Prague Leaders Magazine Issue 01/2012

PRAGUE

leaders 1/2012 195 CZK

now available in Brussels

MAGAZINE

Libuše Šmuuclerrov ová, á, CEO of the publishinng hous usee Ringier Axel Spr p inge gerr CZ

THE FIRST LADY OF CZECH MEDIA

Photo: Jiří Turek

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publishers note & contents

Dear Readers, Heading for a new year, I believe that most of us are a little bit uncertain, and worry what we have in front of us thanks to the economic situation, and the doom and gloom scenarios spread by the media and all kinds of so called experts. I think we should keep our heads cool, and go on with everyday tasks as normal, and try to be as positive as possible.

Try to take life day by day.

A big loss and a sad day for the Czech Republic was upon the recent news about Václav Havel, who died peacefully in his bed. The Czech nation is in mourning for this very much beloved former President and Human Rights Advocate. The funeral drew state leaders from the whole world, and the Czech people collectively followed the ceremony either from the streets of the funeral procession or from Czech TV (see pages 10−13).

A rather big change for our magazine is that we have changed our logo on the front page and I sincerely hope you will like it. Changes are sometimes necessary and we think this is the right step and direction for Leaders. We have also made some design changes inside the magazine, which I hope you Readers will appreciate.

We are very happy to have Libuše Šmuclerová, CEO of the publishing house Ringier Axel Springer CZ, on our front page together with an interview – she is ranked as the #2 most important and prominent figure in the media world in the CR, according to Forbes magazine.

Other prominent interviews in this issue are with Mrs. Iva Ritschelová, President of the Czech Statistical Office; Professor Petr Widimský, Director and head of the 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Královské Vinohrady; the famous musician and drummer Michal Hejna; MUDr. Milan Jirásek, President of the Czech Olympic Committe; Mrs. Monika Šimůnková, the Goverment’s Human Rights Commissioner; and Mr. Ladislav Minčič, 1st Deputy Minister of Finance to mention a few.

In the magazine you can also see our photo reportages from some of the biggest events in November and December. The traditional Comenius Czech 100 Best of Czech Companies is considered to be the biggest event of the Year, and with nearly 800 invited guest to the Spanish Hall at the Castle, was a magnificent and spectacular event. Other events I would like to mention are the German Czech Chamber‘s 5th Annual Economic Discussion Seminar; a Festive Social Evening by the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute (ČSÚZ); the CFO Club Seminar about the Olympic Games in London Myy dog M dog do og R Rhhea ea 2012; the 20th Aniversary of the Office for the Protection of Competition; several Christmas Parties; Jazz at the Castle; the Miro Gallery exhibition; and National Theatre, again to mention some few.

Dear Readers – another year in front of us – let’s make this one a good year.

Benke Aikell benke.aikell@leadersmagazine.cz www.leadersmagazine.cz www.leadersvision.cz 6 Leaders Magazine I/2012

events 10 18 23 28 36 48 52 60

page 28 – Czech 100 Best Gala Evening

Václav Havel – Funeral 10th Leaders Magazine Advisory Board Dinner Initiation of the Traditional Christmas Collection for Children in the Beautiful Atmosphere of Prague Castle Czech 100 Best Gala Evening Key Factors of Success − XVI International Conference at the New Gallery of the Prague Castle Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic Business Breakfast with Zdeněk Bakala Nordic Chamber Christmas Party Lions Club Prague Bohemia Ambassador

page 128 The Ninth Heart

62 66 70 71 74 78 82 86 88 92 94 98 100 108

Hilton Annual Christmas Charity Concert Business Delegation Accompanying the President of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus on his Official Visit to Senegal Gas Business Breakfast Round Table of Comenius with Josef Dobeš, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Olympic Games London 2012 – Christmas Event of CFO Club under the Auspices of RWE 20th Anniversary of the Office for the Protection of Competition Christmas Party of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic Lions Club Prague Bohemia Ambassador − Festive Session with a Charity Reception in Kaiserstein Palace Benefit Auction of Works by Blind Sculptors II 5th Annual Economic Discussion − German-Czech Chamber of Industry and Commerce Economists Are Warning: There is Going to be Hard Times Law Firm of the Year Birthday Party of Markéta Suri at Mlýnec Restaurant Festive Social Evening of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute

contents interviews

contributors

14

Content Remains Crucial A talk with Libuše Šmuclerová, CEO of the Publishing House Ringier Axel Springer CZ

51

16

I Try to Bring Together Things I Like to Do with what I Believe is Socially Beneficial A talk with Iva Ritschelová, President of the Czech Statistical Office

65 77

24

London 2012 Calling A talk with Milan Jirásek, President of the Czech Olympic Committee

81 85

26

We Should Avoid the Loan Trap A talk with Ladislav Minčič, First Deputy Finance Minister of the Czech Republic

90

44

The Energy Market Must Be Transparent, An interview with Alena Vitásková Competitive and Modern An interview with Alena Vitásková, Chairwoman of the Energy Regulatory Office

46

Global World is Going Local A talk with Milan Zelený, Professor of Management Systems, Fordham University in New York City

56

I am a Realist A talk with Monika Šimůnková, Government’s Human Rights Commissioner

58

Foreign Experience Is Crucial An interview with Professor Petr Widimský, Director of the Cardiocenter and Head of the Department of Cardiology, 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Královské Vinohrady

68

55

page 44

Jazz Must Entertain People A talk with Michal Hejna, Jazzman, Producer and Owner of the jazz club AghaRTA Jazz Centrum

culture events 119 120 122 125 128 129

102

110 112

Dogmas – We Are Fighting Them Our Entire Lives/ Ivan Pilný What Do you Want to Achieve in 2012?/ Karin Genton Czech Rail Revolution/Emanuel Šíp Efficient PR Leads the Czech Market in 2012/ Cristina Muntean The Power of an Apology/Emil Jiménez The United States of Europe Or the Collapse of the Eurozone?/Jan Mládek Let’s Have a Restless Year of 2012/ Lukáš Sedláček, ELAI Cosmic Consciousness – A Journey To Well-Being, Happiness, and Success Part I: Are You For Real? A, B/James A. Cusumano The Future of London is in the East/Iva Drebítko The Never Ending Fight with Climate Targets/ Evžen Tošenovský

EU matters 114 116 117 118

If Each SME in Europe Employed one Extra Person we Would Have Zero Unemployment!

Structural Funds After 2013 Connecting Europe Facility Business News

page 110 The Future of London is in the East

International Exhibition of Modern ART – Límen Arte 11 Barbora Kysilková Paintings − Miro Galerie Jazz at the Castle with Ron Carter, the Golden Striker – Trio Jazz at the Castle with Michal Hejna & AghaRTA Gang The Ninth Heart, Endangered Species, National Thearte King Lear, Moonshine, National Thearte

diplomatic events 22

President of the Russian Federation Dmitrij Medveděv Visited the Czech Republic

104–105 page 52 Nordic Chamber Christmas Party

106-107

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info We are pleased to announce that we have considerably extended Leaders Magazine spread to include 80 topnotch 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 Hall, Czech Invest, Czech Centre, The Czech Medical Chamber, all Chambers of Commerce, Forum Francophone Affaires, Česká Manažerská Asociace, CMC Graduate School of Business, University of New York in Prague, Anglo American School, University of Pittsburgh, CEELI Institute, Lions Clubs, Rotary Clubs, The Prague Society for Int. Cooperation, CZECH TOP 100, Czech 100 Best, CEBRE, Eurotelegraph, The Senate, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Ano pro Evropu and many more.

For sale in Luxor Bookstore at Václavské náměstí.

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Contributors: James A. Cusumano, Iva Drebitko, Joseph Drebitko, Karin Genton-L’Epée, EurActiv, European Leadership & Academic Institute, David Henderson, Pavlína Holancová, Martina Hošková, Filip Hubáček, Emil Jimenez, Zuzana Kasáková, Jan Mládek, Cristina Muntean, Jan Mühlfeit, Ivan Pilný, Věra Řiháčková, Emanuel Šíp, Evžen Tošenovský Marketing/Advertising: Lynn Tourkiová, Max Salamatin, Shalva Sikharulidze Marketing & Editorial Director Vladimíra Václavíková EU Matters: CEBRE Czech Business Representation, CESES, Europlatform Photographers: Miguel Alonso, Josef Dvořák, Jaroslav Fišer, Brian Fleming, Michaela Hejnová, Martin Janas, Zuzana Jirásková, David Korbas, Vadim Kramer, Martin Malý, Václav Mudra, Paul Pacey, Alan Pajer, Anna Pecková, Filip Pokorný, Marie Schmerková, Hana Smejkalová, Jakub Stadler, Jiří Turek, Vladimír Weiss

Hotel Savoy, Restaurace Hradčany

Publisher: Benke Aikell

Restaurant bar Pod křídlem 224 951 741–2 Restaurant Michal 222 222 630 Restaurant Rybí trh 224 895 447 Restaurant U maltézských rytířů 257 533 666 Rio’s Vyšehrad 224 922 156 Ristorante Amici Miei 224 816 688 Ristorante Da Emanuel 224 312 934 Rusalka 224 934 109 Sahara Café/ Restaurant 774 557 763 Restaurant Kamenný most 224 097 100 U malířů U modré kachničky U Modrého Hroznu U zlaté hrušky U Závoje

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

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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 Advisory Board The positive ositive si reput rep reputation of Leaders Magazine continues to grow, however we realize that we must st maintain mainta ntain to improve and learn, particularly during these times of dynamic change.

That iss w why hy we hhave a decided to set up an Advisory Board for the magazine. I am convinced that ccreating eating atin a pla platform of high profile individuals will be an excellent opportunity for the magazine too aacquire accquire cq e new iideas and define new directions of future development.

B e Aike Benke Aikell ell YYour our Publis Publisher she There e e are oonly ffew projects started in the Czech Republic by foreigners which I consider as useful se to this th country as Leaders Magazine. The magazine has brought to the Czech Republic the completely new concept of making important people – the decision makers bee tthey 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 al in the Czech Republic. It is therefore all the more of an achievement to start and ssuccessfully develop a project such as Leaders Magazine. I understand fully the intention of Benke Aikell, the magazine’s founder and editor-in-chief, to progress further with 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 project to an even higher level.

Ing. Karel Muzikář, CSc. President of Comenius I wa was pleased to be invited by Benke Aikell to cooperate on the preparation of the Advisory Board Boa ard project. pr I personally see one of the main goals of the project in creation of a positive environment env en vironm for networking, exchange of views, presentation of new ideas, experiences, proposals propo pro opos osa or suggestions.

I am cconvinced onnv onv that the formation of a platform of highly profiled personalities and potential discussion disc discus sio of different topics in very informal setting will be useful for both sides – for the sion magazine ne as well as for the members of the Advisory Board.

Inng. Petr Ing. etr K Kubernát Director of Pekos s.r.o.

Directo Consulting Cons nsu and Training Company ADVISORY BOARD COMITTEE Benke e Aikell, Publisher, Leaders Magazine Ing. Ing g P Petr Kubernát , Director, PEKOS s.r.o. and former Czech Ambassador to the Netherlands IIng. ng. Ka Karel Muzikář, ik CSc., President, COMENIUS HONORARY MEMBERS ABROAD AND GOODWILL AMBASSADORS H.E Mr. William J. Cabaniss, former United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic H.E. Vincent Vi nc J. Derudder, Secretary General, The European Federation of Financial Advisers and nd Financial Intermediaries FFrank J. Devlyn, Rotary International President 2000–2001 and Rotary Foundation Chairman 2005–2006 H.E. Mr. Alexey L. Fedotov, former Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Czech Republic H.E. Mr. Richard Graber, former United States Ambassador to the Czech Republic H.E. Athar Mahmood, former Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to the Czech Republic H.E. Dr. Zdravko Popov, former Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Czech Republic H.E. Mati Vaarmann, former Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the Czech Republic Ája Vrzáňová, Czech World Champion in Figure-skating, Sport Legend H.E. Huo Yuzhen, former Ambassador of the People´s Republic of China to the Czech Republic

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

Josef Drebitko, CEO, D&COMM Prof. Ing. Jiří Fárek, CSc., Professor, Technická Univerzita Liberec and former First Deputy Mayor, City of Prague 6 Ing. Peter P. Formánek, President, Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic Mgr. Marta Gellová, Director, Česká pojišťovna and Member mb of the Board, AFIZ Michal Heřman, General Manager, Star Communications ns Václav Hudeček, Violinist Plk. Mgr. Vladislav Husák, Deputy Police President, Policejní cej prezidium ČR JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Law w Fi Firm JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra & spol.

Prof. Ing. Kamil Janáček, CSc., CNB Bank a Board oard rd M Membe Member and Chief Executive Director Otto Jelinek, former Canadian Cabinet Minister Min ter andd current current member of numerous international boards rds Ing. Peter Jusko, MBA, Partner, London Market et Ing. Petr Kalaš, Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Agriculture ture of the CR and former Minister of Environment Ing. Josef Kreuter, CSc., former Czech Ambassador too the th EU Prof. Dr.h.c. JUDr. Jan Kříž, CSc., Partner, Law Firm Kříž a Bělina s.r.o.

Ing. Jaroslav Kubišta, Secretary, Lions Club Praguee Eagle E Genmjr. JUDr. Lubomír Kvíčala, former Director of the Department of Protection of Constitutional Officials, ff Police of the Czech Republic Ing. Vladimír Laštůvka, former M.P. Ing. Jan Mühlfeit, Chairman Europe, Microsoft Corporation ora Ing. Jiří Maceška, Chairman of the Supervisory Board,, Česká Čes á pošta a. s. and former Czech Ambassador to OECD George Parobek, Managing Director, Ifield Computer Consultancy Šárka Parobek, Director, Ifield Computer Consultancy Doc. Ing. Antonín Peltrám, CSc., Advisor Doc. Ing. Václav Petříček, CSc., Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Chamber SNS Ing. Jozef Piga, Member of the Supervisory Board, Omnipol a.ss.

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. Richard Sequens, PhD., Head of Surgical Gast Ga stro roen ente tero rolo logy gy Cen ente terr, Nem emoc ocni nice ce Mililos osrd rdný ných ch sester este es terr sv. Karla Boromejského v Praze and former Senator PhDr. MgA. Miroslav Smolák, Owner, Galerie MIRO Mgr. Albin E. Sybera, Managing Director, Sybera Enterprises spol. s r. o.

Brigadier General Ing. Andor Šándor (ret.), Consultant ultant PhDr. Jaroslav Šedivý CSc., former Ambassador and Minister of Foreign Affairs JUDr. Josef Šesták, Assistant Professor, Vysokáá škola obch obchodní hodní v Praze, o.p.s.

Ing. Radomír Šimek, President, German-Czech Chambeer of Industry and Commerce Bc. Vladimír Šiška, MBA, 1stt Deputy Minister, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs Jaromír Šlápota, President, Československý ústav zahraniční Ing. Pavel Štefka, MSc, 4-star General (ret.), Chief of Defence and Special Programs, Tatra Ing. Helena Švédová, HR Director, PSG International, a.s.

Ing. Josef Tauber, Advisor to the President, Czech Banking Association Ing. Jiří Vávra, Vice Chairman, STROJEXPORT, a.s.

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

Writer and Playwright, one of the first Spokesmen of the Charter 77, Leader of political changes in November 1989, the last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic

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Václav Havel Václav Havel grew up in a well-known entrepreneurial and intellectual family, closely linked to the cultural and political events in the twenties to the forties.

This fact became the reason why the communist power prevented him from continuing in his further studies after completing compulsory schooling in 1951. Consequently, Václav Havel joined a four-year apprenticeship as a chemical laboratory assistant in the first half of the fifties, and simultaneously took evening classes at a high school, which he successfully finished in 1954. For political reasons, he was not accepted into any humanities-focused university, and therefore decided to study at a technical school. After two years at the Faculty of Economics of the Czech Technical University, however, he left the higher education all together.

Since the age of twenty, Václav Havel published his studies and articles in many literary and dramatic periodicals. His first texts were staged in the Na Zábradlí theatre, among which The Garden Party (1963) was of a notable significance, as it was precisely this play that became a part of the revivalist tendencies of Czechoslovak society in the sixties.

After the suppression of the Prague Spring initiative and occupation of Czechoslovakia by Warsaw Pact troops, Václav Havel acted against political repression which was characterised by the years of communist normalization.

In 1975 he wrote an open letter to President Husák, in which he stressed the accrued antagonism in Czechoslovak society. The culmination of his work, however, was a publication of Charter 77 in January 1977, the text that lent the name as well as the character to the movement of protesting Czechoslovak citizens. Václav Havel was one of the founders of this initiative, and one of its first three speakers. In April 1979 he co-founded the Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Prosecuted. For his civic attitude he was imprisoned three times, spending nearly five years in prison in total.

In the second half of the eighties, in the times of a rising dialogue between the Soviet Union and Western democracies, there was a noticeable increase in an open dissatisfaction with the state governance in Czechoslovak society.

Citizens were becoming less willing to accept repressive policies of the communist regime, and while originally the Charter 77 was signed by only a few hundred people, in 1989, tens of thousands of citizens signed the petition “A few sentences”, which was co-authored by Václav Havel.

The beginning of fundamental social changes was marked by a peaceful student manifestation on the 17th of November 1989, which commemorated the anniversary of the closure of Czech universities by the Nazis and which was harshly suppressed by the communist regime by the use of police force on

the Národní třída in Prague. The subsequent civic uprising was headed by students and artists. On the 19th of November, a Civic Forum was established at the meeting of the Drama Club, on whose ground individuals and groups united to demand fundamental political changes in Czechoslovakia. Since the very beginning, Václav Havel became the movement´s leading representative.

The social movement then climaxed on the 29th of December 1989, when Václav Havel, acting as a candidate of Civic Forum, became elected president of Czechoslovakia by the Federal Assembly. In his inaugural speech he promised to lead the country to free elections, a promise which he met in the summer of 1990. On the 5th of July 1990, he was voted to the position of president of the Czechoslovak republic for the second time, this time however, by the new Federal Assembly.

The stances of Václav Havel during the totalitarian years have earned him recognition of a moral authority. Due to the depth of his views on the problems of civilization and his contemplation of their formulation, Václav Havel became a respected personality, unique among politicians, even in his new constitutional function.

After leaving the office, Václav Havel retreated from public life. In midNovember of 1992, during the onset of an independent Czech state, he confirmed a desire to run for the Presidency of the republic. The official nomination of his candidacy was submitted on the 18th of January 1993 by four political parties of the government coalition. On the 26th of January 1993, the Chamber of Deputies elected Václav Havel first president of the independent Czech Republic.

On the 20th of January 1998, in a difficult, intra-political situation, Václav Havel was voted president again by both of the parliamentary chambers. He completed the last presidential mandate on the 2nd of February 2003, and since the 3rd of February Václav Havel ceased to hold any political function.

After leaving big league politics, he addressed himself to the observance of human rights in the world, and to a literary agenda. As a co-founder of the Václav and Dagmar Havel´s Vize ‘97 Foundation, he supported a series of humanitarian, medical and educational projects.

For his literary work, his philosophy and life long struggle for the observance of human rights, Václav Havel received several state medals, international awards and honorary doctorates.

Václav Havel died on the 18th of December, 2011.

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

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interview A talk with Libuše Šmuclerová, CEO of the publishing house Ringier Axel Springer CZ

Content Remains

CRUCIAL Photo: Vladimír Weiss

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Phooto: Jiří Tu Turek rek ek for o ma m gaz gazine ine FFoorbe bess

PhDr. Libuše Šmuclerová (1963), graduated from the Faculty of Journalism, Charles University in Prague in 1986.

Soon after, she began in Czech Television (ČT) where she participated in the creation of the Studio Kontakt. In 1993, she went to private television at TV Nova, where she remained until 2004, in the positions of programme director, executive director, and an executive of the CET 21.

After leaving TV Nova, Libuše Šmuclerová worked as executive director of a private clinic for aesthetic medicine, which she founded with her husband, Roman Šmucler. At present, she is heading the Czech branch of the Swiss concern Ringier Axel Springer CZ which was formed by a merger of Ringier CZ and Axel Springer Prague. The company is part of Swiss-German publishing group Ringier Axel Springer Media AG, and besides in the Czech Republic, it has been active in Poland, Serbia and Slovakia.

interview Recently, the Czech version of the magazine Forbes published a ranking of the 40 most influential media people in the Czech Republic.

The final ranking was far from surprising. In second place, and as first woman overall, appears Libuše Šmuclerová, a woman who stood in the forefront of private television, TV Nova, for many years. We asked her, among other things, what attracts her to this industry most, and what trends in the media market can we await in 2012.

Did the results of the Czech version of the magazine Forbes, naming you to be the most influential woman of the Czech media industry, take you by surprise? Do you know what criterions were applied?

I esteem the credit of the magazine highly.

Yet, apart from this I do not know much about the rankings, therefore I cannot answer this question.

Actually, I could ask, but I did not. I do not want to sound arrogant but rankings are not important to me. That’s not arrogance but humility.

Anyway, numbers speak clearly.

After your arrival as the head of Ringier Axel Springer CZ publishing, the company’s profit has greatly increased.

It is obviously a combination of many factors as to why the company is doing fine. What certainly create a basis for a company’s success are the people that you choose to work with. They need to have their own genuineness, authenticity, passion and ability to think outside the box.

There are still not many women in the TOP management positions in the Czech Republic.

Why do you think the situation is like this?

This is a rather “explosive” issue by standard. At this point, I am usually expected to answer it to the intent that I am very sorry about the smaller involvement of woman, and that I am a great believer in the implementation of quotas for women.

Yet, I do not feel that women are disadvantaged in the Czech Republic. Neither do I agree with the view of addressing women’s success in employment by regulation. If women are to be good mothers, there will always be more men in exposed positions. Well, another chapter is how to evaluate and ensure positions for women with kids at home, who are completely dependent on their men. The common morality says, it is not inappropriate or difficult to replace a woman with a “new model” when children are grown up and the woman is fading.

What attracts you to the media most?

Versatility and interconnection. I consider journalism to be actually a kind of “facebook” of all disciplines, areas, destinies, and stories.

Can you discuss some trends we can expect within the world of media in 2012?

I believe further diversification, i.e. a scattering of media is going to continue. We can also expect a grinding of market leaders’ positions, which are

going to be replaced by an increasing number of their offshoots. Moreover, a gradual blurring of boundaries among various media types, i.e. their mutual convergence thanks to technological options. We can also expect the establishment of multi-media houses, a widening gap between small and large… shall I go on? Yet, this is all below the threshold perception of the classical user. In his view, he does not need to be interested in an owner’s changes either. So, there is only one true constant. The crucial thing is and remains the content.

In this context, are we going to buy a tailor made “newspaper” in the near future, i.e. is the reader going to create it individually, based upon his requirements?

Why not, you can already find this offer on the internet at present. However, if your question is

mobile devices, tablets and other future carriers.

In this context, the integrated newsrooms are nothing else but a readjustment of organization of work and production, so that it would be feasible.

Can you disclose the company’s plans in terms of acquisitions? Do you see a future in connection with social networks as well?

We want to follow a path of transformation from classical media to multi-media houses, and the path of the large media houses’ expansions via acquisitions. We’ve been seeking acquisitions indeed, yet at this time, I unfortunately can’t be more specific.

Also, are you planning to expand the company’s portfolio of new titles?

Yes, this is an ongoing process; although these days we have been publishing, along with irregular titles, about fifty titles only in printed form. However, this year, the digital projects are our main priority. Within the digital area there are no limits at all with regard to future projects.

Do you expect that the publishing house is going to be hit by the VAT increase on prints?

The mass titles are crucial for our publishing house, which means that we are completely interconnected with the Czech Republic as by an umbilical cord. Thus, if the VAT increase affects the majority of the population in the Czech Republic, we have to experience it as well. But in fact, there is an exception aimed at the VAT on print in most other countries.

The advertising market has a long-term downward tendency. In your view, is it chiefly due to economic crisis or to the entire transformation of the media market?

It basically does not decrease; it just spills and gets nervous. TV networks are experiencing a decline in audience, therefore they are lowering the prices of ads thus to compete with print. Internet looks sexy, nonetheless its charms are of silicone, from time to time. Media agencies are seeking their place in the new decade. We are part of a world which doesn’t know whether it is out of the crisis, or whether Europe alone is going to fall deeper in it. So, it is a fight. However, it may be comforting to us that this fight is always and everywhere.

Do you have your favourite magazine, print, or medium?

Oh, not at all. And even if I did, one does not say within a family.

What do you like doing when you are not working?

At the moment, I love being free, knowing that I do not have to do anything. I enjoy applying full intensity to even a small triviality, for I just do not have to fly around as a Japanese Shinkansen.

Each publishing house, including us, needs to find a successful solution as to how to be hand in hand with the development of technology about a possible transformation of newspapers, I do not believe it is going to shift massively to individualization. For a newspaper is to a great extent about an objective approach to reality in a standard world. Thus, receiving a customized dimension of reality automatically means obtaining a narrow, limited, incomprehensive dimension of reality. And since I suppose people will want to remain wise, such limited content will be insufficient for them. So, in addition to the “tailor made” newspaper there will always be available, I would say, a newspaper “out of the subjective measure”.

Do you think that the local issues and local information within a given region are equally or even more attractive for readers than the global issues? What is the future of regional media, in this respect?

As long as the human race believes that “my shirt is near but my skin is nearer”, information about Ms. Zelníčková, whose greengrocery was robbed on a side street the way you go home from work every day, is much more interesting than that of robbing half of 5th of Avenue in New York. So, it is rather about human nature than about media.

Ringier Axel Springer publishing house is based on printed media. Currently, however, you have been building integrated newsrooms, linking the content of printed and digital issues.

Can you give us an idea about the project?

Nowadays, each publishing house, including us, needs to find a successful solution as to how to be hand in hand with the development of technology. Newspapers are just one type of information or content carrier. And publishing houses have been established to provide for and produce information which we obviously need to pass to the user by all possible means available. Yes, in the form of newspapers, but also with the internet,

By Pavlína Holancová

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

Leaders Magazine I/2012 15

interview

I Try to Bring Together Things I Like to Do with what I Believe is Socially Beneficial A talk with Iva Ritschelová, the President of the Czech Statistical Office

16 Leaders Magazine I/2012

Photo: Archive CZSO

interview Doc. Ing. Iva Ritschelová, CSc. (1964) – graduated from the Technical University of Liberec (former Technical University of Mechanical and Textile Engineering) and also from the University of Economics in Prague. She was engaged in the Social-Economic Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Ústí nad Labem in 1988. She worked in the Environmental Institute Ústí nad Labem at the position of scientific and research worker from 1989–1992 and in the Czech Statistical Office, within the Division Ústí nad Labem as the Head of Environmental Statistics Department in 1993–1998. Iva Ritschelová also participated within countless working visits and foreign missions. She was engaged, among other things, within the UN Food and Agricultural Organization in the Statistics Division, in Rome, Italy as the regional officer for Europe, countries of the former Soviet Union, China and Mongolia in 1998–2001. In the years 2001–2007 she was engaged at the J. E. Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem as the Vicerector in Science and International Relations. At this University, she was appointed the Rector in 2007. Iva Ritschelová was appointed the President of the Czech Statistical Office in 2010. At the same time, Iva Ritschelová is a member of many advisory bodies of ministers, scientific, art and editorial boards, graduation councils and academic assemblies of universities, colleges and scientific-research institutes. She is an author of more than twenty domestic and foreign monographs, several tenths of scientific and professional papers, textbooks and research studies.

Could you touch on some changes you have completed in your Office after the departure of your predecessor, Jan Fischer?

These were mainly personnel and organizational changes. Given the ever-decreasing budget of the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO), immediately when I took the Office, there was a pretty unpleasant task ahead me – layoffs and significant simplification of the CZSO´s organizational structure. Our regional offices that previously operated in particular regions in the past have newly begun to operate since the start of the New Year. The Director of regional administration will be the regional representative of the CZSO offices acquainted with requirements of local users, and also fully responsible for effective management of workplaces within the region. Other significant changes occurred in the area of public procurement and the CZSO´s presentation and its work towards the public. What I would yet like to mention is the establishment of a new analytical department, which was lacking and from which I expect a lot. With the beginning of 2012, the CZSO started to use a new more up-to-date and uniform visual style. We are also working on launching a new user friendly web page.

In what way do the budget cuts affect the current operations of the office?

We are primarily trying to reduce operational costs, and thus we have already managed to realize considerable financial savings. For instance, in 2011 we managed, thanks to public procurement related to a new mobile operator, information system and energy supplier, savings in the amount of almost 10 million a year. However, what I consider important is the fact that budget cuts have not afflicted the range of statistical surveys so far. At the same time, due to the fact that more than 95% of statistical surveys are subject to the EU regulations, it will be very difficult to eliminate the statistical activities. I would like to emphasize that the Office’s output serves, among other things, toward the preparations and evaluations of decisions at different levels. Therefore, the cancellation of surveys would also be associated with a disruption of continuity of the time series of monitored data. Thus, it concerns irreversible changes. I would like to believe that all responsible politicians realize it and that the office’s budget won’t be cut any more.

One of your priorities is also introducing measures to increase transparency of the CZSO. How does it work in practise?

I have newly established the Public Contracts and Legal Services Department which scrutinizes all procurements at present. Beyond this, all of the signed contracts are published on our web page. In case of smaller bids, we address a larger number of potential suppliers. And thanks to greater competition, this approach has even positive

economic effects which I have already mentioned. At the same time, any texts of newly signed contracts needn’t be subject to trade secrets by the supplier. We negotiate with the ICT suppliers to make the source codes of delivered solutions available, so that we could solve eventual update needs by the means of public procurement, and needn’t be bound by one particular supplier.

In mid-December you released the preliminary results of the Population and Housing Censuses (SLDB).

Most people, though, perceive this project rather as a necessary evil. To whom are these figures actually served?

The outputs from the project of the decade, the SLDB, are primarily used as the basis for the decision-making sphere at all levels. For example, figures concerning economic activities of citizens are aimed at the evaluation of the occupational structure of society in relation to future labour market needs. Another indispensable figure that is used to improve the quality of life for citizens, are figures regarding commuting methods. Also, based on these data, transport services in specific territories are being optimized. The data are also used by fire brigades for rescue plans and for operative decision-making by rescue events.

I could obviously give more and more specific examples, if there was enough space.

One of the projects which should in turn facilitate the life of citizens and entrepreneurs is the creation of central registers of public administration. What is the role of the CZSO within?

The CZSO will be the project manager of the Register of Persons within the project of basic registers; here there are registered legal entities and their organizational units, natural business persons, multinational organizations, and governmental bodies. And as you say correctly, the basic aim of registers is to make the life of citizens and entrepreneurs easier. Thus, for example, if you establish a trade, then registration at the trade licensing office will be sufficient, and the entire system will inform the other offices about the establishment of this new trade; i.e. the tax office, the health insurance fund, the social security administration, etc. Therefore, people can avoid the unpleasant running for offices. Beyond all of this, the interconnection of registers is a big step forward for us statisticians as well, for it strengthens the use of administrative data source.

According to my information, the majority of surveys are “ordered” by Brussels. Do you find it right that there should not come a greater decentralization within this area?

The CZSO´s mission is to provide reliable quality data based on requests from our users. Demand for data includes the decision-making area, the professional public, and the business area. It is always a sort of balance

between national and European interests that are also in many cases identical. On the other hand, under conditions of significant budget cuts the EU steadily continues increasing pressures aimed at a new surveys, however, without reviewing and eventually cancelling the existing requirements. I believe that within this area, there should be more systematic work and coordination by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat). I find it positive that the Eurostat management begins to listen to complaints of member countries. Also, there will be a meeting of presidents of the national statistical offices in a few days where we will discuss the so-called negative priorities, i.e. activities that should be limited.

One of the strategic objectives of your Office is to increase the quality of statistical information. What particular steps does the CZSO do in this regard?

There are several ways to improve the quality of statistical information. One of them is the use of administrative data sources by processing data from statistical surveys.

We use the data from administrative sources to refine the registers from which respondents are selected, we incorporate them into mathematical models, and hence we must calculate data for entities that do not provide data or whose data are not available at all. This contributes to addressing less and less respondents, and thus processors have more time to devote themselves to addressed respondents, which has undoubted influence on quality improvement. Furthermore, the improvement of quality of statistical outputs will be combined with the implementation of Redesign project financed by the EU sources, whose aim is to improve and streamline the entire system of collection, processing, and the distribution of statistical data.

You are engaged within the world of numbers, within environmental issues at the University, and you were also involved in several dangerous missions abroad.

What would you say is your life’s mission?

I try to bring together things I like to do with what I believe is socially beneficial. If these conditions are fulfilled then the work becomes a hobby and no obstacle is insurmountable.

So, how do you manage to combine such a demanding profession with hobbies and family?

I can say that my life is generally without problems thanks to the great family background I have, although it is true that whatever position I have worked in, I always took my work home.

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

Leaders Magazine I/2012 17

neetwo networking/gourmet et etworking/gour orking/ ourmet eev or event event at Alchymist Grand Hotel & Spa

From left: Jaromír Šlápota, Chairman, Czechoslovak Foreign Institut (ČSÚZ) and Benke Aikell, your Publisher

th

10 Leaders Magazine Among our special guests at the 10th Leaders Magazine Advisory Board Dinner were Robert A. Zimmerman, Counselor for Public Affairs, Embassy of the United States; JUDr. Vladimir Ermakov, CSc., Chief Executive Officer, Vemex; Hedajat Amin Arsala, Senior Minister, Afghan Government; Michal Hrbata, Deputy Minister of Defence of the CR; Daniel Soural, Chairman of the Board, Ariana Capital; Michal Žižka, Managing Partner, Sunberg; Dr. Pavel Doležal, Director pdMedia, Miroslav Lipina, Owner Galerie La Femme, Tomáš Provazník, Private Banker; and Fawad Nadri, President, Czech-Afghan Mixed Chamber of Commerce.

