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 345, Friday, September 24, 1999. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST TWO WEEKS (September 8 - September 22) Government Approves Budget Proposal The Government of Prime Minister Milos Zeman September 20 approved its budget proposal for next year with a planned deficit of 39.777 billion crowns. In one month Parliament deputies will judge the budget, which projects expenses of 633.8 billion crowns and income of 594 billion crowns. The Finance Ministry's earlier version of the budget proposal planned for the same deficit, but incomes and expenses were each 23.3 billion crowns lower. The Finance Ministry, however, raised its estimate for GDP growth in 2000 to 1.4 per cent, which would more income from taxes. Zeman said he hopes the Chamber of Deputies will pass the bill, because budget instability could upset the Czech Republic's alleged good name abroad. Pavlina Hodkova/Jakub Jirovec Major Zeman Back on Television The communist propaganda television series The Thirty Cases of Major Zeman (Tricet pripadu majora Zemana) is back in the programming of Czech Television as part of evenings called Thirty Returns. The programming includes the original Zeman film, an explicatory documentary and a discussion by historians, journalists, writers and others. The Thirty Cases of Major Zeman were filmed in the 70's in close cooperation with the Interior Ministry as a celebration of the anniversary of the founding of the Communist police. The individual episodes pervert actual historical events to show the police and communism in a positive light. The management of the Czech Television has been criticized from all sides for airing Major Zeman again. The Confederation of Political Prisoners, the Writers' Community, Parliament deputies and the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting have protested against the Zeman being broadcast. Czech Television said it believes the series will open serious debate about the crimes of communism in the former Czechoslovakia. Lenka Nejezchlebova/Jakub Jirovec Annonce Publisher Offers Five Million for Klaus' Removal On the front page of the classified-advertising publication Annonce September 8 was a photograph of Chamber of Deputies Chairman Vaclav Klaus with the text: Five million for the removal of Klaus, the number one detriment to this country. The explanation that the removal concerned only Klaus' removal from the political scene appeared on the third page. The author of the advertisement was Annonce publisher Josef Kudlacek. Klaus said he is considering filing a criminal complaint. Kudlacek, in an interview on TV NOVA, did not deny that he would welcome Klaus' physical liquidation. Kudlacek said Klaus is the main obstacle to the Czech Republic's development. According to lawyer Josef Lzicar, who has represented Klaus in the past, Kudlacek could face up to two years in prison for inciting a criminal act. President Vaclav Havel and many other politicians condemned the advertisement. "It is not a good joke, it exceeds the bounds of decency and shows the general decline of public morals, which I, as you know, have criticized for a long time," said the president to Czech Radio. Prime Minister Milos Zeman said he would welcome criminal charges against Kudlacek. "In my opinion Mr. Kudlacek belongs partly in an asylum and partly in prison, preferably in both institutions at the same time, if that were physically possible," said Zeman. Marketa Lajdova/Sofia Karakeva Klaus' Official Residence Robbed The official residence of the Chamber of Deputies Chairman Vaclav Klaus was robbed on the night of September 18-19. The plunderers did not steal any documents concerning the political activity of Klaus, who is also chairman of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). The thieves concentrated on the personal property of Klaus and his wife Livia, stealing much of her jewelery, with an estimated value of 4 million crowns. The robbers forced their way into the building although the house was being watched by a private security firm. A small political tiff broke out over the fact that an official residence was guarded by a private firm and not the police. Petr Novy/Zuzana Janeckova Data Stolen on Millions of Czech Savings Bank Clients Personal