Prague Leaders Magazine 01/2010

NO 1/2010

www.leadersmagazine.cz

195,- CZK

m a g a z i n e

Leaders Magazine No 1/2010

incl. electronic version

now available in Brussels

Ing. Martin Pecina, MBA Minister of Interior Photo: Vladimír Weiss

MISSION: MISSION: Fighting Corruption and Extremism

Moravian-Silesian Region

Comenius

EU Matters

Sport Event

Interview

The Christmas Concert

Czech 100 Best

Innovating Minds 2009

Sportsman of the Year

Benefactress

of Fulfilled Wishes

PRAGUE CASTLE, November 27, 2009

The Christmas concert of fulfilled wishes belongs to Tereza Maxová Foundation traditional charitable performances in Ostrava...

Comenius Society, active in the fields of education, culture, science and technology, organized already 14th “CZECH 100 BEST”...

The Second Year of the Prestigious Competition Has Its Winners!

Grand announcement of the most prestigious journalism poll – the Sportsman of the Year, involving the best athletes and sport personalities in the Czech Republic...



page 92

PLM_Coverpage_1001.indd 2



page 18

It was for the second time that prestigious awards were awarded to high school students... 

page 98



page 144

A talk with Dr. Dadja Altenburg-Kohl, Entrepreneur In recent years the name of the Czech doctor and entrepreneur Dadja Altenburg-Kohl has frequently appeared in news about culture... 

page 126

21.1.2010 8:20:25

""THE TH T HE FFUTURE UTURE O OFF T THE HE W WORLD ORLD FINANCIAL ARCHITECTURE AND FINA THE WORLD MAIN CURRENCIES IN SER SERVICE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH" Czech National Bank & Residence of the Mayor of Prague

PRAGUE March 23-25, 2010 KEYNOTE K EYN SPEAKERS: Mr. Jan Fischer Prime Minister of the Czech Republic

Mr. Michel Barnier EU Commissioner for Internal Market and Services

Mr. Slawomir Skrzypek President of the National Bank of Poland

Mr. Zdeněk Tůma Governor of the Czech National Bank

Mr. James B. Bullard President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis

a conference presented by

COMENIUS Pan European Society

Mr. Charles I. Plosser President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Mr. Grigori A. Marchenko Governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan

More information and registration at www.ebff.cz

Inzerat_PLM_10.indd 1

1/15/10 2:20:22 PM

Leaders_safety1_august 18th.pdf 1 17/08/2009 13:51:46

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

PLM2009_234x325excentrPrava.qxd

14.7.2009

13:33

Page 1

WE PRINTED THIS MAGAZINE WE ARE READY TO DESIGN AND PRINT YOUR: BILLBOARD, CITYLIGHT, POSTER, STAND, BANNER, CATALOGUE, MAGAZINE, BROCHURE, LEAFLET, ETC.

D&S Design Prague, s.r.o.

Printing & Design Factory – Top Quality Products for Highly Competitive Prices Kounická 957/39, Praha 10 – Nové Strašnice, 100 00, tel.: 274 774 131, fax: 274 774 151, kabes@bigformat.cz

www.bigformat.cz

LEADERS MAGAZINE now available in Brussels

COVERING TOP CZECH EVENTS

For Full Photocoverage Go To w w w.leadersmagazine.cz/photogallery

Leadder e s Magazzine zi ® focus uses e on lliife f stt yl yle, e, int int nter ervi er view vi ewss, ew s, busin usiness, s,, cul ultu ture tu re and n lux u urr y prodducts and cov over erss ma er manny ny imp m orr ta tant nntt and interestingg eve vent vent nts. s. O Ouur reaadeers r s aarre re peop pe ople op l fro room di dipl p omat pl om mat atic ic ssoc ocie oc iety ie etyy, go gove vern rnme rn m nt officia me ials ls,, de ls deci cisi ci sion ion on m mak aker ak erss in er i bussi-iness, Czech citizens with higher incom me an andd to tour tour uris istts is ts Th ts.

Th targeted distribution The is cca 20 000 copies including 1400 pcs to the top EU officials in Brussels.

new galerie na vysku.indd 5

20.1.2010 16:40:16

Dear Readers, It is Sunday, in beautiful snowcovered Prague, as I am writing this Publishers note. I don’t rem mem embe berr be having seen so muchh sn snow ow in Prrag aguee.

I believe I am m sha haririring ng w wititithh ma many ny that this is hoow wint nter nt er sho houl uldd be be.. No Not tooo coldd, an andd with glitterin ing, in g, spa park rkkliling n snow sn ow as we rem rem emem embe em berr itt when wee be were yyou we oung ou ng. Le ng Let’’s hope it willll sta sta tay ay liikee thi like h s fo for a while. e.

Deear Rea eade ders de rs, a year hass alrreaady rs gone go ne bby. y. A yea ear with a lot of frustrtrtraatition onss, uncertaainntiies es, disa disa di sapp ppoi pp o nt oi ntme ment me ntss, nt economic icc uuph phea ph eavvals tha ea hatt hi hitt most ost oof us – aand nd as as a re resuult we have been be en for orce cedd to thi hink nk hard ard ab abou ouut the the fu futu ture tu ree. We m mus ustt thhinnk abbou outt ho how w we can and sshhouldd ch chan ange an g cer erta tain ta inn tthi hing hi ngss foor the betterr, regard ng rdin rd ingg th in this is pllan anet et aandd its sur urvi ur v vaal,l, to im mpr prove relattioons be betw twee tw eenn pe ee peop ople op le, an le andd to havve a lon ha ongg te term rm vvie ieew instea eadd off aimingg fo ea forr sh shor ortt te or term rm gai a ns. ai Youu ma mayy al also so have met ma many fririen e ds and aacquainta en tanc ta ncees nc es coming forw rwa w ar d andd as an askking how ow w yyou o are ddoi oing oi ng, ho ng how w is business, doo you ne need ed ttoo la layy of offf empployees, and how yyouu w em will survivve. I caan an onlyy sa sayy th that at w wititithh op o tim mism, mis haard w wor orkk (e or (eve venn for le ve less ss m money), sav aviing wh av wher eree we er we can save, and nd keepping spiririritititss hi sp high gh w while conttinnuin ingg to ppro in rodu ro duce du ce aand nd bbel elie el ievee inn high quality ie ty – I hav avee no doubt bt ttha hat I annd my tea tea eam m willl ssuur vive andd pro p osp sper in thee lo long ng ter e m.

As I hhav avee said av saidd m man anyy titime an mess, we have ve a uuni niqu quue maga maga gazizine ne w witithh a mi mixt xtur uree o hig of ighh qu qual alitityy in inte t rv rviiews, analys ysess, an andd to topp le leve vell ph phot otoo re repo portss.

New w for thiss yyea earr is ourr ccrreat atio ionn of an Ad Advisory Booarrd con o sisting of 4400 nominaate ted hi high ghly ly rres espe peccted pro rofe f s sional people le witth pr prov oven en succ cces essf sful ul ach achie ieve veme ment nts an and importaantt le lead aders, who hosse ide deas as and innsi sigh ghts ts ccan con ontribute to tthe he developpme ment off Le Lead ader erss Ma Maga gazine. I am glad gl ad andd pro roudd to say th thaat 95% ooff th thee pe peop ople le nnom ominat ateed and askeed to take paartt in th t e Ad Advi viso sory ry BBoa oard r hav avee acceptedd tthi hiss ch c allenge. We willl have 6 regu wi g la larr me meet etin ings gs duringg 20 2010 10.

Dear De ar RRea eade ders rs, as youu can see in thiis iss ssue u we ha havee the he hig highl hlyy capaablee and po popu pulaar Mi Mini nist steer of In Inte teririor or M Mr. Mar artitn Pecina na on ou ourr frfrontt pa pagee, followed by an interview. Other very interesting interviews are Mr. Jakub Šebesta, Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Juray Chmiel, Minister of EU Affairs, and former Czech Ambassador to Australia, Mr. Gustáv Slamečka, Minister of Transport, Mr. Pavel Dvořák, Chairman of the Board of the Czech Telecommunication Office, H.E. Jiří Nekvasil, Czech Ambassador to the war stricken Afghanistan, to mention just a few.

Of all our beautiful photo reports I would like to mention a few. Comenius 100 Best at the Castle, Czech/ German Chambers of Commerce, Seminar at the Clarion Congress Hotel, Gala Charity Evening La Sophia at the Grand Hotel Bohemia, Jazz at the Castle with the presence of the President Prof. Václav Klaus, Innovating Minds at the Knights‘Hall in the Senate, European Energy Forum, My do My dog oogg R Rhheeaa Cerge-Ei/Idea Seminar, BPA sport persons of the year, Comenius Round Tables, International Christmas Bazaar at the Hilton, various Lions Club meetings, Japan National Day at the Hilton.

Dear Readers, I hope you will appreciate and like this January issue of Leaders Magazine and I wish you all a great and prosperous year 2010. Be nice to each other and be generous in matters small annd bi big. g IItt al alwa ways y payys of ys off.f.

Benk nke nk ke Aiike kell kke ell I benke.ai aike ai k llll@ ke @leadersmaagaaziinee.c .cz www. ww w le lead ader ersm smag agazzin ine. e.cz cz

contents.indd 6

18 26

34 38

41

48 50 52 58 72 80 88 92 94 95 110 120 133 144

Czech 100 Best Gala Evening Key Factors of Success XIV. International Conference, New Gallery Prague Castle, November 27, 2009 Lions Club Prague Bohemia Ambassador with Petr Gandalovič Round Table of Comenius with H.E. Jan Kohout, Minister of Foreign Affairs Round Table of Comenius with Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Michael Vít page 122 – 21 Knots with Orbis Link Marine Travel Agency Lions Club Prague Eagle Lions Club Praha Nordic Chamber of Commerce – Traditional St. Lucia Party Lions Club Prague Bohemia Ambassador Fashion Show by Tatiana Kovaříková at Alchymist Grand Hotel and Spa Turkish Airlines Christmas Party AFIZ Annual General Meeting The Christmas Concert of Fulfilled Wishes Concert “Region to Itself” German-Czech Chamber of Industry and Commerce Unemployment and Economic Outlook For the Czech Republic and Europe Mmotion Fair Hilton Charity Annual Christmas Concert Sportsman of the Year 2009

page 18 – Czech 100 Best Gala Evening

diplomatic events 44 136

International Christmas Bazaar at the Hilton Prague The 76th birthday of His Majesty the Emperor and the 20th Anniversary of His Accession to the Throne

contributors

Yourr s si sinncerely,

6

events

Lead Le adeers Ma ad Maga g ziine I/ 201 201 010

13 36 47 63 67 77 142

Are we Creative?/Ivan Pilný Happiness Is a Serious Matter/Jan r Muehlfeit Run With Your Strengths/ s Karin Genton L'Eppée The Children of Cyberspace Will not Believe in Baby Jesus or Santa?/Emil ?

Jimenez The Czechoslovak Foreign Institute Arranges Czech-Chinese Meetings/HEBR Art of the World, The Art Collection of the United Nations/Frithjof Ehm Business May Be Your Life – But – Life Is Your Business. Part II: What Do You Really Want In A Job?A,B/James A. Cusumano, PhD.

22.1.2010 9:49:45

interviews 10

14

16

29

30 31 31 32 54 56

86 116

118 126 140

page 124 – Games about Maria

Mission Fighting Corruption and Extremism An interview with Ing. Martin Pecina, MBA, Minister of Interior The Fully Ecologic Transport Is an Unfeasible Dream A talk with Gustáv Slamečka, Minister of Transport Wine Has to Be Perceived as a Part of Gastronomy An interview with Ing. Jakub Šebesta, Minister of Agriculture The Size of our Offer does not Take Any page 38 – Round Table Beating in the Central Europe of Comenius with Jan Kohout A talk with Tomáš Cikán, CEO and Co-owner of the Travel Agency ESO Travel The Crisis has Tested the Quality of our Business Relations A talk with Ladislav Dráb, Chairman of the Board, Česká energie, a.s.

We Plan for Further Expansion A talk with Karel Janeček, Member of the Board of Directors, RSJ Algorithmic Trading T The Publicity of Prague is Catastrophic A talk with Vladimír Dohnal, President of the Board of the Top Hotels Group Inc. Africa Completely Changed my Philosophy of Life An interview with Juraj Chmiel, Minister for European Affairs No Military Solution for Afghanistan An interview with H.E. H E Jiří Nekvasil, Nekvasil Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Afghanistan Regulation Twists the Market An interview with Dr. Pavel Dvořák, Chairman of the Council of the Czech Telecommunication Office A Good Step in a Bad Direction A talk with Dr. Ivan Douda, Psychologist and Co-founder of Drop In Centre A Distinguished Musical Talent A talk with Martin Kasík, the foremost Czech Pianist and the Head of the Fryderyk Chopin Society Czech Tradition at “The Goblet” An interview with Pavel Töpfer, Co-owner of the Restaurant “U Kalicha” (The Goblet) Benefactress An interview with Dr. Dadja Altenburg-Kohl, Entrepreneur The True Olympic Virtues A talk with Josef Dovalil, Vice-President of the Czech Olympic Committee for Olympism, about the Ideals of Olympism

culture events 60 64 68 71 74 83 112 124 128 130 132

Jazz at the Castle with Trio Rudy Linka Vernisage Mánes – Czechoslovak Socialist Realism 1948–1989 Jazz at the Castle, Christmas Concert Miss Vietnam La Sophia Gala Evening Concert Harmonie Prague Symphony Orchestra – The Best Autumn Concerts Games about Maria Exhibition: Prairie Flower Leyla Mahat (*1970) Czech Contemporary Art “Parallel Lines III” MIRO G Gallery ll PPrague att the th 1st 1 t Annual A l Brno B Art A t Fair F i

EU matters 98 101 102 104 106 1077 10

Innovating Minds 2009, The Second Year of the Prestigious Competition Has Its Winners!

Business News Fifth Prague Security Conference Prague European Energy Forum CzechFlash Find Fi ndin ingg a Wi Wise se CCooom ompr mprom omis isee on IInd ndus ustr tria iall Em Emis issi sion onss W Wililll In Invo volv lvee Mu Much ch Eff Effor ortt An interview with Mr. Mr Bogusław Sonik, Member of European Parliameent

1 8 10

CEBR B E Polililicyy CAFÉ AFÉ oon Industrial Polutions (IPPC)

114– 11 4–11 1155 90–94

contents.indd 7

page 120 – Mmotion Fair

22.1.2010 9:50:22

We are pleased to announce that we have considerably extended Leaders Magazine spread to include 80 top– notch restaurants in Prague.

Total circulation: cca 18.000 bi-monthly including electronic version.

Readership total: cca 500.000 Leaders Magazine is sent as a compliment to: Those who are the most influential, powerful and affluent readers in the Czech Republic. To representatives of the businesssphere, diplomatic corps and to top goverment and mayor’s officials.

On the board of the ČSA business class & VIP lounges of Prague aiport.

We are also cooperating with Prague City Ci ty H Hal alll, C Cze zech ch Inv nvesst, C Cze zech ch Cen entre,, The Cz Th Czech Mediica cal Ch Cham ambe berr, all Chambers be rs ooff Comm mmer erce ce,, Fo Foru rum m Fr F anncophone Afffaires Af es,, Če Česk skáá Manažersskáá Aso sociace,, CMC CM C Gr Grad adua uatee School of Bussin ines esss, Universityy oof Ne New w Yo York rk iinn Pr Prag ague ue, An Angl gloo American an Sch choo ool,l, U Univeers rsity of Pitttsburg bu rgh, h, C CEE EELI LI Institituute te, Lions Clubbs, Rota Ro tary Clubs, The Pr Prag ague ue Socieety ffor or Int. C Coo oope p ration, CZ CZECH H TO TOPP 10 00, Czecch 10 100 0 Be Best st, CEBRE, Eurotelegraph, The Senate, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Foreign Affairs, andd Ministry of Culture, Ano pro Evropu an many more. ma

For sale in Luxor Bookstore at Václavské náměstí.

Leaders Ma Maga gazi z ne is av avaailaabl blee in aall rooom o s of o theese top sta tarr fine hot otel ot es el andd th an thei eirr re ei rest stau st auraant au n s: (tel (t elephoone numbeer fo el forr re reservation))

Aria Hotel Coda restaurant

225 334 791

Le Palais Hotel Prague g Le Papillon 234 634 611

Crowne Plaza Harvest Restaurant

224 393 692

Prague Marriott Hotel Brasserie restaurant 222 888 888

Račanská vinárna

224 393 855

Grand Hotel Bohemia U Prašné brány 234 608 111 Hilton Prague CzechHouse Grill & Rotisserie

Radisson SAS Alcron Hotel La Rotonde 222 820 000 Restaurant Alcron

222 820 000

Rezidence Lundborg Praha 257 011 911 224 842 700

Hilton Prague Old Town – Maze Restaurant 221 822 303 Holiday Inn Prague Cong Co ngre ress ss C Cen ente terr Esspritit

61 17 175 5 03 030 0

Hotel Be Bellllag agio io Rest Re staaura rant nt IIsaabeella

221 77 778 8 99 999 9

Hotel Hoffme meisste terr R staurant Re nt Ada

251 017 133

Hotell In Hote Inte terc rcon onttinental al PPra r ha Zlat Zl atáá Pr P ahha 296 29 6 63 631 111 Hotel Pa Palaace Praha Gourme met Club ub

Rezidence Nosticova Restaurant Alchymist 257 011 670 Sieber Hotel Restaurace h. Sieber 224 250 025 Top Hoteel Praha Top Rest stau aurrannt Bohemiattopp Receepcce 267 67 2 284 84 111 111 Audien Aud ence ce D cission makerrs inn the fields of De busi bu sine ness, public reelatio ions ns, in inde depe pendent pro de rofe fess ssio ions ns and ddip iplomaacy cy, gove go vern rnme ment n officia ials ls, local of offifici c alss.

224 2 24 0 093 93 111 111

Hotell Re Hote Resi side denc ncee A chym Al ymist 257 25 7 28 286 011 Hotel Re Hote R sidence Irronn Gat atee

225 22 5 77 777 7 77 7 7

Hotell Sa Hote Savo voy, y, Resta tauurace Hrad Hr adčany 224 302 2 150 0 Kemppinski – Hyybeern rnsk s á Hybernská 12 Hy 12,, 110 00 00,, Pr Prah ahaa 1 ah hote ho tell & re te rest staaura st aura rant nt 226 22 6 22 26 111

Youu ca cann find the M Mag agaz ag azin az ine inn tthe in hese finee re he resstaaurants: (te telleph te phon ph onee nu on numb mber mb er ffor or rres eservaatitioon) es Ambi Am biennte – R bi Ris istorant is ntee nt Pastta Fr Pa Fresca Arom omi om Ambbiente – The Livvinng Am Resstaaurants Az teca ca Baro Ba r ckk Bar ro Ba & Caf aféé af Bellllevue Be lll e Brasserie Le Moliere B eak Café Br B gsy’s Baar Bu Cafe Ca fe La Ve Vera rand ra ndaa nd Cafe Ca fe Savoy Cafe Ca fe De Paariss Caffé Re Resstaura aur nt au Prem Pr emié iéra raa Casanoovaa C’es C’ estt La VVie ie C em Cl e enttinu num nu Casa s And sa ndina Červen enáá tabu en taab lka (Na Hu Hutíchh) Červ Če rvenná ta rv tabu bulk bu lkka ( odec (L eckká) ec Dům Dů m vína U závojee L’ Ang ngol olo ol Frranncouz uzsk uz skáá re sk rest staaura st race ce v Ob Obec e ním ec ím do domě Giar arddino ar Enot En oteca con Cuucina ot na Heergget etov o a Cihe helnna he Hung ngar arria iann Gr Grot ottoo ot Jaapanese R Res estaaurant es

224 230 0 244 4 222 71 13 222 222 22 2 72 727 7 85 851 1 257 327 27 389 22 22 32 329 9 221 800 0 123 553 222 22 2 514 41 165 65 222 231 31 10 065 65 5 222 22 2 32 329 9 94 43 22 24 814 733 257 57 329 860 603 160 718 224 48 828 28 1 159 59 9 257 535 127 27 257 321 511 224 813 892 2 22 815 99 22 224 96 23 33 32 3 3 42 29 224 810 0 40 401 1 226 006 6 1 20 2 4 82 22 829 9 355 3 55 35

Nagoya 251 51 511 724 4 Kampaa Pa Parrk 257 532 685–6 Kavárn á na v Ob O ecníím domě 222 2 002 764 Kavá Ka várnaa & Vinotéka Breestto vá (Ště (Š těpá ěpáns páánsská ká)) 222 22 2 21 212 2 81 810 0 Kingg Solom mon Koogo g – Havellsk skáá Kogo Ko go – S Slo lova lo vans va n ký dům m

224 2 24 8 818 18 8 752 224 21 22 14 54 543 3 221 451 259 59

La Per erle de Prague ue L mb La mborghini PastaaCaffé fé (VVězzeňňská) Laamb mbor orrgh ghini Paast staC aCaff féé aC (VVodičko kova ko va)) va Lary La ry FFar aryy Lee Café fé Colo loni lo niial al Les Moules Louka Lu 257 721 123 388 88 Lvví Dvůr Lví

221 984 16 66

222 22 2 23 231 869 222 32 320 0 15 4 2 224 24 8 81 18 322 18 2 222 315 022 2 224 372 361 6

maama lluc ucyy uc Mar o Po Marc Ma P lo IVV Metamo morpphiss mo Metropoll Mussicc Club Mlýnec N stre No ress re s cafee gal ss galle alleery Oran Or ange an ge Moo oonn Oste Os teria Da Clara te

222 32 22 327 7 207 224 819 81 19 668 22 21 77 771 1 06 0 8 222 314 4 071 71 221 0 082 82 2 82 208 08 222 317 004 4 222 22 2 325 119 271 71 726 548 77 76 41 4 8 559 9

Pálffyy Pallác á Parn rnn s rnas Paass ssep epar ep arto ar t utt to Patrio iot– io t–x t– Prav Pr avdaa av Red Fish s sushi

257 530 5 522 22 224 2 216 244 4 222 513 340 0 224 235 15 58 222 326 203 222 220 716

222 002 2 745 222 513 427 257 25 57 53 535 5 53 5 4 257 532 344

224 8 813 13 2 257 57

Rest stau st aurace Hanil au R staaurace U Vladaařee Re Reestau aurant bar

222 715 86 67 257 534 121

Pood kř kříd ídle íd lem le m 224 22 4 95 951 1 741– 1–2 1– 2 Resttau aura rant ra nt M Miichall 222 22 2 2 6 30 Rest Re stau st aura au rant ra nt Palác Kinskýých Pa 224 810 1 750 10 50 Restaurace Naa Ro Rozh z ra zh raní 224 323 876 R staurant Ryb Re ybíí trh yb 224 22 4 89 895 5 44 447 7 Reest s aurantt u Kolow owra ow rata ra taa 257 530 30 729 Reestau Rest sta rant nt U ma maltlttéz ézskýcch rytířů 257 5 533 3 666 Reykjaavík ví k ví 22 22 22 21 21 218 Rio’s Vyššehrad 224 922 156 Ristorannte t Amicci Mi Mi ei R st Ri stor oraante or te Da Eman anue an uell ue

224 4 816 688 224 312 934 22

Rist Ri storanntee Incontro st Jung ngma ng manoovo nám. 19 ma

224 24 948 6 650 50

Russalka 224 22 4 93 934 4 109 Saaha hara Caffé/ é/Re R st Re s au a raant n 774 557 763 6 Taj– Ta j–Ma j– Maha Ma hall ha 224 225 56 566 UČ Čeer er veného kola la UK Kaamenného moosttu U ma malířů U moodrré kkaach chni n čk ni čkyy U Moodr dréh é o Hr éh Hroznnu nu U zl zlat a é hr at hruš ušky uš k U Závoje Ultramarin V no di Vinoo Vi

224 811 118 224 09 97 10 100 0 257 5 530 000 257 25 7 320 0 30 308 222 22 221 1 185 220 514 7 778 7 226 60 00 06 122 224 932 249 9 222 22 312 999

Zátititiší Zá ší R Res esta es tauuran ta uran antt Zahr Za hrad hr ada v Op ad Opeře

222 221 155 22 224 22 4 239 685

Publisher: Benke Aikell Contributors: Villiam Bucher, MF DNES, James A. Cusumano, David Creighton, Joseph Drebitko, Frithjof Ehm, Karin Genton-L’Epée, Pavlína Holancová, Martina Hošková, Filip Hubáček, Emil Jimenez, Ph.D., Zuzana Kasáková, Zuzana Krchňavá, Tomáš Němeček, Jan Muehlfeit, EurActiv, Ivan Pilný, Věra Řiháčková, Lenka Zlámalová Marketing/Advertising: Michala Vosková, Ingrid Železníková, Max Salamatin, Alexander Fernando Office Marketing & Editorial Director Vladimíra Václavíková EU Matters: Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, CEBRE Czech Business Representation, AMO, CESES, Europlatform, Ano pro Evropu Photographers: Jakub Hněvkovský, Tomáš Jacko, Zuzana Jirásková, Pavel Kaucký, Philippe Veldeman, Martin Janas, Dagmar Kneřová, Martin Kubica,Martin Malý, Jiří Zerzoň, Jaroslav Marek, Pavel Malůšek, Pavel Lebeda, Radovan Miča, Paul Pacey, Jaroslav Petrek, Roman Sejkot, Martin Siebert, Jadran Šetlík, Radovan Šubín, Vojtěch Vlk, Vladimír Weiss, Lillis Werder Subscription service: Bc. Daniel Raška Leaders Magazine, CEPONA, s.r.o.

Lužická 32, 120 00 Praha 2 We appreciate your opinions of the Leaders Magazine.

Please send them to: Leaders Magazine Moravská 14, 120 00 Praha 2, tel.: 224 255 277, fax: 224 256 172, e–mail: info@leadersmagazine.cz www.leadersmagazine.cz Leaders Magazine comes out bi–monthly.

Licence: MK ČR E 13147 No reproduction is permitted in whole or part without the express consent of Leaders Magazine.

The advertiser is responsible for the advertising contents.

Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors or persons interviewed and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or Leaders Magazine.

All editorial material and photos in Leaders Magazine is digitally stored and may be republished by Leaders Magazine either in printed form or in various digital media. All correspondence to Leaders Magazine may be published.

Graphic design and printing: D&S Design Prague, s.r.o. tel.: 274 774 131 prague@bigformat.cz www.bigformat.cz

Leaders Magazine is member of

info.indd 8

21.1.2010 12:13:48

Prague Leaders Magazine

Advisory Board The po positive os ve rep reputation p of Prague Leaders Magazine continues to grow, however we realize that at w wee m must ust maintain to improve and learn, particularly during these times of dynamic change. change hannge. TThat hat is why we have decided to set up an Advisory Board for the magazine. I am convinced co onvin nvinced that tha creating a platform of high profile individuals will be an excellent opporttunity unit nityy for fo the magazine to acquire new ideas and define new directions of future development. oppment e Benke enke Aikell kel Your P Publisher blishe

There he are only few projects started in the Czech Republic by foreigners which I consider as useful to this country as Prague Leaders Magazine. The magazine has brought to the Czech Republic the completely new concept of making important people – the decision makers be they Czech or foreigners – visible and worthy of positive admiration.

As you might know this is something not very common and perhaps even not very natural in the Czech Republic. It is therefore all the more of an achievement to start and successfully develop a project such as Prague Leaders Magazine. I understand fully the intention of Benke Aikell, the magazine’s founder and editor-in-chief, to progress further with PPrague rag Leaders Magazine, and for this purpose to form a team of experienced Czech citizens of different backgrounds to create a consulting body which would bring this citiz project pro oject tto an even higher level.

Ing. g K Karel Ka ar Muzikář, CSc. President Presi resid iden dent of Comenius de

ADVISORY BOARD COMITTEE Benke enkk Aikell, Publisher, Prague Leaders Magazine Ing ng. g. Pe Petr Kubernát, former Czech Ambassador to the Netherlands, Director, PEKOS spol. s r.o.

Ing. Ing ngg. Karel K Ka Muzikář, CSc., President, COMENIUS

HONORARY MEMBERS ABROAD AND GOODWILL AMBASSADORS Vinc Vincent J. Derudder, Secretary General, The European Federation of Financial Advisers and nd Financial Intermediaries H.E. Mr. Richard Graber, former United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic H Ája Vrzáňová, Czech World Champion in Figure-skating, Sport Legend

Interviews.indd 9

ADVISORY BOARD MEMBERS PhDr. Zdeněk Čáp, Managing Partner, Equity Solutions s. r. o.

Josef Drebitko, CEO/Chairman of the Board, Activ a.s.

Prof. Ing. Jiří Fárek, First Deputy Mayor, City of Prague 6 Ing. Peter P. Formánek, President, Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic Mgr. Marta Gellová, Secretary General, AFIZ Michal Heřman, General Manager, Star Communications Václav Hudeček, Violinist Plk. Mgr. Vladislav Husák, Director, Alien Police Service, Police of the Czech Republic JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Law Firm JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra & spol.

Prof. Ing. Kamil Janáček, CSc., Chief Economist, Komerční banka a.s.

Otto Jelinek, Chairman, Colliers International ationa Ing. Peter Jusko, MBA, Executive Vice ce President dent – Ground Operations, Czech Airlines Ing. Petr Kalaš, former Minister of Environment nme mennt Ing. arch. Jan Kasl, AIDstudio, President EUROPAN EURROPPAN CZ CZ Ing. Josef Kreuter, CSc., former Czech ech Amba Ambassador bassado ador to the EU Prof. Dr.h.c. JUDr. Jan Kříž, CSc., Partner, Law Firm rm Kříž a Bělina s. r. o.

Ing. Jaroslav Kubišta, Secretary Lions Club Praguee Eagle Genmjr. JUDr. Lubomír Kvíčala, former Directorr of the Department of Protection of Constitutional al Officials, Police of the Czech Republic Ing. Vladimír Laštůvka, former M.P. Jan Muehlfeit, Chairman, Europe Microsoft Corporation orp Ing. Jiří Maceška, Chairman of the Supervisoryy Board, Česká pošta a. s. and former Czech Ambassador to OECD Ing. Jozef Piga, Member of the Supervisory Board, Omnipol a.s.

George Parobek, Managing Director, Ifield Computer Consultancy Šárka Parobek, Director, Ifield Computer Consultancy Doc. Ing. Antonín Peltrám, CSc., Director IEI, Bankovní institut vysoká škola, a.s.

Doc. Ing. Václav Petříček, CSc., General Manager of the Chamber SNS Ing. Lucie Pilipová, Partner, Via Perfecta, s.r.o.

Ing. Ivan Pilný, President, TUESDAY Business Network JUDr. Čestmír Sajda, MBA, former Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs MUDr MU Dr. Ri Rich char ardd Se Sequ quen enss, PhD PhD., He Head ad of of Su Surg rgic ical aal Gastroenterology Center, Nemocnice Milosrdnýcch sester sv. Karla Boromejského v Praze and former er Senator Mgr. Albin E. Sybera, Managing Director, Sybera bera Enterprises spol. s r. o.

PhDr. MgA. Miroslav Smolák, Owner, Galeriee MIRO O Brigadier General Ing. Andor Šándor (ret.), Consultant onsult nt PhDr. Jaroslav Šedivý CSc., former Ambassad sador and Minister of Foreign Affairs JUDr. Josef Šesták, Lawyer Bc. Vladimír Šiška, MBA, Executive Director, International Chamber of Commerce in CR Ing. Pavel Štefka, MSc , 4-star General (ret.), Chief of Defence and Special Programs, Tatra Ing. Helena Švédová, Director, Department of Trade Administration, Czech Export Bank Ing. Jiří Vávra, Vice Chairman, STROJEXPORT, a.s.

JUDr. Petr Vyroubal, Partner, Law Firm Vyroubal Krajhanzl Školout

21.1.2010 11:35:57

interview

Ing. Martin Pecina, MBA Minister of Interior Photos: VladimĂ­r Weiss

Interviews.indd 10

21.1.2010 14:41:43

An interview with Ing. Martin Pecina, MBA, Minister of Interior

MISSION FIGHTING

Corruption and Extremism

Ing. Martin Pecina, MBA (1968) graduated from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava and Masaryk Institute of Higher Education in Prague, and the Sheffield Business School, where he obtained his MBA degree. Till 2003 he worked in the private sector, and bet ween 1999 –2 2003 as the CEO of the Hutní projekt Frýdek-Místek, a.s. In 2003 he became Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade responsible for energy. He was appointed Chairman of the Office for the Protection of Competition in 2005. From this position he was called to the caretaker government of Prime Minister Jan Fischer. He was appointed Minister of Interior in April 2009. Martin Pecina was a member of both main parties – the Civic Democrats as well as the Social Democrats.

When looking at your professional profile it is much about economics, especially energy problems. How does it come then that you have been offered Minister of Interior? I would rather expect you to have been appointed to some of the economic departments.

I would expect that too. You have to ask those who decided to nominate me for Minister of Interior. Mr. Chairman Paroubek approached me with the idea that I could be the social democrats‘ nominee for ministry of interior. The reasons they gave were that I proved myself to be a good manager, and that I acted unbiased as the Chairman of the Office for the Protection of Competition.

They had confidence in me that I would act similarly – apolitically and impartially – at the ministry. My personal professional profile – this was the reason.

Did you have any previous experience with the folio?

I haavee nev e er e had a muc uch ex e pe perien e ce witth th t e department’s folio concerning police and interior safety. I am learning many things and I will be for some time. Indeed, it is out of my area of professional expertise. I am a mechanical engineer. I studied robotics. However, I have continued with expanding my economics education my whole life. Before I worked at the ministry of industry and trade I had worked at an engineering company. Later, at the Office for the Protection of Competition, I held a managerial position that dealt with problems more fitting for a lawyer than for a technician.

My involvement at the ministry of interior is nothing exceptional in the Czech environment. Various posts are given to people who, professionally, have nothing in common with the given problems. Ministers switch departments. Somewhere I said that I would have problems being responsible for a department where the position of the minister is a high g profiled expert. I have no trouble accepting a mission at such a department where the minister is purely a manager, for instance the ministry of regional development. On the contrary, I would have difficulties at departments such as health or agriculture. It would be very difficult to get acquainted with those closely defined folios associated with an expert area. Ministry of interior is a special department. One part is the inner safety, and the other is folio previously managed by the abolished ministry of Informatics. Also, the problems of civil service and regional governments come under Minister of Interior’s reesp spon o si s bilitites es. So to a laargge ex e te tentt itt iss administrative work, which I have no problem with. I perceive Minister of interior as a universal manager, and so the challenge to become the Minister of this department did not scare me a bit.

Is it an advantage to arrive to this department from the outside, and a different professional environment, when you have no ties with people linked to the problems that the Minister is responsible for?

If you hint at what is being talked about – the blending of organized crime, the civil

service and police, then my arrival from the outside should be an advantage. I have not experienced any big pressures in this area.

Though, this does not mean that the phenomenon does not exist. The contact between minister and ordinary police officer is almost none. If those things don’t happen, then my arrival from the outside should be by no means an advantage.

Can you as a minister of a caretaker government have any serious ambition with the commended folio?

When we took the office of the government, my ambitions were not big. I wanted two things – firstly, to improve the utilization of European funds, which was catastrophic here. Today, we are among the departments that have no problems with European funds.

This goes to the credit of civil service which I brought here. The second aim was to successfully finish the Presidency. We mastered that very well. Although I have to admit that t iss was th as wel e l pr p ep epar a ed e , to too. o In the moment it became obvious that I would stay in the office longer, I also began to have other ambitions. But even before this, I had to react to certain issues and change them. Certain things were simply set up wrongly, and this created obstacles for the ministry to work effectively. I attribute this to the fact that my predecessor had no experience, and became suddenly responsible for managing a department of 70 000 employees. The organisational structure he introduced was not the kind that would allow the minister to manage the folio. It was more

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 11

11

21.1.2010 13:39:40

his deputies doing it. The ministry had a weird structure, with sort of little ministers and their under-deputies. I had to deal with that from my first days in the office. At the stage when it became clear that I would stay in the office the whole year, I carried out a normal structure of management with six deputyministers. It is nothing I would have made up. It is a classical organisation chart. Any department should be in a state in which the minister can (and does) steer clearly.

What priorities do you have now in the prolonged time of your government involvement?

The key priorities we have set with my colleagu g es are to figh g t corrupption and extremism. This is my ambition for the relatively short time of the caretaker government.

The anti-corruption packet is on the way to the legislative process. We attempt to fightextremism through executive measurements. It is a long-term struggle and we have to carry it on.

How does the prolonged mandate of the caretaker government contrast with your personal plans? One of your fellow ministers stepped down and got back to his previous occupation already...

It does not violate my plans a bit. When

12

Interviews.indd 12

I was entering the government, we all as nominees were told that we would be in our offices for a period of five or six months, and then we would go back to our original posts. I was the only one who could not realize that. I was harshly attacked for a conflict of interests. Whereas all others still sort of sit on two chairs, I was the only one forced to step down from my previous position. I had not expected that, and had not counted on that scenario. I had to leave the Office for the Protection of Competition, and I cannot go back. Thus, I had no plans for the immediate days after the government’s finish, and I still do not have any. Today I focus on my present mission at the department. Prolongation of my mandate means the postponement of the question – what shall I do for another half year.

You have worked for the state and in the Civil Service since 2003. Before this you had worked in the private sector. What made you leave the world of business and enter the public state sector?

I found it an interesting opportunity and experience. The information that you take in as a deputy minister is vastly different than what you deal with as a director of a mid-size engineer’s firm. When you stay at a certain position for a longer period of time, it begins to be not enough for you from the self-realization and motivation point of view. In such a moment, the offer from the Minister of Industry and Trade – Mr. Rusnok – arrived that he needed somebody to create a new energy gy concept p . The assign g ment was veryy interesting, and the concept I drafted is still valid till the present days. The switch from the private to public sector was a challenge then.

What is the difference between the personal and professional requirements of the top manager in a private company, and a politician in a top executive position in the Civil Service?

The difference should be none. And at the same time the difference is usually tremendous. Can you imagine a company, not necessarily of 70 000 people as the department of interior, but let’s say of a thousand, in which

a management position would be given to somebody who does not possess any managerial experience, and has never been previously in charge of even four assistants? This is absolutely common in our political environment. You do not gain experience in school or by studying an MBA. One has to go step by step from managing smaller teams, to steering a large team of people. You have to learn how people react in various situations and moments; what are the reactions of the different types of staff. I believe there is no rational reason for having different requirements of managers and politicians in situations when they have the responsibility of managing people. In my view, a minister should be a manager. It can be a young person, however.

The responsibility of minister should not be a reward just for years spent in the House of Deputies. The candidates should have corresponding professional and personal qualities for the position of a minister.

You have experienced the environment of both main Czech political parties. Looking back, how do you view this mental leap of yours?

First, I have never held any office in any of the two parties. I always entered the party with the belief that people, who have certain ideas, and who believe in and can afford to change things, should be involved in some political party. If it is not so, there will be a very limited number of people in parties, and this close circle will then decide who the prime minister and other ministers will be. An ordinary citizen is proud of being non-partisan.

But then you choose council members, regional deputies, senators, House members – and subsequently the government, from the very few people who are in the parties. And this is the reason why I believe people should enter political parties.

Whereas I grew apart from the Civic Democrats’ ideologg y after myy personal expe p rience in the party, and I could probably never go back. I did not break up with the Social Democrats. The views and ideals of social democracy are very close to me, and so I still sympathize with them, even though I had to leave the party to preserve my non-partisan character.

By Filip Hubáček ■

český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/2010

21.1.2010 14:42:07

analysis

ARE WE CREATIVE? Creativity – this word not only pertains to the artistic sphere, but it is also relevant within the cool-headed world of business. Most of us do not consider ourselves to be creative, and we do not pride ourselves on this fact. But there is no need to be embarrassed – psychologists claim that our brain was not created to be creative.

It is impossible to forget that we were creative in our childhood. We drew, sculpted, and made up ideas, regardless of their simplicity or the possibilities of their realization. And when the real world was small to us, we often entered the world of fantasy. Later, during adolescence, we discovered the limits of our fantasy worlds, and started to respect the rules of society that exist all around us. Of course, not all of us have given up our childlike creativity; some have remarkably endured.

These people are perceived mostly positively, and often we are a bit envious of them – as they seem to be happier.

Can we do anything about this? Is it possible to become creative by learning or even by practicing? Firstly, if we want to succeed at it, we have to stop using the excuses that nature, God or our genes did not endow us with talent. It is easy to resign or do nothing about it. Few of us have the impulse to produce something creative, or we are afraid to bring it to the surface. It is necessary to find time for creativity. I like to focus on “creative” thoughts right before I go to sleep. For this purpose it is good to have a pen and notebook or dictaphone with you. I remember times when those damnedest ideas attacked me at half past five in the morning, and my wife smiled during my mumbling into my dictaphone. I also always bring my magic Moleskin notebook with me, to meetings and affairs, and listen to all of the remarkable talk around me.

Hunger for information, reading and observation – all of these things are important.

We must step out of that magic circle that encloses us and see with another person’s eyes. Forget about immediate results and the realization of ideas – creativity does not knoow ttim kn imee sc sche heddule less, aand nd iitt ca cann nnot ot oobe bey project management guidelines. On the other hand, there are formal methods on how to

Photo: Vladimír Weiss

see a problem from a completely different view. The history of inventions and discoveries is full of similar and improbable parallels.

It is possible that you will invent nothing, norr ev no even en cre creat atee an ast aston onis ishi hing ng wor workk. How Howev ever er, do not doubt that you will feel freer and happier. Your surroundings will also perceive

you in this way and you will not be dry as dust any more.

By Ivan Pilný I President of Tuesday Business Network Former Chairman of Czech Telecom In partnership with Leaders Magazine český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 13

13

21.1.2010 12:16:30

interview

Gustรกv Slameฤ ka Minister of Transport Photo: Archive

14

Interviews.indd 14

20.1.2010 18:43:19

A talk with Gustáv Slamečka, Minister of Transport

THE FULLY ECOLOGIC Transport Is an Unfeasible Dream The economic crisis has considerably affected the Department of Transport. Are there any significant projects endangered?

Generally speaking, the crisis has caused the state budget contribution into the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure (the SFDI),) out of which the transpport construction investment is funded, to be significantly decreased for this and next year in comparison to the year 2007. Thus, the financing situation has become relatively tense. Therefore, when we cover all urgent expenditures, for instance for maintenance, toll operation and others, the funds remaining for pure investment are essentially less than we would need at this time. So, we are not able to start some constructions which had already been planned. The development of budgetary procedures in the Parliament in December threatened the loss of another five billion CZK for the SFDI. It would truly mean a big drawback for key projects, yet the MPs fortunately funded the SFDI from other resources. Now, I do not judge if the chosen strategy is effective from an all-society point-of-view. However, from the resort point-of-view, the Government’s preserving of the proposed budget range is good news. In addition to that, it is necessary to say that restrictions do concern constructions funded from the EU funds, by the means of the Operational Program of Transport (the OPD). I can even say that the OPD is practically the best of our existing programmes concerning the pace of drawing.

In this context, do you take into account new investments into the transport infrastructure, i.e. the building of roads and railway line works?

Unfortunately, relatively many constructions were started in the period before 2007, which still need to be finished up. So, launching new constructions, without being able to fund even those old ones, which were already launched, makes no sense at all.

One of the significant projects requiring vast reconstruction and strengthening is certainly the highway D1. What part does the Ministry of Transport plan to reconstruct and how will it be financially covered?

We suggest that essential modernization of the D1 highway should be provided by private subject by the means of the Public Private Partnership (the PPP) project, which would be funded for a certain period, e.g. for 30 years, and the financier would get remittance for the service from state, the so-called “service payment”.