Members and guests enjoyed a delicious Christmas menu consisting of smoked trout fillet served on domestic potato salad, creamy fish soup with vegetables, and roast turkey with chestnut purée and cranberry sauce.

18

From left: Hedajat Amin Arsala, Senior Minister, Afghan Government, Daniel Soural, Chairman of the Board, Ariana Capital, a.s., Michal Hrbata, Deputy Minister of Defence, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, and Mrs. Kvíčalová

MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ

nnetworking/gourmet ettw etw worki rking/gourmet rkin ingg/g g ou ourmet our urrme met even eve event vennt nt

From left: Prof. Ing. Jiří Fárek, Professor, Technická Univerzita Liberec and former First Deputy Mayor, City of Prague 6, Otto Jelinek, former Canadian Cabinet Minister and current member of numerous international boards, and JUDr. Čestmír Sajda, MBA, former Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs

Tomáš Provazník, Private Banker, Unicredit with his partner Michal Žižka, Managing Partner, Sunberg s.r.o. with wife Naďa

From left: Ing. Peter Formánek, President, Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Doc. Ing. Antonín Peltrám, CSc., Advisor

From left: MUDr. Richard Sequens, Head of Surgical Gastroenterology Center, Nemocnice Milosrdných sester sv. Karla Boromejského v Praze and former Senator with his wife and Miroslav Lipina, Owner, Galerie La Femme

IIN N CCOOPERATION OOPERATION WITH WITH MAGAZINE LLEADERS EADERS M AGAZINE

The positive reputation of Leaders Magazine continues to grow, however we realize that we must maintain to improve and learn, particularly during these times of dynamic change. That is why we have decided to set up an Advisory Board for the magazine.

I am convinced that creating a platform of high profile individuals will be an excellent opportunity for the magazine to acquire new ideas and define new directions of future development.

Benke Aikell, Your Publisher

From left: Dr. Pavel Doležal, Director, pdMedia, s.r.o., Ing. Vladimíra Václavíková, Marketing and Editorial Director, Leaders Magazine, Miroslav Lipina, Owner, Galerie La Femme, Ing. Petr Kubernát, Director, PEKOS, spol.s.r.o., and JUDr. Čestmír Sajda, MBA, former Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs

19

networking/gourmet ne et or etworking/gour etwo orking/ ourmet eev event

prague castle event Markéta M Ma aark rkét rk éttaa Fo FFoukalová ouk u aal ukal alo lov oová vá – Sing SSinger Si ing ngerr David Da D avvi vid id Fárek Fáre FFá ááre rreek – Sa SSaxophone Saxo axo xopphhon on e Petr PPet Pe etr tr Kroutil Kro rout utililil – Saxophone, SSaaxo xoph xoph p oonnee,, SSinger inge in ger Boris Bor B Bo ori ris Urbánek Urbá Ur bbáne nneeekk – Ke K Keys, eyyss, Piano eys PPiian aano no Ondřej On O nddřřej ej K Kabrna abrn ab rnnaa – Ke K Keys, ys,, Piano ys Piaanno Pi Zdeněk Z Zd den eněk ěk T Tichota ichhoota ic ta – Do Doub Double oubble le B Bass aasssss IIvan Iv vaann Doležálek Doollež ežál álek ek – Do D Double ouubble le B Bass aasss Luboš L Lu Lub ubbooš Andršt Annddrršštt – Guitar A Guuititar G itar ar Slávek SSl Sláv láv ávek ek JJanda aannddaa – Guitar Guuiittar G ar Michal Hejna Mi M ich chaall H eejjnnaa – Drums Drum Dr ms IImran Im mraan Mu M Musa ussaa Z Zangi annggii – PPe ang Percussion erc rcuusssi ssion ssiion on From left: PhDr. MgA. Miroslav Smolák, Owner, Galerie Miro, Benke Aikell, your Publisher, and Ing. Radomír Šimek, President, German-Czech Chamber of Commerce

IIN N CCOOPERATION OOPERATION WITH WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE LEADERS M AGAZINE

Michal Mi M Mic ichal haaall He HHejna, ejjn jna nnaa, D Drums ruum rrum um s

Eliška Hašková Coolidge, Coolidge Consulting Services

From left: Ing. Radek Dohnal, Vice Chairman, Top Hotels Group, Prof. Ing. Jiří Fárek, Professor, Technická Univerzita Liberec and former First Deputy Mayor, City of Prague 6, Ing. arch. Vladimír Dohnal, Chairman of the Board, Top Hotels Group, Ing. Peter Formánek, President, Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the CR, Ing. Radomír Šimek, President, German-Czech Chamber of Commerce, and Ing. Jiří Krejča, Consultant

20

From left: Fawad Nadri, President, Czech-Afghan Mixed Chamber of Commerce in the CR, Genmjr. JUDr. Lubomír Kvíčala, former Director of the Department of Protection of Constitutional Officials, Police of the Czech Republic with his wife, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, Hedajat Amin Arsala, Senior Minister, Afghan Government, and Daniel Soural, Chairman of the Board, Ariana Capital, a.s.,

with Mic

From left: Albín Sybera, Managing Director, Sybera Enterprises spol. s r. o., Genmjr. JUDr. Lubomír Kvíčala, former Director of the Department of Protection of Constitutional Officials, Police of the Czech Republic with his wife, and Albín Sybera Jr., Advisor to the Director, State Environmental Fund

From FFro Fr rrooom m left: lleef efftt: Prof.

Prof roo . Václav Václ c aavv Klaus, Klllaaus KKla us, President PPrr eesi essidde den eennt of of the the he CR, C Karel CR Kare Ka rel re eell Mu M Muziuzzizii-ikář, kář kká áářř,ř, President, Prressiidddeennt,t,, Comenius, C om Co meeennius men iuuss, and iu and n Prof.

Pro rof.f.. MUDr. MUD M UUD Dr.r. Josef Joos Jos osef ef Veselka, Ves VVe es e selk lkaa,, CSc., lk lka C SScc.,, CSc CS CCh hhiief ef off tth hhee Dep De D epar ttm tme men me enntt ooff Ca CCardiology, Car a dio diolo looogg y, y, FN NM Mot Mo o ooll Chief the Department Motol

World ÁÁjjaa Vr Ája VVrzáňová, r záň záňová zá ováá, CCzech zzec ze eecch W or d Champion or orl Chham am mppiio ion in in FigureFFiigu iiggur gurreee-Legend and pojišť Prof. ovna Václavand Klaus, uuss, Mgr. Martaskating, Gellová,Sport Director, Česká of the Member ofPresident the Board, AFIZCRand Otto Jelinek, former Canadian Cabinet Minister and current member of numerous international boards

nnetworking/gourmet ettw etw worki rking/gourmet rkin ingg/g g ou ourmet our urrme met even eve event vennt nt

From left: Ing. Radomír Šimek, President, German-Czech Chamber of Commerce, Ing. Vladimíra Václavíková, Marketing and Editorial Director, Leaders Magazine, and JUDr. Vladimir Ermakov, CSc., Chief Executive Officer, Vemex

Ing. arch. Iva Drebitko, President, Triga, Patrons of Art and Josef Drebitko, CEO, D&COMM

chal Hejna & Agharta Gang From left: Iztok Toplak, former Managing Director, WLW and Martin Gruntorád, Stylist

There are only few projects started in the Czech Republic by foreigners which I consider as useful to this country as 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 Leaders Magazine. I understand fully the intention of Benke Aikell, the magazine’s founder and editor-in-chief, to progress further with 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 project to an even higher level.

Ing. Karel Muzikář, CSc., President of Comenius

From left: Michal Žižka, Managing Partner, Sunberg with wife Naďa and JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Law Firm JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra & spol. and special Advisor to the Minister of Finance

From left: Hedajat Amin Arsala, Senior Minister, Afghan Government, Benke Aikell, your Publisher, Fawad Nadri, President, Czech-Afghan Mixed Chamber of Commerce in the CR, Daniel Soural, Chairman of the Board, Ariana Capital, a.s., and Michal Hrbata, Deputy Minister of Defence

21

Photo: Archive of the Prague Castle

state

Markéta Foukalová – Singer David Fárek – Saxophone Petr Kroutil – Saxophone, Singer Boris Urbánek – Keys, Piano Ondřej Kabrna – Keys, Piano Zdeněk Tichota – Double Bass Ivan Doležálek – Double Bass Luboš Andršt – Guitar Slávek Janda – Guitar Michal Hejna – Drums Imran Musa Zangi – Percussion

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE From left: Dmitrij Medveděv, President of the Russian Federation and Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic

with Mic

DMITRIJ MEDVEDĚV Michal Hejna, Drums

At the invitation of President Václav Klaus, President of the Russian Federation Dmitrij Medveděv, with his wife Světlana Medveděva, visited the Czech Republic on December 7–8, 2011.

President of the Russian Federation Visited the Czech Republic

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

From left: Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the CR, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, and Prof. MUDr. Josef Veselka, CSc., Chief of the Department of Cardiology, FN Motol

22 From left: Livia Klausová, Dmitrij Medveděv, President of the Russian Federation, Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, and Světlana Medveděva

Ája Vrzáňová, Czech World Champion in Figureskating, Sport Legend and Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the CR

MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ

SSpecial pecial tthanks hanks ttoo SSynot ynot T Tip ip The Advent program at ffor St. making reportage orGeorge makiSquare, ng tthis hiswhich repotook rtagplace e possible poonssithe blesecond Sunday of Advent this year, has already become a tradition. The main objective is to officially start the Christmas Collection of Nadační fond manželů Livie a Václava Klausových, which bears the motto: “Contribute children to the gift the most precious of all”. A lot of fans of this lovely event met this year again to light the second candle of Advent. After performances of Notičky – children’s folk music, and Gospel Limited, people could sing a few carols accompanied by Music of the Castle Guards and together they enjoyed a relaxing atmosphere of the Advent time. The collected money will be used to finance scholarships and fees of various types of educational programs and courses. It will enable many children from the Czech Republic to improve their skills and knowledge and thus give them better chances to succeed in life.

charity/advent festivities

Doc. Ing. Ivan M. Havel CSc., Member of the Board of the Foundation „Výbor dobré vůle – nadace Olgy Havlové“ and Ing. Livia Klausová, Csc., Chairwoman of the Board and Co-founder of the Foundation “Nadační fond manželů Livie a Václava Klausových“

chal Hejna & Agharta Gang

The Christmas Tree on the Jiřské náměstí and a public collection of the foundation „Nadační fond manželů Livie a Václava Klausových“ guarded by the Castle guard

Ing. Livia Klausová, CSc., Chairwoman of the Board and Co-founder of the Foundation “Nadační fond manželů Livie a Václava Klausových“ and Ing. Ivo Velíšek, Director, Správa Pražského hradu, light the second Advent candle together

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

FFrom Fr Fro rroom left: leeft ft f t: Maj. M Maj aajj.j. Magdalena aj.

Maggd Ma gda dalen len le ena Dvořáková, Dvo voř ořř áko ořáko á vvá, ák váá, á Mgr. Mgggrr. Filip M Fiililiipp FFil Benda, BBen Be eennnddda da, aa,, Ad AAdviser dvvi vis i er is er to to the thhhee Minister, Minnis niisstte ter er er, Ministry Min innistr ini sttr tr y of of Defence Defe fennce fe ncccee Mrs. Romanová ooff the tthhhee CR CR, aand CR, nd Mrs nd M rss. SSilvia illvvia iilv ia Rom RRo oom mano aanno novváá

23 Children´s folk band „Notičky“

interview

A talk with Milan Jirásek, President of the Czech Olympic Committee

LONDON 2012

Calling Milan Jirásek and Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee Photo: Martin Malý

LLeaders Le ead ader er s Magazine Maaggaazi M zinnee VI/2011 zine VI//20 01 11 1 24 Lead

interview MUDr. MILAN JIRÁSEK (1936) was born in Prague and graduated from the Charles University, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové.

He became a doctor of skiers, and with the national team of Czechoslovakia took part in a number of world championships (Oslo 1966, Štrbské Pleso 1970, Falun 1974, Vail 1989) and winter Olympic Games (Grenoble 1968, Sapporo 1972, Innsbruck 1976, Lillehammer 1994). Beginning in 1965 he headed the Health Board of the Czechoslovakia Ski Association, and later he was a member of its Board. In the period 1988–90, he led the Union of Skiers of the Czechoslovakia as its chairman, and since 1990 he has been a member of the Federation of International Skiing (FIS). He was appointed the President of the Czech Olympic Committee in December 1996, again in 2001, 2005 and most recently in 2009. He led the Olympic team of Czech athletes at the Olympic Games in 1998 in Nagano, where he witnessed the historic success of Czech ice hockey players and Kateřina Neumannová.

Similarly he witnessed the success of our athletes at the Olympic Games in Sydney, Athens, Beijing, Salt Lake City and Turin.

The most important sporting event of 2012 is undoubtedly going to be the 30th Olympic Games, which are held from the 27th of July to the 12th of August, for the third time in history, in London. We talked to Milan Jirásek, the President of the Czech Olympic Committee, about how the Czech sports community is preparing for such an outstanding contest.

What do the Olympic Games mean for you?

I consider the Olympic Games not only a top sporting event but a holiday for the entire globe.

They are unique not only for their ratings, but it is totally extraordinary that at the same place and for the same purpose young athletes gather from 204 countries. They live together in the Olympic village, racing under the same rules; they become friends, despite the fact that their governments are hostile or even at war with each other. I personally have been involved with the Olympic Games since 1947. At that time, Emil Zátopek visited our school and talked about his preparations at the Olympic Games. Then, when he won gold and silver medals, our joy and enthusiasm for the sport showed no limits. Moreover, I did not know that up until today I would have participated in 12 Olympic Games in total. This includes four times as the expedition doctor, and in other cases as the President of the Czech Olympic Committee.

The Czech athletes have already demonstrated the attire designed for the Olympic Games in London 2012. The main inspiration represents the painting of František Kupka – “Amorfa”. Can you explain the symbolism of it and why it was chosen?

Our Olympic team was already captured by the use of “abstract motive” when attending the Olympic Games in Vancouver. This time around we wanted to capture it again, yet this time we wanted to include a story as well. The two-colour fugue was originally inspired by the stepdaughter of Mr. Kupka. The first symbol is her playing with the ball. The artist has been painting the picture for four years, i.e. the same duration as is the Olympiad period. Moreover, 2012 will mark 100 years since its first introduction. And above all, we value the tremendous efforts of Kupka, the desire to overcome obstacles and attempt to discover new horizons. We also appreciate

him for his simultaneous patriotism and his world credit.

This spring the campaign “We are living London”, which started in May of last year, continues to support Olympic values in the Czech Republic. What is it comprised of and what do you present to the public?

The campaign is based on three pillars: a large-scale exhibition of photographs charting Czech’s famous sports history, a greater educational programme for elementary school pupils, and the original English double-decker tour equipped with multimedia technology. We want to show the public not only the Olympic Games in London, but also the Olympic principals in general. The response of the public from the first stage indicates that we are doing quite fine. Over half-a-million visitors have gotten acquainted with the campaign thus far. Overall, we expect that there will still be a million more.

At the end of June 2012, the final nomination of athletes is going to be released. How many athletes are already nominated at present, and how do we stand compared to other countries?

Currently we have 36 places secured, yet in total we hope that approximately 150 our athletes are going to attend the Olympic Games in London.

There are currently field hockey players and women basketball players involved within the nomination options. Also, the handball players still have a chance to be nominated. Thus, we obviously keep our fingers crossed for the final qualification battles.

Thus, if these two teams manage to qualify, the Olympic team would be record-breaking in number, even if compared with similarly small countries.

What is the interest among Czech fans in the Olympic Games in London? Are Czechs interested in buying any tickets in particular?

It makes us very happy that the interest is extraordinary. Compared to previous games we booked a record number of tickets and they are disappearing very quickly. Currently, tickets are sold out over the counter, and the only ones left are tour packages. Overall, we sold out 70 per cent of capacity allocated for the Czech Republic.

At a time of economic cuts and recession, it is perhaps rather imaginary to plan the Olympic Games organization in the Czech Republic. Yet, what do you think the eventual organization could bring to the Czech Republic?

Photo: Václav Mudra

Look at London, where the Olympic Games mean a big revival not only of the borough where it mostly takes place, but for the whole city and country. New infrastructure is emerging that will remain for future generations. The English pay great attention to the Olympic legacy; they do not want empty and unused sports fields or campuses remaining afterwards. Also, new communications are emerging, as well as flats and public sports fields. Hence it is important, in addition to the cost of the whole event, to see the long-term benefits as well.

Which sports are you closest to?

Of all of the sports my closest is skiing, both Alpine and Nordic. However, I like very much many other sports too.

So, besides sports, do you have other hobbies?

I am a doctor by profession, an orthopaedist.

This profession was my hobby for my entire life as well. I like theatre, movies, good music, and I also like staying at our cottage in the Krkonoše Mountains.

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

Leaders Magazine I/2012 25

interview A talk with Ladislav Minčič, First Deputy Finance Minister of the Czech Republic

We

Should Avoid

the Loan Trap Photo: Ministry of Finance´s archive

26

interview Ladislav Minčič (1960) – graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, the Charles University in Prague (RNDr.) in 1983; from the Faculty of Computational Mathematics and Cybernetics, Lomonosov Moscow State University (CSc.) in 1989; and Moscow Finance Academy (MBA) in 2005. He worked at the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic in 1988-2002. In 2003–2006, Ladislav Minčič was engaged at the International Bank for Economic Co-operation in Moscow as the Head of the Arbitration Department, and in 2006–2007 at the International Investment Bank in Moscow, at the position of the Director of Strategic Planning and Analysis, from 2007 as the Vicechairman of the Board. In August 2010, Ladislav Minčič was appointed First Deputy Finance Minister of the Czech Republic.

You were engaged in the international bank’s environment for several years. What experience have you obtained?

The new experience in banks was quite a fundamental source of knowledge after many years of experience in the field of public finance, where I schematically dealt with a withdrawal of private goods (I came into contact with it during my “tax job” at the Ministry of Finance) and their subsequent redistribution (I got acquainted with this field during my voluntary engagement in communal politics). Although it did not concern traditional commercial financial institutions, the pursuit of profitability and profit making was undisputed. I am convinced that for any money collector and re-distributor, it is invaluable to see first-hand how difficult it is to earn money in practice. Moreover, I learned about working on an international team as well. This too was an invaluable experience.

Where do you see the greatest benefits of the new tax reform pushed through by the current government?

I see the biggest benefit in the largest reduction of administrative burden since 1993, i.e. since the establishment of the modern tax system. This reduction specifically lies in the fact that both the administration of taxes and health and social insurance will exercise the financial institutions. According to the principle “one form, one payment, one control”, there will thus be one joint form instead of three forms. Likewise, all three types of contributions will be made by one payment in a single term into one account. Similarly, social and health insurance paid by employers will be unified into a single levy of the total wages. Regarding control, the supervision will simultaneously carry out the financial authority and it won’t happen, as it has so far, that the Financial Office check is followed by a control from the Social Security Administration. Also, procedural rules and administration of taxes and insurance will be unified, i.e. the same terms will be valid, e.g. aimed at appeal submission, the same rules for service of documents, etc. On the other hand, it should be noted that in particular the unification of payments and the parallel preparation of the pension reform requires sending return premiums and income tax of individuals electronically. At the same time, there will also be a new obligation for employers consisting of sending a monthly survey of individual employees. However, I believe that these difficulties are going to be an acceptable price for the aforementioned simplification of obligations arising from tax and insurance laws.

What fiscal tools does the Czech government have at its disposal in case of further economic recession?

Budgetary responsibility, restraint on the expenditure side, and fair and effective tax collection.

Do you find it feasible that the Czech government is able to achieve a balanced state budget by 2016, as it has planned in its policy statement, and in case

it accedes to the new agreement from the European Summit?

First of all, I’d like to emphasize that 2016 is beyond the time horizon of the present government’s mandate.

However, in general, I believe that the Czech government is going to handle this challenge. For I am convinced of the already generally accepted analogy that as business cannot consistently show losses for decades, it is equally untenable for a state to show a permanently growing public debt.

Yet, does this not mean the consolidation of public budgets as the main priority of government, i.e. a completely unfortunate need to slow down our economy at any costs?

It is true that a reduction in government spending, or the eventual raising of taxes, would under otherwise identical circumstances immediately lead to a lower economic performance. But with the economy it is also true that there should always be a comparison of both costs and benefits of such measures, and not only in the short term. The costs of the fiscal consolidation in the form of adverse impact on GDP are in the present situation balanced by confidence of the financial markets, which is, among other things, reflected by lower costs aimed at state debt service. In addition, our current experience with some of the Eurozone member states points out more than clearly how the loss of confidence of financial markets can disrupt the economy.

Can you be more specific?

It is true that if you want these countries to get out of this debt trap, stronger economic growth is the best and least painful option. However, none of the options offered – drastic austerity plans, debt restructuring, wiping off the debt by strong and unexpected inflation, or a combination of these options – can be unreservedly described as a better solution. Therefore the recommended tool, with which the EU Commission works as well, is the “consolidation” that threatens economic growth the least. The recommendations are well known: it is necessary to start with savings on the expenditure side, primarily; however, it should not regard cuts into investments, infrastructure, education and research; on the revenue side of budgets, the plan is mainly to expand the tax base, and to take measures to encourage work and investment, not consumption.

In this context, what do you think about the proposal of the NERV to introduce a “credible fiscal rule”, which states that in case of GDP growth above 4 %, we would have to retain surplus budgets?

I strongly agree with the NERV to introduce the “credible fiscal rule”. The question is, however, what rule it should actually be. Before we adopt a particular fiscal rule, we have to observe its features very carefully, and consider the implications of its adoption on fiscal policy, but generally on macroeconomic stabilization.

Thus, from this point of view, if we take a closer look at the fiscal rule proposed by NERV, this deficit rule is,

in my view, pro-cyclical, which is in conflict with the need for counter-cyclical fiscal policy. Moreover, such a rule would be inconsistent with fiscal rules of the Stability and Growth Pact, which applies to the EU member states. Thus, we at the Ministry of Finance are working on the proposal of a “numerical fiscal rule” which would, in addition to supporting the anti-cyclical fiscal policy, in particular inhibit state debt and in the long-term ensure for sustainable public finances.

Should the Czech Republic join the agreement on the euro rescue?

The government has not decided yet, at present. I’m afraid the deciding factor will be foreign policy context rather than comprehensive financial accounting calculations and detailed legal analysis. In relation to the IMF loan I would like to point out a few things. The calculation cannot be narrowed, e.g., in the otherwise undisputed claim that it is less risky to lend money to the IMF in the role of a mediator than directly lending to an insolvent Eurozone member country. Or that the actual interest return of such a loan is higher than the alternative, a comparatively safe appreciation of foreign reserves.

It is necessary to avoid the loan trap – to repeatedly, with no signs of recovery, give the debtor directly or indirectly other resources with the irrational belief that the next tranche might finally bring the coveted response.

Past experience with practical application of the agreements is a warning regarding compliance with contractual rules, and enforcement of their implementation respectively. Even from this perspective it is necessary to consider new fiscal rules.

The Czech government is one which clearly rejected deeper harmonization of the EU tax systems. What are the greatest risks of harmonization of the EU tax systems? Can you imagine that this process will ever happen?

This question is not so easy to answer. First, I would like to point out that I perceive the entire harmonization of the tax system in a certain area as one of the definitional characters of one sovereign state power exercised in this area. However, in the area of the value added tax, excise duties or customs within the EU, and the EEC respectively, complete harmonization was already achieved decades ago. This trend is rational with regard to the function of the single market. For companies doing business in several EU countries, taxes may not constitute a barrier to this trade, as it would if there were 27 various VAT systems. On the contrary, direct taxes do not require such an extensive harmonization. If the Czech taxes are decided in Brussels, it might happen that some decisions, maybe good for Europe as a whole, will be disadvantageous for the Czech Republic and thus may harm our country.

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

Leaders Magazine I/2012 27

networking/discussion gala evening with the best event

Special thanks to Ifield Computer Consultancy and Laic Aktiengesellschaft for making this reportage possible

Photo: Ivan Malý and Martin Janas From left: Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, Ivana Gottová, Moderator, Karel Gott, Singer, and Beata Rajská, Beata Rajská – Design

PRAGUE CASTLE November 25, 2011 For already the 16th time, Comenius Society, active in thee fields of education, education culture, culture science and technology, technology has organized the “Czech 100 Best”.

Best” The award ceremony Czech 100 Best took place on Friday night at the Spanish Hall of Prague Castle. The gala evening was attended by more than 700 VIP guests, among which were personalities such as the Chairwoman of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Mrs. Miroslava Němcová, Minister of Industry and Trade Mr. Martin Kuba, Regional Governors, Deputy Ministers, and several Ambassadors. Through the course of the evening the most successful companies, institutions and projects of the year were pronounced and awarded with an honorary diploma. The awarded companies were traditionally categorized into eight groups having an immediate impact on the living standard within the Czech Republic. They were: Tourism and Hotel Industry, Transport and Civil Constructions, Dynamic Growth, Invention – Commitment – Export – Profit, Energetics & Information Technologies, Agriculture and Food Industry, Manufacturing Cooperatives, and Health – Education – Humanity. One of the climax points of the evening was awarding nine outstanding ladies with the title “Lady Pro”.

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IIN N PPARTNERSHIP ARTNERSHIP W WITH ITH IIFIELD FIEELD CCOMPUTER OMPUTER CCONSULTANCY ONSULTANCY AND AND LAIC LAIC AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT AK TIENGESELLSCHAFT

All winners of the Czech 100 Best 2011 together with Miroslava Němcová, Chairwoman, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament and Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius

networking/discussion gala evening with theevent best

Vladimír Kovář, CEO, Unicorn receiving award from Alena Vitásková, Chairwoman, Energy Regulatory Office

Eva Zamrazilová, Director and Member of the Bank Board, Czech National Bank receiving award Lady Pro 2011 from Army General Vlastimil Picek, Chief of Staff, Czech Army Army General Vlastimil Picek, Chief of General Staff of the CR with his wife

From left: Mr. Indruch, Zdeňka Indruchová, Executive Director, AČPM, and Otto Jelinek, former Canadian Cabinet Minister and current member of numerous international boards with his wife Leata

Vladimír Plecitý, Rector, Police Academy of the CR with his wife

F r thhe seeve Fo vent nthh ttiime nt me in thhe hi h st stor oryy of thhee Czzeech 100 Bes or est st se s veera rall ge gent ntle leem meen weere re awa wardded wiith th thee tititle le “Gent Genttle Ge lema lema man Pr P o” o . Th This his is yea ear th the he exxceept p ioona nal,l,l, awa ward rded ded ed, d, me menn lliiving vingg in ou vi o r coouunntr coun t y we w re re Mr.r. Kar arel e Gootttt,t,t, the h Cze zech chh sin ingi ginngg leggen gi ging end, d Mrr.. Boh d, ohus uussla l v Sv Svob o od ob oda, a thhee Lor a, ord M yo Ma y r off the h Citi y off Pra r gu g e,, Mr. Ant nton onio on io Passqu qualle, e, Chhaair i ma m n off the he Boa oard ardd of K Kaarl r ov o ar arsskkkéé minneerrááln mi áln lníí vvoody dy and nd Mr.r Zde deně nněěk PPeelc, lcc, C Chhaiirm maann of th thee BBooar ardd off GZ Digi Digi Di g taal Me M di dia. a.

TThhe la The last st and nd moosst st iim mport poort r annt pa part rt of tthhhee ce cere remo re remo m ny was a awa ward r inng thhe teen co rd comp mpanniees mpan mp plac pl acing acin iinng fif irrsst st in in the he scaale le of Cz C eecch 11000 BBeestt. TThhe re repprres esen eennta tati atitivvees off the he teenn “ be bestt of th the he beest st”” ccoomp mpaannie mpan nie ies of the he Cze zech ch Repub ch epub ep u lilicc rreece ceiv i edd iv thhei eir hhoono ono noraaryy dip iplo lomaas fr from o the h hands hand ha nndds of of Mrs. rs. Miro rs irosl rooslav sllav avaa Něěmc m ová. á

MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ

From left: Louis Aneas Fernandes, CEO, Ifield Computer Consultancy and Zdeněk Osner, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO, ENERGIE-stavební a báňská

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gala networking/discussion evening with the bestevent

Special thanks to Ifield Computer Consultancy and Laic Aktiengesellschaft for making this reportage possible

From left: Miroslava Němcová, Chairwoman, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament and Michaela Frková, Protocol Department, Office of the Madam Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies

From left: H.E. Peter Brňo, Ambassador of Slovakia with his wife and Jiří Zapletal, Škoda Power with his wife Ferid Nasr, Chairman of the Board, CK Exim Tours receiving award from Michal Hašek, Go-vernor of the South Moravian Region

From left: Jozef Vozdecký, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director, Bohemia Sekt, Ondřej Beránek, Bohemia Sekt, and Pavel Dvořáček, Rudolf Jelínek

Pavel Elis, CEO, Pražská energetika receiving award from Alena Vitásková, Chairwoman, Energy Regulatory Office Bohumír Topinka, Executive Director, Eurest receiving award from Miroslava Němcová, Chairwoman, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament

From left: Petr Toman, Attorney, Toman, Devátý and Partners, Miroslav Chochola, Chairman of the Board, epravo.cz, and Michal Donath, Managing Director, DBM

Fundraising project „Pomozte dětem“ and its deputy, General Director of the Czech Television Petr Dvořák receiving award from Petr Rafaj, Chairman, Office for the Protection of Competition Mirko Kalous, General Director, Ness Czech receiving award from Alena Vitásková, Chairwoman, Energy Regulatory Office

30 Jiří Maceška, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Česká pošta and former Czech Ambassador to OECD with his wife

From left: Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius and Pavel Juříček, Chairman of the Board, Brano Group with his wife

networking/discussion gala evening with theevent best

From left: Jan Klas, General Director, Air Navigation Service, Kateřina Sedláčková, Beata Rajská, Beata Rajská – Design, and Josef Rada, General Director, Úřad pro civilní letectví ČR

From left: Benke Aikell, your Publisher, Luis Aneas Fernandez, CEO, Ifield Computer Consultancy, and Ken Sheth, Business Development Manager, Laic Aktiengesellschaft Zdeněk Fiala, Chairman of the Board, ZF Holding with his partner

Simona Sokolová, Chairwoman of the Board & CEO, Olma receiving award from Petr Veleba, President, Agrarian Chamber of the CR

From left: Martin Kuba, Minister of Industry and Trade with his wife, and Daniel Beneš, CEO and Chairman of the Board, ČEZ Iveta Ostruszková, Director and Member of the Board, Agel receiving award from Petr Rafaj, Chairman, Office for the Protection of Competition

Lady Pro 2011 together with Miroslava Němcová, Vlastimil Picek, and Karel Muzikář – Top row from left: Karel Muzikář, President Comenius, Anna Vojtěchová, Farmer, Marta Slánská, Founder, Maxima Reality, Jana Růžičková, Head of Communication, General Staff of the Czech Army, Alena Machovcová, Head of Dermatological Dept., Faculty Hospital Motol, Eva Zamrazilová, Director and Member of the Bank Board, Czech National Bank, and Army General Vlastimil Picek, Chief of Staff, Czech Army.

Low row from left: Vlasta Bohdalová, Member of Parliament, Renata Tomanová, CEO, Dance and Jump, Miroslava Němcová, Spokesperson of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament, Jana Vaňhová, Governor, Ústí Region, and Jana Nagyová, Managing Director of the Section of the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic’s Cabinet.

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gala networking/discussion evening with the bestevent

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Bohuslav Svoboda, Lord Mayor of Prague with his wife

Sweet, isn`t it?

Štěpán Ašer, General Director, J&T Banka with his wife

From left: Vladimír Jaroš, Director, NOEN group receiving award from Ladislav Minčič, First Deputy Minister of Finance

From left: Leon Tsoukernik, Chairman of the Board, King’s Casino, Jan Oberman, Korado Consulting, and H.E. Yaakov Levy, Ambassador of Israel Zdeněk Osner, Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO, ENERGIE-stavební a báňská receiving award from Jiří Weigl, Chancellor of the President of the Czech Republic

Gentleman Pro 2011 award winners From left: Bohuslav Svoboda, Lord Mayor of Prague, Zdeněk Pelc, CEO, GZ Digital Media, and Antonio Pasquale, Founder, Karlovarské minerální vody and President, Italian-Czech Chamber of Commerce; another award winner Gentleman Pro 2011 was Karel Gott who is missing from this photo

CZECH 100 BEST 2011 1 ŠKODA AUTO A.S. 2 ČEZ, A. S. 3 MICROSOFT S.R.O. 4 KOOPERATIVA POJIŠŤOVNA, A.S. 5 BEST, A.S. 6 KOMERČNÍ BANKA, A.S. 7 AGROFERT HOLDING, A.S. 8 ŠKODA TRANSPORTATION A.S. 9 SEVEROČESKÉ DOLY A.S. 10 EUREST, SPOL. S R.O. 11 CESTOVNÍ KANCELÁŘ EXIM TOURS A.S. 12 UNICORN A.S. 13 VÍTKOVICE HOLDING, A.S. 14 TOP HOTELS GROUP A.S. 15 STUDENT AGENCY, S.R.O. 16 ALLIANZ POJIŠŤOVNA, A.S. 17 ŠKODA POWER A.S. 18 KPMG ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA, S.R.O. 19 ČESKÁ SPOŘITELNA, A.S.

