Villa Life

Olomouc, North Moravia, Aug 27 (CTK) - Two male students from Olomouc will set out on a journey round the world riding an almost 40 years old Skoda 1000 MB car next week, they have told CTK. Michal Vicar and Martin Betko plan to cover some 35,000 kilometres in five months and return home next January.

They will visit Russia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Venezuela, Portugal and other countries.

Before they set out on the on their car dubbed Julinka, a diminutive of the female first name Julie, on September 1, they have yet to put the finishing touches to the car that has been completely overhauled.

The students have removed the back seats and raised the construction to make “Julinka” more resistance and safer, and they will have a new battery that is used in racing cars.

The “heart and brain” of the old Skoda car, that is the engine and the gearbox, are original.

The “retro beauty” can reach a speed of up to 125km/hour and it consumes seven to eight litres per 100km.

Two motorcyclists from Olomouc set out on a similar expedition in May. They wanted to cover 50,000 kilometres on their trip round the world, but had to give up their dream after one fifth of the journey over the injury of one of them at Chita, Russia.

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Escorts Prague

We will regularly inform you about Escort Boys in Prague. Some are really
nice. For legal reasons, and because it is not our task as a Gay Hotel, we
will of course not mediate any boy and can give no liability. But it may be
worth while getting to know some, especially if you wish already ahead of a
Prague visit to have interesting contacts with new boys.

The procedure for non-EU foreigners seeking employment in the Czech Republic looked poised to change Aug. 22, when the Chamber of Deputies passed an employment bill amendment that would replace working visas and residency permits with a green card.

If the amendment is approved by the Senate and signed by the president, the first green cards could be issued in January 2009. “We want to cut down on the bureaucracy involved in finding employment in the Czech Republic and enable more foreigners to work here,” Labor and Social Affairs Minister Petr Necas, who proposed the amendment, told The Prague Post July 16, when the legislation was still being prepared.

Foreigners wishing to work in the Czech Republic would have to apply for the green card at an embassy prior to entering the country. Under the new legislation, there would be three types available: Type A, for university graduates, would be valid for three years; Type B, for those who have a high-school diploma, would be valid for two years; Type C would be issued to “others” and would also have a two-year validity.

However, not everyone would be eligible for the card. “We want to keep absolute control over the system in case of any instability,” Necas said. “Applicants will have to be from pre-approved countries and the list could change at a moment’s notice.”With the card, foreigners would be able to apply only for jobs from a central register that have not been filled by Czech or EU citizens for at least 30 days.

But, even then, not all jobs would be available to foreigners. “There will be a list of professions available to foreign workers, and only those jobs will be in the register,” Necas explained. “In the case of a crisis on the labor market such as an extreme lowering of wages due to an influx of foreign workers, we could easily take affected professions off the list.”While the amendment would apply to university graduates, it would primarily affect the unskilled labor market, and Necas is convinced that it is necessary to lure more such foreign workers to the Czech Republic.

“Already we have some 150,000 available jobs that Czechs do not want to do. A foreign work force will solve problems in industries requiring unskilled labor,” he said, adding that not enough workers are arriving to fill the gaps. “Anyone who thinks that we are super attractive for foreign workers is mistaken.

We are competing against countries both west and east of us. We’ll be lucky if 50,000 people come within the next five years.” However, statistics from Necas’ own ministry show a different story. At the end of July, 278,300 foreigners worked in the Czech Republic and more than 38,000 arrived within the first seven months of this year.

The opposition Social Democrats worry that the introduction of a green card could mean a sudden influx of foreigners that the country will not be able to deal with. According to some, large ghettoes such as those common in Paris could appear in Prague and other Czech cities, possibly leading to violence and security issues.

“We are bound to see growing numbers of patients with AIDS and tuberculosis, which will be brought by immigrants from poor countries,” said Social Democratic MP David Rath. He is also worried that drug dealers, prostitutes and other criminals will misuse the new system that would simplify the process of entering the Czech Republic legally.

