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Carolina (English) No 423
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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 ISSN 121-5040
tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 22112219
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
C A R O L I N A No 423, Friday, June 15, 2001.
FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (June 6- June 13)
Mad Cow Disease Found in Czech Republic
Agriculture Minister Jan Fencl and Director of State Veterinary
Administration Josef Holejsovsky announced June 6 that one test sample
of beef contains the prion that causes Mad Cow Disease (BSE). A back-up
test confirmed the six-year-old cow butchered in Kostelec was infected.
The Czech Republic is the first Central or Eastern European country to
register a case of BSE.
Prague asked for assistance in Tuebingen, Germany; local experts
have more experience, but they are expected to find similar results.
However, there were cases when cattle proved to be healthy after several
tests.
Employees of the Dusejov farm in the Jihlava region, the home of
the infected cow, and butchers were quite scared by the confirmed
existence of BSE. According to media information, no significant
decrease in the demand for beef occurred during the weekend.
The State Veterinary Administration ordered checks of all cattle
older than 30 months. This will cost an additional 300 million crowns
that Fencl will need from the government. As much as 730 million crowns
had been set aside for BSE testing before, mainly because of
foot-and-mouth disease. The EU refuses to give financial aid for testing
to candidate countries.
Other European countries took strong measures. Poland, Slovakia and
Lithuania imposed an embargo on importing all beef products from the
Czech Republic June 8. Slovakia later relaxed the measure, allowing the
import of milk and dairy products; importing beef, bone meal and all
kinds of cattle feed is banned.
Pavla Reznickova/Stepan Vorlicek
Internet Will not Be in All Schools This Year
The Office for the Protection of Economic Competition put on hold
the tender for choosing a general contractor for computers for Czech
schools. All work on the project is stopped for 60 days.
Only one company, AutoCont On Line, related to monopoly phone
provider Czech Telecom, met the requirements of the tender. The other
five finalists failed to comply because of formal errors. The tender
winner should supply schools with computer equipment and internet
connection for next five years, receiving 4.5 billion crowns from the
state. Due to the delay, the ministry will not be able to draw money
from this year's budget, which might cause problems with next year's
budget.
Neither principals nor opposition politicians were satisfied with
the tender, although Education Minister Eduard Zeman supported the
project. Main project coordinator Jakub Rainisch is a former employee of
AutoCont, which caused some doubts about the legitimacy of the tender.
The Education Ministry is nevertheless convinced it acted lawfully, but
will obey the decision to delay the tender.
Pavla Reznickova/Ondrej Maly
NEWS IN BRIEF
* Citizens whose assets exceed 10 million crowns would have to file
records of their property, according to a government bill. The bill is
intended to fight money laundering and tax evasion. The Cabinet passed
the proposal June 6. It is certain that conservative deputies will not
pass the bill. "Property statements never helped economic growth or to
decrease crime. They might be another source for the corruption of state
officials," said for the daily Lidove noviny Liberal Institute Director
Miroslav Sevcik.
* Zoran Djindjic, prime minister of Yugoslavia, arrived in the Czech
Republic for an official visit June 10. The following day he said
Yugoslavia would abolish visas for Czech citizens this summer.
Pavla Reznickova, Dana Zlatohlavkova/Ondrej Maly
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Zeman Visits Czech Units in Balkans
Prime Minister Milos Zeman visited Czech military units in the the
Kosovo region and in Bosnia-Herzegovina last weekend. Together with
Defense Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik and Chief of the General Staff Jiri
Sedivy, they looked in on the soldiers' working conditions. They handed
out NATO medals to soldiers who served in KFOR units in Kosovo. The
prime minister had beef soup and sirloin for lunch with soldiers,
a message for Czech citizens not to be afraid of beef, despite the
discovery of BSE in the Czech Republic (see above).
The Czech Republic is about to conclude its participation in the
SFOR mission in Bosnia-Hezegovina because of a lack of money, and is
considering leaving only specialists at the Civil-Military Co-operation
(CIMIC) group. On the other hand, the Czech KFOR mission in Kosovo
should be strengthened.