The modernization would practically touch upon the whole stage from Mirošovice to Brno. Once we were missing the stage near Prague, but I am directly saying that it has been completely reconstructed just up to Mirošovice a few years ago.

What are the specific priorities in the field of railway transport? Are you preparing any systemic solutions concerning Czech railway funding?

During my term of office at the Ministry of Transport, we have managed to set up clearly long-term rules for the rail-

way passenger service. The Government has approved a ten-year binding mechanism stating the volume of financial means, which the Ministry of Transport can spend on fast trains and its contribution to compatriots for regional transport. That is big news and a systemic solution, because upp until 2009 the extent of remittance was set up a little bit chaotically. Compared to what was spent for regional trains and fast trains in 2009, it should now save around a billion CZK a year, although the range of service is basically going to remain the same. A ten-year prospect for the future gives to carriers a chance for longterm planning and the obtaining of bank resources, e.g. of wagon lines renovation funding. Thus, in a way, the resolution of long-term funding is a core systemic solution of the ČD funding.

What projects are aimed at taking finances from the EU funds?

All projects fulfilling criterions established by the Operational Programme Transport approval, through which the EU funds aimed at transport infrastructure are taken, are coming on strongly. I can bring up as an illustration the construction of the south-western branch of the Prague circular, which is funded only out of the EU means. This is going to connect the D1 and the D5 highways, a variety of constructions on railway corridors, and e.g. reconstruction of the railway bridge in Kolín, which is going to be elevated so that higher crafts could pass by the Elbe as they did in the past.

Prague is an official candidate for the seat of the Galileo Supervising Authority (the GSA), the European agency which is supposed to ensure for the European navigation system Galileo operation. Is there any real chance to obtain the seat? What would that mean for the Czech Republic?

The position of the Czech Republic has been considerably strengthened in the last few weeks. The GSA Agency should be preferentially placed in the new EU member state according to the political declaration approved at the European Council. Yet, two of the three candidates, Slovenia and Malta, have already obtained their seats of other agencies. Thus, we now have no other competitor among the new member states. Acquiring the GSA seat would be an immensely significant success from the allsociety point-of-view. It would highlight the image of our country as a leader in the areas of cosmonautics and hi-tech branches within the framework of the new EU member state group. Moreover, it would substantiate professionalism of research, development and innovation, industry, security standards and state administration in the Czech Republic. As a secondary effect of the GSA seat acquisition we can assume the placement of branches of significant technology firms and offices of European and world interest groups in the field of cosmonautics.

Consequently, Czech firms will have a bigger chance to take part in big projects as subcontractors, particularly within the framework of the European Space Agency (the SPA).

The European Commission should publish a new White Book on Transport in 2010 containing suggestions and strategies up to the year 2020. Can we expect any essential changes with significant influence on the EU member states in this document?

It is necessary for politics to be revised from time to time, because the human society, its expectations and available technologies, keep steadily developing. This is logically the main reason for updating the European transports policy. It is possible to assume that a great space is going to be devoted to the development of traffic networks, or issues dealing with interconnection of highway operation payments, so that drivers will not have to begin using different toll calculations each time they pass from one state to another. Generally speaking, a new transports policy is undoubtedly going to respect key demands on transport, so that it is quick, reliable, economically efficient and as ecologically friendly as possible.

Fully ecologic transport is, however, the way of the future. Yet, what are the state priorities concerning this area in the near future?

The fully ecologic transport is rather an unfeasible dream. Many effects of transport do not manifest only locally, but perhaps even hundreds of kilometres away. The railway traffic on electrified tracks often appears a more ecological means than sailing by diesel engine. Yet, the electricity has to be produced somewhere. Thus, emissions do not emerge on traffic roads, but in the surrounding areas of the power station. All measurements show that the traffic branch with the lowest impact, the so-called external costs, is the sailing. Obviously we do not have such powerful rivers in our country as perhaps the Rhine or the Danube, but even the Elbe can undertake the indispensable part of traffic. Yet, this is possible only if we manage to solve one thing – a hardly navigable ten-kilometre stretch between Děčín and the state border with Germany. We are attempting to include this project in the priority actions of the whole EU. The biggest priority, however, remains finishing the construction of the backbone network of highways and railway corridors, mainly with the aid of already mentioned EU finances. Also significant is the programme on the development of public logistic centres, which would enable reloading of goods among cars, wagons and ships in order to let the forwarding agencies choose the optimal kind of transport for every type of good. There are very few such publicly available opportunities for reloading in the Czech Republic. This is therefore the main reason why the exploitation of communications vigorously grows – or at least it was so before the economic crisis – while the railways and waters are rather stagnating.

By Věra Řiháčková I český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 15

15

20.1.2010 18:43:35

An interviiew wiithh Ing. Jakkubb Šebbesta, Miniister off Agriicullture

WINE HAS TO BE Perceived as a Part of Gastronomy Ing. Jakub Šebesta graduated in viniculture at the Horticultural Faculty, University of Agriculture in Brno (now Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry). In the years 1972 and 1976 he worked as a head of the viniculture unit at the Agricultural Cooperative in Krumvíř, and then for five years at the State Quality Inspection Authority. Since 1981 he was employed in the Czech Agriculture and Food Inspection Authority, startingg as a wine control inspe p ctor, and between the ye y ars 1992–2009 as a director ge g neral. In Mayy 2009 he became Minister of Agr g iculture.

Why did you decide to accept the offer for the post of Minister of Agriculture in Jan Fischer’s government?

The offer itself was a big surprise for me. I did not expect it at all. There were several moments that played a role in my decision whether to accept it or not. I was addressed by high representatives of the Czech Social Democratic Party and the Civil Democratic Party. The main reason

why I agreed was a clear specification of tenure up to the early elections, so up to October 2009.

There were also set priorities – to finish the Czech EU Presidency, and to prepare the budget proposal. However, the situation fundamentally changed when the early elections were cancelled.

In what ways did the decision on the abolition of early elections influence you?

From the personal point of view, the change concerned my previous employment which I left for unpaid leave. So the leave was extended.

From the professional standpoint, it was a big change not only for me, but also for the whole government. It was necessary to reassess our activities. It was not only keeping the ball rolling, but we had to start working at full speed – so to carry out legislative activities as well. For

Photo: Vladimír Weiss

16

Interviews.indd 16

Leaders Magazine I/2010

21.1.2010 12:17:57

instan inst ance ce tthe he bbud udge gett – we nnot ot oonl nlyy ha hadd to ppre repa pare re it, but also to approve it.

How did the economic crisis affect agriculture? Which sectors were hit the most?

The economic crisis affected farmers as well. The biggest problems occurred in the milk sector. t Af Aftter th the priice increase abboutt a year and a half ago, there was a big slump as a result of the crisis, and farmers were selling milk at prices under the cost of production. This sector thus got into a very difficult situation.

Enterprises that solely or mostly focus on the production of milk are facing a big economic slump.

Do you deal with this situation?

It is not easy to enter the producer/store chain relationship. Our economy works in a market environment, and to set prices for people to buy milk is not possible. However, we have been looking for a solution. I invited representatives of the most important chains to seek a solution on how to help this sector.

We found a whole range of solutions. One of them is to support the use of regional products and brands, which representatives of chains welcomed. On the other hand, it is necessary to take into account the whole process, from milk production to the counter. There are not only store chains and producers involved in this process, but also a whole range of other components, such as distributors for example.

It is thus essential to carry out a thorough analysis of the whole process, and look for the appropriate solutions.

What are the possibilities so far?

One of the possibilities is the EU subsidies policy. We try to allocate a lot of money coming from the European Union into the dairy sector.

It has been a great help that the European Commission and Council agreed on the early disbursement of advance payments for farmers.

These payments usually began to be paid in December; we started on the 16th of October 2009. It works well, and farmers got a significant amount off money. AAnother h soluti l ion is school h l milk that we returned to schools, and the better part of it is subsidized by the European Union.

About 0.6 of our milk production goes to schools, which is not much. However, I see the importance in providing our young generation with a healthy lifestyle. It is necessary to realize that it is not only milk, but also diary products. This year our ministry should subsidize this activity to the extent of 60 million CZK. There is also the “milk from machines” project. This is about selling fresh, non-pasteurized milk from machines. This project is not subsidized by the state; it is an initiative of milk producers. I personally welcome it as a form of an alternative way to sell fresh milk.

Have schools been interested in the school milk project?

Scho Sc hool olss ha have ve bee beenn re resp spon ondi ding ng pos posititiv ivel elyy.

The way it works is that schools contract with suppliers to install the milk machines at schools.

What is the general reaction to the “milk from machines” project and where can we find these machines?

At the beginning, a lot of milk producers were doubtful about the success of this project.

However, the response overtook the expectations. There has been a big interest in fresh milk. The biggest reactions were especially in the Valašsko region. Currently it is possible to find the machines in regions; there is no use to have them in big towns and cities.

One of the main EU themes for years to come is a reform of Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). What is the state of the discussion on this reform nowadays?

The debate on the CAP reform after 2013 began under the Czech EU Presidency and still continues. It has been discussed that new agriculture policy should be more flexible, and reflect new challenges, such as looking for new energy sources, or fighting climate change. One of the discussed topics is also the amount of direct payments after 2013. At present, there has been a distinction between old and new member states. There was a certain shift in this issue, because old member states acknowledged the need to change the system of direct payments in order that the payments would proceed more fairly. Last but not least, we have discussed the fact that agriculture is a very strategic field, and as such it deserves a more ambitious CAP after 2013.

In what should this more ambitious CAP lie?

Agriculture is not a field which produces only food, but it plays a whole range of roles that are no less important. When we for instance talk about seeking new energy sources, agriculture has a great potential; or about landscape care, we again have to take into account the functioning off agriiculture. l Also rurall ddevelopment Al l pllays its role. It is included in CAP, and focuses on securing a permanent sustainable development of rural areas, and on increasing the quality of life of people living in the country.

You worked as general director of the authority that deals with the safety and quality of food. How would you assess the quality of food sold at the Czech market?

Some people think that the quality of food is not very high here.

It is important to say what we conceive as food quality. This term includes a lot of things – safety of food, health and sanitary standards, and the utility value of food. As for food safety, the Czech Republic is among the best in the world. If we look at the quality of food, there is sometimes nostalgia on past times, when it

was st was stririct ctly ly sset et w wha hatt ea each ch ssmo moke kedd go good od hhad ad ttoo include. When we joined the EU, the limits were widened. The producer now has much wider guidelines. What the producer will produce – it is us, the customers, who determine that. My talks to producers confirm this statement. They say thatt th they would ld produce d for instance t smoked goods of higher quality, but they only sell 5 tonnes of it, while they easily sell 500 tonnes of a lesser quality. On the other hand, I do not think that the phenomenon of looking for cheaper food is only the phenomenon of the Czech Republic; it is also in other countries.

Nevertheless, I have to point out that even food made from feedstock of less quality has to be safe.

You also dwelled on viniculture. What is its position in the Czech Republic?

As for quality, Czech wine belongs to the best in Europe, and also plays an important role in the world. This is due to tradition and also to our vintners, who have made a huge leap forward.

There are top technologists in the viniculture here who work with modern technologies. As for the capacity of vineyards, Czech viniculture plays an unimportant role in Europe. We are self-sufficient up to 35 percent, and import the rest.

What kind of wine do you like?

I cannot answer this question. I cannot even say if I prefer white or red wine, because wine is a necessary part of gastronomy. Once I professionally devoted myself to wine, now it is my hobby. I remain closer to the Chardonnay cultivar. A range of accidents brought me to it.

It culminated 14 years ago, when I became a member of the commission for Chardonnay assessment in France. I go there every year.

So it is not that I would prefer this cultivar, but I know about it the most from the view of sensory characters.

How is Czech Chardonnay?

I am not fully persuaded that Chardonnay is a typical cultivar for our country. It is a fashion lilikke Cabernet b or Sau S vignon. i Our Ch Charddonnay is lighter with the taste of peach blossom. It is quite different from French or South African Chardonnay.

What are our typical cultivars?

For our conditions the typical wines come from white cultivars Muller Thurgau, Gruner Veltliner (Veltlínské zelené), Rhine Riesling (Ryzlink rýnský) and Italian=Welsch Riesling (Ryzlink vlašský), from red Saint Laurent (Svatovavřinecké) and Lemberger (Frankovka).

However, much more favoured cultivars have been grown.

By Zuzana Kasáková ■ český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 17

17

20.1.2010 18:44:37

gala evening with the best

A special thanks to Ifield Computer Consultancy Ltd. for making this reportage possible

Czech 100 Best Gala Evening Karel Muzikář, President of Comenius in his opening speech with the evening moderators

PRAGUE CASTLE November 27, 2009

Comenius Society, active in the fields of education, culture, science and technology, organized already 14th “CZECH 100 BEST” award ceremony.

The ceremony, this year held on Friday November 27, took place at the Spanish Hall and among more than 700 VIP guests were the Czech President Prof.

Václav Klaus, cabinet ministers Martin Pecina, Gustáv Slamečka, Petr Šimerka, Jakub Šebesta and Dana Jurásková, Štefan Füle, Czech EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Governor of the Czech National Bank Zdeněk Tůma and several ambassadors. During the evening companies or institutions in eight categories which have an immediate impact on the living standard of the Czech population were awarded. These were: “Tourism and Hotel Industry”, “Transport and Civil Constructions”, “Dynamic Growth”, “Information and Communication Technologies”, “Invention – Commitment – Export – Profit”, “Manufacturing Cooperatives”, “Health – Education – Humanity” and “Agriculture and Food Industry”. Another highlight of the evening was the awarding of twelve exceptional ladies with the popular title “Lady Pro”. For the fifth time in the history of the Czech 100 Best titles in the “Gentleman Pro” category were also awarded. This year the awarded gentlemen were writer Arnošt Lustig, Jiří Škrla and František Dostálek.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY Comenius.indd 18

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

All the awarded ones

20.1.2010 17:26:09

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

gala evening with the best

Martin Diviš, Chairman of the Board & General Director, Kooperativa, pojišťovna, a.s. receiving award in category Best 10 of Czech 100 Best from Professor Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic

From left: Martin Pecina, Minister of Interior of the Czech Republic, Šárka Koutná, Head of the Office of the Minister of Interior, George Parobek, General Director Ifield Computer Consultancy and his wife Šárka Parobek, Director Ifield Computer Consultancy

Rudolf Javurek, CEO Import Volkswagen Group and Ing. Martina Valterová

Mrs. Blanka Kalcsová, Chairman of the Board, M-Silnice, receiving award in category Transport and Civil Constructions and Gustáv Slamečka, Minister of Transportation in CR

From left: Andrej Babiš, Chairman of the Board, Agrofert Holding, Vladimír Dohnal, Chairman of the Board, Top Hotels Group and Ms. Milada Dohnalová

The peak of the ceremony was the awarding of the ten companies, “best of the best” in the Czech Republic. Top representatives of these companies received their diplomas from the hands of the President Václav Klaus. The whole event ended with a great banquet in four halls of the Prague Castle where all the awarded ones as well as the other participants, chatted and discussed their professional and private matters in a splendid atmosphere of excellent food and beverages well into early hours of the Saturday November 28.

Online record of the ceremony is available at www.comenius.cz

Lady Pro 2009 Men from left: Karel Muzikář, President of Comenius, Professor Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, Miloslav Vlček, Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament .

All awarded Lady Pro 2009 (alphabetical order) Jane Gilson, Eva Havrdová, Marcela Hrdá, Michaela Chaloupková, Milana Chamberlain, Dana Jurásková, Zuzana Kepková, Alena Kolářová, Alena Melková, Jaroslava Poláková, Beáta Rajská and Hana Zagorová.

Comenius.indd 19

21.1.2010 12:24:03

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY

gala evening with the best

From left: Chantal Poullain, President, Archa Foundation, receiving award in category Health – Education – Humanity and Mrs. Dana Jurásková, Minister of Health Care

Mrs. Zuzana Kepková, Vice Chairwoman, Allianz pojišťovna, a. s. with her daughter

Arnošt Lustig receiving award Gentleman Pro 2009 from Miloslav Vlček Chairperson of the Chamber of Deputies

Mrs. Jane M. Gilson, General Director Microsoft ČR receiving award Best 10 of Czech 100 Best 2009 from Professor Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic

Some of the Ladies Pro 2009

Fashion Designer Beata Rajská and Ing. Karel Muzikář, President of Comenius

20

Comenius.indd 20

George Parobek, General Director, Ifield Computer Consultancy receiving award in category Information & Communication Technologies from Martin Pecina, Minister of Interior

21.1.2010 14:55:30

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

gala evening with the best

From left: Jindřich Forejt, Head of the Protocol, Office of the President, H.E. Alexey L. Fedotov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation and Jiří Weigl, Chancellor, Office of the President

From left: Stanislav Beneš, Consultant ČD – Telematika and Albin Sybera, General Director Sybera Enterprises

From left: Ing. Martin Diviš, MBA, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Kooperativa pojišťovna, a. s., with his wife and Ing. Martin Borovka, CEO Eurovia CS with his wife

From left: Jiří Kejval, Chairman of the Board, TECHO a.s., and Ing. Václav Matyáš, President, The Association of Building Entrepreneurs of the Czech Republic

From left: Jan Klas, General Director, Air Navigation Services, receiving award in category Invention – Commitment – Export – Profit from Zdeněk Tůma, Governor, Czech National Bank

From left: Mr. Miloslav Vlček, Chairperson of Chamber of Deputies and Mr. Michal Hašek, Governor of the South Moravian Region

Comenius.indd 21

Pavel Bém, Mayor of the City of Prague receiving an award in category Dynamic Growth from Štefan Füle, Czech EU Commissioner for Enlargement

Ing. Lumobír Pokorný, MBA, CEO Česká exportní banka with his wife

From left: Mrs. Marta Gellova, General Secretary, AFIZ, Major-General Tom de Fayw, CMM, CD, SB StJ. (ret.), H.E. Valerie Raymond, Ambassador, Embassy of Canada, Mrs. Tamara Lester, Assistant to the Ambassador, Embassy of Israel and H.E. Yaakov Levy, Ambassador, Embassy of Israel

20.1.2010 17:29:23

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY

gala evening with the best

Mrs. Beata Rajská, Fashion Designer receiving award in category Lady Pro 2009 from Mr. Miloslav Vlček, Chairperson of Chamber of Deputies

Tomáš Cikán, owner ESO Travel receiving award in category Tourism & Hotel Industry from Jiří Koliba, Deputy Minister of Regional Development

Holger Kintscher, Member of the Board Škoda Auto a.s. receiving award Best 10 of Czech 100 Best 2009 from Professor Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic

From left: Mrs. Markéta Mališová, Director of Franz Kafka Center, Arnošt Lustig, Writer and Gentleman Pro 2009 and Albin Sybera, General Director Sybera Enterprises

Vladimír Dohnal, Chairman of the Board, TOP Hotels Group receiving award in category Tourism & Hotel Industry from Jiří Koliba, Deputy Minister of Regional Development

From left: Jakub Šebesta, Minister of Agriculture with his wife and Petr Šimerka, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs with his wife From left: František Dostálek, Managing Partner, KPMG receiving award Gentleman Pro 2009 and Miloslav Vlček, Chairperson of the Chamber of Deputies

Fashion Designer Beata Rajská with Models

22

Comenius.indd 22

20.1.2010 17:30:54

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

From left: Michal Jelínek, Chairman of the Board, OKIN Group, receiving award in category Invention – Commitment – Export – Profit from Zdeněk Tůma, Governor, Czech National Bank

gala evening with the best

Petr Šimerka, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs with his wife

From left: Karel Pilčík, Chairman of the Board, MP Krásno, a.s., receiving award in category Agriculture and Food Industry from Jakub Šebesta, Minister of Agriculture

From left: H. E. Alexey Leonidivich Fedotov, Ambassador, Embassy of the Russian Federation, Štefan Füle, Czech EU Commissioner for Enlargement with wife

Martin Roman, Chairman/CEO ČEZ a.s. receiving award Best 10 of Czech 100 Best 2009 from Professor Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic

From left: Ing. Tomáš Březina, Chairman of the Board of Directors, BEST, a. s. with his wife and JUDr. Martin Roman, CEO/Chairman of the Board, ČEZ a. s.

Comenius.indd 23

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY

23 23

20.1.2010 17:31:42

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY

gala evening with the best

From left: Peter Kozma, Managing Director, I.T.A.-Institut technologických aplikací, s.r.o., receiving award in category Invention – Commitment – Export – Profit and Zdeněk Tůma, Governor, Czech National Bank

Tomáš Krsek, Chairman of the Board & General Director, Škoda Holding receiving award in category Best 10 of Czech 100 Best from Professor Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic

From left: Ladislav Dráb, Chairman of the Board, Česká Energie receiving award in category Dynamic Growth from Štefan Füle, Czech EU Commissioner for Enlargement

From left: Ing. Andrej Babiš, General Director, Agrofert a.s. receiving award Best 10 of Czech 100 Best 2009 from Professor Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic

Performance by Zatrest Band and its Frontman Petr Píša

CZECH 100 BEST 2008

OREA HOTELS A.S. TOP HOTELS GROUP A.S. TRAVEL SERVICE, A.S. TRANSPORT AND CIVIL CONSTRUCTIONS EUROVIA CS, A.S. HOCHTIEF CZ A. S. INTERCORA SPOL. S R.O. METROSTAV A.S. M-SILNICE A.S. POZEMNÍ STAVITELSTVÍ ZLÍN A.S. POZIMOS, A.S. MANUFACTURING COOPERATIVES DRUŽSTVO CEMENTÁŘŮ INVA DRUŽSTVO KOVOBEL, VÝROBNÍ DRUŽSTVO KOVOTEX, VÝROBNÍ DRUŽSTVO INVALIDŮ STAVBA PRAHA DRUŽSTVO TVAR VÝROBNÍ DRUŽSTVO PARDUBICE

THE FIRST TEN BEST ČEZ, A. S. ŠKODA AUTO A.S. ŠKODA HOLDING A.S. AGROFERT HOLDING, A.S. MICROSOFT S.R.O. EUREST, SPOL. S R.O. LETIŠTĚ PRAHA, A. S. KOOPERATIVA POJIŠŤOVNA, A.S., VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP BEST, A.S. KOMERČNÍ BANKA, A.S. TOURISM & HOTEL INDUSTRY CESTOVNÍ KANCELÁŘ EXIM TOURS A.S. ČEDOK A.S. ESO TRAVEL A.S. EUROAGENTUR HOTELS & TRAVEL A.S. KING‘S CASINO A.S.

Comenius.indd 24

DYNAMIC GROWTH CZ LOKO, A.S. ČESKÁ ENERGIE, A.S. JIHOMORAVSKÝ KRAJ MAGISTRÁT HL. MĚSTA PRAHY MODŘANSKÁ POTRUBNÍ, A.S. SERVIS CLIMAX A.S. ŠKODA POWER A.S. INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES DELL COMPUTER SPOL. S R.O. IBM ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA, SPOL. S R.O. IDS SCHEER ČR, S.R.O. IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY LTD. NESS CZECH S.R.O. UNICORN A.S. INVENTION – COMMITMENT – EXPORT – PROFIT BEST, A.S. I.T.A. - INSTITUT TECHNOLOGICKÝCH APLIKACÍ, S.R.O.

OHL ŽS, A.S. OKIN GROUP, A. S. RSJ INVEST, A.S. ŘÍZENÍ LETOVÉHO PROVOZU ČR, S.P. TECHO, A.S. EDUCATION – SCIENCE – HEALTH – HUMANITY ANENSKÉ SLATINNÉ LÁZNĚ A.S. FAKULTNÍ NEMOCNICE OLOMOUC FAKULTNÍ NEMOCNICE V MOTOLE UNIVERZITA KARLOVA V PRAZE VOJENSKÁ AKADEMIE VE VYŠKOVĚ VYSOKÁ ŠKOLA BÁŇSKÁ – TECHNICKÁ UNIVERZITA OSTRAVA NADACE ARCHA CHANTAL AGRICULTURE & FOOD INDUSTRY ALIMA ZNAČKOVÁ POTRAVINA, A.S. BOHEMIA SEKT, A.S. C.I.P.A. SPOL. S R.O. FARMTEC A.S. MP KRÁSNO, A.S.

RODINNÁ FARMA KARLA STŘÍBRNÉHO ZEMĚDĚLSKÉ DRUŽSTVO KLAPÝ LADY PRO JANE GILSON EVA HAVRDOVÁ MARCELA HRDÁ MICHAELA CHALOUPKOVÁ MILANA CHAMBERLAIN DANA JURÁSKOVÁ ZUZANA KEPKOVÁ ALENA KOLÁŘOVÁ ALENA MELKOVÁ JAROSLAVA POLÁKOVÁ BEÁTA RAJSKÁ HANA ZAGOROVÁ GENTLEMAN PRO FRANTIŠEK DOSTÁLEK ARNOŠT LUSTIG JIŘÍ ŠKRLA

20.1.2010 17:32:36

AINspecial thanks toWITH Ifield Computer COOPERATION Consultancy Ltd. for LEADERS MAGAZINEmaking this reportage possible

gala evening with theevent best networking/discussion

Mrs. Dana Jurásková, Minister of Health Care of the Czech Republic receiving award Lady Pro 2009 from Miloslav Vlček, Chairperson of the Chamber of Deputies

From left: Jiří Zapletal, Chairman of the Board & CEO, Škoda Power receiving award in category Dynamic Growth from Štefan Füle, Czech EU Commissioner for Enlargement

Mrs. Hana Zagorová, renowned Singer

Miroslav Dvořák, General Director, Letiště Praha, s.p., receiving award in category Best 10 of Czech 100 Best from Professor Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic

Ing. Alois Holiš, JANEK s.r.o. with his wife

From left: Jiří Weigl, Chancellor of the Office of the President with his wife and H.E. Yaakov Levy, Ambassador, Embassy of Israel

From left: Karel Muzikář, President of Comenius, Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, Arnošt Lustig, Writer, Gentleman Pro 2009, František Dostálek, Managing Partner, KPMG, Gentleman Pro 2009, Jiří Škrla, former General Director, Veletrhy Brno, Gentleman Pro 2009 and Miloslav Vlček, Chairman of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament

Comenius.indd 25

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY 20.1.2010 17:33:15

comenius event conference

A special thanks to Ifield Computer Consultancy Ltd. for making this reportage possible As part of the “D” day of the Czech 100 Best competition 2009 Comenius Society organized XIV. international conference “Key Factors of Success” in the morning hours of November 27.

More than 120 participants – top managers from significant Czech companies, but also diplomats and representatives from the state administration – have traditionally filled the New Gallery Hall at the Prague Castle and listened to the presentations delivered by their colleagues, all of whom had a lot to say about how to reach success and what success means in the first place.

Whether it was the Minister of Health Care Ms. Dana Jurásková’s analysis of obstacles which need to be removed in order to achieve success in the Czech health system, emphasis on doing what one really likes and doing that to the utmost of one’s abilities stressed by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Scanservice Mr. Miroslav Barabáš, or never failing to tackle issues with true modesty pointed out by the Chairman of the Board of Česká energie Mr. Ladislav Dráb, the interpretation of success gained different meanings in case of each one of the speakers.

Mrs. Dana Jurásková, Minister of Health Care of the CR in her speech

What most of the presentations agreed upon, however, was the importance of the personal dimension of success and the question whether success equates happiness.

Key Factors of Success XIV. International Conference, New Gallery Prague Castle, November 27, 2009

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY Comenius.indd 26

From left: H. E. Peter Brňo, Ambassador of Slovakia, Jiří Uklein, Director, Bureau of Labor Office Brno and Jana Hauserová, Bureau of Labor Office Brno

20.1.2010 17:34:19

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

Jiří Borovec, General Director, Čepro a.s. in his speech

comenius event conference

Michal Jelínek, Chairman of the Board, OKIN Group in his speech

Roman Jakubovič Popov, Chairman of the Board, Evropsko-Ruská Banka

Ladislav Dráb, Chairman of the Board, Česká Energie, a.s.

Miroslav Barabáš, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Scanservice, a trumpet solo before his speech

From left: Josef Bernard, Human Resources Director, Škoda Holding a.s. and Jiří Borovec, General Director, Čepro a.s.

From left: Stefan Staub, Executive Director, Senior Representative, UBS AG, Ladislav Sekerka and Albín Sybera, Comenius From left: Benke Aikell, your Publisher and Jan Mühlfeit, Chairman Europe Microsoft Corporation From left: Karel Muzikář, President of Comenius, Martin Pecina, Minister of Interior of the CR and Šárka Koutná, Head of the Office of the Minister

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

From this perspective it was interesting to listen to the General Director of ČEPRO Mr. Jiří Borovec or founder and CFO of RSJ Invest Mr. Karel Janeček who argued that unfair success cannot equate happiness and used notorious examples of corruption such as the fake university diplomas from the Pilsen Law Faculty. This in turn prompted several subsequent speakers to address the issue of corruption in the Czech society including the Minister of Interior Mr. Martin Pecina. The rest of the speakers of the conference included Chairman of the Board of OKIN Group Mr. Michal Jelínek, Chairman of the Board of European-Russian Bank Mr. Roman Popov, General Director of BEST Ms. Iveta Churavá, General Director for CEE of Credit Suisse Mr. Michael Rüdiger 2 27 and HR Director of Škoda Holding Mr. Josef Bernard.

The webcast from the conference is available at www.comenius.cz

Comenius.indd 27

21.1.2010 14:56:36

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY

comenius event conference

From left: Karel Muzikář, President of Comenius, Michal Jelínek, Chairman of the Board, OKIN Group and Mirko Kalous, General Director, NESS Czech s.r.o.

From left: Ing. Petr Štěpánek, Finance Director, 2N telekomunikace a.s. and Ing. Oldřich Stejskal, Managing Director, 2N telekomunikace a.s.

Ing. Zdeněk Daněk, General Director, Kredit, spol. s r.o. and his wife

Mrs. Dana Jurásková, Minister of Health Care of the CR and H.E. Peter Brňo, Ambassador of Slovakia

Radomír Řehoř, Managing Director, Regam s.r.o. and his wife Irena

Michael Rüdiger, Managing Director & CEO, Credit Suisse

XV. Key Factors of Success conference will take place on November 26, 2010 again at the New Gallery Hall of the Prague Castle.

Comenius.indd 28

Karel Janeček, Ph.D., CFO, Member of the Board of Directors, RSJ and Monika Vondráková, PR & Marketing Manager, RSJ

21.1.2010 14:57:25

A talk with Tomáš Cikán, CEO and Co-owner of the Travel Agency ESO Travel

The Size of our Offer does not Take Any Beating in the Central Europe What led you to open the ESO travel in the beginning of 90s and why did you firstly focus on Thailand, a rather unconventional destination at that time?

I regard my engagement in the tourist industry as a big accident. I was involved in the real estates since the 1989 revolution. In 1993, we managed to do a particularly successful purchase of realty together with my colleague and thus, we wanted to repay ourselves for that. As none of us had been visiting a remote exotic country until then, we went to, at that time unknown Thailand. I fell in love with this country since the very first moment. I kept constantly thinking what kind of business to make up with this land. I returned home and we made for Thailand together with my wife again in three months.

She was excited as well and since she had been working in the travel agency at that time, the business had been made up! We had broadened our portfolio to neighbouring countries like the Indonesia, the Philippines or the Burma after the first season. The clientage had pleasantly grown and thus, we had to widen not only to neighbouring countries but to other continents as well. Since 1997, we started to organize trips to America, furthermore to Africa or Australia. I would say that our first developing stage was ended up in the season 1999/2000 when we launched the first charter flight from the Czech Republic to the exotic destination which happened to be Thailand. We were considered to be fools at that time and many colleagues predicted a quick crash of our business.

At present, the ESO travel provides for the biggest and the strongest bases of exotic trips offer in the Czech market.

What destinations are your clients mostly interested in?

We are offering trips up to 106 non-European countries like Asia, Africa, America, Australia, Oceania and even to Antarctica today. The size of our offer does not take any beating within the Central Europe. We divide our trips into stay-trips and cognitive-trips. Concerning the stay-trips, our clients mostly favour the so-called charter destinations where they can fly from Prague with our rented planes comfortably and without transfers. Most clients are heading to the area of the South Asia, the Indian Ocean and to Carribic. Organizing these trips is firstly not too difficult and moreover, there is a relatively great supply in this area. The most demanding trips, with regard to their organization, are the cognitive-trips.

In this context, we are very pleased to be unmatched in the Czech market with this type of trips. The biggest interest predominates here in cognitive-trips to the US, China, South America, Australia and South Africa. Many reputable Czech and Slovak travel agencies take over these trips from us to their catalogues. We also organize majority of trips into abovementioned countries for our 50% shareholder which is the biggest Czech travel agent – Čedok.

Part of the ESO travel portfolio of services is cruises with experts. Could you draw it more nearer?

We have been purchasing the cruises (primarily into Carribbean) for already more than ten years. There has been a growing interest in them within the world market as well.

The constantly new, modern, giant ships are built; the new naval companies are founded. We tried to catch up this trend and thus, we launched a specialised catalogue with the main

focuus on the “stay-cognitive vacations” on this luxury cruises as thhe first Czech travel agency in 2008. We have not focused onlyy on Carribbean, Europe or Indian Ocean, our catalogue brings cruises from all over the planet. The top of these exclusive cruises makes up a three-month sail across the world on the most luxurious ship, the Queen Elizabeth. We have a very exteensive offer of specialised cruises besides the luxurious cruisses, for instance around the Galapagos Islands, to see polaar bears in Spitsbergen or by the ice-breaker heading to the Antaarctic coast. Perhaps the most original is a cruise organized only once a year (always in July), which is the cruise with a nuuclear ice-breaker to the North Pole.

Another important and one of the most quickly developing segments in the travel industry is surely the business travel as well. What incentive programmes do you focus on?

Yes, exactly the business travel has become the driving macchine of our boost in last three years. The business clientage has had taken to us because of the perfect service aimed at both individuals and the whole companies. Very well organized incentive events are a great economic contribution for com mpanies starting with a few tens of employees up to supranational companies. We are able to organize business meetingss for management, motivational meetings with partners up to giiant congresses and seminars abroad for hundreds clients all at once. For instance, we organized the meeting for partnerss and co-operates of one supranational insurance companyy for 420 persons in the Dominican Republic. Me personallyy or someone from our management is always trying to takee part in the events like that, and thus to guarantee and overr see the highest possible quality of our service.

The ESO travel has been already traditionally greatly evaluated within the Czech 100 Best competition organized by the Comenius. In this respect, did your expectations become real for the last year?

They did, indeed. There are only a few travel agencies whicch had been growing over the last year. Despite the global financial crisis, the ESO travel succeeded in growing revenuess of the fantastic 21 % in comparison to the same period of thhe last year. This accomplishment was possible thanks to our daily effort, to the yearly hard work of our team of very proffessional employees. Our revenues are slowly approaching the level of one billion CZK and we start to be drawn to four bigggest Czech travel agencies. Apart from the Czech 100 Best awards we were assessed within a survey of the TTG Travel Awaards experts as the best Czech travel agency specialized in Asia and Africa. Moreover, we were entitled, together with the biggest world travel agency, the German TUI, and with the Swiss travel agency KUONI, the Friends of Thailand Award for enhancing development of the tourism between Europe and Asia.

Your company also became second travel agency in the Czech Republic providing the European standard of complaints solutions, the so-called ITQ Codex for all your clients.

How does it differ from the classic solving of complaints?

ESO travel had enthusiastically welcomed the opportunity of im mplementation of the European standard of complaints

Photo: Archive ESO Travel

solving on the Czech market. This Codex sets up the exact rules comprising a number of percentages out of a price belonging to a client for a particular low-class service as refund. A table used for the calculation was created in Germany already many years ago and it is very transparent. Owing to a very low number of complaints of ESO travel clients (last year about 0,4 % of our clients, i.e. one of 240 complained of shortages), we really do appreciate this transparency. There are, however, many travel agencies operating on the Czech market being quite afraid of these rules. Therefore, I suppose that respect of the ITQ Codex helps all customers with choosing a high-quality partner for spending a beautiful and untroubled holiday.

What is your dream holiday? Have you accomplished it yet?

The biggest benefit of my work is the travelling. I have been very lucky in my life that I could have travelled over more than hundred of the most exotic countries of all continents, with exception of the Antarctic. My most favourite corner of the world is the South East Asia headed by Thailand, Cambodia, Burma and Indonesia. If I want to discover an interesting country with a bunch of friends, we go to safari to Botswana and Namibia, or we eventually undertake a trip into some of the South America countries. If we want to go on the yacht, we choose French Polynesia, Fiji or Kingdom of Tonga. I am not a “swimming” type, so I do not travel to the Mediterranean.

I also keep Europe for retirement when I will not want to undergo often even 24 hours flights to exotic countries. The only exception within the trips to Europe for me is Russia, which is relatively exotic to many young people today. And where I would still like to go to fulfil my travel activities? To the last continent which still remains for me and that is Antarctic, permanently untouched by the tourism.

By Pavlína Holancová I český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 29

29

21.1.2010 12:58:32

A talk with Ladislav Dráb, Chairman of the Board, Česká energie, a.s.

The Crisis has Tested the Quality of our Business Relations

Photo: Archive

Česká energie was awarded in this year’s Czech 100 Best in the dynamic growth category. How have you managed to grow dynamically in the time of crisis? A number of your SME clients experienced problems, many went out of business…

Naturally the year 2009 was a stability touchNaturally, stone of every company regardless of its field of activity. While the problems have not avoided some of our business partners, for us it implied a rigorous day to day work in the area of purchasing and cash flow management. With our clients we communicated carefull plan l ning, i costs management, looki king for savings, i and more effective energy drawings. I appreciate the responsible approach of our clients’ while managing possible problems from our supplier-customer relations. And last but not least, in duly justified cases, we came to the individual managgement of our clients´ obligations, aiming to return to our highest standard of cooperation. It is much easier to build good business relations in the time of economic growth, however, the quality of business partners and mutual relations are duly tested only in times like the year 2009. So thee aw th awar ardd we rec recei eive vedd is muc muchh mo more re val valua uabl blee to us us ju just st because we received it in 2009.

How has the economic crisis influenced your investment plans – gas power stations, gas storage capacities and the gas pipeline Mozart?

The start of 2009 was marked by interruption of the gas supplies from Russia to Europe. Such a warning had undoubtedly positive impact on the understanding of the term energy security. The growing economic crisis caused many companies to look for savings and reassessment of their strategies and behhaviour. i TThhe prices i off resources were moving i significantly. The economy for gas-steam power stations, when compared to the other energy and

30

Interviews.indd 30

heat sources, is somewhere else than it used to be a year ago. Energy investments are being reconsidere de red, d, as as we wellll as as th thee at attititu tude dess to towa ward rdss re reso sour urce ces, s, and the trans-border cooperation in the field of energy supplies. From this point of view, the economic crisis has without question influenced our investment plans, and I dare to say that definitely in a positive way; today, we have much more reasons to keep working on them.

What is your business strategy going to be in the near future? What market share within the gas and electricity trade would you like to achieve? Česká energie has established itself as a stable comppanyy within the alternative supppl p iers of the Czech market. We are not aspiring to take over a dominant market share. On the basis of rigorous analyses, we found our niche, our market segment within which we would like to take a significant position. On a regular basis, we keep analysing our business strategy, and I can state with full satisfaction that from a meme dium-term perspective we have no reasons why we should change g our ggoals. In the medium-term horizon,, we would like to achieve roughly 5% market share.

Are you going to enlarge your clients target group?

We are not assuming changing our target segment.

However, it is true that we are analysing a market of hous ho useh ehol olds ds and and iiff we aare re abl ablee to off offer er tthe he hou house seholds more interesting conditions in a long term perspective, we might expand our business goals in this direction as well.

What was the impact of the breakdown of the Moravia Energo company on your business segment? Were there any direct consequences for your own business?

I believe that the collapse of the Moravia Energo had an impact on the Czech energy market as such.

On one hand, the banks are much more alerted and care ca refu ful;l; on on th thee ot othe herr, aals lsoo th thee cl clie ient ntss ar aree mo more re ccau autious. As the matter of fact, this extraordinary situation tested at once the quality of our energy law, and the emergency readiness of the Energy Regulatory Office; and both, the legi g slators and the Office definitely deserve a credit. Paradoxically, the clients of Moravia Energo came out off this situation as winners; the fall of the company took place in the time of dramatic decrease of the electricity prices, so for many of them it was an opportunity to get away with such an “expensive” obligation.

The collllapse off Moravia Th i Energo allso testtedd tthhe flexibility of our firm. We were able to offer the clients of Moravia Energo with competitive supplies, and to

save them from forced business b relaations with the supplier of last resort. Thiss situation coounted lilite tera raally down do wn to to ho hour urs. s. For For thi thiss I ha have ve to t praise the profeessional attitude of our sales team, which managed to act quickly, and to takke over part of the clientt s´ portfolio.

The fall of Moravia Eneergo also ledd the managgements of many companies and transnnational co corp rpporations i to reassess thheiri business i offerr s at the enerrgy market. Of course the uniit pricing rem mains to be the key criterion, but in many ccases it is no longer the onnly criterion for selecting the energy supplier. That’s why we treasure our good nam me at the markket. I think thhat smaller and local energy suppliers might face som me me difficulties in defending their t market shares in the future.

Do you expect that during uring the winter this year yeaar the problem with the Russian ussian gas supplies supplies could coulld take place again? In yourr opinion, is Europe alrea alreaady better prepared for such uch an option? optionn?

These are very complicated issues and to discuuss them thoroughly would invvolve not onlyy energies, but also the technical state of the eneergy grids and transportation capacitiess, including payment discipline and geopolitics. There is no dooubt Europe is better prepared. In Januarry last year wee found a flexible solution to the situattion, i.e. finding alternatiive channels for gas supppl p iees,, as well as closingg the minute deals; in another words, w the deals which are usually closed in weeks orr months aheead of the suupply, were done in several hhours. Also the reversed gas flows were truly tested foor the first tim me. The receent exercises in the Czech Reepublic proveed a good levvel of pre prepa pare redn dnes esss fo forr an anyy pote tent ntia iall cr cris isis is.. Th Thee ga g s sttorage capacities are full, thhe winter is mild for the h tiime being, and the gas consum mption is – not only thannks to the higher average tem mperatures but also thannks to the consumers’ behaviour in the tim me of the ecconomic crisis – lower thann last years. It is importaant to adapt to long term meaasuress to to le less s sen the impaact of another energy supplyy crisis. Now, if the siimililar ar situation to that of Januaary 2009 takes place thhis winter, we can expect a more coordinated and respon sp onsi sibl blee at attititu tude de ooff th thee EU m mem embe beer st stat ates es. The weat we athe herr co cond ndititio ions ns aatt th thee titime m of a possible suppply crisis would also be important, as wel elll as the periood of interruption. I personallly believe in commoon se sense and I am a natural born opttimist.

By Věraa Řiháčková I český překlad nale leznete v elekktroonické verr zi magazínu naa www.leadersmagaz azin i e..cz

Leaders Magazine I/2010

21.1.2010 12:59:26

A talk with Karel Janeček, Member of the Board of Directors, RSJ algorithmic trading

WE PLAN FOR FURTHER EXPANSION Mgr. Karel Janeček, MBA, PhD. (1973) is the Member of the Board of Directors and Director of RSJ algorithmic trading. He graduated in mathematics and probability theory from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University and in finance (MBA) from Bradley University in USA. He received his PhD in Mathematical Finance from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, USA. He is a lecturer at Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of Charles University, and member of the Scientific and Pedagogical Council of Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University. In 1995, he founded RSJ. RSJ is the largest trader at NYSE LIFFE in London and CME in Chicago.