information about some 2.5 million clients of the Czech Savings Bank (Ceska Sporitelna) was offered on the Internet by an unknown source. The anonymous offer would sell any bank customer's name, address, account number, account balance and transactions. The offer's veracity was proven by information provided about four random depositors, who later confirmed the information. "Data about our clients is secured completely standardly," said bank spokesman Pavel Jirousek. Most bank clients did not panic and did not close their accounts. Bank management has not determined the source of the leak. Experts said that a bank employee would have the easiest access to the information. Bank General Director Dusan Baran said someone wanted to damage the bank's good name. Suspicions also exist that the scandal is related to the upcoming privatization of the bank, with the scandal an attempt to the bank's price down. The chances of finding the culprit are small. To present the database the perpetrator used a public e-mail address where users can be anonymous. Operators at Yahoo, where the e-mail box was located, gave investigators all information on the registration of the mailbox, but these were likely false. Investigators have contacted the seller of the information, but the investigation has not brought any results. After deadline: Czech police September 22 arrested a 21-year-old employee of the Czech Savings Bank and accused him of stealing the data and offering it on the Internet. He allegedly copied the data onto a CD-ROM, which was found in his home. Alena Smrzova/Sofia Karakeva CNTS Lets Most of Its Employees Go The Czech Independent Television Company (CNTS) let go most of its employees September 9 because of financial reasons. Internet broadcasting was not paying off for CNTS, the former service provider of TV NOVA license-holder CET 21. The CNTS news broadcast appeared on the Internet a few days after CET 21 owner Vladimir Zelezny August 5 dumped CNTS and began broadcasting on his own. The cost of one month's broadcasting for the few hundred viewers of CNTS came to 150 million crowns. CME, the American owner of CNTS, decided to release 270 of the 350 employees of CNTS. CME media flak Michael Donath of Burson Marsteller tried to shift blame for the firings, saying they represent the CNTS reaction to repeated refusals by the Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting to take any action in the conflict between CET 21 and CNTS (see Carolina 342). CNTS retained its management, technicians and some reporters. Marketa Lajdova/Sofia Karakeva Would Every Fifth Czech Vote Communist? According to the latest opinion poll taken by the STEM agency, 20.5 per cent of respondents gave their preference to the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM), the highest preference for the Communists since November 1989. The Communists finished 0.4 per cent behind the leader of the poll, the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) of Vaclav Klaus. Voter preferences for the ruling Social Democrats (CSSD) continue to fall, this month to 15 per cent. ODS and CSSD tried to discount the importance of the poll, saying it reflects momentary discontent with the economy. Analysts say the shift toward the Communists is being made by disappointed Social Democrat supporters and former voters of the neo-Fascist Republicans. Petr Novy/Milan Smid FROM SLOVAKIA Havel and Schuster Discuss Final Divison of Former Federal Property On his first official state visit to independent Slovakia September 17-18, Czech President Vaclav Havel met Slovak Premier Mikulas Dzurinda and President Rudolf Schuster. Havel discussed with his Slovak counterpart the unsettled issue of the division of property of the former Czechoslovak federation. The visit was interpreted as a sign that relations are finally warming up between the two nations, as Havel had not visited Slovakia while former Premier Vladimir Meciar was in power. Havel said a solution to the property question could be found by the end of the year without hurting the interests of either side. The presidents rejected the idea of a resolution in which both parties would renounce their claims. This resolution had been discussed by former leaders Vaclav Klaus and Meciar in the past. The technical details of a solution should