CCCCC AA RRRRR OOOO LL II NN N AA CC AA A RR R OO O LL II NNN N AA A CC AA A RRRRR OO O LL II NN N N AA A CC AAAAAA RR R OO O LL II NN NN AAAAAA CCCCC AA A RR R OOOO LLLLLL II NN N AA A STUDENTS' E-MAIL NEWS FROM CZECH REPUBLIC School of Social Sciences of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic E-mail address: carolina@n.fsv.cuni.cz Fax: (+422) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 116, Monday, May 2, 1994. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (April 20-27) Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus Returns from South America Vaclav Klaus concluded a ten day trip to Argentina, Chile and Brazil on Tuesday, April 26, returning to the Czech Republic after discussions of economic and cultural matters in all three countries. Negotiations on the formation of a free trade zone with Argentina will commence following the signing of a memorandum by Klaus and the Argentine Minister of Economics. In the near future agreements covering the protection of investments, prevention of double taxation and visa free relations for diplomats and businesspeople will also be signed, said Klaus. A cultural agreement was signed in Santiago de Chile and, according to the Czech press, Klaus spoke in favour of removing the final barriers preventing the countries from mutual economic and trade relations. In Brazil an agreement on trade and economic cooperation between the Czech Republic and Brazil was signed and the possibility of exporting Czech transportation devices (trams, busses and trolley-busses) to Sao Paolo was discussed. Dusan Minister of Foreign Affairs Has 9 Day Visit to Asia and Australia. Boosting Czech foreign trade and assisting Czech businesspeople in finding new markets was the aim of a nine-day visit to Vietnam, Malaysia and Australia by Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Josef Zieleniec, according to reports in the Czech press. The visit ended on Sunday, April 24. The daily Rude pravo reported that in Vietnam Zieleniec declared that Czech-Vietnamese relations had a good base to build upon and that both countries must take advantage of their mutual understanding of each other. there is something to build upon and that it is necessary to take advantage of the good mutual knowledge of the two countries. Approximately 100,000 Vietnamese speak Czech. Zieleniec presented a proposal on trade and the mutual protection of investments in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia represents an entry gate to the Assembly of South-Eastern Asian Nations (ASEAN) for the Czech Republic, noted Zieleniec. A seminar on economic opportunities in the Czech Republic was the focal point of the visit to Australia. Over 100 influential Australian businesspeople took part in the program at the Chamber of Commmerce and Indusry. Last year Austalia accounted for only 0,3% of the foreign trade of CR in export and in import only 0,1%. Incentive for the development of commercial contacts between the two countries should come in the form of an agreement on the support and protection of investments. Sofi State Visit from Luxemburg The first official state visit from Luxemburg to the Czech Republic took place on Tuesday April 26th when President Vaclav Havel welcomed the grand-duke and the duchess of LUxemburg to the Prague Castle. The grand-duke and duchess dined with president and Mrs. Havel and discussed the future of both countries and the European Union. The two-day visit continued with a tour of the Karlovy Vary Moser glass factories and in a visit to Prague's Waldstein riding stables, where the exhibition Imago Luxemburgi will soon open. Katerina Minister of Education Resigns from Health Reasons The resignation of Minister of Education Petr Pitha was accepted by President Havel on April 27. Pitha became minister in July 1992 at the proposal of the Christian Democratic Party (KDS). The KDS coalition proposed that first deputy minister and chairman of KDS, Ivan Pilip, be appointed to Pitha s position. Lida Most People Trust the President 68 percent of Czech inhabitants trust President Vaclav Havel, according to an early April poll by the Institute for Examination of PUblic Opinion. 53 percent of inhabitants trust the Government and 25 percent trust the Parliament, the survey found. Trust in the President fell one percent since the March survey and trust in the Goverment fell four percent. Trust in the Parliament has remained at 25 percent since January. Those who place the most trust in the Government and Parliament are from 15 to 29 years old. 72 percent of respondents in this age group trust in the President, 57 percent trust the Government, and 31 percent trust the Parliament. Fatema Cultural Agreement with Isreal Minister of Culture Pavel Tigrid returned from a 4-day visit to Isreal, where he signed a cultural agreement covering education, the arts, and other intellectual activities. The agreement is valid until 1996. Tigrid noted that the Czech Republic will soon returnthe Prague Jewish Museum's complete collection to the Federation of Jewish Communities. Fatema Police Prevent Skinheads from Celebrating Hitler's Birthday Fewer than 100 skinheads attended an April 23 rally in Hradec Kralove to celebrate the 105th anniversary of Hitler s birth. 