20 SYNER, S.R.O. 21 DELOITTE ADVISORY S.R.O. 22 ČESKÉ DRÁHY, A.S. 23 IBM ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA, SPOL. S R.O. 24 KAREL HOLOUBEK - TRADE GROUP A.S. 25 BOHEMIA SEKT, A.S 26 PLZEŇSKÝ PRAZDROJ, A. S. 27 ČESKÁ ENERGIE, A.S. 28 EURONEWS, A.S. 29 MOUNTFIELD A.S. 30 T-MOBILE CZECH REPUBLIC A.S. 31 RWE TRANSGAS, A.S. 32 ČESKOSLOVENSKÁ OBCHODNÍ BANKA, A.S. 33 LINDE GAS A.S. 34 AVE CZ ODPADOVÉ HOSPODÁŘSTVÍ S.R.O. 35 KAPSCH TELEMATIC SERVICES SPOL. S R.O. 36 AGROTRADE, A.S. 37 FAKULTNÍ NEMOCNICE V MOTOLE 38 ŘÍZENÍ LETOVÉHO PROVOZU ČESKÉ REPUBLIKY, STÁTNÍ PODNIK

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39 NESS CZECH S.R.O. 40 ZÁTIŠÍ CATERING GROUP A.S. 41 OKD, A.S. 42 ALTA, A.S. 43 RINGIER AXEL SPRINGER CZ A.S. 44 TELEFÓNICA O2 CZECH REPUBLIC, A.S. 45 GECO, A. S. 46 UNIMEX GROUP, A.S. 47 EXCON, A.S. 48 VODAFONE CZECH REPUBLIC A.S. 49 CZ LOKO, A.S. 50 KARLOVARSKÉ MINERÁLNÍ VODY, A.S. 51 SYNOT ICT SERVICES, A.S. 52 ABB S.R.O. 53 BLAŽEK PRAHA A.S. 54 SCANSERVICE A.S. 55 JANEK SPOL. S R.O. 56 DELL COMPUTER SPOL. S R.O. 57 SLÉVÁRNA ANAH PROSTĚJOV, S.R.O. 58 TŘINECKÉ ŽELEZÁRNY, A.S. 59 BONECO A.S.

60 3M ČESKO, SPOL. S R.O. 61 IMPORT VOLKSWAGEN GROUP S.R.O. 62 ČESKÁ POŠTA, S.P. 63 RUDOLF JELÍNEK A.S. 64 ARAMARK, S.R.O. 65 ŠKODA JS A.S. 66 OKIN GROUP, A. S. 67 SEZNAM.CZ, A.S. 68 ASE, S.R.O. 69 ZENOVA SERVICES S.R.O. 70 GRADA PUBLISHING, A.S. 71 J & T BANKA, A.S. 72 SKANSKA A.S. 73 ZŘUD-MASOKOMBINÁT PÍSEK CZ, A.S. 74 PSJ, A.S. 75 G - TEAM A.S. 76 ČESKÁ ZBROJOVKA A.S. 77 XAVERGEN, A.S. 78 FINCENTRUM A.S. 79 PIVOVARY STAROPRAMEN A.S. 80 INTERCORA, SPOL. S R.O.

81 SERVIS CLIMAX A.S. 82 ČD CARGO, A.S. 83 ZVVZ GROUP, A.S. 84 VEMEX S.R.O. 85 LE & CO - ING. JIŘÍ LENC, S.R.O. 86 EVROPSKO-RUSKÁ BANKA, A.S. 87 MP KRÁSNO, A.S. 88 PROMOPRO S.R.O. 89 CS DATA, S.R.O. 90 ČESKÝ AEROHOLDING, A.S. 91 ABL, A. S. 92 LÁZNĚ BĚLOHRAD A.S. 93 ČESKÁ EXPORTNÍ BANKA, A.S. 94 ČESKÁ POJIŠŤOVNA, A.S. 95 LESS A.S. 96 OKSYSTEM S.R.O. 97 LOOMIS CZECH REPUBLIC, A.S. 98 LINDT & SPRÜNGLI (CZECHIA) S.R.O. 99 CANADIAN MEDICAL CARE, ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA SPOL. S R.O. 100 LIRA, OBRAZOVÉ LIŠTY A RÁMY, A.S.

networking/discussion gala evening with theevent best

From left: Alena Vitásková, Chairwoman, Energy Regulatoty Office and winners of the category Energy & Information Technologies

Petr Rafaj, Chairman, Office for the Protection of Competition with his wife

From left: Pavel Juříček, Chairman of the Board, Brano Group, Tomáš Březina, Chairman of the Board of Directors, BEST with his wife, and Jiří Čunek, Senator

H.E. Sergey B. Kiselev, Ambassador of the Russian Federation with his wife From left: Martin Novák, Vice Chairman of the Board, Chief Financial Officer, ČEZ and Jan Žůrek, Managing Partner, KPMG CR

Bohdan Wojnar, Member of the Board, Škoda Auto, winner of Czech 100 Best 2011, receiving award from Miroslava Němcová, Chairwoman, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament

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gala networking/discussion evening with the bestevent

Special thanks to Ifield Computer Consultancy and Laic Aktiengesellschaft for making this reportage possible

From left: Vladimír Dohnal, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Top Hotels with his wife Milada, Benke Aikell, your Publisher, Kristýna Fantová, and Radek Dohnal, General Manager, Top Hotel Praha and Congress Centre

From left: Sanjiv Suri, CEO, Zátiší Group and Veit G. Reisberger, Managing Director, Zátiší Catering Germany From left: Daniel Beneš, Chairman of the Board & CEO, ČEZ and Roman Cabálek, General Director, Microsoft

Karel Gott, receiving award Gentleman Pro 2011 from Miroslava Němcová, Chairwoman, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament

From left: Viliam Sivek, General Director, Sivek Hotels with his wife, Oldřich Lomecký, Mayor of Prague 1, and Veronika Blažková, PR, Prague 1 From left: Radek Soltys, Director of Investment Division, CzechInvest, Zdena Štěpánková, Managing Director, Maximum Production, and Jan Wiesner, President, SČMVD

CZECH 100 BEST 2011 TOURISM & HOTEL INDUSTRY CESTOVNÍ KANCELÁŘ EXIM TOURS A.S. ČEDOK A.S. EMIRATES, ORGANIZAČNÍ SLOŽKA ESO TRAVEL A.S. JIHOČESKÝ KRAJ TOP HOTELS GROUP A.S. VILIAM SIVEK – SIVEK HOTELS TRANSPORT & CIVIL CONSTRUCTIONS ENERGIE-STAVEBNÍ A BÁŇSKÁ, A.S. IFIELD COMPUTER CONSULTANCY LTD. – O.S. KRAJ VYSOČINA OHL ŽS, A.S. POZEMNÍ STAVITELSTVÍ ZLÍN A.S. STUDENT AGENCY, S.R.O.

SYNER, S.R.O. WIENERBERGER CIHLÁŘSKÝ PRŮMYSL, A.S.

DYNAMIC GROWTH AVE CZ ODPADOVÉ HOSPODÁŘSTVÍ S.R.O. ČEPRO, A.S. EXCON, A.S. HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES (CZECH) S.R.O. NOEN, A.S. OVB ALLFINANZ, A.S. PSG – INTERNATIONAL A. S. SEZNAM.CZ, A.S.

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RISA, VÝROBNÍ DRUŽSTVO KOVOBEL, VÝROBNÍ DRUŽSTVO

OBZOR, VÝROBNÍ DRUŽSTVO, PLZEŇ PLZEŇSKÉ DÍLO, VÝROBNÍ DRUŽSTVO TVAR VÝROBNÍ DRUŽSTVO PARDUBICE HEALTH – EDUCATION – HUMANITY AGEL A.S. FAKULTNÍ NEMOCNICE V MOTOLE NEMOCNICE NA HOMOLCE JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT, O.P.S. POLICEJNÍ AKADEMIE ČR VYSOKÁ ŠKOLA FINANČNÍ A SPRÁVNÍ, O.P.S. SBÍRKOVÝ PROJEKT POMOZTE DĚTEM INVENTION – COMMITMENT – EXPORT – PROFIT BRANO GROUP, A.S. CZ LOKO, A.S. CZECHINVEST FOXCONN CZ INCO ENGINEERING, S.R.O. VÍTKOVICE HOLDING, A.S.

Fashion show by Beata Rajská

ENERGY & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AVAST SOFTWARE A.S. ČEZ DISTRIBUCE, A. S. NESS CZECH S.R.O. PBS ENERGO, A.S. PRAŽSKÁ ENERGETIKA, A.S. SAP ČR, SPOL. S R.O. UNICORN A.S. AGRICULTURE & FOOD INDUSTRY AGRO, DRUŽSTVO ZÁHOŘÍ CARLA SPOL. S R. O. FARMA LÖWENTHAL OLMA, A.S. RODINNÁ FARMA KOPISTA SCHNEIDER – GROUP, A.S. ÚSOVSKO A.S.

LADY PRO 2011 VLASTA BOHDALOVÁ ALENA MACHOVCOVÁ JANA NAGYOVÁ JANA RŮŽIČKOVÁ MARTA SLÁNSKÁ RENATA TOMANOVÁ JANA VAŇHOVÁ ANNA VOJTĚCHOVÁ EVA ZAMRAZILOVÁ

GENTLEMAN PRO 2011 KAREL GOTT ANTONIO PASQUALE ZDENĚK PELC BOHUSLAV SVOBODA

networking/discussion gala evening with theevent best

From left: Ladislav Minčič, First Deputy Minister of Finance and winners of the category Dynamic Growth

From left: Jiří Wiegl, Chancellor, Office of the President of the CR and winners of the category Transport & Civil Constructions

Radek Dohnal, General Manager, Top Hotel Praha and Congress Centre receiving award from Michal Hašek, Governor of the South Moravian Region

Daniel Beneš, Chairman of the Board & CEO, ČEZ receiving award from Miroslava Němcová, Chairwoman, Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament

Fashion by Beata Rajská

From left: Jan Veleba, President, Czech Agrarian Chamber, Alena Vitásková, Chairwoman, Energy Regulatory Office, and Arnošt Thon, A.T. Plyn

From left: Konstantin Abesadze, Darley Select INC, Georgiy Kokiashvili, Head of Export-Import Operations Department, DTEK Trading, and Alexander Akulinin, Project Manager, Russia and CIS Operation, Comenius

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networking/discussion comenius 100 best/conference event

Special thanks to Ifield Computer Consultancy and Laic Aktiengesellschaft for making this reportage possible

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

Photo: Ivan Malý

Michaela Chaloupková, Member of the Board, ČEZ and Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius

XVI INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AT THE NEW GALLERY OF THE PRAGUE CASTLE As part of the Czech 100 Best competition 2011, Comenius Society has organized a 16th international conference “Key Factors of Success” in the morning hours of November 25th. Over 130 participants – top managers, diplomats and representatives of the state administration – have traditionally filled the New Gallery Hall of the Prague Castle and listened to the presentations delivered by their colleagues, all of whom had a lot to say about how success is reached and what it means in the first place.

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IIN N PPARTNERSHIP ARTNERSHIP W WITH ITH IIFIELD FIELD CCOMPUTER OMPUTER CCONSULTANCY ONSULTANCY AND AND LAIC LAIC AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT AK TIENGESELLSCHAFT

From left: H.E. Yaakov Levy, Ambassador of Israel, H.E. Peter Brňo, Ambassador of Slovakia, and Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius

comenius networking/discussion 100 best/conference event

Zdeněk Pelc, CEO, GZ Digital Media

From left: Sanjiv Suri, President & CEO, Zátiší Group, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, and Tomáš Březina, Owner, Best

Jan Žůrek, Managing Partner, KPMG

Petr Žaluda, Chairman of the Board, České dráhy

Roman Mužík, Managing Director, AVE CZ Odpadové hospodářství

Petr Kužel, President, Chamber of Commerce of the CR

Among others, some of the key speakers of the conference were Mr. Ladislav Minčič, First Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr. Jan Žůrek, Managing Partner of the Czech branch of KPMG, Mr. Petr Kužel, President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce, Mrs. Michaela Chaloupková, Director of Sales within ČEZ and Mr. Petr Žaluda, Chairman of the Board of Directors of České Dráhy. As it is a tradition for events and conferences organized by Comenius Society, the speakers and their audience have participated in a lively debate after everyone has contributed with their own part.

37 Audience at the Conference

MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ

networking/discussion comenius 100 best/conference event

Special thanks to Ifield Computer Consultancy and Laic Aktiengesellschaft for making this reportage possible

From left: Petr Rafaj, Chairman, Office for the Protection of Competition, Petr Kužel, President, Chamber of Commerce of the CR, and Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius

Sanjiv Suri, President & CEO, Zátiší Group

From left: Louis Aneas Fernandez, CEO, Ifield Computer Consultancy, Jan Žůrek, Managing Partner, KPMG, Michaela Chaloupková, Member of the Board, ČEZ, David Vrba, General Director, 3M Česko, Zdeněk Pelc, Chairman of the Board, GZ Digital Media, Ladislav Minčič, First Deputy Minister of Finance, and Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius

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IIN N PPARTNERSHIP ARTNERSHIPP W WITH ITTH IF IFIELD FIELD CCOMPUTER OMPUTER CCONSULTANCY ONSULTANCY AND AND LAIC LAICC AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT AK TIEENGESELLSCHHAFT

Tomáš Březina, Owner, Best

LIST OF SPEAKERS: • Tomáš BŘEZINA, Chairman of the Board of Directors, BEST a.s.

• Dana DRÁBOVÁ, Chairwoman, State Office for Nuclear Safety • Luis Aneas FERNANDEZ, CEO, Ifield Computer Consultancy • Michaela CHALOUPKOVÁ, Director of Sales, ČEZ Petr KUŽEL, President, Czech Chamber of Commerce • • Ladislav MINČIČ, First Deputy Minister of Finance • Zdeněk PELC, General Director, GZ Digital Media • Petr RAFAJ, Chairman, Office for the Protection of Competition • Weston STACEY, Executive Director, American Chamber of Commerce, CZ • Sanjiv SURI, Chairman of the Board & President, Zátiší Catering Group • David VRBA, General Director, 3M Česko Petr ŽALUDA, General Director, České dráhy • • Jan ŽŮREK, Chief Financial Partner, KPMG Czech Republic

comenius networking/discussion 100 best/conference event

David Vrba, General Director, 3M Česko

Weston Stacey, Executive Director, American Chamber of Commerce

Ladislav Minčič, First Deputy Minister of Finance

Louis Aneas Fernandez, CEO, Ifield Computer Consultancy

From left: Jan Žůrek, Managing Partner, KPMG and Ladislav Minčič, First Deputy Minister of Finance

The webcast from the conference is available at www.comenius.cz XVII Key Factors of Success conference will take place on November 30th, 2012 again at the New Gallery Hall of the Prague Castle.

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

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Leaders Magazine® focuses on lifestyle, interviews, business, culture and luxury products and covers many important and interesting events. Our readers are people from diplomatic society, government officials and decision makers in business. The targeted distribution is cca 20 000 copies including cca 200 pcs to the top EU officials in Brussels. Our Electronic Version has readers from 82 countries – more than 100.000 page views. Leaders Magazine® publikuje rozhovory s významnými osobnostmi obchodní, politické, umělecké a kulturní sféry a přináší fotoreportáže z důležitých společenských událostí v ČR. Našimi čtenáři jsou osoby s rozhodovacími pravomocemi v diplomatické, státní a soukromé sféře. Cílená distribuce je cca 20 000 ks včetně cca 200 ks představitelům EU v Bruselu. Elektronická verze časopisu má čtenáře v 82 zemích a více než 100 000 stran ke shlédnutí.

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interview An interview with Alena Vitásková, Chairwoman of the Energy Regulatory Office

THE ENERGY

Market Must Be TRANSPARENT, COMPETITIVE AND MODERN Alena Vitásková graduated from the Brno University of Technology Faculty of Civil Engineering. She started her career in the middle of the 1970’s in Severomoravská plynárenská, Ostrava, where she moved up to the posts of managing director and vice-president of the board. Between the years 2001–2003 she held the positions of president of the board and managing director in Transgas, and RWE Transgas Company. Then she worked in Pražská teplárenská, a Gazprom subsidiary, and in smaller private firms. In 2002 Alena Vitásková was awarded the honorary title Manager of the Year. Since August 2011 she has been a chairwoman of the Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) in the Czech Republic.

Photo: Vladimír Weiss

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Why did you decide to accept this post?

It is a culmination of my career to a certain extent.

I worked for over 33 years in the gas industry, and several years in the heating supply industry, where electricity was also produced. I believe that I can use my knowledge and experience in the post of chairwoman of the Energy Regulatory Office.

What was your strategy?

When I took up the post, the amendment of the Energy Act was approved, which came into effect on August 18, 2011. I was thus familiar with the fundamental changes and powers of the ERO, and I knew what I was getting into.

It was also obvious that if the ERO’s functioning wasn’t to be set in order to fulfil all the duties resulting from the Energy Act, I would have to initiate its transformation as well. I was also aware that changes would come according to the development of the EU laws that have an effect on legislation in the Czech Republic. Inspired by the European Commission’s third energy package, which was implemented into Czech legislation by the Energy Act amendment, I created three packages which I started to work with on the first day. I called the first package the inheritance – after my predecessor Josef Fiřt, the second transformation and the third one quo vadis the European Commission.

What issues do you deal with in the first package – the inheritance?

First of all it is about renewable energy sources, which is a burden that the ERO has to deal with for at least 15–20 years. It is primarily the impact of photovoltaic power plants on price development in renewable energy sources, deficiencies in licence awards at the end of 2010, and issues in various disputes either already in police investigations, or brought about by the dissatisfaction of the implementers of these photovoltaic power plants. The photovoltaic issue is very broad and it is not possible to solve it overnight.

interview I have taken several measures in this area so far. One of them was an audit concerning the licence award procedure in the ERO. Now we are correcting the flaws identified by the audit. We are also preparing a tender for setting the purchase prices of electricity from the photovoltaic power plants, as being determined by the ERO between the years 2005–2010. I want to inspect whether the prices set by our Office were in accord with laws, because there are several speculations that it was not so. I would like to rebut these assumptions by a control audit. I suppose that the audit will be completed in the first quarter of this year.

How do you proceed in the second package? The ERO has had a new management structure since December 1, 2011.

The changes in this area will proceed continually. The transformation of the ERO has begun. The first changes in the ERO structure that were implemented in effect from December 1, 2011 were done so that the ERO should be managed transparently, professionally and with the substitutability of my colleagues. Originally, one vice-chairman was replaced by three vice-chairmen.

Each of them is responsible for a selected section (regulation, legislative and administrative, operation and inspection) that meets a certain part of our obligations arising from the Act. The chairman’s division with the internal, external and international communication, i.e. the relation to the European Commission, was established as well. Furthermore, there is a team of my advisers that I continuously replenish with colleagues specialised in individual sections. Changes have also affected the strategy department, whose aim is to manage strategic objectives and projects that we plan to implement at the ERO. As for the next steps, we are preparing a process and personnel audit. It will result in clearly specified processes and activities of each section, and explicitly defined personnel requirements. I believe this procedure will enhance not only the prestige of our Office, but also its performance.

And what about the cooperation with the European Union? What is your aim there?

Within the third package I seek to deepen the cooperation with the European Commission and other European institutions and bodies during the preparation of projects and new strategic objectives in energy at the European level. My strategy is univocal here: national interests have to come before the European interests, and European interests prior to world interests. I would like to implement foreign international politics in this context.

The reason is simple. National interest is when some strategies, objectives and projects are elaborated in the European Commission; we have to know the impact on the Czech Republic and Czech citizens. We have to know what it brings to us, what impacts it will have on Czech firms, whether we are able to finance it and whether it won’t be at the cost of the competitiveness of our firms, which would lead to a decrease in export and participation in foreign markets, as well as cut backs in production and an increase in unemployment. As a representative of the ERO I want to focus on these matters in the Commission. My aim is to influence these trends in order not to have a negative impact on Czech citizens and firms.

How do you want to achieve that?

Representatives of the ERO are members of European committees and commissions that exist in the area of energy and regulatory conditions. I want us become leaders in the preparation of European norms, and not

only in their implementation as it is now. To participate in negotiations on a new European norm and to advance national requirements, is to endeavour to influence a final shape of the norm.

Do you cooperate with regulators from other countries?

There are representatives of all EU member states in the committees. The cooperation is excellent. At present we, along with our colleagues from abroad, have been considering the establishment of the Visegrad Four in regulation. The first negotiations took place last autumn.

I plan to take the initiative now. There are some projects even now, but we want to deepen this cooperation.

You received the title Manager of the Year in 2002. What do you consider important while putting together your team?

It is more complicated now. Choosing people for the office is more difficult, because there are no such remunerations as in the private sector. I always promoted a mixed working team – mixed according to age in particular. The team thus consists of senior employees who have great experience and are realistic about new projects and visions, which every manager must have in order to implement their objectives. I always have middle-aged people on my team. These are managers who have a drive and want to achieve something, but at the same time they are more cautious. Also quite young managers are members of my team, I would say from a managerial incubator, because they have lots of new ideas, innovations, and they aren’t afraid of anything and bring the eagerness.

When these people are put together, a real team is established that will implement the right objectives. This has always paid off for me, because every company I have worked for has had excellent results.

Do you also take into account the quality of education?

Of course, it is a fundamental issue. Managers have to know something in their area. The effort and willingness of the manager to learn new things, and the interest to continue in education, play an important role as well. We are in a turbulent environment, in which changes occur almost on a daily basis. If we want to succeed in this environment, we have to continue in education and keep up with the others.

Some people argue that if there is a very capable and competent person on the team who is not however a team player, it becomes rather amiss.

Do you agree with that?

It is a very knotty problem. It is modern now to put an emphasis on the team. But I think that some individualists must remain individualists. It is not simply possible to change them. The eagle flies alone and the company cannot go forward without eagles. On the other hand it is obvious that the whole management team cannot be full of eagles, because then it would not be possible to go in one direction. I don’t thus dismiss individualism; on the contrary, I think that an individualist should be a member of the team, but the whole team cannot consist of individualists.

Why did you decide to work in the gas industry and stay there?

Why did I start to work in the gas industry? I was seventeen years old and did not know what the gas industry was. They had the biggest and nicest building in Ostrava.

I liked it very much and told myself that I would work there. It was a very comfortable work environment. It

was the first impulse. The other reason I stayed in this line was the fact that there was a possibility for career growth.

After working for three years, I realised that I was somewhere else and that I had moved on. I started to be interested in these opportunities. Then it was a love for the line which is very various, but also demanding.

After the revolution, I was offered a job from one big international company in a completely different line, let’s say a female one, to prepare entry to the Czech and Slovak markets and to establish branches in the then Czechoslovakia. The offer was fantastic. I was supposed to get a salary I never dreamed of. They offered me a monthly salary almost equal to the annual salary I had in the gas industry, plus benefits such as a car. It was an offer that couldn’t be refused. I took some time for consideration, which I don’t usually do, because I can decide very quickly. I thought everything over during one week and refused.

Why? I didn’t feel the odorant there. They looked at me uncomprehendingly and asked: “Odorant?” I replied that I would very much miss the thing by which gas is perfumed, so it is easily recognisable. Maybe I made a mistake.

But I have never thought about it this way, because there was growth in the gas industry and I kept moving on.

What is your opinion on quotas for women in top positions?

What the EU has been preparing these days – quotas to increase the number of women in top positions – it was already here under socialism. It was adhered to that a certain percent of women held top positions. Now the creation of conditions for employment of women in managerial posts has been promoted again after 22 years.

I think, however, that it is a bit about something else.

It shouldn’t become the rule that a person holds a top position only because of their being a woman. That’s wrong. Of course, the male world is different. Men communicate better with each other, they manage to hold on to their objective and chair, and there is a bit of an effort not to admit a female element into their world.

Your tenure is for five years. Where do you see the ERO in five years?

My tenure can be prolonged once. I would like to stay for ten years. We are an office which is independent and aims at creating a real transparent environment in the energy market. I want the ERO to become a respected office, not only in the Czech Republic, but also abroad, and to have a transparent management. I would like to succeed in implementing all the new issues that would be profitable for the energy market, as well as for customers in the market, and also for companies that create that market. My aim is to create good conditions for investment, and thus keep the energy sector in a modern and functional state. In legislation I want to interfere sensitively, but sometimes resolutely, because some laws that have been discussed now can have a negative impact on Czech citizens.

What are your hobbies?

Golf, which I haven’t had much time for lately, is my big hobby. In golf, I like the company which I find myself in.

I also have a group of friends who I have known for many years, and who were with me during my ups and downs.

We travel together a lot. I like good food and wine as well.

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

Leaders Magazine I/2012 45

interview A talk with Milan Zelený, Professor of Management Systems, Fordham University in New York City

GLOBAL WORLD IS

GOING LOCAL Photo: Mr. Zelený´s archive

Photo: Archive

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Milan Zelený (1942) is a global professor, coach and consultant in the area of global management systems. For 30 years he has been the Editor of Human Systems Management, the global journal.

After a decade at Columbia Business School in New York, he joined Fordham University at Lincoln Center as a Professor of Management Systems. His current appointments also include Xidian University in Xi’an, the Tomas Bata University in Zlin, and visiting professorships at The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur; Fu Jen University, Taipei; Peking University, Beijing; and the University of Naples, among others. In 2007 Milan Zelený was honoured by an international volume (or Festschrift) entitled Knowledge and Wisdom. In 2005 he published Human Systems Management. Among his other recent books are Information Technology in Business, and preparing his “magnum opus” on The BioCycle of Business: Managing Corporation as a Living Organism. His previously published books include Multiple Criteria Decision Making, Linear Multiobjective Programming, Autopoiesis, Dissipative Structures and Spontaneous Social Orders, MCDM-Past Decades and Future Trends, and many others.

interview The debt crisis in The US and Europe is growing and within its framework several economic taboos are falling.

Shall we await apocalypse as predicted by the Mayan calendar in 2012? We talked to Milan Zelený, the professor of Fordham University in NYC. What’s the difference between crisis and transformation? Has globalization reached its peak? What should politicians do instead of simply reducing public debt? Transformation consequences are irreversible, contained under the slogan “Think globally, act locally”. The future lies in autonomous communities of local resources, knowledge and entrepreneurship.

The world is dealing with a long-lasting economic crisis. What do you see as the main reason for it?

The crisis itself was triggered by the governmental interference in the U.S. mortgage market. Unqualified customers were lured into contracts by a powerful State & Banks alliance and the below par “toxic” mortgages spread globally until the non-payable, bad debts collapsed the U.S. housing markets. Until today, this “unholy” alliance is still being asked to clean up the mess it caused, especially in the advanced economies of the U.S., Western Europe and Japan.

Well, why is the “clean-up” still not working?

The reason resides in the simultaneous emergence of a long-term economic transformation which is caused by increasing work productivity – due to digital and other technologies – in all sectors of the economy.

This transformation is causing the loss of traditional employment in all economic sectors, but in services and governmental sectors in particular. Current political and economic elites do not have the knowledge or tools to recognize and separate crisis from transformation phenomena. So, the old and dysfunctional tools of Keynesianism and monetarism are being used despite their failures vis-à-vis long-term transformational forces, like technology, productivity, unemployment, deglobalization and shifts in demand patterns.

Could you explain the difference between economic crisis and economic transformation?

Economic crisis is common, cyclical and essentially returning to its point of origin, to its previous “normal”.

It is caused by speculative exuberance or “bubbles” and is accompanied by wealth destruction, bankruptcies of the inefficient and unfit, as well as a new realignment of economic forces and resources. Crisis cleans up the mess of bad investments, inefficiency and bureaucratic excesses. On the other hand, economic transformation is rare, noncyclical and unidirectional, taking the economy from one dominant mode of employment and behavior to another. With the help of technology it destroys the old ways and makes room for the new ones.

Is economic transformation a natural phenomenon?

Yes, of course… We can never return to Paradise after we have eaten from the Tree of Knowledge. So far, advanced economies went only through several important transformations – from hunting/gathering to agriculture, from agriculture to industrial production, from the industry to services. At present, the service sector is becoming more efficient and productive through digital technology, its employment potential is rapidly declining and most developed countries are entering the “new normal” of a new transformation.

What is it based on?

The new transformation is based on self-service, disintermediation (eliminating the middleman), mass customization (individual fit), reintegration (instead of specialization), knowledge (instead of information), multifunctionality (instead of division of labor), authentic (non-party) direct democracy, and re-localization (instead of globalization). Thus a truly new world is already emerging.

Are we prepared for it?

Well, we are never prepared for a crisis or transformation. We just suffer a lot, repeatedly and cyclically, due to government’s “fighting back” on our behalf. We often resist transformations at first because we do not understand them or they affect our personal well-being.

For example, the emergence of automobiles drove the horse-whip makers out of business. Machines destroy jobs as do the automatic receivers of return bottles or automated teller machines. Later on we adjust our life and behavior, acquire new skills and accept the transformation. This cycle of rejection-acceptance is always repeated because people hardly learn from their own mistakes, and only rarely from the mistakes of others.

What is the fundamental indication of economic transformation?

I consider employment levels to be crucial for human sense of well-being in developed economies. If those levels show long-term trends of falling, a significant transformation is taking place behind such manifestations. Unemployment itself occurs during crises or as a matter of normal turnover and re-alignment of resources in the economic cycles and fluctuations. It is the long-term, persisting and deep unemployment that indicates transformation. The level of employment measures the health and independence of the population. Currently, the U.S. employment/population ratio has fallen below 60% – another sign of increasing state-dependency, loss of autonomy and fundamental transformation, rather than a mere crisis.

What economic instruments can governments use to support the present transformation?

There are no economic instruments governments could use to support transformation unless they first recognize and admit that transformation is taking place. They keep fighting for votes by promising the return to the “old normal” – as long as the voting public plays along. However, in many parts of the world the public does not play along anymore. People demand more authentic direct democracy and reject traditional party ideology and political partisanship.

So, all the budget cuts and reduction in both governments’ employment and public debts are completely useless?

All the government’s cuts and reductions are

designed to preserve the old economic regime and keep current governmental politicians in power. The schemes of how to use taxpayer’s money to pay for financial excesses of governments and banks are numerous, non-transparent and complex: most taxpayers are not even aware that they are paying for all the bad decisions, corruption and excesses themselves, increasingly through induced inflation. Beyond this, current global networks and supply chains have reached their limits as well.

Can you specify this?

Global chains are too complex, too expensive, too unreliable and too vulnerable to natural and manmade disasters and disruptions. Modern humans desire healthy, tasty, cheaper and easily accessible and flexible local or regional produce, products and services, based on the global knowledge and information accessible through internet and global communications networks. “Think globally, act locally” is the slogan capturing the ethos of the re-localization towards human scale.

Shall we await the introduction of local currencies as well?

Yes, local and regional currencies shall emerge if there is strong local autonomy and local economy.

Moreover, they will complement central currencies, used for interregional and global transactions. Also, when digital money is introduced, its local forms and versions will become very simple and easy to use for enhancing and stabilizing local economies.

Could you give any example of re-localization working well in practice?

The Bat’a Management System is quite suitable and well tested for re-localization. Tomas and Jan Bat’a have clearly preceded globalization and re-localization by half a century at least. Tomas Bat’a was four times the mayor of Zlin, with no political parties or ideologies playing any noticeable role in direct-democracy elections. Of course, the town of Zlin flourished: housing, sports facilities, highways, electrification, schools, entrepreneurial university, film and arts studios and cultural autonomy had all prospered without any governmental interference or intervention. The global outreach of Tomas Bat’a Corporation was based on local activities and global thinking (“The best in the world is good enough for us”). This ethos has all but disappeared from the post-war Zlin… Governments are always slower and more conservative than the free, autonomous and uncorrupted entrepreneurial spirit of free and independent people.

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

Leaders Magazine I/2012 47

business breakfast

From left: Zdeněk Bakala, Investor and Peter P. Formánek, President, Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic

Photo: Miguel Alonso

OF COMMERCE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC BUSINESS BREAKFAST WITH ZDENĚK BAKALA On November 30, 2011 the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic hosted a business breakfast with Mr. Zdeněk Bakala. The event, held on the premises of the Best Western Premier Hotel Majestic Plaza, was part of the Chamber’s long-established program of debates with business leaders and other invited guest speakers. Members of the Chamber of Commerce SwitzerlandCzech Republic joined us on this occasion, thus enhancing the event’s networking potential.

48 MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ

From left: Marek Procházka, President, Chamber of Commerce Switzerland-Czech Republic, Partner, PRK Partners law firm, H.E. Valerie Raymond, Ambassador of Canada to the Czech Republic, and Zdeněk Bakala, Investor

From left: Alan Krautstengl, President, Anglo-American University, Thomas Hrubý, Partner, Hrubý & Buchvaldek, and Monika Fraňková, Head of Expat

From left: Alena Koukalová, Executive Director, Chamber of Commerce Switzerland-Czech Republic, Ilja Šedivý, Board Chairman, Regata Čechy, and Jiří Krejča, Managing Partner, Dosonmo

Jana Ryšlinková, Executive Director, US Business School Praha

Thomas Mershon, Manager Consulting, Deloitte Central Europe

Sanjiv Suri, President & CEO, Zátiší Group

From left: Zdeněk Bakala, Investor, Michael Mullen, Partner, Havel, Holásek & Partners, and Pavel Zach, Civic Association ANO ANO

49

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE Participants

Senator Edvard Outrata (ret.), former Deputy Speaker of the Senate, Parliament of the Czech Republic

Marianne Gerber Szabo, Embassy of Switzerland

From left: Otto J. Jelínek, former Canadian Cabinet Minister and Member of numerous international boards, Peter P. Formánek, President, Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic, and Zdeněk Bakala, Investor

50

From left: Otto J. Jelínek, former Canadian Cabinet Minister and Member of numerous international boards, Vladimíra Václavíková, Marketing & Editorial Director, Leaders Magazine, and Benke Aikell, Your Publisher

Marek Procházka, President, Chamber of Commerce Switzerland-Czech Republic, Partner, PRK Partners law firm

Alan Krautstengl, President, Anglo-American University

Pavel Zach, Civic Association ANO ANO

H.E. Valerie Raymond, Ambassador of Canada to the Czech Republic

analysis

Dogma Dogmas We Are Fighting Them Our Entire Lives travel, or so that their children can go to school.

