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 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 317, Friday, January 29, 1999. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (January 20 - January 27) Finance Ministry Publishes Unfavorable Prediction According to estimates published by the Finance Ministry January 26, the Czech Republic can expect a decline in gross domestic product and higher unemployment. GDP predictions changed from an original estimate of 1.8-per-cent growth to 0.2-per-cent decline, while the unemployment rate looks to be worse off as well - instead of the originally predicted 8.7 per cent, 9.5 per cent of the workforce should be without a job. The inflation rate should decrease from 7.8 per cent to 5.1 per cent. It turns out that "economic recession in the Czech Republic is deeper and will last longer than we have supposed in our previous prediction," said Finance Ministry sources in the daily Hospodarske noviny. They predict 1999 will witness the delayed effects of restrictive monetary policy and the strong crown of the past year. The ministry predicts that the economic decline will be mostly caused by people unwilling to spend money. "Real wages will rise, in the contrast to last year, by an average of 4.2 per cent. But people will tend to save even more money from their income, so there will not be any bigger revival of demand," said the head of ministry macroeconomic analysis Zdenek Vesely for the daily MF DNES. He said Czechs can expect a renewal of economic growth at the end of the year. Jan Martinek/Jan Martinek Tripartite Talks Focus on Employee Protection The protection of insolvent companies' employees was the main topic of the Council for Economic and Social Agreement meeting January 25. Social Affairs Minister Vladimir Spidla, chairman of the tripartite council of unions, the state and employers, said that when employers will unable to pay, employees' wages will be reimbursed from the Insolvency Fund, which will first be financed by the government. He also said that the situation is now complicated by bankruptcy laws, which do not resolve the issue of wages for such cases. Czech-Moravian Confederation of Labor Unions (Ceskomoravska konfederace odborovych svazu, CMKOS) Chairman Richard Falbr said that in European Union countries laws for employee protection usually exist. The Czech government also wants to follow these EU directives. Falbr also said that the problem in the Czech Republic is that bankruptcies happen overnight. "Employees come to the work in the morning,... and the firm is locked and the owner has disappeared," said Falbr to the daily Hospodarske noviny. Jakub Jirovec/Jakub Jirovec Havel's Popularity under 50 Per Cent for First Time According to the Institute for Public Opinion Research (IVVM), 46 per cent of poll respondents trust President Vaclav Havel. Havel's popularity has been in a constant decline since last year. The results of the poll were published January 26. Presidential advisor Jiri Pehe said people connect Havel with the generally unsuccessful year of 1998 and Havel's image in media has greatly changed. Members of the Czech Pen Club protested against attacks on Havel in an open letter to the daily Lidove noviny in the beginning of January. Jakub Jirovec/Jakub Jirovec Clean Hands: Former Minister Tomas Jezek Accused The government's Committee for the Protection of Economic Interests (VOEZ) accused Former Privatization Minister and former National Property Fund (FNM) Chairman Tomas Jezek, who was first a member of the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) and then moved to the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). Jezek is said to have committed the crime of mismanaging property during the privatization of candymaker Cokoladovny Praha. Justice Minister Otakar Motejl announced that this criminal complaint is the first and promised more will follow. Filing the criminal complaint is the first result of the government's highly touted Operation Clean Hands. The controversial privatization took place in 1991. FNM sold shares for their nominal value to a Czech firm, First Investment (Prvni investicni), connected to the Investment and Postal Bank (Investicni a postovni banka, IPB), after a foreign investor had been chosen and had offered a higher price. The income lost for the state by selling for the nominal value was 9 million crowns. The foreign buyer also received one-third more shares than had been called for in the privatization plan. In 1994, the Supreme Control Office (Nejvyssi kontrolni urad, NKU) audited the transaction, finding inconsistencies and concluding that the law had been broken. Jezek's successor as privatization minister, Jiri Skalicky, sent the NKU documents to public prosecutor's office, but proceedings were not begun because of a lack of evidence. Jezek branded the accusation nonsense and said that during the privatization an administrative mistake was made. He also said the accusation was politically motivated. Jakub Jirovec/Jakub Jirovec Media Reveal Members of Secret Government Team Czech daily Lidove noviny (LN) and the weekly Respekt published January 25 the previously classified names of the members of the Coordination and Analysis Group (KAS), which, as a subordinate of the Committee for the Protection of Economic Interests (VOEZ) is partly responsible for executing the government's