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Carolina (English) No 357
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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 357, Wednesday, December 22, 1999.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (December 15 - December 22)
Zeman Visits China
Prime Minister Milos Zeman attended the signing of
a 268-million-USD (9.5-billion-crown) contract to build two blocks at
the Sen-Tchou coal power plant. The contract was signed by Skodaexport
CEO Jan Ricica and China Electric President Yie Ying-Chun. Chinese Prime
Minister Chu Zhung-Ti was also present at the signing and Zeman talked
with him about Czech-Chinese cooperation.
Zeman met with other Chinese officials, including President Jiang
Zemin. Zeman later said, "The top priority of the negotiations were
trade issues, but I did present our vision of parliamentary democracy to
Chinese officials." The Chinese had nothing to say about Zeman's
comments on deomcracy.
In the press communique a sentence did appear about "respecting the
goals and principles of the UN Charter and generally acknowledged norms
of international law."
The Czech delegation, consisting of Zeman, Finance Minister Pavel
Mertlik and Trade Minister Miroslav Gregr, returned to the Czech
Republic December 18 after visiting Vietnam (see Carolina 356) and
China.
Pope Expresses Regret over Execution of Czech Reformer John Huss in 1415
"On the threshhold of the great anniversary of the year 2000 I want
to express my deep regret over the cruel death of John Huss (Jan Hus),
which became the source of many conflicts and divisions in the hearts
and minds of the Czech nation," said Pope John Paul II in a speech at
the international symposium on Huss, held in the Vatican December
14-17. Huss, a priest, was considered a heretic by the Catholic church
for his reformist ideas and in 1415 was burned at the stake in
Constance, Switzerland.
The symposium in the Vatican was the culmination of years of effort
by an ecumenical commission - headed by Frantisek Holecek and supported
by the Pope - to examine the legacy of Huss. The Czech delegation at the
symposium was headed by Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, while President Vaclav
Havel spoke on the last day of the symposium.
The Vatican thus acknowledged Huss' place among Church reformers
but avoided any evaluation of his ideas. Media called the episode an act
of reconciliation, not rehabilitation.
Daniel Herman, speaker of the Czech Bishop's Conference, said the
Pope's positive statements about Huss were the most the Pope could do.
Czech historian Josef Polisensky, said it was a nice gesture and
another step in the reconciliation among various churches. "It has no
greater meaning for Czech history, because the Vatican will not be
willing to re-open the Huss trial and his rehabilitation," said
Polisensky in the December 18 issue of the daily Pravo.
Czech TV Director Puchalsky Steps Down
At a hastily called press conference December 15, Jakub Puchalsky,
30-year-old general director of public-service Czech Television,
announced his resignation under the pretense of "not having sufficient
support from the Czech Television Council". The council, a nine-member
supervisory body nominated by the Chamber of Deputies and with the
authority to appoint and recall the station's director, voted on
Puchalsky's recall a week ago. A majority of the council members (five)
voted December 8 to recall Puchalsky, but for a recall a two-thirds
majority was necessary.
In November the council joined Puchalsky's critics, who reproached
him for mismanagement and incompetent personnel policy as well as
"weakening Czech Television's position as a public-service media," in
the words of the council. Puchalsky, in office since April 1998, will go
on managing Czech Television till the council appoints a new director or
authorizes one of Puchalsky's underlings to run the broadcaster.
The Chamber of Deputies' Media Commission, chaired by Chamber of
Deputies Vice Chairman Ivan Langer, met December 17 with council
Chairman Jan Jirak (NB, Jirak is also a member of this school's faculty)
and representatives of Czech Television employees demanding Puchalsky's
ouster. The meeting did not produce any specific results, and some
deputies criticized it as an improper attempt to influence developments
in Czech Television.
German President Rau Apologizes to Forced Laborers
In his speech at the interenational conference in Berlin concerning
the compensation of the victims of Nazism, German President Johannes Rau
apologized to those forced to work for the Nazi regime. Czechs wishing
to claim compensation can send their applications and documents to the
Union of Forced Laborers (Svaz nucene nasazenych), U kralovske louky 5,
15000 Praha 5, Czech Republic.
ECONOMY
Unions Claim 100,000 Workers Not Receiving Wages
About 1,200 of the 1,600 employees of CKD Transportation Systems
staged a one-day warning strike December 20 because of unpaid wages. The
media claims CKD owes each employee an average of 40,000 crowns.
Senator Richard Falbr, head of the Czech-Moravian Chamber of Labor
Unions (CKMOS), said at the strike that if negotiations fail to ensure
the payment of wages to the approximate 100,000 Czech workers not
recieving their pay, the unions will demand new elections.
Similar problems continue at the Brono company Zetor (see Carolina
354), where some 200 employees December 16 prevented company management
from entering the building. Aside from back pay, the employees demanded
a Government guarantee that the production of tractors in Brno will
continue.
After deadline: a demonstration of about 1,000 union members took
place December 21 outside Parliament. The Chamber of Deputies that day
approved the first reading of the Government-proposed Bankruptcy Bill,
and also approved a Communist-proposed bill to set aside 400 million
crowns to pay the wages of employees who have not been paid for two
months.
Skoda Pilsen Begins Restructuring
At a December 20 extraordinary general meeting, shareholders of
Skoda Pilsen (Plzen) voted to reduce the company's share capital from
9.5 billion crowns by three-quarters. The business daily Hospodarske
noviny called the reduction "one of the most important steps in the
company's restructuring plan."
Former Skoda General Director Lubomir Soudek had tried to block the
general meeting through the courts but was unsuccessful, partly because
the company NERo, which owns 25 per cent of Skoda and is owned by
Soudek, was placed in bankruptcy. The general meeting also recalled both
of Soudek's representatives from Skoda's supervosry board, meaning
Soudek will have no means of blocking the company's restructuring, which
should be assisted by the Government's Revitalization Program (see
Carolina 321 and 337).