Some joined just so that the bureaucrats would finally leave them alone. I am bothered by obedience to dogma, which brings about envy, and the strengthening of the worst that is inside us – the idea that you’ve got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette (maul halten und weiter dienen). I am bothered by the gradual loss of morality, the forgetting that we are doing something wrong, which is often accomplished by running to the pub or into the garden. I am troubled by the herd mentality which forces us first to vote, to manifest, and then allow ourselves to be manipulated, so that we simply stand alone, since this is easier and avoids problems.

Religious dogma does not attract me either.

Maybe there is something beyond ourselves that guides us, administers and manages our lives.

But to comply with prescribed rituals does not however instil in me morality, decency or love.

Do we need to be living as copies of an image created by manipulators?

I do not like dogmas. Dogmas want you to obey, follow, and believe that you will be happy, and that your life will somehow change. I hate communism, not just because of the thousands of crooks who liquidate their opponents for their own personal benefit. Most members of this community entered the party because of their careers. Others may have done so because of the intoxicating feeling of power over others, similar to that of a porter in an agitation centre.

And some may have done so for permission to

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

I am bothered by xenophobia that chases some groups of people, and I do not like the inverted version of xenophobia that creates a positive decimation of the decent ones. Let’s be tolerant of each other, as everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so long as they are politely expressed and not tinted with manipulation.

I will not let myself be stultified by state regulation, nor by the invisible hand of the market.

I fight the marketing brainwash that induces me to buy what I do not need at all.

I do not attend manifestations or demonstrations. The last time I took part in a May Day demonstration was when I was eighteen. We threw away the assigned Chinese flag (even before it was decided by the Soviet Politburo) and tried to see how many of us can fit into a phone

booth. Personally, I categorise rallies and demonstrations into several groups:

Speeches on the edge of vulgarity, which create no more than a small but visible rabble – for example a trade union demonstration.

The pointing of fingers at those who have caused something, and calls for their lynching (sometimes literal).

Speakers seeking attention to start or enhance their careers – these people will use any excuse to do so.

Manipulation of crowds (I have experienced this form myself on the occasion of military parades, when I involuntarily stomped my legs like mad).

Something is really going on here, and I would go on myself, but it is depressing and sad how few people are really interested in these things of such importance.

I truly believe that there are more of us who want to fight against dogma. Let us gather our wits and oppose manipulation. This applies to the media both real and imagined. Let us not embrace the false picture of the world that the media elite have created, and which causes feelings of helplessness in believing that we cannot change anything. We were not born as sheep, and it is only ourselves that allows us to behave like herds. After all, we do not want to live as copies of the image created by manipulators.

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

Leaders Magazine I/2012 51

christmas spirit

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

Photo: Jaroslav Fišer

H.E. Päivi Hiltunen-Toivio, Ambassador of Finland

Nordic Chamber

Christmas Party

52 MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ

Children

From left: Mr. Olli Torvinen, Managing Partner, Innotiimi ICG, Petr Šmejcký, General Manager, Zkušebnictví a.s., and Birger Husted, Managing Director, UniqueConsult Czech Republic s.r.o.

Zuzana Martínková, Marketing & Sales Manager, YIT Stavo s.r.o. and Jan Chudoba, Senior Project Manager, LEGO Production s.r.o.

Robert Norlin, Purchase Manager, NCC Purchasing Group CEE, s.r.o. and Vice President Nordic Chamber of Commerce

From left: H.E. Jens Eikaas, Ambassador of Norway and H.E. Päivi Hiltunen-Toivio, Ambassador of Finland

The Lucia Party once again took the prize as the Nordic Chamber’s event of the year.

120 adults and no less than 90 joyful children (up from last year’s 72!) turned Hotel Diplomat’s largest banquet hall into a giant Scandinavian Christmas feast. In addition to a delicious buffet, including national Christmas dishes presented by each of the four Nordic ambassadors, the event offered a lovely mix of carols, Lucia procession and generous Jultomte (warm thanks to sponsors LEGO and Zapf Creation). “This is the biggest Christmas party in our history,” executive director Lea Turcarová beamed.

“But if the Nordic reproduction rate continues at this impressive speed, I’m not sure if we’ll find a venue large enough for next year’s party!”

From left: Jess Knudsen, Head of Commercial Department, Royal Danish Embassy, H.E. Ole Möesby, Ambassador of Denmark, and H.E. Annika Jagander, Ambassador of Sweden

From left: Jiří Pech, Managing Director, SKF ložiska, s.r.o., Lea Turcarová, Executive Director, Nordic Chamber of Commerce, Hannu Kasi, Managing Director, ABB s.r.o., and Pavel Klejna, Owner, Klejna obchod s vínem

53

Santa Claus with children

From left: Robert Norlin, Purchase Manager, NCC Purchasing Group CEE, s.r.o. and Vice President Nordic Chamber of Commerce, Jiří Pech, Managing Director, SKF ložiska, s.r.o, Pavel Klejna, Owner, Klejna obchod s vínem, Jan Hübner, Director, Český pivní festival, and Lea Turcarová, Executive Director, Nordic Chamber of Commerce

Little participant

Lucia Train

54 H.E. Annika Jagander, Ambassador of Sweden

the coach´s corner

What Do You Want TO ACHIEVE IN 2012?

For many years, during the Christmas holidays, I have devoted some time to think about what I want to achieve in the upcoming year, and then I have made my New Year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, like many of my friends, my determination to follow through with those resolutions usually faded within the first few months.

So this year I decided to take a different approach.

Instead of making some new resolutions (which have always turned out to be the same old resolutions year after year), I thought about the performance reviews that companies request from their employees. I decided that before making a new list of goals, I was going to review what I did and didn’t do in the past year, and initiate a personal yearly review.

At a recent TEDx event, shown on Ted.com, Jane Fonda, an Oscar-winning actor and prominent activist, said, in regard to what she calls the “third act” of her life, that “In order to know where I was going, I had to know where I had been.”

Following Jane’s advice, I felt that finding out the connection between the beginning and the end of 2011 would help me determine my vision for 2012, and help me define some concrete and realistic objectives for the upcoming year.

Otherwise, at the end of 2012 I could end up like Christopher Columbus, who didn’t know where he was headed when he left, didn’t know where he was when he got there, and didn’t know where he had been when he got back.

WHERE WAS I AND WHAT DID I DO LAST YEAR? To begin the process, I started my personal yearly review by analyzing last year’s results – I looked at the relation between the goals I set last January and the results I achieved by the end of the year. Did I achieve my goals or not?

Karin Genton-L’Epée is a business coach with 30 years of extensive professional experience in the United States, France and the Czech Republic.

Based in Prague since 1995, for the past 13 years she has developed a range of coaching and training programs for mid- and top-level managers, focusing on leadership development, cross-cultural understanding and effective communication in a global environment. By providing a structured environment that supports people in clarifying who they are and what they want, Karin enables her clients to devise more effective strategies to achieve their personal and professional goals. Thanks to her knowledge, skills and range of international experience, Karin is in demand as a speaker at business conferences and educational institutions on both sides of the Atlantic. She is also a regular contributor to business journals and magazines. She works in English and French and can be reached at karin@coaching.cz.

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

I asked myself two questions: “What went well last year?” and “What did not go so well?” For each question, I tried to come up with at least six to eight answers per category in my personal and professional lives. And while thinking about the answers, I focused on those which I have control over, like how much time I devoted to my personal life versus my professional life.

I also looked at how my needs or circumstances changed during the year, because those changes can (and did) affect my goals. For example, at the outset of 2011, I had planned to take a spring vacation in Egypt. But Egypt didn’t seem like it would be so relaxing last spring, did it?

In another case, a goal I had of launching a new business networking event was set aside because, thanks to other efforts, it no longer seemed relevant.

WHAT WENT WELL? Since 2003, I have organized a monthly event I call the Power Lunch, offering executives and managers the opportunity to learn, share ideas and exchange experiences while exploring a diverse range of management and business-related issues. These lunches have always been well attended, but with some additional tweaking and excellent contributions from the participants in the past six months, they are now at full capacity within a couple of days after I send the invitation. The lunches have also become my primary networking activity – new faces are always at the table, and the quality of the participants amply supports my business development needs.

The other result which I am happy about is the updated look of my Newsletter, Power Lunch and Training4Success mailings. The new look has been very well received and contributed to the increased performance of my trainings and workshops in 2011.

WHAT DIDN’T GO SO WELL? The new look of my mailings was supposed to be just one of the steps in the re-branding of my overall communication. But in the midst of all my activities, the redesigning of my web site ended up on the back burner. I need to get that back on track in 2012.

The other ongoing challenge I face is my ability to deliver my writing contribution to Prague Leaders Magazine and a blog site to which I am committed to a monthly post.

I need to take a hard look at how I am organizing my time, in order to meet my obligations to those writing tasks in a timely manner and with less stress.

Overall, though, my 2011 results are more on the positive side than those of 2010 were, which allows me to start this year with a more optimistic approach than the overall economic situation calls for.

WHERE AM I HEADING? A friend recently said to me, “I don’t like to plan because it kills the spontaneity,” and I have to admit that being open and receptive to what the world sends your way sounds great. However, in the words of U.S educator and writer Laurence Peter, “If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.”

So after analyzing what happened last year, I then thought about the future and what I want to achieve in the upcoming year. And instead of just writing my usual list of resolutions, I took the time to outline a strategic plan to ensure the execution of those goals. Despite the financial turmoil, I am aiming for a happier and more prosperous 2012, and I have laid some plans to get there.

While thinking about the various objectives I want to accomplish in the next twelve months, I took a piece of paper on which I drew three columns: In the first column, I wrote (per category: personal and professional) the list of goals I would like to accomplish this year.

In the second column, I wrote the actions required to achieve these goals, meaning what I specifically need to do to ensure that I achieve each goal.

In the third column, I wrote the timing for each goal – the deadline for when I would like to complete each goal.

As one would with a performance review, I have also added some additional columns to review each goal per quarter.

The idea is to design a road map, a guide to the best way to reach your goals, also keeping in mind that circumstances change and things happen – it’s good to have alternate routes to your objectives, just in case.

It’s also a good idea to make sure you give yourself adequate time to reach your goals. In his book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell suggests that it takes ten thousand hours to become an expert at any given endeavor. If you are working at it forty hours per week, with two weeks of vacation per year, that’s five years to become an expert.

It was Andy Warhol who said “They say that time changes things. But you actually have to change them yourself.”

Taking the time to do the goal setting exercise and yearly review are all about changing things yourself instead of waiting for change to suddenly show up one day. Keep in mind that we tend to overestimate how much we can achieve in an average year. By setting attainable goals and designing a plan to accomplish them, you might experience the best year of your life.

Leaders Magazine I/2012 55

interview A talk with Monika Šimůnková, Government’s Human Rights Commissioner

I am a Realist

Monika Šimůnková (1972) graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Charles University in Prague. She also completed a two-semester scholarship study at the Law Faculty of the University in Passau, Germany. She worked for several years in the foremost law firms, operating on both the domestic and foreign scenes. In addition, she gained extensive experience within the civil society and nonprofit sectors. Between 2004 and 2010, she was engaged within the “Naše dítě Foundation” (Our Child Foundation) where she was at the birth of the Legal Assistance Hotline (free legal assistance for the public in the area of children’s rights). Since February 2011, Monika Šimůnková has been sitting in a “hot seat” as the Government’s Human Rights Commissioner. She admits that although she has a clear idea of her competencies, sometimes she has to follow a rather realistic path. We asked her about the weakest points in terms of human rights in the Czech Republic at this time.

Photo: Archive of the Government of the CR

56 Leaders Magazine I/2012

interview You must address a number of measures which are often very controversial, from both political and media perspectives. How do you cope with this pressure?

It was quite difficult for me, especially at the very beginning, even though I knew this post was not about gaining popularity or political points.

What is it about in particular?

It is often mainly about finding solutions to very unpleasant issues. I went ahead with this perspective, i.e.

I felt I would be able to pursue things to the best of my knowledge and beliefs, regardless of any pressures from the outside. Yet, I was surprised by how much power the media has and how, in some cases, it is able to simplify things and give much distorted information.

Can you be specific?

The media could have, for instance, significantly contributed to the calming of the situation with the crisis at Šluknovsko, which unfortunately did not happen. For all that, I am learning how to live and work with these things, and talk about often unpopular issues in the ways in which I believe in them.

Have the Czech Republic’s priorities, within the human rights area, significantly changed since 1989?

In general, no. The values of human rights are permanent and unchangeable.

Just some issues change over time and need to be addressed as a priority. Of course, there are different concepts of what we call human rights, whether they are just the basic natural rights, such as the right to life, liberty, equality, privacy, etc. or whether social, economic and cultural rights should be included within this concept as well.

So, what are the priority issues at the moment?

The fundamental problem of our post-communist history within the human rights´ area is obviously the issue dealing with the status of the Roma in our society. This is followed by the status of minorities and other vulnerable groups of people in our society, in general. Due to technological development, we certainly need to cope with a new dimension of traditional rights as well, like e.g. the right to privacy in the electronic sphere, the right to protection of personal data relating to new databases, and challenges of bioethics.

Let us return to the Roma issue. As you said many times, in the case of the Roma, it is not so much about discrimination but rather about social exclusion.

You can see from the current situation that no government has yet addressed the Roma issue conceptually, nor in the long term. Although the governments have proclaimed it, and although there are many government materials on solving this problem, nothing has happened.

On the other hand, some Roma from socially excluded areas are to some extent victims, yet they are also somewhat to blame for their situation.

In what way, particularly?

They used what a generous social state offered them, gradually kept losing their working habits, became unemployable, and so nobody accommodates them in other places, other than in overcharged hostels, and their children have never seen them working. Thus, there are emerging islands of social pathology in the middle of the Czech Republic which are very difficult to deal with.

Therefore the explosive potential is immediate.

Well, the Roma issue seems basically hard to solve in our country...

The solution will require many years, and lies in

a quality education of Roma kids, as well as an increase in job opportunities for unemployed Roma. On the other hand, unfortunately many well-educated Roma in our country truly face discrimination in both housing and employment. On top of that, the Roma children are very often improperly included in special schools, which exclude them from a path to a quality education, and thus also to subsequent employment in the labour market.

So what strategy do you recommend in order to address the integration of the Roma in Šluknovsko properly? The president, Václav Klaus, calls for preparation of the National Action Plan. Do you agree with him?

I agree with the president only partially. Moreover, I’ve been proposing the establishment of the coordination group at the governmental level for a longer time. This group could deal with the situation in Šluknovsko, and eventually in other potentially explosive localities. Additionally, composed of both representatives of the state

(as in the case of Slovakia) which would provide the issue of children’s rights protection with a roof. Competencies are now under the responsibility of several ministries.

Additionally, we suffer from a very high number of children in institutional care (including children who stay up to three years in nursing homes). Children are taken from families primarily for economic reasons. I consider it totally unacceptable, and we have been criticised for it by international organizations.

That sounds pretty pessimistic, can we expect any improvement?

Fortunately, now things are improving, as the government recently decided on gradual abolition of institutes and the primary support of foster families for children.

However, we need to make the deinstitutionalization process and the search for foster families most sensitive, so that the kids placed in the institutions are transferred into the hands of quality “alternative” parents. Beyond this, we need to start (in time) with the greatest preventive activity and facilitation of families, so that children do not have to be taken away from the families at all.

Where is the key to success?

I find it very crucial that the number of social workers in the Czech Republic working with threatened families does not respond to a real need. Several hundred families may even fall within the competence of one such worker. Yet we are also hampered by the small number of counselling facilities aimed at addressing problems of dysfunctional families and families in crisis (such as e.g. by divorce, before or after it), and the insufficient usage of mediation as a way of resolving disputes, etc.

You are the initiator of the institution of children’s ombudsman. Could you describe it?

The emergence of this institution was proposed in 2009. In fact a legislative draft on the children’s ombudsman had been drafted, but unfortunately all this activity had ended at that time. Since I am a realist, I know that I cannot promote the emergence of the entirely new institution as I would like to. Thus, I am leaning toward a variant that this agenda could be subordinated under the existing Ombudsman with whom I am dealing about the issue very intensively.

What should be primarily within the competence of the institute?

Children’s ombudsman should in particular monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Children’s Rights by which the Czech Republic is bound, and which has not been complied with fully yet. Additionally, it should deal with individual incentives from children (which currently the Ombudsman is partially doing). By means of the individual incentives, the Ombudsman should thereafter make recommendations of a general nature concerning the children’s rights. These recommendations could project into state politics, and thus ensure the participation of children within public affairs.

Moreover, he could increase the awareness of children’s rights, etc. Simply put, it would be kind of an independent children’s ombudsman.

The media could have significantly contributed to calming the situation with the crisis at Šluknovsko, which unfortunately did not happen. administration and the self-government, as well as other professionals, this group could jointly monitor and coordinate all steps needed, so that a similar situation to the one in Šluknovsko, much like in other regions of our country, is prevented.

In this context, the Czech government approved the Strategy on the fight against social exclusion for the period 2011–2015. What essential instruments can we find within?

The strategy is very complex, encompassing several tens of provisions. Particular ministries are then responsible for the implementation of them. The material itself is divided into six areas: security, housing, education, employment, social service and regional development.

Its main focus, however, lies in education. We need to reverse a current trend within this area. As I’ve mentioned before, it is rather scary that many Roma kids are basically automatically included into the so-called “practical schools” (these are the special schools in other words).

At the same time, we would like to reduce these schools as well.

Is there a fundamental shift in terms of tools?

Among the most important measures which are proposed, there is, for instance, the option to impose a compulsory pre-school attendance aimed at children from socially excluded localities. Next, the security area promises the establishment of experts on the issue of usury. In further areas, there is e.g. a proposal for the creation of the integrated model of social housing and the system of permeable occupation. I believe that if the Strategy was really consistently carried out, there is a chance that the situation in socially excluded localities in our country could be improved in the long term. It would mean a great success indeed.

One of your main priorities is in the area of the rights of children as well. Where do you see the biggest problem within this area in our country at present?

It is the long-lasting fragmentation of competencies within this area, above all. There is not a single state body

By Zuzana Kasáková

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

Leaders Magazine I/2012 57

interview An interview with Professor Petr Widimský, Director of the Cardiocenter and Head of the Department of Cardiology, 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and University Hospital Královské Vinohrady

Foreign Experience

IS CRUCIAL After graduating from Charles University Faculty of Medicine in Prague in 1979, Professor Widimský started to work at the University Hospital Královské Vinohrady (FNKV). In the 80’s he gained the board examination in internal medicine and in 1992 board examination in cardiology. Between the years 1990–1993 he worked in the Netherlands. In 1996 he became a director of the Cardiocenter, and five years later a head of the Department of Cardiology, 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University in Prague and University Hospital Královské Vinohrady. Professor Widimský has also been active in the groves of academe; he lectures at the 3rd Faculty of Medicine, where he holds a post of vice dean for science as well. Since 2011 he has been President of the Czech Society of Cardiology. He has received many Czech as well as foreign awards for his work.

Why did you choose cardiology?

Strictly speaking, my work began in cardiology. As a third year student of medicine faculty I started to work at the coronary unit at Vinohrady hospital. Not only did I earn money during my studies, but I also gained valuable experience in acute medicine that I really enjoyed. This experience influenced my further orientation. When I began working at the II. Internal clinic of the FNKV (then headed by Professor Víšek), at first I thought about other specializations within internal medicine such as gastroenterology or nephrology, because I did not want to be in the shadow of my father (who has been an excellent cardiologist) my whole life. I felt at that time that I should go in a different direction. Professor Víšek tried

to persuade me to decide only on the basis of what I enjoy most, and in the end he was successful. I have always enjoyed cardiology most, because it is a specialisation in which you can do a lot for the patients. And sometimes you can see the results of your work immediately.

You managed to enforce a new care system for patients with myocardial infarction not only in the Czech Republic, but also abroad. What brought you to this idea?

I gained experience in the Netherlands. It was at first (1990–91) during my research stay in Rotterdam, where I learned how to carry out methodical research correctly and gained invaluable experience. Then I continued in Zwolle, where I got to know how to do an angioplasty inacute

infarcts. I saw that this medical method allows saving formerly lost cases of big infarcts. It appealed to me a lot, and after coming back to Prague we implemented this method at our department. The results were fascinating: the death rate by infarcts was virtually from day to day reduced from 11 to 4 percent.

Was it difficult to enforce this method in other hospitals?

We were thinking about whether to offer it to a wider circle of patients, not only to those who would come primarily to our hospital. In the end we came up with the PRAGUE study, in which we randomized the patients. The randomization procedure is the only one really scientific approach on how to show Photo: Vladimír Weiss

58

interview whether a new method is better (or worse) in comparison to the traditional one. Simply speaking, randomization means a random inclusion of the patient into one of the project’s arms. In the PRAGUE study, patients were divided into three groups. One group was treated by usual method – patients were taken to the nearest hospital in their place of living, and received thrombolysis (in 1997 it was a standard procedure). The second group also got thrombolysis in the nearest hospital, but was immediately after that transported to the nearest cardiocenter for angioplasty. The third group did not get thrombolysis and was directly taken to angioplasty. Transports were permitted at a maximum of 80 km.

When we devised this project, we asked for financial support at the Czech Ministry of Health Grant Agency. Our idea was considered insane, because the rule applied at that time said that every patient with the infarct had to be transported as quickly as possible to the nearest hospital (and stay there, almost still, for at least several days). We thus had problems defending our project, but the Czech Society of Cardiology stood up for us, and therefore we could start to implement the project in January of 1997. The results were very convincing in favour of the angioplasty, even at the cost of a longer transport.

What did you do afterwards?

We extended the project to the second phase called PRAGUE 2. Almost half of the hospitals in the Czech Republic that treat infarcts (51) took part in it. Again, the results unequivocally proved the benefits of our cure system. Then we were successful in implementing the system in the whole country quite quickly. That was in the years 2002–2003. We also presented our results at the main world congresses, and because they were highly convincing, other European countries started to adopt this system between the years 2003–2008, and after 2004 the United States followed them as well. From this perspective, we surpassed the world.

Of course, we did not invent angioplasty. We came up with the national organization of care; we proved that it pays off to transport people to specialized departments. The Czech Republic thus became the first country in the world where the angioplasty is really accessible for all patients with the infarct, wherever this serious illness catches them.

In your opinion, what qualities and competencies should a good cardiologist have?

A good cardiologist has to be operational. They have to be able to decide quickly, because it is sometimes about minutes. A good cardiologist should be broadly educated professionally. They have to read expert journals, visit the congresses and get the newest information there. They also should be manually skilful in a way, because in cardiology, unlike in internal medicine and surgery, many operations are done by hands, which is exceptional within the internal disciplines. And of course, experience is crucial. The more cases the doctors see every year, the better doctors they become.

Therefore a great cardiologist could grow only at a hospital with a catchment area of at least 250-300 thousand people.

Even the smartest doctors working in smaller local hospitals with substantially smaller numbers of people in the area cannot become great cardiologists, because they just do not see so many and varied cases. The Czech Republic does very well in this issue: we have 22 cardiocenters accredited for the preparation of future cardiologists, and the smallest of these have a catchment area of about 250 thousand people. It is one of the reasons why our cardiologists are in very high demand in Europe and elsewhere.

How does the Czech Republic stand in number of patients with heart attacks in comparison to other European states?

The Czech Republic has been in the European average in regards to the current numbers of infarcts. As for death rate, it has dramatically improved in the past twenty years. It did to

such an extent that Poland and Czech Republic are the first in Europe (maybe in the world) in reducing the death rate.

However, it is still higher here than in other countries of Western or Southern Europe, but the pace of reduction is very encouraging.

How do you explain that?

I consider two issues crucial to this positive trend. The first one is prevention. The life style has improved. The knowledge of people has increased, and a certain decrease in smoking and other habits has occurred. A substantial improvement of the cure plays the same role. When you realize that about 22 thousand patients are cured by angioplasty, and a further 6–7 thousand by cardio surgery operation (bypass) every year in the Czech Republic, it is over 25–30 thousand patients treated by these modern methods. Many patients would die without these operations. When a person who experiences a heart attack comes early, and we carry out the angioplasty, such a person has a healthy prospect. In other words, if someone gets a heart attack in their sixties, comes for help early, and we carry out angioplasty, they can live until eighty or eighty-five without any problems. Formerly such people died in their sixties. If there are thousands of such patients a year, it is obvious that the method contributes to the protraction of life expectancy.

And what about heredity? To what extent does heredity influence the possibility of a heart attack?

Heredity plays an important role. It ranks first among the risks of heart attack disease. It is followed by smoking, being overweight, high levels of cholesterol, in other words, by the consequences of bad diet.

How would you assess the state of scientific research in cardiology in the Czech Republic?

It has been developing in a positive direction, although it could be much better after the last twenty years. Thanks to many research projects our discipline has managed to get on quite noticeably. As a small country we have several world known cardiologists whose works are acknowledged and respected. On the other hand, if we compare the Czech Republic with countries that are closer to us by the level of development, such as Poland, we have to say that Poles are in a better position than we are, because they are more active. Polish cardiology research is currently the best in Central and Eastern Europe. We lag behind them, and other countries are behind us.

How can this situation be changed? Is it a question of financial resources?

I think that Poles do not have more resources than we do.

The problem is somewhere else. It is absolutely crucial that young doctors gain experience abroad. A doctor who spends a year at a top academic university hospital in the U.S., England, the Netherlands or Sweden represents a great contribution for any domestic hospital. Poles can do that and gain a lot of experience abroad. They have a big cooperation with the United States.

I know this from my own experience. When I came to the Netherlands for the first time, I only wondered how their research worked in all respects. It was not only about the funding, but also about the approach of people. Here I was used to the fact that nobody was in the hospital at three o’clock, everybody was at home and went off for their hobbies. In the Netherlands, when I went home at 6 or 7pm, I was the first; many colleagues stayed much longer. Sometimes I hear from young doctors that they do not have time for research. If they want to do clinical medicine and research at the same time, they must have it as a hobby, as a certain passion – simply, to give up their free time. Nobody in the world became a top doctor working eight hours a day....

It is not of course possible to expect in the current world that they would do that for free, on the basis of the enthusiasm only. It is thus important to create a system of incen-

tives, target motivated bonuses (e.g. for successfully published research results).

Such cooperation with foreign hospitals does not exist in the Czech Republic?

This form of cooperation does exist in the Czech Republic too, but not to such an extent. The number of our doctors going abroad is not small, but their aim is to earn money, to get a better salary and career. There are a few doctors who go abroad to learn something about the methods of scientific work, to gain experience, to achieve something, to publish.

Have you ever considered staying abroad longer?

I spent 2.5 years in the Netherlands and had many offers even later, but I like to be here. When I was in Rotterdam in 1991, I was offered the post of the head of the coronary unit.

I was thinking about that, but in our country a very interesting time began, so I wanted to come back. I refused the offer sometime in April. By coincidence I attended the European Congress of Cardiology in Amsterdam at the end of August 1991. I went through the corridor and I met the director of a cardiocenter in Rotterdam. He smiled and asked me whether I did not change my mind. I looked at him uncomprehendingly, because I felt that we solved it in April. When he saw that I did not understand his question, he replied: “You do not know that there is a coup d’état in Russia and communism is coming back?” It was on a day when it seemed that communists had come again to power in Russia (the arresting of Gorbachev).

I responded that if the communist regime returns, I would stay in the Netherlands. However, three days later Yeltsin climbed on a tank and it was over. So I came back to Prague. I had good conditions for work there. We were building our department, my boss was a nice person, and I could travel without any restrictions. And last but not least, my family was here as well.

What are your hobbies?

I like cycling and travelling, and especially walking in the mountains.

Which country do you like most?

There are three countries – Chile, Alaska and Iceland. Cold areas, either northern or southern, have a great appeal for me. My dream is to visit the Himalayas, which once almost came through.

What happened?

I became friends with one of my patients when I was carrying out angioplasty due to his heart attack. He was under fifty. And when he was lying in the operating room and I was repairing his heart, he asked me whether he would be able to visit the Himalayas. I wanted to please him, so I said that definitely yes, that we can cure heart attacks nowadays. But I did not believe it much personally. Nevertheless he was fine after the operation and was released from the hospital.

About nine months later he called me to examine him because he wanted to go to the Himalayas and his local doctor did not want to allow him that. The examination came out well, so I did not stop him. He went there and since that time he has been there eight times. In 2001 he persuaded me to go with him. We bought tickets for September 25th. Before our departure I attended congress in Washington taking place near the Pentagon. While there I experienced 9/11. It was very odd. Suddenly there was a great uncertainty. You did not know what the next day would bring. Planes stopped flying. Generally, it was a very strong, but unpleasant experience. I thus told myself I did not feel like flying somewhere for the time being. When I came back in ten days, I cancelled the trip to the Himalayas. Up until now I have been regretting it. My friend went alone and after four weeks he returned very keen, because the Himalayas were empty that year, without the usual crowds of tourists.

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

Leaders Magazine I/2012 59

networking/charity IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charterpresident of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and former Governor of LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic

Prague Bohemia Ambassador

From left: MVDr. Pavel Hradecký, Health Councel and Ing. arch. Petr Bílek, Architect´s Studio Bílek Associates, spol. s r.o.

From left: Ing. Vladimír Páral, Writer and Ing. Anton Gerák, CSc., Commercial Director and Secretary of LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic From left: MUDr. Václav Poláček, CSc., Plastic Surgeon and Ing. Petr Kučera, CSc., Authorized Expert for the Construction Field

60 From left: Ing. Antonín Mika, Regional Director for Foreign Trade and Petr Laštovka, Enterpreneur

From left: Ing. arch. Petr Bílek, Architect´s Studio Bílek Associates, spol. s r.o., MUDr. Blanka Seifertová, General Practitioner, and Ing. Pavel Barák, Economist

From left: Ing. Anton Gerák, CSc., Commercial Director and Secretary of LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charterpresident of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and former Governor of LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, and MUDr. Václav Poláček, CSc., Plastic Surgeon

From left: Ing. Rudolf Kočí, Enterpreneur and Ing. Antonín Mika, Regional Director for Foreign Trade

From left: Antonín Felix Slováček, Musician and Conductor, and JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charterpresident of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and former Governor of LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic

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From left: Mgr. Jan Haur, IS Administrator and JUDr. Jaroslav Novotný, Lawyer, Membership Chairperson of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador

From left: JUDr. Vladimír Galuška, Lawyer, JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charterpresident of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and former Governor of LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, and Ing. Rudolf Kočí, Enterpreneur

From left: Ing. Tomáš Jadrníček, Project Engineer, PhDr. Ladislav Říha, Owner, CK RI-Tours and former President of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador, and MUDr. Blanka Seifertová, General Practitioner

From left: Prof. MUDr. Aleksi Šedo, Vice Dean, 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University and Ing. Vladimír Páral, Writer From left: Ing. František Novotný, Director, TERRAMET s.r.o. and Ing. Jiří Novotný, CSc., MBA, Financial Director

From left: Ing. Josef Čekal, former President of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and Petr Laštovka, Enterpreneur

From left: Ing. Antonín Mika, Regional Director for Foreign Trade, Petr Laštovka, Enterpreneur, Antonín Felix Slováček, Musician and Conductor, Ing. Rudolf Kočí, Enterpreneur, and Ing. Jiří Málek, former President of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador

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christmas charity concert

On Sunday, December 18, Hilton Prague and Hilton Prague Old Town took pleasure in organising the annual Christmas Charity Concert for the hotels’ guests and business partners. It has now been 15 years in a row that the evening has been held, and it is the 5th year in a row that it has been organised by two Hilton hotels in Prague. Michael Specking, general manager of both Hilton Prague & Hilton Prague Old Town, together with Lenka Piskova, marketing & public relations manager, were delighted to hand over a cheque for the value of CZK 75,000 to the Tereza Maxová dětem Foundation, which works to help children in need.

