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January 4
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Telecom - bribes
A bribery scandal surrounding the Czech communications monopoly SPT
Telecom has achieved international dimensions. Former employees of a
Dutch company which owns shares in TelSource, one of SPT's main
shareholders, told Dutch TV last weekend that bribes had been taken
during the privatizaion of SPT Telecom. They also claimed that bribery
was not uncommon during the privatisation of large Czech companies.
Alena Skodova has more:
The Civic democratic party and the Civic democratic Alliance, whose
government were responsible for Telecom's privatization back in 1995,
have demanded that the case be invesigated. ODS Deputy chairman Miroslav
Macek described the bribery allegations as the mass media's "virtual
reality". A representative of SPT's minor shareholders, Martin Mosinger
maintains, though, that Telecom's privatization had been unfairly
influenced and that the figures in question were hundreds of millions of
crowns.
"The information I have says that bribes were accepted by several
members of some political parties, especially those which controlled
privatization," Mr.Mosinger told Czech radio. But the former chairman of
the National Property Fund, and member of the Civic democratic alliance,
Roman Ceska, described his words as slander. Although his party back
then controlled both the Ministry for privatization and the National
Property Fund, Ceska maintained it had not done anything illegal:
"As far as I know, in 1995 there were only four ODA ministers in the 16-
member cabinet and Telecom's privatization had been approved by the
government, not by the National Property Fund, the Ministry of Industry
or the Ministry of Privatization. If Mr.Mosinger has some evidence, then
he should hand it over to the police or go public," Roman Ceska told
Czech radio. ODS chairman Vaclav Klaus refused to comment on the matter:
"I've got nothing new to tell," he said, adding that matters such as
bribery should be dealt with by the police and not by politicians or the
media. However, the police have complained that some politicians are
deliberately hindering their investigations. Czech TV on Monday quoted
a member of the invesigation team as saying "I have no doubt that
TelSource paid some 300 million crowns. We've got enough evidence."
Euro birth greeted warmly in Prague
The first day's trading in the new European Union currency, the Euro, went off without any hitches in many international money markets all around the world. In Prague, trading in the new currency proved to be lively as well, and the Euro looks set to become the Czech Republic's most closely allied foreign currency. Michal Tomasek, Komercni banka's EU adviser came into the Radio Prague studios earlier, where Peter Smith began by asking him if the Czech Republic had been fully prepared for the birth of the Euro.
 Streaming RA / RA Download
Prague Castle's New Chancellor
A new year has begun and with it comes change at Prague
Castle. As you may already know, the Presidential Office
enjoys a new Chancellor. And what does he have in stall for
it? Dita Asiedu finds out for you:
Ivo Mathe has spent some time with his predecessor, Ivan
Medek, and Czech President, Vaclav Havel, working on a new
organizational plan and revealed to CTK News Agency that
although people of leading positions have nothing to worry
about, there are some sections in which new organization
includes a few dismissals. Furthermore, a number of functions
that the Presidential Office has had are to become the
responsibility of Prague Castle's Administration.
After three years as Chancellor, Ivan Medek, was called from
office by the president at the end of last year after both
agreed on it in February. Ivo Mathe became vice-chancellor the
following April with the aim to gat a taste of the position
and to take Medek's place at the end of the year. Mathe,
described by the Presidential Office Staff as "extraordinarily
good" told CTK News Agency that he always admired Medek's
refined and broad-minded attitude to his function and hopes to
be just as successful with tolerance and hard work.
Korda protests innocence over drugs
Czech tennis star Petr Korda, the former world number two
who was tested positive for drugs at Wimbledon last year,
continues to protest his innocence. Here is Libor Kubik
with the latest information.
The 31-year-old Czech player, the winner of last year's Australia
Open, called a press conference in Doha, Qatar on Monday to warn
that other players could test positive for steroid use even though
they had not taken performance-enhancing drugs.
Korda, who was tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone at
Wimbledon last year, was stripped of the ranking points he earned
plus the 95,000 dollars in prize money.
But Korda maintained he was innocent of deliberately taking
steroids. He said it could happen to someone else because he
himself had no knowledge why it happened to him. He was speaking
ahead of the Qatar Open where he was defending champion.
The International Tennis Federation stopped short of banning Korda
because it believed he did not knowingly take the drug.
Korda has slipped to 13th in the world after being within one
victory of becoming world number one last April. He is set to
defend his Australian Open title in two weeks.
Several leading international players, including Wimbledon champion
Richard Krajicek, who is of Czech origin, have appealed to the ITF
to release all the relevant data concerning Korda's case.
Czech makes Guinness Book of Records
Many of us complain we spend altogether too much of our precious time
in the car -usually stuck in traffic jams. Well, as far as car makers
are concerned there can never be too much of a good thing and their
cars are the best thing around. Indeed in a promotion campaign
organized by Adiv Opava, the producer of Skoda Octavia Combi promised
a sleek new model to the winner of a "live in your car" competition.
"This is a promotion campaign and an effort to disprove the widespread
belief that the Octavia combi is too small for comfort" a spokesman
for Adiv Opava told the media.
Competitors got into their Skodas on
June 13th last year and the winner emerged from his long hibernation
on January 1st at 4pm. 24 year old Michal Svoboda, beat his one
remaining rival Michal Stepnicka by just a few hours, setting a new
world record with his 202 days, or 4,848 hours to be specific, spent
in a car. The former world record had been set in Germany and amounted
to 84 days spent in an Opel Vectra. Svoboda, who is now the proud
owner of an Octavia Combi, told newsmen he had put the past seven
months to good use, learning Spanish. Meanwhile, only time will tell
whether he has managed to convince the public that the Octavia combi
is comfortable enough to live in...and good enough to buy. Some people
may still prefer to test it on the road. One thing is certain though,
according to Svoboda it is the best place in the world to learn
Spanish.
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