RSJ was awarded in the last “Czech 100 Best” competition in the “Invention- Performance-Export-Profit” category. What was the major inventive activity your company has implemented this year?

This year has been markedly significant for our company because of the major growth of our trading volume. We have successfully improved and enlarged our trading algorithms thorough the whole year. Via our fund we have also become members of CME Group, world’s largest futures and options exchange based in Chicago, and of Eurex, European derivatives exchange based in Frankfurt. If I am to emphasize one particular thing, it would be the launch of our new way of automatic active trading in January this year that we call shortterm directional trading. In the last couple of years, major part of our trading volumes was reached by our market making activity; this year, our volume of active trading system has reached half of our total turnover. However, I need to note that the launch of our automatic active trading has been preceded by years of analyses and system development.

In which direction do you plan to develop your company in the years to come?

In the next several years we plan to expand further. After our entry to Eurex in November this year, we plan to expand to commodity derivatives exchanges ICE and NYMEX; after-

wards we are likely to start trading in Singapore and Australia. We will involve the liquid stock markets in the period that will follow. Basically it applies that we plan to have a worldwide net of our servers that will instantly communicate with each other and continuously trade liquid financial markets.

In which way has your company been hit by the financial crisis and in your opinion, does the situation already return back to normal?

We were hit by the start of the financial crisis already in July and August 2007 – not 2008, when the interest rates markets experienced historically unprecedented jumps. The failures that occurred in summer and autumn of 2008 had no negative consequences for us since our trading models were already adjusted to high volatility and rightly recalibrated. The financial crisis and the following economic crisis have their deep fundamental roots; as one of the major ones I see the moral hazard of the top management of the big financial institutions; these people are motivated by the bonuses they are to receive and in order to get them, they act irrationally (from the institution’s point of view) and take inappropriate risks. Their failures are paid by the shareholders and, in the worst case scenario, by the taxpayers. We can expect the crisis will not be deepened anymore. At present, I consider the inappropriate inter-

Photo: František Chalupa

ferences of states into economy and the growth of the budget deficits as the major dangers.

Is the intellectual satisfaction from the academic work comparable to a success in business?

I would say yes. For me, the disadvantage of business is that a man in my position has to perform managerial duties.

On the other hand, the outputs of excellent and high-quality mathematical models are, in our case, in fact immediately observable in trading, and that is very encouraging and satisfying. On the contrary, most of the theoretic academic work is purely intellectual endeavour, without a direct application.

RSJ has donated 1 million CZK to the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of the Charles University for a grant project. In your opinion, why is it still so rare that Czech business supports academic research?

I am afraid it is rare because of the tepid interest of the media to cover this subject. From the marketing point of view, it is much more profitable for a company to support the “catchy” projects. Only few individuals fully realize that a high quality education and a research are the key factors of a success of this country, and of this civilization at all.

By Věra Řiháčková I

A talk with Vladimír Dohnal, President of the Board of the Top Hotels Group Inc.

Photo: Vladimír Weiss

THE PUBLICITY OF PRAGUE IS CATASTROPHIC

Top Hotels Group Inc. owns two significant Prague hotels – the Top Hotel Praha and the Hotel Albion. Could you specify their relationship?

The chief-executives of both hotels are subordinated to a corporate board; although we forced them to compete with each other. There is no development without “competition”. They have, however, some departments at their joint disposal – for instance the financial department or the PR department.

What target group and services do you focus on?

Both hotels are congressional, primarily the TOP HOTEL offering 5 000 congressional places in 5 halls and 16 lounges. Thus, we are trying to address our congressional clients maximally. In addition to that we want to attract classical tourists as well, which is obvious, taking into account that our capacities comprise 1220 rooms altogether.

So, how do you manage to attract new customers within this segment? Are you preparing new projects at present as well?

In the first place, we can offer our new clients a quality service. The TOP HOTEL provides the widest variety of services out of all the hotels in the Czech Republic. Additionally, our

employees are professionals. The Hotel ensures a complete congressional service. There are five restaurants, summer terraces with a grillroom, a wellness centre with a pool, a great variety of massages including Thai and shiatsu, five tennis courts, bowling, a casino, and an extensive Japanese garden of precious flowers and little lakes on the Hotel grounds.

Recently we have prepared two new projects, but because of the financial crisis we had to suspend them for now.

According to experts, the congressional tourism in the Czech Republic, including Prague, does not meet its full potential. What should be changed according to you?

Although it seems that many things have been done in order to boost congressional tourism, this is not true. In fact, nearly nothing has been done. Primarily Prague’s publicity is catastrophic. It makes an impression that there are people here without any competence or knowledge of this field, and they are people who sit in the authorized commissions. In comparison to that, there was the fair trade for tourism in London – the WTM. It was opened by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. The debate he led revealed that the tourism had really the green light in London. Unfortunately, it can not be said about us yet.

In this context, how do you perceive Czech companies’ results in this field during the economic crisis period? Did you see a downward trend in the field of congressional tourism as well?

Unfortunately, gloomy predictions became true in congressional tourism too. Companies are not only saving their money, but they are preparing plenty of meetings in their own rooms. Although after evaluation they saw it had not brought an expected financial effect, it still did considerable damage to the industry this past year.

The company Comenius organized live feed results of the competition “The Czech 100 Best”, which is aimed to present the results of the most successful companies within the Czech Republic each year. In this respect, were your expectations met?

I find that taking part in the Czech 100 Best is a matter of prestige for each company mentioned. Our company had been successfully taking part in it eight times already, and we are very proud to be involved.

By Pavlína Holancová I český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 31

31

21.1.2010 13:02:45

An interview with Juraj Chmiel, Minister for European Affairs

AFRICA COMPLETELY Changed my Philosophy of Life Juraj Chmiel was born in 1960 in Budapest. He graduated in Oriental and African studies at Charles University in Prague. In 1984 he started to work at the Institute for Historical Sciences, Slovak Academy of Sciences. Between the years 1992–2007 he was employed at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) focusing on Africa. In the years 1993 and 1994 he worked as UN political specialist in two UN peace operation i zones in i Somalilia (U (UNO NOSO SOM M – Ki Kismayo andd Bellet Weyne). ) Two years later he bbecame Headd off the h Czechh Embbassy basedd in Nigeria and in 1999 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic based in Nigeria, with further accreditation for Benin, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Equatorial Guinea. In 2006 and 2007 he was the director of the Policy Planning Department in MFA. Between the years 2007–2008 he was in charge of Prime Minister’s Section for Defence, Security and Foreign Policy. In 2008 he was appointed Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador based in Australia. Since 30, November 2009 he is the Minister for European Affairs.

Juraj Chmiel speaks English, Hungarian, Russian, and possesses the passive knowledge of German, Swahili and Amharic.

Photo: Vladimír Weiss

32

Interviews.indd 32

What is your experience with EU issues?

I have been working in the state administration since 1992. Most of the time I spent at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs either at the headquarters or abroad; for a while I worked at the Office of Government. Wherever I was, the European Union was a part of my agenda as the Czech Republic’s Republic s foreign policy priority. priority Of course sometimes it was more, sometimes less.

In Africa, it was reflected quite a lot, because Africa is a priority continent for the EU. The same was true for Australia, where we prepared and then managed the Czech EU Presidency. I got into very close contact with EU issues when I managed the Prime Minister’s Defence, Security and Foreign Policy Section, because the Lisbon Treaty was being prepared at that time.

So it is not an unknown area for me. On the other hand it is a great challenge for me. Very important tasks are in front of us.

Which tasks?

The first one is the activity inside the Czech Republic. The coordination role is very important here he re, be beca caus usee si sinc ncee th thee Li Lisb sbon on TTre reat atyy ha hass co come me into effect, the pressure for the coordination of domestic politics has been growing. We have to find a consensus at the national level and to enforce it at the European level. The other task is to inform the public about the EU. In cooperation with the Czech Parliament and the Representation of the European Commission to the Czech Republic we have been preparing a series of seminars. One of the main topics would be the Lisbon Treaty. Its implementation is currently our priority. It is a long-term task, because the situation has been constantly developing, particularly in Brussels. Furthermore, we have been participating in the preparations of the EU 2020

Leaders Magazine I/2010

22.1.2010 8:35:09

Strategy – a follow-up of the Lisbon Strategy which expires this year. We have formulated three basic themes on which the new strategy should be based – growth, employment, and competitiveness. Our priority is also the navigation system Galileo, which should at least be comparable to the American system that we are using now (but I hope that it will be better). The Czech Republic showed its interest in the seat of the authority that will be in charge of this system.

Our advantage is that no European agency has its seat here.

Exactly; it is an unwritten rule that was agreed upon in 2003. However, it is only one of the criteria. The other one is the technological advancement of the country. We fulfil this condition as well. Besides, we have a longg tradition in this area. It helps us a lot during lobbying, but it is not easy. There are ten countries that are interested and the decision has been postponed.

We urged the decision about the seat of Galileo to be taken during the Spanish EU Presidency.

I think that we have a chance, but of course various agreements between states play a role in the process, so it is really early to say. We are doing all we can to have Galileo in the Czech Republic.

The implementation of the Lisbon Treaty is also your priority. What are, in your opinion, the biggest changes the Treaty brings?

I would underline three things – an increased role of the European Parliament in the legislative process, at the same time a greater role of national parliaments in adopting European legislation, and greater emphasis on national coordination in enforcing the interest of member states. These three issues concern the Czech Republic as well. It seems simple, but it is not.

How did the Czech EU Presidency proceed in Australia?

It was very intensive. From a political point of view, there was a very specific situation there.

The former Australian government did not have good relations with the EU as an institution, and the new one that came into power, a month before my arrival in Australia, completely changed its approach to the EU. It sought to intensify mutu mu tual al rrel elat atio ions ns.. Ma Many ny ddec ecla lara ratition onss an andd ag agre reee ments, including the Partnership Framework Agreement, were signed, and most of them started to be implemented during the Czech Presidency. Also, several commissioners arrived. The main theme was climate change. It was no less intensive from the social standpoint.

With the assistance of compatriotic organisations we organised a lot of events that contributed not only to the visibility of the Czech Republic, but also our compatriots living in Australia. One of our biggest events was a concert of classical music in the gardens of the Governor General in Canberra. The strongest experience was when the Smetana’s Vltava

(Moldau) was drifting before 5000–6000 people.

It was fantastic and got a great response.

Generally it is possible to say that the Czech Presidency in Australia was assessed very positively not only by Australians, but also by our compatriots.

Between the years 1993–1994 you worked in Somalia. It was a time when the country was buffeted by civil war. Can you tell us about your experience there?

It is a complex experience, the school of life.

Everything happened a long time ago, but in my mind I see a movie very often – consisting of different frames, running in front of my eyes – bodies of Somali people who were blown to pieces by grenades, that were then put together and buried; the resuscitatingg attempts of Belgian military doctors; the suffering of those who were injured or ill; children dying of cholera; deliveries I assisted, the dead, the intimidation, the attempted assassinations, the attacks against our convoys or positions, the whites of Somali sniper’s eyes. There had been long hours and days of fatigue during negotiations with representatives of enemies, Somali men with faraway eyes chewing cat the whole day. On the other hand, I also remember the happy eyes of children and their mothers, when they received humanitarian aid, got medical care and were alleviated from pain, or the openings of schools and medical centres. The movie is long and unfortunately not very joyous joyous.

You had to fear for your life.

At the moment of the biggest danger there is no time to think about it. And when the peril was averted, I preferred to force out the fears of what could have happened. Several colleagues of mine were injured or killed just several minutes or hours after I had talked to them or shared a small common space. I remember myself trembling with anger, but not fear. However, I had to approach the negotiations with a cool head, free of emotions. What could have happened to me, I came to understand a long time after I left Somalia.

Later you were the ambassador in Nigeria with the accreditation for other countries.

Again there were mostly not very politically stable countries with undemocratic regimes.

How did you deal with it?

My main task was to represent the trade interests of the Czech Republic. However, it did mean we ignored the political reality of these countries, and did not try to draw the attention to problems that occurred, for example in the area of human rights. In Nigeria I directly witnessed the transformation of the military dictatorship regime to a government consisting of elected representatives of political parties, which occurred by happenstance (the unexpected death of the dictator). What happened afterwards only confirmed my experience from

Somalia and some other countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Our model of Western democracy based on elections cannot work everywhere. The elections are, as a matter of fact, only a power game, and how this game is played depends on the type of the society in which the elections take place. In many countries the election campaign means the green light to violence, murders, and it was often that elections brought a country to civil war.

What system of the government do you see as the most convenient for those countries?

A certain solution could be found in at least temporarily putting aside the attempts to establish democracy of a Western type, especially in countries that have different social and religious structure and historical development. It would be better to focus on the restoration of the old traditional structures, such as to build power on a hierarchy pyramid of a council of elders, from the lowest level of self-government up to the highest one, the state level. Such a system of government is possible in the 21st century. Also, the system of so-called enlightened dictators was proved, in which leaders who came into power by military takeover administer the country to the satisfaction of the majority of people – in case they respected basic human rights, tried to limit corruption and begun the process of handing over the power to a civil administration.

However, I do not prefer the rule of enlightened dictators but sometimes it is the best option. option Did you have any really curious experience?

I have one experience that should, according to one head of state of an African country, demonstrate the progress that was made. During a meeting one president emphasized with a serious face that I had to tell my president that, unlike his predecessor, he did not eat his opponents.

Do you want to come back to Africa sometime?

Africa is something wonderful, something like a drug. I would be very happy to return there not only for business, but also as a tourist.

What attracts you there?

It is not easy to answer this question. It is a co comp mple lexi xity ty ooff pe perc rcep eptition onss an andd ex expe peririen ence ce – changing nature, rich cultural and historical heritage, a pinch of adrenalin and risks, miscellaneous mosaic of people. Africa can give a lot, but also take away. For example my experience in Somalia completely changed my life philosophy. I stopped to worry about pettiness, paltriness, personal attacks – people in various parts of the world have to face much more serious threats than the envy or slanders of our country.

By Zuzana Kasáková ■ český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 33

33

22.1.2010 8:35:43

networking / charity

Guest of Honor Petr Gandalovič, former Minister of Agriculture, Vice Chairman of ODS

Lions Club

From left: JUDr. Jaroslav Novotný, Lawyer, Membership Chairperson, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador, JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charter President and Secretary of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and PhDr. Petr Gandalovič, Vice Chairman of ODS

Prague Bohemia Ambassador

34

LM_1001_events_1.indd 34

From left: JUDr. Vojtěch Trapl, Lawyer, former Governor of LCI Czech and Slovak Republic, MUDr. Blanka Seifertová, General Practitioner and Ing. Antonín Mika, Regional Director for Foreign Trade

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

20.1.2010 18:03:23

Front from left: PhDr. Ladislav Říha, Owner, CK RI-Tours, former President of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador, MUDr. René Vlasák, Doctor and PhDr. Karel Vondrášek, Entrepreneur

From left: Ing. Anton Gerák, CSc., Sales Director, Oldřich Hořák, Owner of Hotel Bílá Růže in Poděbrady and Mgr. Jaroslav Drápal, Analyst, ČSOB

From left: JUDr. Jan Kotous, Pedagogue, Law Faculty of Charles University and MUDr. Karel Stibral, Psychiatrist

From left: Ing. Jiří Opichal, President of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and Ing. Jiří Málek, Treasurer, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador

From left: JUDr. Jaroslav Novotný, Lawyer, Membership Chairperson LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador, Ing. Jaroslav Hořák, Entrepreneur and Ing. František Chaloupecký, Entrepreneur

From left: Ing. Jaromír Kaulfus, Entrepreneur and Prof. MUDr. Václav Mandys, CSc., Head of the Institute of Pathology

From left: JUDr. Jan Kotous, Pedagogue, Law Faculty of Charles University, Prof. ThDr. Jiří Huber, Dean, Vyšehradské kapitula, Ing. Jiří Kubát, Entrepreneur and JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charter President and Secretary of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador

LM_1001_events_1.indd 35

IN COOPERATION WITH 35 LEADERS MAGAZINE 20.1.2010 18:03:46

global perspectives

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

Jan Muehlfeit Chairman Europe Microsoft Corporation

36

Photo: Paul Pacey

Interviews.indd 36

20.1.2010 18:45:06

HAPPINESS IS We live in a world full of serious problems and those indeed need serious people to solve them.

I am however deeply convinced that in order to achieve a sense of our own realized potential, not only we need to be serious in what we do, but equally we need to be happy about the way we do it. It was back in 1776 when Adam Smith, Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of political economy, wrote in his book The Wealth of Nations that capitalism is about achieving a fine balance between profit and care, meaning a care about the environment as well as care about our society, a care about those around us.

If we continued to focus primarily on generating only more and more economical growth, rather than on being sensitive to the others and those in need, this world would end up in great misbalance and our own history has already very well taught us what dangers and turbulences this may bring and present.

Several years ago I went thru a little midlife crisis. The business that I was leading for Microsoft in Central & Eastern Europe has grown dramatically and was tremendously successful – we have opened many new subsidiaries and became Microsoft’s fastest growing region for 4 consecutive years. It was at that time when during my joint trips with Bill Gates, while he was visiting our region, we had a number of discussions together about giving back, about corporate social responsibility and about how Bill thought about his own mark that he wanted to leave behind. Frankly, this very much opened my eyes and it was based on these incredibly interesting and enriching talks I myself started to question whether all the revenues and growth were giving me enough in the terms of the trail that I was leaving behind and my own sense of fulfillment. After more than a decade in business I then came to a point when I realized that while signing new big agreements with our key customers and successfully launching new products were great achievements, but it was not all that I wanted to become known for in the region.

In my life I have met dozens of very successful and at the same time very unhappy people. As I already noted, I am a strong believer that our society is in a great need of not only success, but at the same time of its own joint and in-

dividual happiness. Inn fact when you look at what the Western world economies have achieved over the past decade and all the GDP growth that had been generated, the numbers are simply impressive. But at the same time the happiness index in theese developed countries remains mostly flat, with people feeling empty or even frustrated. Good example I like to use to picture this paradox iss the Maslow pyramid: while covering of the basic needs is essential, unfortunately it does noot necessarily make one happy. And so it was about 5 years ago when after my eye-opening reealization I have started to analyze and study thhe relation between happiness and competitiveeness and came to some interesting conclusionss.

While measurement of the Gross Domestic Product is a great inndicator of economical value, unfortunately it simply does not say anything about quality of life, cultural fulfillment or quality of the environm ment we live in. I am sure the GDP measurementt worked pretty well for the Western world in the second half of the 20th century during thhe many years blessed with almost uninterrupted economical growth.

However we now live in the 21st century and as we have learned over the past few years, the challenges we have too face today and in the future are far more complex and serious.

Whether it’s a need forr inclusive globalization, a sustainable developpment & environment, energy solutions for generations to come or for narrowing a divide bett ween the rich and the poor, all of these chaallenges in our complex multi-polar world will require a balance between profit and care – all willl therefore require looking beyond just GDP. In fact as I continueed my research on this topic, I soon realized thhat I was not alone. Still few years ago thinking beyond pure economical indicators and looking at some more “soft” measurements may have been viewed as left-wing thinking inn the terms of political perspective. Interestinngly enough, one of the first European politicians to come to and voice the same conclusion was David Cameron, leader of the British Conservative Party. In 2006 Cameron first notted that there is more to life than making moneyy, arguing that improving people’s happiness iss a key challenge for

politicians and that government’s focus should not just be on financial wealth. Now, imagine that was in 2006, so still relatively far before the current economical crisis. In good times, none of this effort gets much attention, yet still for years now, some analysts have been seeking ways to improve the statistic. Instead of capturing only output, like cars rolling off an assembly line, why not also try to capture – in an expanded GDP or some parallel indicator – things like educational attainment or successful child rearing or life expectancy?

Well, then when the times get tough like now and well-being and the economic indicators are so obviously out of sync, all of the sudden there is plenty that needs to be fixed. As a result, this thinking is already being picked up not only by political leaders-to-be like Cameron, but also by the current leaders of the world.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, recently appointed a commission to come up with a better measure for France, chaired by two Nobel laureates, Amartya Sen at Harvard and Joseph Stiglitz at Columbia. And so in this respect, let us hope that President Sarkozy’s efforts will help to highlight the clear correlation between happiness and competitiveness and will therefore enable to bring it on the agenda of not just the French government, but also of many other global political leaders.

The world we live in has changed. Therefore we also need to shift our thinking in the way we look at it and in the way we measure it. One challenge is that generally we tend to measure ourselves against the others rather than against individual achievements and progress. Nevertheless, we should not forget the visionary thoughts of Adam Smith, despite of how old they may appear to be – regardless of what indicators we and our political leaders will finally pick up to measure, let’s make sure that these are not one-sided either way. I am absolutely convinced that only thru such balanced way we will be able to unlock our full human potential.

Jan Muehlfeit Chairman Europe Microsoft Corporation český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 37

37

20.1.2010 18:45:23

networking/discussion event

A special thanks to Ifield Computer Consultancy Ltd. for making this reportage possible

From left: Alessandro Pasquale, General Director, Karlovarské minerální vody, a.s., Jan Kohout, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Karel Muzikář, President of Comenius

Round Table of Comenius with H.E. JAN KOHOUT, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS The eleventh Round Table of Comenius in 2009 and also the second one in English language took place on November 19 in hotel Ambassador with the VIP guest Jan Kohout, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the CR. Amongst other participants of the discussion dinner there were 30 ambassadors and foreign administration representatives therefore the conversation was focused mainly on foreign policy problematic. Besides questions about the relationships with the USA and the influence of recent cancellation of the antimissile shield plans the discussion also included relations with the Russian Federation. Mr. Kohout stressed out the inevitability of the partnership with the RF not only for the Czech Republic but also for the whole EU. Another interesting topic was the relations with our eastern EU neighbors and their future orientation which engaged above others the Swedish ambassador and Mr. Kohout as they are representatives of the two last countries holding the EU Presidency. A chapter of its own was the discussion about the situation of Balkan countries surrounded by EU territory and their possible future EU membership.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY Comenius.indd 38

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

Congress Center, Hotel Ambassador

20.1.2010 17:19:13

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

networking/discussion event

From left: H.E. Richard Ryan, Ambassador of Ireland, H.E. Ole Moesby, Ambassador of Denmark, H.E. Arturo Laclaustra, Ambassador of Spain and H.E. Jean Faltz, Ambassador of Luxembourg

H.E. Athar Mahmood, Ambassador of Pakistan and H.E. Amal M. Mourad, Ambassador of Egypt

From left: H.E. Peter Brňo, Ambassador of Slovakia, Jan Kohout, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Benke Aikell, your Publisher

Lukáš Klak, General Manager, Art Deco Imperial Hotel and Alena Dytrychová, Managing Director, Ambassador Zlatá Husa

From left: Ing. Jan Klas, General Director, Air Navigation Services and H.E. László Szöke, Ambassador of Hungary

Comenius.indd 39

From left: Mr. Mohammed Abduldaim, Chargé d’affaires a.i., Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Ted Bremer, Microsoft

From left: H.E. László Szöke, Ambassador of Hungary and H.E. Ayman Al Adsani, Ambassador of Kuwait

From left: Mgr. Karel Janeček, MBA, Ph.D., Financial Director and Member of the Board, RSJ, a.s. and Prof.

MUDr. Josef Veselka, CSc. Chief Physician, Department of Cardiology, Faculty Hospital Motol

From left: Michal Donath, General Director, DONATHBURSON-MARSTELLER s.r.o., PhDr. Ing. Ivo Klimeš M.B.A., Managing Director of Intrum Justitia s.r.o., and Ing. Karel Muzikář CSc., President of Comenius

20.1.2010 17:19:52

networking/discussion event

H.E. Amal M. Mourad, Ambassador of Egypt

Radek Špicar, Director of External Ralations, Škoda Auto, a.s. and H.E. Renilde Loeckx-Drozdiak, Ambassador of Belgium

40

Comenius.indd 40

H.E. Catherine von Heidenstam, Ambassador of Sweden

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY

Mgr. Karel Janeček, MBA, Ph.D., Financial Director and Member of the Board, RSJ, a.s.

Mary Thompson-Jones, Chargé d’affaires a.i., Embassy of the United States of America surrounded by left: Mr. Manish, 1st Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of India and H.E. Victor Julian Hernandez, Ambassador, Embassy of Venezuela

From left: H.E. Peter Brňo, Ambassador of Slovakia, H.E. Celia-Sandra Botha, Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa, H.E. Arturo Laclaustra, Ambassador of Spain and H.E. Fabio Pigliapoco, Ambassador of Italy

20.1.2010 17:21:13

A special thanks to Ifield Computer Consultancy Ltd. for making this reportage possible

networking/discussion event From left: Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius and Julius Jesztrebi, Director, CTARC

Round Table of Comenius with Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Michael Vít The twelfth and also the last Round Table of Comenius in 2009 took place on December 1 in ZOOM Unique Place in the Prague Congress Center with the VIP guest Michael Vít, the Chief Hygienist of the CR. The main topics of the discussion were the pandemic flu on the verge, protection of the people and the role of the state in the process. Most of the attendants were doctors, representatives of hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and law firms. Mr. Vít started the discussion by presenting the current situation in the CR, the availability of vaccines against the pandemic flu and he also ensured everyone that there will be enough vaccines for the selected endangered groups of people. He again reminded often forgotten fact, that the regular flu has 2000–2500 victims every year while the so called swine flu has so far only few victims. Very interesting information was that the pandemic flu attacks mainly children and youngsters while elderly people are far less endangered. Afterwards Mr. Vít had to face several questions from the public mainly by the doctors who were curious about the availability and distribution of the vaccines. They pointed out that the system of distribution is rather complicated. Mr. Vít tried to distract the skepticism some of the participants held against the pandemic vaccine by undisputable facts such as the worldwide approval and others. The discussion dinner ended with a question how many of the present guests had been vaccinated against the seasonal flu and how many against the pandemic flu. While more than half of the public claimed to have a vaccination against the regular flu, only one single person had also vaccination against the swine flu.

Zoom Unique Place

Comenius.indd 41

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY 21.1.2010 13:34:25

networking/discussion event

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY

From left: Dr. Tomáš Votruba, General Director, Roche s.r.o. and JUDr. Petr Hanzlík, General Director, Olympus

From left: Josef Čekal, Director, Jihlava Hospital, JUDr. Petr Hanzlík, General Director, Olympus, Prof.

Julius Špičák, Head of the Clinic, Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine

From left: Prof. Tomáš Zima, Dean, Charles University in Prague, First Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Ota Schütz, Director, Venous Clinic and Albin E. Sybera, Managing Director, Sybera Enterprises spol. s r.o.

From left: Jaroslav Šafránek, Key Account Manager S&T CZ s.r.o. and Marek Venuta, Director of Health Insurance Development, Uniqua ČR Dr. Štěpánka Stehlíková and Jan Tašek, Owner, ASE, s.r.o.

From left: Tomáš Čáp, Executive Vice President, Comenius and Mgr. Jakub Joska, Attorney, Partner, Vyroubal Krajhanzl Školout Attorney Office, s.r.o.

42

Comenius.indd 42

From left: Dr. Petr Svoboda, General Director, Baxter CZECH, Mgr. Jakub Joska, Attorney, Partner, Vyroubal Krajhanzl, Attorney Office, s.r.o., and Ing. Michal Frano, Public Sector Manager, IBM CR, Ltd.

From left: Dr. Pavla Šternová, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, Vladimír Dohnal, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Top Hotels Group, Dr. Michael Vít, Chief Public Health Officer ČR & Deputy Minister of Health ČR and Mirko Lachman, Senior Advisor, Leaders Magazine

20.1.2010 17:22:09

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

networking/discussion event

From left: Dr. Petr Svoboda, General Director, Baxter CZECH, Prof. Tomáš Zima, Dean, Charles University in Prague, First Faculty of Medicine and Dr. Tomáš Votruba, General Director, Roche

From left: Dr. Tomáš Votruba, General Director, Roche and Dr. Michael Vít, Chief Public Health Officer ČR & Deputy Minister of Health ČR From left: Mirko Lachman, Senior Advisor, Leaders Magazine and Dr. Michael Vít, Chief Public Health Officer ČR & Deputy Minister of Health ČR

Dr. Štěpánka Stehlíková and Albin E. Sybera, Managing Director, Sybera Eterprises spol. s r.o.

From left: Eva Gottsteinová, Mediclinic a.s., Libor Olexa, Mediafactory and Josef Vymazal, Prime Medical Technologies, Nemocnice Na Homolce, Head of Radiodiagnosis Department

From left: Dr. Pavla Šternová, Dr. Tomáš Votruba, General Director, Roche, JUDr. Petr Hanzlík, General Director, Olympus, Dr. Michael Vít, Chief Public Health Officer ČR & Deputy Minister of Health ČR and Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius

Comenius.indd 43

20.1.2010 17:24:58

diplomatic/charity event

Mrs. Livia Klausová, wife of the President of the Czech Republic cutting the ribbon

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

The Diplomatic Spouses´Association, o.s. (DSA) held their Annual International Christmas Bazaar on Sunday, December 13th. The First Lady of the Czech Republic, Mrs. Livia Klausová who is the patron of this event opened the Bazaar.

International Christmas Bazaar at the Hilton Prague

44

LM_1001_events__2.indd 44

The International Christmas Bazaar is one of the most important charity events in the country involving the international and diplomatic communities from around fifty foreign embassies and diplomatic missions in Prague. The main purpose of the Bazaar is to raise funds to assist humanitarian organizations in the Czech Republic. Last year DSA donated almost five million CZK to thirty charities in Prague and around the country.

H.E. Huo Yuzhen, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China with volunteers

20.1.2010 18:14:34

H.E. Athar Mahmood, Ambassador of Pakistan with wife and daughter

Vladimíra Václavíková, Marketing & Editorial Director, Leaders Magazine with her daughter Anna H.E. Ivan Grytsak, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine with his wife

From left: Tom de Faye, Mayor General (ret.), H.E. Valerie Raymond, Ambassador, Embassy of Canada, Peter P. Formanek, President, Canadian Chamber of Commerce and staff from the Embassy

H.E. Salim Said, Ambassador of Indonesia with his wife and volunteers

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

Mrs. Taghizadeh, wife of the Ambassador of Azerbaijan

LM_1001_events__2.indd 45

H.E. Nadra Sayaf, Ambassador of Syria

Visitors had the oportunity to taste ethnic foods and purchase a fantastic selection of products that include wines, food specialities, clothing, handcrafts and other unique items and works of art.

20.1.2010 18:14:55

From right: H.E. Celia-Sandra Botha, Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa with staff from the Embassy

H.E. Chikahito Harada, Ambassador of Japan with his wife and volunteers

H.E. Alexey Fedotov, Ambassador of the Russian Federation with his wife

Mrs. Livia Klausová, wife of the President of the Czech Republic with her assistent at the Stand of the Philippines

From left: Mr. Vieri Biticchi, Operations Service Manager, Hilton Prague, Mrs. Markéta Šebková, Marketing & PR Manager, Hilton Prague and Hilton Prague Old Town and Mr. Michael Specking, General Manager, Hilton Prague

46

International Christmas Bazaar LM_1001_events__2.indd 46

From left: Mrs. Livia Klausová, wife of the President of the Czech Republic and Mrs.Targay, wife of the Ambassador of Turkey

20.1.2010 18:15:29

-

RUN WITH Karin Genton-L’Epée has 15 years of management experience in the United States, France and the Czech Republic.

For the last 10 years Karin has worked as a successful business coach in the Czech Republic offering international professional expertise. As a business coach, Karin has developed a range of coaching and training programs for mid- and top-level managers to focus on leadership development, cross-cultural understanding and effective communication in an international environment. With her knowledge, skills and range of experience, Karin has been a frequent guest speaker at business conferences and educational institutions. She is also a regular contributor to business journals and magazines. Karin works in English and French and can be reached at karin@coaching.cz Traditionally the celebration of the New Year gives everyone the chance to reflect on the past 12 months, take stock of what has been achieved or not, and think about making new commitments for the upcoming year; for example, to stop smoking, to work less, or to spend more time with family.

In the professional world, it is also the time when employees and employers embark on the process of the yearly performance evaluation with the customary list of strengths and weaknesses and areas for improvement.

Interestingly, on the personal level, most people find it quite difficult to keep their New Year resolutions after the first few weeks. And in the professional world, while most employees and employers usually welcome the opportunity to meet to discuss the yearly results and future goals, few really take advantage of the opportunity the yearly evaluation offers.

One of the main reasons that opportunity is lost, in both cases, is that, regardless of how flattering or positive the assessment of what has been achieved the previous year is, most of the discussions focus on the areas for improvement and accentuate the negative instead of highlighting the positive.

In our personal life, our resolutions usually revolve around what we are not happy with: our weight, smoking, our relationships, our finances. And in our professional lives, around our flaws: time management, communication, talent management, delegation, etc…

Officially, the objective of the yearly evaluation is to help employees become more aware of their competencies, to help improve their work performance. But focusing on the negative has the opposite result, as no matter how nicely or politically correctly it is presented, most feedback regarding our weaknesses is perceived as criticism.

As the psychologist Carl Jung said, “Criticism has the power to do good when it is something that must be destroyed, dissolved or reduced, but it is capable of only harm when there is something to be built.” Criticism makes us feel bad and inadequate, and is therefore not a proper tool for building confidence or positive results.

Unfortunately, we often have limited awareness of our talents and strengths, much less the ability to build our lives around them. Instead, influenced by our parents, our teachers and our managers, we become experts in our weaknesses and spend our lives trying to repair these flaws, while our strengths stay dormant and neglected.

Laura Morgan Roberts, assistant professor of organiza-

tional behavior at Harvard Businnes e s School, has said that “Organizational researchers have sho hown that when we develop a sense of our best possible self, we are better able to make positive changes in our life.”

But according to management guru Peter F. Drucker, author of several indispensable management guides, “Most people do not know what their strengths are. Whe hen you ask them, they look at you with a blank stare, or respond in terms of subject knowledge, which is the wrong answer.” And most of us don’t believe that the secret to improvement lies in a deep understanding of our strengths since we have a tendency to consider that our weaknesses surpass our strengths.

IDENTIFYING AND CULTIVATING OUR STRENGTHS The old maxim says that we cannot see the picture when we are inside the frame. Since we have spent our whole life inside the frame of our strengths, we often have become blind to them.

It is important to identify our signature strengths, not just knowing what we are good at, but identifying what we are great at. This distinction makes all the difference in the world.

We also need to cultivate our strengths. The key is to focus on our strengths and not our weaknesses. Most people have a tendency to think about what they are not good at before what they are good at. But we cannot build performance on weaknesses, even less on what we cannot do.

Reducing our weaknesses is not the path to greatness – improving our key strengths is.

Here are a few suggestions to identify your strengths: • Talk to people and ask them about what they think your strengths are • Think about the aspects of your life you are the most proud of • Think about the skills you have learned easily • Think about what you do comfortably and effortlessly • Think about situations when you feel most like yourself Once you have identified your strengths, you need to think about how you can use them more frequently and more effectively in your life, and keep focusing on them.

FOCUSING ON WHAT WE LIKE AND ARE GOOD AT We all have innate talents and abilities, but they often go unnoticed, or diminish, because we tend to focus on our weaknesses, striving to eliminate weakness instead of working to perfect our talents.

If we excel at sales but struggle with marketing strategy, we believe that our difficulty to create a marketing

plan will limit our chances to succeed while all we need to do is delegate that task to someone who is good at marketing.

Many corporate leaders have great people skills but not necessarily deep knowledge of finances. To succeed, instead of trying to become better accountants, they’re better off honing their communication talents and delegating the financial side of their businesses to a great CFO. But the emphasis on weakness is deeply rooted in our weest s ern upbringing. Growing up, while I might have come home wwith an A in French and Latin, a B in history and an D in math, whhic ich grade do you suspect got the most attention?

That is nott to t say that the D in math should have been ignored, only to sug uggest that our balance is off and that we might benefit from a m more even perspective. Paying attention to our weaknesses might help us avoid failure, but to reach excellence we need to wo w rk on our strengths.

Another benefit of focusing on our strengths versus our weaknesses is that what doesn’t wo work has a tendency to provoke frustration and even anger, whililee focusing on what works and is positive makes us feel good and n builds selfconfidence.

Warren Buffet genuinely believes that his reputa tatiton as the world’s greatest investor is due to his ability to leverrag age his particular strengths. Like many successful people hee found a way to cultivate the strengths he had and put them to work.

He turned his natural patience into his now-famous “twenty-year perspective” that leads him to invest only in those companies whose trajectory he can forecast with some level of confidence for the next twenty years. His practical mind prompted him to invest mainly in those companies whose products and services he understood, like Coca-Cola and The Washington Post. And thanks to his trusting nature, after a careful evaluation of the managers of the companies in which he invests, he steps back and rarely interferes in the day-to-day operations of the their business.

What makes Warren Buffet special besides his financial success is what he did with his strengths. First he became aware of them and then chose not to focus on his weaker characteristics. Instead, he identified his strongest aptitudes and fostered them with education and experience.

Looking inside ourselves, identifying our strongest characteristics, and then fostering them with learning and practice allows us to find a role or a job that taps on our strengths. Only when we are able to do that do we become productive, fulfilled and successful.

I

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 47

47

20.1.2010 18:45:44

A special thanks to Ifield Computer Consultancy Ltd. for making this reportage possible

networking/charity

From left: Brigadier Gen. Andor Šándor (ret.) and President of the Lions Club Eagle and Ing. Jakub Šebesta, Minister of Agriculture of the Czech Republic and new Member of the Lions Club Prague Eagle

Lions Club Prague Eagle more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

From left: Ing. Stanislav Slavík, Senior Consultant, Anna Žaludová and Alexander Lochman, Chairman of the Board, Bacchus Vins & Champagnes a.s.

From left: Ing. Zbyněk Štáf, Food Consulting Agency and Jan Bříza, Director General, University Hospital in Prague

Mrs. Ivana Bandžaková and Mr. Miroslav Kabát

From left: Jan Dobrzensky, Owner of Chotěboř Castle, PharmDr. Petr Svoboda, General Director, Baxter Czech spol. s r.o. and Dr. Karla Říhová, Senior Executive, County Hygienic Station, Olomouc

LM_1001_events_1.indd 48

From left: Dr. Tomáš Finger, General Director, Onkocet Europe o.p.s., Jaroslav Kubišta, Secretary of Lions Club Prague Eagle, PharmDr. Ingrid Šmerdová, General Manager, Valeant and Jan Dobrzensky, Owner of Chotěboř Castle

21.1.2010 14:23:40

From left: Dr. Karla Říhová, Senior Executive, County Hygienic Station, Olomouc, Judr.

František Zelenický and his wife

From left: JUDr. Veronika Paroulková, Moderator, Česká Televize and pplk. Mgr. Jan Kozler, Main Chaplain, AČR

pplk. Mgr. Jan Kozler, Main Chaplain, AČR

From left: Mirko Lachman, Senior Advisor, Leaders Magazine and MUDr. Michael Vít, Deputy Minister of Health and Chief Public Health Officer, Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic

From left: Ing. Zbyněk Štáf, Food Consulting Agency and Zdeněk Čáp, Managing Partner, Equity Solutions s.r.o.

From left: Ing. Petr Nevický, Portfolio Investor and Brigadier Gen. Andor Šándor (ret.) and President of the Lions Club Eagle

From left: doc. MUDr. Eva Mandysová, CSc., Head of non-invasive Cardiology, Kardiocentrum, Nemocnice Na Homolce, PharmDr. Petr Svoboda, General Director, Baxter Czech spol.s r.o., Ing. Zbyněk Štáf, Food Consulting Agency and Prof. MUDr. Václav Mandys, CSc., Head of Institute of the Pathology, 3. Medical Faculty UK and FNKV

LM_1001_events_1.indd 49

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY

49

20.1.2010 18:06:39

The evening topic: 20 YEARS AFTER THE VELVET REVOLUTION

networking/ charity

From left: MUDr. Jaroslav Barták, President, Poliklinika Modřany, Mrs. Lenka Bartáková, Charter President of Lions Club Praha, Ing. Juraj Schwarz, Governor of District 122, Ms. Ivana Skritecka, District Secretary, Mrs. Andrea Hynková and MUDr. Boris Hynek

LIONS CLUB PRAHA

Brigadier General Richard Smith (ret.) and Mrs. Petra Mohylová, European Commission Deputy Representative

Mr. Juraj Jakubisko, legendary Film Director and Ing. Juraj Schwarz, Governor of District 122

JUDr. Stanislav Křeček, Advocate and ČSSD, Chamber of Deputies, Parliament of the Czech Republic with his wife

50

LM_1001_events_1.indd 50

From left: Ing. Karel Pezl, 4 Star Army General (ret.) and Benke Aikell, your Publisher

From left: Mr. Oldřich Dědek, Chief Coordinator for euro adoption in the Czech Republic, Ministry of Finance and Ing. Karel Pezl, 4 Star Army General (ret.)

20.1.2010 17:42:56

From left: Ing. Jan Litomiský, Director of a Departure, Office of the Government ČR, Ing. Vladimír Feix dr. H. c. President, Český porcelán, MUDr. Jaroslav Barták, President, Poliklinika Modřany and Ing. Jiří Morstadt, President, Severočeský Metropol, a. s.

From left: Mr. Claus A. Schubert, Director General, Esolite s.r.o. and Ing. Jan Kalaš, Zone Chairman, Lions Club Praha Hartig

From left: Ing. Vlastimil Tlustý, CSc., Member of Chamber of Deputies and Mr. Martin Barták with his girlfriend

Mrs. Lenka Bartáková, Charter President of Lions Club Praha

H.E. Jaroslav Bašta, Czech Ambassador to Ukraine

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

LM_1001_events_1.indd 51

From left: Mrs. Jitka Novotná, 2nd Vicepresident, Lions Club Praha and Mrs. Táňa Lenfeldová, Archbishopric of Prague

From left: Ing. Karel Pezl, 4 Star Army General (ret.), Ing. Vladimír Feix Dr.H c., President, Český porcelán, JUDr. Tomáš Kraus, Executive Director, Federation of Jewish Communities in CR and Mr. Martin Štěpánek, Exminister of Czech Government

21.1.2010 14:26:07

Flowers to H.E. Catherine von Heidenstam, Ambassador of Sweden from Stefan Lager, President of the Nordic Chamber of Commerce

christmas event

The Nordic Chamber of Commerce in Prague arranged a traditional celebration of the day of St. Lucia at Hilton Prague.

It is the traditional opening of the Christmas holiday season celebrated in Nordic countries and wherever Scandinavians gather. The local celebration features a resplendent board of Nordic classics, including glögg, peppar-kakor traditional gingerbread cookies, Christmas ham, herring, smoked salmon, and Jansson´s temptation – a wonderful delicacy of anchovies, potatoes and onions.

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

NORDIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Traditional St. Lucia Party

Michaela Lagerová and Michal Pelach, Partner, Fashion TV

Robert Box, Manager, Mercuri International with his wife and children

Mrs. Simona Kalvoda with partner

52

LM_1001_events_1.indd 52

Gunnar Lundgren, Regional Manager, Logistics Services, GAC Ltd. and Alena Boronova, PA to Regional Manager, Logistics Services, GAC Ltd.

Mads E. Fischer, GAN Director – Europe, International SOS Assistance (CZ) s.r.o. with his wife and children

20.1.2010 18:00:29

From left: Gunnar Lundgren, Regional Manager, Logistics Services, GAC Ltd., Benke Aikell, your Publisher and Birger Husted, General Manager, CR, Unique Consult

Mrs. Nina Giustriniani with youngest son Marcus

From left: Mirko Lachman, Senior Advisor, Leaders Magazine and Sven-Ake Brink, Managing Director, Volvo Trucks ČR

From left: Robert Norlin, Purchase Manager, GermanyCzech Rep.- Slovakia, NCC Purchasing Group CEE, s.r.o.with his wife Barbora and their child, and in the middle Ing. Ola Norlin MSc, Norlin Consulting s.r.o.