be determined during meetings planned between Dzurinda and Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman. Alena Smrzova/Milan Smid ECONOMY Cabinet Celebrates Second-Quarter GDP Growth of 0.3 Per Cent "After one year in office, this is my happiest moment," said Prime Minister Milos Zeman September 14 upon the release of the figures on GDP development for the second quarter of 1999: growth of 0.3 per cent from the second quarter of 1998 and growth of 3.6 per cent over the first quarter of this year. Zeman said the growth proves the economy is coming out of its crisis. Finance Minister Pavel Mertlik said, "Although the GDP result is optimistic, we can't hold our heads too high. It does show, however, that a deficit policy during the recession was correct, and in the future we will support the demand side." Mertlik said he fears the unemployment rate will rise along with GDP. He said it is necessary to support domestic and foreign investment and finish privatizing state-owned companies. Skeptics said the growth was caused by increased household and government spending and by the increase in export, while investments, which should be the engine of growth, declined for the quarter. Freedom Union (US) Vice Chairman and former Trade Minister Karel Kuhnl said he considers the numbers inflated, because he cannot see how growth can result from increased household consumption, decreased production and increased export. Pavlina Hodkova/Michael Bluhm Low Trade-Balance Deficit Probably Will Not Last The Czech Republic's trade-balance deficit for August was 3.2 billion crowns, according to figures published September 22 in the daily Hospodarske noviny. Experts expect the deficit to remain low in September, with a surplus possible. The last months of the year, however, are expected to show a greater deficit because of the rise in the price of oil and other commodities. Causes of the low deficit are the domestic economic recession, which is forcing Czech companies to look abroad for markets, and renewed economic growth in Western Europe. Export to EU countries over the last 12 months is up about 30 per cent. Automobiles and other transportation vehicles have recorded some of the most dynamic growth in export. Estimates of the trade deficit for 1999 now range between 60 billion crowns and 70 billion crowns, after a deficit of 34.8 billion for the first eight months of the year. Pavlina Hodkova/Michael Bluhm ECONOMY IN BRIEF * Unpaid taxes at the end of August came to 90.5 billion crowns, according to Finance Ministry figures released September 21. Unpaid VAT taxes made up 32.4 billion crowns of that total, while income taxes comprise 25.8 billion crowns. * The scheduled increase in state rents and electricity will be postponed until January 1, 2000. Trade Minister Miroslav Gregr and Finance Minister Pavel Mertlik said they agreed on a new plan for the increase in energy prices, which they should present to the Cabinet in three weeks and which calls for an average increase of 15 per cent. * The Government should begin a tender by the end of the year to select a consultant for the sale of the state's 51-per-cent share in SPT Telecom. It is not clear how many shares will be acquired by TelSource, which now controls 33 per cent of SPT Telecom. Pavlina Hodkova/Michael Bluhm Exchange Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid September 24) -------------------------------------------------------------- 1 EUR = 36.115 country currency CZK ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 22.398 Great Britain 1 GBP 56.372 Denmark 1 DKK 4.861 Japan 100 JPY 33.143 Canada 1 CAD 23.501 IMF 1 XDR 47.809 Hungary 100 HUF 14.134 Norway 1 NOK 4.407 New Zealand 1 NZD 18.067 Poland 1 PLN 8.445 Greece 100 GRD 11.036 Slovakia 100 SKK 83.027 Slovenia 100 SIT 18.414 Sweden 1 SEK 4.195 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.519 USA 1 USD 34.548 Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 18.465 Belgium 100 BEF 89.527 Finland 1 FIM 6.074 France 1 FRF 5.506 Ireland 1 IEP 45.857 Italy 1000 ITL 18.652 Luxemburg 100 LUF 89.527 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.388 Portugal 100 PTE 18.014 Austria 1 ATS 2.625 Spain 100 ESP 21.706 CULTURE Prague's Ambit Gallery Shows World Press Photo Exhibit In its 42nd year, the World Press Photo