anti-corruption Clean Hands Operation. The media revealed the names despite threats from Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslav Basta, who said releasing the names is as much of a crime as revealing government secrets. According to the media, group members are representatives of the Defense Ministry, Interior Ministry, Finance Ministry, Security Information Service (BIS), the police and government authorities. The membership of Jan Krivanek, former Prague Chief Prosecutor and a former member of the Communist Party, probably drew the most criticism from opposition politicians. The publishing of the names opened discussion in the media about freedom of the press and the people's right to information. Respekt pointed out that the government, by not supplying information on its activity, is showing contempt for the people, something that would not be allowed in western countries. Lidove noviny stated in an editorial that the media's task is to control government and openly provide information about government activity in the name of public interest. "The political campaign Clean Hands, connected with police investigation, truly deserves public control," added Lidove noviny. Jakub Jirovec/Sofia Karakeva Havel Meets Party Chairmen Kasal, Ruml, Kroupa Czech President Vaclav Havel announced his plan to meet with representatives of parliamentary parties at a round table that would deal with current political and economic issues. Havel had earlier announced the plan to Social Democrat (CSSD) Chairman Milos Zeman and Civic Democratic Party (ODS) Chairman Vaclav Klaus. Havel met January 26 with acting chairman of the Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-CSL) Jan Kasal. After the meeting Kasal said to journalists that they discussed "the possibilities that could under certain circumstances lead to the better functioning of Parliament and the government". According to presidential spokesman Ladislav Spacek, Havel will keep with tradition and not invite representatives of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM). The Communists are the third-strongest party in Parliament, with 24 deputies in the 200-member chamber. Jakub Jirovec/Sofia Karakeva Lansky Visits Czech-Slovak Border Deputy Prime Minister for Security and Foreign Policy Egon Lansky January 22 visited Stary Hrozenkov on the Czech-Slovak border and discussed with police, border-town mayors and military representatives the problems of border security. Lansky said this area has insufficient legislation that frustrates border police. He also mentioned that visa requirements for some eastern countries is being considered. Meeting participants also discussed the possibility of engaging the army in border areas. Lansky said that would be impossible because of international treaties, but soldiers can do standard training in smaller units there. That was shown to be effective at the beginning of January when soldiers, according to Military Defense Intelligence Director Rudolf Crhak, contributed to the arrest of dozens of refugees and three smugglers. Jakub Jirovec/Sofia Karakeva IN BRIEF * A silent march starting from the College of Humanities (Filozoficka fakulta) of Charles University in Prague by students January 25 commemorated the anniversary of Jan Palach's death (see Carolina 316). With Palach's portrait and two state flags, students and teachers marched to Palach's memorial on Wenceslas Square. The march ended with the singing of the national hymn and a candle-lighting. * Decin police January 26 accused a 30-year-old man of distributing child pornography through the internet. If found guilty he faces a maximum of one year in prison or a fine. The arrest closed the investigation of an internet advertisement for the sale of photographs of underage girls on CD-ROM. * The number of people injured and killed on Czech roads for last year declined from 1997. The statistics for transportation accidents compared to 1997 increased by 5.9 per cent, but the number of injuries and fatalities decreased. There were 15 per cent less fatalities, 7 per cent less serious injuries and 3 per cent less minor injuries. Policemen said the statistics reflect the speed-limit reduction to 50 kilometers per hour/30 miles per hour in incorporated areas. * The Constitutional Court made a precedent-setting decision January 19 in the case of property confiscated according to Benes Decrees after World War II (Czechoslovak President Edvard Benes issued decrees before the National Assembly has been summoned in 1945). The court awarded Maria Severova 10 hectares of field and forest which had been her grandfather property. He was a Czech but because he lived in the Sudeten area annexed to Germany he was forced to join the Germans, and after the war he was deprived of his property in spite of the fact that he asked for return of his Czech citizenship. "For Czechs and Slovaks who were forced to declare themselves of German or Hungarian nationality it should be considered that they never lost their original citizenship," the court said, according to the Czech daily MF DNES. Marketa Kaclova/Sofia Karakeva After deadline: Security Information Service Director (BIS) Karel Vulterin was recalled by the government January 27 for an unspecified serious professional error. FROM SLOVAKIA Slovakia Wants to Be Invited to EU Talks This Year Members of the European