From left: Börje Ederberg, Managing Director, Scania with his wife and Mirko Lachman, Senior Advisor, Leaders Magazine

Sami Humala, Head of Finpro Czech Republic with his wife

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

LM_1001_events_1.indd 53

From left: Stefan Lager, President, Nordic Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Jiří Pech and Lea Turcová, Executive Director, Nordic Chamber of Commerce

20.1.2010 18:01:07

An interview with H.E. Jiří Nekvasil, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Afghanistan

NO MILITARY SOLUTION FOR AFGHANISTAN Jiří N Jiří Nek ekva vasi sill wa wass a ca care reer er m mililititar aryy of o ficer,, General and served as the Chief of General Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic in 1993–1998.

After leaving the army he joined the diplomatic service and was posted as ambassador to Georgia, i M Monggolilia andd Af Afgh ghan anis ista tann.

You served as a career officer and Chief of General Staff so it is logical the government sent you as ambassador to Afghanistan. Do you perceive your mission to the country as primarily a military issue?

The post of ambassador is always l – regar garddless of the situation in the given country, first and foremost a diplomatic task. Also my activities are primarily focused on reconstruction and development of Afghan-Czech relations.

The Czech Republic considers Afghanistan one of her foreign policy priorities. She engages actively in the reconstruction of the country both on governmental and non-governmental levels through the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in the Logar province province, and projects of the Czech non-governmental organisation People in Need, which focuses on long-term solutions of problems linked directly to the food, development of rural communities, and improvement of the quality of life of the local population. One of our key assistance areas is the basic education and the development of agricultural educatition ca on.. To ggiv ivee a concrete exampple of our cooper op erat atio ionn, tthe he C Cze zech ch ggov overnment fellowships are awarded to Afghan students to study at the Czech universities. We also managed to organise a meeting between the Czech Parliament delegation and the deputies of the lower chamber of the Afghan Parliament; the Czech delegation invited their Afghan colleagues to visit the Czec Cz echh Re Repu publ blic ic. Th This is yyea ear,r, tthe he AAfg fghan children took part in the International Children´s Fine Arts Ar ts C Com ompe petititition on LLid idic icee fo forr th thee firs rstt titime me;; th thee Czech embassy to Kabul sent over hundreds of art works to Lidice, out of which two were awarded medals and one a certificate of merit.

Naturally, I am in touch with the Czech soldiers who are part of the ISAF mission. They often invite me to take part in their events, like the change of command between the rotating units or when awarding medals. I have to admit I feel very good among our soldiers and I am proud of how effectively they carry out their tasks under the difficult circumstances in Afghanistan.

Photo: Archive

54

Interviews.indd 54

Leaders Magazine I/2010

20.1.2010 18:46:16

Is it dangerous to be a diplomat in such a country? How is your security ensured?

The security situation in Afghanistan is very complicated and it is not easy to work here – not only for diplomats but also for thousands of employees at different posts in the countries´ and internatio al organisations´ missions, in the non-governmental organisations and military missions. Every step, every activity is planned with regard to the particular security situation. I am travelling in special cars or helicopters only; to take a walk in the city is inadmissible. Security of the Czech embbassy empl em ploy oyee eess is eens nsur u ed byy excellent teams of special units of the Police of the Czech Republic that deserves the highest credit.

There are a thousand NATO soldiers in Afghanistan and the country is facing many serious problems. Do you think the situation there has a military solution?

There were many scenar ario ioss pr pres esen ente tedd on hhow ow to solve the difficult situations in Af Afghhanist istan an.

I tend to agree with the prevailing opinion that the situation here has no military solution.

It is necessary to find a way of engaging the Afghans in solving the problems in their country, and to ensure that common people here feel a positive change. This cannot be reached by military operations but by economic development – by development of infrastructure and agriculture in the first place.

Can the current increase of the NATO forces bring about a positive turn? Will the new military strategy work?

I will start with the second part of the question – the essence of the new strategy is not an increase of forces but a substantial change in how we use them. The prevailing part of the new forces will be primarily used for the t ainingg of Afgh tr g an security forces that willll consequently take over the responsibility for the security in different regions. One part of the new strategy is also a mas sive i incre i reas asee of the civilian experts who will implement projects in the fields of infrastructure development, good governance, agriculture and many ma ny mor o e. The common denominator of the pieces of the new strategy is to create condition ti onss fo forr Af Afgh ghan anss to t ake over respo p nsibility for governance and security at local and national levels. A positive turn will depend on them at first, as well as on their ability to use the generous assistance provided. To reach a positive development in the country is also conditioned by the unanimous proceeding of the international community in the new strategy implementation, and on the development of the regional context, especially on the situation in Pakistan. Only time will show the results, but personally I am an optimist, and I believe in a positive turn.

The increase of the force has also its critics; France especially considers it unnecessary and talks about a need to improve efficiency of current capacities…

I am not to argue with the opinions of others on the capacity increase. I think the core of the new American strategy is to focus our efforts on training of Afghan security forces, support of good governance and development of the country. The announced increase is a minimum needed for reaching these goals.

Unlike in Iraq, why there is no progress in Afghanistan in ensuring the basic security in the country after the years of bloodshed?

In my opinion, it is very di diffi fficultlt to com compa pare re the situation in both countries. Unlike Iraq, Afghanistan went through – for us, thirty years of unimaginable violence and destruction. In fact fa ct alm almos ostt al alll th that at has has som somet ethi hing ng to to do with the functioning state having been ruined and dest de stro roye yedd. Ter Terro ror,r, ana anarc rchy hy,, po poverty, y, corrupt p ion andd dr an drug ug bbus usin ines esss ar aree wi wide desp spre read ad tthr hrou ough ghou outt the country. The Afghan society is divided by many divisions and to overcome them will take time.

What is the perspective of NATO forces, including the Czechs, on a withdrawal from Afghanistan?

The withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan will depend on many factors, first of all on the ability of the Afghan government to take over the responsibility of political, political economic and security situations in the country at all levels.

According to the new strategy, the troop withdrawal should begin at the half of 2011, if there will be a positive impact of the designed measures. When the last NATO and i.e. the Czech soldier will leave the country I am not able to estimate.

One can read often about PRT and Logar in the Czech media. It is a logical interest in our representation in an important mission.

How does PRT work under the current bad security situation and how are its activities perceived by the locals?

The Czech PRT has been working in Logar for the last two years and the security situation there has never been goodd. Dur Durin ingg th thes esee tw twoo years the team has gone through substantial qualitative and quantitative chhanges andd ac ac quired useful experience when cooperating with American colleagues and the local community. A quite new situation occurred with the arrival of US Task Force Spartans to the Logar and Wardak provinces; our forces and civilian experts received much more support and security. The exemplary cooperation between Czech and American teams took place when preparing and implementing projects. It is no exaggeration to say that the military and civilian, Czech and American parts are one team, one family

today. All men and women that have been working in PRT deserve major credit for the enormous effort and personal bravery when preparing and implementing over a hundred projects in the areas of education, agriculture, water management, infrastructure, health, police support and improvement of the gender issue.

What cannot be properly estimated by numbers or described by words is the day to day patient work of the soldiers and civilian experts within the local community, who bring a spark of hope to the lives of common Afghan people after almo al most st tthi hirtt y ye y ars of wars, violence and anarchy. I go regularly to Logar and I am pleased the loca lo call pe peop ople les’ s tal t alkk ab abou outt th thee wo work rk of o th thee Czech civilian experts and soldiers in a very positive way; they appreciate our sensitive and friendly approach and respect to Afghan culture and traditions.

How do the people in Afghanistan perceive the Czech Republic – under the previous regime there were strong links, are these reminiscences still working?

The Czech-Afghan contacts started developing after the World War I, when both countries acquired independence. The business relations between Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan go back to the 1930´s and the diplomatic relations were established in 1937. There were many contracts concluded on building industry between the Czech businesses and the Afghan government Under the communist regime government. regime, the cooperation with Afghanistan intensified in many aspects and with our support, energy infrastructure and especially the food processing industry was developed. Several hundreds of Afghans studied at the universities in Czechoslovakia and they established a small group of Czech Republic proponents here. Some of them th em aare re m mem embe berss of pa p rliament, work at differe fe rent nt m min inis istr trie iess an andd he help lp oour ur sol o diers and nongovernmental organisations as interpreters, advisors and so on. The awareness of the quality of the “Czech Made” is still present in many corners of the country. Many Kabul inhabitants ask whether the Czech trolley-buses that were the basis of the public transport in town in the past pa st, bu butt un unfo fort rtun unat atel elyy fe fellll vvic ictitim m to total war and destruction, would go on the streets again.

On the the who whole le, th thee re rela latition onss to the the Cze C zech ch Rep Repub ublic are very positive and for me as ambassador it is very pleasing to have a conversation in Czech with an Afghan from time to time.

By Věra Řiháčková I

český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 55

55

20.1.2010 18:46:35

An interview with Dr. Pavel Dvořák, Chairman of the Council of the Czech Telecommunication Office

Regulation Twists the Market P ve Pa vell Dv Dvoř Dvoř ořák ák (19 1948 48)) sttud u ie ied at the M Mat aatthe hema m ttiic/ ma c/Ph /Ph Phyyssiicccal al Fac al a ul ulty t of tthe he Cha harlrlrles less Uni nive vers ve r iti y in rs i PPra ragu ra gue, gu e, ggra e, raaduuaatteedd fro rom th thee Ph Philloo soph so phiccaall Fac ph a ul u tyy of th thee Ch Char arle ar less Un le U ivver erssiityy (M M..AA.., soci socciioollog so ogy) gy) y) and ac an achi h evved a PhD gra rade de (da data ta ban anks) ks) at ks at the h Czeech chos chos oslo lova vakk Accaaddem my of o Scciiennce c s. HHee sp spen e tam en maajoor ppaart r t of hhiis care carreeer ca e inn thee Fed eder der eral aall Staatitist sttic ical al Offifice, e, ffoc ocus oc cussing ing on in on thhee issssue u s off thhee sttaatist tiist stic ical al pro r ce c ss ssin ingg off data in ata an at andd on on infor nfor nf orm maatit on on tech te cchhno hnolo noolo logy g appplilica c tit on ca ons. s In th s. t e 19 1990 9900s he he wor orke rke kedd for for fo info in nfo form rmat rm atioon te tech c no ch nolo loogy com o ppaanies niies es, ssuucchh aass AP APPP,, IICZ CZ. CZ In 199 In 998-20 8-200022 he wa 8wass addvi vise ser too Min se inisstteer of of tthe hee Cze zech chh Gove Go v rn ve rnme ment nt.. He nt H ccoo auuth ot or ored redd thee Sta tate te Infor nffor o mati matit oonn ma Polililicyy aand Po nd ttoo ookk paart in dr oo draw awin aw ing uupp the he inf nfor o mati or maatiion on sooci ciet etty leegi g sl s atio attio i n. n. Frroom 20 2003 03 to Ap A ririlil 200055 he wo workkeedd as adv dvis issor to ma mana nnaageeme m nt booddiees off ČESSKKÝÝ TEELLEC E O OM M, a. a.s. s From Fr om m May a 20005 hhee has as bee een a me memb m er ooff th mb the CT CTO CCooun unci unci cill.. cil.

From 1 Apr Fr prilill 200 006 06 he he haass bee eenn ap apppooinnteed tthhe he Ch Chairm Chai airman ai rm mann off the he CTO TO Cou ounnccilil. La Last s yea e r he h was as aga gain inn con onfirrm medd inn hiss fun u ct c ioon by by the Gov o er e nm men ent ent of thhee Czzeechh Rep of epub u lil c. ub HHiis ho h bb bbie iees inncl c udde orrchhidd grow gr row owin ingg an andd oeno oeno oe nolo loogy gy.

Photo: Vladimír Weiss

56

Interviews.indd 56

Leaders Magazine I/2010

21.1.2010 14:46:00

What is the view of your office of the deferred transformation of the state company Czech Post into a joint-stock company? Especially in the context of the prospected liberalisation of the European market of postal services.

Concerning the cancelled date of the transformation of Czech Post from a state company to a jointstoc st ockk co comp mpan anyy, itit is som somet ethi hing ng tha thatt is not not for for us us to comment on. It affects us only to the extent that we were asked by Czech Post to cooperate with the transfer off the postal licence on to the new company. That is something that we have to be involved in, and we have stopped our work on that for now. As soon as the state decides on a new schedule, and the process of tran tr ansf sfor orma matition on is is re rest star arte ted, d, we we wi willll beg begin in to to ac actitive vely ly cooperate and will restart also the transfer of the postal licence.

As for the upcoming liberalisation of postal services in the EU, it would be more suitable if Czech Post enters the process of liberalisation as a jo j int-stock company. However, there is still time left for that.

Czech Post announced the introduction of franchise post office branches. What is your position as regulator on this form of providing services that fall under the postal licence?

The responsible legal entity for us will remain Czech Post. Iff they decide to provide certain services ffalling under the postal licence through franchises it will not mean any change for us, and Czech Post will be our part pa rtne ner.r. ItIt wi willll be be up to to th them em ttoo dr draw aw suc suchh de deal alss wi with th their franchise partners to keep all the qualitative parameters and conditions of the postal licence at the required level with the franchise partners. In the case of a problem between a customer of postal services andd a frfran an anch chis isee pa part rtne ner,r, Cze C zech ch Pos Postt wi willll hav havee to dea deall with it in the context of the agreement they will have signed. Certainly, it would be good if CTO could consult with Czech Post about those agreements.

The key theme for your office is the ongoing digitalization of television broadcast. At what stage is the process at the beginning of the year 2010?

We are at a stage when the process of digitalization has been stabilized. There is no dramatic build-up curve, nor major problem. The whole process is currently proceeding on a regular basis. Unexpected events do not occur, and everything works more or less as it is meant and expected to work. The whole transition will take place in scheduled terms. Of course, we cannot and we do not want to rule out the chance of speediness; however, we can rule out postponement.

The process of digitalisation is a functioning thing, which means that in the area of the administration of spectrum we focus on rather related perspective issues, such as digital dividend, i.e. how the frequencies are going to be used at a moment when there is only digital broadcast. Besides this, we certainly try to improve and speed up the current process.

And how is the situation with the digital radio broadcast?

Here, the situation is dramatically different. In the case of television broadcast, the transition from analogue to digital broadcast was happening on the same frequencies, and so it was and still is a rather sophisticated technical operation. In the case of digitalisation of radio broadcast we are in an absolutely different situation. Today, some frequencies are all ready to be

used for radio digital broadcast. This means that it will nott be nec no neces essa sary ry to to pu putt to toge geth ther er a sim simililar ar tec techn hnic ical al plan of transition, because analogue and digital radio broadcast can run parallel, no matter for how long.

It does not require the complicated switching off and on and the use of frequencies at some other place.

I assume that this will be more of a question of busi bu sine ness ss mod model elss, and and how how muc muchh th thee di digi gita tall ra radi dios os wil willl start to be used as end use devices. We will be facing the question – shall we first have the digital broadcast beffore people are equipped with devices for receiving a digital signal, or shall those devices be first available before the broadcast? Hopefully, this will be solved by the development of electronics.

Cert Ce rtai ainl nlyy, aass so soon on aass frfreq eque uenc ncie iess ar aree frfree ee iinn th thee so called third television band we will call a selection procedure and enable the development of networks for digital radio broadcast, which will be economically more affordable.

Is there any pressure from radio corporations and businesses on a faster or slower process of digitalisation?

It hhas as bbee eenn ra rath ther er uunc ncle lear ar w wha hatt po posi sitition on tthe he CCze zech ch Radio will take. Czech Radio declared in recent past that they would like to be the leader in digital radio broadcast. Plans existed on their side and we consulted the issue with them a lot. Today, the situation has changed. The pressure from Czech Radio on digitalisation has died out and the digitalisation of Czech Radi Ra dioo ha hass be been en pos postp tpon oned ed..

Concerning the private entities on the radio market, those will certainly follow their business models. They have no reason to switch to digital radio broadcast.

There is no pressure on leaving any of the frequencies they th ey hav havee be been en usi using ng.. To bui build ld tra trans nsmi mitt tter erss an andd frequencies for digital broadcast is not a problem.

Digital radio broadcast is possible, however there are not enough radio devices that are able to receive the signal. Those new radios would then broadcast into a wall. It is no wonder that their pressure on digitalisation is insignificant under those circumstances.

It has to be said also that in contrary to digital TV broadcast, in the area of radio broadcast it is still not definite what standard will be used in Europe. Two or three options are still possible to choose from. Whereas with TV broadcast it was absolutely clear that Europe would broadcast in DVB-T standard. This also contributes to the situation in which actual pressure on digitalisation of radio is not that strong.

Works have been ongoing on preparation of the selection procedure for the fourth UMTS licence. Is there a chance that the winner of the procedure could in any significant way change the structure of the mobile services market?

Our interest is to effectively use frequencies that are available. This is on the contrary to the GSM 900 spectrum, where all frequencies are used and the last frequencies have been assigned to present operators.

In the case of the 1800 spectrum we want to offer frequencies in an open selection procedure. The format of the procedure will be a question of a public debate.

However, it is certain that it will be a technologically neutral licence, so not only UMTS. And if you ask whether there will be a zeal to enter the market, we think that it will certainly be so. Though in our view the position of a new operator, especially in the area of

voice services and SMS, will be very complicated.

I am cur curio ious us wha whatt bu busi sine ness ss m mod odel el w wililll be con conne nect cted ed with such intention. A much easier situation will be if the prospective winner of the potential selection procedure decides upon adequate technology for data services in the area of broad band mobile connection. That would be a situation that could in some wayy ma wa make ke the the ent entry ry int intoo th thee ma mark rket et eas easie ierr. Put Put ssim imply – there is never enough broad band connection. So we want to use all frequencies available.

What is the opinion of the CTO on the regulatory steps of the European Commission leading towards stronger price regulation of mobile, especially roaming services? Did the situation in the Czech market require such a regulatory intervention? And have the customers benefited from it in the end?

The principal thing is that any intervention to prices by a regulator, no matter whether national or European, is usually a very callous stroke to the market. At a first g ance,, it mayy seem gl gl g ossyy when the regu g lator cuts down on some prices. However, the intended impacts are not always as they were expected by the initiators.

In the the cas casee of reg regul ulat atio ionn of int inter erna natition onal al roa roami ming ng ser services, in our view, it helped to cut down on the prices of some services. On the other hand, it led undoubtedly to changes in the price formation of other products off mobile operators, so that they would have the losses from roaming regulation compensated.

We have not noticed any strong pressure for cutting down do wn on on ro roam amin ingg pr pric ices es.. Th Thee Cz Czec echh ma mark rket et has has bbee eenn liberalized. Everybody has got the chance to choose the services they want to buy. Price is determined by the market. Information on prices is available as well as information about what services are accessible. The deci de cisi sion on is is in the the cus custo tome mers rs’ ha hand nds. s. Any Any reg regul ulat ator oryy interventions have to be very, very carefully considered.

Generally, such interventions usually have an impact on the market itself and they can lead to its twisting.

Though I do not say that prices should not be watched and monitored. Another question is about the sufficient transparency and clarity of the jungle of various price tariffs and offers. In this area all the operators are still very much bound to the market in spite of our constant appeals.

What was the opinion of the CTO on the proposal of the European Commission?

We were consulted the same way as the other European regulators. Our opinion was negative. Regulation, as it was proposed, was in contradiction with the principles of regulation of electronic communication set by the EC themselves. The principle is rather straight forward. Relevant markets are defined.

An analysis of those markets is done and when a dominant operator or operators are indicated then it is possible, based on those findings, to start with regulatory measures. Also, an analysis of the impacts of the decision should have been drafted. That was substituted by “a promise of customers’ savings”.

The whole complex approach was in this case neglected and regulation was applied right away with all its strength.

By Filip Hubáček ■ český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 57

57

20.1.2010 18:48:10

networking/ charity

Lions Club

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

From left: Ing. Josef Čekal, former President of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and MUDr. René Vlasák

Prague Bohemia Ambassador

From left: Ing. Petr Kučera, CSc., Authorized Expert for the Construction Field, Ing. Jan Kalaš, Entrepreneur, JUDr. Svatava Němcová, Lawyer and Ing. Roman Lašák, Entrepreneur

58

LM_1001_events_1.indd 58

From left: Ing. arch. Petr Bílek, Studio Bílek Associates, spol. s r.o. and JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charter President and Secretary of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador

From left: Fra. Karel Paar, Grand Prior of Maltese Knights and Ing. Jiří Opichal, President, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador

JUDr. Eva Stránská-Traplová, Attorney and JUDr. Vojtěch Trapl, Lawyer, former Governor of LCI Czech and Slovak Republic

20.1.2010 18:01:55

From left: Ing. Jiří Novotný, CSc., MBA, Financial Director, Ratiopharm and Ing. František Chaloupecký, Entrepreneur

From left: Mgr. Marie Opichalová and Mrs. Málková

From left: Mrs. Ivana Jirovcová, Journalist, Paris

Mgr. Jaroslav Drápal, Analyst, ČSOB and Ing. arch. Marcela Bílková

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

LM_1001_events_1.indd 59

From left: Ing. Květoslav Němec, Entrepreneur, Ing. Jan Kalaš, Entrepreneur and JUDr. Svatava Němcová, Lawyer

From left: Ing. Antonín Mika, Regional Director for Foreign Trade, Ing. Petr Kučera, CSc., Authorized Expert for the Construction Field, Ing. Antonín Novotný, CEO, CSI, a.s. and JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charter President and Secretary of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador

20.1.2010 18:02:35

prague castle event

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

Rudy Linka – Guitar Dan Fabricatore – Contrabass Rich Huntley – Drums

with Trio Rudy Linka

Jazz at the Castle

From left: Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, Ing. Miloš Janů, Vyšehrad Gastrotravel Service and his son

60

LM_1001_events_1.indd 60

Jan Fischer, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and H.E. Catherine von Heidenstam, Ambassador of Sweden

From left: Rudy Linka and H.E. Ole. E. Moesby, Ambassador of Denmark, Royal Danish Embassy

From left: Barbora Zeťová, David Mráz and Kateřina Veselá, Product Manager, Multisonic, a.s.

20.1.2010 17:58:21

From left: H.E. Catherine von Heidenstam, Ambassador of Sweden, Rolf Ericsson, Counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Sweden, Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic and Ladislav Moravec, Director of Political Department, Office of the President

From left: H.E. Alberto Salas Barahona, Ambassador of Peru and Ladislav Moravec, Director of Political Department, Office of the President

MUDr. Kamila Maláčová, MediCentrum Praha, a.s. and Dr. Josef Zadina, Consultant

From left: Marie Kubíková, Růžena Nechaská, Deputy Chairman of Marketing and PR Club, Klub 3. tisíciletí o.s., Jaroslav Jurečka and his wife Marta

Ing. Petr Hejma, Ing. Jitka Vaculíková, PR, Office of the Mayor, Prague 1

Alexandr Kuklovský and Kamila Sajdlová

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

LM_1001_events_1.indd 61

From left: Vladimír Gontkovič, Andrea Gontkovičová, Director Corporate Affairs, Phillip Morris ČR a.s., Rich Huntley, Drummer from Rudi Linka Trio, Jana Válková, Alvise Giustiniani, Managing Director CZ, SK & HU, Philip Morris ČR a.s. and Ing. Martin Švehla

20.1.2010 17:58:57

Rudy Linka From left: Ing. Eva Brožová, Ing. Pavel Sedláček, Reno Music, Josef Dráb with wife and Ing. Petr Gregor with his wife

Mrs. Helena Laštůvková and Ing. Vladimír Laštůvka, Consultant

From left: Martin Barták, Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic, Ing. Petr Hejma and Dr. Jan Hejma, Sky Club Brumlovka

Josef Vejvoda, Music Publishers with his wife

Mrs. Fischerová, Jan Fischer, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and H.E. Alberto Salas Barahona, Ambassador of Peru

62

LM_1001_events_1.indd 62

Jazz at the Castle

People behind the CD of the Trio. Hank Jones in the middle, holding the diploma is Zdeněk Kratochvíl

20.1.2010 17:59:42

THE CHILDREN OF CYBERSPACE Emil Jimenez started working in the communications industry in 1998 as a web designer in NYC. After graduating Rutgers University with a degree in Psychology he moved to Miami where he continued his education and received a Masters in Creative Communications from Florida International University and the renowned Miami Ad School. Mr. Jimenez has worked for United Bank of Switzerland, Citibank, MTV Latin America, Leo Burnett Budapest, Leo Burnett Prague, Lowe worldwide Prague and has recently opened Passion Communications.

Passion Communications is a full service communications agency which specializes in bridging traditional media with the digital world. emil@passioncommunications.com This holiday season store sales were flat compared to last year while, according to Comscore, online sales grew 4% to a total of $29.1 Billion U.S. dollars. December 15th was the highest online spending day ever recorded with sales totaling $913 million. Comscore’s chairman, Gian Fulgoni attributes the increase to, “a strong late season spending surge, propelled by effective retailer promotions, guaranteed shipping and a major snowstorm on the eastern seaboard that convinced many to shop from the comfort of home.”

Although everything that Mr. Fulgoni said was true one thing that he failed to touch upon is that many consumers go to the stores to see the merchandise and then look online for the best deals. There is a shift in the way consumers purchase which includes going to the stores to physically see the merchandise and then seeking the best deals online. Furthermore, what about the kids who every christmas beg for Santa, Baby Jesus, or the three kings to bring them their gifts? Will they also go online and place an order on Santa.com? What if Santa.com doesn’t have the best deals?

During the holiday season I was in the U.S. and noticed this behaviour first hand. While I was waiting in a massively long line to purchase some gifts, the person ahead of me was browsing her mobile phone and searching for the items she was about to purchase. She found two of the items cheaper on Amazon.com, dropped them on the spot and continued with the other items. At another instance I went to go see a movie in the cinema and the movie was sold out. One gentlemen went on his mobile and saw that the other cinema 15 minutes away was playing the same movie at another time, tickets were still available and purchased them on his mobile.

This is the era we are living in today. Information is readily available for the consumer to get the same items at the best price. With online retailers offering free delivery it is no wonder online sales were breaking records this year. In Prague for example, you can get your items delivered the same day for about 150kc. As the US Postal service motto goes, “neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever.” r As I write this article its about -2 degree Centigrade, there’s about half a meter or snow outside, and if I had to purchase anything right now, I would do it online and gladly pay extra.

Affordability, accessibility and speed are the factors which will make the ecommerce a success. According to

Interviews.indd 63

Larry Rosen, a professor of psychology at California State University, “newest generations, unlike their older peers, will expect an instant response from everyone they communicate with, and won’t have the patience for anything less.” That is a scary notion when mom and dad are trying to tell their 4 year old that Santa only delivers on the 25th of December.

Now lets think back to our childhood when our faces were firmly planted on the window of the department stores. These were the greatest shows on earth. Robotic Santa’s waving, train sets chugging along, dolls smiling, and super heroes flying along side our dreams of one d owning day i g these th ttoys. There Th iis a PPavlovian l i instinct i ti t att play here that humans will never get rid of and which is lacking in the online world. No matter how sleek a web site, I’ve never salivated on my keyboard.

Brands must begin to think of their stores as showrooms instead of sales floors. People will go to your store to purchase items but more importantly, they will go to experience the brand. As Gwen Morrison, VP of Frankel Brand Environments best put it, “The objective of Nike town was to entertain, not to sell products.” Nike Town is Nike’s flagship stores where consumers are encouraged to use Nike equipment in the store.

There they have a basketball court, batting cages, rock climbing walls. and other sport related facilities. Granted, your local shopping mall store doesn’t have these facilities, but Nike saw the potential of the in store experience and did its best to bring its message of performance across to the consumer. Today’s consumer will most likely go to the store, try the shoes, see which size

fits them best, and find the best price online. Therefore, your point of sale just became point of show.

Show your consumer a dream world which lets them live their fantasies with your product and they will constantly seek you. Cyber space is a vast world with many vying for a piece of the consumer but if you can sell them a dream, you will own their hearts. You will own that child inside us all that believes in Santa, dreams of toys, fairy tales and counts the days before Christmas. That innate desire never changes. As Walt Disney once said, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” Happy holidays and may all your dreams come true this coming year year.

I Photo: Brian Fleming

20.1.2010 18:48:36

vernisage

By means of over ninety mostly unknown paintings, sculptures, graphics, and photographs, the exhibition documents the period of Czechoslovak socialist realism.

It presents works created by their authors to contribute to realization of a revolutionary project. The exhibition arrangement designed by architect Ottaviano Maria Razetto divides works into five thematic sections: working class, industrial environment, propaganda, military environment, graphic art, and photography, showing the areas where this art movement of the second half of the 20th century was applied.

The exposition offers viewers an opportunity to acquaint with this phenomenon chronologically.

The exhibition makes it possible to compare different thematic units. The theme of the working-class movement and sanctification of the myth of “new man” as the spirit of the revolutionary project associates with another thematic area devoted to the industrial environment, which is understood not only as depiction of the industrial process, but above all as the background where the new socialist society arises from.

In other two sections devoted to propaganda and military life the figure of a “positive hero” is emphasized as a politically conscious person, whose acts are determined by devotion and self-denial, becoming a leading reference in the complex process of constituting socialism. The last section is devoted to graphic art and photography bearing witness to the era.

A viewer can also see individual works diachronically, i.e. by means of a certain analysis of the period delimited by early 1950’s and late 1980’s. The art movement, which was formed in the first half of the 1950’s when the regime was full of expectations and illusions, is later taken up by so-called propagandistic era characterized by rhetoric expressions unfit for real communication.

64

LM_1001_events_1.indd 64

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

20.1.2010 17:56:05

Mrs. Genny Radicati and Arch.

Ottaviano Maria Razetto, Architectural Consulting s.r.o.

Mrs. Marcela Dostálová, Project Manager, BONDI Impianti, s.r.o.

Enzo Cainero, Doctor with his wife

Ms. Veronika Hodslavská with daughter Sofia Maria Vittoria Razetto

From left: Rubén Vallejo, Counsellor, Embassy of Argentina and Mirko Lachman, Senior Advisor, Leaders Magazine

From left: Giampietro Pastorelli, Commercial Attaché, Italian Embassy and Giorgio Bonelli, Owner of the Alchymist Grand Hotel and Spa

From left: Mrs. Fanzutto, Ivano Fanzutto, Fanzutto Arredamentisas and wife of Enzo Cainero

Ing. Martin Burýšek and his friend

From left: Francesco Augusto Razetto, President of Foundation Eleutheria and Giampietro Pastorelli, Commercial Attaché, Italian Embassy

LM_1001_events_1.indd 65

Visitors to the exhibition can use information panels and the general impression of the exposition will be enhanced by period music accompanying visitors throughout the installation. The catalogue of the exhibited artworks published by ELEUTHERIA endowment fund consists of the introduction by the president of the Foundation, Mr. Francesco Augusto 65 Razetto, and essays by art theoreticians Ms Terezie Petišková and Ms Genny Di Bert and colour prints of all exhibited works, including bibliography.

20.1.2010 17:56:34

From left: Štěpán Kardaš, Banker, Banco Popolare and Michal Kortus, Director of Branch Office Banco Popolare

From left: Mgr. Ľubomír Vdovec, Advocate and Partner, Paroulek Zrůstek Lůdl, Lenka Krasulová, Mgr. Hana Stiborová, Advocate Concipient, Paroulek Zrůstek Lůdl and Saša Němečková, Director of Branch Office, Banco Popolare ČR

From left: H.E. Fabio Pigliapocco, Ambassador, Embassy of Italy and Francesco Augusto Razetto, President of Foundation Eleutheria

From left: Mrs. RSDr. Libuše Eliášová, Director, Muzeum dělnického hnutí and Mr. Francesco Augusto Razetto, President of Foundation Eleutheria

Mrs. Genny Radicati

From left: Andrea F. Minazzi, FIM Group and Francesco Arena, Cytrus CZ with his wife

From left: Mrs. Genny Radicati and Rubén Vallejo, Counsellor, Embassy of Argentina

LM_1001_events_1.indd 66

21.1.2010 14:29:10

The Czechoslovak Foreign Institute Arranges Czech-Chinese Meetings On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Czechoslovak Republic, several important meetings were held between the delegations this autumn. The Czechoslovak Foreign Institute was the setting for these events. At the Institute, Chinese engineering industry representatives met with the Czech firm Fermat,, which has been coopperatingg with China for six years, and is one of their most important Central European partners.

At one meeting Ing. Jindřich Šnejdrla, Vice President of the Chamber of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, spoke with a delegation of Shanghai farmers. In a conversation he explained how Czech farmers were dealing with their problems, and had an opportunity to learn about the organization of aggriculture in China.

A delegation of senior representatives from the city of Shanghai also accepted an invitation from the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute. They said that Sh h i iis ffully Shanghai ll engagedd iin preparations i for f the h world Expo 2010, where 241 states, including the Czech Republic, will exhibit. Upon meeting JUDr. Vojtěch Filip, the Vice Chairman of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, they spoke of the maintenance of historical sites in Prague and stated that, in the matter of city management, that management Shanghai could learn a lot from Prague.

The Czechoslovak Foreign Institute has long had good go od rel relat atio ions ns wit withh th thee le lead ader ersh ship ip of of Sh Shan angh ghai ai.

Since 1994 it has been inviting and organizing visits from China. For the past seventeen years it has cooperated with the Shanghai People’s Association for Cooperation with Abroad. From May this year the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute has been linked with the Shanghai Association by a formal treaty on friendly cooperation’, which has provided the legal basis for all relations to date.

“W We ar aree pl plea ease sed, d, aatt th thee re requ ques estt of tthe he llea eade ders rshi hipp of the city of Shanghai, to invite delegations to the Czech Republic. These meetings give us the chance to know one another and each other’s countries much better,” said Jaromír Šlápota, the Chairman of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute.

One of the most important meetings, arranged jointly by the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute and the Czech Chamber of Commerce, was the Economic Forum in Prague at the end of June 2006. This meeting of representatives of registered Chinese and Czech firms, the first of its kind, was to serve the mutual introduction and the establishments of contacts. As the representatives of the Chambers of Commerce and the participating companies

confirmed, it fulfilled its purpose. Under discussion were the possibilities of Czech investments in China, especially in the city of Shanghai, which hopes to become the most modern metropolis in the world with its 17 million inhabitants. Also discussed were Chinese investments in the Czech Republic, as well as the directions of the further developm p ent of trade exchangges between the two countries. “The recent reforms have established excellent conditions in Shanghai for our cooperation,” the Chinese guests emphasized on their visits, during which they are showing an increased interest in cooperation with the Czech Republic.

World-wide interest in cooperation with Shanghai has been growing over a number of years. Today firms from 120 countries are investing in Shanghai.

“Nevertheless Czech entreppreneurs still have an opportunity to establish themselves there,” stated the deputy chairman of the Shanghai Commission for international relations, Tu Hai Ming.

Hi first His fi visit i i to the h Czech C h Republic R bli was in i 2002, 2002 when he fell in love with Czech architecture to such a degree that, in collaboration with Czech architects, a “Czech Quarter” was built in Shanghai: 456 apartments, 46 villas and a shopping lane with 50 shops selling Czech products. He would now like to build a Chinese quarter in Prague with elements of oriental architecture.

The Czech Republic has long had a good name amon am ongg th thee Ch Chin ines esee. “Cz Czec echo hosl slov ovak akia ia was was oone ne ooff the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the Chinese People’s Republic in 1949,” the Chinese Ambassador in Prague, Mme Huo Yuzhen, frequently points out, adding that “we can continue

from there today.” In point of fact, she was one of the initiators of cooperation between the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute and the Shanghai Association. According to her, possibilities exist for further developing cooperation, not only in the economy or in culture, but also in tourism, as many Chinese are longing to visit the Czech Republic.

This view was also confirmed in the autumn of this year by a delegation of high representatives of the city of Shanghai, Mme Lu Fengmei, and the Vice Chairman of the lower house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, who appreciated the fact that thanks to the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute he had an opportunity to meet other delegations besides the parliamentary ones.

“We have to act more systematically,” explained Lu Fengm g ei. Accordingg to Chinese tradition you need “at least three visits. At the first, the two sides get to know one another; at the second they get to know one another more closely; and at the third they h can already l d bbe ffriends.” i d ” Today a mere one hundred Czechs live and work in Shanghai. Czech firms have broken into the Shanghai market with spare metal parts and luxurious crystal services. The Shanghai firm Mailing has in turn invested in Czech meat conserves.

“Even so so,”” agreed both Czech and Chinese par participants at the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, “There are tremendous possibilities for future cooper op erat atio ionn, and and we we lo love ve tha thatt th thee In Inst stititut utee co cont ntin inue uess to bring us together every year.”

By HEBR I český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Photograph from one of the Delegations´ visit at the Assembly of the Parliament of CR, from left: Ing. Michal Bureš, Negotiator for FERMAT MACHINE TOOLS s.r.o.; Jien Peili; Lu Fengmei, Leader of the Delegation; JUDr. Vojt ch Filip, Vice Chairman of the Assembly; Jaromír Šlápota, Chairman of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute; Wang Xiaobao; Benjamin Szakal; Luo Ligang; Miroslav Langr, Member of the Administrative Board of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute; Zhou Rulai, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Chinese People’s Republic.

Photo: Dr. Helena Briardová

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 67

67

20.1.2010 18:40:32

Polydor Sextet

prague castle event

Polydor Sextet, Traditional Jazz Studio Pavla Smetáčka, Bratislava Hot Serenades Juraje Bartoše

Christmas Concert

Jazz at the Castle

From left: Jan Fischer, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic with his wife, Professor Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic and Zdeněk Pelc, President/CEO, Digital Media

68

LM_1001_events__2.indd 68

Martin Barták, Minister of Defence with his wife

Professor Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic and Marta Gellová, Secretary General, AFIZ

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

From left: Ing. Peter Kovarčík, Art Space, s.r.o. and Vlastimil Tlustý, M.P.

Ing. Miloš Janů, Vyšehrad Gastro & Travel Service with his son and H.E. Amal Morad, Ambassador of Egypt

20.1.2010 18:21:56

From left: H.E. Jan C. Jenneman, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and his wife and H.E. Pierre Lévy, new Ambassador of France

From left: Jiří Polydor, Polydor Sextet and Pavel Smetáček from Traditional Jazz Studio JUDr. Tomáš Procházka, Attorney Office Šlauf and Mrs. Světlana Olševská

From left: new Ambassador from Mongolia with wife and H.E. Jan C. Jenneman, Ambassador of the Netherlands with wife

H.E. Catherine von Heidenstam, Ambassador of Sweden and Petr Hejma, former Mayor of Prague 1 Štěpánka Decastello, Jakub Vágner and Professor Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic

From left: Alena Veliká, Head of the Press Department, Office of the President, President Václav Klaus, Zdeněk Pelc, President/ CEO, Digital Media and Karel Vágner, Music Publisher

LM_1001_events__2.indd 69

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH 69 LEADERS MAGAZINE 20.1.2010 18:22:44

From left: Růžena Nechaská, Vice-President of the Club for Marketing and PR, Klub 3. tisíciletí o.s., Soňa Kodetová, President, Klub 3. tisíciletí o.s. and Eliška Hašková Coolidge, Art and Management of Social Behavior and Diplomatic Protocol

From left: Štěpán Markovič, Musician, Marie Kousalíková, Deputy Mayor of Prague City Hall with her husband

From left: JUDr. Ing. Václav Školout, Vyroubal Krajhanzl Školout, Mgr. Petr Rudlovčák, Attorney-at-Law and JUDr. Jan Mareš, Lawyer

From left: Miro Voštiar, Chairman of the Board, Mirofilm and Benke Aikell, your Publisher

From left: Josef Vejvoda with his wife on the left and Aja Vrzáňová, legendary Figure-skater, recently awarded Sports Legend

From left: Profesor Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic gives flowers to Michael Sudnick, Trombone/ Trumpet in Traditional Jazz Studio

70

Jazz at the Castle LM_1001_events__2.indd 70

From left: Kevin Mudd, Director KMG SICAV SIF Luxembourg, H.E. Alberto Salas Barahona, Ambassador of Peru, Mrs. Marta Gellová, Secretary General AFIZ, Vincent J. Derudder, Secretary General Fecif, Belgium and Mirko Lachman, Senior Advisor, Leaders Magazine

20.1.2010 18:24:03

PRAHA The first edition of MISS VIETNAM ČR 2009 took place at the hotel TOP HOTEL PRAHA on 28 December 2009.

The main partners of MISS VIETNAM ČR 2009 were Vietnamese state television VTV4, the BIZ Media, Tienphong daily, weekly XAXU and Vietnam Airlines. The main sponsors were Diamonds International Corporation, Jasmine Rice, HUMANIC, DEKONTA, ORIFLAME, EUROPROFI Clean.

culture event The winner of the first year of MISS VIETNAM is an eighteen year old high school student Mai Nguyen Anh. First and second vice miss are Nguyen Thu Trang Thi Dinh and Thanh Hoa. The patronage of the first year of MISS VIETNAM CR 2009 was taken by the Minister for Human Rights Michael Kocáb, President of the Chamber of Commerce Petr Kužel MBA and Mayor of Prague MUDr. Pavel Bém.

Among the competition committee members were MEP Jan Zahradil and Director of the State Environmental Fund Ing. Arch. Petr Štěpánek.

Second edition of MISS VIETNAM ČR will be in October 2010 and the subsequent finals MISS VIETNAM EU in early 2011 in Prague.

From left: Nguyen Thu Trang, 1st Vicemiss, Nguyen Mai Anh, Miss Vietnam ČR 2009 and Thanh Hoa, 2nd Vicemis

From left: main sponsor of Miss Vietnam ČR, Diamonds International Corporation Plzeň, Ing. Martin Zoder, Manager, Iveta Hlávková, Manager and Hang Pašáková, Manager

Miss Vietnam

Mr. Doan Cat, Chairman of Vietnamese Culture and Arts in the Czech Republic

Jan Zahradil, Member of the European Parliament

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

LM_1001_events___3.indd 71

71 Finalists of Miss Vietnam ČR

21.1.2010 11:43:12

Ms. Tatiana Kovaříková, Fashion Designer with her Models

fashion event

Fashion Show

BY TATIANA KOVAŘÍKOVÁ AT ALCHYMIST GRAND HOTEL AND SPA

Mrs. Eiko Hashimaru, Owner of Hashimaru Gmbh. with her Business Partner

Mrs. Štěpánka Duchková, Moderator and Mr. Libor Šula, Hairdresser

Mrs. Violetta Karavaeva

From left: Mrs. Tereza Hejmová and Mrs. Slávka Svobodová, Tatiana´s friends

LM_1001_events___3.indd 72

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

From left: Mirko Lachman, Senior Advisor, Leaders Magazine, Vladimíra Václavíková, Marketing & Editorial Director, Leaders Magazine and Vít Nohejl, Manager, RF Hobby

21.1.2010 18:15:37

From left: H.E. Koray Targay, Ambassador of Turkey, Ing. Arch. Iva Drebitková, President of Triga and Mrs. Targay

Ms. Kateřina Mátlová, Singer and Actress with her brother in law

From left: Dott. Antonio Solazzo, Management Consultant, MABERI Consulting, Giorgio Bonelli, Owner, Alchymist Grand Hotel and Spa and Mrs. Monika Michálková, MMPRO Motion

Grand Hotel Alchymist

On November 25th and 26th, fashion shows of the fashion designer Tatiana Kováříková took place in glorious baroque spaces of the Grand Hotel Alchymist in Malá Strana. At the events Tatiana introduced her contemporary Autumn-Winter 2009/10 collection. Apart from cashmere coats and colourful knitwear tunics, she enriched the collection with small and large evening gowns. These were styled mainly in black and red colors, and richly decorated with Swarovski stones. Some of the evening gowns were completed with the pearls from the Hashimaru, Hamburg Company.