Irish Vote against EU Reform Treaty
In a referendum where about one-third of eligible voters took part,
Ireland rejected the Nice Treaty, which dictated the reform of EU
institutions. Ratification of the treaty is necessary for the admission
of new members, such as the Czech Republic. According to Gran Persson,
prime minister of Sweden, the EU's semi-annual chair country, the result
could slow the development of the EU. Others, including Romano Prodi,
chairman of the European Commission, remain optimists and say there is
no threat to the admission of candidate countries.
Foreign news by Dana Zlatohlavkova/Adam Fendrych
FROM SLOVAKIA
Dzurinda's Visit to USA Supports Slovakia's Drive to Join NATO
Slovak Premier Mikulas Dzurinda met with US President George Bush
for the first time June 8. They mainly discussed NATO expansion, as well
as the situation in the Balkans, the future of European security policy
and relations between the EU and NATO. Dzurinda described the meeting as
very encouraging for Slovakia's potential membership in NATO.
During his visit in Washington Dzurinda supported the US intention
to develop a national anti-missile defense system. Slovakia became one
of very few nations, such as the Czech Republic, which have expressed
support for the initiative. Dzurinda discussed NATO expansion in
a meeting with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. According
to the daily SME, Dzurinda told Albright that the opposition Movement
for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) has recently been very supportive of
Slovak NATO membership, even though the policies of former Premier and
incumbent party Chairman Vladimir Meciar caused the removal of Slovakia
from the first wave of new NATO members.
During his four-day visit, Dzurinda also met with Secretary of
State Colin Powell and opened Slovakia's new embassy in a Washington's
luxurious diplomatic district.
Relations between the countries weakened in the 90's because of the
policies of Meciar's Cabinet. The situation changed after the Slovak
elections in 1998. Dzurinda previously met with former President Bill
Clinton and Albright paid a visit to Slovakia.
FROM SLOVAKIA IN BRIEF
* Ukraine President Leonid Kucma arrived in Slovakia June 12 for
a three-day visit, at the invitation of Slovak President Rudolf
Schuster. After a welcoming ceremony in Bratislava, Kucma planted a tree
in Presidents' Alley. Slovak Economy Minister Lubomir Harach and the
Ukrainian foreign minister signed an agreement on travel-industry
cooperation.
* According to the Slovak daily Pravda, illiteracy among Slovak
Romanies is increasing, mainly among those living in primitive
settlements in Eastern Slovakia. Almost one-third of adult Romanies have
difficulties reading and writing, and the number of illiterate young
people is also starting to rise. According to the Slovak Academy of
Sciences, 80 per cent of Romanies fail to graduate from high school.
Among many young females the reason is pregnancy.
* Inter Bratislava defended its soccer league title by defeating
Trencin one round before the end of the regular season. It became the
first club in the history of the Slovak premier league to repeat as
champion.
News from Slovakia by Veronika Pavlu/Sofia Karakeva
ECONOMY
May Macroeconomic Trends - Inflation up, Unemployment down
Inflation was up 5 per cent in May from the level 12 months ago,
the biggest 12-month rise since 1998, according to the Czech Statistics
Office. The rising inflation is influenced by growing prices for energy,
housing, food and telephones. Fuel prices grew significantly, one liter
of gasoline costs more than 30 crowns in some towns; prices are likely
to rise more as consumption grows in summer. Prices of vegetables and
meat grew the most.
The declining unemployment rate reached 8.1 per cent in May, the
lowest rate in two years. The main cause of the decline is the increased
number of seasonal jobs in agriculture and construction. Prague is the
Czech region with the lowest unemployment rate, the highest rate is in
the Most region.
CSOB Raises Service Charges and Closes Branches
The biggest Czech bank, the Czechoslovak Trade Bank (Ceskoslovenska
obchodni banka, CSOB), hiked the prices of its services. A typical set
of client services, such as maintaining an account and sending
statements, will cost 2,748 crowns per year, according to the daily MF
DNES.
