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Carolina (English) No 325
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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 325, Friday, March 26, 1999.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (March 17 - March 24)
Czech Parliament Approves Field Hospital for Balkans
NATO General Secretary Javier Solana ordered air strikes on
Yugoslav military forces just before midnight March 23. The Czech
Republic, as an active member of NATO, is prepared to send an unarmed
transport aircraft and a military field hospital.
In Parliament, 153 deputies of 191 present voted in favor of the
field hospital March 24. The Senate had approved the proposal March 10.
Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman said the field hospital will provide
care to both sides because it is the requirement of the Czech Republic
wants to continue its historic tradition of friendly relations
(Yugoslavia sided with Czechoslovakia in 1938 and 1968). That is the
reason the field hospital will be located in Macedonia and not in
Kosovo. The An-26 transporter with a 12-member crew should be included
in the NATO air verification operation.
In connection with the attack on Yugoslavia, the Czech president,
prime minister and leaders of both chambers of Parliament decided March
24 to cancel the celebration, to be attended by Solana, at Prague Castle
to mark the Czech Republic's accession to NATO. Instead, the Czech State
Security Council met to discuss the situation in Kosovo.
Jiri Wazik/Sofia Karakeva
After deadline: Czech Government Position on NATO Attack
The Czech Government said it prefers a diplomatic solution to armed
intervention. The government said it regrets that the crisis is not
being solved that way. NATO took the decision to use its airborne forces
before the Czech Republic was accepted as a member and the Czech
Government said it considers this solution an attempt to prevent further
escalation of the Kosovo crisis and a humanitarian catastrophy. The
Government said it hopes that casualities will be minimal and both sides
will return to the negotiating table.
From the Czech daily Pravo/Zuzana Janeckova
Chilean President Eduardo Frei Visits Prague
Eduardo Frei, the president of Chile, visited Prague March 17.
During his meeting with Czech President Vaclav Havel and elsewhere in
Prague he could not avoid questions concerning the past: "Chile insists
that the actions of former dictator August Pinochet not be judged by
foreign judiciary, but by the organs of justice in his own country,".
Although the main subjects of discussion were human rights and
globalization, the presidents also agreed on the need to expand economic
and trade cooperation.
Veronica Macias/Sofia Karakeva
Decision about Temelin Delayed
The future of the Temelin nuclear power plant remained undecided
after the Cabinet session March 22. The Government discussed the report
of an independent expert commission about the positives and negatives of
Temelin's completion. The Cabinet session was accompanied by
a demonstration of ecological activists, who demanded the postponement
of a final decision until detailed research is completed on the possible
suspension of construction.
In the Temelin case exists a disagreement between Environment
Minister Milos Kuzvart and Trade Minister Miroslav Gregr. Kuzvart argues
against Temelin with economic and ecological reasons, Gregr supports it
by saying the Czech Republic will need energy from Temelin. The
Government asked both ministers to prepare materials for and against
Temelin. Their work should provide more alternatives: completing
Temelin, completing only part of Temelin, letting it stand or
demolishing it. The analyses should be completed by the end of April,
and a final decision will probably be made April 30.
Alena Smrzova/Jakub Jirovec
Svoboda and Snopkova Leave Their Party Positions
Vice Chairman for Managment of the ruling Social Democrats (CSSD)
and Finance Minister Ivo Svoboda announced March 20 during a party
presidium session that he will withdraw his candidacy for another term
as vice chairman at the April party congress. Although he will not have
an important party office, he will remain minister. Prime Minister and
party Chairman Milos Zeman said he respects Svoboda as good minister and
sees no reason for resignation.
CSSD Chief Treasurer Barbora Snopkova will leave her office March
31. Snopkova was also Svoboda's chief of staff and adviser, but she
resigned there because of criminal charges in the Liberta affair.
Snopkova is charged with hiding some materials from creditors during
Liberta's liquidation. Snopkova and Svoboda are suspected of defrauding
Liberta because they sold its healthy divisions to the Zora-Euro
company, which they own. Svoboda said the basis of problems surrounding
Liberta is its badly handled privatization and the following sale of
assets by previous owners.
Petra Machova/Jakub Jirovec
NEWS IN BRIEF
* Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman, while in Sofia March 17-18 signed
an agreement against organized crime and discussed Czech-Bulgarian visa
relations.
* Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan March 18 in Copenhagen met with
his Danish counterpart Niels Petersen and discussed the status of small
countries in NATO. Kavan described as symbolic his visit to the country
that was the first to agree with NATO expansion.
* The three new NATO members - Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic
- will push for Slovakia to become a NATO member as soon as possible,
the three countries' deputy foreign ministers agreed in Karlovy Vary
March 20.
Zuzana Janeckova, Marketa Kaclova and Radan Dolejs/Sofia Karakeva
FROM SLOVAKIA
Slovak Direct Presidential Primaries to Be Held May 15
Slovaks will vote for their president directly for the first time
in Slovak history May 15. The National Assembly passed the Presidential
Election Act March 18, which gave the Slovak public the opportunity to
choose the head of state.
Assemblymen passed the law in its third reading. The law was passed
despite of the earlier boycott of the Hungarian Coalition members in
opposition to the bill for the 1999 state budget.
Under the previous Assembly the polarization of the political
spectrum prevented any candidate from receiving the two-thirds majority
of votes necessary for election. Direct presidential election was one of
the key campaign promises of the current Government parties.
Any citizen over 40 and eligible for election to the Assembly can
run for president. A candidate can be proposed either by 15 assemblymen
or by a petition signed by 15,000 citizens.
Michaela Prokopova/Zuzana Janeckova
ECONOMY
Nomura Gets to Keep Control of Czech Beer Market
The final decision of the Office for the Protection of Economic
Competition found the May 1998 merger of Pilsner Urquell (Plzensky
prazdroj) and Radegast Brewery in accordance with the law. The brewery
giant controls 45 per cent of the beer market, followed by Prague
Breweries (13 per cent), Krusovice and Budweiser (each 5 per cent). The
decision is immediately effective and cannot be appealed.
Pilsner and Radegast were merged indirectly when the Japan's Nomura
Securities, through subsidiary Nomura Europe, gained control of the
Investment and Postal Bank (Investicni a postovni banka, IPB), which
controls a majority interest in Pilsner through Czech Beer, owned by IPB
subsidiary Bank Holding (Bankovni holding). Radegast came under Nomura
control through IMP Finance, in which Nomura International holds
a majority.
Small breweries reacted negatively to the decision. Graham Staley,
director of Bass, the owner of Prague Breweries, said to Czech daily
Hospodarske noviny March 19, "It is difficult to understand why the
office all of a sudden accepted the creation of a dominant player on the
market three times bigger than its closest competitor. The position is
a bad news for Czech brewing." Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy
Pavel Mertlik said he considers the decision correct.
Pavlina Hodkova/Denisa Vitkova
Czech GDP in 1998 Declined by 2.7 Per Cent
The Czech Republic's gross domestic product declined by 2.7 per
cent in 1998 and by an alarming 4.1 per cent in 1998's final quarter,
according to data released March 22 by the Czech Statistical Office.
Almost all macroeconomic indicators showed a decline for 1998, led
by the nosedive in investments (down 6.6 per cent from 1997), caused by
a lack of finances in the private and public sectors, and by the
increased difficulty in getting loans. One bright point was the Czech
Republic's payment balance. According to information in the March 19
edition of daily Hospodarske noviny, the surplus reached an unbelievable
2.6 billion dollars and compensated for the current-account deficit of
1.05 billion dollars.
Karel Kuhnl, trade minister in Josef Tosovsky's Government and
current Freedom Union Parliament deputy, compared the Czech economic
situation with the decline in Hungary four or five years ago. In light
of this he said the Social Democrat Government should react just like
the Hungarian leaders, who at that time reduced the budget deficit and
completed price liberalization and privatization.
Economic analysts say the possible ways out of the crisis include
finishing privatization of banks and companies, increasing the foreign
demand, a weakening of the crown, lower interest rates and a growth
budget.