Tatiana’s designs are characterized by refined taste, femininity and gentle refinement. Her evening designs are produced in limited editions and therefore, during the night at the Alchymist, visitors had the unique opportunity to see these models. The show was introduced by Miroslav Etzler, and many prominent persons such as actresses Tereza Brodská, Monika Absolonová and Štěpánka Duchková were among the visitors.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE LM_1001_events___3.indd 73

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

73 Models

21.1.2010 18:16:28

culture/charity event

Mrs. Yvetta Blanarovičová, Chairwoman of the Board, LA Sophia and Petr Kuchár, General Director, NAVATYP GROUP

The charitable gala evening of the La Sophia Civic Association took place on 26 November 2009 and it was accompanied by a fundraising auction of artworks and art objects aimed at supporting musically gifted children from children’s homes and socially disadvantaged families. This year’s venue of the gala evening was the magnificent NeoBaroque Boccaccio Hall at the Grand Hotel Bohemia.

LA SOPHIA GALA EVENING The gala evening was hosted by the founder and President of the Board of the La Sophia Civic Association, Yvetta Blanarovičová, who welcomed everyone and thanked all the partners, co-organizers, as well as guests for their participation during a festive toast. The truly festive atmosphere of the evening and the charm of the Neo-Baroque Boccaccio Hall were emphasized by the performance of the Talich Chamber Orchestra with soloists Jan Talich and Marco Pillo. The evening programme intertwined with a gala dinner prepared by the Executive Chef of the Grand Hotel Bohemia, Mr. Martin Čížek. Yvetta Blanarovičová along with Ivana Christová then took to the stage to open the charitable auction of the artworks of both Czech and Slovak authors. The auctioned items featured not only paintings, but also a beautiful piece of jewellery made by ALO Diamonds – a rose embedded with diamonds – and a lovely evening gown designed by Camilla Solomon. After the auction, the gala evening programme continued with the performance of this year’s winners of the 2009 La Sophia Talent, a competition organized by the civic association every year. Five children aged between 9 and 16 years accompanied by Marco Pillo and his band received immense ovations from the guests.

The representative of Onkocet Europe, Mr. Tomáš Finger, thanked the children for their performance and gave the children Changhong portable TVs. Mrs. Irina Bespalová, the representative of Au pays des mimis, dressed the children for the gala evening in one of the company’s clothing brands – IKKS, and the children’s hair was styled by hair stylists from the Oskar Hair Salon. The grand finale of the gala evening programme was the performance of Pavel Slabý. Pavel Slabý, CEO, JCDecaux, who with the accompaniment of the Talich Chamber Orchestra sung the Escamilla aria from Bizet’s Carmen.

74 Talichs Chamber Orchestra

LM_1001_events_1.indd 74

20.1.2010 17:46:18

From left: Václav Štekr, Director of Production, ALO Diamonds, Yvetta Blanarovičová, Chairwoman of the Board, LA Sophia and Alojz Ryšavý, CEO, ALO Diamonds

From left: Pavel Bém, Mayor of the City of Prague and H. E. Peter Brňo, Ambassador of Slovakia From left: Mrs. Irina Bespalová, Manager of Operation, AU PAYS DES MIMIS and Yvetta Blanarovičová, Chairwoman of the Board, LA Sophia

From left: Mirko Lachman, Senior Advisor, Leaders Magazine, Yvetta Blanarovičová, Chairwoman of the Board, LA Sophia and Benke Aikell, your Publisher

From left: Marco Pillo, Musical Soloist, Pavel Slabý, CEO, JCDecaux s.r.o and Talichs Chamber Orchestra

Milan Horváth, Winner of Talent La Sophia 2009

Štefan Pecha, Winner of Talent La Sophia 2009

The La Sophia Civic Association would once again like to thank the partners of the gala evening: ALO diamonds, Grand Hotel Bohemia, JCDecaux, Kristian – Communications Agency, Au pays des mimis, Oskar Hair Salon, Leaders Magazine, Changhong, Onkocet Europe, Víno & spol. wine supplier, Holandské květiny (Dutch Flowers), and Dvorak Sec Gallery.

And to all artists who have donated their artworks for the charitable auction: Ivan Exner, Stefan Milkov, Petr Faltus, Jakub Hubálek, Vladimír Balko, Karel Balcar, Michal Gabriel, Michal Cimala, Martina Reidlbauchová and Camilla Solomon.

LM_1001_events_1.indd 75

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz From left: Eduard Zeman, former Minister of Education, Yvetta Blanarovičová, Chairwoman of the Board, LA Sophia and Tomáš Finger, General Director, ONKOCET EUROPE o.p.s

20.1.2010 17:46:47

Mrs. Yvetta Blanarovičová, Chairwoman of the Board, LA Sophia and Igor Fait, Chairman of the Board, JET Investment a.s.

Mrs. Yvetta Blanarovičová, Chairwoman of the Board, LA Sophia and Ranko Pecič, Managing Director, SAGA TRADE s.r.o.

Mrs. Yvetta Blanarovičová, Chairwoman of the Board, LA Sophia and H.E. Peter Brňo, Ambassador of Slovakia

Mrs. Yvetta Blanarovičová, Chairwoman of the Board, LA Sophia and Camilla Solomon, Fashion Designer

Ms. Ivana Christová, Czechoslovak MISS 1989 and Businesswoman

Ms. Andrea Sajdlová, Yvetta Blanarovičová, Chairwoman of the Board, LA Sophia and Martin Dvořák, General Director, Dopravní podnik hl. města Praha

Mrs. Kateřina Endersová, Owner, ENDERS MEDIA, Yvetta Blanarovičová, Chairwoman of the Board, LA Sophia and Jan Kábrt, Marketing Director, JCDecaux s.r.o

From left: Jiří Besser, Mayor of the City of Beroun, Yvetta Blanarovičová, Chairwoman of the Board, LA Sophia and Blanka Kosinová

From left: Tomáš Finger, General Director, ONKOCET EUROPE o.p.s, Yvetta Blanarovičová, Chairwoman of the Board, LA Sophia and Winners of Talent La Sophia 2009

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH 76 LEADERS MAGAZINE

LA SOPHIA GALA EVENING LM_1001_events_1.indd 76

As well as to all the guests of the La Sophia Gala Evening who participated in the charitable auction, the proceeds of which amounted to CZK 894,000. The raised funds will aid in the funding of the charitable activities of the La Sophia Civic Association that has been supporting musically gifted children from children’s homes and socially disadvantaged families for four years now.

20.1.2010 17:47:18

UN Art – Credits and Captions

ART OF THE WORLD The Art Collection of the United Nations Frithjof Ehm studied Law at the Universities of Mannheim, Göttingen (both Germany) and Dublin, Trinity College (Ireland). At the moment he studies as a PhD student at the Bucerius Law School Hamburg (Germany) and works with Ince & Co. International Law Firm in Hamburg.

Due to a comprehensive renovation of the UN Headquarters in New York City, parts of the works handed over to the world organisation within the last 60 years will be moved to the Temporary North Lawn Building until 2013, when the complex of buildings at the East River will be renovated for the first time. In total, this project will cost 1.876 billion dollars. During the renovation, the objects will be presented in evasion quarters and there will be no guided tours through this temporary structure except when the General Assembly will have its temporary seat there in 2012/2013. Travelling exhibitions are not planned.

Until the end of the renovation period all member states of the UN have been requested

by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to sustain from donating any further gifts. Moreover, the member states have been requested to retain their gifts which are currently presented at Headquarters.

Presently the art collection of the UN consists of approximately 300 gifts. In addition, there are several exhibits on permanent loan. The largest part of the collection is located in New York. About 30 works can be seen at different UN-places like Geneva, Nairobi, Paris or Vienna.

Getting a full picture of the art works is nearly impossible, since a considerable part of the collection is not accessible to the public, even on the guided tours. This also applies to the last work which has been donated to the UN: the picture titled “The Liberation of Mandela“ which was donated by Belgium on March 1, 2007 and created by Jan Beekman. It hangs on the wall in the middle of the corridor leading to the UN Security Council chambers. As almost all of the art work in the unique art collection of the UN, this piece has a special significance: When Nelson Mandela was released from prison on February 11, 1990, after 27 years of imprisonment, it was exactly 16.15hrs local time in Paarl/South Africa. Thousands of people were waiting outside the doors of the Victor Verster Prison. Millions watched the event in front of their TV screens. In this last group Beekman, artist and also admirer of Mandela, observed the TV broadcast in his apartment in Chicago.

After this, Beekman tried for three years to

LM_1001_events___3.indd 77

capture the serenity and dignity of the person who later on became the first black president of South Africa. He painted 16 portraits and when he had finished the final one – a big portrait, painted in reddish-orange – he was able to portray the exact expressions of the mind and soul of Mandela, which he had witnessed on that day in 1990. As with many other important art works, this work needed its time to ripen and evolve to illustrate exactly the artist’s thoughts and impressions. As a result, this work is an enormous and so detailed piece of art.

Of high profile are also the works in the open air area located in front of the building. They can be seen easily and are frequently shown to the world via TV. Amongst them is, for example, the knotted gun by the Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, a gift from Luxembourg given in 1988. Another masterpiece indeed.

The UN started in 1945 with 51 member states. Today the community has grown to 192.

There are various reasons for a member country to make a donation. Whereas new members of the UN may have the intention to underline their request for good international cooperation, one could say for repeated presentations of long-term members: little gifts maintain friendship respectively, repeat the political act that demands a political response. In some cases one can also assume the motive to present to the assembled world community the mastery of historical challenges with pride.

Here the last German gift of 2002 comes to mind. A piece of the Berlin Wall, painted by the Iranian artist Kani Alavi. One can see two humans, hugging each other over the wall that divided the world.

The UN Arts Committee, as the responsible organ for the collection, requires that the works are of high artistic quality and have a connection with the respective country. In addition, they must be politically correct and in every aspect equitable. Member states are therefore not free if they want to make a present to the UN. On the latter condition a gift coming from Kenya, Namibia and Nepal, a monumental elephant made of bronze, nearly failed to be accepted. Finally, after two decades of discussions, the elephant could be presented in the

Frithjof Ehm

UN Garden. The key to the diplomatic success was ultimately to place the animal in the retral part of the garden in order to hide its far too concise and lifelike sexual organ, pursuant to the coppice compromise, behind high greens.

Other cases where such “compromise” could not be found and a state, if still willing to endow, was forced to switch to a different donation, are not known.

As a matter of pure self-interest, the states should also have in mind that the works of art have certain refractiveness, since the states themselves are responsible for care and maintenance. Especially poor countries could not always fulfill this duty in the past. This is why about 50 gifts, partly close to dissolution, are stored in the basement; and in some cases, have been so for decades.

Unlike the elephant, most of the gifts comply with the notions of the UN. For example, there is the Japanese Peace Bell in front of the Headquarters which rings on every opening day of the UN General Assembly’s yearly session that always starts in September. There is also the stained-glass window in the entrance hall designed by the French artist Marc Chagall, presented in 1964 as a memorial to Dag Hammarskjöld, the second SecretaryGeneral of the UN, and fifteen other people who died with him in a plane crash in Africa 1961.

A portrait of Simon Bolivar, painted by Alejandro Obregon, was also accepted without hesitation. He was one of the most important leaders in Latin America’s successful struggle for independence from Spain. The same applies to the statute “Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares” which represents the figure of a man holding a hammer in one hand and, in the other, a sword which he makes into a plowshare, a gift from the former Soviet Union presented in 1959 to the UN. A few years ago the auction house Sotheby’s assessed the art collection. It identified many valuable pieces of art during the assessment, amongst them the famous Chagall window.

Another important work of art was the sculpture “Single Form” by Barbara Hepworth, or the colossal mural painting by Per Lasson Krohg in the Security Council chambers. In addition, the Norman Rockwell mosaic “The

20.1.2010 18:33:39

UN Art – Credits and Captions Golden Rule” and a collage entitled with “Torch of Hope” by Henri Matisse. Nevertheless, the informal survey was, because “of political reasons”, not very welcomed by the UN. Not surprisingly, an organisation that is based on the principle of sovereign equality of its mem-

bers cannot be interested in a classification of the gifts that it has received from its member states.

After the reopening of the Headquarters, we must hope that more or even all parts of the collection will be open to public viewing. Since

each gift to the UN must also be interpreted as a gift to humanity and the UN have no other task than to serve humanity. Furthermore, it is without any doubt that most of the art works in this amazing collection are very much worth being seen by the general public.

■

NICA ID: 31379 Photo Date: 01/03/1987 City: New York; Country: USA Header: Norman Rockwell Mosaic “The Golden Rule” Caption Description: The mosaic entitled “The Golden Rule” by American artist Norman Rockwell, was presented to the United Nations as a gift by First Lady Nancy Reagan on behalf of the United States and is installed on the third floor of the conference building. The Mosaic depicts people of different nationalities standing together with the words “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” inscribed on it. Caption Background, Credit: UN Photo/Milton Grant

LM_1001_events___3.indd 78

20.1.2010 18:34:04

NICA ID: 25311 Photo Date: 03/04/2003 City: New York Country: USA; Header: United Nations Artwork: “Single Form” Caption Description: This large sculpture, titled “Single Form”, is by the renowned sculpturess Barbara Hepworth of England.

The sculpture stands on a granite plinth mounted on the site of the ornamental pool in front of the UN Secretariat building.

It was installed in 1964.

Caption Background: The 21-foot sculpture was given to the United Nations through a grant by the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation, in memory of Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary-General of the United Nations (1953–1961), who died in a fatal plane crash in the Congo in 1961.

Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

NICA ID: 157702 Photo Date: 01/01/1976 City: New York Country: USA; Header: Stained Glass Window Caption Description: The staff of the United Nations and Marc Chagall donated a stained glass panel designed by the French artist as a memorial to Dag Hammarskjöld and 15 others who died in a plane crash in Africa, 17 September 1961, while on a peace mission.

Caption Background: The panel is 15 feet wide and 12 feet high. It is predominantly blue in colour. In it Chagall sought to express the simplicity and beauty of the ideals of peace and brotherhood for which the UN was founded. Symbols of peace and brotherbood for which the UN was founded. Symbols of peace and love can be found throughout the panel. In the centre is the figure of a young child being kissed on the cheek by an angelic face which emerges from a mass of flowers; the right hand side suggests mankind’s yearning for peace, its prophets and its victims, and symbols of law. On the left are depicted motherhood and people struggling for peace.

Credit: UN Photo/Teddy Chen NICA ID: 84566 Photo Date: 01/08/1985 City: New York Country: USA; Header: Gift from Norway to the United Nations Caption Description: A mural, painted by the Norwegian artist Per Krohg in the colours and style reminiscent of a tapestry, was donated in 1952 by Norway to the United Nations. It decorates the Security Council Chamber. The mural symbolizes the changes which the world will undergo because of the efforts of the UN, and of mankind in general, to achieve peace, equality and freedom. A full view of the mural.

Caption Background: The Security Council Chamber was designed by the Norwegian architect Arnstein Arneberg.

Most of the furnishings in that chamber are gifts of the Norwegian Government.

Credit: UN Photo/Lois Conner

LM_1001_events___3.indd 79

20.1.2010 18:34:25

christmas celebration

Turkish Airlines

From left: Fatma Yuceler, General Manager for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Turkish Airlines, Inc., Lenka Svobodníková and Lucie Bílková from Turkish Airlines

CHRISTMAS PARTY The Turkish Airlines Christmas party took place on 10th December at the exclusive Cloud 9 Sky Bar lounge, Hilton Hotel Prague. The festive holiday atmosphere was enhanced by the backdrop of the stylish and sophisticated venue and the guests, many of which were VIP, enjoyed themselves immensely with an array of fun activities. The party was prepared by Turkish Airlines in appreciation for its loyal and valuable partners and collegues from the travel industry for their cooperation and support during 2009.

80

LM_1001_events__2.indd 80

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

Fatma Yuceler, General Manager for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Turkish Airlines Inc. and H.E. Koray Targay, Ambassador of Turkey

20.1.2010 18:11:47

From left: Eva Kaisrova, Sales Coordinator, Turkish Airlines Inc., Mgr. Marek Němec, General Manager, Siam Travel, Darja Haisova, Sales Coordinator, Turkish Airlines Inc. and Mirjana Radosavljević, Company Manager, Time Travel Creative Team

From left: Zuzana Rybářová, General Editor of Travel Digest Magazine and Fatma Yuceler, General Manager for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Turkish Airlines Inc.

Eva Howlings, Graphic Designer, Howlings s.r.o. and Martin Howlings, CEO expats.cz

From left: Martha Gellová, Secretary General, AFIZ, Jan Struž, President, Czech Top 100 and Jo Weaver, CEO, JWA Prague s.r.o.

From left: Martha Gellová, Secretary General, AFIZ, Karin Genton-L’Epée, Business Coach, Mirko Lachman, Senior Advisor, Leaders Magazine and Ana Maria Pop, Marketing Manager, Williams & Partner From left: Amara Zemplinerová, Director, Travel Trade Gazette, Mgr. Marek Němec, General Manager, Siam Travel and Vincent Soriano, CEO, Art of Travel

From left: Věra Janičinová, Business Director – Flight Tickets, Student Agency, Zdeněk Kříž, Managing Director, Siam Travel and Mirjana Radosavljević, Company Manager, Time Travel Creative Team

From left: Amal Köttnerová, Managing Director, Tomera Conference & Incentive s.r.o. and Lucie Bihellerová, Sales & Marketing Manager, Tomera Conference & Incentive s.r.o.

LM_1001_events__2.indd 81

From left: H.E. Koray Targay, Ambassador of Turkey, Fatma Yuceler, General Manager for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Turkish Airlines Inc. and Michael Saran, Managing Partner, Odien Asset Managemet s.r.o.

From left: Michael Saran, Managing Partner, Odien Asset Managemet s.r.o., Mrs. Hana Zelená, Mrs. Paula Saran, Ms. Eva Chmelová, Artist and Jiří Šimáně, Chairman of Unimex Group

20.1.2010 18:12:58

Jiří Šimáně, Chairman, Unimex Group, Benke Aikell, your Publisher, Michael Saran, Managing Partner, Odien Asset Managemet s.r.o., and Fatma Yuceler, General Manager for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Turkish Airlines Inc.

Alexander von Maillot, Business Executive Manager, Coffee and Beverages, Nestlé Česko s.r.o. and his wife

Mr. Petr Jirásek and Mgr. Monika Csaszar, Arzinger & Partners, s.r.o.

From left: Martina Cikánová, ESO Travel a.s., Marzouki Ali, Representative, Amazing Thailand with his wife and Tomáš Cikán, General Manager, ESO Travel a.s.

Ing. Radomír Šimek, President DTIHK and his wife Kateřina

Blanka and Rudolf Linka

82

Turkish Airlines Christmas Party LM_1001_events__2.indd 82

From left: Mrs. Hana Zeleňáková, Mrs. Fatma Yuceler, General Manager for the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Turkish Airlines Inc. Pavla Saranová and Eva Chmelová, Artist

21.1.2010 15:32:10

On 13th December 2009, the Third Sunday of Advent, the Concert of Stars Harmonie welcomed its permanent patrons as well as new guests. A number of excellent artists introduced themselves by a choice of attractive opera arias, Christmas Carols and production of some contemporary compositors. Czecho-Slovakian tenorist Peter Dvorský, young bass Ondrej Mráz from Košice, two brilliant women´s voices – soprano Linda Campanella and mezzosoprano Tiziana Carraro – they all gripped the audience by their bravura art and emotional performance. The Czech National Symphony Orchestra in its best cast, led by the conductor Rastislav Štúr, Kuhn´s Child Choir and Marek Eben – these are the names of another splendid performers on the Concert.

culture event

From left: Peter Dvorský, Opera Singer, Tenor, Ms. Taťána Kuchařová, Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic and Marek Eben, Moderator and ČNSO

Concert Harmonie In the beginning, Marek Eben traditionally welcomed all the guests of the Concert and in its second half, he yielded the floor to the sponsors’ cheques to the Foundations. Every year Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, takes over a cheque for the Václav and Livia Klaus Foundation and Mr. Peter Dvorský takes over a cheque for the Harmony Foundation. For the first time, Miss Taťána Kuchařová took over a cheque for her Foundation Beauty in return for her help on the Concert.

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

Mr. Ranko Pecič, owner of SAGA TRADE Company and also the organizer of the Concert as well as Mr. Miroslav Chytil, the representative of the sponsors, both handed over these funds gained from the Concert profits. Besides Mr. and Mrs. Klaus, a lot of further very important persons also participated in the ceremony party held after the Concert at the Intercontinental hotel.

LM_1001_events___3.indd 83

From left: Mrs. Tiziana Carraro, Opera Singer, Italy, Linda Campanella, Opera Singer, Italy and Peter Dvorský, Opera Singer, Tenor

20.1.2010 18:36:37

From left: Tiziana Carraro, Opera Singer, Italy, Ranko Pecič, Owner, Saga Trade, Peter Dvorský, Opera Singer, Tenor, Linda Campanella, Opera Singer, Italy with her husband, Mrs. Jitka Pecičová and Ondrej Mráz, Opera Singer

From left: PhD. Jiří Weigl, Chancellor of the Office of the President and Jindřich Forejt, Director, Protocol, Office of the President

Ms. Taťána Kuchařová, JUDr. Renata Šťastná, Axial and Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic

From left: Mgr. Tomáš Abrahám, General Director, Miele, Jitka Kocúrová, Actress and Ranko Pecič, Owner, Saga Trade

From left: Rudolf Ovčaří, Speditrans with his wife and Ing. Naděžda Nováková, Producent of the Concert

84

Concert Harmonie LM_1001_events___3.indd 84

From left: Ms. Gabriela Pecičová, Owner, Prague Kabinet, Mrs. Jitka Pecičová, Ranko Pecič, Owner, Saga Trade and Alexandra Udženija, Manager, Saga Trade

20.1.2010 18:37:06

From left: Giovanni Usai, Linda Campanella with her husband, Tiziana Carraro and Eva Usai Blumental, Director, Deloitte

From left: Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic with his wife Mrs. Livia Klausová and Mrs. Jitka Pecičová, Saga Trade

From left: RnDr. Jakub Strnad Ph.D., Director, Česká podnikatelská pojišťovna with guests

Ondrek Mráz, Opera Singer and Tiziana Carraro, Opera Singer, Italy

From left: Ms. Taťána Kuchařová, Ranko Pecič, Owner, Saga Trade and Mrs. Yveta Blanarovičová, La Sophia

From left: Cyril Svoboda, Ex-minister, Chairman KDU-ČSL, Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, and in the back Petr Hejma, former Mayor Prague 1 with wife

Mgr. Tomáš Abrahám, General Director, Miele and Jitka Kocúrová, Actress with their guests

LM_1001_events___3.indd 85

21.1.2010 15:23:47

A tallk withh Dr. Ivan Doudda, Psychhollogist andd Co-ffoundder off Drop In Centre

A Good Step in a Bad Direction PhDr. Ivan Douda graduated in psychology, and since 1982 was involved in work with drug addicts in the State Centre of Drugg Addictions,, where sppecial medical procedures were appplied. At the begginningg of the 1990´s,, he established,, together with Dr. Jiří Presl, Drop In Centre, which focuses on the street work, consulting, and therapy of drug problems within the harm reduction strategy. This includes the rational decreasing of risks connected to drug use like the transmiissiion off HIV, preventtion, andd edducattion. He is a pronouncedd voiice in the Czechh pubblic debbattes on the drugg problem, and on related legislative proposals and laws, which he confronts with experience from his long-term praxis.

How do you regard the recent proposal of the government which newly defines the quantities related to soft drug possession? Is it a good compromise?

Phho PPho hotto to: oo:: VVlladi laadi addimír mííírr W m Weeis iss ssss

86

Interviews.indd 86

This particular proposal does not solve the situation stridently. The intention that such a measure is to be adopted was already announced earlier,, as a helpp to the po p lice and cour co urts ts, an andd as an an ef effo fort rt to to un unififyy th thee ap appr proa oach ch towards the general definition of quantities.

What is new in this proposal, is that psilocybin present in magic mushrooms or mescaline in the already famous cactuses, are not explicitly on the list of banned substances, but the very plants and mushrooms are. I am afraid the law enforcement could tend to regard the mush mushrooms or cactuses as the complete drug. In this sense it is a tricky issue. In my opinion, the state is engaging redundantly in this issue since it does not represent a major social problem.

However, when the government decided to regulate, there should have been relatively extensive room left for considering individual cases. It is nonsense that the special police forces would raid ra id tthe he bbot otan anic ical al ggar arde denn wh wher eree th thee gr grea eate terr th than an smallll quantititt y off cactuses t is i plant l tedd. Accordi A dingg to this proposal, to grow one cactus is an offence, more than one already a crime. Frankly speaking, there are many species of mushrooms andd pl an plan ants ts in in na natu ture re tha thatt co cont ntai ainn ha halllluc ucin inog ogen enss in certain quantities; however, it is different if such a plant grows in South America or in Siberia, or here in the Czech Republic. There is some confusion here, and I would not like to see incr crea ease sedd bure reaaucr crac acy an andd exte tenddedd rroo oom m forr corr co rrup uptition on bbec ecau ause se ooff th this is ppro ropo posa sall. IInc ncre reas asing regulation is a worldwide trend. Sometimes I feel as if the state is becoming something betw be twee eenn a pe peni nite tent ntia iary ry aand nd a bboa oard rdin ingg ho hous use; e; that it is necessary to regulate and punish everything. To me, the major criterion for regulation is if the given issue is such a major problem that it becomes worth limiting the freedom of iind ndiv ivid idua uals ls.

The enumerative listing of items within a law is always a bit dangerous; on the other

Leaders Magazine I/2010

20.1.2010 18:50:55

hand, there have been cases when someone was sentenced for keeping two cannabis plants…

Naturally, the unification of the law enforcement bodies’ procedures will most likely happen. Someone will profit from it, someone will lose. It is a good step in a bad direction; the basic direction is wrong but the little step towards formalization of praxis is good. But I have to repeat, room should be left for individual case assessment. For what purpose does someone keep ten decagrams of marijuana? For personal consumption during the year – and thus th us the the soc socie ieta tall ha haza zard rd of of su such ch an an ac actt is neg negliligi gibl blee. FFor or w wha hatt pu purp rpos osee do does es ssom omeo eone ne kkee eepp a half-kilo of heroin? In order to make pr p ofit – the distinction is quite simple.

However, the majority opinion in Czech society is that even a small quantity of soft drugs leads to dangerous addictions…

Of course, the majority of society is poorly informed in this sense. Diplomatically put, the majority of our society is often not able to u de un derssta tandd druug pa paraado doxees an a d th t e pa paraado doxees of tthe he llififee of aann in indi divi vidu dual al, in incl clud udin ingg hi hiss or hher er passions. When talking about drugs like marijuana, it is necessary to say that it is roughly the same risk as alcohol, and in many aspects even less risky, but traditionally marijuana is considered a bigger problem. It will take several generations to change this. Drinking is generally underestimated and tolerated on top of that that.

Do you feel the discussion about this proposal brought about, at least, a new impulse to the debate on the drug problems, as well as related issues, since they often seem to slip from the top of the agenda?

Yes, the drug issue was highlighted after 1989, and the politicians got immediate media coverage when speaking about it. Gradually, it hhas as bbee eenn lo losi sing ng ppririor oritityy, w whi hich ch iiss a go good od sign i – thhere was no catastrophe h taki king pllace here in regard to drugs; it is rather business as usual. It turned out that in comparison to comparable countries, the Czech Republic is doin do ingg fifine ne iinn al alll si sign gnifific ican antt cr crititer eria ia. Th Thee dr drug ug population is aging; there is a much lower percentage of HIV positive people, and so on. The issue as a whole is not so interestingg anyy more; the individual tragic cases are, but these always were, are andd will ill be b happeniing.

It was primarily thanks to the NGO sector, and especially to Drop In, that the drug problem was intercepted at its beginnings.

Paradoxically, do you face funding uncertainty now because of your success?

Our system of therapies and prevention works, which is why the drug problems are not so visible and are not growing. An effort to limit fundi dingg is obbviious, butt on th the oth ther hand h d, an established system tends to snowball other actitivi ac vitities es, wh whic ichh ar aree ge gett ttin ingg ex expe pens nsiv ivee. So So it is is

necessary to find f a balanced way. When we stop testing HIV, we are asking for trouble and billions worth of losses. When we further reggulate,, it means more work for police and courts, and consequently increased costs. When we do not regulate, the voters are unhappy – so the life of a politician is also not easy. But if politicians are reasonable – and most of them are – then the drug problem can be kept within acceptable proportions. This field was lucky that some of the drug experts became top politicians. The most familiar example is the Lord Mayor of Prague Pavel Bém, who participated in the elab el abor orat atio ionn of tthe he bbas asic ic ppol olic icyy co conc ncep eptt in 1 198 989 9.

Indi In divi vidu dual alss lilike ke hhim im ccan an iinf nflu luen ence ce tthe he rres estt of the po p litical repr p esentation because theyy can inform them knowledgeably.

Despite these active politicians, there is a prevailing tension between the policy of repression and realistic approach, including prevention support…

The reality is that roughly five to ten times more money goes to repression in comparison to preeveenttioon an a d tr t ea eatm t en e t co combbined ed. Thiss imba im bala lanc ncee is ccre reat ated ed bbyy vo vote ters rs´ de dema mand nd;; th thes esee people do not realize that one year in prison costs about 300.000 Czk, where the inmate can also learn other undesirable capabilities.

Putting people in prisons is not a solution and it is costly; prevention and treatment cost much less and could have positive results. It is true that Drop In was active already before 1989 in changing needles and hypos, and also thanks to this activity we are having quite a good situation with HIV infection here. I always point out the example of Ukraine – 40 million inhabitants, and five years ago they reported over half a million HIV positive people. We are ten million, and over the last twenty years we have had only about 2000 HIV positive people.

Onee ye On year ar of of an H HIV IV pat patie ient nt´ss ttre reat atme ment nt cos costs ts up to one mill illiion C zkk, so we are saviing bi billlliions here – the work we have done has saved a lot of money, and so the politicians and the citizens should realize our funding is not wasted mone mo neyy.

Are you facing any recruitment problems thanks to the fact that drug problems are not such a burning issue any more?

This kind of work attracts a specific type of peoplle. Th The stre t ett workk especiialllly ddraws enth thusiast i t s – whho ellse would ld be going ing among ng tthhe drug addicts, where no bribes or words of thanks could be expected, but where one can easily get robb ro bbed ed. Fo Fort rtun unat atel elyy, tthe here re are are sti stillll eno enoug ughh enthusiasts among young people.

How long one can handle the job of the street worker?

The turnover happens quite often. Former stre t ett workkers th t hen usualllly tendd to t furth t her theiri careers in the field; they work in rehabilitation cent ce ntre ress, ddoo ps psyc ycho hoth ther erap apyy or ccou ouns nsel elliling ng.

Drop In also works with youth. How difficult is it to implement these preventive programmes?

I always emphasize that it was crucial to involve the General Health Insurance Company (VZP) into our preventive programmes. We have been implementing it all over the country for the last sixteen years and we managed to target over one million young people at basic and high schools. It has been a major effort, and we were lucky VZP understood the necessity to support such a programme. I believe that it has been the biggest preventive action that ever ev er too tookk pl plac acee in the the Cze Czech ch Rep Repub ublilicc. Nat Natuurallllyy, tthe ra here re aare re ooth ther er ppre reve vent ntiv ivee pr prog ogra ramm mmes es, which are impl p emented on a lower scale. At the beginning some critics said it was nonsense to carry out preventive programmes in the big halls, but one can do prevention by information, only on ly ifif he is is up to to itit. It is is ne nece cess ssar aryy to gai gainn th thee audience – and this way one can realize fast whether it has succeeded or not.

What strategy do you use to gain the audience?

Onee ca On cann nnot ot oonl nlyy te terr rrififyy th thee yo youn ungs gste ters rs w witithh a serious face, there must be humour. Our programme also involves singers, and there is a movie and Q&A session. The young people get their portion of information – naturally mostly about the risks, but also about other things. We tell them – yes, marijuana can be used for pain treatment, treatment or we talk about our personal experiences. The method of presentation is naturally important.

What was your personal way into this career?

I got involved in this field rather by chance, through my studies of psychology. I met the founder of the Czech drugology, professor Rubeš, who employed me as an expert-volunteer.

Then Th en I ssta tart rted ed ttoo wo work rk aatt th thee al alco coho holilism sm ttre reat atment centre “U Apoli A linář áře””, andd whhen the h state faculty hospital indicated the centre was not purely a medical facility, I decided, together with Dr. Presl, to establish a non-state centre called Drop Dr op IInn. IItt wa wass th thee fifirs rstt fa faci cilility ty ttha hatt fo focu cuse sedd on non-alcohol drugs. Originally we ran only the basic counselling, the changing of needles and a vitamin and food proggramme. Todayy we have six programmes – the Drop In centre, street work, k th the familily centtre, ttwo Meth thaddone subbstititutition progr grammes, and nd tthe he AAft ftercare centr tre.

Our system is already wider and accomplished; the only thing we are lacking is the rehabilitation faci fa cilility ty. We hav havee ab abou outt th thirirty ty emp emplo loye yees es aand nd a yearly budget of around 15 million Czk.

By Věra Řiháčková I

český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi maga ma gazí zínu nu nnaa ww www w.le lead ader ersm smag agaz azin inee.cz cz

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 87

87

20.1.2010 18:51:10

AFIZ event

Josef Havel, Executive Director Český Rozhlas, Moderator of the evening and Mrs. Marta Gellová, Secretary General AFIZ

The Association of Financial Intermediaries and Financial Advisers of the Czech Republic (Asociace finančních zprostředkovatelů a finančních poradců České republiky, o.s. – AFIZ) is an independent and voluntary association of companies and individuals providing financial products and services on the Czech (and Slovak) financial market. Currently AFIZ represents over 11.000 individuals through 13 companies. AFIZ traditionally holds an Annual General Meeting where it informs its members of its activities and plans for the next year. AFIZ invites for the evening party many special guests, representatives of the Czech National Bank, Czech Ministry of Finance, partner associations and financial institutions.

Celebrities from political and cultural life are also invited. This year’s event took place at Občanská plovárna on December 9th and the partners of the evening were: Aegon pojišťovna, Alico Funds Central Europe, GBN Bancorp, IAD Investments, WPB and traditionally Leaders Magazine.

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

AFIZ ANNUAL

General Meeting

88

LM_1001_events__2.indd 88

From left: Vladimír Bencz, Executive Director IAD Investments, Petr Lukáč, Sales Director IAD Investments, Mrs. Eliška Menšíková, Lafin, Lambro Pitulkov, Lafin, Mrs. Marta Gellová, Secretary General AFIZ, and Pavel Smetana, Chairman of the Board IAD Investments

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

20.1.2010 18:29:24

Martin Gardavský

Dušan Friedl, Director of Sales Division, Aegon Czech Republic

Lenka Velešíková

Tomáš Prouza, Vice Chairman of the Board, Partners for Life Planning, Board Member AFIZ

Ivo Zlámal, Chairman of the Board of Kapitol

From left: Petr Fejtek, Economic Journalist and Petr Stuchlík, CEO Fincentrum, Board Member AFIZ

From left: Rostislav Lesák and Martin Jelínek, Regional Directors of Kapitol From left: Ivo Beneš, Regional Director Kapitol, and Jiří Klaban, Board Member Kapitol, Board Member AFIZ

From left: Václav Simon, Division Director, Czech National Bank, Mrs. Marta Gellová, Secretary General, AFIZ, and Hynek Černý, Section Director, Czech National Bank

From left: Vladimír Poliak, Chairman of the Supervisory Board ZFP Akademie, Board Member AFIZ, František Klufa, Financial Arbitrator of the Czech Republic, and Tomáš Síkora, Executive Director ČAP From left: Václav Tomek, Board Member AFIZ, Petr Šafránek, Board Member AFIZ

From left: Mrs. Eliška Menšíková, Lafin, Rastislav Podhorec, General Manager Alico Funds Central Europe, Vladimír Halás, Sales Manager Alico Funds Central Europe, and Lambro Pitulkov, Lafin

LM_1001_events__2.indd 89

From left: Shavit N. Clein, Business Development, GBN Bancorp, Norman Grafstein, President, GBN Bancorp, Mrs. Marta Gellová, Secretary General AFIZ, and Mrs. Petra Červinková, Legal Department AFIZ

20.1.2010 18:29:51

A Christmas Gift for the Citizens of the Moravian-Silesian Region Photo: Archive

Chhririst C stma st maas is dra rawi w nngg nnea eaar an andd it is a titime me when wh enn, m moore than ev e eerr, ppeeopplee con onte temp temp te mpla mpla late te the the p stt yeaar, sum up thei pa e r ssuucc c es esse s se sess and annd fa failililur ures ur es,, es annd give eac a h ot othe h r gi he gift fts. s. T hee inh s. in ab a itt an ants tss of of thhe Moora ravi vian vi ian a -S Sili es esia iaan Re ian Regi g onn hav gi ave al also so rec so e eiive v d thhei eirr pr pres esen es ent. en t.

I beli beeliieve evve iti is fair faairr to saay thhat this prressen entt wi willll boos o t thhe im impo p rtt an po ance cee of ou o r region.

Thhe ci city tyy of Ostr trav tr a a fest av feest s ively deeco cora r ted for C ririst Ch s ma mas annd thhe Mo M ravian-S - ilesian Re Regi gion o are fina nallllllyy co na connnec e ted to the Europ oppea e n mo moto torw to torw rway ay nneetw wor o k. k T hi h s is obvio bvious bv ioous usly ly good newss for bot othh thhe innha habi b ta bi t nt ntss of our reeggio ionn an andd po p te tent n ia nt ial in invest rs. to rrss. The TThhe ccoom mffor ortt of tra rave v llllin ve ingg to our u region will undo un d ub do ubte tedl dlyy im impr prov o e annd it is mo m re tha h n probabl ba blee th thatt the mot o or o way will also trigger the processs of eco cono nomi no micc gr mi g ow w th of ou ourr reegi gion o .

Thhe ex e isstit ngg sou o th thwest-to-northeasst bo b unnd road ro o d tra rans nspo ns ppoortt in th t e reegion of north Mora Mooraaviaa

Regional Authority Office

90 0

Ostrava_Brno.indd 90

andd Si an Sile lesi le siaa is diri eecc teed al si a ong ong ro on road adss whhiicch ha ad h ve beeen en ove verlrlloa oade dedd si de s nc ncee th t e mi midd 19 1 90 90s, s moorres, ovver er,, thheeyy are oft ften en unssat en a issfa f ct cto tory particularrly t thr to hrou oughh tra ou raff fff icc.

Ass an agg gl g oom mer erat atiioon, the greater area of the at Ostr Os trrava avva di dist sttririct ctt, wh ct, whic hicch beelo l nggs to tthe he larrge gest st in thee C Cze zech ze chh Repub eppubblic, lilic, has so s fa f r be been e dep en eprririvedd off a higgh qu qual allitt y aannd ca capa paci citty t y con onne neect c ionn to thhe naattiion onal al m mot otor ot orr way way ne wa netw t wor ork, or k, as well weell as thee w de wi derr Euuro rope pean pe an net net e wo work rk of mo m toorw rway ayss an ay andd ex ex-pres pr essw es sw way ays. s This veryy mome Th m nt cha hang nges es eve very ryy th t in ingg an andd I dare say a that this is mom omen entt haas be been en llon ongg awaited by every citizen of ou our reegi g onn. Th Thee motorway, whhich forms a part of the D1 D motorway r ute as the only eastbound connectiton of the ro Czech Republic, is also one of the most technolloogi g caallly ad adva vanc va ncced e com mpo pone nent ne ntss of the nat nt atio ioonaal motorway network rkk.

I te In tere reest stin inngglly en enou o gghh, th ou t e nneew motoorw rway a ay seect ctio ioon ha has as 1 14 41 br brid rid idge gees, ges s, 15 15 eellevvatteedd int nter nter er-seect sect c tio ioons ns and a 1 1-k -kililloom -k metre etre et r llon oonng ttuunnnel e , an andd itt s ov over eral er eral a l le leng ngg th fro r m Li L pn pníkk nad B pník Beč ečvo eč vou iss vou 80 0 kililom om met etre rees. s T hee ccon onst on stru st r ct ru c io ionn cost coost stss wi w lll exx c ed CZK ce K 70 bi b lllioon. n Beesiide d s th this iss eve vent ent nt tha hat at iss off ut utmo mosst siggni mo n fifi-caanc canc ncee fo f r ouur re r gi g oonn man a y culttuurral al andd soccia i l gaath ther e inngs and er nd hhap aapppe p ni n nggs ar are alsoo t ak a in ingg pllac a e, e such ch as,, forr exa x mple, thhe “C “Christm tmas mas Rem emin iniscence” e” con onsi sist si stin ing of five muultim mediaa Chr h isstm t as conc ncerr ts of th t e Children’s ’ Choirr Perrmo moní níkk and ní the Pu P pi p lss’ Symphony Orchestra r of Be B dř dřic icc ich Smetana’ a s Basic Art School in Kaarv rvin iná,, or th in the h Inteernational Festival of Ad A vent andd Chr hris isstm mas a C stoms and Traditions, Ca Cu Caroolss and nd Craft raaft ftss, duringg whiich conce ceert r s willl be he held eldd at the Ch Chur urch ch of St. We of Wenc ncesla nc essla las in i Ostraava and nd the he Chu hurch of Stt. S t Mi M chael chh andd St. Barbra ra in Koozl zlovvice, as wellll ass a gala conce c rt in the Os Ostrava House off Cultu ture from thee 17t 7 h to the 20th of Dec e embeer. The he festi-vall wi va willll als alsoo fe feat atur ure re de demo mons mo ons nstr trat tr attio ions ons ns ooff fo folk lk ccra raft fts,, ft an intternatition onal al ccrè rèche ex exhiibi bitition on,, and nd an a intter ernaatition nati onal al “Ch Chrriist stma m s Ca ma C rd rd”” ex exhi exhi hibi bititition bi on on.

Tow waard w rdss tthhe en endd of tthe he yyea ear,r, con o ceert rtss off renown wneed ed Euroopea opeann co comp mpos osers ooff Adventt music willl t akke placce in Ostrava, Oppavaa, and in other town to wnss ooff the wn he reg egio ionn to com io o me m morrate ra the season of AAdv dven ent. t. AAnd nd las astt bu butt nott leas ast, a com mpeetitition onn forr th fo thee be best st AAdv dven ent decooration on willl ta take k pla ke laace in Bru runt ntál ál aand nd Frýdek-Mí M st stek e wililll bee the venuee of the tra r ditional Christm tmas fai air.

Our region indeeed resp spectss and preserv r es rv traditions. Come me and see e forr yoursel ellf.f

By Jaros aros ar osla laav Pa Pala laas I Prres e ident of the Moravian-Sile lesi s ann R Reggio i n

Photo: Štefan Špic

L adder Le erss Ma M ga g zi z ne ne I//220110

20.1.2010 17:07:47

Občané Moravskoslezského kraje dostali dárek k Vánocům Blíží se vánoční svátky a to je čas, kdy se lidé více c než jindyy zamýšlejí nad uplynulým rokem, reeka kapi pitu pi tuuluujíí své v úsp spěc ě hy a prohry a dávají si d rk dá r y.. Obččaanné Mo M ravs raavs vsko koslezského kraje dosttaali svů vůj dááreek také.