“I am convinced that most of the people that can be seen each night on Wenceslas Square entered the country legally, but their current activities are hardly legal at all. Opening the doors even more will allow more such people to enter,” Rath said.Communists also criticized the amendment. “The government has passed an unbalanced amendment that eats into many workers’ rights.

We are falling below European standards in worker protection,” the party said in an Aug. 22 press release. The communists are mostly worried that allowing more foreign workers to enter the country could cause social unrest. “Bringing in foreign workers will lower the value of labor, weaken workers’ unions and create further opportunities for limiting social rights,” the statement said.

“There is no plan to integrate the workers into Czech society and that will bring huge problems in the future.”

The Czech economy is not prepared to adopt the euro in the near future, Czech National Bank (CNB) governing board member Robert Holman told server Novinky.cz in an on-line interview. Czech economy has not yet sufficiently converged with eurozone economies. Also, Czech government still needs to push through many reforms, in particular on the labour market, for the country to meet all Maastricht criteria. It also has to strengthen the fiscal discipline, Holman said.

“At the moment, I see no date which the government could responsibly declare as the year of euro adoption,” Holman said.

Holman at the same time believes that convergence of the Czech economy with western European countries will continue in the coming years, which means that the Czech Republic’s economic growth will be higher than economic growth in these countries.

“I am an optimist in this respect because our economy has good preconditions to grow,” he said.

Holman believes that inflation at end-2008 will move around 5 percent and nominal wages in the business sector will grow by over 8 percent.

As for GDP growth, Holman believes it will slow to some 4 percent.

“In addition to this, from the year 2010 on, our inflation target will be at 2 percent,” he said.

In its new forecast from the beginning of August, the CNB cut its estimate of this year’s GDP growth to 4.1 percent from a previous 4.7 percent.

As for next year, the CNB expects Czech economy to grow by 3.6 percent, while originally it put the growth at 4 percent for that year.

Holman does not rule out one more interest rate cut by a quarter percentage point.

“This will depend in particular on the crown’s rate and demand pressures from the real economy,” he said.

CNB Board last cut interest rates in early August, for the first time since April 2005. It cut the rates by a quarter point and the benchmark rate thus fell to 3.50 percent.

A new type of dictatorship, which is not communist any more and not only nationalist either, rules in Russia under Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, former Czech president Václav Havel has said in an interview for the French TV news channel France 24. The interview was shot in Prague in late June and is to be broadcast on Friday evening.

Havel, 71, also said he would elect Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential elections and that he wished Hillary Clinton became his vice-president.

Havel said the existence of “a more sophisticated” dictatorship in Russia must be openly discussed.

“We cannot turn a blind eye on it and pretend it does not exist. This new system is completely strange and it is at the same time connected with certain expansionism. It is not a mere coincidence when Putin says the split of the Soviet Union was a disaster and that he would like this whole to be restored in another way,” Havel said.

He added that Putin cannot cope with the loss of the whole sphere of interest that existed under the Warsaw Pact.

“This system is based on a certain kind of cohesion between political and economic power,” said Havel.

Havel also pointed out that friendly relations with Russia, accompanied by sincerity, must be preserved.

He added that Russia has no right to meddle in the decisions about what countries can become NATO and EU members.

This would be a catastrophe for humankind, the policy of “appeasement” that has led to tens of millions of victims in the 20th century, said Havel, playwright, thinker and former leading dissident, who was Czechoslovak president in 1989-92 and Czech president in 1993-2003.

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia on August 21, 1968, Havel said it was very improbable that thousands of tanks would invade some EU country.

He, however, stressed that security must be constantly kept in mind and defence systems must be built.

Commenting on the U.S. plan to build a radar base on Czech soil, Havel said Prague should behave as a true ally and help Washington with the project.

