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 Faculty of Social Science of Charles University Smetanovo nabr. 6 110 01 Prague 1 Czech Republic e-mail: CAROLINA@cuni.cz tel: (+42 2) 24810804, ext. 252, fax: (+42 2) 24810987 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 214, Friday, August 30, 1996. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST TWO WEEKS (August 14 - 28) Cuts in Budget Expenses The Ministry of Finance demanded the government cut expenses by 9.3 billion crowns for the second half of 1996, because of lower-than-expected state income. Corporate income taxes showed an especially sharp drop, and Russian debt to the Czech Republic remains at more than 5 billion crowns. Coalition partners heatedly discussed the topic for three hours before the Cabinet approved the Finance Minister Ivan Kocarnik's plan August 29. The limitations will affect all branches. The Cabinet ordered the Ministry of Finance to watch taxes more closely. "If collection offices approach citizens strictly, they should also apply the same strictness in appoaching large companies," said Minister of Agriculture and Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party Chairman Josef Lux. While Parliament Budget Committee Chairman Josef Wagner (Social Democrats) is positive about the proposal, fellow party Vice-Chairman Karel Machovec criticized flat cuts without thoroughly studying the situation in individual branches. Klaus Skeptical about EU Currency Union Czech Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus addressed the 52nd European Forum in Alpbach, Austria August 28, expressing his doubts about a united European currency functioning effectively and without conflicts. He said a united currency could be the greatest post-war change in Europe, perhaps even more important than the fall of Communism. Klaus stated that the project is clearly political and in no way only economic, which is why the project's advantages are overestimated, and the disadvantages underestimated. The Prime Minister conceded that the original core of the EU does have a chance to create a united currency. According to Klaus, the currency union is the Trojan Horse "of one very specific and very well known ideology which I do not share." Chemapol Takes Over Omnipol Chemapol Group (CHG) President and Chairman of the Board Vaclav Junek confirmed that the CHG holding company obtained 80 per cent of the shares of Omnipol, which trades mostly with machines and weapons manufacture. The announcement was made at an August 22 press conference, where Junek also said Chemapol is going to try to obtain a controlling share in Aero Vodochody, which manufactures training jet aircraft. Chemapol Group was recenty divided into five subholdings, one of which is to focus on communications and media. CHG already controls the Melantrich publishing house, which, among other things, publishes the daily Svobodne slovo. The company also runs the Czech advertising agency Ceska reklamni TBWA, and according to Junek would like to become involved with commercial television. More than 120 shareholders hold stock in CHG. The Petrochem company, which was founded by and is managed by former Chemapol managers, holds more than 15 per cent. When Czech refineries were privatized more than two years ago, a secret report from the Ministry of the Interior warned that two people, who had been registered as agents of the former Secret Service, were among the company's managers. The English-language weekly Prague Post reported that the heads of Chemapol and Richard Hava, newly named Chairman of the Board at Omnipol "are known for their connections to the former communist regime and to the East." New Public Prosecuter in Prague Jan Krivanek was named new Prague State Attorney to replace Josef Kredba, who was recalled (see Carolina 213). Krivanek left the State Attorney's Office in July and became chairman of the Czech Anti-Piracy Union, which works to protect copyrights. Before coming to Prague, he worked as a prosecuter in Strakonice. Karel Cernovsky, First Deputy to the former High State Attorney Libor Grygarek, will fill his former boss' position from September 1. A new High State Attorney should be named in the next few months. Which Fighter Planes will the Czech Army Buy? The McDonell Douglas company showed off their F/A-18D Hornet at the Pardubice airshow August 19-21. One week later, the French company Dassault Aviation introduced their fighter aircraft, the Mirage 2000-5. The Czech Army still has not made a decision on who will supply fighter planes. It is assumed that a part of the Czech military's aircraft will be made up by Aero Vodochody's training