600 police, some equipped with billy-clubs, helmets, and plexiglass shields, were on hand to control the crowd, which had been expected to be larger. 43 participants were detained. 15 were held for identification, 27 were fined for taking part in an unlicenced gathering, and one was jailed for an offence against a public functionary. Alois Svoboda,press spokesman for the Czech Police, said that 35 assault items were confiscated, among them knives, chains, brass knuckles, and tear gas. Thanks to precautions taken by special intervention units and mounted police, no serious disturbences occured, he added. CTK (Czech Press Agency) reported that tens of Romani families and several foreign students fled Hradec Kralove, fearful of skinhead demonstrators. Skinheads destroyed a 5-member student group's banner, which proclaimed "Stop fascist violence". According to Svoboda, the actions taken by police to ensure a peacefule event is a clear signal to foreign countries that the Czech Republic refuses to tolerate racist and fascist propaganda. Filip Czech Republic Celebrates International Earth Day International Earth Day was marked in the Czech Republic with several events. Earth Day has been observed for nearly a quarter of a century. On Wednesday, April 20, activists from the ecological movement "Children of the Earth" protested a planned lime-factory in Tman (near Beroun). The project calls for lime to be mined in the natural reserve of Cesky Kra. Protestors raised a cross for the Cesky Kras reserve, and then blocked the entrance to the near-by lime factory for an hour. On April 21, the Cyclist Union and the Rainbow Movemen held a bike demonstration in Prague, with nearly a hundred cyclists partially blocking a road in the city center. At the same time, a small procession of supporters from the "Friends of the Forest" association was marching through the city. They presented a letter to Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus' secretriat expressing their discontentment with the current way business concerning forests is handled. An ecological "happening" and discussion with current Environmental Minister Frantisek Benda, and his predesessor Ivan Dejmal, was held Thursday evening on Old Town Square. Environmental education exhibits were held on town squares in a number of other Czech towns. A reminder of the 8th anniversary of the Chernoybl tragedy was erected on Prague's Old Town Square on April 26. Greenpeace members created a sign with indicators pointing towards the nearest nuclear power plants, claiming the sign illustrates that disaster can stike from anywhere. Honza Will An Agreement Create a Cleaner Atmosphere? A "Protocol to an arrangment for international transfer of polluted air through the Czech Republic and for regulation of sulphur compound emissions" will by signed by minister of health Frantisek Benda in Oslo on June 13 and 14. The agreement will mandate that emissions of compound sulphurs in the Czech Republic should by 2010 decrease by 72 percent compared to 1980, according to Vladimir Novotny, deputy minister of health care. In the early 1980 s nearly 2, 257 tonnes of acid sulphur were released into the atmosphere and then often transferred to other countries. The so-called Geneva Protocol, which was pressuring the people having signed this protocol to degrees the production of bads by 30 percent until 1993, showed to be unable of doing so and that even though that some countries along with the Czech Republic crossed the line of the given percentages. That's why the "Protocol of other degrees..." is not either standpointing any potential "duty" to any individual party, nor is obliging them to "reach such a final reduce of the sulphur's emission so that their effect on nature and its ecological system wouldn't cross the so-named critical overload, which still secures maintainably lasting life. For the Czech Republic such a determined definition of degressing the production of SO2 by 72 percent (=to 632 tones per year). The deputy Novotny expressed, April 21, convincement that he will manage to attain the determined limit before 2010. The Ministry is leaning against the fact that the biggest role will be, by the way, played by the savings of electrical energy by its consumers and the degrees of containing sulphur in lead and liquid fuels, which its burning is contributing to the manufacture of smog in towns. Not in the least in the years 1995-1996 odsirovaci equipment should be put in operation in three northczech thermal power stations - I. and II. in Prunerov and III. in Pocerady. Zita Prague's Taxi Drivers Won't Pay The association of Prague taxiservice operators rejected the decision of the Prague Representative Council imposing an annual fee of 6, 000 Czech crowns for use of taxi cab ranks. Currently, groups of taxi drivers lay claim to lucrative taxi ranks in the center