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 ISSN 121-5040 tel: (+4202) 22112252, fax: (+4202) 22112219 *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* C A R O L I N A No 380, Friday, June 16, 2000. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (June 7 - June 14) IPB in Forced Administration The Czech National Bank June 16 placed the Investment and Postal Bank (Investicni a postovni banka, IPB), the third-largest Czech bank, under forced administration. The Czech National Bank and the Finance Ministry announced the move together, saying it was taken to protect deposits and the stability of the banking sector. Ernst & Young is carrying out an in-depth audit and its expected results are causing great worry. It is assumed that the auditing company will ask IPB to increase its reserves by at least 20 billion crowns. The current shareholders did not wish to do so and asked the state for help, even though the controlling shareholder of IPB is not the state but the Japanese investment bank Nomura. The shareholders argued that the government has helped all the other major Czech banks. Nomura also requested the state buy back Nomura's stake in the bank for one crown. Information about the bank's problems resulted in mass withdrawals by clients - the total amount of money withdrawn June 12 was 1.35 billion crowns. The Finance Ministry and the Czech National Bank (Ceska narodni banka, CNB) issued a statement June 13 recommending an increase of the bank's basic capital. During a Commemoration of Lidice Extermination a Statue of 82 Children Was Unveiled The 58th anniversary of the tragedy of the Lidice village was commemorated June 10. At the site of the 173 graves of executed men about 300 people listened to speeches from Prime Minister Milos Zeman, Senate Vice Chairman Petr Pithart and Chamber of Deputies Vice Chairwoman Petra Buzkova. Lidice, a village west of Prague, was on June 10, 1942 leveled by German soldiers because of alleged collaboration with the Czechoslovak paratroopers who assassinated Reichsprotektor Reinhard Heydrich. Some 192 men were shot, all but 11 women were transported to concentration camps, the lives of 82 children out of Lidice's 105 ended in the gas chambers. To commemorate the tragedy, a bronze statue was unveiled of the 82 children from Lidice who died in the Polish concentration camp in Chelmn. The decision to create it was made by sculptor Marie Uchytilova and her husband Jiri Hampl in 1969. He continued work on the statue alone after her death in 1989. The monumental work took 30 years to complete. Pavel Novotny/Veronika Hankusova Havel recovering from successful operation President Vaclav Havel should leave the Military Hospital in Prague in one week, according to doctors' plans. He underwent surgery to remove abdominal hernias last week. His recovery was complicated by slight respiratory problems. Havel's condition is constantly improving, he took a short walk June 12. Dita Eckhardtova/Ondrej Maly ODS Ideology Conference: Beware of Europe! "Unlike others - as a substitute for a missing political program - we do not romantically wave blue flags with yellow stars," said Civic Democratic Party (Obcanska demokraticka strana, ODS) Chairman Vaclav Klaus during the party's ideology conference, which took place June 11 in Prague. Klaus also said there is no real alternative to Czech membership in the European Union (EU), but that should not lead to "artificially inoculated hurray Europeanism." Jan Kasal, chairman of the Christian Democrats, said "Klaus showed the public what he really thinks about our EU membership." Klaus' speech was also criticized by Prime Minister Milos Zeman. Jan Vedral/Jakub Jirovec NEWS IN BRIEF * The prime ministers of the Visegrad Four - the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia - agreed June 9 to found a new fund to support cultural, science and sporting activities. * Croatian Prime Minister Ivica Racan visited Prague June 12. He talked with Czech Prime Minister Milos Zeman and Foreign Minister Jan Kavan. Kavan said the Czech Republic supports Croatia joining NATO and the EU. Jan Vedral/Jakub Jirovec FOREIGN AFFAIRS Czech Republic Opens Last Entrance Chapter European Union countries' foreign ministers and the foreign ministers of the six EU candidate countries met June 13 in Luxembourg to discuss this year's membership negotiations. They also opened the last chapter of membership talks - agriculture, which is connected with about 40,000 regulations. The candidate countries demand subsidies once in the EU, but the EU does not want to provide funds for underdeveloped agriculture, the most notable example being Poland. The Czech Republic closed foreign-relations and customs-union chapters during the meeting and so Czech diplomats have closed 13 of 29 chapters. Lenka Ludvikova/Jakub Jirovec Harsh Words for Dienstbier from UN Mission Chief in Kosovo Bernard Kouchner, the head of the UN civilian administration in Kosovo (UNMIK), criticized former Czechoslovak Foreign Minister Jiri Dienstbier at a press conference in Pristina June 12. When answering a question about the critical remarks concerning the situation in Kosovo made by Dienstbier, who serves as a UN human rights envoy for the former Yugoslavia, Kouchner said, "Shut up, Mr. Dienstbier," and said he is not interested in the person and opinions of Dienstbier any more. According to Czech media reports, Kouchner's slip of tongue ("I am not ready to receive you, Mr. Dienstbier, nor Mr. Vaclav Havel") mistakenly sullied the Czech president, who strongly objected to Dienstbier's opinion