jets. Happy Return From Chechnya Czech and Slovak employees of the Stavoinform construction company from Kromeriz working on the reconstruction of Chechnya's capital city, Grozny, were evacuated because of fighting. They returned home August 19. A CSAD Brno bus was sent to Grozny, and completed the return trip within three days. Besides hard currency for transit costs (about 450 USD), drivers were equipped with Czech beer and American cigarettes for road-patrol bribes. Construction site Manager Stefan Hajdin, a Slovak citizen kidnapped by anonymous armed men July 29, is still missing. No contact has been made concerning him. Macek Back in Government Former Civic Democratic Party Vice-Chairman Miroslav Macek, the former Chairman of the last Czechoslovak Federal Government in 1992, and known for the role he played in the Wholesale Book Affair (see Carolina 41), is returning to politics. Macek accepted Minister of Health Jan Strasky's offer of deputy minister. Brno Hosts SVU Congress The 18th World Congress of the Society of Science and Art (SVU) was inaugurated August 26 in Brno's City Theater by Masaryk University Rector Eduard Schmidt. The SVU, headquartered in Washington, was founded in 1958 and has about 2,000 members throughout the world. Its main task is to help cooperation between those abroad and their former home. The congress is being attended by about 400 scientists, artists and experts, focusing on the theme of the co-existence of science, technology and art. Czech Bus Crashes in Austria A Czech tour bus carrying tourists to Bibione, Italy, crashed on the A2 highway near Graz, Austria August 24. The Zlintour bus ran into the highway's protective wall and immediatly burst into flames, incinerating a 10-year-old boy. Both drivers and 15 of the 43 travelers were either injured or burnt. The driver claims that he was forced to the wall by a passing truck, but Austrian police say the cause of the accident may have also been one of the driver's "mini-naps". Triplets Turn into Quadruplets Drahomira Glaserova gave birth August 21 in Prague to quadruplets Vit, Daniel, Leos and Eliska. Doctors had predicted triplets for Glaserova, a 34-year-old lawyer from Bozetice, Pisek county, who received hormones to induce fertility. The fourth child was discovered in a Prague clinic before the birth, which took place in the 26th week of pregnancy. FROM SLOVAKIA Meciar Changes Three Ministers Slovak Premier Vladimir Meciar's proposal for the removal of Interior Minister Ludovit Hudek, Foreign Minister Juraj Schenk and Economy Minister Jan Ducky was carried out August 27 by Slovak President Michal Kovac August 27. The new Interior Minister is Gustav Krejci, the secretary of Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia, while Ducky's replacement is Slovak Electric Director Karol Cesnek, and in place of Schenk, a sociologist, will be former ambassador to Germany and Moscow Diplomatic School graduate Pavol Hamzik. The move was conventionally interpreted as a ploy to aid Slovakia's international reputation by recalling three questionable ministers, but their replacements are also considered among Meciar's faithful. ECONOMY Stock Exchange Better Informed from September The Securities Center will September 2 begin publishing daily lists of shareholders owning 10 per cent or more of publicly traded corporations. The lists will also be available at 30 Securities Center branches throughout the Czech Republic. Ownership reporting at the center was required by the new Securities Law's so-called Jezek Amendments, which attempt to make the capital market more transparent. Critics of the amendments, named for Prague Stock Exchange Chamber Chairman Tomas Jezek, claim ownership should be reported beginning with 5-per-cent stakes, as it is in the U.S. Before the amendments took effect July 1, the capital markets, often attacked for lack of transparency, had no reporting requirements. Klaus Does Not Invite Soudek Lubomir Soudek, general director of Skoda Plzen, was not among 26 captains of industry invited to an August 23 informal meeting with Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus and six cabinet members called the Opinion of the Business and Banking Sphere on Business Climate Development in the Czech economy. Soudek was not invited, according to opposition daily Pravo, because of the open letter written to the government after June's parliamentary elections by Soudek, the head of one of the nation's largest industrial conglomerates. In part, the letter said, "we cannot have a government which unthinkingly enacts a bad healthcare model, neglects the safety of citizens, slowly destroys agriculture, searches for money in education, leaves the defense of the country to chance and for whom the development of industry is a burden." Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid from August 30) country currency ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 20.634 Belgium 100 BEF 85.597 Great Britain 1 GBP 40.610 Denmark 1 DKK 4.562 Finland 1 FIM 5.807 France 1 FRF 5.145 Ireland 1 IEP 42.222 Italy 1000 ITL 17.204 Japan 100 JPY 24.049 Canada 1 CAD 19.049 Luxemburg 100 LUF 85.597 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.726 Norway 1 NOK 4.064 New Zealand 1 NZD 18.051 Portugal 100 PTE 17.193 Austria 1 ATS 2.506 Greece 100 GRD 11.016 Slovakia 100 SKK 84.836 Germany 1 DEM 17.638 Spain 100 ESP 20.835 Sweden 1 SEK 3.930 Switzerland 1 CHF 21.812 USA 1 USD 26.039 ECU 1 XEU 33.164 SDR 1 XDR 37.978 CULTURE Cesky Krumlov Festival Gains Respect The fifth-annual Cesky Krumlov International Music Festival ended August 25 with the Czech Philharmonic's performance of Brahms' Symphony in E Minor and Dvorak's G-Minor Cello Concerto. The philharmonic was conducted by Petr Vronsky, and Michaela Fukacova was the soloist. In its short existence, the festival, which takes place in the local castle, has gained not only a regular audience but also respect and recognition among critics. Pop Stars in Prague Rock grandmother Tina Turner performed at Bohemians Stadium in Prague August 22 in front of 20,000 spectators. Czech President Vaclav Havel, at that time on holiday, met Turner before the concert. The Czech media is thoroughly informing its public about preparations for Michal Jackson's Prague concert September 7, which will be the kickoff for the World Tour of the self-crowned King of Pop. On Letna Plain, where the concert will take place, a crowd of 135,000 is expected. Jackson will stay at the Hotel Intercontinental and thus will be able to gaze from his window at the larger-than-life statue of himself, which is to be placed before the concert on the spot once occupied by the world's largest statue of Josef Stalin. CORRECTION American Soprano Renee Fleming did not perform in Nelahozeves August 14 at the Dvorak Summer Music Festival, as was reported in Carolina 213, but rather August 16. The August 14 concert in the courtyard of the local chateau was rained out. SPORT Czech Debacle in World Cup The Czech hockey team, with a complement of Czech NHL players, lost its first World Cup match with Finland 7-3 August 23 in Helsinki. The Czechs were knocked out in the 10th minute of the game when the Finns scored three goals in 40 seconds. Czech hockey players also lost their second match, against Sweden August 29 in Prague. After the 3-0 defeat, spectators in Prague's Sport Hall booed the Czech team off the ice. European Soccer Cup Drafts Opponents for Czech soccer teams in European Cup play were drawn in Geneva August 23. Slavia, which lost the chance to play in the Champions League (Slavia also lost the return match with Grasshopper Zurich 1-0 in Prague August 21), will meet the Swedish team Malmo FF in the UEFA Cup. Sigma Olomouc did not advance in UEFA Cup play, after being defeated by the Polish team Hutnik Cracow in the return match 3-1. Sparta, which won both matches with North Ireland's cup winner Glentoran Belfast (2-1, 8-0) in qualification, will meet the Austrian team Sturm Graz in the first round of the Cup Winners Cup. Boby Brno Leads Soccer League Standings Results of the 3rd round August 23-5: Hradec Kralove - Opava 0-0, Drnovice - Liberec 1-3, Slavia Praha - Ceske Budejovice 3-0, Banik Ostrava - FK Teplice 3-1, Boby Brno - Sigma Olomouc 1-0, FK Jablonec - Viktoria Zizkov 3-1, Bohemians Praha - FC Karvina 0-2, Viktoria Plzen - Sparta Praha 1-1. Standings after 3 rounds: 1. Brno 9 (points), 2. Ostrava 6, 3. Jablonec 6, 4. Slavia 5, 5. Opava 5, 6. Olomouc 4, 7. Drnovice 4, 8. Liberec 4, 9. Teplice 4, 10. Karvina and Ceske Budejovice 4, 12. Plzen 3, 13. Sparta 2, 14. Bohemians 1, 15. Zizkov 1, 16. Hradec Kralove 1. WEATHER After a week of sun and summer temperatures of more than 25 degrees Celsius/77 degrees Fahrenheit came clouds, showers, thunder and a cold stream with temperatures fluctuating around 20 degrees Celsius/68 degrees Fahrenheit. Prague's Ruzyne Airport already delayed two morning flights because of fog. Is summer over? Is fall coming? Czech version compiled from the Czech media by Milan Smid. Translation by Michael Bluhm, Andrea Snyder, Milan Smid. English version edited by Michael Bluhm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with "CAROLINA" designation. The subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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