622

From left: Terezie Sverdlinová, Director, Tereza Maxová dětem Foundation, Daniel Hůlka, Singer, Mrs. Claudia Specking, Petr Chromčák, Conductor, Daniela Písařovicová, Moderator, Bohuslav Matoušek, Violinist, and Michael Specking, General Manager, Hilton hotels in Prague

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Soňa Frýdlová, Choir Master Viva Voce

Daniel Hůlka, Singer

Daniela Písařovicová, Moderator and Michael Specking, General Manager, Hilton hotels in Prague

Petr Chromčák, Conductor

Yuka Yoshimura, Viva Voce´s piano accompaniment

Buffet – Congress Hall Foyer

6 63 International Ladies’ Choir Viva Voce

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Markéta Ma M aark rkét rk két éta éta ta Fo FFoukalová ouk ukal alov lov ovváá – Si ová SSinger Sing nger nger ng e David D Da avviid Fárek Fárreek – SSa Fá Saxophone axxoopphhoonne Petr PPe etr tr Kroutil Krroouuttiill – Saxophone, SSaaxxoopphhoonne, e, SSinger iinnnge ggeer Boris Bo B ori or riiss Urbánek Urbá Ur bánneek ek – K Ke Keys, eyyss, Piano PPiian a no Ondřej O On ndř dřej ej K Kabrna aabbrn r na – K Ke Keys, eyyss, Piano PPiiaannnoo Zdeněk Zden Z Zd den eněk ěk T Tichota iich ic chhoota ta – Do D Double ouubbl ble le B Bass a ss ass as IIvan Iv vaann Doležálek Dol olež ežál áleekk – D Do Double ouubbllee B Bass a ss as Luboš L Lu ubo boš Andršt Anndr A dršštt – Guitar Guuiittaarr G Slávek SSl Sláv lláv ávek áv ek JJanda aannddaa – Guitar Guit Gu G uiittar uit ar Michal Hejna M Mic Mi icchhaall H ejjna ej na – Drums na Drum Dr ums IImran Im mra ra n M Mu Musa ussaa Z Zangi aannngggii – Pe PPercussion erc rcuusssi siiooonn

Christmas Concert – Congress Hall in Hilton Prague

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Michal Mi Mic ichha ic hal aall HHe Hejna, ejjna jnna na, D Drums ruuum rrum ms

Michael Specking, General Manager, Hilton hotels in Prague in his speech

Bohuslav Matoušek, Violinist

From Fr FFro r om left: ro leeft effftt: Prof.

Prof r of ro of. Václav Vác ácl ácl claavv Klaus, KKla llaaus, us President us Pr esi Pr eesssiidden deeen ent nt of of the the he CR, CCRRR,, Karel K rel Mu Ka M Muzizizikkář, ká kář áářř, President, Prre res es e siide idde dennt nt,tt,, Comenius, CCoom meeenniu men iius uuss, and anndd Prof.

Pro PPr rroof.f. MUDr. MUD MU MUD UDrr.. Josef Jos Jos Jo oseeff Veselka, Veessel Ve elk lkkaa,, CSc., CScc.,, Chi CCh hi hief ieeff of of tthe thhhee D De eppa epa par ar tm tm tme meen ent nt ooff CCa Car aarr ddio diio iolog lloog ogy g y, y, FN F N Mot Mo M oottol oto ol Chief Department Cardiology, Motol

64

Ájjjaa Vrzáň ÁÁja VVr Vrzáňová, r záň záňňová ňov ová váá, CCzec Czech zech zec ech W ec World orrrlld Champion oorl Cha haam ham mppio i n in in FigureF igu iggguure r ee-skating, Prof.

Klaus, ska katin ttiin i g Spo SSport poort r t Legend Legendd aand Le Leg nd PProf r off VVáclav rof áácl clla Kla KKl laauusss,, From left: Lenka President Pisková, Marketing of the CR & PR Manager, Hilton hotels in Prague, Terezie Sverdlinová, Director, Tereza Maxová dětem Foundation, and Mrs. Claudia Specking

Czech Rail

Revolution The Czech railway market experienced remarkable changes during the last year; at the end of September 2011, after long-lasting preparations, the private RegioJet Company commenced regular operations of several unsubsidized luxury trains between Praha and Ostrava, while the Leo Express Company heralded to do the same in December of 2012. This is a considerable breakthrough into the previous monopoly of the state entity of České dráhy (Czech Railways, ČD) that was disturbed only by negligible competitors in rural passenger lines, or in short-distanced freight transport based on industrial sidings.

This development ended an almost twenty-year period of neglected and denied railway reforms in Czechia when the governments, including conservative-liberal parties, acted much more as shareholders of ČD than as market regulators and guarantors of enterprise and investment in the industry. The consequence of this is that the Czech railway market currently belongs to the most monopolized in Europe.

Taking into account the benefits of competition and private investment, which have been proven in the entirety of all industries, it may seem peculiar that in the rail industry the State pretended to be the best of entrepreneurs and investors, and that the hands should run the other way round the clock here while they run clockwise everywhere else. The response can be found in obscure circles of industrial and political lobbyists who sought heaps of ill-guarded taxpayers’ money in the rail industry, and sometimes received them successfully. But this is no big exception in the railway industry all around the European continent.

Anyway, while passenger transport in minor rail lines (subsidized by the regions) remains among the most dedicated to ČD, the Czech Government approved in June 2011, by the proposal of the Ministry of Transport, a timetable of market liberalization in long-distance and trans-regional passenger railway transport.

It contains a time schedule reaching out far beyond 2020, on the basis of which competitive tenderings for individual rail lines and timetable slots are to be opened. By means of this procedure, the subsidizing of long-distance and trans-regional passenger railway transport would be shared by more operators, i.e. winners of the tenderings. This is in accordance with the Policy Statement of the Government, which states that all services for rail passenger transport will be subject to transparent selection procedures and, with this aim

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in mind, the government will prepare conditions for opening up the market in railway transport.

The opening up of the long-distance and transregional passenger railway market is undisputedly a positive factor in the hitherto not too cheerful development of Czech rail markets. It is unnecessary to succumb to illusions that it is a pure initiative of the Government and the Ministry. They seem to be more probably pressed to this decision by the development of European rail market rules, real activities of pioneer private investors, and by a dramatic crisis-imposed limitation of the potential of the State to invest in the rolling stock of ČD or to issue guarantees for ČD’s own investment. Even so, if the Government and the Ministry have discovered the necessity of private investment in rail transport, it can be supposed that even a potential political change in the next parliamentary election will not endanger the incipient process.

The virgin rail industry constitutes a rare area in the Czech economy with a vast financial space for new private investment. This is amplified by a somehow slower, but still continuing decay of passenger rolling stock, the structure of which mostly relies on investment made under the former Communist rule, and sometimes makes the impression of a museum or a scrap field, instead of that of a state-of-the-art business. But some caveats are also to be expressed.

The initial investment is to reach, in case of a victory in a tendering, at least approximately one hundred million euros, and the return of investment is scarcely possible earlier than within 10 to 15 years. It is no place for mere enthusiasts; any investment must have a strong business model and capital footing.

But this is surely possible. The demand of the population for long and medium-distance rail transport remains strong, and people are also eager for better comfort, which was shown very impressively in the attitudes of the public toward new entrants like RegioJet. What is most expensive in rail rolling stock is the “hardware”, i.e. car bodies, bogies, traction and steering systems, signalling and safety. What really brings quality to the customers will cost much less.

And this is a good impetus to get the travelling population pampered right by amenities that they have never seen on Czech trains before.

The new trend does not constitute any special danger to the traditional ČD. If all the passenger rail rolling stock in the country had to be completely lifted to European standards it would require a total of about EUR 3–4 billion. A privatization of individual

business lines of ČD would require strong and undisputed political intentions and a long time for preparation; both are lacking in recent turbulent times. So the entry of competitors can only become a good incentive for ČD to streamline the system and radically improve their services to the public.

In the long run, a larger share in the long-distance and trans-regional passenger railway market in Czechia will be attained by the one who will be able to ensure sufficient capital resources for the planned expansion (much better by capital inputs of partners than by bank credit) and to distribute their own forces into those competitive tenderings, which will facilitate a creation of a well-functioning transport network with an advantageous ratio between revenue and investment and operational costs. A sustainable long-term concept including rational investment cycles is what may produce sweet fruit in the end.

By Emanuel Šíp Partner Allied Progress Consultants Association český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/2012 65

Ceremony to welcome President of the Czech Republic Prof. Václav Klaus.

In the middle from left: Professor Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic together with Mr. Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal

business delegation

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ACCOMPANYING THE PRESIDENT OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC VÁCLAV KLAUS ON HIS OFFICIAL VISIT TO SENEGAL

From left: Jiří Weigl, Chancellor of the Office of the President of the Czech Republic and Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius at the presidental dinner hosted

by Mr. Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal

From left: Viviane Wade, First Lady of Senegal, Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the CR, Mr. Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal, and Livia Klausová, First Lady of CR

Audience during the Business Forum between the Czech Republic and Senegal in Dakar

66

From left: Petr Kužel, President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce, Karel Holoubek, Chairman of the Board, Karel Holoubek – Trade Group, Zdenek Mudra, Chairman of the Board, Jerus and Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic discussing at the dinner hosted by the Czech Chamber of Commerce and Comenius for participants of the political and business missions and their Senegalese counterparts

Welcome Ceremony to the Senegal Chamber of Commerce in Dakar, ind the middle Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius

Welcome Ceremony to the Senegal Chamber of Commerce in Dakar

From left: Amadou Niang, Minister of Commerce of Senegal, Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic, Milan Hovorka, Deputy Minister of Commerce and Trade of the CR, and Petr Kužel, President, Czech Chamber of Commerce

From left: Petr Kužel, President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce and Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic with his speech

On the occasion of the Official Presidential visit of Prof. Václav Klaus to Senegal, the Czech Chamber of Commerce and Comenius Society have organized the accompanying business delegation. The main goal of the mission was the initiation and support of mutual export possibilities and the expansion of Czech companies to the Senegalese market. Along with a number of important businessmen, the Czech Republic was represented by the President of the Chamber of Commerce Mr. Petr Kužel and by the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Mr. Milan Hovorka. The mission turned out to be very successful with a number of valuable outcomes. The representatives of Czech companies like VEBA and P-SYSTEMS have signed important contracts with their Senegalese counterparts.

67 On the way home from a very succesfull busines trip with Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic

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interview Michal Hejna (1961) graduated from the construction technical college, and from the Conservatory in Prague, where he studied playing drums with the legendary professor Miloš Veselý. He was engaged in various assemblages before 1989. He was, among other things, the founding member of the Štěpán Markovič ESP quintet. As one of the pioneers of fusion power, he was at the origin of the Hot Line, played in blues band Krausberry, in the Václav Hybš Orchestra, and many others. After 1989 he performed and recorded with bands and soloists such as Yandim Band, Panta Rhei, Veleband, Michal Prokop & Friends, Richard Müller, TUTU etc. He became producer of the new publishing ARTA in 1990, and he has been manager of the AghaRTA Jazz Centrum. He also takes care of the AghaRTA Jazz Club and, at the same time, he is a managing director and organizer of the AghaRTA Prague Jazz Festival. In recent years, he has been a permanent member of Jiří Stivín & Co., Luboš Andršt Group, and AghaRTA Gang a Yandim Band. He founded the band Rhythm Desperados (rhythmic daredevils – note of editorial) in 2003 with which he regularly performs on both the domestic and foreign scenes. Rhythm Desperados, for instance, completed a tour across Mexico in 2010. Michal Hejna is also the publisher of jazz albums, as ARTA publishing has made over 70 jazz titles.

Michal Hejna, Jazzman, Producer and Owner of the jazz club AghaRTA Jazz Centrum

68

Photo: Michaela Hejnová

A talk with Michal Hejna, Jazzman, Producer and Owner of the jazz club AghaRTA Jazz Centrum

interview w

Jazzz Must J ENTERTAIN PEOPLE

You mustn’t fall out of rhythm in your life…

A daredevil? In what way are you the daredevil?

Perhaps in that I bought a club and that I have been living on jazz for twenty years. I should have probably preferred to study law; my life might have been much easier (laughs). But seriously, I think that anyone who can make music and live on it, is obviously anyhow gifted, and it is a privilege which I was given by fate and it fills me with joy.

Jazz is your destiny?

You could say so. I got my first drums from my brother on the condition that I would begin to learn to play. After two yyears I started to learn playing p y g from professor p Veselý. ý He was actually my issue of fate; I learned playing with him for many years, and I graduated with him from the Conservatory as well. At that time, only classical music was taught, there was not a jazz conservatory like today. He said that I taught him to teach, and I said that he taught me how to play drums. Also, I have liked big beat since my youth, and I mainly listened to Genesis and Jethro Tull. However, I was certainly mainly influenced by Miles Davis and his electric period together with other bands like Wheater Report, Pat Metheny, Steps Ahead, Chick Corea, and others.

In what way?

All those musicians were trying to move jazz ahead and Mile Mi less Da Davi viss in par artiticu cula larr. Cer erta tain inly ly, th thee pe peririod od of th thee 80 80’s ’s was very helpful, which was, in my view, regarding jazz but not solely jazz music, very inspiring. We could almost say that since that time, only a few new things have really happened within jazz music.

How does jazz, in your view, differ from other styles?

Jazz has many forms, it has developed in certain periods, and to each time period belongs a different kind of jazz. Therefore different people like different kinds of jazz – swing, bebop, modern jazz, free jazz. Yet, in jazz music, it is primarily about communication among musicians. This does not work in rock or pop music. Of course, in Jaz azzz yo youu do not go on sttagge andd pllay what h you want either. Each track has its own order and rhythm, which must be followed. Anyway, there has always been a soloist whom you accompany, and if he is good, he can inspire your music. Likewise a good drummer might inspire a good soloist. As I have said, it’s really about communication and the mutual interconnection of people.

Which approach is closest to you?

I am “rock-oriented”, as is said among jazzmen; I am not the kindd off orth th thodox, d clos l edd jazzman. For me it is important that people enjoy music and I enjoy playing with musicians who are oriented in the same way. For this reason I also founddedd the h band Rhytm Desperados. Whenever we play in AghaRTA people enjoy it and smile. There we play a lot of

it very much, as it has everything that I perceived in the music back in the 80’s, and I want to continue the feeling in this way. I always listened to interesting things with an overlap to rock and Latin, and I like well-done pop as well.

Could you give an example?

ABBA, Phil Collins or Sting. Sting did a really great thing because he introduced jazz musicians to his band. This concept is very close to me. Recently I was invited by the president of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus, to the concert within a cycle “Jazz at the Castle” because we celebrated the 20th anniversary of AghaRTA’s founding. I took ten friends with me there,, all musicians,, and we played p y for Mr. President and 700 people in the Spanish Hall, all music which I really like, “Englishman in New York” from Sting, among others. I wanted to do a very varied event. Thus, except for a trip into pop music, we also played a little bit harder, mainly thanks to the guitars of Luboš Andršt and Slávek Janda. So we enjoyed it very much, and I think that it was for many a really successful event which this hall has not yet experienced… and it certainly won’t experience in the future. A few days ago I found out that not even the regular CD will be released, just for these reasons. I must admit that I am surprised much like my teammates. With a bit of exaggeration it could be called censorship. Yet peoplle enjoy j edd it, andd thhus it is important for me, so I am happy to become the “jazz dissident”. After all music is either good or bad.

Why AghaRTA? Inspiration for the club’s name was Miles Davis again.

The title is from one of his lesser-known albums from 1972.

In addition, there is a beautifully hidden name of the existing publishing ARTA. There is actually a great symbolism within. We opened AghaRTA in Krakovská, on the 29th of September 1991, a day after Miles Davis died. And exactly after 13 years we moved here; so since 2004, we have been in Železná at Prague 1.

Is your club visited more by Czechs or more by foreign tourists?

Frankly, in any city in the world, including New York, a jazz club could not exist without tourists. Of course, Prague is a great attraction for foreigners, although in recent years, it is a little bit weaker. In any case, foreigners associate Prague with jazz all the time. On the other hand, once you realize that there are 8 jazz clubs playing every day in Prague, this is really unique. In Rome, there are for instance not so many jazz clubs. In Prague, there are probably more clubs than is in fact economically feasible at this moment.

Do you feel that the times are dramaticallyy changing?

Yes, people are both under financial pressure but also

apparently overwhelmed with information. Our listeners are educated people and are close to culture in general.

However, it affects them as well. I do not think that only the current crisis plays a role. Today, everybody listens to music rather on YouTube. Or you go to New York and there is not even one CD shop any more. CDs are actually becoming only a souvenir, people prefer downloading music. Music clubs and even restaurants are empty.

So culture is now nearer to home?

Unfortunately. Of course, I consider the internet a brilliant thing, yet it shattered everything within this branch.

The Agharta Jazz Prague Festival, which we have been orgganizingg alreadyy for 20 years, y , annuallyy welcomes manyy international stars. Yet, we’ve seen a decline in attendance this year. Maybe it’s also the daily negation of everything and everyone which blows gently from the media. Maybe we will eventually find out that music is actually the only thing we still have left. Anyway, I am optimistic, as we publish all the time. Recently for example, we published a special sampler “Everybody Goes to AghaRTA”, a profile of twenty years of our efforts.

Can you introduce it?

For more than twenty years, the best Czech modern jazz ensembles have been performing in AghaRTA. Thus we made a representative selection, an interconnection of people who played before 1989 with the new faces of Czech jazz. Besides Emil Viklický, Luboš Andršt, Rhythm Desperados, Štěpán Markovič, you can listen to Matěj Benka, Ondřej Kabrna, Martin Brunner, Madfinger and Noční Optika there. We also enriched the records with two memories of two legends, the unforgettable Karel Velebný and “the first lady of the Czech jazz”, Vlasta Průchová, whose regular performances, in the first years of the club’s existence, belonged to the most beautiful ones.

Jazz is your home, but when you are not playing, releasing a CD or organizing a festival, what are you doing?

Besides music I love cookingg, ridingg a bik ikee an and, d, las astt but not least, swimming in the pool. But mostly I love the Caribbean Sea. I was playing on a boat there in 1989 and I go back there regularly. I have picked out a place that I would like to move to someday – St. Barts Island. It´s a tiny, French island where a small plane lands, there are about six beautiful beaches, few tourists, no large hotels, and it is simply paradise on earth. This dream, however, due to the profession that I am destined to, is considered somewhat courage g ous.

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

Leaders Magazine I/2012 69

event conference IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

Under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Gas Business Breakfast 2011 was held on the first Friday of December. At the conference, 120 of the most important people in the energy sector in the Czech Republic participated.

GAS BUSINESS

From left: Vratislav Ludvík, Consultant and Moderator and Oldřich Petržilka, President, Czech Gas Union

BREAKFAST Beata Raabe, Secretary General, Eurogas

Martin Herrmann, CEO and Chairman of the Board, RWE Transgas

From left: Josef Fiřt, Director, Euroenergy and Jan Ruml, Partner, RWE Plynoprojekt

70 The panel

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Special thanks to Ifield Computer Consultancy and Laic Aktiengesellschaft for making this reportage possible

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From left: H.E. Peter Brňo, Ambassador, Embassy of Slovakia, Jan Světlík, Chairman of the Board, Vítkovice, and Josef Dobeš, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports

Round Table of Comenius

with Josef Dobeš, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports The first Round Table of Comenius in the year 2012 took place on the 11th of January at ZOOM Unique Place. The lively discussion reflected Minister’s concerns and also plans for future development. Minister Dobeš expressed that for the future the Ministry is planning to focus particularly on improving university level technical education and also to pay more attention to the often ignored area of sports. Also the auditorium of businessmen presented several engaging suggestions about the possible development within these fields.

From left: Michal Feix, CEO, Seznam.cz, Josef Dobeš, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, Ladislav Šimek, President, AERO Vodochody, Ladislav Němec, First Deputy Minister for Regional Education, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Martin Lukš, Sales Director, CS Data, Petr Kužel, President, Chamber of Commerce of the CR, and Pavel Skořepa, Prague Branch Manager, CS Data

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71

networking/discussion event

Special thanks to Ifield Computer Consultancy and Laic Aktiengesellschaft for making this reportage possible

From left: Jan Wiesner, President, Confederation of Employers’ and Entrepreneurs’, Associations of the CR and Miroslav Jansta, Managing Partner, AK Jansta & Kostka

From left: Martin Lukš, Sales Director, CS Data, Ivana Šindelářová, Regional Director for Bohemia, CS Data, and Pavel Skořepa, Prague Branch Manager, CS Data From left: Vladimír Jaroš, Director, NOEN and Michal Hátle, CEO, T-Systems

From left: Martin Šámal, Brand Manager Senior, Seznam.cz and Michal Feix, CEO, Seznam.cz

From left: Albín Sybera Jr., Advisor to the Director, State Environmental Fund of the CR, Fawad Nadri, President, Czech-Afghan Chamber of Commerce, and Benke Aikell, your Publisher

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From left: Jiří Nantl, Director of the Department of the Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and Michal Knapp, Chairman of the Board and CEO, OVB Allfinanz

From left: Tomáš Uvíra, CEO, Czech Export Bank, Hana Krbcová, HR Director, ČEZ, and Jan Světlík, Chairman of the Board, Vítkovice Daniel Merhaut, Services Sales Executive, Dell Computer and Bohumila Límová, Office of the Registrar, International School of Prague

From left: Jan Wiesner, President, Confederation of Employers’ and Entrepreneurs’, Associations of the CR and Rostislav Dvořák, President, Union of Czech Production Co-operatives

Josef Veselka, Head of Department of Cardiology, Motol University Hospital asking a question

networking/discussion event

From left: Michal Knapp, Chairman of the Board and CEO, OVB Allfinanz, Michal Feix, CEO, Seznam.cz, and Josef Dobeš, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports

From left: Otto Kechner, Assistant Professor, University of Finance and Administration and Stanislav Křeček, Deputy, Chamber of Deputies, Parliament of the CR

Roman Cabálek, CEO, Microsoft

From left: Jana Merunková, Expert and Cofounder, yourchance and Helena Kuklíková, HR Director, Seznam.cz

From left: Ivan Ermakov, Senior Specialist, Gazprom Export ČR and Albín Sybera Jr., Advisor to the Director, State Environmental Fund of the CR Martin Kowalczyk, Executive Director, Association of Czech Aircraft Industry

From left: Štěpánka Klimentová, Regional Head, OVB Allfinanz, Michal Knapp, Chairman of the Board and CEO, OVB Allfinanz, and Hedvika Gabrielová, Regional Director, OVB Allfinanz

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CFO club event

Photo: David Korbas

From left: Dean Brabec, President, CFO Club and Managing Director CEE, Arthur D. Little GmbH, Martin Chalupský, Head of PR & Press Services, RWE Transgas, a.s., Jiří Kejval, Vice Chairman, Czech Olympic Committee, and Martin Herrmann, CEO and Chairman of the Board, RWE Transgas, a.s.

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LONDON 2012 – CHRISTMAS EVENT OF CFO CLUB UNDER AUSPICES OF RWE

7 74 MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ

From left: Mr. Jiří Jindrák, Jaroslava Jindráková, General Director, IMG a.s., and Vendula Krtilová, Consultant, NWD Asset Management CZ, a.s.

From left: Marie Simona Kratochvílová, Public Relations & Press Services, RWE Transgas, a.s., Peter Mikula, Vinland, a.s., and Martin Novák, Member of the Board, Chief Financial Officer, ČEZ, a.s.

From left: Jan Severa, Business Development Manager, MATERNA Communications a.s., Martin Košut, Chairman of the Board, MATERNA Communications a.s., and Eva Vašková Čejková, Partner, ConPro, s.r.o.

This year’s final gathering of the CFO Club members took place on December 7th in AUREOLE Fusion Restaurant & Lounge, under the auspices of the traditional partner RWE Transgas. The speaker in the discussion, which was moderated by Martin Chalupský, head of PR & Press Services at RWE Transgas, was Jiří Kejval, Vice President of the Czech Olympic Committee for Finance and Marketing, and former top-ranking rower. The discussion focused mainly on the upcoming summer Olympic Games, but also on further perspectives of Czech sport and its funding. At the beginning of the social event that followed the discussion, Dean Brabec, President of the CFO Club, and Managing Director CEE Arthur D. Little, evaluated this year’s activities of the Club and presented the program for next year.

As Mr. Little said, there are 147 member of the CFO Club now, so this year was a growth year once again.

Kamil Ziegler, General Director, SAZKA sázková kancelář, a.s.

75 Participants

Martin Herrmann, CEO and Chairman of the Board, RWE Transgas, a.s.

Michal Mejstřík, Chairman of the Board, EEIP, a.s.

Bořivoj P. Pražák, Senior Advisor, Arthur D. Little GmbH

Irena Prášilová, Senior Manager, Accenture Central Europe B.V., organizační složka

Dirk Simons, Vice Chairman of the Board, CFO, RWE Transgas, a.s.

From left: Ondřej Balík, KREKOM s.r.o. and Peter Mikula, Vinland, a.s

Hana Pavlištová, Managing Director, Česká informační agentura, s.r.o. and Vice President, ČNOPK and Radim Duchek, Deputy Managing Director, Česká informační agentura, s.r.o.

766 Vendula Krtilová, Consultant, NWD Asset Management CZ, a.s. and Pavel Kočka, Director, Department of Administration, ČEZ Zákaznické služby, s.r.o.

media power

Efficient PR Leads THE CZECH MARKET IN 2012

All we know about 2012 is that we don’t know anything. This is the feeling left by reading mainstream media headlines at the turning point of the year. On the Czech market, the prevailing atmosphere is a mix of confusion and pragmatic optimism. Company managers already know that hectic cost cuts don’t lead anywhere, and many have started to redirect budgets towards enforcing sales, customer care and business development.

In this context, efficient image management has never been more important.

What does it mean – efficiency in communication and PR? It means getting the most out of the resources available and trying to achieve outstanding results so that more resources get redirected towards your activities in the future. Where should you start in assessing whether your company communicates efficiently? Here are a few hints: 1. Communication plan. Do you have a written communication plan for 2012? Is it perfectly aligned with your business plan? Does it include a clear vision of your communication goals and a strategy to achieve those goals? Are your market positioning, key messages, communication channels and people in charge crystal clear?

2. Self-reflection and appraisal. What communication mistakes have you made in 2011 and why? What can you do to avoid those mistakes? What resources could you have spent better in order to communicate more efficiently last year (various memberships, event organization etc.)?

Cristina Muntean is a communication adviser with more than 12 years’ experience in the Czech, Romanian and international media. Between 2005–2010, Cristina worked for the English-language economic magazine Czech Business Weekly (CBW) in Prague. During this time she wrote more than 3,000 news articles, features and interviews. Cristina graduated in journalism from the University of Bucharest, Romania.

She also holds a master’s degree in project management. In June 2011 Cristina was elected president of the Czech PR Klub.

Currently, she provides reputation management advisory, media training, coaching and support to managers, communication specialists and public officials across Central and Eastern Europe. Cristina speaks Romanian, French, English and Czech and can be reached at cm@mediaed.cz.

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3. Measurement. Did you have clear, measurable communication goals at the beginning of 2011? To what extent have you reached them? What are your measurable goals for 2012?

4. Human elements. Are all people in your company fully engaged in communication? Are they aware of the importance of communication? Are you sure you’re not wasting valuable employee know-how that could help you communicate better with your public?

5. Training. Is your staff ready to communicate? Do you have clear rules for public communication that apply to everyone? Are your message carriers – from the PR manager to the CEO and to the receptionist – aligned with the company vision and well-trained so that they can efficiently support your communication efforts?

6. Leverage. Are you leveraging enough on your communication efforts? Do you maximize the impact of your communication – like getting a large interview in a key economic magazine, then sharing it with your customers – or is there still room for improvement?

In order to answer the question of how to communicate efficiently, I use the term “lean PR.” Lean PR means going back to the basics and aligning your business vision with your corporate communication strategy. It also means analyzing the past to learn from your mistakes and allowing a fresh third-eye view to your way of doing things in an attempt to discover new opportunities.

Above all, lean PR means taking time for yourself to understand why you do what you do in the field of PR and communication, and how you can do it better. If there is a word that leads the PR industry in 2012, it is efficiency.

Lean PR is here to answer that challenge.

PR TRENDS YOU CAN’T AFFORD TO OVERLOOK As efficiency is opening the way to successful communication in 2012, here are a few trends that will leave an impact on the Czech market in 2012.

1. PR gains in strategic importance. Hand in hand with sales, business development, marketing and advertising, public relations can and do enhance a company’s efforts to retain its position on the market and grow. This is why we can expect that PR will continue to gain in understanding and recognition from the part of Czech managers, and that more and more competent PR people will join the decision-making boards of local companies.

2. PR people professionalize. While in PR agencies the struggle to transform junior press-release senders into strategic communication advisors has already started, a deeper professionalization will reach inhouse communication departments as well. We can expect higher pressure on results and tougher recruitment criteria for in-house PR staff.

3. PR means more than media relations. More and more

Photo: Jakub Stadler

corporate managers and communication advisors start to understand that, in order to advise a company strategically, it is necessary to include all its publics and stakeholders in the communication scheme. This includes the online and social media publics, which will ultimately lead to a savvier use of digital and social communication tools on the Czech market.

4. PR budget fights. As the number of communication channels continues to increase, and outcome measurement tools remain feeble, we can expect a tougher fight for communication budgets. PR specialists will continue to ask for a bigger piece of the cake that currently goes to marketing and advertising.

5. PR role mix. As publics become more and more fragmented and corporate communication starts to rely more on common sense – one powerful, transparent and genuine message for everybody – the PR role will be mixed more and more with the marketing, social media and business development roles. The outcome? A complex communication specialist who must be on tiptoes all the time in order to react fast to technological developments and shifts in public communication patterns, and who will ask for more and more strategic decision-making power. It is important to see how schools and professional associations will react to this new need on the market.

Regardless of confusion and economic uncertainties, the year 2012 promises fundamental changes on the Czech communication market. Let’s welcome them with an open mind and heart.

By Cristina Muntean ■ český překlad naleznete v elektronické verzi magazínu na www.leadersmagazine.cz

Leaders Magazine I/2012 77

anniversary event

Photo: Anna Pecková From left: Petr Rafaj, Chairman, Office for the Protection of Competition, Czech Republic and Michal Hašek, Governor of the South Moravian Region, Czech Republic

20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OFFICE FOR THE PROTECTION OF

(ÚOHS)

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Trio Inflagranti – from left: Markéta Muzikářová, Iris Morisáková and Kateřina Lískovcová

Kristina Haverkamp, Head of Unit European State Aid Control Policy, Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology, Germany

Tony Reeves, Managing Partner, Clifford Chance, Brussels, Belgium

Hynek Brom, First Vice Chairman, Office for the Protection of Competition, Czech Republic

William E. Kovacic, Professor of Law, George Washington University, Washington D.C., USA

Michal Petr, Vice Chairman, Office for the Protection of Competition, Czech Republic

Hanna Witt, Deputy Head, Competition Law Department, Swedish Competition Authority

From left: Petr Rafaj, Chairman, Office for the Protection of Competition, Czech Republic, Eva Kubišová, Vice Chairwoman, Office for the Protection of Competition, Czech Republic and Karel Muzikář, Partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Two Decades of the Anti-monopoly Office In late November and the beginning of December last year a three-day conference was held at Holiday Inn, Brno to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS). The head of the South-Moravian Regional Government, Michal Hašek, opened the conference, acknowledging the fact that the seat of ÚOHS and the top judicial bodies are based in Brno. After his introductory speech, the chairman of the antimonopoly office, Petr Rafaj, took the floor, welcoming guests including specialists in competition law from Belgium, Sweden, Slovakia, the USA, Ireland, and other countries. Petr Rafaj also briefly described the twenty-year history of the Office, and the powers that this important institution exercises.

From left: Josef Bejček, Professor, Faculty of Law, Masaryk University, Brno, William E. Kovacic, Professor of Law, George Washington University, Washington D.C., USA, Bedřich Danda, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Czech Republic, Kamil Jankovský, Minister for Regional Development, Czech Republic, Petr Rafaj, Chairman, Office for the Protection of Competition, Czech Republic, Michal Hašek, Governor of the South Moravian Region, and David Raus, Judge, Regional Court of Brno

79 MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ

Ondřej Dostal, Internal Market Section – Competition, State Aid, Public Procurement, Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union, Brussels, Belgium

From left: Michal Hašek, Governor of the South Moravian Region, Czech Republic, Kamil Jankovský, Minister for Regional Development, Czech Republic, and Petr Rafaj, Chairman, Office for the Protection of Competition, Czech Republic

David Raus, Judge, Regional Court of Brno

From left: Pavel Štorkán, Chairman of the Exchange Chamber, Czech Moravian Commodity Exchange Kladno, Jan Sixta, Deputy Minister, Ministry for Regional Development, and Pavel Herman, Public Procurement Advisor to the Chairman, Office for the Protection of Competition

From left: Marc Reysen, Partner, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Brussels, Belgium and David McFadden, Legal Advisor, Irish Competition Authority Eva Kubišová, Vice Chairwoman, Office for the Protection of Competition, and David Petrlík, Assistant to Judge, European Court of Justice, Luxembourg

From left: Michal Petr, Vice-Chairman, Office for the Protection of Competition, David Anderson, Partner, Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP, Brussels, Belgium, and Daniel Stankov, Director, International Department, Office for the Protection of Competition

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From left: József Sárai, Head of the International Section, Hungarian Competition Authority and Jacques Steenbergen, Director General, Belgian Competition Authority

From left: Marc Reysen, Partner, O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Brussels, Belgium, Katharina Krauss, Head of Unit for Combating Cartels, German Competition Authority, David McFadden, Legal Advisor, Irish Competition Authority, and Theodor Thanner, Director General, Federal Competition Authority, Austria

marketing analysis

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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 The power of an apology lies in the human trait that we are all seeking acceptance and compassion from others yet brands at times fail to realize that they are human as well.

As humans, they also make mistakes and futile attempts to assuage situations through scapegoating and rhetoric while all that was needed was a simple apology. An apology followed by compensatory actions are sufficient to regain the trust of your customers. Plato’s “The apology of Socrates” is an account of how Socrates unsuccessfully attempted to defend his case through reason. Using reason to defend your point works very well when on trail yet when one is at fault, it is best to admit your shortcoming and ask for forgiveness. The following article will discuss how Toyota and Dominos’ pizza used the power of an apology to regain the trust of its consumers and in Toyota’s case, a nation.