Mysl My s íím sl m si,, žžee mo m huu smě m le ř ícci,, že te tent ent n o dá d re r k posí po síí líí v ýz sílí ýzna nam na m na n še šeho hoo kra raje jee. Vá V nooččnně vy v yzd zdozd doo b ná be n Ostra sttraava va a Morav avskkos o leezs z kýý kra r j je koneečn č ě napo naapo poje jeen na n dál álničnní sí s ť Evvropy roopy p . Je J to pr proo obbyvvat a el e e naaše š ho kra kra rajee a pří pří řípa padn pa padn dnéé in inve veesttory or y or j dn je dnoz ozzna načn čnně dobrrá zp zprá r vaa. Neepooch chyb ybbně doj o de k zvýýšeení kom ke o foort rtuu cesttovván á í doo nnaš ašeh aš ehoo reeh ggiion onu a jee vel e ic icee pr p avvděěpo p do d bn bné, é žžee na é, nastt ar a tuje jee i pr proc ocess eko oces kono n mi m ckkéh é o růůst stuu naašeho šeehoo kraje.

S áv St á ajíc íccí silniční dopra r va v v rreggio i nnuu sev ever e níí Mora Mo ravy ra vy a S Sle lleeezs z ka ve sm měr ěru jijho h zápaad– d–se s verový ro vých vý chod ch od bbyl ylaa ve yl vede dena de na ppoo silniccích,, kteréé jsoou jijižž od ppol olov ol ovin ov inyy de in deva v de va desá sátý sá tých tý ch let let min min inulého st stooleet pře letí řetí tíže tí žené že né,, na né naví vícc js ví jsou ou ččas asto as to vved eden ed enyy zp en způs ůsoůs oobem m ne n vy vyho hovu ho vujíjíjící vu cím cí m ze zejm jmén jm énaa tr én tran anzi an zitn zi tníí do tn dopr prav pr avě. av ě. Širš Ši r í ob obla l st O Ost s raavs vska jak ako ag aglo lome lo mera me race ra ce,, kt ce kter eráá er p tř pa tří k ne n jrjozsá sáhl sá h ej ejší ším ší m v Če Česk skéé repu sk publ pu blic bl icee, ic Roman Catholic Church in Ostrava-Přívoz

S pp Su ppor o te or ters rs and Gen e er eral al Par artn tnner tner erss of Mor of orav avia av iania n-Si nSSiile lesi s an si a Reg egio ion: io n n:

Ostrava_Brno.indd 91

dosud byla bez kvalitního a kapacitního připojení na republikovou dálniční síť a širší evropskou síť dálnic a rychlostních silnic.

To se v tuto chvíli mění. Troufám si říci, že snad každý občan našeho kraje netrpělivě čekal na tuto chvíli. Dálnice, která je zařazena d tah do ahuu dá ah d lnice D1 jako jediné propojení Česk Če skké re ské r ppuubl b ik iky naa východ v je také jednou z tech teech c ni n ckk y neejv j ys yspě pěle ěle lejš jšíchh soouč jš učás ástí české ás d ln dá lnič iční níí sítě íttě vů v bec. c A je jenn pr proo za z jíímaavost voos , naa dállni nici cii budde ce celk l em m 14 141 41 most moosttůů,, pat atná náct ná ct mim moú o roovň vňov ov ýc ov ýchh kř kř ižžokřiž ov teek a je va jede denn kilo de kilo ki l meetr trov o ý tu ov tuneel, cellko ková v ddél vá éllkaa élka oodd Lip ipní nníí kaa nad B Beččvvoou či č ní n ossm mdeesá sát át kilo kiilloom tr me t ů. ů Nák ákla lady dyy přesá s hn sá h ouu ssed eddmddessát edmd át mililia iard ia rdd koruun. ko V naašeem kkrrajji se kromě m tét mě é o, o, proo nás zzce cceelaa nejvýz ne ý na ýz namn mněj ějjší š akc kce, e,, kon oná ta také ké mnoohoo kkul ulul turn tu rníc rn nícch a sppolleč e eennnsk s ýc sk ých se setk tkán tk tkán ání.í.í. Kup upří upří ř í kllad aduu mohu mo hu zzmí míínitt „VVánoč m ánoččníí rrem án emin em i issceenc nci“ i“, jedn i“ i“, jeedn d á se s o pr prov oved ov edení pěěti ed ti m mul ulti ul time ti medi me d ál di ální ních ván á oč o ní ních ních c vyst vy stou st oupe ou pení Dětsk pe sskkéh kéh é o ppěěve veck ckkééhho sbor ckéh sbboorru Peer-

moník a Žákovského symfonického orchestru ze ZUŠ B. Smetany v Karviné, dále Mezinárodní festival adventních a vánočních zvyků, koled a řemesel, během něhož se ve dnech 17.–20. prosince uskuteční koncerty v kostele sv. Václava v Ostravě a kostele sv. Michaela a sv. Barbory v Kozlovicích a galakoncert v Domě kultury města Ostravy. K festivalu patří ukázky lidových řemesel, mezinárodní výstava betlémů a mezinárodní výstava „Vánoční pohlednice“.

V zá z vě věru r roku v době adventu budou p řádá po řádá řá d ny koncertyy vý význam amný ných chh sklad adat ad atel elůů evvro r ppsskéé adv d en e tn t í hu hudb udb dby v Os Osttrrav Ostr a ě,, Opa p vě a da d lššíc í h mě měst s eecch kr st kraj aajje. e Nebud ude chhybběětt i souutěěž o ne n jhhezzčí adv dven entn en tnní vvýý zdob zdob o u v Br Brun unntá tále lee a tř třeb řeb ebaa vá v no n ččnní ja j rm mar a k vvee Frýýdk d uu-Mí M sttkuu.

Mí N š kr Ná k aj ctí c tí a udr d žuujee tra radi adi dice c , př ce přijijeď e te se eď podí po dívat. dí vvaat Jaaroosl s av a Paallass I heejt hejt jtma mann Mo ma M raavs vsko kosl ko s ez sl e sskkéhho kr k aj ae Photo: Štefan Špic

Lead Le ead a er erss Maaga gazi zinee I/ 20 zine zi 2010 1 10

91

20.1.2010 17:08:37

moravian-silesian region

From left: Mrs.Tereza Kostková and Radek Erben

OSTRAVA The Christmas concert of fulfilled wishes belongs to Tereza Maxová Foundation traditional charitable performances in Ostrava. The performance, whose general partner was Geofin Inc., took place in the Palace of Culture of Ostrava on December 9th and has traditionally enjoyed the great interest.

The foundation has ensured more than 170 millions CZK for children´s help and has received the recognition of both classified and lay public during the 13 years of charitable activity. According to the public research, the foundation enjoys 97% trustworthiness among Czech citizens and for a lot of businessmen, but also many ordinary citizens it is the great honour to support the foundation activities.

The Christmas Concert of Fulfilled Wishes

92

LM_1001_events___3.indd 92

From left: Mrs. Tereza Maxová, Patroness of the Foundation Tereza Maxová for Children, Jaroslav Palas, President of the Moravian-Silesian Region and Daneš Zátorský, CEO, Geofin, a.s.

21.1.2010 11:45:02

From left: Žaneta Nepalová, Tereza Maxová Foundation for Children, Ing. Šárka Froňková, Euro public CZ, Mgr. Terezie Sverdlinová, Tereza Maxova Foundation for Children

Miroslav Žbirka, Singer and Philharmonic Orchestra of Bohuslav Martinů From left: Jaroslav Paclt, Managing Director of VOKD, a.s. and Daniela Pacltová

Miss Katarina Knechtová, Singer

Daneš Zátorský, CEO, Geofin, a.s. and Tereza Maxová, Patroness of the Foundation Tereza Maxová for Children, with children of the Children´s Home

Geofin belongs to its long-term patrons and Daneš Zátorský, Chairman of the Company Board, does not miss any opportunity to share the support of concert or fashion show – and the pre-Christmas one Tereza Maxová organises in Ostrava, was not an exception. He has visited this year´s concert that was held with participation of the singers such as Miroslav Žbirka, Magdaléna Šalamounová, Marta, Gábina Beňáková, Katarina Knechtová and also children chorus of the primary school Kosmonautů 15 before his visit of the Children´s Home in Slezská Ostrava. Tereza Maxová together with Daneš Zátorský spent the part of the afternoon talking with children and their tutors, drawing of pictures and giving out smiles and caress. The patrons of charitable performance made a donation of cheque in amount of 630 000 CZK during the Christmas concert. This cheque has been delivered to the hands of the MoravianSilesian Region´s President Jaroslav Palas by Daneš Zátorský. Part of the donated amount will be delivered to visited Children´s Home in Slezská Ostrava.

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

LM_1001_events___3.indd 93

From left: Mrs. Sylvie Holková, Daneš Zátorský, CEO, Geofin, a.s., Tereza Maxová, Patroness of the Foundation Tereza Maxová for Children and Jaroslav Palas, President of the Moravian-Silesian Region

21.1.2010 13:26:52

moravian-silesian region

Mrs. Monika Žídková, Miss ČR and Miss Europe 1995, Pavel Bartoš, Chairperson of the Board and CEO FITE, a.s, 1st Vice-president of the Union, Vice-president of the Board of the Czech Chamber of Commerce, Pavel Vítek, Vice-president of the Union, Honorary President, Dopravní stavby Ostrava, a.s. and Aleš Zedník, Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation in Ostrava

OSTRAVA With the concert “Region to itself”, the members of the Union for Development of the Moravian-Silesian Region made the pre-Christmas atmosphere pleasant already for the tenth time. The Union holds this concert in the MaMaison Imperial Hotel Ostrava. It was the token of this year’s reminiscence. The Union representatives reminded themselves that twenty years have elapsed since the establishment of the biggest commonwealth in region that presently has 165 direct members. Miroslav Fabian, General Director of the Union for Development of the Moravian-Silesian Region, reminded that the Christmas concert is actually thanksgiving to all its members for all-season work and cooperation. The Union has already worked for twenty years and during this time it got a lot of concrete successes. Through this activity, the Union has got interregional scope and also cooperates with the foreign partners. Major industrial companies, construction and other companies, distribution companies, professional clusters, development agencies, but also schools, medical facilities, towns and villages are ranked among the members. Nevertheless, the interest in the Union membership grows up year after year. The concert “Region to itself” was sponsored by the Diecese of Ostrava – Opava Bishop Mons. František Václav Lobkowicz; Jitka Zelenková, David Uličník and Eva Dřizgová – Jirušová have performed there. During the evening with Christmas atmosphere Václav Daněk, Vice-president of the Union, delivered the cheque in the amount of one hundred thousand CZK to children´s ranch for the next development and by this step, he also supported the motto and the role of the Union for Development of the Moravian-Silesian Region.

Concert “Region to Itself”

From left: prof. Ing. Tomáš Čermák, CSc., Rector of Technical University of Ostrava, Ing. Gerhard Herudek, former President ROTARY CLUB OSTRAVA INTERNATIONAL and Lubomír Vavroš, Project Manager CCG, a.s.

94

LM_1001_events___3.indd 94

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

From left: Monika Žídková, Miss ČR and Miss Europe 1995, Miroslav Fabian, CEO of the Union for Development of the Moravian-Silesian Region, Pavel Bartoš, Chairperson of the Board and CEO FITE, a.s, 1st Vice-president of the Union, Vice-president of the Board of the Czech Chamber of Commerce and MUDr. Jaromíra Fabianová

From left: Miroslav Fabian, CEO of the Union for the Development of the Moravian-Silesian Region, MUDr. Jaromíra Fabianová, Mons. František Václav Lobkowicz, Bishop of Diecese of Ostrava-Opava, Ludmila Skipalová and Jan Skipala, Chairman of the Board and President of the Association of Moravan-Silesian Industrial Companies

21.1.2010 11:47:40

Deutsch-Tschechische Industrie- und Handelskammer

Introduction of the Euro in the Czech Republic from Czech, German and European perspectives.

Radomír Šimek, President, DTIHK/ČNOPK

12th November 2009, Clarion Congress Hotel Prague

German-Czech Chamber of Industry and Commerce

THE 3RD ANNUAL ECONOMIC DISCUSSION hosted by the German-Czech Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DTIHK) was focused on the introduction of the euro in the Czech Republic. The panel discussion between Miroslav Singer (Vicegovernor ČNB), Dr. Volker Treier (Chief Economist of DIHK), Laurent Moulin (Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission), Jaroslav Míl (President of the Confederation of Industry of the CR) and Holger Kintscher (Member of the Board, Škoda Auto a.s.) was based on the DTIHK euro survey, which showed that nine out of ten enterprises favor the introduction of the euro as Czech currency. The moderator of the evening was Petr Šimůnek (Editor in Chief of the newspaper Hospodářské noviny).

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

LM_1001_events_1.indd 95

From left: Miroslav Singer, Vicegovernor ČNB, Jaroslav Míl, President, Confederation of Industry of the CR, Laurent Moulin, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission, Petr Šimůnek, Editor in Chief, Hospodářské noviny, Volker Treier, Chief Economist, DIHK, and Holger Kintscher, Member of the Board, Škoda Auto a.s.

21.1.2010 15:33:58

From left: Mrs. Lucie Vorlíčková, Tax Adviser, Auditor and Partner, Vorlíčková Leitner, Hubert Nägele, and Dr. Jutta Walter, General Manager, Commerzbank AG, Prague

From left: Bernard Bauer, Executive Member of the Board, DTIHK/ČNOPK, and Radomír Šimek, President, DTIHK/ČNOPK

From left: Rainer Ottenstein, Director, Commerzbank AG, Prague, Mrs. Helena Schmittová, Economic Department, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, and Dr. Stefan Keil, Counsellor, Head of the Economic Department, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany

From left: Bjoern Reinecke, Head of Treasury, Škoda Auto a.s., Mrs. Kateřina Kostková, Managing Director, Commerz Real CZ s.r.o., and Rainer Ottenstein, Director, Commerzbank AG, Prague From left: Ing. Jan Týřl, Assistant to the Member of the Board of Management, Škoda Auto a.s., and Bernd Rumpel, Volkswagen AG

From left: Matthias Sander, Managing Director, Knorr-Bremse Systémy pro užitková vozidla CR, s.r.o., Jörg Oldorf, CEO, TÜV SÜD Czech s.r.o., and Andreas Höfinghoff, KPMG ČR, s.r.o.

From left: Radek Primus, Senior Consultant, Kienbaum und Partner GmbH, Mrs. Hana Potůčková, DTIHK/ ČNOPK, and Dipl. Kfm. Oliver Schmitt, Managing Partner, Teamconsult s.r.o.

LM_1001_events_1.indd 96

From left: Ing. Jiří Marek, Vicepresident, OS Kovo, and Jaromír Endlicher, OS Kovo

From left: Stefan Rasche, Board of Management, Managing Director, ŠkoFIN s.r.o., Torsten Fleischer, Import Volkswagen Group, and Holger Kintscher, Member of the Board, Škoda Auto a.s.

21.1.2010 11:51:39

Bernard Bauer, Executive Member of the Board, DTIHK/ČNOPK

Jiří Aster, Tschechisch-Sächsische Häfen GmbH, asking a question

Ing. Ondřej Eliáš, Commerzbank AG, Prague, asking a question

Záviš Meca, Alfons Köster s.r.o.

From left: Stefan Rasche, Board of Management, Managing Director, ŠkoFIN s.r.o., Bjoern Reinecke, Head of Treasury, Škoda Auto a.s., and Dipl. Math. Andreas Hafemann, Corporate Executive Director, Škoda Auto a.s.

From left: Laurent Moulin, Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission, Rudolf Fischer, Managing Director, Siemens s.r.o., Mrs. Mirjam Schwan, Deputy Executive Member of the Board, DTIHK/ČNOPK, Sebastian Holtgrewe, DTIHK/ČNOPK, and Dr. Henning Sommermeyer, Nycomed s.r.o.

LM_1001_events_1.indd 97

From left: Dr. Vladimír Vurm, Head of Participations, RWE Transgas, a.s., Dr. Ing. Luděk Pitra, Managing Director, BASE – Obnovitelná Energie a.s., and Flemming B. Björnslev, Chief Executive Officer, Lanxess Central Eastern Europe s.r.o.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH 97 LEADERS MAGAZINE 21.1.2010 11:52:39

EU matters

Awarding in the category Product and Technology Innovations.

From left: Přemysl Sobotka, President of the Senate, Krisztián Kovács (Hungary) and Prof. Rudolf Hanka, University of Cambridge, Member of the Professional Jury Innovating Minds

Innovating Minds 2009 The Second Year of the Prestigious Competition Has Its Winners!

It was for the second time that prestigious awards INNOVATING MINDS 2009 were awarded to high school students, especially in the scientific and technical fields. The competition is organized by the company Česká hlava s.r.o. together with MUDr. Přemysl Sobotka, President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic and in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic. It is a unique competition as the most talented students from all around Europe can take part in the contest. The competition took place in terms of the European Year of Creativity and Innovations announced by the European Union this year. More than 70 individuals and teams from 15 European countries submitted their works to the competition. Their papers were judged by a prestigious international committee; some of its members being Nobel Prize laureates.

Phoenix Children’s String Orchestra

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH AREA WITHOUT BARRIERS The European year of Innovations and Creativity was started by the Czech Republic as the presiding country of the EU. In terms of this presidency, the Czech Republic picked a motto “Europe without barriers”. In terms of research and development, the highest priority is an open and competitive Europe that focuses on support to the reform process of the Lisbon strategy. Great accent is given to the connection of research, innovation and education. New impulses for the research policies resulted from the public discussion about the Green book of the European Research Area (ERA) and form the following so called Ljubljana process, which was aimed at increasing the role of member states when building ERA. Human resources are one of the ERA development priorities. In 2008, the European Commission worked out a communication “Better carriers, higher mobility: Partnership of the European research workers,” in which member states are asked to work out national strategic plans in the field of human resources in R&D. Aside from the development of research workers and other skills, it is necessary to accept mobility of scientists as an integral part of their scientific development, as a fifth freedom of the EU – the freedom of the free knowledge transfer. It is very 98 important for the research workers that they are employed in a place where they find the best conditions for their work.

EU_matters.indd 98

20.1.2010 16:49:30

Winning laureats in the category ICT. From left: Cataldo Azzariti, Riccardo Galli and Vittorio Sala

From left: Prof. Ing. Richard Hindls, CSc., dr.h.c., Rector of the University of Economics Prague and Stanislav Štěpánek, Director of Czech Mind company

Ing. Rostislav Čáp, General Director, Veolia voda for the CR

Sponsor Representatives, from left: Mgr. Viera Júdtová, Specialist of External Communication, VZP and RnDr. Marcela Dvořáková, Executive Director of Marketing and Communications for the CR, Veolia voda CR

Group photo of all the winning laureates from left: Mrs. Estíbaliz Cerezo and Mrs. Laura Domínguez Sánchez Gómez (Spain), Edo Džafić (Slovenia), Krisztián Kovács (Hungary), and Riccardo Galli, Vittorio Sala and Cataldo Azzariti (Italy)

Vocal group Yellow Sisters

Based on their decision, students from Italy, Spain, Slovenia and Hungary won the competition in their categories. Winner in each category was given prize money of 5000 EUR. The winners were announced during a gala soirée in the Knights´ Hall of the Senate of the Czech Republic. Many important personalities of political, scientific as well as cultural life were present.

The purpose of the whole project is to help the Europe-wide effort to increase interest in and support to the scientific and technical education and to motivate young students to further success in the field of science and engineering.

EU_matters.indd 99

Awarding in the category of Health and Quality of Life, VZP Award. From left: Mgr. Anna Veverková, Director of External Relations and Ing. Eva Bartoňová, Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Sports

22.1.2010 9:27:05

From left: Stanislav Štěpánek, Director of Czech Mind company, Mrs. Jitka Macháčková, Director of HPA (HighSchool Professional Activity) and Ing. Eva Bartoňová, Deputy Minister of Education, Youth and Sports

Knights´ Hall of the Wallenstein Palace, Moderator, Aleš Cibulka and speaker Prof. Ing. Richard Hindls, CSc., dr.h.c., Rector of the University of Economics Prague

Mrs. Dagmar Doleželová, MBA, CEO, Czech Mind and Prof. Rudolf Hanka, University of Cambridge, Member of the Professional Jury Innovating Minds Winning laureats in the category Environment, from left: Mrs. Laura Domínguez Sánchez Gómez and Mrs. Estíbaliz Cerezo

Edo Džafić (Slovenia), winning laureat in the category Health and Quality of Life, VZP Award

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE 100

Innovating Minds 2009 EU_matters.indd 100

From left: Prof. MUDr. Josef Syka, DrSc., Head of the Department of Auditory Neuroscience, Prof.Ing. Stanislava Hronová, CSc.Vice-President for Science and Research University of Economics Prague, Mgr. Alena Gajdůšková, 1st Vice-president of Senate, Prof. MUDr. Eva Syková, Ph.D., D.Sc. Director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine AS CR and Prof.

Ing. Richard Hindls, CSc., dr.h.c., Rector of the University of Economics Prague

20.1.2010 16:51:06

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

BUSINESS NEWS J

A

N

U

DO YOU KNOW THAT… … Spain revealed its priorities of EU presidency on the first half of 2010?

Spain revealed the priorities of its six-month EU presidency in the first half of 2010. In addition to reviving the economy it will focus on the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty and the Union’s foreign policy.

Spanish politicians also stressed that the presidency clos cl osel elyy co coop oper erat atee wi with th B Bel elgi gium um aand nd H Hun unga gary ry, bo both th w wililll chair the Union after Spain. As their main priority, Spain chose economy, especially the fightt with the economic ono crisis and the creation of new jobs. s. Second prio priority is implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, ty, which entered ent into force on 1stt of December. The third ird priority ar are European citizens. Fourth priority iss forei foreign policy, olic namely na the transformation of the EU U as the real global lobal player. playe … businesses can influence EU legislation?

Thanks to the online project ect European Business Test Panel (EBTP) businesses can c express their views on the t he imp impac acts ts of of ne new w le legi gisl slat ativ ivee pr prop opos osal alss. EBT EBTPP is linked to the better regulation initiative, which is part of the Lisbon strategy and aims at increasing European competitiveness. EBTP includes more than 3 000 enterprises, Czech panel has today 122 members. Enterprises aree most interested intereste in the following topics: European reg regulations ions on environmental protection, consultation tation on the t European private company and consultation nsultation oon the European social model. The main theme for 2010 will be funding. … EU seeks new alternative ways for animal testing?

EU plans to introduce oduce further restrictions on the use of animals for scientific tific experiments and to ensure better protection of those os who are now part of the testing process. The increase use of alternative methods is a prerequisite for strengthening research activities in Europe. The draft directive was introduced in December and requires ethical evaluation, on, sets minimum minim requirements for housing and care re of animals animals, calling for restrictions on the extinction of wild fauna. fauna This Act shall be adopted jointly by all the countries of the EU and also requires the assentt of the European Parliam Parliament. … Economic and Social Committee adopted new vision on transport policy?

European Economic and nd Social Committee (EESC) adopted together with the Swedish presidency new opinion of the new transport strategy proposed byy the Commission in December. EESC considers the current transport system in Europe unsustainable. It is necessary to efficient management of current traffic flows and put greater emphasis on environmentally friendly means of transport. Committee representatives also point out that the main problem in the past had been under-fulfilled demand for transport. Lawmakers should realize the importance of sustainable transport and focus on environmental protection. Attention shou sh ould ld als alsoo be giv g iven en to to pr prov ovid idee tr tran ansp spor ortt fo forr di disa sabl bled ed and elderly people. … EU wants to tax financial transactions?

European Union will invite the International Monetary Fund to reconsider the introduction of tax on financial transactions, the so-called Tobin tax. American Nobel laureate in economics James Tobin proposed in 1972 to levy tax on all cross-border transactions relating

A

R

Y

to transactions ran a sactions iin different currencies. This tax tool should ld rec recover c ov over er funds fun which were invested in the government ernment rescuess of banks and other financial institutions ution during the financial crisis. According to economists, o om the Tobin tax brings several risks. One of them m is the fact that for proper implementation of the tax it needs to be established in all countries of the world.

If not, it leads to financial fluctuations on the market. … the internet domain .eu is now available in all languages?

All European citizens, businesses and organizations can register sites names with the domain. eu in all the letters used in all 23 official languages of the EU since December. Names can be given in Greek or Cyrillic that means international domain names may now contain more characters than the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet. … companies can compare their performance with competitors?

Germ Ge rman an ccom ompa pany ny S SAP AP, th thee fo four urth th llar arge gest st ssof oftw twar aree company in the world, offers the opportunity to compare your business via SAP Benchmarking. Companies have a unique opportunity to compare with others from the same field. They can streamline their purchasing processes, determine if the company has too many employees, etc. Companies from the particular medium and large firms may identify their strengths and weaknesses and the tool to be used as well for reorganization. A candidate for the service must first register with the SAP system, where the information will be verified and compared with those of similar companies and the same fields. Comparison of data usually takes two weeks. After that time, representatives of the SAP business contacts the company and presents the results in the final report. In the SAP, there are more than 4000 companies registered.

LET´S TALK NUMBERS … EU gives almost 190 billion euro to poor countries to fight with climate changes The EU will provide the developing countries ount betetween 2010 and an 2012 with 7.2 billion Euros to fight h climate limate chang change. Czech Republic will contribute tribute a tot total of 1 12 2 millio lio ionn Eu Euro ross in the t he nex nextt th thre reee years. That at is much more mo than the original estimates of diplomats and politi iticians. They originally estimated ed between five fiv and seven billion b euro. … 74 percent of companies feel threatened by new informational technologies Based on the analysis of McKinsey & Company, up to 74 percent of European companies feel threatened by changes in the market, namely the new information technologies. Only 18 percent of companies think that they implement technology faster and better than their competitors. The results offered by the McKinsey study show sh owss th that at tthe he ben benef efititss of usi using ng iinf nfor orma matition on ttec echn hnol olog ogyy in European companies are already visible. These are mainly the overall increase of productivity and operational efficiency and more creative an innovative environment. … hourly labor costs in the Czech Republic increased Based on EUROSTAT, hourly labor costs are rising in the Czech Republic almost the fastest in Europe – they

2

0

1

increased by 6.4% in one year. Higher numbers are shown only Bulgaria and Romania. Wages increased in the third quarter by 3.1% compared to the same period the last year and by 3.2% in the euro area. However, the current economic crisis has brought to some countries, notably the Baltic, long unprecedented phenomenon, which is cheaper labor costs. ... producer prices are still falling Thee pr Th prod oduc ucer er ppririce cess fe fellll by by 2.4% 4% in in No Nove vemb mber er aft after er a decline of 4.6% in October. Agricultural producer prices in November fell by 16%. Construction work prices increased by 0.2%. The annual increase is the smallest since 1995. Industrial production prices grew by 0.4% in November. On the other hand prices of food products fell by 0.2%.

EU IN THE WORLD … European business leaders say no to 30% of reduction of CO2 Larg La rges estt co comp mpan anie iess in EEur urop opee wa warn rned ed EEU U le lead ader erss to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 20 to 30 percent.

EU promised that the commitment will increase to 30 percent only if the other states increase thei their commitments as well. However, many countries lack the necessary technology or know-how to meet those conditions. In this context, countries such as Brazil, China, India and others called for a Global Technology Panel on Climate Change, which seeks to ensure accessibility to green technologies. … the Lisbon treaty came into force On December 1st the Lisbon Treaty came into force, reforming the functioning of the enlarged EEU. According to its proponents it will bring ng more demo democracy and more effective decision makingg in the EU. The T Lisbon Treaty seems to be a mere indic dicat ator or tha t hat ddoes not tell how to achieve goals. One ne of the most important impor provisions is to strengthen the he role of the European PParliament. New Parliament will give its conse consent to all international trade agreements, the power er to t authorize the negotiations however remains with th the Council of Ministers. … banana war between the EU and Latin America ends The EU reached an agreement on trade of bananas in Latitinn Am La Amer eric icaa an andd ot othe herr sm smal alle lerr pr prod oduc ucer erss . TThe he agreement was signed on Tuesday 15th December.

Agreement should resolve the longest-running trade disputes in the world when the banana exporters from Latin America were complaining that producers from African, Caribbean and Pacific are being advantaged by the European Union.

I

BusinessNews brought by CEBRE – Czech Business Representation to the EU (kindly supported by CzechTrade), www.cebre.cz

Amsterdam Athinai Berlin Bratislava Bruxelles Bucureşti Budapest Dublin Helsingfors Kobenhavn Lefkosia Lisboa Ljubljana London Luxembourg Madrid Paris Praha Rïga Roma Sofia Stockholm Tallinn Valletta Vilnius Warszawa Wien

EU_matters_interview.indd 101

0

101

20.1.2010 17:04:21

EU matters conference

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

FIFTH PRAGUE SECURITY CONFERENCE From left: René Pekárek, Member of Prague 6 District Committee, Matin Svoboda, Director of the National Technical Library in Prague and Miloš Balabán, Head of the Center for Security Policy CESES FSS CU (organizer of the conference)

“Fifth Prague Security Conference” – a clear and unequivocal subtitle for an event, organized by the Center for Security Policy CESES FSS CU on 20th November 2009 in the National Technical Library. Full name of the conference, “Security of the European Union and the Czech Republic in a Multipolar World on the Outset of the Second Decade of 21st Century”, gives a more detailed picture of the agenda.

Opportunities and risks in a multipolar world, global strategic shift, energy security for EU and the Czech Republic, and new security threats – these were the issues presented and discussed by distinguished speakers and a large audience.

102

EU_matters.indd 102

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

Distinguished audience

21.1.2010 11:56:28

From left: H. E. Catherine von Heidenstam, Ambassador of Sweden to the Czech Republic, Miloš Balabán, Head of the Center for Security Policy CESES FSS CU, Tomáš Chalupa, Mayor of Prague 6 and Štefan Füle, Minister for European Affairs

From left: Athanasios Kalogiannis, Army Attache of Greece, Viorel Georgiu, Army Attache of Romania, Eduardo Palomo Blanco, Army Attache of Spain, and Charles Huber Wilson, Army Attache of the United States of America to the Czech Republic

From left: Athanasios Kalogiannis, Army Attache of Greece, Viorel Georgiu, Army Attache of Romania, and Eduardo Palomo Blanco, Army Attache of Spain

Photos: Vladimír Lenk and Petr Šupolík

EU_matters.indd 103

Libor Rouček, Vice-President of the European Parliament and H.E. Youzhen Huo, Ambassador of China to the Czech Republic

From left: Milan Kropáč, Product Manager, Saab Czech, Ltd. and Christian Cleutinx, Director of the Euratom Supply Agency

From left: Prof. Otto Pick, Ambassador at Large of the Czech Republic, Libor Rouček, Vice-President of the European Parliament, Miloš Balabán, Head of the Center for Security Policy CESES FSS CU, František Bublan, Chairman of the Security Committee, ChoD of the Parliament of the CR, Mrs. Gunilla Herolf, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), and Prof. Martin Potůček, Head of CESES FSS CU

21.1.2010 11:56:59

EU matters

From left: Václav Bartuška, Ambassador-at-large for Energy Security and Jan Zahradil, MEP

PRAGUE EUROPEAN

ENERGY FORUM How to enhance EU’s energy security and what might be the future of certain new and renewable energy sources – these questions have long been holding attention of economists, businessmen, security analysts, as well as politicians. General public’s attention got arrested by these, if not earlier, at the beginning of 2009 with the energy crisis, which the Czech presidency helped to resolve. And those were the topics that attracted and brought to Prague around one hundred participants and panelists from all over Europe to take part at the Prague European Energy Forum. Among them, Jan Zahradil, MEP, Alexandr Vondra, Senator, also Mirek Topolánek, former Prime Minister, and madam Catharine Sikow-Magny, Vice-Director of the C1 – Energy Policy & Security of Supply department of the Directorate General for Transport and Energy of the European Commission. Among speakers were also found Václav Bartuška, Ambassador for Energy Security, Martin Herrmann, Chairman of the Board of the RWE Transgas, Alan Svoboda, head of the CEZ Trade Division, Pavel Drobil, Chairman of the Board, Forests of the Czech Republic and many more. This year, 3rd energy forum took place in the Czernin Palace on 1st December under the auspices of Mr. Jan Kohout, Vice-Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, and Mr. Štefan Füle, Minister for EU Affairs and member designate of the European Commission.

104

EU_matters.indd 104

Auditorium

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE 20.1.2010 16:53:04

One of the discussion pannels was chaired by Mr. Ivo Hlaváč, 1st Deputy Minister of Agriculture 2007–2009

Mrs. Catharine Sikow-Magny, Vice-Director of the C1 – Energy Policy & Security of Supply department of the Directorate General for Transport and Energy of the European Commission and Mirek Topolánek, former Prime Minister

From left: Martin Herrmann, Chairman of the Board of the RWE Transgas and Pavel Šolc, Chief Adviser, Ministry of Industry and Trade

Pavel Drobil, Chairman of the Board, Forests of the Czech Republic

Jan Hamáček, Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament

From left: Aleš Musil, Head of the European Competition Network dept., Directorate General of the European Commission for Competition (DG COMP), Václav Bartuška, Ambassador-at-large for energy security, Jan Zahradil, European Parliament Member and Alexandr Vondra, Senator and Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs 2007–2009

From left: Libor Kudláček, Director of the Euroffice Praha-Brussels, a.s., Jan Procházka, Director of Prague branch of Cyrrus, a.s., Alan Svoboda, Head of the CEZ Trade Division, Mrs. Catharine Sikow-Magny, Vice-Director of the C1 – Energy Policy & Security of Supply department of the Directorate General for Transport and Energy of the European Commission, Mirek Topolánek, former Prime Minister and Juraj Chmiel, Minister for EU Affairs

EU_matters.indd 105

Libor Kudláček, Director of the Euroffice PrahaBrussels, a.s.

105 Photos: Dorian Hanuš

20.1.2010 16:53:27

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

THE SPANISH TO OVERSEE CHANGEOVER TO THE “LISBON REGIME” The establishment of a new ew EU di diplomatic omatic service, se job descriptions for new EU officials cials and rules for the implementation implem of the so-called civic initiatives within in the EU are all tasks on Spain’s to-do-list for the EU Presidenncy, y, which they are to take over from the Swedes on Januaryy 1, 1 2010. “Spain will be establishing precedents,” said Diego López Garrido, the country’s Secretary for European Affairs, during his recent speech at the European Policy Centre in Brussels (EPC). He also laid out Spain’s top four priorities for its EU presidency, which will encompass the first half of 2010. Besides the first priority, which is setting out the ground rules for the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty, the priorities will also includee dealing with “European Euro citizenship”, an “EU foreign policy” and “labor labor and econom economic policies”. The second and third priorities are closely related to the “practical launch” of the Lisbon Treaty. And, nd, for example, examp as part of “European citizenship”, Madrid rid wants to not only push through an antidiscrimination on directive to fight violenc violence against women (which is a big problem in Spain), pain), but also to set oout the rules for EU citizen inititia in iatitive ves. s. UUnd nder er tthe h cur he urre ur rent nt ssys yste tem, m, tthe he LLis isbo bonn Tr Trea eaty ty oonl nlyy contains a general provision, rovis which states that one million citizens from multiple EU countries un may request changes to EU legislation.

Garrido said that “we are facing a paradox, where we have the tools (i.e. the Lisbon Treaty) but lack the policies for using them”.

As for their foreign policy priority, the Spanish plan to focus mostly on the EU’s diplomatic service, which ich is eexpected ted to be up and running by April. “We are currentlyy not a global player. pl We lack a true European foreign policy,” thee SSpanish nish Secretary Sec reminded his audience. Finally, fighting the he current economic econ crisis is what Madrid considers the “top op priority” for its pre presidency. This is because Spain’s unemployment mployment rate is currently current y twi twice the average for the EU (19.3 % vs. 9.8 % respectively) pective and the Spanish have to put a major emphasis on the creation eatio of new jobs. This is why they plan to push through the drawing win up of a European economic strategy for 2020, along with a new system for the oversight of the global financial sector. Madrid also plans to resolve the dispute ute over the institutions to be used to supervise the financial markets within the EU. Even though the EU’s ministers appear to have already reached an agreement on the future shape of these institutions, their decision has sparked a wave of dissatisfaction and harsh criticism coming from within the European Parliament.

Another item on Spain’s agenda is the drafting of the energy action plan for the period 2010–2012.

Rhetorical Objectives versus Real Ones With respect to the unemployment problem, the Spanish Presidencyy isn’t likelyy to be able to accomplish anyy more than the EU’s “mini-summit”, which was organized by the Czechs during their EU Presidency. If the Spanish Presidency wants to become part of EU history, it has only one option, which is the rapid and problem-free implementation of as much of the new Lisbon Treaty as possible. But, even if the Spanish focused all of their energies on this single objective, there will still be a lot of work ahead for the EU six months from now in terms of realizing the full implementation of all of the treaty.

106

EU TO GIVE EUR 7.2 BILLION TO THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES OVER THE NEXT 3 YEARS

EU TAKES ACTION AGAINST WEBSITES OFFERING SERVICES TO MOBILE PHONE USERS

At the recent EU summit in Brussels, the European Union pledged to provide a total of 7.2 billion euros (approximately 187 billion Czech crowns) to third world countries over the next three years for the fight against global warming. The Czech Republic is to conttribu co bute te 12 millioon eu euroos to towaardss th t iss tot otal a (ov o er e 300 million o Czech crowns). The assistance will be distributed under the condition that other developed countries join in the effort and that the recipients of the aid provide guarantees that the money will actually be used to reduce greenhouse gases. Britain and France – Europe’s top donors – also are demanding that at least one-fifth of this assistance to combat global warming be used for forestry preservation projects. The final pledges for this assistance were preceded by lengthy negotiations since some EU countries had not originally intended to provide any aid. Until 2012, contributions to this third world aid program will be voluntary. But, starting in 2012, Europe and the rest of the developed world are to provide far more assistance than the EU is currently offering to the poorest coun co untrtrie iess on the the pla plane nett fo forr th thee fifigh ghtt ag agai ains nstt gl glob obal al war warmi ming ng. It is is estimated that by the year 2020, one hundred billion euros (approximately 2.6 trillion Czech crowns) will be required annually for this type of assistance. According to European Commission projections, Europe should, by then, be contributing up to fifteen billion euros a year towards this goal – which is roughly six times as much as it is planning to provide over the next 3 years. During the summit, the EU reaffirmed its decision to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30 %, under the condition that other countries adopt similar goals. This topic will be discussed at the upcoming talks in Copenhagen. The summit confirmed that the leaders of the EU’s member states will be getting together again in February, uary where they plan to further discuss cuss a European Europea growth wth and em empploym y ent strategy gy for the upc p omin ming decade.

Two-thirds of recently examined 301, EU-based, internet websites that offer various types of ringtone distribution and other services to mobile phone users were found to have violated the EU’s consumer protection regulations. Half of these sites targeted c ildren ch e and tee eenaage gerss, whicch ar a e co conssider e ed to be esp spec eciaallyy susceptible groups of consumers. These results were obtained through a survey conducted in a coordinated action by national regulators from across the EU. Out of all of the 27 EU member ber states, there were only three countries (Slovakia, Portugal gall and a d an Ireland) where violations by service providers weren’t found. The violators frequently failed to properly list the rates charged for the services they were offering; and, they engaged in false advertising by creating the impression that their services were free whereas, in fact, people had to pay for them. Three quarters of the web service violators failed to include the service provider’s contact information on their website, even though this is required under EU regulations. A quarter of these websites were mark ma rket etin ingg we webb se serv rvic ices es as as “ffre ree eee of charge cha charg rge” e and and ano anoth ther er for forty ty percent of these websites hadd the information on their rates hidden in small print in their terms rms and conditions. conditi Frequently, the service provider wouldn’t include clude any inf information about their charges and the customer mer would only discover disc that the service wasn’t free when they hey received their first bill. SSome service terms and conditions contained a disclaimer of the provider’s liability for the given service or product. duct. Out of the 301 websites examined, 54 were shutdown completely mpl and another 159 had to take remedial steps. The only country c that has so far released the identity of the violating websites has been Italy. The market for services targeting mobile phone users is a 2.5 billion euro per year business in the EU. In 2007, the users of such services sppent 691 million euros ju just to buyy mobile phone ringt g ones.

A Repackaging Operation No onee should s be deceived into thinking thatt the money, mo which Europe rop is now offering with such a flourish, iss a brand br new level of assistance. What we are witnessing iss a “repackaging operation” – because most of the purportedd assistance will be made up of foreign aid, which the given countries have already been providing. But now, the funding will be redirected into greenhouse gas emission reduction, green energy and forest preservation projects. However, if the highly ambitious climate protection projects that are being discussed are to be realized, it will be necessary to look at this funding as part of the preparations for the creation of a “flow” of funds, which will end up ppro rovi vidi ding ng bbilillilion onss of eeur uros os iinn ai aidd to tthi hird rd wwor orld ld ccou ount ntriries es after 2012.

A One-Time Intervention Isn’t Enough Coordinated efforts on the part of national regulators to go after different problem-ridden areas are a fairly new practice, which was introduced in 2008. As shown in the recent investigation of services targeting mobile phone users, which was coordinated out of Brussels, these joint efforts can provide a useful investigative tool, which the EU should be using more frequently and aggressively than it has been to date. After all, there are other things being sold online besides mobile phone ringtones.

europlatform

Amsterdam Athinai Berlin Bratislava Bruxelles Bucureşti Budapest Dublin Helsingfors Kobenhavn Lefkosia Lisboa Ljubljana London Luxembourg Madrid Paris Praha Rïga Roma Sofia Stockholm Tallinn Valletta Vilnius Warszawa Wien

EU_matters_interview.indd 106

20.1.2010 17:05:06

e

An interview with Mr. Bogusław Sonik, Member Membe of Europeann Parliament P

FINDING A WISE COMPROMISE on Industrial Emissions Will Involve Much Effort Mr. Sonik, please, could you shortly introduce yourself? How did you end up in the European Parliament?

I am serving now my second term in the European Parliament (2009–2014). Before this fascinating journey started I have been a Director of the Kraków 2000 00 – European rope City of Culture Festival. However, wever, my public pu career started many yearss earlier, iin the 1970’s when I became active tive in anticommuanti nist opposition in Poland. oland. After this period I traveled to France for what I thought though was supposed to be six months ths and happened to be twelve years. In emigration mig I have coopperated with BBC and Radio Free Europpe and later became the Director of Polish Institute in France.

Your position of vice-chair of ENVI committee is very demanding, especially in the context of the current climate change

discussions and Copenhagen Conference.

What is the priority you want to focus on?

I hhave a deep understanding of how complicated and demanding the objectives of this term are as far as ENVI committee is concerned.

Despite many goals, securing energy solidarity within all EU countries seems to be the highest priority at this point. Talking of climate change, I personally believe that we should do our best to secure common but differentiated approach, to the certain extent. It simply is raison d’etat not only for Poland, but for whole region.

I must admit, that I am rather disappointed by the conclusions of the Copenhagen Conference. Inabilityy and even lack of willingn g ess for a smart and ambitious compromise is more than saddening. If we didn’t make it this time, we won’t make it in the future.

What are the most important dossiers you deal with in your committee?

I’m shadowing two reports: one about Baltic Sea strategy, and also RoHS directive. As if this wasn’t enough I’m also actively following the discussion about food labeling that currently takes place in the EP. This topic seems to concern our citizens foremost.

European industry, especially from the Czech Republic or Poland, is very concerned about the IPPC directive. What is your opinion on it?