“The radar will be an expression of our bilateral union with the United States. I know nothing about whether the radar has a real sense, whether it will work well or not, or whether it [the United States] will thereby achieve its goals or not. I do not think it is up to me or us, the Czechs, to be able to assess it,” Havel said.

Speaking about the European Union, Havel expressed the opinion that most Czechs are satisfied in the EU though it is in their national character to tend to grumble.

He said he does not think Euroscepticism prevails in Czech opinions.

Asked about current President Vaclav Klaus’s reserved relation to the EU, Havel said Klaus likes to provoke. However, it is not up to Klaus to stipulate whether the Lisbon treaty’s ratification process has ceased or not, Havel added.

Just enclosing some pics for you to have a look at a few of our own Olympic Games here at Villa Mansland recently…

Enjoy…

Czech retail sales grew by 1.4 percent year-on-year in June, against a 2.5 percent increase in May, the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) announced Thursday in its not seasonally adjusted data which do not include the automotive segment. Seasonally adjusted retail sales grew by 0.4 percent month-on-month in real terms in June.

The biggest contribution to the growth of sales came from the sale of furniture, lighting equipment and household articles, electrical appliances, radio and television goods, hardware, paints and glass in specialized stores, while stores selling food saw a decline.

In the automotive segment, seasonally adjusted sales increased by 1.7 percent mth/mth in constant prices, and in a yr/yr comparison by 2.9 percent and not seasonally adjusted by 2.6 percent.

Seasonally adjusted sales in hotels and restaurants dropped by 0.6 percent mth/mth, and not seasonally adjusted sales were 2.7 percent down, year-on-year.

The fast growth in the category linked to housing leaves households less money for shopping, CSOB analyst Petr Dufek told CTK.

“For three months running already, retail sales have been growing at a very slow pace. June was no exception in this respect,” he said, adding that people buy less food and other goods.

Vladimir Pikora of Next Finance said consumers were slowing economic growth.

“With the price growth, real wage growth slowed and people therefore spend less. They save more..,” he said.

Inflation is high and people worry about the future, Dufek said.

“The strong crown, which should make goods at shops more attractive, has basically not worked at all yet and can hardly be noted in prices at shops. This is good for e-shops and in particular for shopping abroad, which cannot be seen in the statistics,” Dufek noted.

Raiffeisenbank analyst Ales Michl claims that if retailers want to maintain the shopping dynamics, they will have to cut prices of imported goods and include the influence of the strong crown in their prices.

Year-on-year, adjusted for seasonal and working day effects, sales in retail trade increased by 2.7 percent at constant prices, and with only working day adjustment by 3.2 percent.

Not seasonally adjusted sales in retail trade increased by 1.4 percent, of which the non-food goods sales by 2.8 percent, while sales from the sale of food, beverages and tobacco dropped by 0.8 percent.

Bigger year-on-year growth of seasonally adjusted sales compared to not seasonally adjusted sales was affected, given the same number of working days, by smaller number of Fridays this year as they have a positive impact on retail trade and, in contrast, by bigger number of less favourable Mondays, the CSU said.

Generally, the low growth of sales was most contributed to by the sale of furniture, lighting equipment, household articles, electrical appliances, radio and television goods, hardware, paints and glass in specialised stores, while the growth was slowed down by specialized stores with food, beverages and tobacco.

“The most rapid growth was recorded for insignificant retail trade via the Internet or mail order houses. The yr/yr drop of retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco in specialized stores continued,” the CSU said in its report.

The price deflator related to the corresponding period of the previous year was 103.6 percent in June. The biggest price increase was recorded in stores with food, beverages and tobacco, of which in specialized stores by 9.5 percent, in non-specialized stores by 7.6 percent, the CSU said.

In retail sale via stalls and markets and in other non-store retail sale, prices grew by 5.1 percent, in stores with pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetic and toilet articles, prices increased by 4.7 percent and in non-specialised stores with the non-food goods predominating by 2.7 percent.