Pavlina Hodkova/Denisa Vitkova
Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid March 26)
------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 38.485 CZK
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 22.444
Great Britain 1 GBP 57.804
Denmark 1 DKK 5.177
Japan 100 JPY 29.900
Canada 1 CAD 23.399
IMF 1 XDR 48.340
Hungary 100 HUF 15.034
Norway 1 NOK 4.552
New Zealand 1 NZD 18.986
Poland 1 PLN 8.901
Greece 100 GRD 11.862
Slovakia 100 SKK 86.096
Slovenia 100 SIT 20.268
Sweden 1 SEK 4.275
Switzerland 1 CHF 24.141
USA 1 USD 35.286
Exchange Rates of countries particpating in the euro
(converted from the euro rate)
country currency CZK
-----------------------------------------
Germany 1 DEM 19.677
Belgium 100 BEF 95.402
Finland 1 FIM 6.473
France 1 FRF 5.876
Ireland 1 IEP 48.866
Italy 1000 ITL 19.876
Luxemburg 100 LUF 95.402
Netherlands 1 NLG 17.464
Portugal 100 PTE 19.196
Austria 1 ATS 2.797
Spain 100 ESP 23.130
CULTURE
Czech Film Dual Role Closes Prague Portion of European Film Days
After the European Film Marathon in Prague's Lucerna through the
night of March 20-21, the Prague part of the European Film Days festival
closed (see Carolina 324). The marathon showed the movies Same Old Song
(France), Adam and Eve (Sweden) and In Trouble Again (Germany). The
festival is continuing in Brno March 22-30.
The festival was closed by the new Czech sci-fi film Dual Role by
director Jaromil Jires. It tells the story of a young girl in a serious
automobile accident. In an operation she is given a new brain, which
originally belonged to a 70-years-old woman. Tereza Brodska (daughter of
actor Vladimir Brodsky and actress Jana Brejchova) performs the leading
role. The story was written by translator and Senator Jaroslava
Moserova. Because one of the film's co-producers was the Brno studio of
Czech Television, it is very likely that the film will be shown on Czech
Television as well.
Zuzana Galova/Katerina Kolarova
Jiri Grusa Receives Goethe Prize
Czech poet, translator and former Minister of Education Jiri Grusa
was awarded the Goethe Prize March 22. The institute named after German
writer Johann Wolfgang Goethe each year awards foreign contributions to
German language and cultural exchange. Grusa received the prize because
of his poetry written in German and also for his contribution to the
promotion of Czech literature and for strenghtening Czech-German
relations.
Grusa took political asylum in Germany from 1981. Grusa was
Czechoslovak and Czech ambassador to Germany from 1991-97. Today he is
Czech ambassador to Austria.
Zuzana Galova/Katerina Kolarova
SPORTS
Results of the Gambrinus Soccer League
Results of the 20th round: Zizkov - Teplice 2-0, Ostrava - Pribram
1-2, Brno - Blsany 1-0, Hradec - Opava 1-0, Plzen - Drnovice 2-0,
Olomouc - Karvina 2-0, Sparta - Liberec 1-0
The Jablonec-Slavia match was postponed till April because of the
condition of the field.
Standings after the 20th round: 1.Sparta 43 points, 2.Teplice 36,
3.Olomouc 34, 4.Slavia 32, 5.Drnovice 31, 6.Blsany 29, 7.Hradec 28,
8.Ostrava 27, 9.Brno 26, 10.Opava 26, 11.zizkov 24, 12.Liberec 23,
13.Pribram 20, 14.Plzen 19, 15.Jablonec 18, 16.Karvina 15
Robin Rohrich
Zlin Advances to Final Four of Hockey's Staropramen Extraleague
Zlin needed only three games to advance to the semifinals of the
playoffs sweeping rival Pardubice 3-0 in games by scores of 1-0, 2-0 and
2-1.
Other results in the best-of-five round of the playoffs:
Vsetin - Vitkovice: Vsetin leads series 2-1 (4-3, 3-1, 2-4);
Sparta - Ceske Budejovice: Sparta leads series 2-0 (4-3, 2-0);
Trinec - Plzen: series tied 1-1 (2-4, 4-2).
Tomas Kohout
WEATHER
Well, the most expected event of the last week is over. Spring
officially arrived March 21, but we were not rewarded with spring
weather. According to the local meteorologists that is very normal,
because the traditional average temperature for this day is about 5
degrees Celsius/41 degrees Fahrenheit. Some inhabitants of Czech
villages observed pagan rituals like the opening of wells and springs.
Water rats held their traditional ritual called The Drift of Spring and
symbolically brought spring from Usti nad Labem to Decin by boat.
Every silver lining has a cloud - those allergic to pollen started
to suffer. Whiners are also satisfied, because there is always something
to complain about. Daylight savings time begins March 28.
Katerina Kolarova/Katerina Kolarova
English version edited by Michael Bluhm
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