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 415, Friday, April 20, 2001. FROM THE EVENTS OF THE PAST WEEK (April 11 - April 18) International Commission Gives Favorable Temelin Report The Temelin Nuclear Power Station's (JETE) impact on the environment is low, insignificant and acceptable. That was the conclusion of a report presented by the international commission formed on the basis of a Czech-Austrian treaty signed in Melk, Austria in November. The Czech Foreign Ministry April 10 presented the report, which is considered key for Temelin's future. The four-member commission, formed by two representatives from the Czech Environment Ministry and two from the Czech Trade Ministry, compiled the report based on testimony from 76 Czech experts; six other experts from the European Commission, Austria and Germany cooperated with the commission as independent observers. Public discussion of the report will be held April 25 in Ceske Budejovice and May 9 in Linz. The study gives high grades to Temelin's impact on local hydrology, atmosphere and climate, while it less positively describes the impact on the landscape and nature. According to the commission, the analysis of a possible accident shows that, even considering the toughest criteria, citizens of the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany will not be in jeopardy. The document drew serious criticism from ecologists and Temelin opponents. A few hours after the report was released, the Northern Austrian Envoy for Nearby Nuclear Facilities Radko Pavlovec expressed his disapproval. He said the report is insufficient (it consisted of 250 pages) and it barely refers to alternative energy sources and does not compare the impact to the impact of not launching the power station at all. Josef Puehringer, speaker of the Upper Austria Independent Platform against Atomic Danger, demanded a new report for the reasons mentioned above. He called the report a joke. Marie Sternova/Sofia Karakeva Jiri Rusnok New Finance Minister The Finance Ministry has a new leader: Pavel Mertlik's successor is Jiri Rusnok, former deputy labor minister. He was appointed by President Vaclav Havel April 13. According to Prime Minister Milos Zeman, the new minister's main goals will be to accelerate privatization of state companies, improve tax collection and stabilize public funds. Rusnok will also be responsible for next year's budget, which is expected to be burdened with a lower deficit than this year. Mertlik, who announced his resignation April 10 - saying the main reason was he lost much of the prime minister's support (see Carolina 414), expressed satisfaction with his successor. "He is a very good economist and expert, he knows the civil service, and I'm convinced he will ensure continuity in Finance Ministry policy," said Mertlik for the economic daily Hospodarske noviny. Havel thanked Mertlik for his work and said he regrets Mertlik's departure from the government. The new minister, like Mertlik, said he considers gradual tax increases inevitable in the future. David Pilar/Stepan Vorlicek Police Charge TV Boss Zelezny with Two Crimes TV NOVA General Director Vladimir Zelezny was accused of two crimes last week - damaging creditors and tax evasion - and questioned by police. According to the charges, Zelezny paid a contract fine of 28 million USD to an unknown Lichtenstein company and sold part of his property. He thus damaged his creditor CME, to whom he was ordered to pay roughly the same amount by an international arbitration court. Zelezny also allegedly failed to pay customs duties for valuable paintings imported from Great Britain. "He is suspected of not paying more than 6 million crowns in customs duties and taxes," said to the daily Lidove noviny police investigator Vladimir Machala. According to the daily MF DNES, Czech-American George Novotny imported the paintings to the Czech Republic. Novotny, an American citizen, falsely claimed the paintings were his own property, so the customs officers could not demand customs duty. A painting valued at 24 million crowns by Marc Chagall was also among the imported paintings. The investigation will continue, authorities say they suspect him of further tax evasions. Investigators are looking into several other criminal complaints linked to the dispute between Zelezny and the American company CME. Ales Borovan/Ondrej Maly E-Business Top Theme at Prague Internet World The fourth-annual fair Prague Internet World ended April 12 with awards for the best and the most useful web pages, services and Internet products. Besides exhibitors, Internet companies and companies using the Internet as an integral part of their presentation, the fair was attended by communications specialists, media representatives, industry bosses and the public. The conference was divided into nine sections - nine different views on internet (e.g. technology, law, finance, education, entertainment and children). The top theme was the e-commerce, dominant at the E-SUMMIT - a meeting of politicians, top Czech internet managers, industry leaders and journalists. Vera Vonavkova/Ondrej Maly NEWS IN BRIEF * Miroslav Kalousek, vice chairman of