In 2010 Toyota was facing a US congressional committee for the deaths of 39 people due to faulty accelerators in vehicles. According to testimony, the cars would speed uncontrollably leaving the driver helpless and crashing. Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the founder and CEO of Toyota stood in front of a US congressional committee, humbly bowed as in salutation and said, “I sincerely regret that some people actually encountered accidents in Toyota vehicles,” he went on to further state, “I take full responsibility.” Toyoda is a very interesting case because it is one where the brand name is held by the actual head of the company. With all inherited companies, there is a sense of ownership and incarnation within the family member. The brand in fact is this actual person. He is the grandson of the founder, a person groomed from a very early age to take the helm, and the current CEO. According to Andrew Clark of The Guardian, “Democratic congressman Paul Kanjorski, told Toyoda that his company had damaged an enduring belief that the label “made in Japan” was a sign of quality. Back in Japan Toyota was also feeling pressure. Clark goes on to say that, “In Japan, there was pressure on Toyoda to restore confidence in Japanese exports amid concern that fierce criticism of Toyota in the US could spark a wider backlash against Japanese goods.” This problem was going beyond Toyota but to the overall Japanese economy. Toyoda stood firm listened to all the criticism and promised change.

Toyota went on to recall 8.5 million vehicles, completely overhauled their vendor quality checks, and installed numerous internal measures to prevent further instances. As of December 22, 2011 the Associated Press reports that Toyota sales figures are targeted at 8.3 million vehicles for 2012, and even more for 2013. This is also in spite of the

recent earthquake in Japan and flooding in Thailand which have hurt production. For Toyota, the faulty accelerator scandal was devastating but the apology and subsequent actions showed that the company has true compassion. The difference between empathy and compassion is that with compassion there is a desire for change. This is a human trait and one which brands can hold onto as well.

In the case of Domino’s Pizza, it was a swift apology and action which saved the company from catastrophic damage.

The incident in question was a Youtube video, now dubbed as Domino’s “gross out” which saw two employees snorting, sneezing, and passing gas on pizza as the food was being prepared for customers. According to Emily Bryson Your of Adage, “it was a viewer, not the marketer, who identified the offenders first. Amy Wilson, a Georgetown University graduate student, worked with boyfriend Jonathan Drake to identify the unseemly pair after spotting the story.” This pair took it upon themselves to find out where this video was uploaded. Using evidence from the video and Google street view the couple was able to locate the North Carolina Domino’s store where the incident occurred and they passed this information onto Domino’s. The pizza chain thanked the couple by giving them free food for a year and then the company went on the offensive. 48 hours after the video was uploaded the president of Domino’s, Patrick Doyle, uploaded a Youtube video himself apologizing and went onto say that “the two team members have been dismissed and there are felony warrants out for their arrest.” The two employees were

You can follow Emil Jimenez on twitter @passioncomm or on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/emiljimenez1

Emil Jimenez Photo: Brian Fleming

charged and pleaded guilty in court. Doyle went on to say, “We sincerely apologize for this incident. We thank members of the online community who quickly alerted us and allowed us to take immediate action. Although the individuals in question claim it’s a hoax, we are taking this incredibly seriously.” Domino’s then hired new staff and completely disinfected the store. Despite all this and other efforts the franchise owner was forced to close this location.

Unfortunately for this location, the damage was too swift and too great. Within 48 hours the video of the two employees had received 1 million views and countless news coverage. Today 48 hours is too late to react. One needs to constantly monitor a brand and react swiftly to any problems.

In an interview by Emily Bryson, “Richard Levick, president of PR firmLevick Strategic Communications, said he’d give Domino’s an F for the first 24 hours and an A or an A+ for everything thereafter.” During the first 24 hours Domino’s didn’t even have an idea of what was going on let alone any plan of action. Before this incident they didn’t have a Twitter account, which leads me to believe that they probably didn’t have any social media monitoring in place either. Levick goes onto to say, “After the first 24 hours, they were largely textbook, they started a Twitter account, separated themselves from the villains, shut down the store, apologized, went to their demographic, went to YouTube – I think all of that is great. People can take their stabs if they want, on every nuance of what Domino’s has done, but after the first 24 hours, it’s largely textbook.” As you can see, when it comes to crisis communications, speed is of the essence but so is action. An apology followed by swift action to reconcile the situation is vital for returning the brand to stability.

Today these brands are doing well despite the bad publicity. Toyota projections for 2012 are good. Domino’s throughout the world is doing fine and are even expanding into markets such as Poland. Brands are slowly welcoming the fact that they are in many ways like humans and they make mistakes. That being said, they are also aware that they face the same consequences for their actions. In some cases it is legal ramification, while in others it´s with their credibility. All in all, apologizing for your mistakes is a very sincere way to solve a problem because it forces people to see the brand not as a big enemy but rather as a human being.

This in turn brings forth the very human trait of compassion.

A recent article on Adage written by Bob Garfild and Doug Levy best illustrates this point when they said, “Stop viewing purchasers as conquests. They are members of a community, prepared to adore (or the opposite) not just your stuff but the inner you. Your essence is transmitted continually via your relationships with consumers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, neighbors and the Earth itself.” In conclusion, the power of an apology is in its ability to humanize and give value to the most timeless of all currencies, trust.

By Emil Jimenez, CEO, CCO, Passion Communications

Leaders Magazine I/2012 81

networking/christmas spirit event Photo: Miguel Alonso

From left: Suzanne Drisdelle-Guven, Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of Canada, Peter P. Formánek, President, Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic, and Michael Peer, Partner, Forensic, KPMG Central and Eastern Europe

Members and guests of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic congregated in the medieval rooms of the Municipal Hall of Prague’s New Town on December 9, 2011 for the Chamber’s annual Christmas gathering. Against the background of reminiscences of past history, the assembled business executives and diplomats exchanged good wishes for the present days and the time to come.

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From left: Mrs. Suzanne Formánek, H.E. Vicente Espeche Gil, Ambassador of Argentina to the Czech Republic, and H.E. Valerie Raymond, Ambassador of Canada to the Czech Republic

OF THE CANADIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

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Viera Frantlová, Manager, Diamonds International Corporation

From left: Vladimíra Václavíková, Marketing & Editorial Director, Leaders Magazine, Henk Goossen, Director, cee tax management, and Ivana Goossen, Director, EMBA Program & Center for Executive Education – Europe, University of Pittsburgh

Paul Pacey, Photographer

From left: Mrs. Suzanne Formánek, Peter P. Formánek, President, Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic, Mrs. Dagmar Kalašová, and Petr J. Kalaš, Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and former Minister of the Environment

Miroslav Kočí, Vinotéka u Vavrysů

Margaret Dvorak, Head of Structured Finance, Commerzbank AG, Prague Branch

From left: Barbora Mihaliková, Kateřina Maňourová, and Kristina Durczaková, all from Expat Center, Česká spořitelna

From left: Tomáš Zeman, CEO, ZENOVA services and Petr J. Kalaš, Advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and former Minister of the Environment Participants

Trio Gambit, from left: Tomáš Ludvíček, Dana Jägerová, and Richard Volf

83 From left: Eliška Hašková-Coolidge, Arif Sulaksono, Embassy of Indonesia, and H.E. Daniela Anda Grigore Gitman, Ambassador of Romania

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McCain Foods Table, from left: Alexandra Filipová, HR Manager, Hypoteční banka, Milan Pech, Director of Sales, NOWACO Czech Republic, Radek Moravec, Country Manager, McCain Foods Czech Republic, and Mrs. Renáta Moravcová

Colleen Kelly, Executive Director, Kelly & Associates and MGen Tom de Faye (retired)

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Pavel Kvíčala, Partner, Norton Rose Czech Republic and Margaret Dvorak, Head of Structured Finance, Commerzbank AG, Prague Branch

From left: H.E. Daniela Anda Grigore Gitman, Ambassador of Romania to the Czech Republic, H.E. Valerie Raymond, Ambassador of Canada to the Czech Republic, and H.E. Vicente Espeche Gil, Ambassador of Argentina to the Czech Republic

From left: Pavel Kvíčala, Partner, Norton Rose Czech Republic, Albert Tatra, Associate, Norton Rose Czech Republic, Petr Hotovec, Director of Sales, ZENOVA services, Mrs. Halina Hotovcová, Ms. Eva Maličková, and Tomáš Zeman, CEO, ZENOVA services

networking

The United States of Europe Or the Collapse of the The Polish Foreign Minister Mr. Radoslaw Sikorski recently issued a dramatic appeal to Germany to do something to save the Eurozone. He had good reasons for being so dramatic. In fact, the Eurozone is at a crossroads. Either the Eurozone will be able to quickly create the United States of Europe (USE) or it will disintegrate. In this situation, the Polish foreign minister is more afraid of Germany’s unwillingness to act, than of German tanks. And this is not an exaggeration.

Germany is expected to take a leading role in this crisis due the fact (amongst others) that the country never stopped manufacturing and exporting, nor did it succumb to the temptation of changing from a real economy to one based on the financial sector, the speculations of which have caused serious damage to Anglo-Saxon countries, and by extension to the rest of the world. Germany is in fact the strongest economy of Europe. Germany is the manufacturer of Europe, and one of the great manufacturers of the world. And it is necessary to add that in the Czech Republic we are on the same boat as Germany. We are a manufacturing country, we are not making money from speculations on global markets (as London does).

Hence, we should not follow The United Kingdom in its effort to disintegrate the EU, but rather support Germany and Poland in keeping it together.

It is vital to national interests!

Irresponsible and profit-hungry investors, who loaned money to illiquid countries at high rates of interest, want Germany to assume responsibility for debts that it did not create. That is, they want Germany to guarantee European Stability Bonds that are intended to save the Eurozone, but at the expense of Germany. That is, Germany is to assure irresponsible investors that their debts will be assumed by someone who is more solvent. If Germany does this, it will further increase the level of moral risk-taking that had already brought the world financial system to the brink of collapse in September of 2008. Germany would like to avoid the fate of Ireland. In 2007, Ireland was a prosperous country with public debt under 25%. However, after this year the Irish elite have made quite a few

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fatal mistakes. They have started to protect the domestic banking sector. First of all, they have increased savings insurance to 100% for savings under 50,000 EUROS. This has quickly become widespread throughout the whole EU, and may be a problem in the future. However, the Irish government went even further. They have decided to provide guarantees to the whole banking sector, to the whole balance sheet of Irish banks. Unfortunately this guarantee has been consumed, and in one year Ireland reached a deficit of public finances of 32% of GDP in 2010. To sum up, the Irish story is very simple. The country moved from public debt of 25% in 2007 to 108% by the end of 2011. It is not surprising that Germany is not willing to play Ireland on the EU level. Humbly speaking, in should be in Czech national interests that Germany does not make too many mistakes. Otherwise we will have no country to export our products to…

Another alternative solution is the large-scale printing of money, as done by the ECB, thus once again absolving irresponsible and profit-hungry speculators of their responsibility. These speculators will then tell their clients: you see, we did the right thing; look at the inflation. We couldn’t have anticipated the devaluation of your contributions…

People in the EU and its vicinity, who have been saving for their whole lives, will pay for this with part of their savings. This is too easy of a shift in paradigm. The paradigm, up until recently, was that central banks should be very cautious in printing money, because after the removal of the gold standard in 1971, the prudent monetary policy of the central bank became the only way to maintain the stability and credibility of the financial sector.

Now the same people who were promoting this paradigm are promoting the printing of money. It means that they were completely wrong at least once: either then or now …

But Germany, too, must shoulder some of the blame. The failure by France and Germany to adhere to the pact for stability and growth undermined fiscal discipline across Europe. Germany also made money from loaning to illiquid and insolvent countries, not to mention the fact that the Eurozone gave German companies a large market and large trade surpluses – estimated at up to 100 billion Euro per year. If they would have kept the D-Mark, they would not have been able to produce such huge surpluses.

Germany should therefore be the bearer of an economic model different to the one that failed so seriously in 2008 – a model built on a real economy, the production of actual goods and services, and which suppresses speculation and punishes moral risk-taking. In other words, Germany should come as soon as possible with some kind of updated model of Rhein capitalism; otherwise we are facing the real risk that we will have no capitalism at all.

By Jan Mládek

Photo: Mr. Mládek´s archive

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

Leaders Magazine I/2012 85

event networking/charity

From left: JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charterpresident of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and former Governor of LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic and Ing. Vladimír Páral, Writer

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Prague Bohemia Ambassador Festive Session with a Charity Reception in Kaiserstein Palace

From left: MUDr. Blanka Seifertová, General Practitioner, JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charterpresident of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and former Governor of LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, JUDr. Eva Stránská-Traplová, Lawyer, and JUDr. Vojtěch Trapl, Lawyer, former Governor, LCI Czech Republic and Slovak Republic

866 From left: JUDr. Ludmila Pipková, Lawyer and Mgr. Miloslava Choděrová

Doc. MUDr. Martin Mates, CSc., Head Physician, Cardiocentre, Na Homolce Hospital with his wife

From left: Ing. Antonín Novotný, CEO, CSI, Ing. Ladislav Vaško, Sales Director, Ing. Petr Kučera, CSc., Authorized Expert for the Construction Field, and Ing. František Chaloupecký, President of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador

From left: Ing. Jiří Málek, former President of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador, Petr Laštovka, Enterpreneur, and Ing. Antonín Mika, Regional Director for Foreign Trade

From left: Ing. Antonín Novotný, CEO, CSI and Ing. František Chaloupecký, President, LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador

From left: Fra. Karel Paar, Grand Prior of Maltese Knights and Oldřich Hořák, Owner of Hotel Bílá Růže in Poděbrady

From left: MUDr. Blanka Seifertová, General Practitioner, JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charterpresident of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and former Governor of LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, and Oldřich Hořák, Owner of Hotel Bílá Růže in Poděbrady

MUDr. Blanka Seifertová, General Practitioner with her son Jan Rajnoch, Football Player

Lions Clubs International is the largest social organization in the world. It unites about 1,400,000 people in almost all of the world’s countries. Clubs of the former Czechoslovakia are grouped in District 122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, and there are a total of 47 clubs with 1,100 members. In comparison, in neighbouring Austria, there are about 300 clubs with 80,000 members. Members of Lions Clubs are good people who are successful in their profession and who have achieved their status in an honest manner. There are people who like to meet each other, help each other and support each other. They are linked by mutual friendship and understanding.

But they are also able and willing to help those who need it. Members show an active interest in civic, cultural, social and moral welfare of society and support the principles of good and decent civil behaviour. The Lions Clubs movement supports charitable activities, but it is not a charity. It does not organise any collections. Their funds are the result of their activities: they hold balls, concerts, mulled wine selling before Christmas etc.

MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ From left: Prof. MUDr. Aleksi Šedo, Vice Dean, 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University with his wife, JUDr. PhDr. Oldřich Choděra, Lawyer, Charterpresident of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador and former Governor of LCI D122 Czech Republic and Slovak Republic, Prof. MUDr. Václav Mandys, CSc., Head of the Institute of Pathology, Ing. Jaromír Kaulfus, Enterpreneur, and PhDr. Ladislav Říha, Owner, CK RI-Tours and former President of LC Praha Bohemia Ambassador

For example, on one of the towers of the St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna we can find the emblem of The Lions Clubs movement, along with the inscription that the tower was restored with the help of Austrian Lions clubs.

The proceeds from a charity banquet, which took place in December in Kaiserstein Palace in Prague, will also go toward philanthropic purposes.

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charity event

From left: Ing. Helena Leisztner Kroftová, Auctioneer, Artist and Member of the Board of FNMWA, Marianna Jánošíková Machalová, Sculptor with her niece, and Pavel Lagner PPF Art

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Photo: Josef Dvořák

OF WORKS BY BLIND SCULPTORS II Foundation Mathilda, in co-operation with Friends of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (FNMWA), and under the auspices of H. E. Dr. Mario Quagliotti, Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the Czech Republic, organized with generous support of their general partner Česká spořitelna premier “Benefit Auction of Works by Blind Sculptors II”. The auction took place on November 29th, 2011 at the great hall of Velkopřevorství české. Proceeds from the auction will be used to train guide dogs as well as to support young artists. The auction was conducted by Helena Leisztner Kroftová. Part of the event was a musical performance by Helena Krausová (soprano), Lenka Navrátilová, Rachel Skleničková and Tomáš Pavlán (piano).

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From left: Luboš Krapka, Director, NF Mathilda, Ing. arch. Iva Drebitko, President, TRIGA, Patrons of Art and Member of the Board of FNMWA, Ing. Pavla Kalousová, Theatre of J. K. Tyl Pilsen and Member of the Board of FNMWA, Countess Mathilde Nostitz, Patron of blind people in the Czech Republic and Founder of NF Mathilda, H.E. Dr. Mario Quagliotti, Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the CR, , Ing. Pavlína Jirmannová, PWC and Member of the Board of FNMWA, Ing. Lenka Dušková, Investment Advisor and Vice Chairwoman of the Board of FNMWA, JUDr. Kateřina Krylová, Muzeum hlavního města Prahy and Chairwoman of the Board of FNMWA and RNDr. Jitka Seitlová, Deputy Ombudsman and Member of the Board of FNMWA

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From left: Ing. Lenka Dušková, Investment Advisor and Vice Chairwoman of the Board of FNMWA, Ing. Vladimíra Václavíková, Marketing and Editorial Director, Leaders Magazine, Josef Rynda, Premier Relationship Manager, Česká spořitelna, a.s, Ing. arch. Iva Drebitko, President, TRIGA, Patrons of Art and Member of the Board of FNMWA, and JUDr. Kateřina Krylová, Muzeum hlavního města Prahy and Chairwoman of the Board of FNMWA

Ing. Miloslav Křížek, Manager, Endoscope BD FUJIFILM Europe GmbH and Ing. Helena Leisztner Kroftová, Auctioneer, Artist and Member of the Board of FNMWA

From left: Olga Menzelová, Jiří Menzel, Film Director, and Countess Mathilde Nostitz, Patron of blind people in the Czech Republic and Founder of NF Mathilda

From left: Zdena Řeháková Šafka, Artist, Jan Řehák, PPF Art, and Ing. Lenka Dušková, Investment Advisor and Vice Chairwoman of the Board of FNMWA

Iveta Pecháčková, Owner, Dermitage s.r.o.

From left: Mgr. Jiří Kopenec, CEO and Chairman of the Board, Agra Group, a.s., Ing. Radim Dušek, Film Producer, JUDr. Soňa Illner Pajerová, Attorney at Law, and Ing. Vladimíra Václavíková, Marketing and Editorial Director, Leaders Magazine

In the front from left: Charlotta Kotik, Independent Curator, NY, Andries Botha, and H.E. María Susana Landaveri Porturas, Ambassador of Peru

Alex Pastoreková, Dermitage s.r.o., and Robert Y. G. Ho, Director of Economic Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Prague

From left: Ing. Helena Leisztner Kroftová, Auctioneer, Artist and Member of the Board of FNMWA, Vladimír Rösler, General Director, National Gallery, Countess Mathilde Nostitz, Patron of blind people in the Czech Republic and Founder of NF Mathilda, and H.E. Dr. Mario Quagliotti, Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the CR

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analysis

EUROPEAN LEADERSHIP & ACADEMIC INSTITUTE P R A G U E

LET’S HAVE a Restless Year of 2012 Photo: ELAI Archive

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Lukáš Sedláček, President of the Oxford & Cambridge Alumni Society CR (association uniting graduates from Oxford and Cambridge in the Czech Republic), co-founder and executive director of European Leadership & Academic Institute (ELAI), lecturer at the New York University and the AngloAmerican College. He studied international relations at the University of Cambridge and European studies at the Charles University, where he had previously studied Hebrew and religion.

analysis Prospects for the year 2012 are alarming. It appears that this year will be unusually turbulent and restless. No doubt we would rather have a better footing, more rest and peace of mind. Experiencing nirvana without lifting a finger, no longer having to fight and strife.

The philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus saw all cosmic events as an everlasting struggle that gradually leads to its best possible state. When he wants to describe the attitude of the Universal Reason towards the battle of the cosmic opposites, he uses an analogy of a boy who plays on both sides of a board game, trying to win on behalf of both of them and thus improving his skills.

(A footnote observation: In some contemporary online computer games like Starcraft, programmers constantly adjust the ratios of power between the warring factions, so that none gets an easier victory; Heraclitus’ boy playing checkers against himself is then similar to the programmers in a way.) The Universal Reason is not perfect and static for Heraclitus, rather it’s a constant process of self-creation and development; sometimes it even retraces its steps.

For Heraclitus, human life at its best is one of an active struggle, both internal (in an effort to constantly improve the self) and external in the sense of overcoming external obstacles. In overcoming external obstacles he considers an encounter with a powerful adversary to be the greatest trial. An obvious parallel is the desire of certain eastern martial masters to train their disciples so well that one day they will beat the master himself. The disciple is encouraged to desire the defeat of his strongest opponent because only in such a conflict can he reach perfection and the master his calling. The lyrics of the U2 song “Cedars of Lebanon” are also interesting in this regard: “Choose your enemies carefully ‘cos they will define you”.

Benefits of the active struggle for development are also emphasized in many biblical stories.

Jacob was blessed by God and his name changed to Israel just after Jacob’s fight with an unknown creature, angel or even God himself. Israel literally means “one who as a hero/prince struggles with God”. The story of Abraham began at the moment he was sent by God from a Chaldean city of Ur to discover the promised land. He had to undergo a process to move from point A to point B. Similarly, Moses with his people received a “task” to reach the promised land, even though their journey was nearly fatal. Israel’s prophets did not let their rulers sleep peacefully and kept pointing to the need to constantly lead the nation of Israel to a higher moral perfection. From another cultural sphere, Homer’s Odysseus also had to undergo a painful journey full of danger to reach his home and meet his wife again. When we read the Odyssey, we are thrilled and fascinated exactly by the journey he was on rather than its actual target. Odysseus without the

effort, struggle and hardship would hardly be the Odysseus worthy of our admiration.

Jesus’ statement “I do not bring peace but a sword” has certainly surprised more than one reader in history. The arrival of the Messiah was expected with the hope that he will finally bring his people inner and outer peace. The Roman invaders will be driven out and everyone will live forever happily in the kingdom of Judah. But Jesus did not bring the end of occupation (he did not even speak about it from a political viewpoint) and he never gave a promise of lasting inner peace of mind on this earth. St. Paul’s statement about Christians being the “salt of the earth” can be interpreted to say that Christians should be an element in any society that constantly provokes, excites and moves its environment closer to God’s presence. Even the Islamic jihad is primarily an internal struggle for germination of the better in us, while the jihad with a sword is only one possible form of the jihad, whose use is permitted only in exceptional cases. Romanian religious expert Mircae Eliade noticed that in Indian spirituality, the more a man happens to be in a tragic, “more lost” life situation, the happier he is. Therefore, according to him, the Indians believe that gods cannot know absolute freedom when they live a blissful life.

Mircae Eliade also stressed how crucial the Judeo-Christian influence was for our Western culture. He attributes even the concept of historical development, progress and a sense of history to the ancient Hebrews. In their thinking, the world was not cyclically restored, did not start and die each year (as all events were perceived by other cultures), but it was subject to God’s given time horizon in which God manifested his presence. For this reason, they perceived surrounding events historically, leading from somewhere to somewhere, more specifically from worse to better (some passages of the Tanakh are exceptions to this, so is the book of Ecclesiastes). The history of mankind is therefore a process, a continuous struggle on the path to the greater presence of God. The belief in the possibility of establishing “a better and fairer world” is still evident in the theoretical bases of both Marxism and capitalism (it is interesting that even these “religiously non-believing” theories “believe” in the historical development of their preference). We take part in the expectation of historical progress: social, economic, scientific and moral, often without even realizing it. One of the major reasons why Western civilization achieved the greatest progress in the world in recent centuries may be exactly the Judeo-Christian belief in the “culmination of history” by industrious human pursuit of perfection.

Friedrich Nietzsche puts the following words in the mouth of his Zarathustra: “And this secret life itself showed me: Behold,” said she, ”I am that which must ever overcome itself.“ (from “Self-

Overcoming”). An obvious comparison is Heraclitus’ Universal Reason which constantly improves itself, triumphs and “overcomes” in his play with and at the same time against itself. In Nietzsche’s perception an active fight is necessary for a man to be liberated from the conscious and unconscious ties; to become truly free and blessing the universe: “I have become a blesser and a Yes-sayer, and for this I wrestled long and was a wrestler, in order to free my hands one day for blessing.” (from “Before Sunrise”).

Carl Gustav Jung also points to the need for an internal struggle. In his Essays on current events he writes: “We psychologists have learned through long and painful experience that when trying to free the patient of his complexes you deprive him of his greatest treasure. You can only help him become sufficiently conscious of his complexes and start the conscious conflict inside of him.” He considers democracy to be a highly psychological institution beneficial for the psyche as it takes into account human nature and allows it to manifest itself in a moderated conflict to a large extent.

The concept of continuous conflict may seem bleak. Are we condemned to fight without end and without rest? Rabbi Loew of Prague had a very interesting perception of the relationship of opposites and the ensuing conflict and reconciliation: all the contradictions in the world that are “fighting” constantly against each other are connected by a point in the middle (in Hebrew EMCA), in which he perceives the existence of God, who provides for their existence, who is contained in the two opposites, but at the same time keeps the opposites in their differences.

Therefore it is not a kind of synthesis of opposites (later developed in the thinking of Hegel), but their preservation in their polarity. God, who represents a holistic and harmonious aspect, rest and peace, is in his thinking constantly contained in all conflicts of opposites. Absolute harmony and constant conflict would then be one and the same, however different our perception might be.

The continuous struggle of opposites is promoted to a “higher level” as a result of the influence of the EMCA point. Loew’s perception of transcendence again seems to be very similar to Heraclitus’ Universal Reason playing checkers.

Maybe we need to go on a long journey in the desert as the ancient Hebrews did. Fight like Jacob or Nietzsche, wander like Odysseus. The peace and rest we long for may be waiting for us at the end of the journey, or perhaps it can be found even during the fight. Let us then rather have a restless year full of intensive fighting, so that we can find real peace in its middle.

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

Leaders Magazine I/2012 91

event Deutsch-Tschechische Industrieund Handelskammer On November 22, 2011 in the Mercedes-Benz show room in Prague Chodov, the German-Czech Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DTIHK/ČNOPK) held their 5th annual economic discussion. Five of the top-level experts from the Czech Republic and Germany debated over the role of professional training for the Czech Republic’s international economic competitiveness. Panelists from the political and business sphere saw eye to eye with the audience’s viewpoints over the findings of the recent DTIHK/ČNOPK survey.

It declared a lack of practical, work experience for Czech trainees, as well as a difficulty in finding highly qualified employees for suitable fields of industry. Panel representatives from listed business/trade associations, as well as staff managers, called for immediate action and further cooperation between these enterprises and the vocational schools.

Photo: Tomáš Železný

Radomír Šimek, President, DTIHK/ČNOPK

GERMAN-CZECH CHAMBER OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE

From left: Claudia Bauer-Grass, Bernard Bauer, Executive Member of the Board, DTIHK/ČNOPK, and Sybille von Obernitz, Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce

From left: Prof. Ing. Ivan Nový, University of Economics, Prague, Helmut Schweiger, Gerresheimer Horsovsky Tyn, and Richard Brunner, IHK Regensburg Geschäftsstelle Cham Susanne Neumann, Institute for Industrial and Financial Management and Peter Fritsche, Generalvertretung der Deutschen Bahn AG

92 From left: Dušan Jílek, Everesta and Pavel Juříček, Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic

From left: Bernard Bauer, Executive Member of the Board, DTIHK/ ČNOPK, Dietmar Mantel, InBIT Česká republika, Sybille von Obernitz, Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, and Jan Bláha, InBIT Česká republika

Sybille von Obernitz, Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce

Petr Bannert, Director, Secondary and Higher Technical and Vocational Education Department, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports

Pavel Juříček, Vice President, Confederation of Industry of the CR

Irena Kopřivová, Executive Director, mdexx MD

Barbora Schelová, HR Director, Robert Bosch

Helmut Schweiger, Executive Director, Gerresheimer Horsovsky Tyn

From left: Udo Werner, SWA, Prof. Ing. Ivan Nový, University of Economics, Prague, and Jürgen Heidel, SWA

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From left: Radomír Šimek, President, DTIHK/ČNOPK, Pavel Juříček, Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic, Helmut Schweiger, Gerresheimer Horsovsky Tyn, Sybille von Obernitz, Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, Prof. Ing. Ivan Nový, University of Economics, Prague, and Barbora Schelová, Robert Bosch

93 MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ

event XI zlatá koruna forum

From left: PhDr. Přemysl Čech, Moderator, Dr. Pavel Doležal, Director, pdMEDIA s.r.o., Ing. Miroslav Kalousek, Minister of Finance, and Ing. Milan Šimáček, EGAP, a.s.

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1st row from left: Prof. Ing. Valtr Komárek, DrSc., Honorary Chairman, ČSSD, Economist and Forecaster, Ing. Jan Mládek, CSc., Shadow Minister of Finance for ČSSD, and Radek Špicar, Vice President of the Confederation of Industry of the ČR, 2nd row from left: Ing. Dan Ťok, SKANSKA a.s., and Ing. Milan Šimáček, EGAP, a.s.

The XI Zlatá koruna Forum was held on November 29th, 2011, at the TOP HOTEL Praha under the auspices of Prime Minister Petr Nečas and Miroslav Kalousek, Minister of Finance. Its theme “From the debt trap into the abyss?” was discussed by leading economists, financiers, and entrepreneurs.

These latter were also addressing the deepening problems of European debt crisis and its impact on the Czech Republic.

Prof. Ing. Milan Zelený, M. S., Ph.D., Professor, Fordham University New York and University T. Baťa Zlín

On the right: Miroslav Škvára, Finance Consultant

Ing. Tomáš Macků, IPSOS

Radek Urban, Ministry of Finance of the CR, behind H.E. Peter Brňo, Ambassador of Slovakia

From left: Zdeněk Kejval SG Equipment Finance and Jaroslav Laur, ALD Automotive

F r mo Fo more ree inffor orma m tition ma on abo bout ut thee XI Zllat atáá koru ko runa ru na Foorrum anndd the con na o te tent ntt of th thee in indi divi divi vidu duual a peerf perf rfor for orma manc ma nces ess, pl plea e se vis ea isititi www w.z . la l ta tako koru ko ruuna na.. innfo f /ffor o uum m

From left: Jaroslav Laur, ALD Automotive and Zdeněk Kejval, Proxy and Director for Strategy and Marketing, Société Générale, Equipment Finance

95 MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ

From left: Ing. Miloš Zeman, former Prime Minister, Ing. Miroslav Kalousek, Minister of Finance, and PhDr. Přemysl Čech, Moderator

RNDr. Luděk Niedermayer, Deloitte ČR

Prof. Ing. Michal Mejstřík, CSc., Economics Professor, IES FSV UK

Mgr. David Marek, Ph.D., Patria Finance, a.s.

Ing. Dan Ťok, SKANSKA a.s.

Petr Janský, M.Sc., IDEA by CERGE-EI

From left: Petr Kučera and Petr Scholtz, Office of the Financial Arbiter of the CR

From left: Karek Pavlík and Petr Zaremba, both Raffeisen stavební spořitelna

Ing. Petr Zahradník, M.Sc., Member, NERV

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From left: Dr. Pavel Doležal, Director, pdMEDIA s.r.o in his speech, Ing. Miloš Zeman, former Prime Minister, Ing. Miroslav Kalousek, Minister of Finance, PhDr. Přemysl Čech, Moderator, Prof. Ing. Milan Zelený, M.S., Ph.D., Professor, Fordham University New York and University T. Baťa Zlín, and Prof. Ing. Michal Mejstřík, CSc., Economics Professor, IES FSV UK

legal matters

Under the auspices of Prime Minister RNDr. Petr Nečas, Minister of Justice JUDr. Jiří Pospíšil and the Czech Bar Association, the epravo.cz company announced the fourth edition of the Law Firm of the Year. As in previous years, the public was aware of the most recommended candidates in the field of law. The Law Firm of the Year 2011 competition results were officially launched on November 22, 2011 in the Prague InterContinental Hotel, and the event was attended by representatives of leading law firms and personalities of domestic justice.

The 2011 Law Firm Award, for the home office was won by PRK Partners. On the photo from left: Martin Vychopeň, President, Czech Bar Association, Jan Kohout, Robert Němec, Marek Procházka, all PRK Partners, Jiří Pospíšil, Minister of Justice, and Miroslav Chochola, Chairman of the Board, epravo.cz

OF THE YEAR

From left: Tomáš Sokol and Jiří Novák accepted the award for criminal law on behalf of the company Brož & Sokol & Novák

From left: David Koláček and Vlad Petrus accepted the award for restructuring and insolvency on behalf of the firm Clifford Chance

From left: Václav Bílý and Martin Aschenbrenner accepted the award for banking and finance on behalf of PRK Partners office

98 Josef Hlavička and Adéla Havlová accepted the award for public orders on behalf of the company Havel Holásek & Partners

From left: Karel Dřevínek and Petr Severa accepted the award for mergers and acquisitions on behalf of Weil, Gotshal & Manges

On the occasion of the gala evening, PWC Legal Office offered a cheque for CZK 100 000 to the Royal Premonstratensian canonry at Strahov.

On the photo from left: Evermod Gejza Šidlovský, Strahov bibliotecarian and Jan Hladký, Representative of PWC Legal

From left: Martin Kramář and Roman Vojta accepted the award for dispute resolution and arbitration on behalf of Weil, Gotshal & Manges

Karel Čermák jr. took the price for the intellectual property on behalf of the office Čermák a spol.