Parliament and members of the Slovak National Assembly asked the European Union to invite Slovakia to the summit in Helsinki at the end of the year to discuss EU membership. A European Parliament committee spent three days in Bratislava and made its decision on the basis of "the results of present political and economic reforms." The political obstacles that led to Slovakia not being invited into the first group of EU candidates - namely the regime of former Premier Vladimir Meciar - have been overcome, said committee co-Chairman Austrian Parliament deputy Herbert Bosch. He also said that not only declarations but also "marked progress" in meeting economic criteria and legislation reform are necessary. Because Slovak GNP is 47 per cent of the EU average, Slovakia can expect to join the EU around 2005, two years later than the Czech Republic should become a member. Bosch also warned Slovaks of "integration shock." Marketa Kaclova/Jan Martinek FROM SLOVAKIA IN BRIEF * The Slovak government discussed a draft of 1999 budget January 20, and proposed a budget deficit of 15 billion Slovak crowns. The proposal predicts GDP growth of 3 per cent to 4 per cent and a total GDP value of 815 billion Slovak crowns. The inflation rate shall not exceed 9 per cent, while the unemployment rate should still be about 15 per cent. * Slovakia's trade-balance deficit was 80.793 billion Slovak crowns in 1998, when exports of 375.920 billion Slovak crowns did not keep up with imports of 456.713 billion Slovak crowns. Marketa Kaclova/Milan Smid ECONOMY Chemapol Group Placed into Bankruptcy The Regional Commercial Court in Prague declared the company Chemapol Group a.s. (ChG) bankrupt January 27 at the request of two creditors, the Czechoslovak Trade Bank (Ceskoslovenska obchodni banka, CSOB) and the French bank Credit Lyonnais. CSOB filed the bankruptcy petition December 22 (see Carolina 315), while Credit Lyonnais joined the CSOB petition January 21. Chemapol Group is the fourth-largest industrial holding in the Czech Republic, with a dominant position in some branches of the chemical industry and with 15,000 employees. Chemapol Group has not been paying back its debts for some time, the above-mentioned banks are owed about 2 billion crowns. Radim Masny and Roman Zubik, owners of 47 per cent of Chemapol, said the court decision is premature and are going to appeal. Another significant Chemapol shareholder, the Investment and Postal Bank (Investicni a postovni banka, IPB), said the bankruptcy decision was "unfortunate." According to the IPB spokeswoman Barbora Tacheci's statement in the daily Hospodarske noviny, the bankruptcy could seriously harm the Czech economy. Jan Martinek, Pavlina Hodkova/Milan Smid Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid January 29) ------------------------------------------------------------ 1 EUR = 36.420 CZK country currency CZK ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 19.879 Great Britain 1 GBP 52.477 Denmark 1 DKK 4.900 Japan 100 JPY 27.542 Canada 1 CAD 20.935 IMF 1 XDR 44.538 Hungary 100 HUF 14.592 Norway 1 NOK 4.262 New Zealand 1 NZD 17.008 Poland 1 PLN 8.786 Greece 100 GRD 11.319 Slovakia 100 SKK 85.273 Slovenia 100 SIT 19.429 Sweden 1 SEK 4.096 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.585 USA 1 USD 31.831 Exchange Rates of countries particpating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 18.621 Belgium 100 BEF 90.283 Finland 1 FIM 6.125 France 1 FRF 5.552 Ireland 1 IEP 46.244 Italy 1000 ITL 18.809 Luxemburg 100 LUF 90.283 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.572 Portugal 100 PTE 18.166 Austria 1 ATS 2.647 Spain 100 ESP 21.889 CULTURE Jaroslav Foglar Dies Jaroslav Foglar died at the age of 91 of intestinal disease January 23. Foglar was the author of the most successful Czech comics, the Fast Arrows (Rychle sipy). His poem The Moon Night (Mesicni noc) was first published at the age of 13, his first book - The Harbor Is Calling (Pristav vola) - at the age of 27. Since then, almost 30 books were published, well known as the "Foglaries" (Foglarovky). His comics the Fast Arrows became a nationwide youth phenomenon, partly for their strong moral and didactic message. Foglar also worked as the editor of two scout magazines and as the leader of the scouting group Dvojka. When the scout group Junak was prohibited during WWII, Foglar was interrogated. He did not have an easy time after the Communists came to power in February 1948. His books were prohibited for 17 years. He was allowed to publish again in the 60's, but the post-1968 normalization period resulted in another ban on his books. After the events of 1989, his work received several awards. His books are still enormously popular, with the recent publishing of the complete Fast Arrows still topping the bestseller lists. Katerina Kolarova/Zuzana Janeckova More Than 400 Filmed Works at 6th Febiofest The German movie Lola Is Running for Her Life January 21 opened the sixth year of Febiofest - The International Festival of Film, Television and Video Production. Febiofest '99 presents 424 filmed works in 21 Czech and Slovak cinemas. Belgian, Russian, French and Israeli film production were the main national-film thematic sections of this year's festival. The festival also presented normalization film pearls and productions from the Stalinist 50's. Traditionally, the Project 100 was part of the