The new general director of Skoda should be Martin Roman, the
30-year-old successful head of the company Janek Radotin. Roman should
replace Jiri Hrabica.
Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid December 22)
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 36.060
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 22.979
Great Britain 1 GBP 57.448
Denmark 1 DKK 4.853
Japan 100 JPY 34.971
Canada 1 CAD 24.147
IMF 1 XDR 48.941
Hungary 100 HUF 14.185
Norway 1 NOK 4.468
New Zealand 1 NZD 17.353
Poland 1 PLN 8.625
Greece 100 GRD 10.905
Slovakia 100 SKK 85.280
Slovenia 100 SIT 18.163
Sweden 1 SEK 4.193
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.536
USA 1 USD 35.737
Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro
(converted from the euro rate)
country currency CZK
-----------------------------------------
Germany 1 DEM 18.437
Belgium 100 BEF 89.390
Finland 1 FIM 6.065
France 1 FRF 5.497
Ireland 1 IEP 45.787
Italy 1000 ITL 18.623
Luxemburg 100 LUF 89.390
Netherlands 1 NLG 16.363
Portugal 100 PTE 17.987
Austria 1 ATS 2.621
Spain 100 ESP 21.672
CULTURE
Complete Works of Jiri Kolar on Display
An exhibit of the complete works of Jiri Kolar was opened December
20 in Prague's Expo Palace (Veletrzni palac). This large retrospective
review of Kolar, an artist and poet, is a part of the project Prague
- European City of Culture 2000 and is sponsored by President Vaclav
Havel. The exhibit is the first to examine Kolar's complete works,
because previous exhibitions showed only recent works. Kolar, 85,
a member of the artistic collective Group 42, emigrated in 1980 and
since 1989 has been living in Paris and Prague. The exhibit will last
until March 15.
SPORTS
Decathlete Tomas Dvorak Voted Czech Athlete of the Year
Decathlete Tomas Dvorak was presented the award as Czech Athlete of
the Year December 18 in Prague's Zofin. Dvorak broke the seven-year-old
world record in the decathlon this year and won the gold at the World
Championships. Second place went to Lida Formanova, who won golds at the
indoor and outdoor World Championships in the 800m. Hockey player
Jaromir Jagr finished third.
Dvorak also won in fan voting for the athlete of the year.
Formanova was again second, while third place belonged to the national
hockey team.
The national soccer team's undefeated run through the qualification
round of the Euro 2000 won them the award as the Team of the Year, ahead
of traditional award-winner the national hockey team, which also brought
home gold from this year's World Championships. Prague's Sparta soccer
club finished third.
Skier Zuzana Kocumova was voted Young Athlete of the Tear, while
skier Radim Lancu was voted handicapped athlete of the year.
Further results of the Athlete of the Year voting:
4. Dominik Hasek (hockey)
5. Jan Koller (soccer)
6. Stepanka Hilgertova (slalom canoe)
7. Martin Doktor (canoe)
8. Katerina Neumannova (cross-country skiing)
9. Pavel Nedved (soccer)
10. Jan Zelezny (javelin thrower)
Further results of fan voting:
4. national soccer team
5. Dominik Hasek (hockey)
6. Jaromir Jagr (hockey)
7. Katerina Neumannova (cross-country skiing)
8. Martin Doktor (canoe)
9. Stepanka Hilgertova (slalom canoe)
10. Jan Zelezny (javelin thrower)
SPORTS IN BRIEF
* The Czech Republic finished second in the Baltica Cup tournament,
held from December 16-21 in Moscow as part of the Euro Hockey Tour. The
Czechs beat Sweden 2:0, then lost to Finland 3:1 in a penalty-filled
match. The Czechs then played their best hockey against tournament champ
Russia, although the game finished in a 1:1 tie. The Czechs then
defeated Canada easily, 6:2 (the Baltica Cup is the only tournament on
the Euro Hockey Tour not limited to European teams). By finishing
second, the Czechs stayed in second place in the overall tour standings
behind Russia.
* Jan Koller (who played for Lokern and Anderlecht) was voted Czech
Footballer of 1999, ahead of Pavel Nedved (Lazio Roma) and Patrik Berger
(Liverpool). National Team coach Josef Chovanec was named coach of the
year. Zdenek Janos, the Dukla Pribram goalie killed in a car accident,
was posthumously voted Soccer Leage Man of the Year. Tomas Rosicky of
Prague's Sparta was voted Talent of the Year. The awards, now in their
35th year, were voted on for the first time by players from the top
Czech league, Czech players in foreign leagues and coaches of national,
first-league and second-league teams.
* Patrik Berger won the Golden Ball as the best Czech soccer player
of 1999 in the annual poll of journalists. Jan Koller finished second
and Pavel Nedved third. Berger, a starter for Liverpool and a member of
the Czech national team, called 1999 the "best year of my life."
* Czech soccer player Pavel Nedved of Lazio Rome was voted the
15th-best player in Europe, according to a poll in the magazine France
Football.
* Czech Ladislav Rygl won the Nordic combined event in the Steamboat
Springs World Cup meet in the Rocky Mountains. The victory moved Rygl
into third place in the World Cup standings.
WEATHER
Instead of the weather (which is so horribly cold that it doesn't
deserve mention), the staff of Carolina would like to wish you a Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year.
This issue of Carolina was written by Lida Truneckova, Alda Rohrichu and
Milan Smid, and translated by Ondrej Maly, Denisa Vrbova, Milan Smid and
Michael Bluhm. The next issue of Carolina will be released January 14.
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