the Christian Democrats whose presence in the Four-Party Coalition's shadow government caused the resignation of the coalition leader Cyril Svoboda, resigned from his function April 12. He withdrew as trade minister in the shadow cabinet and from his post in the coalition's Political Council as well. Kalousek asked Svoboda and Hana Marvanova from the Freedom Union (US, another coalition member) to explain their accusations concerning his work at the Defense Ministry in previous governments. * The population of the Czech Republic decreased by 11,552 people last year. The country had 10,266,546 inhabitants December 31. The Czech Statistics Office recorded the greatest decline - of almost 6,000 people - in Prague. The Ostrava, Olomouc and Brno regions saw declines, too. Only eight counties reported more births than deaths. The Prague-West and Prague-East districts saw the largest increases. * Two dead and one seriously wounded police officer were the result of an April 17 exchange of gunfire in Protivin. A woman came to the police station to report she had been raped by her former husband the previous evening. The police were shot by the husband's illegally owned weapon when they examined the house. One of them, aged 31, died on the spot, while a 29-year-old officer died at the hospital. The third is in hospital in Ceske Budejovice with serious head and chest injuries. The attacker unsuccessfully attepmted suicide after the crime. Petr Adam, Katerina Komadova, Gabriela Pribilova/Adam Fendrych FROM SLOVAKIA Slovak Television Crisis Slovak Television (STV) is facing a deep crisis, but unlike the Christmas personnel crisis at Czech Television (see Carolina 399-402), this is a financial crisis. Amendments to the STV and Radio Act approved April 11 will not solve the longterm problems of STV. The Czech case did, however, influence certain elements of the amendments. STV did not repay by April its debt of more than 100 million Slovak crowns to Slovak Telecommunications (ST) for services provided. Since the beginning of April, ST has stopped providing live sports broadcasts and reports from the Slovak National Assembly. Hockey playoff and football matches have been broadcasted by the Telenor company. STV and ST agreed on June 1 as the new deadline for repaying the debt. Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Culture and Media Commission Jan Budaj presented April 12 to the government a five-point plan for repaying the debt. The governing coalition and opposition Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) agreed with the plan. The plan calls for an audit of service prices, which ST provided to STV and with the reimbursement of unpaid concession fees from viewers. News from Slovakia by Zdenek Sloboda/Sofia Karakeva ECONOMY IN BRIEF * The Czech National Bank April 10 announced the foreign debt of the Czech Republic fell to 814 billion crowns by the end of 2000; the 1999 debt was 822.5 billion crowns. * Industrial production in the Czech Republic achieved a 12-month increase of 6.5 per cent in February - and an increase of 8.8 per cent when considering the lesser number of workdays this year. The Czech Statistics Office announced the results April 10. The office's records show the increase in January was 13.8 per cent. The increase is driven by continuing foreign investments. * A new model of the latest Skoda car, the Fabia sedan, will be presented at the 5th Prague Motorist Spring exhibition April 19-22. More than 86 exhibitors will take part, and a show of four old luxury makes, including Ferrari and Porsche, will take place. * The Chamber of Deputies April 12 approved a government bill to transform the state-owned Consolidation Bank into the Czech Consolidation Agency, effective September 1 and with a planned lifespan of 10 years. The agency will not have a bank license; the state will still guarantee its claims. The bill must be approved by the Senate and signed by the president. Economy in Brief by Adam Fendrych/Stepan Vorlicek Rates at the Czech National Bank (valid April 20) -------------------------------------------------------------- 1 EUR = 34.250 country currency CZK ------------------------------------------ Australia 1 AUD 19.507 Great Britain 1 GBP 55.428 Denmark 1 DKK 4.590 Japan 100 JPY 31.819 Canada 1 CAD 24.828 IMF 1 XDR 48.946 Hungary 100 HUF 12.828 Norway 1 NOK 4.253 New Zealand 1 NZD 15.680 Poland 1 PLN 9.676 Slovakia 100 SKK 79.195 Slovenia 100 SIT 15.827 Sweden 1 SEK 3.793 Switzerland 1 CHF 22.389 USA 1 USD 38.777 Exchange Rates of countries participating in the euro (converted from the euro rate) country currency CZK ----------------------------------------- Germany 1 DEM 17.512 Belgium 100 BEF 84.904 Finland 1 FIM 5.760 France 1 FRF 5.221 Ireland 1 IEP 43.489 Italy 1000 ITL 17.689 Luxemburg 100 LUF 84.904 Netherlands 1 NLG 15.542 Portugal 100 PTE 17.084 Austria 1 ATS 2.489 Greece 100 GRD 10.051 Spain 100 ESP 20.585 CULTURE F. L. Wright's Living City Lived in Prague's Municipal House April 15 saw the last visitor to the models and photos of buildings done by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959). The project, created with the F. L. Wright Foundation, presented