festival. The mission of this project is to bring to attention high-quality films and to challenge the polluted flood of commerce spewing from Hollywood. Febiofest is not strictly a Prague event. The festival will move to other Czech towns January 27. "The fact that the more modest regional versions of the festival are received with the same interest proves that we have, maybe unintentionally, created something that will never be able to surrender painlessly." said Fero Fenic, the director of the festival, in an interview with Czech daily Lidove noviny. The festival lasts until February 14. Zuzana Janeckova/Zuzana Janeckova SPORTS Australian Open: All Czechs out of Tourney Jana Novotna advanced to the third round by defeating Slovakia's Henrieta Nagyova, but Novotna's journey ended there. She could not manage against Spain's Maria Sanchez Lorenzo, serving badly and making one mistake after another. The second set was won at love by Sanchez-Lorenzo, and so Czech women's tennis stayed in Melbourne for less than a week. The Czech men came out just a little bit better. Bohdan Ulihrach, Petr Korda, Martin Damm and Jiri Novak advanced from the second round, where Ctislav Dosedel lost to Andre Agassi. The "Czech-American tournament" in the third round spelled doom for three Czechs: reigning champion Korda, who lost to Todd Martin in five sets, Damm (def. by Spadea) and Novak (Agassi). Only Ulihrach beat Jeff Tarango, but he met his fate in Switzerland's Marc Rosset in the fourth round. Tomas Kohout/Mirek Langer Hockey Extraleague: Last Year's Finalists Scoreless in Rematch In a rematch of the last year's hockey extraleague final, Trinec played in Vsetin. The performances of both goalkeepers, Vsetin's Roman Cechmanek and Trinec's Vlastimil Lakosil, prevented the players from scoring a single goal. In Zlin, spectators saw 11 goals in one game. However, players from Kladno had problems scoring, but also their opponents could not find the net. Kladno's last two games, against Pardubice and Trinec, finished in scoreless ties. Karlovy Vary's misery goes on. The team has tied one game and lost 10 in the last 11 rounds. Results of the 37th round: Zlin - Slavia Prague 6-5, Opava - Vitkovice 1-1, Trinec - Jihlava 2-4, Kladno - Pardubice 0-0, Plzen - Karlovy Vary 4-1, Litvinov - Ceske Budejovice 4-4, Vsetin - Sparta Prague 5-2. Results of the 38th round: Vitkovice - Zlin 4-2, Vsetin - Trinec 0-0, Slavia Prague - Sparta Prague 1-4, Karlovy Vary - Pardubice 1-4, Jihlava - Kladno 0-0, Ceske Budejovice - Opava 1-1, Plzen - Litvinov 5-2. Postponed game of the 35th round: Opava - Vsetin 2-4. Standings: 1. Vsetin 52, 2. Zlin 51, 3. Trinec 49, 4. Sparta Prague 45, 5. Plzen 42, 6. Ceske Budejovice 39, 7. Vitkovice 38, 8. Pardubice 37, 9. Slavia Prague 35, 10. Litvinov 33, 11. Karlovy Vary 30, 12. Opava 29, 13. Kladno 28, 14. Jihlava 19. Tomas Kohout/Mirek Langer SPORTS IN BRIEF * Vera Caslavska, seven-time Olympic gold-medal winner and a member of the International Olympic Committee, spoke about the affair threatening the Olympic movement. She said she had to resist offers to buy her vote, but representatives of the candidate cities gave up their struggle soon. Caslavska participated in the selection of the city for the 2004 Olympic Games, won by Athens. * Czech national soccer team member Karel Poborsky, who became a key player for Benfica Lisbon, was voted the most popular soccer player in Portugal by a vote of fans and journalists. * Five Czech hockey players (Dominik Hasek, Roman Hamrlik, Martin Straka, Jaromir Jagr and Bobby Holik) and two Slovaks (Peter Bondra and Pavol Demitra) participated in the NHL All-Star Game in Tampa. Hasek, known as the Dominator, dominated in the skills competitions. He won among the goalkeepers in shooting and defusing breakaways and helped the European team win 13-11. However, in the hockey game, the opponents won 8-6, while among the Czechs only Jagr recorded a point, with an assist. * Czech national championships in biathlon took place in Jablonec nad Nisou. Winners: Marian Malek (20km), Ivan Masarik (15km), Irena Cesnekova (15km) and Jitka Simunkova (12.5km). * Russian figure-skating pair Marina Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov won the first title in the European Figure Skating Championships in Prague, as the leaders after the short program, their compatriots Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, withdrew because of Berezhnaya's flu. Czechs Katerina Berankova and Otto Dlabola finished seventh. Jiri Wazik, Tomas Kohout/Mirek Langer WEATHER To catch a flu during this nasty, rainy and cold weather is more the rule than the exception. Some regions and towns, such as Jablonec and Tabor, declared flu emergences, and the last healthy students are enjoying a flu holiday. The ball season is fortunately not affected by rainy weather, with temperature fluctuating around the freezing point. However, some hangovers after the nights of dancing and drinking could be dangerous next weekend, for which weathermen forecast minus 15 degrees Celsius/5 degrees Fahrenheit at night, which might turn some slow-moving revelers into icicles. Tomas Kohout/Milan Smid English version edited by Michael Bluhm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with attribution to CAROLINA. Subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. 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