on UN policy in Kosovo in the past. Kouchner sent a personal letter to Havel June 13 rectifying his remark and explaining Kouchner's appreciation for Havel position. Lenka Ludvikova/Milan Smid FROM SLOVAKIA Economy Grows According to the Statistics Office of Slovakia, industrial production has risen by 18 per cent, compared to last April. Other estimates claim a more modest increase of 10-12 per cent. The key element in the economy is export, where rubber, electronics and automobile industry have the leading share. Firms and factories that do not export are in financial troubles. The main reason for economic growth therefore seems to be an ideal situation abroad, particularly the growth of production and consumption in Europe. Lenka Ludvikova/Daniela Vrbova ECONOMY Unemployment Rate Down The Czech Statistics Office (Cesky statisticky urad) announced the unemployment rate declined in May to 8.7 per cent from April's 9 per cent. The rate has been declining slightly since its January maximum of 9.8 per cent, and the current numbers have been adjusted for summer seasonal work. Statisticians say a slight revitalization of industrial production and governmental subsidies for the metallurgic and coal-mining industries have contributed to the decline. Final Price for the Czech Savings Bank Austria's Erste Bank will fill the Czech state's coffers with 19.38 billion crowns for 52 per cent of the Czech Savings Bank (Ceska sporitelna). The money will be used to offset some of the debt of the Consolidation Bank (Konsolidacni banka). Economic section prepared by Jakub Trnka/Simon Dominik Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid June 19) -------------------------------------------------------------- 1 EUR = 36.170 country currency CZK ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 23.003 Great Britain 1 GBP 57.253 Denmark 1 DKK 4.849 Japan 100 JPY 36.629 Canada 1 CAD 25.647 IMF 1 XDR 50.493 Hungary 100 HUF 13.925 Norway 1 NOK 4.393 New Zealand 1 NZD 18.020 Poland 1 PLN 8.579 Greece 100 GRD 10.741 Slovakia 100 SKK 85.769 Slovenia 100 SIT 17.476 Sweden 1 SEK 4.377 Switzerland 1 CHF 23.177 USA 1 USD 37.837 Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 18.493 Belgium 100 BEF 89.663 Finland 1 FIM 6.083 France 1 FRF 5.514 Ireland 1 IEP 45.926 Italy 1000 ITL 18.680 Luxemburg 100 LUF 89.493 Netherlands 1 NLG 16.413 Portugal 100 PTE 18.042 Austria 1 ATS 2.629 Spain 100 ESP 21.739 CULTURE Golden Prague Television Festival Grand Prize Heads for Sweden Prizes were bestowed in the Prague State Opera June 7 on the final evening of the international television festival of classical music, jazz and ballet programming. The main prize - the Golden Prague Grand Prize - was conferred upon the Swedish TV station SVT for Tchaikovsky's ballet Sleeping Beauty. The festival took place from June 4-7 and there were 115 programs from 28 countries. This year, the festival was newly opened to the public - spectators could watch 40 selected programs in the French Institute, the Goethe Institute and the MAT and Evald cinemas. Entrance was free. Pavel Novotny/Daniela Vrbova SPORTS Soccer Euro 2000: Czechs Lose to Netherlands 0-1 The Czech national soccer team, runner-up in the last European Championships in England in 1996, played its first game in this year's Euro in Amsterdam June 11 against the Netherlands. The Netherlands were considered the biggest favorites of the tournament, while the Czechs had advanced to the tournament without a loss in 10 qualification games and were third in the FIFA Rankings. Czech players from Italian clubs, Pavel Nedved and Tomas Repka, expressed doubts about referee Pierluigi Collina of Italy. The first half was ruled by the Dutch team, which almost did not let its opponent into its half and left the 11,000 Czech fans in Amsterdam expecting a goal. However, the focused defense of the Czech team did not allow any good chances, on the contrary Pavel Nedved's 20-meter shot missed van der Sar's goal by a few centimeters in the 45th minute. After the break, the teams swapped roles. The Czechs kept the ball and gave one of their best performances. Karel Poborsky missed Nedved's centering pass in front of an empty goal in the 47th minute, 10 minutes later Jan Koller's shot found van der Sar's hands. Nedved's header hit the post in the 58th minute, Koller's clanged off the crossbar in the 64th minute. In the 89th minute captain Jiri Nemec pulled substitute Ronald de Boer's jersey, and the Italian referee ordered penalty kick and Frank de Boer, brother of the fouled player, converted it. Coach Jozef Chovanec said the referee's decision was scandalous. It occupied the sport sections of the Czech and European newspapers for several days. Even some Dutch players said the penalty was not proper. The Czechs have to defeat France, the world champions, in the next game June 16. They will then meet their last opponent in the group, Denmark, June 21. Pavel Novotny/Mirek Langer After deadline: the Czechs lost to France 2-1. WEATHER The heat wave of recent days with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius/88 degrees Fahrenheit made life in the cities, with their heavy car traffic and layers of smog, occasionally unpleasant. Thus the succeeding occasional rains and thunderstorms were welcomed, with the exception of those accompanied by a small tornado that damaged villages in the Chomutov region and those accompanied by torrential rains and floods as in the Benesov region of Central Bohemia. 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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