Wright's work in the Czech Republic for the first time. A miniature organic town was built in Prague's Municipal House (Obecni dum). Wright wanted to destroy cubic houses and, inspired by Japan, he look for continuity between the inner and outer space. His favorite materials were concrete, wood and raw stone. That is also why his villas, family houses, civic centers, schools, factories and galeries were relatively inexpensive. The exhibition was divided into nine sections according to the purposes of different buildings. At the end of Wright's career the architect worked on his vision of the Living City - the ideal town. His work culminated in The Solomon Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art in New York. Marketa Bartosova/Veronika Hankusova SPORTS Vsetin Wins Sixth Hockey Title Slovnaft Vsetin, the juggernaut of the hockey extraleague in the last decade, defeated Sparta Praha three games to one in the hockey extraleague finals and avenged its loss in last year's finals to Sparta. The game played April 13 brought the final decision as Vsetin won on Sparta's ice 4-1 with an excellent performance. Sparta lost the key third game 3-6 at home in a sold-out Paegas Arena April 12. Vsetin returned to the extraleague throne after one year's respite, the title was its the team's sixth in its seven years in the league. The finals were evenly matched; the games were decided mostly in the last period. Vsetin's line led by national team forward Jiri Dopita was the team;s biggest weapon. Dopita scored four goals in the third game of the series. Sparta relied on goalkeeper Petr Briza, who, however, could not overcome numerous and crucial mistakes by Sparta's defense. Sparta did not extend the contract of coach Frantisek Vyborny, who will lead the Polish national team next season. Results of the Extraleague finals: Sparta - Vsetin 3-6 and 1-4. Vsetin won the series 3-1. The final standings of the hockey extraleague: 1. Vsetin, 2. Sparta Praha, 3. Vitkovice, 4. Slavia Praha, 5. Znojmo, 6. Pardubice, 7. Litvinov, 8. Zlin, 9. Trinec, 10. Plzen, 11. Ceske Budejovice, 12. Kladno, 13. Havirov, 14. Karlovy Vary. David Pilar/Mirek Langer Soccer League: Sparta One Win from Title After a 24th-round 3-2 win on the field of last-place Plzen, soccer league reigning champion Sparta Praha needs one win to ensure another title. Sparta could celebrate victory April 21 if it defeats Bohemians Praha. On the contrary, Slavia Praha's struggle to move into second suffered when Slavia failed to defeat Pribram at home. Second place guarantees a spot to the Champions League qualification round. In Plzen, the home team played without any fear of Sparta and led twice. At the end of the game, Sparta coach Ivan Hasek turned up the team's offense and it paid off - young forward Tomas Jun scored this first league goal. Olomouc took advantage of Slavia and Pribram's tie by winning in Drnovice and returning to second place. Drnovice's Vitezslav Tuma did cut into Olomouc's lead; he is the top scorer of the league with 13 goals. Results of the 24th round: Slavia Praha - Pribram 0-0, Bohemians Praha - Ostrava 2-0, Blsany - Liberec 1-0, Drnovice - Olomouc 1-2, Ceske Budejovice - Brno 2-1, Stare Mesto - Teplice 0-1, Jablonec - Zizkov 0-0, Plzen - Sparta Praha 2-3. Standings: 1. Sparta Praha 57 points, 2. Olomouc 41, 3. Pribram 40, 4. Zizkov 38, 5. Slavia Praha 37, 6. Teplice 36, 7. Liberec 35, 8. Drnovice 33, 9. Stare Mesto 30, 10. Bohemians Praha 30, 11. Jablonec 29, 12. Brno 26, 13. Blsany 26, 14. Ostrava 26, 15. Ceske Budejovice 22, 16. Plzen 15. Petr Adam/Mirek Langer SPORTS IN BRIEF * Car racer Tomas Enge finished third in the second race of the Formula 3000 FIA Championships in Imola, Italy. He earned four points for the overall standings. * Canoe racer Martin Doktor won two races in the opening event of the flatwater canoeing World Cup in Gainesville, Georgia in the US. On the lake where he won two 1996 Olympic gold medals, he defeated all opponents in the 1000- and 500-meter races; he was defeated by Ukrainian Dmitry Sablin in the 200-meter sprint. * Czech tennis players will meet Romania in the Davis Cup qualification round September 21-23. The Czech team, which has never been relegated from the Davis Cup World Group and which lost in Sweden in this year's first round, will have be the home-court advantage in the tie against Romania. * The Czech national hockey team lost in Slovakia 4-8 in a friendly match April 11. Slovakia succeeded to avenge its one-day-old 1-3 loss in Olomouc. The Czech team will also meet Russia during its preparation for the 2001 World Championships, which will take place in Germany. Adam Fendrych/Mirek Langer WEATHER As predicted, it snowed on Easter, which hardly surprised anyone. Judging by the roofs covered with snow, the Czech ski resorts might still be open in the summer. And winter? Is it getting warmer? Definitely not, despite global warming we cannot expect tropical heat for Christmas and it seems instead a new ice age is about to begin in the Czech Republic. Petr Adam/Adam Fendrych 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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