of Prague and make it difficult for drivers not associated with their group to use the ranks. Dusan FROM SLOVAKIA New Political Party Turns to Liberalism A new political party, the Democratic Union of Slovakia (DEUS), was established during the weekend of April 23-24. The party represents the merger of the Alternative of Political Realism with the Alliance of Democrats of the Slovak Republic, both established after the break-up of ousted premier Meciar s party, the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia. Current Premier Jozef Moravcik was elected Chairman of the new body and Milan Knazko the first Deputy Chairman. DEUS places itself in the political center and, acccording to vice-chairman Knazko, will apply to enter the Liberal International. Moravcik confirmed the present political direction of the government that will be controlled by DEUS: continued economic reforms and Slovakia's merger with the European Union, among others goals. Viktor CULTURE Placido Domingo Performed in Prague One of the most famous tenors in the world, the Spanish opera performer Placido Domingo performed on April 24, in Prague's Sports Hall to an audience of 10, 000 people. The Romanian sopranist Angela Gheorghiu performed with Domingo. Both artists were accompanied by the 60-member Czech Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by the American conductor Eugen Kohen. Domingo's opera performance included opera airias from Mozart, Verdi and Puccini. Domingo opened with a piece from Don Giovanni opera. In the audience were president Vaclav Havel and his wife Olga and Pavel Tigrid, minister of Culture. Domingo's performance was the biggest and most expensive concert of classical music in the Czech Republic. Part of the profit was dedicated to charitable purposes, including children's cancer hospital in Prague, Motol. Katerina The Beauty of the Terrible World--Review An exhibition of work by photographer James Nachtwey opened last week at the Carolinum gallery in Prague. Named Photographer of the Year in the World Press Photo '93 Competition (for photos of the Somalian famine), Nachtwey is a member of the prestigious agency Magnum, which has carried his work in the 1980 s and 1990 s. Nachtwey concentrates on extraordinary life situations, taking most of his photos in conflict situations. When covering wars, he focuses heavily on the life of people in an abnormal enviroment. He has covered the race riots in Los Angeles, the departure of Jews from the USSR to Israel, the riots in Northern Ireland, fighting on Israeli occupied Arabian territory, and wars in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Southern Africa. He photographed giant industrial plants in former Eastern Germany, Poland, and Slovakia, and documented living conditions in Rumanian orphanages. He also covered the fall of the Berlin Wall and the famine in Somalia. The distinguishing feature of Nachtwey's photographs is their aesthetic quality. In contrast to the "beautiful" form of the pictures, the content is often startling and disturbing. His exhibition is a testimony to life on our planet. It reminds us, the people who were lucky and were born in quieter parts of the world, that we should respect our lives. Those less fortunate must fight for life every day and they often lose their lives in stupid and meaningless wars and fighting. Pavel B. Pavel Kohout in Prague Czech writer Pavel Kohout is working on a new book that tells the story of a demented mass murder, the author divulged at a discussion hosted by the Charles University Philosophical Faculty on April 21. Kohout currently lives in Austria and said he plans in the future to live both in the Czech Republic and Austria. Austria is a quiet country where he goes to relax, explained Kohout. When he starts to be bored he goes to the Czech Republic. He also spoke about his daughter, the writer Tereza Bouckova, who began her career last year with a book called The Indian Run (Indiansky beh). Kohout s play, August, August, August will be performed in the Dramatic Club Prague as a first run. Zuzana Monthly Magazine Elle Ushers in a Period of Elegance Since April readers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia can buy a Czech edition of the international fashion magazine Elle. The cover of the first issue sports the face of twenty-three-year old Czech model Daniela Pestova. Helena-Katerina Fialova is editor in chief. The magazine costs 75 Czech crowns and 85 Slovak crowns. Elle, first published in 1945 in France,now appears on five continents, in 23 languages. Other international fashion magazines are soon slated for publication in the Czech Republic. Clara ECONOMY First Round of the Second Wave of Coupon Privatization Ends April 25 was the last day to invest privatization voucher points in businesses participating in the first round of the second wave of coupon privatization. Although lines of voucher holders were expected late into the night, the only post office that remained open until the midnight deadline was the Prague Main Post Office. In most places, investors