The main problem about IPPC Directive review is that we are torn between its ambitious aims and the competitiveness of European industry and energy sector. Choosing one over another would do more harm than go g od, however finding a wise compromise will involve much effort.

By Michal Kadera I CEBRE

Source: www.boguslawsonik.pl

e

Amsterdam Athinai Berlin Bratislava Bruxelles Bucureşti Budapest Dublin Helsingfors Kobenhavn Lefkosia Lisboa Ljubljana London Luxembourg Madrid Paris Praha Rïga Roma Sofia Stockholm Tallinn Valletta Vilnius Warszawa Wien

EU_matters_interview.indd 107

107

20.1.2010 17:05:52

EU matters

From left: Jan Březina, Member of European Parliament, Vladimír Hlavinka, Member of the Board of Directors and Chief Production Officer, ČEZ, a. s. and Bogusław Sonik, Vice-Chairman of the EP Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

CEBRE POLICY CAFÉ ON INDUSTRIAL POLUTIONS (IPPC) Representatives of European industry met with a number of key MEPs to discuss the review of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Wednesday 2 December (IPPC) Directive before the second reading at CEBRE Policy Café that took place in the European Parliament on Wednesday, 2009. The gathering was kindly hosted by two Members of the EP Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, Bogusław Sonik (Vice-Chairman) and Milan Cabrnoch. Vladimír Hlavinka, Member of the Board of Directors, Chief Production Officer of ČEZ, Group called on the MEPs to back the Council’s Common Position from June 2009.

108

EU_matters.indd 108

From left: Vladimír Hlavinka, Member of the Board of Directors and Chief Production Officer, ČEZ, a. s., Bogusław Sonik, Vice-Chairman of the EP Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, interpreter and Kevin Nix, Director of Operations, RWE npower Generation

20.1.2010 16:54:16

From left: Václav Lebeda, ČEZ a.s., and Jan Březina, Member of European Parliament

From left: Alexej Nováček, CEO and Vice-President of Teplárny Brno, a.s., President of Association for District Heating of the Czech Republic, Milan Cabrnoch, Member of European Parliament, and Jan Březina, Member of European Parliament

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

EU_matters.indd 109

Mrs. Katarina Kakalíková, EP responsible of MEDEF, and Michal Kadera, Director of CEBRE

From left: Vladimír Remek, Member of European Parliament, Edvard Kožušník, Member of European Parliament, Krzysztof Ebro-Prokesz, Quality Director, EC Kraków SA, and Kazimierz Szynol, Director of Jaworzno III Power Plant, PKE

20.1.2010 16:55:06

CERGE EI IDEA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

Prof. Jan Švejnar, Cerge-EI IDEA

Prof. Jan Švejnar and CERGE-EI launched a new project called Institute for Democracy and Economic Analysis (IDEA), a modern and politically independent think-tank that aims to upgrade and cultivate the level of economic debates and awareness about economic situation by presenting the results of state-of-the-art economic analysis in a way understandable for non-professionals.

Prof. Švejnar hopes that the new project can help generate and disseminate a broad range of leading ideas for policy and contribute to the creation of a national vision and strategy for the future that the Czech Republic seems to be missing now. The public activities of IDEA were kicked off by a public seminar entitled “Unemployment and Economic Outlook for the Czech Republic and Europe” that took place on December 14th. The topic had been inspired by a recent report on the effects of the financial crisis on labor markets prepared by Prof. Švejnar and his coworkers for the President of the European Commission, J. M. Barroso. The seminar had three parts.

During the first part Prof. Švejnar and his colleagues, Dr. D. Münich and Dr. V. Semerák, presented their forecasts of the development of the Czech economy in 2010 as well as their analysis of the development of Czech labor market. The second part was interactive, it had the form of panel discussion between the participants and the presenters. The event concluded with an informal discussion over refreshments.

UNEMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR the Czech Republic and Europe

The first public seminar of IDEA was attended by impressive number of important figures from Czech business and social life, many of which also actively participated in the panel discussion with the presenters. Among the most active ones were Mr. J. Mühlfeit from Microsoft who strongly supported flexibility-focused reforms of Czech labor markets, Prof. K. Janáček from Komerční Banka who very actively discussed results of the macroeconomic forecasts, Ms. M. Jabůrková who represented IBM which also financially supported the seminar, and Mr. P. Kafka from Siemens.

LM_1001_events__2.indd 110

Audience

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

20.1.2010 18:24:48

Kamil Janáček, Chief Economist, KB

Far left: Michal Petrman, Office Managing Partner, Deloitte

Dr. Daniel Münich, Cerge-EI IDEA

Pavel Kavánek, ČSOB

Mrs. Magdalena Souček, Country Managing Partner, Ernst&Young and Pavel Kafka, Siemens

Jan Mühlfeit, Chairman Europe, Microsoft Corporation From left: Prof. Jan Švejnar, Cerge-EI IDEA and Daniel Münich, Cerge-EI IDEA

From left: H.E. Ole Moesby, Ambassador of Denmark, H.E. Yaakov Levy, Ambassador of Israel and H.E. Peter Brňo, Ambassador of Slovakia

From left: Prof. Jan Švejnar, Pavel Kafka,Siemens, Jiří Kunert, Chairman, UniCredit Group, Kamil Janáče, Chief Economist, KB – Komerční Banka and Michal Petrman, Office Managing Partner, Deloitte

LM_1001_events__2.indd 111

Mrs. Milena Jabůrková, IBM and Aleš Bartůněk, General Director, IBM

From left: Dr. Vilém Semerák, Cerge-EI IDEA and Jan Švejnar, Cerge-EI IDEA

22.1.2010 9:45:44

culture event

Mrs. Kateřina Gemrotová and František Kosina, Members of the First Violin Section of the PSO. They were soloist of Alfred Schnittke composition called Mozart à la Haydn conducted by Leonid Grin.

PRAGUE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The Best Autumn Concerts

Mrs. Magdalena Kožená, Singer with Venice Baroque Orchestra at the rehearsal in Prague Rudolfinum

112

LM_1001_events_1.indd 112

The Prague Symphony Orchestra with Condutor Zdeněk Mácal. The concert was held in Smetana Hall of the Municipal House on November 11 and 12.

Jiří Vodička, Violinist

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE 20.1.2010 17:53:29

Kaspar Zehnder, Conductor, during the concert on November 25, conducting the pieces by Jan Málek, Alban Berg and Hector Berlioz

During the Family Concert

During the Family Concert

Mrs. Barbora Polášková, Singer

David Švec, Conductor

Leonid Grin, Conductor and Danjulo Ishizaka, Cellist at the rehearsal

Mrs. Patricia Kopačinska, Violinist

Laďa Kerndl, Jazz Singer. His concert was organised by PSO Concert Department in the Ch urch of St. Simon and St. Jude.

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

LM_1001_events_1.indd 113

Ilja Šmíd, Managing Director, PSO, Míla Smetáčková, widow of legendary conductor Václav Smetáček, Maestro Serge Baudo, Conductor and Mrs. Smetáčková’s daughter

Photos: Dagmar Kneřová

20.1.2010 17:53:56

Another Year Has Passed – Christmas Is Back The end of the year is traditionally a time connected with Christmas season and celebrations of the New Yeaar. In Brno, many of this year’s festivities will have an opening night feel.

Photo: Archive

BRNO CITIZENS DECIDED FOR A CHRISTMAS TREE OF THEIR CHOICE This year, people were given the option to choose a tree that would eventually be illuminated on the Brno’s central square – Náměstí Svobody. Four suitable “candidates” were offered in an internet poll and a Colorado white fir finally defended the position of a favorite tree.

It has been newly decorated this year with as many as thirty thousand champagne-colored LED diodes and with artificial snowfalls. The company Technické sítě Brno, which is in charge of the luminous decorations, has also lit up the whole town with Christmas motives.

Christmas Brno and the fair on Náměstí Svobody and at the Old Town Hall are held under a motto “traditional holidays – new style”.

Stalls and kiosks offer, unlike the years before, classical Christmas items and refreshments.

Advent atmosphere in the historical downtown is scented with punch, mead, sausages and pork delicacies from home slaughtering. Each day’s programme is launched by a Christmas bugler; children are lured by the Baby Jesus’ mail, a belfry, a wooden Bethlehem life-size model, a children’s railway and a zoo-corner.

Apart from traditional performances by schoolchildren, there are concerts given each by live bands, such as Ivan Mládek or Gustav Brom Big Band.

The day before Christmas Eve, the Brno Town Hall will traditionally belong to children: the 17th edition of Christmas at Brno Town Hall will be held in there. The all-day programme in the Assembly Hall will feature, among others, the musical theatre “Kuk a Cuk”, the Brno City Theatre, the Radost Puppet Theatre, and children will also enjoy the company of animals from the zoo.

Belfry at the Náměstí Svobody

114

Ostrava_Brno.indd 114

BRNO NEW YEAR’S EVE WILL BE LIT UP BY FIREWORKS The first day of the New Year 2010 will also be greeted festivvely in Brno. At 11 AM, the ensemble “Moravian Braass Instruments” will resound from the tower of the Old Town Hall. At 6 PM, a spectacular firewoorks show to Vangelis´ music called “Magical Cityy” will “cast a spell” of its colors on the sky above the Spilberk Castle. In the evening, the Brnno Philharmonic Orchestra will be giving a “Vieennese style” New Year’s Concert at Janáček Theatre.

DEAR READERS, The city of Brno, this year for the first time, is preparing thee celebrations of Christmas and Advent in its streets under its own direction. This will bring evenn more Christmas atmosphere and traditions to the historical downtown. Please allow me to innvite you to visit Brno at Christmas time and wishh you a lot of love, happiness and peace of mindd in the upcoming year.

By Roman Onderka I Mayor of the City of Brno Traditional holidays – new style

Leaders Magazine I/2010

20.1.2010 17:09:29

Po roce Vánoce přicházejí Závěr roku je tradičně sspjat s vánočními svátky a oslavoou příchodu nového roku. Letoššní oslavy v Brně mají v mnohém navíc příchuť premiérovou.

OBČANÉ MĚSTA SI SAMI VYBRALI VÁNOČNÍ STROM V letošním roce měli občané ssami možnost rozhodnout o tom, jaký vánoční strom se nakonec rozsvítí na centrálním náměstí Svobody.

Prostřednictvím hlasování na intternetu mohli vybírat ze čtyř vhodných „kandiddátů“ a pozici favorita nakonec uhájila jedle ojíněěná. Ta je letos zcela „nově“ nazdobena, a to hneed třiceti tisíci led diodami v barvě champagne a tzv. snowfally imitujícími padající sníh. Techniccké sítě Brno, které zajišťují celou světelnou výzddobu, rozsvítily také celé město vánočními motivy.

Vánoční Brno a trhy na náměstí Svobody a na Staré radnici jsou letos ve zznamení hesla „tradiční svátky v novém“. Stánkkaři tak nabízí na rozdíl od let minulých klasické vánoční zboží a občerstvení. Adventní atmosféraa v centru historického města je provoněna puunčem, medovinou, klobásami či domácí zabijaačkou. Každodenní program zahajuje vánoční trubač, pro děti je lákadlem Ježíškova pošta, zvonnička, dřevěný betlém v životní velikosti, kolejový vláček či zookoutek. Kromě tradičních vystouupení školáků se na pódiu takřka každý den přředstavují živé kapely, jako třeba Ivan Mládek či Gustav Brom Big band.

Christmas stalls at the Zelný Trh

Invitation on Christmas fair

Den před Štědrým dnem bude brněnská radnice tradičně patřit hlavně dětem. Uskuteční se zde již 17. Vánoce na brněnské radnici. V celodenním program např. ve Sněmovním sále vystoupí hudební divadlo Kuk a Cuk, Městské divadlo Brno, Loutkové divadlo Radost a děti přijdou pozdravit i zvířátka ze zoo.

NOVOROČNÍ BRNO ROZSVÍTÍ OHŇOSTROJ První den nového roku 2010 přivítá město Brno také slavnostně. V 11 hodin dopoledne budou z věže Staré radnice troubit Moravské žestě. V 18 hodin si nad hradem Špilberkem „začaruje“ svými barvami na hudbu Vangelise velkolepý ohňostroj „Kouzelné město“. Janáčkovo divadlo pak na večer připravuje Novo-

roční koncert Filharmonie Brno ve „vídeňském stylu“.

Vážení a milí čtenáři, město Brno letos poprvé připravuje oslavu Vánoc a adventu ve svých ulicích pod vlastní taktovkou. Do historického centra metropole to přináší ještě více vánoční atmosféry a tradic.

Dovolte mi tedy, abych Vás pozval do vánočního Brna a současně Vám popřál hodně lásky, štěstí a pohody v novém roce.

Roman Onderka I primátor statutárního města Brna

Photos: Zdeněk Kolařík

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Ostrava_Brno.indd 115

115

20.1.2010 17:09:58

Ma ttitin Mar iinn Ka K ssík íík tthhhe fo the forem reemost ossstt Cz Czech Czech ecch ch Pian aannist isstt an and nd th HHeeead the th aadd ooff the t e Fr Fr yde yydde dery r ykk CChhop ryk opi ppiin Soci Sooci c ety ci eetty ty PPhooto: too: VVlladi adimí ad mírí W Weeiiss isssss

Interviews.indd 116

20.1.2010 18:51:48

A talk with Martin Kasík, the foremost Czech PPianist and the Head of the Fryderyk Chopin Society

A DISTINGUISHED MUSICAL TALENT Martin Kasík (1976), winner of one of the world’s most prestigious competitions, the New York Young Concert Artists Competition (1999), hass be ha been en pla playi ying ng the the pia piano no sin since ce the the age age of of 4. He He st stud udie iedd at the the Ost Ostra rava va Con Conse serv rvat atoi oire re und under er Mon Monik ikaa Tu Tuge genl nlie iebo bová vá and and Iva Ivann Kl Klán ánsk skýý at the Prague Music Academy. He has taken part in a number of piano courses both at home and abroad, and has won many competitions.

He has received the Prix Davidoff 2000 for the best Czech classical player under 28 years of age, and the Harmonie Prize for the most successful young artist of 2002. He has appeared at a number of prestigious European venues, including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, De doelen Rotterdam, Helsinki Inlandia Hall, Auditorio di Barcelona and others, as well as Alice Tully Hall in New York, The Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, and Singapore’s Victoria Concert Hall. He has been included in the concert series marking the 40 year anniversary of the Young Concert Artists, and on February 15, 2002 he took part in the prestigious concert series at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. In November 2002 he debuted with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

This was followed by three appearances with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra during its tour of Japan. In May 2003 he appeared for the first time at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, and in November 2003 at the Tonhalle Zürich. During the 2004/2005 season he toured with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Japan, and appeared in the USA, Germany, Mallorca and elsewhere. Martin Kasík has made several recordings for the Czech, German, Swedish and Missouri Radios and Czech Television, and has so far made four CDs for the Arco Diva label.

What helped you to discover the world of music?

I grew up in Wallachia, in a family environment where songs were sung and instruments were played a lot. And it did not matter that it was only in amateurish ways.

I started at four years old with improvisation; I tried to make music like what I used to listen to at piano.

It was a great adventure and entertainment for me.

Why have you chosen just a piano? Do you have any ideals?

I chose the piano because it was just at hand. The indisputable advantage is that you do not have to spend years learning it (unlike the violin). In the words of Cimrman – the piano is not so difficult in the very beginnings – not only for the players itself, but most importantly for its audience. As for ideals, I was perhaps most influenced by the legendary Russian-American-Jewish p ano pl pi p ayyer,, Vladimir Horowitz. We can sayy he was a magician of sound, and he was able to play piano at 80 years as well as he did in his youth.

Did your teachers influence you as well?

Certainly. Unlike other professions, you and your teacher have a personal relationship, owing to the individual coursework. Thus it is necessary to be compatible, not only artistically, but humanly as well. And I had great teachers – Monika Tugenliebová at the Janáček Conservatory Ostrava and Ivan Klánský at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. They were the luck of my life.

You came out with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 2002, which is perhaps a dream of any interpreter. Did it meet your expectations?

At first I was looking forward to the concert, and

then I had stage-fright all at once. Reviews praised the concert very much, so I am on the hook to believe that everything ended up well…

You are known to be an interpreter who is not “afraid” of the music of Fryderyk Chopin. What is most difficult about his music?

Fryderyk Chopin is a specific composer. He wrote almost exclusively for piano, and he understood it perfectly. Once you want to interpret his music, you need to display an exceptional musical and acoustic sensitivity and aesthetic taste.

You are also the Head of the Fryderyk Chopin Society. Could you bring about when and why the Society was founded?

The Fryderyk Chopin Society was founded by the artistic elite in 1959. The aim was and still remains the pr p omotion of Chopi p n’s work in the Czech Repu p blic.

In addition to that, it is a recollection of the composer’s stay in our country.

So, the Society would like to preserve the status of the Fryderyk Chopin Festival, organized in Mariánské Lázně. How do you manage to attract the high-quality interpreters from abroad?

We do not have many problems with that. The Festival has a long and memorable tradition – playing there were great pianists like – Martha Argerich; Grigory Sokolov; Krystian Zimerman, etc. Moreover, Mariánské Lázně is on UNESCO’s cultural heritage list, and participation in the Festival is hardly ever refused.

Your repertory reads many famous domestic and foreign composers. What periods do you like most and why are you fascinated about them?

My field of activity is primarily the music of romanticism, i.e. the music of Fryderyk Chopin, Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky, Johannes Brahms, and Sergei Rachmaninov.

It is a period of the golden age of classical music. This music is emotionally full, impressive and provokes ones imagination.

You have gained many significant awards. Which one do you appreciate most?

I regard really highly my winnings in competitions during the Prague Spring, and the Young Concert Artists in New York, which were big, hard work for me. In addition to that, I am also very happy about winning the Gloria Artis medal, which was granted to the Fryderyk Chopin Society by the Polish Ministry of Culture last year.

What is the necessary equipment for a contemporary musician, according to you?

I sugg ggest,, amongg other thinggs,, mainlyy dilige g nce,, sound health, joy from travelling, good communication skills and the ability to speak foreign languages.

Could you tell us if you are preparing any new CD at present?

Shortly, there are going to be two new CDs. First of all, there is the entire piano work of Klement Slavický, one of the most remarkable composers of the twentieth century. And secondly, together with the clarinettist, Irvin Venyš, we are going to issue further Czech authors like Bohuslav Martinů and Viktor Kalabis.

By Pavlína Holancová I český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 117

117

20.1.2010 18:52:05

An interview with Pavel Töpfer, Co-owner of the Restaurant “U Kalicha” (The Goblet)

Czech Tradition at “The Goblet” Pavel Töpfer was born in February 1948. He was trained in cooking and has been working in hospitality ever since. Under communism he managed the well-known restaurants “Nad Karlovem” and “U Palivce”. In 1991 he and his brother, actor Tomáš Töpfer, launched the restaurant “U Kalicha“ (The Goblet). By its name and interior the restaurant refers to the work of Jaroslav Hašek “The Good Soldier Švejk”, and the time in which this work originated. The picture of Franz Joseph I is an essential part of the interior.

Did you always want to be a cook?

Yes, I did. It was thanks to my father. During WWII he was in Terezín where he managed to get to the kitchen. Later, he talked to my brother and me about how ho w it ssav aved ed hhim im hhis is llififee, bbec ecau ause se hhee al alwa ways ys hhad ad oone ne turnip more than the others. Besides this, he gave an amateur theatre performance. My brother was captivated by theatre and I by cooking. I fancied that when I became a cook I could go abroad. However, I did not manage to do that under communism. I began to become gradually independent. I had my first restaurant, then the second one... but of course then everything was owned by the state.

Restaurants “Nad Karlovem” and “U Palivce” were two well-known restaurants that you worked at. “Nad Karlovem” was even written about in West Germany then.

Despite a deep totality, restaurant “Nad Karlovem”

as well as “U Palivce” were set up as I wanted. I remade the interiors, had my own menus, and so on.

“Nad Karlovem” was the first third category restaurant in Prague, where people had to make a group reservatition va on tthr hree ee dday ayss ah ahea eadd of ttim imee. O One ne W Wes estt Ge Germ rman an magazine on hospitality, which was issued not only in Western Germany, but also in Switzerland and Austria, came to hear about it. The magazine published the article called Frühling in Prag. Because I liked making experiments, I told the waitresses to serve in red dresses for the whole year. It was something extraordinary at that time, because waitresses in all restaurants used to wear only black.

In 1991 you and your brother got the restaurant “U Kalicha” back from the state. Did something remain from the original interior?

The restaurant itself is over one hundred years old.

Originally, it was smaller, but in the 1950s it was

extended and the whole interior was reconstructed.

Since then nothing had changed. When they turned it over to us at the beginning of the 1990s, there was a law that the restaurant would be turned over without anyy eq an equi uipm pmen entt, emp empty ty;; or I cou could ld hav havee bo boug ught ht the the interior from them. We wanted to preserve the floors, the walls, as well as the chandeliers, because it had a certain atmosphere. So we decided to buy it. It was not easy at that time. We had to take a big loan, which was guaranteed by our house.

What is important for a well-functioning restaurant?

You have to be a good businessman. You have to have a vision of how you want to do it, and you have to choose a good team of people that would work well. A cook can be a world champion, but if a waiter cannot sell their food, the whole effort falls flat. It is about having a good waiter, a good cook, clean

Photo: Vladimír Weiss

118

Interviews.indd 118

Leaders Magazine I/2010

22.1.2010 10:09:40

bathrooms, cold beer, and to create a congenial atmosphere, and of course you have to be there yourself. If I were not here every day, I would close down in about half a year. People who are working here do not relatively care if everything is working, because it is not theirs. And that is not only a question of money.

The advantage is in having a family business. Both of my sons work here and have a relationship to it; and I am happy for that. I think that all professions should be inherited.

Why did you choose Czech cuisine?

When we got it back, “Švejk” and the writer Jaroslav Hašek were part of the interior. Furthermore, it has been mentioned in all the guidebooks of AustriaHungary, as well as the First Republic. Some meals were cooked here one hundred years ago, and we continue in this tradition. There are thousands of rest re stau aura rant ntss in PPra ragu guee of offe feriring ng ccui uisi sine ne ffro rom m al alll ov over er the world – Chinese, Thai, Japanese, French or Italian; and when tourists from abroad come here, they want to taste a local meal unlike what they have at home.

Our menu is in 26 languages, for instance in Icelandic, Finnish, Greek, Turkish, Korean and in Japanese.

Do you have a stable menu or do you change it regularly?

I have a stable menu. I have not changed it once for the past twenty years. My motto is that when people say to each other that my duck is good, I have to have it good both in January and in July.

Do you still cook?

I do not cook any more, I only control. I have ten cooks who are taking turns. I prefer to have one or two cooks more than to have problems when someone gets ill or quickly leaves.

How do you choose your colleagues?

With difficulties. You cannot choose much in this branch. It is very specific. Those who are really good and skilful, they keep their jobs; the best ones have their own restaurants and have the same problems with staff as I do. The problem is that there are more restaurants than staff. There is really a lack of good people. In this branch people end in a way that they do not come. They finish immediately. Or they come drunk. It is not an easy profession. But it is the same everywhere. My friend Ája Vrzáňová had the same problems in New York.

Is education in the field important for the profession of a waiter?

It is not. You do not have to be a trained waiter, but y u have to have a given talent. The waiter has to yo be nice, pleasant, hardworking, and has to be able to sell meals. You cannot learn this at a hotel school, or anywhere else. In Italy, Greece or in Turkey, not all waiters are trained, but they have a gift.

I wrote a book about staff and customers in which I describe, among other things, how some nationalities behave in the Czech restaurant – how French, Italian, German or Japanese behave.

How do they behave?

No Italian comes on time, Germans always come on time. When ten Swedes or ten Greeks come, they all pay together. When only two Germans come, they pay separately.

Is it possible to generalise this in choosing the meal?

Signatures of Václav Havel, Jacques Chirac, Aleksander Lebedev and others on the wall

Certainly. Italians eat typically Czech meals – roasted piglet, ducks. Germans eat “ready to eat” meals, because they are a bit cheaper.

And what about Swedes?

Swedes as well as Norwegians are refined. Danes do not eat at all, they only drink beer, and all of them are tattooed. Finns are interesting. They do not eat much, nor drink, they are sitting and laughing all the time.

What is your experience with the Japanese?

Japanese are interesting in that they order, for example, fifteen dinners half a year ahead of time, in which thirteen are fish, one schnitzel and one goulash. They even set the hour of their arrival. Then they arrive punctually, and are in a hurry, because they have only one hour before their bus comes. They dreadfully like buying souvenirs. They are bowing and thanking all of the time. It is a completely different world.

Your restaurant is also visited not only by famous Czech people, but also by celebrities from abroad.

Has it ever happened that a well-known person came here and you did not recognize her or him?

Yes, it did. Once a woman came asking whether she could sign the wall where Ája Vrzáňová had signed.

I told her that it was a wall for the signatures of famous people who visited this restaurant. She replied that she was famous as well, that she won the Olympic games, and that her name was Peggy Flemming.

What celebrities signed your wall?

There are plenty of them. I can name former presidents Václav Havel and Jacques Chirac, the owner of the Chelsea club Abramovič. The Jordanian Kingg dined here too, as well as the Secretary General of NATO, or Zoran Djindjic, who was shot two weeks later.

You have mentioned the importance of the atmosphere in the restaurant. How do you create a nice atmosphere in your restaurant?

Every evening we have musicians. Two musicians in the uniforms of the Austria-Hungarian army play Czech, German, Italian, and Russian songs. Customers usually join them and the whole restaurant sings.

Has the economic crisis influenced the number of your customers?

There are less people coming, spending less, but I do not regard it as a crisis. Nobody is dying of hunger.

In the economy, sometimes it is better, sometimes worse. Above all I think that despite the crisis, people do not want to work. Nobody ever has enough. We are always discontented. This displeasure is not only in our country, it is throughout Central Europe. Italians are fine and are in a worse situation than Germans, but Germans are whining all the time.

Your brother is not only a famous actor, but also a member of the Senate. Do you follow Czech politics?

Of course I do, and I get angry. I have a very bad and sad feeling of it.

One of the main issues nowadays is a state budget. What do you think about this situation?

It is really horrible. Every sensible family spends as much money as it earns. If my grandmother wanted to buy a chair, she saved money for it, and then she bought it. People today do not have money, and instead of saving, they borrow, they live ahead and do not care about the future. The same is true for the state. If it goes like this, it ends up that nobody lends us money. The state is not a manager. If my cook burns ducks, I start to yell. If he does it once again, I let him pay for it. Here, they are making ducks for 900 million and nobody is responsible.

Do you see any solution to this situation?

I am very afraid that people will start to vote for the parties that promise them the most. People want to have benefits for free. If it continues like this, I will have to close down. I will tell the employees to go to the employment office, because I won’t bear it anymore. It is easyy to blame the traders for everyt y hingg.

However, it could happen that half of the population would be dependent on the state support, but the state would have nowhere to take it. People are incorrigible, they have a short memory. Unfortunately, it is not possible to conduct a month-long experiment in which there would be an exit visa permit, a queue for bananas, cars only on vouchers, coloured TV’s or washing machines for a half year’s salary. People only look back to the fact that 100 grams of salami once cost 3,60 CZK.

By Zuzana Kasáková I český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 119

119

22.1.2010 8:38:53

charity / fashion event

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

The traditional Mmotion Fair promotion of luxury cars, motorcycles and lifestyle brands took place in the Trade Fair Palace – Veletržní palác. The first day held an opening party for VIP partners, managers and special invited guests to celebrate the partnership between Mmotion and the charity project 4U2 by Eva Čerešňáková. 4U2 focuses on helping children in Bangladesh in the area of education.During the evening a much appreciated art fashion show took place – a combination of pictures and dresses by Helena Kroftová Leisztner. Also to mention, a donation of CZK 20,000 was made to 4U2

by Adam Weber, Director of the AC EXPO.

MMOTION FAIR 120 Eva Čerešňáková as model

LM_1001_events___3.indd 120

20.1.2010 18:32:34

From left: Eva Čerešňáková 1st Vicemiss 2007, Charity Project 4U2, Ing. Helena Kroftová Leisztner, Artist, author of pictures, paintings and art fashion show, Member of the Board of FNMW, Ing. Roland Leisztner, Ing. Andrea Linhartová-Palánová, President of the International Coach Federation, Member of the Board of FNMW and Ing. Lenka Dušková, Vice-Chairwoman

Helena Kroftová Leisztner, Artist and Fashion Designer with picture Venice From left: Vladimír Syblík, owner Aqua Plus Bohemia, Helena Kroftová Leisztner, Artist and Fashion Designer and Karel Wágner, owner Hästens Concept Store

From left: Miroslav Zadák, Petra Tippelt, Diamonds International Corporation and Adam Weber, General Manager, AC EXPO

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

LM_1001_events___3.indd 121

Adam Pacit, Chief Executive, E-S Software and Eva Čerešňáková 1st Vicemiss 2007, Charity Project 4U2

121 Models

20.1.2010 18:33:01

ORBIS LINK 21 knots is an average speed when travelling by a luxurious cruise ship. The knot is one nautical mile, i.e., 1,852 metres per hour. Consequently, 21 knots is almost 40 kilometres per hour, which is the speed of slowly going car. In terms of modern traffic, giant jets or superfast trains, such a ship seems to be an anachronism from previous centuries. One may doubt what is possible to manage while travelling so slowly and also may object that nowadays nobody has time to travel by such a slow ship. The contrary is the case, luxurious cruise ships are the fastest grown segment of tourism at the present time. In the Czech Republic, Orbis Link Travel Agency of fers this kind of voyages and therefore we asked Blanka Müllerová, Travel Agency Co-oowner: Why exactly holiday on a cruise ship?

Despite the fact that a ship sails with a speed of only approximately 21 knots, you can see a lot of things – 7 harbors in 4 different countries during the week in Mediterranean and 7 islands in Caribbean. There is no any other possibility to travel in this way. You can spend the days by getting to know new places and during the night spent in your cabin, your ship transfers you to another destination. Thus a cruise ship vacation is an exceptional holiday that combines cognititive ve aand nd ssta tayy tr trip ipss, eenh nhan ance cedd by tthe he rrom oman antiticc trav tr avel el by by se seaa. You You are are in in a di diff ffer eren entt pl plac acee ev ever eryy dayy annd wh da what aatt is is mo more re, yo re y u ca cann st stay ayy in in th thee co comf mfor mf for ot

and coziness of your cabin without needing to pack your luggage.

When travelling by a cruise ship, which destinations are available?

Besides the above mentioned Mediterranean and Caribbean, which are undoubtedly the most favorite destinations, it is really the whole world. We can find typical seven to fourteen days voyages on the routes of all world seas and continents. For instance, one can mention the Indian Ocean with Seychelles and Mauritius, thee Ar th Arab abia iann Pe Peni nins nsul ulaa ar area ea wit withh th thee Em Emirirat ates es, Bahr Ba hrai ainn an andd Om Oman an, Fa Farr Ea East st w witithh Ho Hong ng K Kon ongg, Sing Si nggap apor oree, or e, M Mal alay al aysi ay siaa an si andd In Indo done do nesi ne siaa, si a, H Haw awai aw aiia ai iann ia

Islands, French Polynesia, Australia and New Zealand area and so forth. The northern beauty lovers will appreciate the voyages in Northern Europe with Norwegian fjords and Iceland or the trips alongside the Alaska coast. In every visited harbor you can attend the facultative trips with a guide or make your own program. In case you are interested in something really different, you can take part in longer voyage and follow the routes of old voyagers or travel to America through the Atlantic like in former titime mess. And And for for tho those se wit withh th thee hi high ghes estt st stan anda dard rdss ther th eree is a tthr hree ee-m mon onth th vvoy oyag agee ar arou ound nd tthe he worlrlrldd. wo d. S Sai ails ls are re,, of cou cours rsee, hel heldd inn tthe he ddat ates es,,

Nor N No oorbe bber eerr t Auuer ueerbac baacch, ba h, Fiilm Prrod Fi Fil rooodduce uccer uc PPhho Pho hotto to: oo:: Pa Paul ul Pac acey ac cey ey

122 1 12 22

Orbis Links.indd 122

Lead Le ader ad ers rs M Maaga gazziine ne I//22010 010 01

22.1.2010 10:24:17

when the when the wea weath ther er in in th thee sp spec ecifific ic are areaa is the the most favorable.

What can I expect from barge? Won‘t it be boring?

Gone are the days, when the rounds of bridge on the old luxurious steamships were the top of amusement. Present ships have been directly created for an active recreation. On the deck, you can primarily expect comfort, great servicing, delicious food and fun of all kind. Your day can start with breakfast in your cabin, bed or on a private balcony. If you do not take part on a trip, you can dedicate time to your body in a fitness cent ce ntre re, so some me ooff th thee sh ship ip’ss sswi wimm mmin ingg po pool olss or jjus ustt rela re laxx in a whi whirlrlpo pool ol. So Some me of of th thee ba barg rges es dis dispo pose se of minigolf, golf simulator, climbing wall, artificial surf wave, running track, multifunction tennis and volleyball court, track for in-line skaters, boxing ring, Grand Prix simulator, cinema 4D and even winter skating-rink. Animator teams prepare and lead programs for both adults and children.

You can participate on a whole complex of courses, competitions, dance lessons and exercises that take place throughout the day. For instance, one can mention lecturerled courses of danc da ncin ingg, yog yogaa, Pil Pilat ates es exe exerc rcis ises es, ae aero robi bicc an andd so on. Sport fans can enjoy international sport streams on large-screen monitor situated on the upper deck of selected barges. Evenings are traditionally a social event – every evening there is a new show in the ship’s theatre, ballroom dancing and for the nightlife lovers disco till dawn.

It seems to be surprisingly active holiday.

What if I just want to relax?

Wellness is the contemporary trend in travelling and shipping companies offer body and spirit care on their ships. In the wellness centre you can afford relaxing, therapeutic, oriental massages or other relaxing and regeneration procedures, such as lava stones massage, aromatherapy and so on. On every ship there is also sauna, steam bath, sun parlor, hairdresser‘s and beauty salon. And if you are too lazy to do anything, there is an option to spend whole day on a sunbed situated on the sunny upper shipboard

Orbis Links.indd 123

with a bboo with ookk or wit witho hout ut itit an andd fr from om ttim imee to ttim imee refresh yourself in a ship bar or whirlpool. The fact is that the sole sea sailing by itself has a beneficial and relaxing effect on your body.

There is no hurry on a barge and those simple things, such as fresh marine air, blue sky with the sun over your head and the movement of a ship on sea will release the hormones of happiness – endorphins for sure.

After reading all this, it looks that I will need not just a small amount of money, won’t I? It is true that the voyages were really the amusement only for „the idle rich“ previously andd th an this is ppre reco conc ncep eptition on ccan an sstitillll pper ersi sist st. On tthe he pres pr esen entt ba barg rges es the there re is is no cla class ss sep separ arat atio ionn known from the past. All the public spaces are available to all passengers, regardless of their accommodation category. Obviously, also nowadays it is possible to spend exorbitant payments for presidential apartment on the best ships, but for your information, you can pay also less than 1,000 Euro for the accommodation in standard cabin. And the price always includes complete full board on a ship as well.

When talking about full board, how is it with food on a barge?

Luxuriously – how else. Also the real gastronomers will appreciate sailing on the ship. Full board consists of many meals throughout the whole day. Delicious and rich breakfast and lunches are served in restaurants and also help yourself buffets, but the five-dish dinners in main ma in rres esta taur uran ants ts aare re aalw lway ayss th thee hi high ghliligh ghtt of the day. Culinary specialities obviously involve choice of superb quality wines from naval winecellar. Real gourmets can also utilize special club restaurants, where the world-famous chefs prepare their specialities.

When voyaging, would you recommend taking children with you?

For sure – mainly on the big modern barges there are a lot of attractions for children. Starting with swimming pool with spiral chute and small aqua park on the upper deck and ending with videogames. There are also kids clubs classified

in aacc ccor orda danc ncee wi with th aage ge aand nd a w who hole le nnum umbe berr of courses and competitions for small mariners.

A costume parade is traditionally popular show on our ships. It is useful to know in advance that on some ships, children accommodated with adults in the same cabin travel totally for free or only for landing fees.

According to your formulations, it seems that such a barge is actually something like a sailing holiday centre for individual tourists.

Would you manage with a company clientele as well?

A barge is purely ideal destination for the ince in cent ntiv ivee – ei eith ther er aass a re rewa ward rd ffor or bbus usin ines esss pa part rtners ne rs or or aw awar arde dedd em empl ploy oyee eess. A voy voyag agee is the the traditional way of gratification in Western European and North American countries and it has its place in motivational and congressional tourism. It is no problem to place and coordinate groups of every size on a ship and offer them required background and services. Implicitly we provide conference spaces and necessary audiovisual technics for free.

What if I will be afraid of being seasick on your barge?

Alll th Al thee mo mode dern rn bar barge gess ar aree eq equi uipp pped ed wit withh th thee efficient stability systems that eliminate vibrations. When the sea is calm, you do not even recognize that you are on a ship. If there are bigger waves on the sea, ship swings – it is still only a ship. But based on experience, this swinging is tolerated without problems by absolute majo ma joririty ty ooff th thee pa pass ssen enge gers rs..

To sum up, a cruise holiday is suitable for all the age groups, for newly married couples on a honeymoon, couples looking for a romantic vacation, families with children and individual or company clientage. All of you will appreciate getting to know new countries via traditional slow way, first quality services and well tasted food. And mainly, you will take a rest.

Welcome on board! www.orbislink.cz; www.okruzniplavby.cz Compiled by LM I

22.1.2010 10:24:37

culture event

perex On October Octobber 29th, 29th, the the highly highly successful successful premiere premiere of of Bohuslav Martinů’s opera opera The The Miracles Miracles of of Mary, Mary, headed headed bbyy Jiří Bělohlávek, Bělohláávek, took tookk place. place. Within Within the the cycle cycle of of four four operas operas with Mary themes, such such players players as as Stanislava Stanislava Jirků, Jirků, Jana Jana Levicová, Dana Dana B Burešová, urešová, M Maria aria K Kobielska, obielska, JJiří iří Hájek, Hájek, Jiří Jiří Kubík, Ivan Kusnjer Kusnnjer and and many many more more have have performed performed leading leading roles, under the production prodduction ooff tthe he AArtistic rtistic D irector of of the the Director Opera Jiří Jiří Heřman.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

GAMES ABOUT MARIA

Henri Bonnet, new Chief Executive Officer, Komerční Banka with his wife

Countess Mathilda Nostizová and Professor Koutecký with his wife

From left: Jiří Bělohlávek, Conductor with Jiří Heřman, Director and Artistic Director of the Opera

124

LM_1001_events__2.indd 124

From performance

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

20.1.2010 18:08:25

culture event

Prime Minister Jan Fischer with his wife in conversation with Mrs. Dadja Altenburg-Kohl, Patron of the National Theatre

On November 12th, the first premiere of the National Theatre drama in this season was performed – it was the Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice.

This play is, especially at present, very provoking, disconcerting and controversial and Shylock as the main figure is undoubtedly one of the greatest writer’s characters. Director Martin Čičvák has taken charge of production and you can see Jiří Štěpnička, Igor Bareš, Jiří Hájek, Lucie Žáčková, Jan Dolanský, Vojtěch Kotek and others in the leading roles.

The Merchant of Venice

Václav Riedelbauch, Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic also visited the premiere

From left: Leading Actor Jiří Štěpnička (Shylock), Jan Hájek (Bassanio) and Igor Bareš (Antonio)

LM_1001_events__2.indd 125

Lukáš Král (Lorenzo) and Pavla Beretová (Jessica)

From left: Jan Hájek (Bassanio), Lucie Žáčková (Portia), Jan Dolanský (Gratiano) and Lada Jelínková (Nerissa)

From left: Martin Čičvák, Director of the performance with Martin Hilský, Translator

20.1.2010 18:08:56

An interview witth Dr. Daadja Altennburg-Kohl, Enntrepreneur

BENEFACTRESS In recent years the name of the Czech doctor and entrepreneur Dadja Altenburg-Kohl has frequently appeared in news about culture. Dr. Altenburg-Kohl, why do you engage in the sphere of culture?

According to Robert Musil, world axees intersect in Prague. We can finally love our hoomeland and show this love in thhe manner we feel we need, as well as in a mannner we are coonvinced is good and beneficial forr it. We no longger have to conform to the politiccal state of affairs or the cultures of the nationss that oppress us. After all those hard years of dicc tatorship, seeeking our own identity takes a veryy long time. We must not cast doubts upon oursselves and have to hold on and cling to the princciples of freedom. Our freedom gives us the streength to hope and the courage to engage oursellves in our socciety and affords the possibility off entering the international cultural communityy. Therefore, wee should contribute to the building up of a traditioonal civil

126

soociety, create small islands and firm foundatioons of the structure regardless of political influences.

Globalisation has broought with it many unpleasant complications, such as a certain sense off disorientation and a surfeit of information.

Annd in the first decadees of its existence, the market economy has broought to our country effects that may be undersstandable yet are neverthheless extremely unpleeasant, since the initial beewilderment and obsess sion with consumption stteals the spirit from thee nation. To stabilise civil soociety, it is necessary to evoke this spirit and veery systematically and relentlessly defend and nuurture it. To work on thee creation and stabilisatioon of moral values, devvelopment of culture and apppropriate education of our children.

I think that I have deeveloped a special infiltraation plan, beginning with small, not large, stteps: to enter, accordding to possibilities, at least a few areas of cuulture, which has been

a lifelong passion of mine. It concerns the endeavour to urge others to create and promote an independent cultural society that lives its own life and does not let itself be distracted by political uncertainties, pitfalls of corruption and unrealistically tempting offers of luxury paradises, which may be attractive, yet are utterly devoid of content.

Thirty years of living abroad and thirty years of rigid discipline, working in a successful family company, is what many people would call happiness. I have learned that true happiness rests first of all in fulfilment of the closest human relationships and then, at least for me, in meaningful creative activity for human society and myself alike. I am fully aware that everything is somehow connected, all spiritual and material values, culture and health. I would like to make use of my time and at least partially contribute to this complex system. It is perhaps good that the majority of significant spiritual matters cannot

Leaders Maagazine I/2010

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

Interviews.indd 126

20.1.2010 18:52:31

You recently donated one million crowns for the reconstruction of the National Theatre’s curtain. Why? The curtain was seriouusly damaged. The deccision to donate this am mount was taken withiin the family circle. The curr tain is a sort of artefacc t, for us a “creation” or wittness to various eventss, stories, tensions, all theeatre genres, as well as human fates. It is also a witness to the diligencee, talent and enthusiasm of all the artists who arre rewarded with applausse. It conceals tensioon and at the same time unveils a mystery. It is a duality and a suddenn unification. It has onne and two faces alike. It divides, for a momennt, retains tension, connects again. The curtaiin connects the audience with the stage and show ws the path to thrilling expeerience. It is also a sym mbol of patriotic feeling. Just like in the past, “Thhe Nation for Itself” should hold true today too.

What is the difference between benefaction activity in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in the world?

When it comes to beenefactors, I think therre are indeed differences. It is important that thosse who donate something in this country do noot immediately expect graatitude or great admiraation. Esteeming benefaactors in our country is a matter of time, a positiive and healthy developpment, a maturing of our society. Here, patronagge is still a long-distance raace. It is not a short-term m hobby aimed at a onee-off effect. Of coursee, benefactors abroad ennjoy a totally differennt social position. People who do not appreciatte the support given will marginalise themselvees

Thee National Theatre Theatrre thanks Komerč Komerční ční banka, a.s., G General Partner of the National Theatre, Unipetrol, a.s. and Škoda Škooda Auto, a.s. – PPartners artners of the National National Theatre, Česká pošta, state-owned enterprise – Partner of National The Theatre eatre performanc performances, ces, AutoCont CZ CZ, Z, a.s. – Partner of drama and the Patrons – Mrs. Dadja Altenburg-Kohl, the Kolowrat-Krakovský familyy and SSynot ynot Tip, a.s. for their support in 2009.