exhibit is presenting almost 200 award-winning photographs in Prague's Ambit Gallery. Although this year belongs mostly to simple black-and-white photography, Dayna Smith's photograph of the year A Kosovo woman over her dead husband is in colour. Eyal Warshavsky pictures showing the conflict in Izrael awarded in the Actualities category are in colour as well. Lenka Nejezchlebova/Zuzana Janeckova Prague Fall Coming to an End Brahms' Deutsche Requiem opened the ninth year of the Prague Fall music festival September 10. Seventeen concertos will be performed by 30 international philharmonic orchestras until September 26. Composers performed include Mozart, Debussy, Beethoven, Verdi and Bach. To this point the highlight of the festival was the performance of American soprano Janice Chandler. Similar to the traditional closing performance of Bedrich Smetana's My Homeland in every Prague Spring festival, the Prague Fall will be brought to a close by Antonin Dvorak's Concert for Violin Cello and in Orchestra in B Minor. Lenka Nejezchlebova/Zuzana Janeckova SPORTS Whitewater Canoeing World Championships: Three Titles for Czech Republic The Czech Republic's canoeists were the most successful team in the whitewater World Championships in Seu d'Urgell, Spain. Stepanka Hilgertova (single kayak) won after an excellent second round and added another victory to her total, which includes a gold in the Atlanta Olympics and the 1998 World Cup. Two other titles came from Marek Jiras and Tomas Mader (double canoe) and from the teams competition, in which the Czech Republic won a third place. The single-canoeists' performance was a disappointment as Olympic champion Lukas Pollert could not advance from the qualification. Petr Novy/Mirek Langer Sparta Praha in Champions League: Two Games, Two Draws The Sparta Praha soccer team started its Champions League campaign September 15 against the French champion Girordins Bordeaux. The well-played game finished in a scoreless tie. Horst Siegl could not score on a penalty shot in the 55th minute. In the second match, Sparta visited Moscow September 21 to meet Spartak and it played excellently. Sparta led from the 17th minute after Vratislav Lokvenc's header, but after the break it allowed the Russians to create pressure and tie the game. Both teams had chances later, but they could not convert them. Ondrej Trunecka/Mirek Langer UEFA Cup: Teplice Wins, Slavia Ties, Olomouc Loses Teplice hosted Ferencvaros Budapest September 16 and was losing after 17 minutes 0-1, but in the end won thanks to Martin Frydek, Michal Kolomaznik and Marian Rizek's goals. On the same day Slavia Praha came home from Macedonia with a satisfying 0-0 draw against Vojvodina Novi Sad (a Yugoslav team which had to play in Macedonia), although it could have won on Tomas Dosek's good scoring chance in the 82nd minute. Also September 16 Sigma Olomouc probably buried its chances to advance after its loss against Real Mallorca 1-3 at home. Olomouc's goal was scored by David Kobylik. The rematches are scheduled for September 30. Petr Novy/Mirek Langer Soccer League: Slavia Still Leads, Sparta Second Two rounds of the soccer league were played between September 10 and September 20. The sixth round offered an interesting fight for second place. Sparta hosted Ceske Budejovice and led after nine minutes 3-0, and by the end of the game had trounced the southern Bohemian team 7-0. First-place Slavia lost two points in Pribram, where goalkeeper Zdenek Janos performed excellently. It was, however, his last game - Janos died in a car accident September 15. Janos, 32, played 283 games in the league, 105 of them shutouts and scored three goals. Dukla Pribram, disconsolate from the loss, was easy prey for Ceske Budejovice in the next round. The game between Sparta and Brno was attended by 23,800 fans, a high for the year. Slavia keeps its first place in the standings after beating an out-of-sync Olomouc. Results of the 6th round: Jablonec - Bohemians Praha 1-2, Sparta Praha - Ceske Budejovice 7-0, Pribram - Slavia Praha 1-1, Zizkov - Hradec 2-1, Teplice - Brno 2-1, Drnovice - Liberec 1-1, Opava - Ostrava 2-3, Olomouc - Blsany 0-1. Results of the 7th round: Liberec - Zizkov 1-0, Brno - Sparta Praha 1-1, Ostrava - Jablonec 1-1, Ceske Budejovice - Pribram 5-0, Hradec Kralove - Opava 