The 2011 Law Firm Award, for the international firm was acquired by the company Weil, Gotshal & Manges. On the photo from left: Martin Vychopeň, President, Czech Bar Association, Karel Muzikář (Weil, Gotshal & Manges), Miroslav Chochola, Chairman of the Board, epravo.cz, and Jiří Pospíšil, Minister of Justice

Olga Humlová and Michal Hink accepted the award for development and real estate projects on behalf of the company Salans Jan Dědič and Sylvie Sobolová accepted the award for corporate law, including the ecomonic competition on behalf of the office Kocián Šolc Balaštík

Jiří Čermák and Tomáš Skoumal accepted the award for telecommunications and media on behalf of the company Baker & McKenzie

From left: Jiří Černý, Martin Maisner, and Josef Donát took the award for Information Technology on behalf of the Legal Office Rowan Legal

Jaroslav Škubal took the award for work law on behalf of PRK Partners

Jan Šťovíček and Tereza Rýdlová accepted the award for sports law on behalf of KŠD Šťovíček

From left: Jakub Zavadil, Tomáš Hlaváček, and Aleš Zídek accepted the award for the tax law on behalf of White & Case

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

99

More than CZK 500,000 was raised for the charity “Dětské krizové centrum”

birthday party Markéta Suri and Sanjiv Suri, President & CEO of Zátiší Group

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

Photo: Vadim Kramer

From left: Paul Valka, Iva Drebitko, President, TRIGA, Patrons of Art, Markéta Suri, and Sanjiv Suri, President & CEO of Zátiší Group

From left: Gina Orejarena, Paco Navarro Hernandez, and Osmany Laffita, Fashion Designer

From left: Milena Baker, Markéta Suri, and Ericka Sýkora

100 From left: Louise de Beer, William Lobkowitz, Owner, Lobkowicz Events Management, and Sandra Lobkowitz

From left: Sanjiv Suri, President & CEO of Zátiší Group, Jiří Šimáně, Chairman, Unimex Group, Eva Chmelová, Artist, and Markéta Suri

From left: Thomas Smit, President, Waldeck capital LLC, Benke Aikell, your Publisher, and Dagmar Smit, Managing Director, SC-Master

Rio Dance Show

From left: James A. Cusumano, PhD, Chairman, Chateau Mcely, Inéz Cusumano, Chateau Mcely, Markéta Suri, and Sanjiv Suri, President & CEO of Zátiší Group

MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ Pavel Bobošík and Jana Bobošíková, Chairwoman, Suverenita

From left: Sanjiv Suri, President & CEO of Zátiší Group, Markéta Suri, Birgit Hess, Patrik Hess, Klára Stacey, and Weston Stacey, Executive Director, American Chamber of Commerce in the CR

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personal enlightenment

Cosmic Consciousness – James A. Cusumano, PhD

A JOURNEY TO WELL-BEING, HAPPINESS, AND SUCCESS

Part I: Are You For Real? A, B

“The best explanation we have is that something unknown is doing we don’t know what!”

Sir Arthur Eddington, British Cosmologist (1882–1944) KEY CONCEPTS: Physical Cosmology, which is based on classical physics, maintains that everything that has happened since the beginning of time, i.e., since the Big Bang, is a series of accidents.

Conscious Cosmology, which follows from quantum physics, holds that consciousness is the true ground of being, and the consciousness that gives rise to your thoughts is also responsible for all of the intelligent activity of the universe. There is no such thing as an accident.

Each of us, through our Personal Consciousness, is involved in the creative process of the ground of being, and we are also a part of infinite or Cosmic Consciousness, which has no beginning or ending in space and time – both Personal and Cosmic Consciousness are what physicists term “non-local,” and are intimately enmeshed forever.

The only way to understand True Reality is through the “eyes” of your consciousness, and not through the “eyes” of your five senses.

Each year, you replace more than 98% of the atoms in your body. However, your consciousness, constantly outlives the “death” of the atoms and molecules of your physical body through which you express yourself while you are alive. So, in “reality,” you must not be your body!

In this series of articles, based on my recent book on Cosmic Consciousness, I intend to show that we are totally deceived by our five senses, and that True Reality is indentical to consciousness. Based on recent findings in quantum physics, this leads to several surprising conclusions and a series of powerful techniques for living a more fulfilled life.

YOUR PROBABILITY OF BEING “We don’t exist unless we are deeply and sensually in touch with that which can be touched but not known.”

D. H. Lawrence – British novelist (1885–1930) “Why am I here? Where did I come from? Do I have a spirit or a soul? And if so, where will it go when I die? What’s the

102 Leaders Magazine I/2012

probability of me being here in this universe, at this given moment in time? Is my very existence just a remote probability or an accident?” These are questions that most of us ask, sooner or later. Recent research has demonstrated that the connection between quantum physics and consciousness points us in a direction that could provide answers to these and related challenging questions. And fortunately, this connection can be expressed in a straightforward nontechnical manner.

Let’s consider the simplest of these complex questions.

“What is the probability of me being here in this universe at this very point in time?” If I think back only to my immediate grandparents, who put in motion the series of specific events that led to my birth, I am immensely impressed by the answer to this question. Allow me to make my point quantitatively by going back just a bit further in time. I had 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, etc. If I go back just 30 generations – that’s all – the number of people directly responsible for my presence on this planet can be calculated from the following formula: m=30 N = ∑ 2m m=1 Don’t worry about the math; the interpretation of this equation is quite simple. N is the total number of people for all 30 generations directly responsible for me being here at this point in time, and m is the specific generation, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. This simply means that we must sum 21 + 22 + 23 + 24 + . . . , which gives 2 + 4 + 8 + 16 + . . ., etc. all the way up to 230. The final number of people is precisely 2,147,482,646 or about 2.2 billion people; not millions or hundreds of millions, but billions of people! And if one of them had been missing, died prematurely, or had not been in the “right mood” that one evening, I would not be here! And that’s true for you and for everyone on this planet. All you have to do is to go back just 30 generations, which to most people’s surprise, is a “family” of more than 2 billion people!

So is your life and presence here on planet Earth at this point in time just an accident or a coincidence? Is it just a total statistical improbability? Well if it is, that’s amazing! And if it’s not, then that’s amazing! It’s amazing either way! Your very existence should throw you into a state of sheer ecstasy.

“If you’re not perpetually surprised by the fact of your existence, then you don’t deserve to exist.”

Rabindranath Tagore, 1913 Nobel laureate in Literature If we consider modern physics, evolution theory, geological records and molecular genetics, there are two broad schools of thought on the nature of True Reality. The first, Physical Cosmology, maintains that everything that has happened since the beginning of time, i.e., since the Big Bang, is a series of accidents (Figure 1). This includes your

very existence and the existence of our planet, which after all is but one speck of dust in an infinite void, somewhere in the junkyard of infinity.

CONSCIOUS COSMOLOGY The second school of thought, Conscious Cosmology, maintains that with bits and pieces of our everyday sensory experience, we cannot see the whole true picture. What Physical Cosmology calls an accident is in this alternate way of thinking, part of a universe where everything is synchronized, everything is coinciding with, and everything is correlated with everything else in the universe. And in fact, there is no such thing as an accident. This latter school of thought, Conscious Cosmology, is the subject of this series.

Conscious Cosmology maintains that consciousness is the true ground of being. The consciousness that gives rise to your thoughts is also the consciousness behind all of the intelligent activity of the universe. This leads to the conclusion that there is no such thing as an accident. Each of us is part of the creative process of the ground of being and part of what we call infinite consciousness, which has no beginning or ending in time.

Furthermore, this way of thinking maintains that there is a personal and a universal collective consciousness, and they are interconnected. Personal consciousness or spirit or soul – whatever you choose to call it – cannot be contained in the geometric confines of a human body or the span of a single lifetime. It is, as we will see when we discuss the implications of quantum physics for reality, “non-local.”

This means that your spirit or soul is not present in just one place in time or space, i.e., in space-time. It is present everywhere, and at all points in space-time. It always was, and it always will be. Of course, this is not so for your body. As we will see in later discussions, non-locality has profound implications for the connections among people and things in the universe. To get to this point, we must answer the question, “What is reality?”

WHAT’S REALLY REAL? “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

Albert Einstein There are three ways in which we generally seek to understand so-called reality. The first is through the eyes of the A) EDITOR’S COMMENT – This is the first article in a new series based on the author’s recent popular book, “Cosmic Consciousness – A Journey To Well-being, Happiness and Success.” In this remarkable little book, published in both the Czech and English languages within one volume, and with an introduction by internationally-acclaimed author, Dr. Deepak Chopra, Dr. Cusumano explains in simple terms, the connection between Eastern Philosophical Wisdom, consciousness and quantum physics. He develops specific practices for living a successful and fulfilled life, regardless of your passion of pursuit.

B) The author may be reached at Jim@ChateauMcely.Com.

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

personal enlightenment Figure 1: Physical Cosmology is based on classical physics and maintains that everything since the “Big Bang” is a series of accidents

senses, i.e., through the eyes of the flesh. If you want to know if there are craters on the moon, you extend the range of your visual sense of experience with a telescope to make this determination. If you want to know the shape and structure of a certain microbe, you explore its characteristics by amplifying your visual sense with a high-powered microscope.

The second way in which we seek to understand reality is through the eyes of the mind. If you want to understand the Theorem of Pythagoras, then you must know something about the principles of Euclidian geometry that exist in the mind. If you want to understand quantum physics you must understand the mathematics and physical principles that occurred in the minds of great scientists such as Schrödinger, Heisenberg, Planck, Bohr, Dirac, Born, de Broglie and others. As discussed later in this series, all good quantum physicists know, but most prefer not to discuss that quantum physics is directly linked to consciousness.

Interestingly, quantum physics is responsible for more than 30% of the world’s gross domestic product, whether we use e-mail, speak on a cell phone, surf the internet, or have laser eye surgery; these technologies are all based on a fundamental premise of quantum science. That fundamental premise states that the material world is actually not material, that is to say, the physical world, as we perceive it with our five senses, is in reality, non-physical. This follows from the fact that an atom, which is the basic unit of what we call physical matter, is not material. We like to think of an atom as Isaac Newton did, a solid ball, but in fact it is not a solid entity. The atom is a hierarchy of states of information and energy in a huge emptiness. All of these conclusions come from looking at the universe by going inside the mind. This is the second way to understand what we call reality. But there is a third way.

The third way to understand reality is to look at the world and the universe through the eyes of your consciousness.

The motivation for this third approach to reality is summarized magnificently in a poem by 19th century British poet, William Blake.

“We are led to believe a lie, when we see with and not through the eye That was born in a night, to perish in a night While the soul slept in beams of light.”

William Blake What Blake is saying in this poem, and what scientists who study perception confirm, is that our five senses deceive us. We can never know the true picture of reality by trusting our senses. The reason for this is that reality through the eyes of the five senses is actually a projection of something that we cannot see, something that is invisible, something that we cannot imagine, something that cannot be conceptualized. And yet, it is something without which we would not be able to imagine, to think, to perceive – and

TO BE CONTINUED...

that something is consciousness. This comes directly from quantum physics.

We cannot trust our senses. After all, our senses tell us that the world is flat, but no one believes that any more. Our senses tell us that the ground we walk on is stationary, yet we know the earth is spinning on its axis at 1700 km/hr and hurling through space around the sun at 112,000 km/hr.

Our senses tell us that our bodies are three-dimensional anatomical structures and that we are separated by distance in space and sometimes in time, as you are there reading this paragraph, and I am here writing it. Well, as we shall see later in this series, all of that is a grand illusion!

None of it is true.

According to Conscious Cosmology, the universe is an interdependently co-arising confluence of space-time events (i.e., present as objects in time – past, present and future) in a field of consciousness that is beyond spacetime (i.e., no beginning and no end). Our senses are deceptive. When we look at each other, we see a three-dimensional anatomical structure that seems fixed in space and time.

However, because the basic entity of construction of all so-called physical objects is the atom, which itself is not a physical object, our bodies are actually dynamic rivers of Figure 2: We can never know True Reality by trusting our five senses. What we perceive with our senses is a projection of something we could never “see” and that something is consciousness.

Buddha, or Genghis Kahn, or Saddam Hussein, or anyone else you might care to imagine. Because of this constant exchange of atoms and molecules around the globe, in just the last 3 weeks, a quadrillion atoms, i.e., 1x1015 atoms, 1 followed by 15 zeros, have gone through your body and have also gone through every other living species on this planet. So, envision a camel in Saudi Arabia, a taxi driver in Calcutta, a pigeon in China – you have atoms in your body right at this very moment that were circulating through these bodies, only 3 weeks ago.

In less than one year, you replace more than 98% of the atoms in your body with atoms from the global environment. At the atomic level, you recycle your liver every 6 weeks, your skin once a month, your stomach lining every 5 days, your skeleton every 3 months, and even your DNA, which holds the memories of millions of years of evolutionary time, i.e., the actual raw material, the carbon, the oxygen, the hydrogen, comes and goes every 6 weeks like migratory birds. So, if you think you are your physical body, you have a bit of a dilemma. Which one are you talking about?

I started writing my book on Cosmic Consciousness in 2009. The computer I am using at this very moment to write this article is the same one I used in 2009, but my body is now a 2012 model, and my 2009 model is dead and gone. It came from the dust; it circulated around in what I call “myself”; it’s now circulating in other life forms on the planet and in part is back in the dust as well. So the actual physical body with which I started writing Cosmic Consciousness is dead; it’s gone.

But as consciousness – and by consciousness I mean memories, dreams, imagination, inspiration, intuition, insight, creativity, and choice making – we are constantly outliving what appears to be the “death” of the atoms and molecules of our so-called physical body through which we express ourselves while we are alive. So, in “reality,” we must not be our bodies!

“Our bodies are just the place that our memories and dreams call home for the time being.”

Vedanta and Buddhist saying

energy and information, constantly in exchange with all of the elements and forces of the universe.

YOUR PHYSICAL BODY “The human body is a machine which winds its own springs.”

Julien Offroy de la Mettrie, Author, “L’Homme Machine” The physical body with which you began to read this article is not the same physical body with which you are now reading this sentence. With each breath that you exhale, you release 1x1022 atoms, 1 followed by 22 zeros. And the majority of these exhaled atoms originated in every cell of your body. So, at the atomic level, you are literally breathing out bits and pieces of your liver, heart and brain tissue, and technically speaking we are intimately sharing our organs with each other all of the time! As the great American poet, Walt Whitman noted many years ago: “Every atom that belongs to you, as well belongs to me.”

Walt Whitman This is no longer a metaphor of poetry; it’s a scientific fact of biology. If we draw an imaginary spherical container around the earth, and recognize the rapid dynamic exchange of atoms and molecules within the atmosphere throughout the entire globe with all living matter on the planet, we can do a calculation that demonstrates beyond a shadow of doubt that right at this moment, as you read this page, you have in your body at least 1 million atoms that were once in the body of Jesus Christ, or

So if you could see the physical world as it truly is – not through the artifact of sensory experience, since your five senses deceive you, you would see a radically different universe. Next in this series – “Where Does Everything Come From?”

James A. Cusumano, PhD 1

James A. Cusumano, “Cosmic Consciousness – A Journey To Well-being, Happiness and Success,” Fortuna Libra, Prague, 2011.

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 coauthor of “Freedom from Mid-East Oil,” recently released by World Business Academy Press (www.WorldBusiness.Org) and the author of “Cosmic Consciousness – A Journey to Well-being, Happiness and Success,” published in English and Czech by Fortuna Libri, 2011.

Leaders Magazine I/2012 103

Photo: Archive

Tugendhat House Garden “Awoke” to its Original Beauty Between the two world wars, Brno was a pseudonym for its unique architectural style, “functionalism.” At that time, a unique set of structures were built in here, some of them now being included in the modern architecture textbooks. The Tugendhat House, listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, is the most valuable gem of them all. Now, after many years, it has finally lived up to a long-awaited, comprehensive landmark restoration, which included also the revitalization of its garden.

Looking just like the 1930s’ photographs, its authentic shape includes a network of pathways and unique woodwork This is the garden of the famous Tugendhat House in the district of Černá Pole after its own revitalization. The garden renovation’s were carried out in compliance with

the archives, which date back to the period when the Tugendhat family were living in the house. And just like in the past, a grassy meadow with several solitary trees and a pathway forms the majority of the garden. Besides the professionally landscaped trees, the garden includes the redesigning and adjustment of the terrain and terraces with the retaining dry walls, which are made up of the loosely laid stones. These dry walls are placed with perennial plants that form an optical base of the building and accentuate the view of the house from the lower part of the garden. Outdated trees were replaced with new, pre-grown ones – specifically two weeping willows, two chestnut trees and a sophora – right where, as the historical snapshots suggested, ex-prime ministers Václav Klaus and Vladimír Mečiar deliberated over the division of the former Czechoslovakia. Keeping with the past background, locust trees were planted on the green belt in front of the house, and herb garden is conveniently located near the kitchen.

The garden’s revitalization finally draws to a close with the installation of an irrigation system and the laying of turf.

Care and attention has also been provided to the climbing plants, which will cover the eastern and southern household fronts in the future. This will also provide the optical illusion of “disappearing into the foliage,” a perfect interconnection between the interior with the exterior. Following the completion of the house reconstruction, the exterior will also be decorated with mobile vegetation placed on the terraces and at the house entrance.

REVITALIZATION OF THE GARDEN IS FINISHED; WORK INSIDE THE HOUSE IS CULMINATING The house’s restoration is also coming to its finale.

Large glass panes have been installed to mimic the authentic windows from 1930. Stone and wood restorations are being completed, along with the interiors.

The house will finally be handed over to its owners on January 24, 2012, which they will open public visitations in the following spring. A number of innovations await for these future guests, i.e., access to the house’s technical facilities and a guided tour with a historical exhibition on the house, itself. Due to the highly expected turnout of domestics and internationals, including architectural and historical experts, even the media itself, a special booking system will be in effect at the beginning of 2012. The house can only host 12 tours for 15 visitors per day.

This shining example of modern architecture will give visitors the impression of a joint-cooperation between the house’s living space and the surrounding nature, as well as the understanding of the architect’s and the family’s philosophical mindset. As a part of the city’s beautiful skyline, the Tugendhat House will surely lure more visitors to Brno, a multicultural city in the heart of Central Europe.

By Roman Onderka Mayor of the City of Brno The Tugendhat House garden offers one of the most stunning views of the city skyline

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Photos: Marie Schmerková

Tugendhat zahrada vily se „probudila“ do původní krásy

The Tugendhat House is run by the Museum of the City of Brno. The photograph shows the Brno Mayor in conversation with Ms. Iveta Černá, the Tugendhat House manager.

Meziválečné Brno je synonymem funkcionalismu.

Tehdy zde vznikl výjimečný soubor staveb, z nichž některé jsou zastoupeny v učebnicích světové moderní architektury. Vila Tugendhat, zapsaná na seznamu světového dědictví UNESCO, je nejvzácnějším klenotem z nich. Nyní se po letech dočkala náročné památkové obnovy, včetně revitalizace zahrady.

Jako na fotografiích ze 30. let, ve své původní podobě včetně sítě cest i zastoupených dřevin. Taková je po obnově zahrada slavné vily Tugendhat v Černých Polích. Práce na obnově zahrady probíhaly v souladu s archivní dokumentací z období, kdy v domě žila rodina Tugendhatových. Velkou část zahrady tvoří, stejně jako kdysi, zatravněná louka doplněná několika solitérními stromy a základní cestní síť. Kromě odborného ošetření dřevin byla předmětem obnovy zahrady i úprava profilu terénu a teras se suchými zídkami z volně ložených kamenů, které jsou osázeny trvalkami a tvoří optickou podnož stavby, důležitou pro vyznění pohledu na dům ze spodní části zahrady. Dožilé dřeviny byly nahrazeny novými, již vzrostlými stromy.

Konkrétně byly vysazeny dvě smuteční vrby, dva kaštany a jerlín, pod nímž, jak ukazují historické

fotografie, probíhaly první diskuse mezi tehdejšími premiéry Václavem Klausem a Vladimírem Mečiarem o rozdělení Československa. Travnatý pás před vilou byl osazen dle historického kontextu vzrostlými akáty, nechybí ani bylinková zahrádka v blízkosti kuchyně.

Modernizaci zahrady završila instalace zavlažovacího zařízení a položení travního koberce. Nezapomnělo se ani na popínavé rostliny, které v budoucnu pokryjí východní a jižní fasádu a zajistí optické „zmizení“ hmoty domu v zeleni, tedy dokonalé propojení interiéru s exteriérem. Součástí výzdoby exteriérů bude po dokončení rekonstrukce vily i mobilní zeleň, která bude umístěna na terasách a při vstupu do vily.

REVITALIZACE ZAHRADY DOKONČENA, PRÁCE VE VILE FINIŠUJÍ Také rekonstrukce samotné vily se blíží ke svému závěru. Instalovány již byly velkoplošné skleněné tabule, které jsou přesnými kopiemi těch původních z roku 1930. Svou práci dokončují restaurátoři kamene a dřeva, dokončují se interiéry. Předání obnovené vily se uskuteční 24. ledna 2012, první zájemci o prohlídku se dočkají na jaře. Čeká je řada novinek, poprvé si třeba prohlédnou dříve nedostupné technické zázemí budovy

a součástí prohlídkové trasy bude i výstava o historii vily.

Očekává se velký zájem ze strany domácích i zahraničních návštěvníků, odborníků i médií. Proto bude již počátkem roku 2012 spuštěn rezervační systém, neboť vzhledem k náročnosti návštěvnického provozu se zde bude moci konat „jen“ 12 prohlídek denně, každá pro 15 lidí. Brněnský klenot světové moderní architektury se tak opět otevře veřejnosti a pozve návštěvníky dál, aby mohli zažít nejen působivou symbiózu obytného prostoru domu a okolní přírody, ale také pochopit představy architekta i původních majitelů vily o svobodě, která pro ně byla důležitá. A prostřednictvím jednoho z nekrásnějších pohledů na panorama města bude vila Tugendhat jistě zvát také k návštěvě Brna, multikulturního města v srdci střední Evropy.

Roman Onderka primátor statutárního města Brna

105 A view of the House from the garden is worth the experience

The Moravian-Silesian Region Is Accessible for the

HANDICAPPED AS WELL Photo: Archive

The Moravian-Silesian Region asses the travel service accessibility for handicapped citizens.

The KLACR Company’s project, “Tourism without barriers,” aims to certify and prepare a comprehensive database of activities and attractions that are available throughout the region and suited for people with disabilities.

A new feature for the project is the installation of touch-maps for the blind and or visually impaired individuals. The Moravian-Silesian Region is the second county in the Czech Republic to use touch-maps.

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Maps of the Moravian-Silesian Region for the blind will contain all regional and district capital cities, and they’ll be marked accordingly to the number of inhabitants and mountains. These are further divided to include altitude, rivers, lakes, forests, major traffic routes, and cultural or natural sights, such as castles or caves. Touch-maps creator, Dana Fuxová, has been working on the project for about half a year while she was consulting with the visually impaired. “I could not use as much information as on regular maps. I had to limit the amount to only the most important facts”, said Fuxová.

According to the President of the Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired, Josef Stiborský, these maps will help these people to better match and compare information with the actual reality. “The maps will surely leave a profound mark. We still possess knowledge and information that we learned from the maps at elementary schools, but from what we read, we’ve mostly forgotten. Sometimes one picture will give you more information than hundreds of pages of printed text,” he added. When the visually impaired read maps, they need something more to start with their geographical charts. “Also the legend and descriptions that further explain common map abbreviations is very important. You can’t directly explain on the map the whole meaning of each abbreviation because the Braille letters are too large. It would take up a lot of space and other necessary map key elements would come out messy and illegible.”

These are high-contrast, relief-raised maps that allow those with visual deficiencies get a better understanding of the Moravian-Silesian’s topography. They include important landmarks or popular, local attractions for spatial findings and a comprehensive overview of the region, making travel easier. These maps will contain Braille text and embossed, transparent sheets to correspond beneath normal, visual maps.

The new special maps will be in the schools & facilities for the disabled, the tyflocentres, the information centres, and at the selected locations outside of the Moravian-Silesian Region.

They will also be made available for libraries and for various interest groups and associations that work with the visually impaired. Based on the mutual donation agreements, the maps will be distributed accordingly to each designated institution, but additional maps will be continually available at each Czechpoint and at the Regional Office of Moravia-Silesia. They will also be available at regional presentations, events and fairs.

Jaroslav Palas Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region

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Moravskoslezský kraj je přístupný také

HANDICAPOVANÝM Mapy Moravskoslezského kraje pro nevidomé obsahují všechna okresní města, která jsou značena podle počtu obyvatel, pohoří – ta jsou členěna podle nadmořské výšky, jsou zde řeky, vodní plochy, lesy, hlavní dopravní tahy a kulturní a přírodní památky jako hrady, zámky nebo jeskyně. Tvůrkyně souboru map – Dana Fuxová – je vytvářela asi půl roku za stálých konzultací se zrakově postiženými. “Nesměla jsem tam dát tolik informací, jako je běžné u normálních map. Omezila jsem informace na to hlavní,“ popsala Fuxová. Mapy podle prezidenta Svazu nevidomých a slabozrakých Josefa Stiborského pomohou zrakově postiženým zpřesnit informace a sladit jejich představy s realitou.

“Zanechají určitě hlubokou stopu. Poznatky, které jsme získali prostřednictvím map na základní škole, máme ještě dnes, zatímco to, co jsme si přečetli, jsme mnohdy zapomněli. Z jednoho obrázku získáte mnohdy více informací, než ze stovky stran tištěného textu,” řekl.

Při čtení mapy se nevidomí musí od něčeho odrazit, třeba od vodstva nebo silnic. “Důležitá je i legenda, v níž jsou uvedeny v plném významu všechny zkratky, které mapa obsahuje. Plnými slovy to v mapě není možné popsat, protože Braillovo písmo je příliš rozměrné.

Zabralo by příliš mnoho místa a vzhledem k ostatním prvkům by bylo nepřehledné,” vysvětlil Josef Stiborský.

Moravskoslezský kraj tématu cestování občanů s jakýmkoliv handicapem přikládá zásadní význam. Je proto hlavním finančním partnerem projektu „Cestovní ruch bez bariér“, jehož nositelem je společnost KLACR. Cílem projektu je certifikovat a vytvořit ucelenou databázi takových atraktivit v celém kraji, které jsou vhodné k návštěvě pro občany s handicapem. Novým krokem jsou právě vyrobené hmatové mapy pro nevidomé a slabozraké. Moravskoslezský kraj je teprve druhým krajem v celé ČR, který takové mapy nechal vytvořit.

Jedná se o kontrastně vybarvené plastické mapy, které umožňují nevidomým a slabozrakým lépe pochopit uspo-

řádání Moravskoslezského kraje. V mapách jsou zaneseny důležité orientační body, atraktivity, pohoří, vodstvo, města, komunikace a další důležité skutečnosti. Oproti ústnímu popisu soustřeďují tyto mapy větší množství informací nutných pro správné pochopení prostorových vztahů. Pomocí těchto map mohou zrakově postižení lidé získat ucelený přehled o dané oblasti a být lépe připraveni pro pohyb ve vybrané lokalitě. Mapy jsou popsány Braillovým písmem a zároveň budou čitelné pro slabozraké. Plastické mapy jsou zhotoveny z průhledného materiálu, pod plastickou mapou je korespondující tištěná mapa pro slabozraké.

Vytvořené soubory map budou umístěny ve školách

a zařízeních pro postižené, tyflocentrech a v informačních centrech v celém kraji a vybraných místech i mimo Moravskoslezský kraj. Mapy jsou vhodné i do knihoven i různých zájmových kroužků a spolků, kde se věnují zrakově postiženým osobám bez ohledu na věk. Mapy pro nevidomé a slabozraké budou všem těmto subjektům darovány prostřednictvím darovací smlouvy uzavřené mezi MSK a konkrétní institucí. Další mapy budou stabilně umístěny na Czechpointu na Krajském úřadě Moravskoslezského kraje a budou vždy součástí prezentace našeho kraje na veletrzích.

Jaroslav Palas hejtman Moravskoslezského kraje

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social eventevening

From left: Jaromír Šlápota, Chairman, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute and Ing. Karel Hanzl, Head, Komenský School Association in Vienna

Foto: Fot o: Mil Milan a Bej an Bejbl Be

Several hundreds of invited guests and friends of the Czechoslovak Foreign Institute said good-bye to the year 2011 during the gathering in St. Agnes.

From left: Regina Rázlová, Actress and Member, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, Ing. Jiří Nekovář, Director, EuroTrend, and Ing. Jiří Rudolf, Member of the Management, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute

From left: H.E. Vasily Markovich, Ambassador of Belarus and H.E. Tahir Taghizadeh, Ambassador of Azerbaijan

108 From right: JUDr. Vojtěch Filip, Parliamentarian and Chairman of KSČM and JUDr. Igor Keblušek, Members, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute

From left: Josef Michael Pojezdný, Monastery Abbot, Jindřich Forejt, Director Prague Castle Protocol, Gejza Evermond Šidlovský, O.praem

From left: Ing. Vladimír Kubiš, Vice Chairman, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, Mgr. Martin Plíšek, Deputy Minister of Health, Member, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, PhDr. Libuše Benešová, Vice Chairman, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, and Jaromír Šlápota, Chairman, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute

From left: Jaromír Šlápota, Chairman, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, Mgr. Karel Hábl, Actor (behind), Gejza Evermond Šidlovský, O. Praem., and Josef Michael Pojezdný, Monastery Abbot

From left: Ing. Vladimír Kubiš, Vice Chairman, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, PhDr. Libuše Benešová, Vice Chairman, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, Jaromír Šlápota, Chairman, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, and Ing. Miroslav Toman, President, Agrotrade a.s., Member, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute

MUDr. Michael Vít PhD., Deputy Minister of Health and Member, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute and Eliška Hašková Coolidge, former Assistant to five USA presidents

From left: Ing. Ivan Kočárník, Adviser to the Minister of Finance, Prof. MUDr. Pavel Dungl, DrSc., Chairman, orthopaedic clinic of Na Bulovce hospital, and Petr Skokan, Parliamentarian, Member, Czechoslovak Foreign Institute

From left: Ing. Vladimír Kubiš, Vice Chairman, Jaromír Šlápota, Chairman, both Czechoslovak Foreign Institute, CAI Ge, First Counsellor, DU Weisheng, Military Attaché, and FEI Yixiang, Counsellor for Business, all Embassy of China

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the good things in life

The Future of London

IS IN THE EAST

First, it was the wedding of the century, with everything that goes with the shine and glory of the monarchy, and which captured the attention of all the world’s media. This year, we are expecting the celebration of The Queen´s jubilee, countless events connected with the anniversary of Dickens, and finally the long and eagerly awaited sports leaders´ meeting at the summer Olympic Games.

Sam Torrence, British proffesional Golfer and Sports Commentator with Iva Drebitko

Palace of Westminster

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Saint Paul´s Cathedral with former Nat West Tower (1980) behind

Big Ben

Despite the world recession, fear on the stock market, and the caution of every ordinary English citizen, London bets on its British stoic card and tries to hold the traditional position. It is rather worthy of admiration – watching the politics of the country, which in parallel with the global crisis is going through its own social crisis as well, and yet believes, under the baton of Cameron´s government, that it will radically reduce the deficit from the current 10% to 1.1% by 2015. The Englishmen too, therefore remain optimistic and do not lose their well-known humour even in times when clouds are gathering above their heads from all sides.

England is simply like that, it thinks positively and believes in itself.

After the great success of the revitalization of London’s Docklands and Canary Wharf, we face an era where the Olympic village, or rather the Olympic city, is being born in East London, together with the

most sophisticated plan for the reincarnation and transformation of a place for the future, for wellbeing and the daily life of a British citizen. Talent builds the Olympic world, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park of course, and modern infrastructure and technology connects it to the centre. Residential areas and offices are being created with the latest green and high technologies and new service centres, hotels and new activities. Although the Olympic Games take place between the 27th of July and 12th of August, East London will live its new rapid transition away until 2017, and in a more gradual transition until 2030. In the first stage – the Olympic one – the region will receive 17 billion pounds worth of investment. Furthermore, a new centre of London is springing up here as well, which will positively impact and draw into its life London´s current residents as well the city´s visitors.

A question arises, as to how to attract these visitors to this clime, beyond the golden triangle of traditional London. The city fears little of this task.

Already with the Tate Modern, London succeeded in an analogous challenge: visitors roll into Tate Modern despite its slightly inconvenient location, the quality of the museum´s exhibitions is simply worth it. London has similar intentions with East London. The Olympic city intends to change itself, above all, into an attractive place for contemporary art and architecture. Anish Kapoor (famous BritishIndian visual artist) was chosen to create a space with observatory Orbit, from whose platform it will be possible to admire the new East London skyline, while the famous British architect Zaha Hadid will implement a hypermodern Aquatic Centre. Additionally, the whole area will be transformed for the purposes of business and interest activities, housing and recreation. For traditionalists, the part will neither miss the wonderful concepts of English parks.

In this way, London is an example of how to break out of recession. First, a positive approach is required, and then a faith in oneself and in solid

Albert Memorial

traditions, and at the same time we need to look to the future with a thought-through, and most importantly, a viable plan.

London is also the record holder in many categories. Especially, it is easily accessible from everywhere. For every city this an essential but often underrated and little perceptible aspect of success.

