Ukraine.
Linda Kholova/Denisa Vitkova
SPORTS
Hockey's Staropramen Extraleague Ends Regular Season
Results: 50th round: Sparta - Vsetin 1-5, Vitkovice - Opava 5-2,
K.Vary - Plzen 2-1, C.Budejovice - Litvinov 4-3, Pardubice - Kladno
7-2, Slavia - Zlin 3-3, Jihlava - Trinec 2-2.
51st round: Sparta - Slavia 5-2, Trinec - Vsetin 0-2, Zlin
- Vitkovice 5-4, Opava - C.Budejovice 3-10, Pardubice - K.Vary 5-3,
Kladno - Jihlava 2-2, Litvinov - Plzen 4-3.
52nd round: Slavia - Trinec 2-5, Vitkovice - Sparta 1-3, Plzen
- Opava 2-2, Vsetin - Kladno 7-3, C.Budejovice - Zlin 3-3, Jihlava
- Pardubice 3-3, K.Vary - Litvinov 4-2.
Regular Season Final Standings
G W D L Goals Pts
1. HC Slovnaft Vsetin 52 33 12 7 184: 92 78
2. HC ZPS-Barum Zlin 52 26 17 9 180:138 69
3. HC Zelezarny Trinec 52 28 8 16 174:140 64
4. HC Sparta Praha 52 27 9 16 186:123 63
5. HC Ceske Budejovice 52 23 14 15 173:129 60
6. HC Keramika Plzen 52 23 14 15 148:136 60
7. HC IPB Pojistovna Pardubice 52 20 13 19 128:126 53
8. HC Vitkovice 52 21 8 23 147:140 50
-------------------------------------------------------------------
9. HC Chemopetrol Litvinov 52 19 10 23 130:144 48
10.HC Slavia Praha 52 17 11 24 152:166 45
11.HC Becherovka Karlovy Vary 52 14 10 28 130:181 38
12.HC Opava 52 15 8 29 97:158 38
13.HC Velvana Kladno 52 11 15 26 119:175 37
-------------------------------------------------------------------
14. HC Dukla Jihlava 52 7 11 34 88:188 25
The first eight teams advance to the best-of-five round of the
playoffs beginning March 19. The hockey season is over for teams placing
ninth through 13th. Last-place Jihlava will have to play for its place
in the extraleague against Znojmo, winner of the First Hockey League.
Stepan Etrych
Gambrinus Soccer League Results
Results of the 18th round: Opava - Sparta 2-1, Slavia - Zizkov
4-1, Drnovice - Hradec Kralove 0-2, Blsany - Ostrava 1-2, Liberec
- Jablonec 1-0, Karvina - Plzen 2-0, Pribram - Olomouc 1-2, Teplice
- Brno 2-1.
Standings after the 18th round: 1.Sparta 40 points, 2.Teplice 36,
3.Slavia 32, 4.Drnovice 31, 5.Olomouc 31, 6.Blsany 29, 7.Ostrava 27,
8.Opava 26, 9.Hradec Kralove 25, 10.Brno 23, 11.Liberec 23, 12.Zizkov
21, 13. Jablonec 18, 14.Pribram 17, 15.Plzen 16, 16.Karvina 15.
Josef Koukolicek
WEATHER
The March weather is toying with us. Sunny weather turns to rain
without saing goodbye. Meteorologists promised us higher temperatures,
but never trust them! Spring is coming in a few days but temperatures
from 5 degrees Celsius to below zero/41 degrees Farhenheit to below 32
degrees are keeping our coats on.
Marketa Lajdova/Zuzana Janeckova
English version edited by Michael Bluhm.
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