The bank followed the trend of increasing charges for operations
carried out over the counter, aiming to increase the use of cheaper
electronic services. For example, withdrawing money from an ATM remained
free of charge.
The new price list applies also for the former Investment and
Postal Bank (Investicni a postovni banka, IPB), which was taken over by
CSOB last year. Former IPB branches will carry the new CSOB logo by the
end of August, the IPB logo will vanish for good. Also, IPB's bank code
is no longer valid and was replaced by the CSOB code. The merger led to
some 50 branches of CSOB being closed.
Economy news by Dana Zlatohlavkova/Stepan Vorlicek
Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid June 15)
--------------------------------------------------------------
1 EUR = 33.875
country currency CZK
------------------------------------------
Australia 1 AUD 20.810
Great Britain 1 GBP 55.249
Denmark 1 DKK 4.542
Japan 100 JPY 32.508
Canada 1 CAD 26.118
IMF 1 XDR 49.584
Hungary 100 HUF 13.711
Norway 1 NOK 4.257
New Zealand 1 NZD 16.529
Poland 1 PLN 10.034
Slovakia 100 SKK 78.750
Slovenia 100 SIT 15.547
Sweden 1 SEK 3.662
Switzerland 1 CHF 22.186
USA 1 USD 39.710
Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro
(converted from the euro rate)
country currency CZK
-----------------------------------------
Germany 1 DEM 17.320
Belgium 100 BEF 83.974
Finland 1 FIM 5.697
France 1 FRF 5.164
Ireland 1 IEP 43.012
Italy 1000 ITL 17.495
Luxemburg 100 LUF 83.974
Netherlands 1 NLG 15.372
Portugal 100 PTE 16.897
Austria 1 ATS 2.462
Greece 100 GRD 9.941
Spain 100 ESP 20.359
CULTURE
National Theater Anniversary
The National Theater in Prague opened for the first time 120 years
ago June 11. The building has long been seen as a symbol of the Czech
desire for independence and self-reliance. A public collection for the
construction of the theater began in 1851. Construction began in 1867 on
Josef Zitek's design, much pomp accompanied the official commencement of
construction in 1868. The scene opened June 11, 1881, but the theater
burned down two months later. The rebuilt theater opened November 18,
1883 with Bedrich Smetana's opera Libuse.
An anniversary celebration took place in the theater this June 11,
where theater benefactors were given awards. There were performances of
short operas The Peasant Gentleman (Sedlak kavalir) and the Comedians
(Komedianti), directed by Josef Prudek. The National Theater gives about
800 performances a year.
The most popular are The Servant of Two Masters and the operas
Carmen, Tosca, The Undine (Rusalka) and Don Giovanni.
Vera Vonavkova/Adam Fendrych
CULTURE IN BRIEF
* Legendary Australian hard-rock group AC/DC visited the Czech
Republic again. The group performed in Prague's Strahov Stadium June 12
in front of some 25,000 people. AC/DC appreciated performing in Strahov
- one of the biggest stadiums in the world - so much that they canceled
their concerts in Austria, Poland and Germany. The group, which was
founded in the early 70's, performed in the Czech Republic for the first
time in 1996. At that time AC/DC sold out the Sport Hall in a record
time. The German sextet Rammstein opened the show.
* "There was so many good productions that it was hard to decide on
the best," said Robert Fowler, chairman of the jury of this year's World
Festival of Puppet Art. The festival finished in Prague June 12 and
consisted of 29 ensembles from 18 countries. The best production was
a dialogue of Moliere's comic heroes prepared by the Holland's Stuffed
Puppet Theater. Another work awarded was The Bouquet by the Puppet
Theater (Divadlo loutek) from Ostrava, which won the prize for
direction.
* The festival The New Town's Pot of Laughter opened June 9 with
a showing of Tomas Vorel's film Trip out of the City (Cesta z mesta).