waited no longer than 10 to 20 minutes. DIKs (Investment Coupon Holders) share the stocks of 860 businesses. On Friday, three days before the end of the round, the Computer Center recorded less than one and a half million purchase orders for available stocks. Experts suggested it was likely that two-thirds of DIKs, who decided to invest at least a part of their coupons directly into businesses and not through investment funds, took part in the first round of privatization. Results of the first round should be announced by May 21. Andrea Bohemia Bank in Trouble The Czech National Bank appointed interim management for the troubled Bohemia Bank in early April and froze all accounts, after disclosures that Bohemia Bank had issued Prime Bank Guarantees and Bank Guarantees valued at more than 1.2 billion dollars prompted heavy withdrawals by depositors that threatened the institution s collapse. It is not clear yet when depositors will have access to their accounts. One of the conditions mandates that all guarantees must be withdrawn. Currently, 300 million US dollars in guarantees remain. According to the weekly Respekt, the Pilsener company Max Line owns a deal worth about 35 million dollars. The Swiss firm Sofitom owns shares valued at 300 million US dollars, and is asking one million dollars for return of their shares. According to Respekt, former Bohemia Bank vice president and lieutenant-colonel of the communist State police Jiri Cadek was the creator of the fake guarantees. He gained more than half a million dollars from the deal. Massive withdrawals are expected when accounts are open. Coopers and Lybrand, which was appointed by the interim administration to gauge the quality of credits, found that as many as one third of the bank s credits can be judged as risky. A rapid increase of reserves was recommended, which will require Bohemia Bank to take out a loan to cover the expected depletion of funds after initial depositor withdrawals. Finop Company owns 51 percent of Bohemia Bank and Czechoslovak Trade Bank is also a partial owner. Tomas The Prague Stock Exchange Report Trading took place on Thursday, April 21, Monday April 25 and Tuesday, April 26. On the whole a drop in prices continued and was most evident on the quoted market. On Thursday shares of Zivnostenska Bank and Ceska Sporitelna fell most steeply, to respective rates of 4950 KC and 7730 KC. On Tuesday the steepest decline was in IPS, to 1890 Kc and Cokoladovny, to 6750 Kc. The average value of all trades was roughly 280 million crowns and most traded public funds were shares and obligations of CEZ (they were sold at a value of 100 million Kc in shares and 106 million crowns in obligations). Brnenske veletrhy a vystavy was the 12th company to enter the quoted market on April 26. This company achieved 136 million crowns net profit last year with a 1,4 billion crown turn-over. Application of Jihoceske mlekarny to the qouted market was als approved on Tuesday. Tomas EXCHAGE RATES OF THE CZECH NATIONAL BANK (valid from April 28) CHECKS CASH country Buy Sell Middle Buy Sell ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Australia 1 AUD 21.036 21.248 21.142 20.07 22.21 Belgium 100 BEF 84.633 85.483 85.058 82.36 87.76 Great Britain 1 GBP 43.675 44.113 43.894 42.47 45.31 Denmark 1 DKK 4.438 4.482 4.460 4.26 4.66 Finland 1 FIM 5.364 5.418 5.391 4.89 5.89 France 1 FRF 5.076 5.128 5.102 4.90 5.30 Ireland 1 IEP 42.466 42.892 42.679 40.68 44.68 Italy 1000 ITL 18.218 18.402 18.310 17.54 19.08 Japan 100 JPY 28.449 28.735 28.592 27.29 29.89 Canada 1 CAD 21.296 21.510 21.403 20.51 22.29 Luxemburg 100 LUF 84.633 85.483 85.058 82.06 88.06 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.494 15.650 15.572 15.09 16.05 Norway 1 NOK 4.013 4.053 4.033 3.88 4.18 New Zealand 1 NZD 16.813 16.981 16.897 16.15 17.65 Portugal 100 PTE 16.974 17.144 17.059 15.88 18.24 Austria 1 ATS 2.477 2.501 2.489 2.43 2.55 Greece 100 GRD 11.875 11.995 11.935 11.23 12.65 Germany 1 DEM 17.416 17.592 17.504 17.04 17.96 Spain 100 ESP 21.379 21.593 21.486 20.49 22.49 Sweden 1 SEK 3.731 3.769 3.750 3.59 3.91 Switzerland 1 CHF 20.384 20.588 20.486 19.99 20.99 USA 1 USD 29.332 29.626 29.479 28.78 30.18 EC-ECU 1 XEU 33.646 33.984 33.815 -- -- IMF-SDR 1 XDR 41.363 41.779 41.571 -- -- Slovakia 1 XCU -- -- 33.815 -- -- SPORTS Prague's Dukla Soccer Players Reached Their First Victory In the 23rd round of the highest soccer competition there were only 14 goals. Sparta Prague confirmed their leading position by defeating Plzen 1:0. Slavia Prague lost to Cheb 2:0, again increasing its points deficit. In the match for third place, Ostrava defeated Ceske Budejovice 4:2 and Olomouc unexpectedly lost to Viktoria Zizkov with a goal made in the lasta minute, O:1. Matches Bohemians Prague - Zlin, Drnovice - Liberec and Brno - Vitkovice ended identically with a goal victory of homefield team. WEATHER The weather is quite fine, with summer-like conditions expected over the weekend. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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