Interviews.indd 127

within soociety. It comess as no surprise that some people loook down on capital or somehow mystify it. Wee are still livingg in a time in which people are disillusioned by mafia capital, with corruption and vainglory being spectres that should serve as a warning siggn. Yet these shadows are not able to influence the intellectual development of our society.

First off all, a stratum of creditable people must be createed, people whoo through the correct instinct, abilities and luckk will manage to build up a certainn stable moral economic community. The number of such people and companies has been growing, and these aree and will be benefactors supportinng all areas of culture, sport and health.

It is a long-term process in which we have to believe. Patience and humility are also a part of benefaaction.

Compileed by National Theatre I čeeský překlad naaleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Photos: Archive

be enumerrated or coonverted into pecuniary terms. Perhhaps the hum man doesn’t appear in the world for noothing after all.

YYou ou have established estaablishedd a museum of modern modeern aart rtt – Muzeum Montanelli, Montaneelli, or MuMo, on NeruNerruddova ovva street in Prague’s Prrague’s Malá Strana.

Yes, heree, in the hearr t of Prague, a city that is and has been Europeann since time immemorial.

T he museum m is located in a place thhrough which hordes of viisitors pass en route to thhe Castle, as has been the case foor centuries. It must be passed by everyone who wants to approach the mysteryy of this city. All those whho have a relationship with history wish from thhe bottom off their heartss that Praguee, as a historrically fateful city, will aftter several decades of the absence of the Czecch lands froom Europe reassume its European mission. We would like to infuse att least somee spiritual dimension to this overcommercialised part off Prague. Ourr objective is to make use of the flow w of tourists and presentt contemporaary art in a historical context. We would like to create a magnetic focal pointt in which sttreams of feellow feelings can meet.

T he paths of the arts haave never knoown borders.

Here all treends of the beaux arts can converge in a harmonnic co-existence.

Traditionaal and conteemporary artt will be presented at thematic annd monograaphic exhibitions. The door is open to students and schools, we will orgaanise meetinngs with artissts and otherr personalitiees from intellectual life. We are also planning innternational projects in Germany, France, Polaand and St Petersburg.

The currrent exhibitiion, Openinng, presents the creationns of 21 fem male artists from all overr the world. Displaying their works side by side are an Israeli artist next to a Palestiniann one, a Pole alongside a German, a Czech next too a Georgian, a French woman alongside a Serrbian. These artists havee long since abandoned feminist power struggles, their paiintings, draw wings, sculptures, videoo-clips and films expresss their callingg for love. A revolution of tenderness s stands up to the tyrannny of sex. Again and again, female artists chooose old motiff s from the history of art: trails of meemories of our legacy, noot as repetition but rebbirth. Until suuch time as things are reborn, they have not beeen born at all. The reformation of feemale artistt s is the visioon of revived spontaneityy. It is a perrmanent seeeking for the lost unity off the human race.

YYour our Foundati Foundation ion DrAK DrA AK is planning the pr proroject Breast. je ect Hand on Breast t . What exactly is it aallll about?

Yes, in cooperation with the Ass sociation off Mammograaphy Diagnoosticians off the Czech Republic, we would likee to launch a nationwide campaign for self-exam mination of breast as an additional preventativee systematic method. We intend to gradually traiin specialistt s who could apply this method in thee Czech Repuublic.

Leaders Magaziine I/ I 2010

127

21.1.2010 18:21:25

Selection from graphic work of Kazakh artist

culture event

From left: PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Owner and Director of MIRO Gallery, Prague, H.E. Bedřich Kopecký, Ambassador, Embassy of the Czech Republic in Kazakhstan, Assemgul Shabarbayeva, Attaché, Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Czech Republic, Prof. Miroslav Klivar, PhD, Artist Theoretician and President of the European circle “Franz Kafka” Prague, H.E. Anarbek Karašev, Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Czech Republic and Leyla Mahat, Artist

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

Exhibition: Prairie Flower

LEYLA MAHAT (*1970)

From left: H.E. Anarbek Karašev, Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Czech Republic and Ing. Milan Hovorka, ViceMinister of the Ministry of Industry and Trade

From left: František Černý, Ex-ambassador of the Czech Republic in Berlin, Germany, Egon T. Lánský, Ex-minister, Ex-senator, Journalist and Ivan Licharski, Chairman, Czech-Turkish Board PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Owner and Director of MIRO Gallery, Prague and JUDr. Veronika Paroulková, Presenter, Czech Television

From right: PhDr. Milan Sedláček, Deputy Minister and Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Bedřich Kopecký, Ambassador, Embassy of the Czech Republic in Kazakhstan and his wife Nora Kopecká

LM_1001_events_1.indd 128

From left: Stanislav Vaněk, Director, Czech Television, PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Owner and Director of MIRO Gallery, Prague and Ing. Arch. Oleg Haman, Chairman of the Society of Czech Architects

20.1.2010 17:54:33

From left: PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Owner and Director of MIRO Gallery, Prague and MUDr. Chu, Traditional China Medicine Centre, Prague

From left: Marian De Riz, Sculptor, Eduard Hrubeš, Moderator and Musician and Mrs. De Riz

From left: Mrs. Lenka Vácvalová, Actress, Ta Fantastika Theatre, Prague and Deana Jakubisková, Actress and Film Producer

From left: Ing. Josef Jarabinský, legendary Football Coach, Ing. Milan Hovorka, ViceMinister of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Stanislav Mach, TC MACH s.r.o.

From left: Pavel Čičel, Slovakian Evangelical Church in Prague, Dr. Josef Gáfrik, Journalist, Pražský Deník, Marián Hodoš, Art Collector and Dominik Biľo, Graphic Designer From left: Ing. Petr Bratský, Deputy, Parliament of the Czech Republic and H.E. Anarbek Karašev, Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Czech Republic

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

LM_1001_events_1.indd 129

From left: PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Owner and Director of MIRO Gallery, Prague, Deana Jakubisková, Actress and Film Producer, Leyla Mahat, Artist and Juraj Jakubisko, Film Director

20.1.2010 17:55:01

culture event

From left: Jakub Junek, Violinist, Kristina Krasnyanskaya, Art Director and Owner of the International Art-Gallery Heritage, Moscow, Miloš Jaro, Director of the Czech Center, Czech House Moscow

MIRO Gallery Prague Presents 18 Czech Artists in International Art-Gallery Heritage in Moscow 1. Anderle Jiří (*1936); 2. Balcar Karel (*1966); 3. Bálková Barbora (*1978); 4. Bolf Josef (*1971); 5. Dokoupil Jiří Georg (*1954); 6. Hardi Vanesa (*1971); 7. Hodonský František (*1945); 8. Holcová Veronika (*1973); 9. Jíra Václav (*1939); 10. Kornatovský Jiří (*1952); 11. Kortan Frank (*1964); 12. Pošvic Miroslav (*1959); 13. Rittstein Michael (*1949); 14. Šárovec Martin (*1977); 15. Šmíd Pavel (*1964); 16. Špaňhel Jakub (*1976); 17. Větrovský Vladimír (*1977); 18. Wagner Josef (*1938).

Czech Contemporary Art

“PARALLEL LINES III”

From left: Father Alexij Jushchenko, Archpriest, Representation of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the Russian Federation with his wife, Miloš Jaro, Director of the Czech Center, Czech House Moscow and PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Director and Owner of MIRO Gallery, Prague David Čolić, Head of the Real Estate Developement, MPC Properties, London and CoOwner of Luento Santoro, Chocolate Emporium, London, Main Partner of the Exhibition

From left: Samvel Makarchyan, General Director of the Best Performance 4 Ltd, Kristina Krasnyanskaya, Art Director and Owner of the International Art-Gallery Heritage, Moscow and Liana Makarchyan

LM_1001_events_1.indd 130

From left: Vitaly Maksetskiy, General Director of RETEMP, Power Engineering & Automation, Moscow – Prague and Kristina Krasnyanskaya, Art Director and Owner of the International Art-Gallery Heritage, Moscow

From left: David Pavlas, Diamonds International Corporation, Moscow, MUDr. Jana Synková, Executive Director, Diamonds International Corporation, Prague, PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Director and Owner of MIRO Gallery, Prague and Eva Moravcová, Diamonds International Corporation, Prague

22.1.2010 10:37:24

From left: Ing. František Šejnoha, International Bank for Economic Cooperation, Ing. Josef Svoboda, PhD, International Bank for Economic Cooperation, Moscow and Mgr. Hynek Pejcha, Counsellor-Minister, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Czech Republic

From left: Boris E. Rasskazov, Head of Krasnogorsk District Moscow Region with his wife, Hynek Pejcha, Counsellor-Minister, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Czech Republic PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Director and Owner of MIRO Gallery, Prague and Anna Shvareva, PetronA Ltd.

From left: Mrs. Kristina Krasnyanskaya, Art Director and Owner of the International Art-Gallery Heritage, Moscow and Kiril Zhicharev, Chairman of the Committee of Directors of Holding Imperio Group

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE LM_1001_events_1.indd 131

Mrs. Kristina Krasnyanskaya, Art Director and Owner of the International Art-Gallery Heritage, Moscow and Ilja Rejzis, International Centre of Festivals

From left: Mrs. Violeta Maslakova, Kadzhaja Madina, Marina Voroncova and Alena Andrionova, Knight Frank, Estate Agency

From left: Olga Kabo, famous Russian TV and Film Actress with daughter Tatiana, PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Director and Owner of MIRO Gallery, Prague and Ljubov Elisavetina, Historian of Art

20.1.2010 17:45:02

culture event IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

MIRO Gallery Prague Presents: Jiří Georg Dokoupil (*1954) ● Jiří Kornatovský (*1952) ● František Kupka (1871–1957) ● Josef Nálepa (*1936) ● Georgi Stojanov (*1961) ● Martin Šárovec (*1977) ● Josef Šíma (1891–1971) ● Antoni Tápies (*1923) ● Andy Warhol (1928–1987) ● Jan Zrzavý (1890–1977)

Presentation of MIRO Gallery Prague at the 1st year of Brno Art Fair 26.– 29. 11. 2009

From left: Ing. Petr Bajer, CSc., Chief Executive, Brno Regional Chamber of Commerce and Ing. Michal Štefl, Chairman of the Board of Directors, CEO, OHL ŽS, a.s.

From left: Štěpán Pala, Sculptor, Mgr. Eva Čomborová, Managing Director, SOGA, auction company, Bratislava, Mgr. Nina Gažovičová, Curator, SOGA, auction company, Bratislava and Zora Palová, Sculptor

From left: RNDr. Petr Duchoň, former Brno Mayor and former Euro MP and PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Owner and Director of MIRO Gallery, Prague

From left: Georgi Stojanov, Artist and Martin Gerboc, Artist

132 From left: Dr. Jiří Švestka, Owner of Jiří Švestka Gallery in Prague and Berlin and PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Owner and Director of MIRO Gallery, Prague

LM_1001_events_1.indd 132

From left: Ing. Michal Štefl, Chairman of the Board of Directors, CEO, OHL ŽS, a.s., Zdeňka Sigmundová, MIRO Gallery, Prague and prof. Eduard Schmidt, Emeritus Chancellor of Masaryk University in Brno

20.1.2010 17:42:01

christmas charity concert

Markéta Šebková, Marketing & PR Manager, Hilton Prague & Hilton Prague Old Town and Michael Specking, General Manager, Hilton Prague & Hilton Prague Old Town

Hilton Charity

Annual Christmas Concert

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

On Sunday, 20th of December, the Hilton Hotels in Prague organized the annual Christmas Charity Concert for their clients and partners, already the thirteenth in the history of Hilton.

For a third year in a row, the concert was organized jointly by the Hilton Prague and the Hilton Prague Old Town.

LM_1001_events__2.indd 133

From left: Luca Crocco, Hotel Manager, Hilton Prague Old Town, Manfred Franke, Chairman and Director, Chance 4 Children, Mrs. Claudia Specking, Michael Specking, General Manager, Hilton Prague & Hilton Prague Old Town, Markéta Šebková, Marketing & PR Manager, Hilton Prague & Hilton Prague Old Town and Antonín F. Hradil, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, 1st violin

21.1.2010 18:26:27

From left: Ing. Milan Baka, Marketing Coordinator, Žabka, a.s., his wife on the left, Markéta Šebková, Marketing & PR Manager, Hilton Prague & Hilton Prague Old Town, JUDr. Ing. Marcel Šebek, Real Estate Project Manager, McDonald’s ČR s.r.o., Veronika Jůzová and Petr Casanova, Chief Editor, Top Class Magazine Dušan Popelka, Director, Oficina de Repúlica Checa, Instituti de fomento – Cámaras de comercio and Věra Rašková, Director, Disemo

From left: Zdeněk Kohout, Coly Promotion s.r.o., Markéta Šebková, Marketing & PR Manager, Hilton Prague & Hilton Prague Old Town, Martin Tengl, Representative, Everel s.r.o. and Robert Chlumský, Representative, Eurocar Transport

The great music with Christmas themes was played by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra headed

by Antonín Hradil, this year featuring the International Female Choir Viva Voce, which brought the right Christmas spirit with carols sung in different languages. As in the previous years, the Hilton Prague decided to support the charity foundation Chance 4 Children that is focused on helping children in need.

Hilton Hotels in Prague have also been participating in the “Small Change, Big Difference” charity campaign organized by the Hilton in the Community Foundation, which has been running since October throughout the yearend. The campaign invites Hilton guests to add an optional 1 Euro or its equivalent in the local currency onto their room bill during their stay. Proceeds will benefit Chance 4 Children.

In the course of the campaign, almost 80,000 CZK were collected up to the concert date.

LM_1001_events__2.indd 134

From left: Alexandra Lobkowicz, Anne-Sophie Desprat, Christina Colin, William Lobkowicz, Gabrielle Grieb and Serge Desprat

From left: Roman Petr, General Manager European Operations, Copy General, Věra Rašková, Director, Disemo, Stephanie, Brazil Dance Group, Manfred Franke, Chairman and Director, Chance 4 Children and Ilja Hašek, owner of UniServis Hašek s.r.o.

21.1.2010 18:28:42

From left: Markéta Šebková, Marketing & PR Manager, Hilton Prague & Hilton Prague Old Town doing the raffle, Alžběta Slavíková, Marketing & PR Assistant, Hilton Prague & Hilton Prague Old Town, and Mrs. Claudia Specking

Czech National Symphony Orchestra and International Female Choir Viva Voce

Jiří Frček and his sister Ing. Alena Frčková, World Travel Experiences

Mrs. Claudia Specking and Manfred Franke, Chairman and Director, Chance 4 Children

From left: Pavel Rákosník, Outbound Sales Manager, Meteor Office Park, Jitka Rákosníková, Editor in Chief, F.O.O.D., Mladá Fronta a.s., Zlatuše Vondrová, Product Manager, Design Club, Anna Jíšová, Paintress, and Drs. Marian S. Sucha, Journalist, Publisher

Choir Viva Voce

This amount was rounded up by Hilton and a cheque in the amount of 100.000 CZK was handed over to Chance 4 Children on behalf of Hilton by Michael Specking, 135 General Manager of the Hilton Prague & Hilton Prague Old Town. Additionally, throughout the evening guests contributed to the collection in the amount of almost 45.000 CZK. During the raffle, over 400 guests had a chance to win valuable prizes, after the concert a festive reception took place in the adjacent banqueting rooms.

LM_1001_events__2.indd 135

21.1.2010 18:30:56

diplomatic event On the occasion of the 76th birthday of His Majesty the Emperor and the 20th anniversary of His Majesty the Emperor’s Accession to the Throne, H.E. Chikahito Harada, Ambassador of Japan and his wife were pleased to welcome so many friends and colleagues to celebrate this important day for their country. The guests of honour were H.E. Mr. Sobotka and H.E. Mr. Vlček.

The 76th birthday of His Majesty the Emperor and the 20th Anniversary of His

Ambassador Harada’s address at the reception: “I am very pleased to celebrate with you today, the 76th birthday of His Majesty the Emperor.

First, I should underline that year 2009 is a very commemorative year for both Japan and the Czech Republic. ☞ continues on the next page

ACCESSION TO THE THRONE

136

LM_1001_events__2.indd 136

From left: MUDr. Přemysl Sobotka, President of the Senate, Parliament CR, Miloslav Vlček, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Parliament CR and H.E. Chikahito Harada, Ambassador of Japan in his welcome speech

21.1.2010 18:23:48

From left: H.E. Chikahito Harada, Ambassador of Japan, Miloslav Vlček, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Parliament CR and MUDr. Přemysl Sobotka, President of the Senate, Parliament CR

From left: H.E. Chikahito Harada, Ambassador of Japan and Ing. Jiří Paroubek, Chairman of the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) From left: Benke Aikell, your Publisher and H.E. Alexej Fedotov, Russian Ambassador

From left: H.E. Chikahito Harada, Ambassador of Japan, with his wife Atsuko, H.E. Jan C. Jenneman, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and his wife

From left: H.E. Chikahito Harada, Ambassador of Japan, with his wife Atsuko and Miloslav Vlček, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Parliament CR

As for Japan, year 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of His Majesty the Emperor’s Accession to the Throne. Over the last twenty years their Majesties the Emperor and Empress have fostered friendly relations with many countries including the Czech Republic. As for the Czech Republic, year 2009 is the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution. And during the first half of year 2009, the Czech Republic played a very important role of the EU presidency. In the bilateral context year 2009, we had high-level governmental and parliamentary visits. Last May the Japanese Prime Minister visited Prague, and the Senate delegation headed by the President of the Senate H.E. Mr. Sobotka paid an official visit to Japan. These high level visits have surely given a fresh impetus to further strengthen the bilateral relations.”

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

LM_1001_events__2.indd 137

From left: MUDr. Přemysl Sobotka, President of the Senate, Parliament CR, Miloslav Vlček, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Parliament CR and H.E. Chikahito Harada, Ambassador of Japan, toasting each other for very good relations between their countries

21.1.2010 18:24:31

From left: Ing. Milan Hovorka, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Industry and Trade, H.E. Jean Faltz, Ambassador of Luxembourg and H.E. Alberto Salas Barahona, Ambassador of Peru

From left: H.E. Chikahito Harada, Japanese Ambassador, with his wife Atsuko and Ing. Peter Formánek, MA, FICB, Vice Chairman, Board of Trustees, Anglo-American University

H.E. Jens Eikaas, Ambassador of Norway and H.E. CeliaSandra Botha, Ambassador of South Africa

From left: H.E. Peter Brňo, Ambassador of Slovakia, with his wife and Vladimír Valovič, Slovak Institute

Takashi Yamana, General Manager, Sumitomo Corporation Europe Group and his wife

138

THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY...

LM_1001_events__2.indd 138

From left: Gustav R. Ferdinandus, Consular Affairs, Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Mrs. Kanjanawadee Surakitbunharm Gertzen, First Secretary and Consul, Royal Thai Embassy, Nandan Singh Bhalsora, Second Secretary, Embassy of India, Ly Quoc Tuan, Minister Counsellor, Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Woon-Ki Lyeo, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Republic of Korea, Mrs. Sauwarot Kanchanapoom, Minister Counsellor, Royal Thai Embassy and Yursan Hadromi, First Secretary, Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia

20.1.2010 18:19:12

From left: Tsutomu Otsubo, President, Toyota Motor Czech spol. s r.o. with his wife (on the right) and Milan Vlach, Department of Theoretical Computer Science and Mathematical Logic, Charles University

From left: genmjr. JUDr. Lubomír Kvíčala, former Director, Policie České Republiky and Václav Havlíček, Professor, Msc, Phd, Rector of Czech Technical University in Prague H.E. Mrs. Youzhen Huo, Ambassador of China and Miloslav Vlček, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Parliament CR

From left: H.E. Yaakov Levy, Ambassador of Israel, Ing. Milan Hovorka, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Industry and Trade and Petr Hejma, former Mayor of Prague 1

From left: H.E. Amal Mourad, Ambassador of Egypt, H.E. Nino Nakashidze, Ambassador of Georgia and H.E. Ole E. Moesby, Ambassador of Denmark

From left: Mirko Lachman, Senior Advisor, Leaders Magazine and H.E. Frane Krnić, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia

From left: William Lobkowicz, The Lobkowicz Collections and H.E. Chikahito Harada, Japanese Ambassador with his wife Atsuko

LM_1001_events__2.indd 139

139

20.1.2010 18:19:55

THE TRUE OLYMPIC VIRTUES

interview

140

Interviews.indd 140

Josef Dovalil, Vice-President of the Czech Olympic Committee for Olympism, about the Ideals of Olympism Photo: VladimĂ­r Weiss

20.1.2010 18:53:20

A talk with Josef Doovalil, Vice-President of thhe Czech Ollympic Committeee for Olyymppism, about the Ideaals of Ollymppism Dooc. PhDr. Josef Dovvalil, Csc. (1944) graduated from the Faculty of Physical Eduucation and Sport, Charles University. Siince 1968 hee has carried ouut research and lectturing in sport trainning. He puublished more than 200 scienntific articles and publications. Between 19991 and 1997 he serr ved as a Dean of Faculty off Physical Educatiion and Spport. In 1997 he was awardded a Gold Medal for his work for Charles University. In the period 19993–97 he was a member of the steeering comm mittee of the European Netwoork of Sport Sciencces in Higher Education. From 1987 too 2008 Josef Doovalil was a memberr of the Executive Committee of the Czech Ice-hokey Federaationn. In 1994–98 he was a member of the Cooaching Com mmittee of the International Ice-hockey Federation. Siince 1996 he has been Vice-President of the Czech Olym mpic Committee for Olymppism. He wass in management of the Czech Olyympic Team at the Olympics inn Nagano in 1998, Sydney 20000, Salt Lake City 2002, Athens 2004, Torinoo 2006 and Beijingg 2008.

What is the difference between the contemporary Olympics and the ancient Olympics in the sense of their cultural and social significance?

The significance is not much different. What hass changed is the form of the Games and their perception. Money has alttered their organisation, accompanying program mme and eveents. However, the substt ance remains the sam me. Today, same as in the ancient tim mes, it is a huge social gathering of people who share and experience together mooments of draamatic thrill, either as coompeting athletes or ass spectatorr s. In contrast to the pastt, the experience is multtiplied by moodern means of communication. The media brings the Olyympics all over the World and billions of people can follow theem. Often the home view wer’s experience, enablled by TV cameras, differs from the actual experience at the stadium.

For the eye of the cameraa sees what the eye off ordinary spectators cannot incept. Spectators can feel the atmosphere at the stadium, but on the other hand they caannot see whhat the television can trannsmit.

So I do not think that any change to the subsstance of thee game has happened. Thhe resemblance has channged. The woorld is different, but the sense of the Olympicss remains thee same.

What is then the link between the ancient Olympics and the present Games?

The ancient Olympics lassted for a thousand yeaars. It was a conglomerate of religiouss festivities, sport discipplines and arttistic competitions. Theyy also had their politicaal atmosphere. Ancient ekecheiria, “hands off the arms”, thhe Sacred Truuce, meant the cessationn of hostilities and the deferring of all wars. This is often foorgotten nowadays. Thee Modern Woorld, however they try, cannnot get back to this traddition and come to some sort of agreement. It does not get much publicity that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and thee United Nations adopt a declaration of peace with the occasion of every Olympicss. In the declaration thee IOC and thee UN attempt to revive thhe idea of World peace. However, witth the often different innterpretations and view ws of the Olyympics, and sport as succh, this gets somewhat lost. The Gaames are often presenteed as an event to makee money.

In my opinion, the media inaadequately promotes thhe Games as an economic event. Theyy inform mainly about thhe money broought in, or how much eveerything has cost.

We have a sport managem ment programme at the Faculty of Physical Education and Spport where I teach sportt training.

Myy colleagues in this programme like to stress to thee students thaat sport is business. I do oppose them by saying that sport is also a business. I believe that the primary essence of sport – satisfaction from perform mance, self-realization, the joy of meeeting others, strong expeerience and enjoyment – have not dissappeared from modern sport, and this is what connects thee ancient Olympics with thhe modern Olympics.

I took part in seven Olympics at various roles. I am not naïve. I know that the Games are influenced by mooney, and thaat business is all arounnd during the Games. However,

many of the competing athletes teestify that the difficultlyy of achieving the Olympic experiencce, as well as personal contacts in the Olympic village etc. is present at the Games..

What does the term Olympism represent in the 21st. Century?

One cannot define it in one senteence. Olympism iss a whole complex of ideas and phooenixxes that define thee Olympic movement and its philosophy. Today it is also thee ancient idea of kalokagathie – thee ideaal of a person thatt is balanced physically and mentallyy, as well as morally. It iss the right of any human to partakee in sports without anyy discrimination. Olympism is honest competing in the sensee of fair play. It is the appraisal of thhe victory of others, andd one’s own self-improvement. Olym mpism m is also meetingg people; sport as part of national cultures and identities; Olympic games as a celebration off sport, symbolizing nott only athletic performance, but alsso Woorld solidarity, andd a peaceful co-existence... Howeverr it may sound formallyy, the World should value at this time that people do not standd and fight against each other. Olympism caannot avoid politicss though. We all know what was going on during Beijing. Butt from its principals Olympism should bringg people together.

I would define it as a certain philosophy of sport. I wouldd like to recall something that Pierre de Couubertin, the founder of modern Olympism, said: “Sport caan have beneficial or harmful influence depending onn thee position we takee towards it. It can produce the most gentleemanlike ambitionss and aspirations, but also the most conddemnable instincts.

Sport can be chivalrous as well as corruupted.” Sport is ann opportunity for better upbringing annd education. But also itt is an opportunity for hatred. Sporr t is an opportunity for friendship, excellency, and joy. Buut it also brings tears.

Those are moments peculiarly typpical for sport and theyy should be stressed. The interpretation of sport where thee primary virtue is only money is very reducc tionistic.

The Olympic movement, along with the Olympic committee evokes the idea of a sort of broad civic association. What organisation is actually the Czech Olympic committee (COC)?

The Czech Olympic committee iss an institution workingg with the International Olympic Committee to expand thee ideals of Olympism, and provide suppport for the preparationn and participation of the Czech team at the Olympics. Thee Olympic movement is a rather compplex organisation. At thee very outset, IOC was established with thhe proposition thatt whoever identifies themselves withh the ideas of Olympism m is a member of the Olympic movem ment. Following this, na-tional Olympic committees were founnded.. The Czech Olympicc Committee was founded in 1899, deeclaring that theyy accepted the ideas of the IOC annd that they wanted too become an IOC member.

Competences of national Olympic com mmittees are set byy the Olympic Chart, which is comprised of 22 points. Our Committee should expand the ideaas of Olympism, supportt the development of sport and Olympic education, andd

provide for the participationn of the Czech teaam at the Games.

The Committee associates, Czech Olympiaans’ Clubb and the Czech Club of Fair Play, popularize praactising sport in the sense of fair play, and reward sport deeeds in thhis sense.

The Czech Olympic Academ my works theorettically on various aspects and questions of Olympism. The Articles of COC also support artistic work.. For instance, we organized the exhibition ‘Sport and Olympism in Czech Fine Artss’ to commemorate the 100 year annniversary of thee Czechh Olympic movement.

COC as an institution is comprised of an almost 1000-member plenary of delegates of Olympic and nonn-Olymppic sports.

Besides this, prominent atthletes such as Štěpánkka Hilgertová, Dana Zátopková, Jiří Raška and otherr repressentatives of the Club of Olympians,, the Club of Faair Play, and the Olympic Academy are members of the COC. What is the legal entity of the COC? The COC is a civic associiation.

Where do you get the money to provide for the variety of your activities?

The Czech Olympic Team is financially suppported to a large extent by the statee. One part of the fundding goes to the athletes’ preparationn during the 4-yeaar Olympic cycle.

The COC distributes thosee resources by set rulees among separate sports. The otherr part covers thee particiipation of the Czech Team at the Olym mpics.

The COC also receives a smaller contribbution from IOC. Regular resources then coome from the COC’s marketing activities. We founded our own company Česká olympijská a.s. that takes care of ourr marketing activvities. T he Czech Olympic Team has main annd official (includding media) partners. The COC is also a shareholder of SAZKK A a.s.

The upcoming Olympics in Vancouver are being compared to Lillehammer 94. In what sense should those two Olympics be similar?

The Organisation of the Games, as well as help and care paid to the athletes have been comparabble at thhe recent Games. By all standards, this has been excellennt of late.

What is probably meant by the comparison is thhe hardly describable spectators’ abbsorption in sporr ts. I haave to say that I have not experieenced such ennthusiassm since Lillehammer 94 – spectatoors that so fabulously apppreciate what is going on at the sporr t scene. They paay huge applause not only to their home athleetes, but also forr instancce to athletes finishing last. In Norr way, one felt a fantasttic sense of sport – a true Olympic atmosphere. Peoople weere taking vacations from work to haave the opportuunity too work as volunteers. In a sense, Caanada is a similarly tunned sport nation. And so it may happeen that the atmossphere of the upcoming Games in Vancouver will echo that off Lilleham mmer.

By Filip Huubáček I český překlad naaleznete v elekktroniccké verzi magazínu na www.leadeersmaggazine.cz

Leaders Magazzine I/ I 2010

Interviews.indd 141

141

21.1.2010 18:38:34

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

Business May Be Your Life – But – Life Is Your Business Part II: What Do You Really Want In A Job? A,B

CHANGE THE WORLD

James A. Cusumano, PhD

“There is one great truth on this planet: whoever you are or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It’s your mission on earth.”

Paulo Coelho – “The Alchemist” KEY CONCEPTS: ■ Deep down, most people want essentially three things in a job, in the following priority.

1. A sense of passion from a higher purpose 2. Reasonable autonomy to do their job 3. An appropriate reward for success

Having spent most of my professional life in California’s Silicon Valley, I was fortunate to meet a number of successful entrepreneurs. To name just a few, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, founders of Apple Computer; Bob Swanson, founder of Genentech, and Jim Clark, founder of Netscape and Silicon Graphics. In discussions over the years with these gentlemen and others like them, I found that not one of them followed their course of action primarily to get rich. Not one of them sought to be famous, although each of them carried a sizeable ego, and the self confidence to go with it. They each had a common set of principles that motivated them to achieve their successes. Each of them possessed three attributes that fanned the fires within them to help address important world challenges, while creating millions of jobs, building hundreds of billions of dollars of corporate value, and contributing significantly to our global GDP. And what is equally important, these same three attributes, I have found, are what motivate most of us in our professional life, and for that matter, in life in general.

142

JIM.indd 142

These men pursued dreams that they thought would make a positive difference in the world. The first principle is to work on something that you believe is important, something that will make an important positive difference. In the best of circumstances, it is your personal passion in life. For example, if you have loved trains since you were a child, you might consider working for a rail company in some capacity. Finding your passion is a special process in its own right, and is the subject of the next article in this series. However, knowing your ultimate passion in life is not an absolute necessity for finding a satisfactory, productive and rewarding job. You might take a position in an area of interest to you, and while working, find your passion.

And when you do, nothing will stop you from pursuing your journey toward your life goals.

Steve Jobs, who was my neighbor in Palo Alto, California, is a good example. He didn’t invent the Apple computer; it was his friend, Steve “Woz” Wozniak. But, Jobs, having a keen marketing eye, recognized in 1976 that this device could change the way the world works.

He had barely made it through a few months at Reed College in Oregon before quitting. Yet he could see the global potential of the computer, and he wanted Woz to build the “neatest” computer on earth, so that they could create a market and help bring that potential to fruition. “An Apple in every home, business and school,” he would say. It was his passion. He had few worldly possessions, just a beat-up old van. And he sold it to raise $1300 for Woz to buy the parts needed to complete the assembly of the first Apple computer.

The rest is history.

Jobs is an entrepreneur in the true sense of the word.

He is not a typical corporate executive. In fact, he probably would be loathed to be called one. He once told me that his primary motivation in the innovation process is to make “cool” (read ‘irresistible’) products that usually end up creating a market, rather than addressing an existing market. Examples include Apple II, Macintosh, iPod, iTunes, and iPhone. In fact, Steve has little patience with sales and market data for current products. He constantly seeks to change the world for the better through innovation with his “cool” products.

Although currently facing challenging health issues, Jobs still leads Apple, which currently has a market value of more than $170 billion.

With Genentech, Bob Swanson created a global revolution in genetic engineering that changed the face and future of healthcare. Founding the company in 1976, he and his team developed biopharmaceuticals that have literally saved the lives of millions (see Figure 1)1. Our family personally benefited from his efforts. My father “died” twice in a Dallas hospital

emergency room, but was fortunate to be revived each time by strong electrical shocks in conjunction with a potent biotech drug called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) developed by Genentech. Administered immediately after defibrillation, tPA activated a series of biochemical reactions in my father’s circulatory system Figure 1: In 1976, Bob Swanson, shown here in 1984, founded Genentech, the first and most successful commercial biotech company (Reference 4).

that rapidly dissolved the heavy clots of protein plaque blocking the flow of blood in his life-preserving coronary artery. Bob’s leadership at Genentech created innovative drugs that saved dad’s life and innumerable others throughout the world. It is terribly ironic and saddened me deeply to have seen Bob succumb to a brain tumor in December 1999 at the age of 52.

In 1981, Jim Clark left his position as Professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University to found EDITOR’S NOTE – A) This is the second in a new series of articles based on the author’s experience as an entrepreneur, having founded several successful businesses, including Catalytica Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a billion-dollar public company. His experience base currently spans “5 lives” – A multimillion record sales recording artist; R&D Director for Exxon; CEO & founder of 2 public companies; CEO, founder and Executive Producer for Chateau Wally films; Chairman & Owner of Chateau Mcely, an international award-winning luxury hotel & SPA. This article is extracted from his latest book, currently in preparation and entitled, “My Little Book of Business – Tales of Passion, Life & Enterprise.”

B) The author may be reached at Jim@ChateauMcely.Com.

Leaders Magazine I/2010

20.1.2010 16:44:46

TO BE CONTINUED...

Silicon Graphics. Subsequent to its success, he left to found Netscape because he saw that he could help launch the worldwide web, and he new what that would mean for humanity. He was not after money or fame. Jobs, Swanson and Clark all followed their dream. Each of them changed the world for the better.

In my small universe, I left Exxon where I was Director of R&D with a promise of vice presidency. I gave up a comfortable and well-defined path to advancement and financial security to join two close friends in forming a fledgling consulting company called Catalytica Associates. We each invested $10,000 to launch our adventure. I took out a loan to raise my contribution.

The other two founders and I were trained and commercially experienced in catalytic science and technologies. We passionately believed – we “knew” – that catalysis was critical to address many of the major global challenges that were beginning to be recognized in the early 1980s, not the least of which were then – and still are – sustainable, environmentally-compatible manufacturing, energy security, and climate change.

Catalytic technologies enable manufacturers to reduce the number of process steps, minimize and sometimes even eliminate the use of toxic materials. We envisioned growing our consulting business to a critical nucleus and then moving into technology development and manufacturing, which we ultimately did. When we eventually sold our company at a premium, which we had taken public on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange, we had more than 2,000 employees, annual sales of $500 million with a profit of $50 million, and a market value of $1 billion. We made our shareholders very happy! But I can honestly tell you that we were never after money. Our deep-seated passion was to help industry commercialize safer, more cost-effective, sustainable technologies – and we did just that.

I DID IT MY WAY The second fundamental principle is that successful entrepreneurs need a strong sense of autonomy in their work; they have got to do it their way. They have a vision, and they want nothing to get in the way that vision. This is not to say that they do not listen to the input of others, but in they end, they follow their intuition and their dreams. This attitude sometimes got Jobs in trouble with his colleagues at Apple, and in fact it got him fired by John Scully, the former CEO of PepsiCo, whom Steve hired to help him build Apple (see Figure 2)2. But the basic principle is sound, and applies not only to entrepreneurs, but to employees as well. If you are an employer and have smart people Figure 2: Steve Jobs recruiting John Scully, CEO of PepsiCo. The winning sound byte that captured Scully: “Do You want to spend the rest of your life making sugar water, or do you want to change the world?” (Reference 2).

working for you, people who are passionate about their work, it is wise to give them some level of autonomy to carry out their job. I am not suggesting that you abdicate, but delegate. Effective delegation means setting boundaries, and checking back on occasion as to employee progress and challenges. This approach often pays great dividends. Employees work harder, smarter and almost always achieve their goals.

Figure 4: Steve Jobs was the “living force” behind the 1984 launch of the Apple Mac. It was the first computer to offer a point-and-click interface (Reference 4).

THE REWARD The third fundamental principle is to envision, expect and reap an appropriate reward for your efforts.

No one works hard and succeeds, and stays motivated without receiving some form of reward. For people like Jobs, Swanson and Clark, it was important to be recognized by their peers. Jobs loves press and product launch conferences, and he is excellent at them. He’s a master performer. And only lastly was money an important part of the reward. For Jobs, Swanson, Clark, and Figure 3: Steve Jobs was never driven by money. After having bought his first multi-million dollar home, he was too busy creating the Mac to furnish it (Reference 3).

others like them, money is usually a measure of success. It is not an end in itself. When Apple was about $1 Billion in sales, some of the Apple financial executives advised Jobs, who was single at the time, to invest in real estate, “Buy a home,” they said. As one can easily do in Silicon Valley, he spent several million dollars and bought a new home. But for the longest time, it was nearly empty; besides a bed and some lamps and stereo equipment, it had almost no furniture (see Figure 3)3.

When I asked Steve why, he said he had no time to be bothered buying furniture. At the time, he was busy working on the Macintosh Project, the first computer to offer the point-and-click technology interface that is now ubiquitous to all computers (see Figure 4)4.

In 2005, Jobs was asked to give the commencement address at Stanford University. His speech can be found at http://news-service.stanford.edu/ news/-2005/june15/jobs-061505.html. I highly recommend it. It is inspirational. In a final passage, Steve provides excellent advice for professional and personal success.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary... Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish“.

In summary, one road to a successful job, and for that matter, to a successful life, requires the following, in order of priority:

1. Follow your passion and only work at those things that will make a difference and change the world for the better.

2. Don’t waste your time trying to live someone else’s dream – you really can’t do it! Listen carefully to the counsel of others – not just to hear them out of politeness, butt to truly understand their ideas – but in the end after considering the merits of their advice, follow your inner voice and make any necessary changes in your plan – or not. Be courageous. Follow yourr dream.

3. Continuously envision, expect and then reap the rewards. First and foremost, acknowledge recognition from yourself – your inner core – then from your peers and others, and finally, expect a fair and appropriate financial reward as a measure of your contribution.

It’s been my experience that when you follow these three principles, although money is not the primary driving force, it comes as a consequence of your actions, and almost always is more than you could have anticipated.

Everything else is secondary.

James A. Cusumano, PhD REFERENCES 1 Roger Ressmeyer, Pro.Corbis.Com 2 Diana Walker, http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/14/ steve-jobs-apple-tech-personal-cx_bc_0115lifeofjobs_ slide.html 3 Ibid 4 Bernard Gotfryd, http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/14/ steve-jobs-apple-tech-personal-cx_bc_0115lifeofjobs_ slide.html About the Author: James A. Cusumano is Chairman and owner of Chateau Mcely (www.ChateauMcely.Com), chosen in 2007 by the European Union as the only “Green” 5-star luxury hotel in Central and Eastern Europe and in 2008 by the World Travel Awards as the Leading Green Hotel in the World. He is a former Research Director for Exxon, and subsequently founded two public companies in Silicon Valley, one in clean power generation, the other in pharmaceuticals manufacture via environmentally-benign, low-cost, catalytic technologies. While he was Chairman and CEO, the latter – Catalytica Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – grew in less than 5 years, to a $1 billion enterprise with 2,000 employees. He is co-author of “Freedom from Mid-East Oil,” recently released by World Business Academy Press (www.WorldBusiness.Org) and can be reached at Jim@ChateauMcely.Com.

Leaders Magazine I/ I 2010

JIM.indd 143

143

21.1.2010 18:35:19

sport event

Mrs. Věra Čáslavská, Czech legend in gymnastic, Mrs. Martina Sáblíková, the winner of the Sportsman of the year 2009, Barbora Špotáková, 2. Sportsman of the year 2009 and Josef Váňa, 3. Sportsman of the year 2009

Grand announcement of the most prestigious journalism poll – the Sportsman of the Year, involving the best athletes and sport personalities in the Czech Republic, was held on Tuesday, December 22nd in the Congress Hall of the Hilton Prague Hotel. The event was organized in cooperation with BPA sport marketing, which has been the exclusive marketing partner of the Club of Sport Journalists for 13 years.

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR 2009

The announcement was broadcasted by the Czech Television in prime-time from 8.00 p.m. Martina Sáblíková, 22-year old speed skater, world record holder and the biggest Czech star for the upcoming Olympic Games in Vancouver is the Sportsman of the Year 2009. On the second and third place are other excellent athletes – javelin thrower Barbora Špotáková and jockey Josef Váňa. Ája Vrzáňová, former Czechoslovak figure skater, who moved to the United States in 1950, has become the Sport Legend of the Czech Republic of the Year 2009. There was also press conference and 144 VIP party that followed after the grand announcement.

LM_1001_events__2.indd 144

Press Conference after ceremony with the winners

more photos and electronic version available on www.leadersmagazine.cz

20.1.2010 18:20:48

From left: Mrs. Věra Čáslavská, Czech legend in gymnastic and Ája Vrzáňová, Sport Legend of the Czech Republic 2009

Jaroslav Svěcený and Michal Dvořák at the ceremony Sportsman of the year 2009

Mrs. Martina Sáblíková, the Winner of the Sportsman of the year 2009 with a crown

Mrs. Barbora Špotáková, javelin thrower, 2nd place in the competition

Davis Cup team of the Czech Republic, the Best Team of the Year

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

From left: Mrs. Martina Sáblíková with Sport Legend of the Czech Republic 2009 Ája Vrzáňová

Tomáš Berdych, winner and representing the Czech tennis team

LM_1001_events__2.indd 145

21.1.2010 18:33:31

Zdeně THE CREATION OF ART IS A LONG RACE.

Exhibitions, Collectors & Studios: Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Westwood, Amsterdam, Pacific Palisades, Laren, Miami, Punta Del Este, Santa Monica, Mechelen, Beverly Hills, New York, Prague, Los Angeles, Chicago, West Palm Beach, San Francisco, Honnover, Wien, Boca Raton, Carrasco, Palm Beach, Santa Fe, Monterey,

100104_inzerce_SORFART_leaders_234x325_flotila.new.indd 2

26.1.2010 11:27:05

k Šorf

www.zdeneksorf.eu

UNFORTUNATELY. A ND THE RESULT IS FAR AWAY...

S UD ST UDIIO UDIO O / ATE TELI LIER ER : 101 pa 10 pain inti ting nggss (o oiill o on n ca canv nvas as) 33 3 35 00 000 00 00 0,,- CZ ZK (12, (1 26m miil EU EUR R))

Soul, Antverpen, Celle, North Hollywood, Bloemendaal, Venice (CA), St. Johann, Coral Gables, Naples, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Breda, Knokke-Heist, Konstanz, Sarasota, Wassenaar, Malibu, Palm Springs, Pasadena, Coconut Grove, Karlovy Vary, Kiev, Bel Air, Palm Desert, Častolovice Castle, Montecito, Bennekom

100104_inzerce_SORFART_leaders_234x325_flotila.new.indd 3

26.1.2010 11:27:44

kevin_globally_yours_234x325 1/19/10 1:37 PM Page 1 C

Composite

M

Y

CM

MY

CY CMY

K