This year's parade of Czech film comedy, hosted in Nove Mesto nad
Metuji, was the 23rd edition of the festival. Seven films are in the
running for the grand prize, one of the films is a Czech-Slovak
coproduction.
Veronika Hankusova
SPORTS
Soccer Players Save World Cup Chances
The Czech national soccer team defeated Northern Ireland 3-1 in
a 2002 World Cup qualification match June 6. It kept its hopes alive to
advance from the third European qualification group to Japan and South
Korea, where the World Cup will take place, despite the Czech team's
loss in Denmark. The Czechs are in second place after seven games. Nine
group winners and seven runner-ups will advance to the World Cup.
About 15,000 spectators watched the drama with one star player.
Pavel Kuka ended the team's scoring troubles with his second goal, two
minutes before the end. Coach Jozef Chovanec included Tomas Rosicky in
the squad and made a fortuitous decision to replace Vladimir Smicer with
Kuka. "We outplayed our opponent in all areas, but we had to overcome
him with patience," said Chovanec.
The Czechs kept their opponent on his half during most of the game.
However, the Irish did manage to reply to the first Czech goal (scored
by Kuka on Karel Poborsky's pass) before the break. A free Philip
Mulryne tied the score on the first Irish shot on goal. In the second
half, the Czechs turned up the pressure, but did not celebrate till
Kuka's goal in the 88th minute. "I have no idea what happened then,"
said the happy forward. Substitute Milan Baros added the insurance goal.
Adam Fendrych/Mirek Langer
Two Czechs Have Stanley Cup
The Colorado Avalanche won the NHL's Stanley Cup, beating the New
Jersey Devils in the seventh game of the finals 3-1 June 9. Two Czech
players held Lord Stanley's Cup: wing Milan Hejduk and defenseman Martin
Skoula. The Czechs were the most productive players on the beaten team:
Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora led the Devils. Two new Czech names were
added to the Cup for the NHL winner, together the 10th and 11th Czechs
to have their names thus immortalized.
Two Czechs managed to win the trophy three times: Jaroslav Pouzar
(with Edmonton in 1984, 1985 a 1987) and Jiri Hrdina (in 1989 with
Calgary and in 1991 and 1992 with Pittsburgh). Jaromir Jagr and Robert
Holik won the Stanley Cup twice.
Adam Fendrych/Mirek Langer
SPORTS IN BRIEF
* International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) President Rene Fasel and
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman signed a contract for NHL clubs to pay
about 29 million USD for European players who go to the NHL. European
club representatives say their clubs do not get enough money for the
players they trained and who become key players for NHL teams.
* Josef Augusta (together with assistants Vladimir Martinec and
Nagano Olympics gold-medal hockey team captain Vladimir Ruzicka) will
coach the Czech national hockey team for the Salt Lake City 2002
Olympics. Augusta has been leading the team since the Nagano Olympics
team coach Ivan Hlinka left for the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins. Hlinka
will be the Czech Olympic team's general manager.
* Petr Pala and Pavel Vizner lost in the finals of the French Open
men's doubles tournament. They were beaten by India's Mahesh Bhupathi
and Leander Paes 6:7 and 3:6.
* Pavel Nedved prolonged his contract with the Italian soccer
league's Lazio Rome till 2006. Although some top teams wanted the Czech
national team captain (including 90 million DEM bid from Juventus
Turin), he remains in Rome, where he said wants to end his career. Fans
were against Nedved's transfer: they stopped cheering for 15 minutes
during the game against Fiorentina.
Adam Fendrych, Jana Nyklova/Mirek Langer
WEATHER
In a few days summer will officially be here, but where has spring
gone? It's cloudy, windy, and, we are afraid to say, rather chilly (the
average temperature in May was 16.9 degrees Celsius/62.5 degrees
Fahrenheit). It was rainy and cold June 8, the day that Czech tradition
says reflects the weather for the entire coming summer. Don't we have
a right to at least a little summer?
English version edited by Michael Bluhm.
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