We know that London even accepted the idea of linking itself via the tunnel to the European mainland, which one would never expect from Britain. But economics of discretion defeated pride of uniqueness. There is no financial centre in Europe as the one of London City. It is a true barometer of the economic situation of London, the whole monarchy, but also of the rest of Europe. Furthermore, London is the hub of the most prestigious universities in the world and top class educations. It is not only due to this fact that it is the most cosmopolitan city in Europe with the largest number (over 200) of museums and galleries, hundreds of theatres and with fifty star-awarded restaurants. London is also the largest consumer market in Europe, counting 12 million consumers with an income of GDP around 265 billion pounds.

London withstood the crisis that hit it after 15 years of a very stable growth, and therefore it is expected that it will surpass in its economic results the cities of Paris and Berlin. Why was not the unemployment affected here so badly as elsewhere? In London, you can found a business within 48 hours; the system of job offerings is the most effective in the world. Furthermore, Cameron´s government is trying to decrease taxes from 28 % to 23 %. If you will not make it to see the summer Olympic Games this year, believe, that even after they are finished, a new, unknown London will await you.

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Leaders Magazine I/2012 111

energy analysis

The Never Ending I have already written many times about the proposed measures, which will include several cost-effective initiatives that will achieve an increase in the energy efficiency of the energy production, electric appliances, transport or buildings. I have also many times shaken my head about the constant flow of ideas from some of my colleagues; mostly from the left and green political spectrum of the European Parliament.

The end of the last year was overshadowed by the Eurozone crisis, nevertheless we should even more pay attention to the slowly returning topic of climate targets and therefore to interventions in fundamental market principals, which have been responsible for the prosperity in most of Europe. The more it becomes clearer that Europe is the only contender in the contest for the most ambitious climate target, the more generous and controversial targets are agreed on. For the now well known 20% target of energy savings until 2020 new instruments have been created for its realization. For example we can mention the European Commission’s directive proposal on energy efficiency. The proposed text implies that the main objective of the proposal is to decrease energy consumption; this is higher energy savings and not energy efficiency as such.

As a result the technical and technological opportunities are not taken into account, which would not affect the GDP growth. I see as a main problem, the fact that energy traders or transmission system operators are forced to decrease each year the energy consumption of its end-users by 1.5% from their market share. This step would be either against the functioning of the market economy (it is not wartime, when energy supplies are allocated) or against the constitutional law – nobody can force the consumer to decrease its energy consumption. In the directive the energy companies are encouraged to motivate their endusers to decrease their energy consumption.

For example by changing the old boiler for a new and a more efficient one or by including

112 Leaders Magazine I/2012

thermal insulation on buildings – here again the European Commission artificially intervenes in the market-based environment.

When reading the proposal I also came across the excessive emphasis on the obligatory use of waste heat in new and current industrial facilities. For me this method is problematic in many ways. The proposal wants to achieve a decrease in primary energy consumption in the EU at any price. However this would be in contrast with some of the main EU goals such as competitiveness and protection of the environment.

The European Commission’s proposal is not acceptable for me mainly because it forces the Member States to intervene in their market mechanisms, which would lead to a reduction of competitiveness in the energy production sector. Therefore the EU risks to regularly increase the end-user prices, which would have negative effects on the European industrial competitiveness, not to mention the rise in new bureaucracy.

The other reason why the European Parliament should redraft this proposal on energy efficiency

is because the proposal is based on incorrect calculations of social engineers in the area of installations that combine heat and electricity.

They claim that the co-generation facilities can achieve 70 – 80 % efficiency as opposed to the current 40 % efficiency of the thermal power plants. The success of combined production can only become a reality if its driven by the demand for heat. The size of the power plant is also not taken into account – the bigger the power plant the higher efficiency it can have. What is however most important is that the provision of co-generation facilities are and should be decided by market forces. The question thus is how the European Commission will solve the ecological limits of town housing developments and at the same time force the energy producers to move closer with their facilities to new housing locations?

The proposed directive includes several other similar controversial points. I strongly hope that the final version of the directive will take into account many of the objections. Unfortunately the trend looks to be rather the opposite.

The current news on the fulfilment of the energy efficiency target do not represent in my view the reality. The European Union is proud of the results, which it has achieved until present in the area of higher energy consumption effectiveness. However it does not talk about the primary reason that has influenced the current levels. The main driver was not the higher efficiency or better effectiveness in consumption of this commodity, but the substantial decrease in productivity of the European economy. These facts have great influence on the final number, which the representatives of the European Commission proudly present.

By Evžen Tošenovský Member of the European Parliament To be continued...

Photo: Archive

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EU matters interview

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IF EACH SME IN EUROPE

EMPLOYED ONE Extra Person WE WOULD HAVE ZERO UNEMPLOYMENT! An interview with Daniel Calleja Crespo, Deputy Director General at DG ENTR and EU SME Envoy

114 Leaders Magazine I/2012

Photos: Archive

EU matters interview Mr. Calleja, you are currently the Commission´s Special SME Envoy. How can SMEs’ confidence be enhanced during this time of economic stagnation?

The European Union is experiencing difficult times. It is the worst period since the Second World War, with an unprecedented decline in industrial production. Unemployment is increasing, and markets lack confidence. According to the European Commission’s forecast for 2012, we are entering a period of recession. The time has come to put the real economy – SMEs – at the centre of our work. In the European Union, there are 23 million SMEs, responsible for the creation of 80% of new jobs. They are the backbone of economy. Together with Member States, we have to support SMEs: to facilitate the establishment of new companies, to improve access to finance, to help develop the entrepreneurial spirit and to reduce regulatory burdens. It is our objective to support SMEs to help them act as the driving force of the EU’s economic recovery. If, by implementing policies conducive to SMEs, we could encourage each SME to create one, new job, we would get rid of unemployment in Europe. For this reason, we have to put SMEs first in our policy making. The Review of the Small Business Act for Europe (“SBA”), adopted by the Commission in February last year and fully endorsed by the Member States in May, gives a new impetus for SME policy at EU level.

The Czech Republic and Poland together are countries with highest share of microenterprises (95%). The Commission intends to apply lighter regulations and exemptions to small companies. However in some cases, this approach can be disputed. What will be the EC´s rules in deciding whether or not to grant an exemption?

A high proportion of microenterprises is a sign of dynamism. The European Commission has three priorities in the SME agenda – to simplify the regulations and liabilities, to improve access to finance, and to help SMEs in reaching third markets. The European Commission is aware that the smallest companies face the greatest costs in complying with regulations. On 23rd November, the European Commission adopted a report on minimizing the regulatory burden for SMEs and adapting EU regulation to the needs of microenterprises. This report acknowledges that under certain circumstances, it is in the interest of micro-entities not to burden them with unnecessary regulations and to leave them out of the reach of certain legislative proposals, which will require circumstantial case analysis and justification. As of January 2012, the Commission will base the preparation of all future legislative proposals on the premise that in particular microenterprises should be excluded from the scope of proposed legislation unless the proportionality

-

of their being covered can be demonstrated.

The burden of proof on whether to include small companies in this range or not will lie in the hands of the Commission´s services. To ensure that no rules (public health and safety) are violated, any exclusion of the microenterprises will be made on a case-by-case basis. Our guiding principle remains untouched: the “think small first” principle, in other words, by avoiding administrative fines, penalties and other additional costs for SMEs in the first place. We have to put ourselves in SMEs´ shoes. When drafting further legislation, we have to think first about small companies and ask ourselves if we can simplify the procedures, lighten the regulations or extend the transitional period for SMEs. Discussion on a possible revision of the European SME definition shouldn’t prevent us from undertaking immediate and imperative procedures.

Access to finance is particularly hard for SMEs. Does the European Commission plan to ease the access to microcredits and bank guarantees for SMEs? Access to finance is a priority for us. The 2007–13 Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) supports innovative activities, provides better access to finance and delivers business support services in the regions through different specified programmes. It mainly covers guarantees, venture capital and access to capital markets. The European Commission foresees that up to 315 000 SMEs will have benefitted from the programme by the end of the seven-year timeline. We have just published an Action Plan, outlining several measures of how to improve access to finance for SMEs. Among them is a proposal for a new legislative regime that allows venture capital funds to operate across borders easily. Other possibilities of European funding also exist, such as JEREMIE or PROGRESS, which is especially designed for the smallest companies. We will also do our utmost to enhance access to credit for SMEs and self-employed people in our future programmes, such as the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs (COSME) programme, Horizon 2020, and the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund. Since there are many instruments available, it is crucial that the European Commission coordinates well with the Member States and the financial institutions like the European Investment Bank or the European Investment Fund, so that we cooperate with each other and carry out the EU legislation – such as the Late Payment Directive – in a efficient manner.

For SMEs, Brussels is far from their everyday life. How do you ensure that your proposals reflect the needs of real SMEs on the ground?

We ensure it by applying the “think small first” principle, as well as by putting a special emphasis

on the governance of EU SME policy. To better reflect the actual situation on the ground and maintain a good contact between Brussels and the Czech nation, the SBA Review has placed a new governance system. One key aspect of this system is the appointment of the national SME Envoy from all Member States to act as an advocate of the “think small first” principle within their administration and to promote the SBA implementation. The Network of national SME Envoys is also an opportunity for the European Commission to further listen to and communicate with shareholders. For me, one of the most important roles of the SME Envoy at national level is similar to my duty with the European Commission: to ensure that all government bodies – including at the regional and local levels – integrate the “Think Small First” principle into their policy making and regulation proposals. We have already made certain commitments and have agreed that by 2012, we will all enhance the necessary time in setting up a business (aiming for a maximum of 3 days, at a cost of up to €100), increase the value of SMEs’ participation in public procurement contracts, increase the access to bank loans and microcredit, and ensure the systematic application of SME Test at national level.

Czech SMEs are still struggling with accessing the EU programmes. There is still much more attention on structural funds at national level. How would you attract their attention to the new SME programme? Will it be easy to access?

We are aware of some difficulties in accessing the EU grants. For this reason, we are focusing on generally simplifying the EU programmes for the next multi-annual financial period, creating single points of contact and one-stop-shops and aligning the rules between different programmes.

Simplification concerns not only the EU programmes, such as COSME and Horizon 2020, but also the structural funds. The Enterprise Europe Network will continue to have an important task in distributing information about these programmes’ existence and facilita-ting SMEs’ access to them.

Your previous job was dedicated to the aviation sector. Is there any space for SMEs in this as well?

The aviation sector is highly innovative and has the same dynamism that should be spread to others. Aviation companies invest almost 12% in modernization. Therefore, they are a good example for other sectors. At European level, we have to decide on common standards. The Czech Republic has a very active aerospace industry, and Czech SMEs should make the most opportunity out of this sector.

By Alena Vlačihová CEBRE

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

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Representatives of the public and private sector, academia and other interest groups discussed new trends in the cohesion policy at an organized debate by Confederation of Employers’ and Entrepreneurs’ Associations of the Czech Republic, CEBRE – Czech Business Representation to the EU in cooperation with the European Commission Representation in the Czech Republic and Information Office of the European Parliament in the Czech Republic on 6th December in Prague (European House). In October 2011, the European Commission published the Cohesion package for 2014–2020. The main priorities will be to support the institutions’ function, the Czech economy and its regions’ competition and finally to ensure project maintenance. The participants agreed that finding a compromise satisfying the needs and priorities of all stakeholders will be a difficult task.

Participants watching a video message of Oldřich Vlasák, MEP

AFTER 2013

Structural Funds From left: Daniel Braun, Deputy Minister, Ministry for Regional Development of the Czech Republic, Michael Ralph, Adviser for Thematic Coordination, DG REGIO, European Commission, and Michal Kadera, Director, CEBRE

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Participants of the discussion

From left: Jaroslav Šulc, Adviser, Czech-Moravian Trade Unions Confederation, Zdeněk Semorád, Director, Regional Council of the North-East Cohesion Region, Jakub Vít, Arcelor Mittal Ostrava, Daniel Braun, Deputy Minister, Ministry for Regional Development of the Czech Republic, Michael Ralph, Adviser for Thematic Coordination, DG REGIO, European Commission, and Michal Kadera, Director, CEBRE

The European Commission proposed the new infrastructure instrument, “Connecting Europe Facility” (CEF), and the new TEN-T guidelines in October 2011. The aim is to invest €50 billion into the European transport, energy and broadband networks. The central management of the EU level funding should ensure that the CEF would finance the projects that fill in the missing gaps and help complete the European single market. From the Cohesion Fund, €10 billion will be allocated and transferred to the CEF as a window for Cohesion countries with the same 85% co-financing rate. New Member States question the efficiency of this redistribution and induce the reservation towards respecting the subsidiary principle. CEBRE and the Confederation of Employers and Entrepreneurs Associations organized the debate with support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 7th December 2011.

EU matters debate From left: Oldřich Vlasák, Member, European Parliament´s Committee on Transport and Tourism, Jakub Dürr, Czech Deputy Permanent Representative for the EU, Olga Sehnalová, Member, European Parliament´s Committee on Transport and Tourism, and Jean-Eric Paquet, Director, European Mobility Network, DG MOVE

Connecting

Europe Facility From left: Michele Bellavite, Telecom Italia and Chairman of Digital Society Working Group for ETNO, Anna Constable, Adviser to Internal Market Department, BUSINESSEUROPE, and Lenka Krausová, Project Manager, NET4GAS

117 The participants of the discussion

Martin Übelhör, DG INFSO

EU matters business

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BUSINESS NEWS DID YOU KNOW THAT… …Galileo Satellites were launched?

The European Space Agency had launched two of Galileo’s first IOV (in-orbit validation) operational satellites. The IOVs were taken into the earth’s orbit with the help of the rocket Soyuz. The Galileo program will provide enhanced a global satellite navigational system, which will remove the dependency on the U.S. GPS navigation system. At the same time, Galileo will provide better coverage of Northern Europe, where the possibilities of using GPS are greatly reduced. ...Nord Stream Pipeline was kicked off?

The new Nord Stream pipeline will bring 27.5 billion cubic meters a year of Russian gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany, rising up to 55 billion (equivalent to 10 percent of the total EU gas consumption) when it is in full effect next year. This 1,224 km long pipeline cost €7.5 billion and is expected to stay in service for 50 years. The main stakeholder is Russian Gazprom at 51 percent. The gas will be sold mainly in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. However, Baltic States and Poland do not trust this joint GermanRussian project. ...new Biological centre will be created in the Czech Republic?

New biotech and biomedical centre BIOCEV will be instituted near Prague by 2015. The European Union will financially contribute €2.3 billion to its establishment. The new scientific centre is already the fifth largest project that is approved by the European Commission in the Czech Republic. Six science foundations from the Academy of Sciences and two faculties from Charles University are contributing to its establishment. The main goal is to increase prestigious research, which will be integrated with the European Research Area and thus guarantee the development of modern biotechnology and biomedicine for the benefit of scientific progress and innovated societies. …the European parliament awarded activists of the Arab Spring?

Members of the European Parliament showed solidarity with the Arab world by awarding the Sakharov Prize to five activists of the Arab Spring, who self-immolated themselves in the name of freedom and democracy. One of them was Mohammed Bouazizi, a 27 year old Tunisian street trader who burnt himself to death in December in protest against corruption, inspiring revolutionaries at home and in the region. …the UK and Cyprus are the world’s leading destinations for money launderers?

EU Member States Cyprus and the UK have been named by the World Bank as two of the world’s leading destinations for money launderers. World Bank report showed that the UK and its overseas territories have hosted 172 companies. In Cyprus, 11 companies hosted these illegal activities.

Besides, the UK is home for 30 “dirty banks;” Cyprus for 15 and Switzerland (part of EEA) 76. The total for laundered funds is estimated at least 40 billion dollars a year.

LET’S TALK NUMBERS Academic cooperation with US and Canada The Commission Report assesses the progress of the EU’s partnership program with Canada and the U.S, which

118

supports the mobility of students and academic staff and seeks to link the academic worlds on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Between 2006 and 2010, The Commission promoted their cooperation with the U.S. with the financial support of €23 million and Canada with €5 million. The Commission believes their collaboration was a success with 5,034 individuals in the U.S. and 2,804 individuals in Canada. However, the bilateral project has ceased and desisted in autumn 2011 due to lack of funding.

Italian crime is seriously harming Italian economy The study by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna has estimated that organised crime in Italy is worth €116 billion a year, equivalent to 7.7 percent of the country’s GDP. Italian crime is the foremost in illegal waste disposal, drugs and human trafficking, and it is seriously devastating the Italian economy in the long and medium term. The lack of accountability has also distorted the national economic figures, as well as the macroeconomic analysis and legislation. Percentage of organised crime in Italy is considerably higher than in other industrial economies, in comparison with the 1.3 percent of GPD in Germany, 1.2 percent in the UK and 2.3 percent in the US. Errors in EU budget spending The EU’s revenue in underlying the accounts has been legitimized and customary in all physical aspects.

However, its payments were affected by material errors, with an estimated error rate of 3.7 percent for the EU budget as a whole. The error rate rose up to 3.3 percent in 2010 after it was dropping yearly from the 7 percent in 2006. It wasn’t sign of fraud but rather a deficiency the union’s financial system. One of the most fallible areas is the cohesion policy, the second biggest part of the EU spending, which was worth €36 billion. In agriculture, the error was estimated at 2.3 percent.

European power plants need to invest up to one trillion EUR In the near future, power plants in the EU will have to invest in the production, distribution, reduction and moderation of harmful emissions for a total of one trillion EUR. This is due to the rising energy consumption, which will increase by about one-third in Central and Eastern Europe by 2025. In financing these energy projects, bank loans will cover up to 60 percent of the needed capital.

The commission has proclaimed this need in their new “Connecting Europe Facility” proposal and bond initiative project.

Project Bonds As a reaction to the EU economic recession, the European Commission will make available €230 million from January 2012 within the first phase of “project bonds”. Its main goal is to help investments in transport, energy and broadband connections within Member States that are suffering from the crisis and are unable to finance themselves from their own national budgets.

Together with Connecting Europe Facility, the European Invest Bank will manage the loan-guarantees and assist companies in financing their expensive infrastructure ventures. The Commission expects “project bonds” would stimulate further investments up to €4.6 billion.

EU IN THE WORLD EU and Sri Lanka agreed on aviation deal The Colombo aviation agreement will restore a sound legal basis for developing future aviation relations between Sri Lanka and 15 EU Member States. This accord will place several provisions in the bilateral air services agreements and ensure compliance from EU legislation.

This also represents an important step towards strengthening these relations and enhancing the overall cooperation with Sri Lanka, while encouraging air traffic between them and the EU. Air travel is vital in connecting these people together, as well as their different culture and businesses.

SMEs support to go international The European Commission has published a new stratagem, which should help SMEs to develop faster in the international markets. They’re focusing on regions such as China, India, Brazil or Russia. The commission wishes to increase the number of SMEs involved in exports outside the EU. Currently, only 13 percent of entrepreneurs export outside the EU. This form of communication proposes a review of the existing support structures that are available to SMEs, which identifies what the main issues are and proposes a set of measures, setting up more effective, useful principles for those with limited financial resources.

Japan-EU business forum The Focus Group that was established for the convergence of Japanese and European entrepreneurs met at the end of October in Tokyo, Japan. The group made recommendations in cooperation with other Japanese and European authorities to guarantee a sustainable energy for the competitive economical environment.

Entrepreneurs call for a reassessment of the national and regional energy policies between the EU and Japan. Their aim in the coming decades is to integrate their energy policies with a sustainable, economic expansion. Their key issue is to gain access to a more reliable and affordable energy resource while maintaining “free enterprise” and their national GDP. New Programme for duties and taxes The European Commission proposed a new program called FISCUS, which is to be launched in January 2014 with budget of €777.6 million. The program was created by merging other existing programs for duties and taxes.

FISCUS will promote cooperation between customs, tax authorities and other state agencies in maximizing their efficiency and avoiding mismatches in their work, which could hinder the internal market. The commission’s aim is not only to strengthen and improve the trade environment, but also to fight against fraud and reduce bureaucracy.

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

art awards

From left: Calliope Michalalia, Art Collector and Helena Kroftová Leisztner, Painter, Photographer and Clothing Designer with an International Award LÍMEN ARTE 11 Foreign Artists Section, Special Recognition

International Exhibition of Modern Art LÍMEN ARTE 11 under the auspices of the Chamber of Commerce Vibo Valentia in the prestigious Palace Enrico Gagliardi, associated with the granting of international awards LÍMEN ARTE 11 in various fields.

“Premio Internationazionale LÍMEN ARTE 11 – mensione special” in the section International Artist received Czech artist Helena Kroftová Leisztner with a painting “San Marco, the mask – woman” from the cycle Venice infinity.

Canvas, 3D effect

INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION OF MODERN ART

Límen Arte 11 MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ

From left: Prof. Genny di Bert, Art Critic and Art Historian, Journalist and Professor at Rome University of Fine Arts, Prof. Enzo le Pera, Member of the Committee, and Daniel Marino, Designer

From left: Rocco Guglielmo, Director, Foundation Mimmo Rotella, Dr. Michele Lico, Chief Commissioner, Chamber of Commerce, Vibo Valentia, Prof. Giorgio Di Genova Art Director of the International Exhibition and LÍMEN ARTE 11 Awards, Prof. Lara Caccia, Member of the Committee, and Prof. Enzo Le Pera, Member of the Committee

Ivvo IIvo vo Moravec, Morraaavvec Mo eec, cc,, Managing Manna Ma nag aagging iinng ng Di D Director, irec r eecc ttor re tooorr, Espresso EEsp Espres spres sp reeess ssoo s.r.o. s...rr.o ss.r ..o. oo.. wit wi w with itthh his is wi is w wife ife Helena Kroftová Leisztner, Painter, Photographer and Clothing Designer and Dr. Michele Lico, Chief Commissioner, Chamber of Commerce

From left: H.E. G. Radicati, former Italian Ambassador to the Czech Republic and Giampaolo Di Cocco, Winner in the Italian Section Statues, with his wife

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119

culture event

From left: Soňa Žídková, Assistant, MIRO Gallery, Barbora Kysilková, Painter, Michelle Schuhmacher, Curator of the exhibition, PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Owner and Director, MIRO Gallery, and Vladimír Fortin, Violoncellist

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Opening ceremony in the MIRO Gallery and afterparty in Hotel Crowne Plaza Prague Castle in December 2011

From left: Miro Smolák, Owner and Director, MIRO Gallery, Michael Haas, Owner and Director, Galerie Michael Haas Berlin-Curych, Ing. Boris Božuk, Businessman Prague-Wien, and Ulf Landeberg, Director, Hotel Crowne Plaza Prague Castle

From left: Michael Haas, Owner and Director, Galerie Michael Haas Berlin-Curych, PhDr. Jiří Švestka, Owner and Director, Jiří Švestka Gallery Prague-Berlin, and Dimitris Tzamouranis, Greec Artist MUDr. Hu Yizhi, Center of the Chinese Medicine Prague and Alena Miro, Soprano, Soloist, Prague State Opera

120 From left: MUDr. Alan Olejníček, Thomayer Hospital Prague, Martina Svárovská, Raiffeisenbank Prague, and Mrs. Hana Olejníčková

From left: Georgi Stojanov, Artist, Galina Todorová, Director, Bulgarian Cultural Institute, Benjamín Szakál, Adviser, Parliament of the CR, and Kristýna Kočí, Member, Parliament of the CR

From left: MUDr. Martin Papáč, Military Hospital Střešovice, Mrs. Crhová, and MUDr. Oldřich Crha, Military Hospital Střešovice

From left: JUDr. Petr Richter, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mirek Karas, Consul of Slovakia in the CR and his wife Alžběta Karasová

From left: Nicolas Fitaire, Raiffeisenbank JSC and PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Owner and Director, MIRO Gallery

From left: Ing. Ivo Slamjak, Chairman of the Board, DOMA JSC with partner

From left: Ing. Štěpán Svatoš, Financial Director, NONCORE, JSC , Marie Dvořáková , MSc., Sales Manager, Generali JSC and PhDr. MgA. Miro Smolák, Owner and Director, MIRO Gallery

From left: Ing. Jaromír Schling, former Minister of Transport and Ing. Peter Jusko, Partner, London Market Ltd.

From left: René Sion, Director, Alois Dallmayr Automaten-Service s.r.o. with his daughter Anna Kristýna Sionová, Katerina Bohac Linares, and Alena Miro, Soprano, Soloist, Prague State Opera

MUDr. Jamal Karra, Betlémská Dental Center with his wife Mrs. Rim Karra

121 MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ

prague event castle event

From left: Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the CR and Ron Carter, Bassist

Ron Carter: Double Bass Kevin Eubanks: Guitar Mulgrew Miller: Piano

with Ron Carter, the Golden Striker – Trio

From left: Markéta Sobolová, Col. Ing. Radim Studený, Director of Prague Castle Guard, and Milada Karasová, Czechoslovak Models

From left: MUDr. Taťána Kačmařová, Ophthalmologist, Jiří Kačmař, and MUDr. Pavel Stodůlka, Gemini Eye Clinic From left: Martin Šulc, Entertainment Concepts, and Petr Pylypov, P&J Music, s.r.o.

122 From left: Benke Aikell, your Publisher and Michal Hejna, Drummer with his wife

From left: Dr. Josef Zadina, Consultant, Hynek Čech, REGI Base Foundation, and Petr Macinka, Deputy Director of the Press Department, Office of the President

From left: Ing. Petr Hutla, Member of the Board of Directors, ČSOB with his wife, Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the CR, and Karel Vágner, Music Publisher

From left: Mr. Elbedri and Dia Eddin Felfel, Director and CEO, DF Classic, s.r.o.

Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the CR and MUDr. Pavel Stodůlka, Gemini Eye Clinic with members of the Gemini Eye Clinic

Boris Urbánek, Pianist with his family

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE Kevin Eubanks, Guitarist

123 MORE PHOTOS AND ELECTRONIC VERSION AVAILABLE ON WWW.LEADERSMAGAZINE.CZ

From left: Ron Carter, Bassist, Mulgrew Miller, Pianist, and Kevin Eubanks, Guitarist

From left: H.E. Norman Eisen, Ambassador of the USA, Kenneth R. Weinstein, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Hudson Institute, and Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the CR

Roman Minařík, Managing Director, Romax and Lenka Kohutová

From left: Miroslav Adámek, Auto Adámek with his wife and Karel Vágner, Music Publisher

From left: Ing. Milan Hanák, CEO, Remaind s.r.o., Investment and Consulting, Ing. Vladimíra Václavíková, Marketing and Editorial Director, Leaders Magazine, Jiří Stivín, Stivín and CO JAZZ, JUDr. Soňa Illner Pajerová, Attorney, and Václav Neumann, Photo Special Requests Editor and Sales, AFP Photo Paris

124 From left: Karel Vágner, Music Publisher, Michal Hejna, Drummer, Boris Urbánek, Pianist, MUDr. Pavel Stodůlka, Gemini Eye Clinic, and Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the CR

Special thanks to Synot Tip for making this reportage possible

prague castle event

Markéta Foukalová – Singer David Fárek – Saxophone Petr Kroutil – Saxophone, Singer Boris Urbánek – Keys, Piano Ondřej Kabrna – Keys, Piano Zdeněk Tichota – Double Bass Ivan Doležálek – Double Bass Luboš Andršt – Guitar Slávek Janda – Guitar Michal Hejna – Drums Imran Musa Zangi – Percussion

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

Michal Hejna, Drums

with Michal Hejna & Agharta Gang

From left: Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the CR, Karel Muzikář, President, Comenius, and Prof. MUDr. Josef Veselka, CSc., Chief of the Department of Cardiology, FN Motol

Ivo Moravec, Managing Director, Espresso s.r.o. with his wife

125 Ája Vrzáňová, Czech World Champion in Figureskating, Sport Legend and Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the CR

From left: Maj. Magdalena Dvořáková, Mgr. Filip Benda, Adviser to the Minister, Ministry of Defence of the CR, and Mrs. Silvia Romanová

From left: Mgr. Oksana Vashova, Vice President, World Union of Art, Ladislav Mravec, Director, Foreign Affairs Department, Office of the President of the CR, and Natali Ruden, Fashion Designer

From left: Vaico Déczi and Michal Hejna, Musician

Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the CR and Mrs. Jana Badawi

Ing. Jiří Kmoch with his wife

126

From left: Ája Vrzáňová, Czech World Champion in Figure-skating, Sport Legend and Alena Veliká, Press Service Head, Office of the President

From left: Mr. and Mrs. Palic, Jaromír Šlápota, President, ČSÚZ, and Karel Raska, JR., M.D., PH.D., Chairman, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Saint Peters University Hospital

From left: Mrs. Andrea Scheider, Mrs. Jana Badawi, Mrs. Eva Schneider, and Mrs. Martina Schneider

From left: PhDr. Jaroslav Šedivý, former Ambassador and Minister of Foreign Affairs and H.E. Ferdinand Trautmansdorff, Ambassador of Austria

H.E. Bady Kedidi, Ambassador of Tunisia with his wife

From left: Martin Šiler, Advisor to the General Director, SŽDC with his wife Mgr. Eva Rybkova, CEO Novitex Fashion, and Ing. Petr Ulč, Chairman of the Board, Styrax, a.s.

127 From left: Mrs. Daniela Šrajnerová, Prof. Václav Klaus, President of the CR, Mrs. Barbora Řeháčková, and Mr. Petr Kroutil

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In 1978, Juraj Herz produced a fairytale movie The Ninth Heart.

Today, more than thirty years later, the story comes alive on the stage of the Estate Theatre. There, Juraj Herz has managed to convey an impressive surreal atmosphere, a moving main theme of pure love with a magic power; and a dreadful world of the Undead ruled by Count Aldobrandini from his hall of time on one hand, and a colourful world of comedians on the other.

culture event Lucie Žáčková as princess Adriena, in a captivating stage scene

IN COOPERATION WITH LEADERS MAGAZINE

Šimon Caban is the Author of the fascinating stage design and Simona Rybáková is the Designer of the fairytale costumes

Meeting of the benefactors of the National Theatre with actors, from left: Vladimír Javorský, Pavla Beretová, Actors and Stanislav Kostiha, Benefactor, with company

Endangered Petr Zelenka, one of the most successful Czech playwrights, has introduced his newest play Endangered Species on the New Scene of the National Theatre. Jiří Štěpnička, Miluše Šplechtová and Igor Bareš appear in the main roles in the story about the struggle with a multinational pharmaceutical corporation and the recovery of a long lost friendship.

Igor Bareš and Miluše Šplechtová

From left: Jiří Štěpnička and Jan Dolanský

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

From left: Michal Dočekal, Art Director, National Theatre Drama, Ondřej Černý, Director, National Theatre, and Petr Zelenka, Author and Director

culture event

The interpretation of King Lear in Jan Nebeský´s production is a call appeal for a demanding audience. With his provocative attitude, Nebeský has created a staging that exceeds everything you could experience on the scene of the National Theatre. He created a King Lear who is full of anger and demon, but who also sings rock and roll. Opera arias alternate with rap and country music. It is a simile of pride, foolishness of reason, destruction of human dignity, world chaos and a path to death.

Jan Nebeský and Jana Preková, King Lear’s Stage Designers, above: David Prachař, King Lear and Kateřina Winterová, Cordelia

From left: Ondřej Černý, Director, National Theatre, Martin Rypan, Art Production Manager, National Theatre Ballet, Christopher Bruce, Choreographer, and Petr Zuska, Art Director, National Theatre

The Moonshine performance is a triptych of the choreographer Christopher Bruce, who has been managing the Ballet Rambert in London for many years. It is the very first time this big name of contemporary ballet is being staged in a Czech repertory theatre. The spectators can look forward to excellent dance performance of the National Theatre ensemble as well as to the hits of Bob Dylan, the Watterboys and the Rolling Stones.

Mathias Deneuxin Gambado, Member, National Theatre Ballet

129 Zuzana Susová, First Soloist, National Theatre Ballet

Ħİ

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ĨĜĩĜśĠĭ ĭĪĦİ

Systém CESR spolehlivě ochrání vaše podnikání před nespolehlivými obchodními partnery.

The CESR system will reliably protect your business against unreliable business partners.

Rating českých ekonomických subjektů jednoznačně ukáže, na co si u dané společnosti dávat pozor a jaká rizika při spolupráci s ní očekávat

Rating of Czech economical subjects it will show unambiguously what to be aware of in particular company and what risks can be expected when cooperating with it

Hlídání insolvence program u zadaných subjektů sleduje, zda nebyl podán návrh na zahájení insolvenčního řízení, a informuje o všech změnách

Insolvency watch a program checking selected subjects for information whether an insolvency proceedings was not started against them, and informs about all changes

Hlídání změn v obchodním rejstříku program sleduje zadané subjekty v obchodním a živnostenském rejstříku a e-mailem zasílá informace o zjištěných změnách - např. likvidaci

Watching for the changes in business register a program watching selected subjects in business and trade register, and sends e-mails about noticed changes – e.g. liquidation

Registr dlužníků zadejte do systému své problematické dlužníky a dluhy se až do splacení promítnou do jejich ratingu

Register of debtors input your problematic debtors here and their debts will affect their rating until they are paid

Adresář subjektů kompletní adresář českých ekonomických subjektů, v němž lze vyhledávat podle regionu, oboru, obratu apod.

List of subject a complete list of Czech economical subjects, where one can search by region, field, turnover, etc.

www.cesr.cz

Benjamin Britten

GLORIANA Conductor: Zbyněk Müller Stage director: Jiří Heřman Premieres: March 3 & 4, 2012 Reruns: March 11 | April 9 & 23 | May 25 | Jun 25, 2012 Featuring: Gun-Brit Barkmin / Szilvia Rálik The National Theatre production of Gloriana is presented under the auspices of H.E. Sian MacLeod, British Ambassador to the Czech Republic.

Tickets: +420 224 901 448, 224 901 319, 224 901 668 ntprague@narodni-divadlo.cz, Ticketportal, BTI, Ticketpro www.national-theatre.cz

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