2-2, Blsany - Drnovice 0-2, Bohemians Praha - Teplice 0-0, Slavia Praha - Olomouc 2-0. Standings: 1. Slavia Praha 17, 2. Sparta Praha 14, 3. Drnovice 13, 4. Ceske Budejovice 13, 5. Bohemians Praha 12, 6. Liberec 11, 7. Teplice 11, 8. Brno 10, 9. Ostrava 9, 10. Pribram 8, 11. Jablonec 7, 12. Blsany 7, 13. Opava 6, 14. Zizkov 6, 15. Olomouc 4, 16. Hradec Kralove 2. Petr Novy/Mirek Langer Hockey Extraleague: Plzen Surprises, Favorites Lose The new season of the top hockey league, renamed the Czech Telecom Extraleague after its new sponsor, started September 10. The beginning of the season brought a number of surprises. Plzen has not lost yet and leads the standings ahead of Zlin. Slovnaft Vsetin, league champion the last five seasons, has been weakened by the loss of some players to the NHL, but now occupies fourth place. Sparta, a preseason favorite, has played poorly. Defenseman Milos Holan returned from Atlanta after he was sent to their farm team during training camp. Holan is playing for Trinec, where he is also an assistant coach. Results of the 1st round: Slavia Praha - Vsetin 4-2, Trinec - Litvinov 5-2, Kladno - Znojmo 4-3, Vitkovice - Havirov 3-0, Karlovy Vary - Plzen 1-6, Pardubice - Ceske Budejovice 5-1, Zlin - Sparta Praha 4-2. Results of the 2nd round: Sparta Praha - Trinec 2-4, Litvinov - Pardubice 6-0, Karlovy Vary - Kladno 3-3, Plzen - Ceske Budejovice 6-1, Vsetin - Vitkovice 5-2, Havirov - Zlin 0-1, Znojmo - Slavia Praha 1-3. Results of the 3rd round: Vitkovice - Znojmo 1-2, Zlin - Vsetin 4-4, Kladno - Plzen 1-3, Trinec - Havirov 2-1, Ceske Budejovice - Litvinov 6-2, Pardubice - Sparta Praha 2-5, Slavia Praha - Karlovy Vary 0-3. Results of the 4th round: Havirov - Pardubice 1-8, Havirov - Pardubice 1-8, Plzen - Litvinov 2-2, Kladno - Slavia 2-5, Vsetin - Trinec 3-2, Znojmo - Zlin 2-2, Karlovy Vary - Vitkovice 2-2, Sparta Praha - Ceske Budejovice 4-0. Results of the 5th round: Slavia Praha - Plzen 0-3, Zlin - Karlovy Vary 4-0, Pardubice - Vsetin 1-3, Trinec - Znojmo 3-3, Litvinov - Sparta Praha 5-5, Vitkovice - Kladno 6-2, Ceske Budejovice - Havirov 4-3. Standings: 1. Plzen 9, 2. Zlin 8, 3. Trinec 7, 4. Vsetin 7, 5. Slavia Praha 6, 6. Vitkovice 5, 7. Sparta Praha 5, 8. Pardubice 4, 9. Litvinov 4, 10. Znojmo 4, 11. Karlovy Vary 4, 12. Ceske Budejovice 4, 13. Kladno 3, 14. Havirov 0. Tomas Kohout/Mirek Langer SPORTS IN BRIEF * Portugal's Antonio Pinto and Norway's Gunhild Halle won the Mattoni Grand Prix 10-kilometer run in Prague. Pinto broke the record with a time of 28 minutes and 16 seconds. * World champion Ludmila Formanova (800m), Zuzana Hlavonova (high jump) and Jan Zelezny (javelin) finished second in their respective disciplines in the IAAF Grand Prix final meet in Munich September 12. * The Slovnaft Vsetin hockey team lost in the opening game of the European Hockey League in Russia's Magnitogorsk to Metallurg 2-5. Petr Novy and Tomas Kohout/Mirek Langer WEATHER These are important days. Carolina 345 is heading off into the world, summer is ending. The leaves are starting to turn into a palette-full of colors, an unharvested apple will fall here and there and the mornings will make your hands cold. The Prague Fall music festival is ending, but the real fall is just beginning. Temperatures in the morning are around 10 degrees Celsius/50 degrees Fahrenheit, with highs during the day of 20 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius/68 degrees Fahrenheit to 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Petr Novy/Zuzana Janeckova English version edited by Michael Bluhm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This news may be published only with attribution to CAROLINA. Subscription is free. Comments and remarks are appreciated. Please send them to the address: CAROLINA@mbox.fsv.cuni.cz To subscribe to CAROLINA news, send an e-mail message to the address LISTSERV@cesnet.cz The text of the message for subscription to the English version must be: SUBSCRIBE CAR-ENG First name Last name or for the Czech version SUBSCRIBE CAR-CS First name Last name To delete your subscription from the list of subscribers, send the following message to the address LISTSERV@cesnet.cz: SIGNOFF CAR-ENG or SIGNOFF CAR-CS We ask you not to send automatic replies to our list. 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