In contrast, in stores with textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods prices dropped by 1.5 percent, and in retail sale via mail order houses and in retail sale of second-hand goods by 1.3 percent.

Prices of furniture, lighting equipment, household articles, electrical appliances, radio and television goods, hardware, paints and glass were 0.7 percent down and in retail sale of books, newspapers and stationery, other retail sale in specialised stores prices fell by 0.2 percent, the CSU said.

“Retail sales will not improve dramatically this year owing to the slowing economy. At the end of the year, real sales will grow as inflation will fall. The price deflator is now influenced a lot by yr/yr high prices of food,” said Martin Lobotka of Ceska sporitelna.

Lobotka expects retail sales to grow by less than 3 percent for the whole of this year.

Komercni banka analyst Kamila Fialova also believes retail sales will grow at a slower pace this year.

“In 2008, we expect a growth in retail sales at roughly 4 percent,” she said.

Last year, retail sales grew by a record 6.8 percent, the best result since the year 1997.

Although it was raining on Friday and Saturday we still had a lot of fun.

Our friend Pierce came from California and cooked for us on Saturday evening a very delicious meal for all guests of the Villa.

Because it was not possible to be on the terrace, we had a party at the spa area of the villa. The pool was very popular.

Now the sun shines again and coming weekend, we celebrate a special party on the terrace and garden.

Welcome to Villa Mansland…

The Czech police’s units dealing with serious financial crime are so short of personnel that they are ceasing to operate, the daily Pravo wrote Thursday, citing the Supreme State Attorney’s Office’s (NSZ) annual report for 2007. “It is mainly personnel changes and the incomplete and actually permanent ongoing change in the organisation and structure of the police units that have negative effects,” the NSZ writes in the report.

The unfavourable personnel situation in the police units in charge of investigating financial crime has already negatively influenced the effectiveness of criminal proceedings, the NSZ writes, naming the areas of Prague and Plzen, west Bohemia, as those where the situation is the most serious.

“Of course, we worry about the lack of staff but it is not easy to recruit experienced and good policemen. Not all applicants are suitable for work in our unit. We prefer quality to quantity. Moreover, our staff often have to work overtime,” anti-corruption police spokesman Roman Skrepek is quoted as saying.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Jana Malikova told Pravo that the ministry is closely monitoring the situation in the police.

“We don’t believe that the current lack of police staff threatens the effectiveness of criminal proceedings. The problem evidently has not arisen overnight and, unfortunately, it cannot be solved in such a short time either,” Malikova said.

The Czech Transport Ministry plans to upgrade railways and build new high-speed lines where trains could run at up to 360 km/h after 2016, the daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) reported Thursday.

Trains would exceed 200 km/h easily along some 800 km of the modernised or new railway lines all over the Czech Republic, the paper says.

The coalition government of Mirek Topolanek (Civic Democrats, ODS) will deal with the plans this autumn, HN adds.

According to the ministry’s drafts, the fast lines should connect large regional capitals in the country - Prague with Brno, the second largest city, and Ostrava, north Moravia, as well as Liberec, north Bohemia, with Hradec Kralove and Pardubice, both east Bohemia, and Plzen, west Bohemia, with Ceske Budejovice, south Bohemia, Jihlava, south Moravia, and Karlovy Vary, west Bohemia.

The new high-speed trains will considerably shorten the travel. While at present a journey by train from Brno to Ceske Budejovice takes four and a half hours, it will be only 110 minutes after the upgrading. Passengers aboard a high-speed train would get from Prague in Brno in the mere 55 minutes, while at present it is two hours and a half, HN writes.

The modernisation of Czech railways, including new high-speed lines, would cost several hundreds of billions of crowns. However, politicians have already indicated that the necessary finances would be available, HN writes.

“Money is always a question of priorities only, and this type of project will definitely have quite a high priority,” Transport Minister Ales Rebicek (ODS) is quoted as saying.

Shadow transport minister Roman Onderka (opposition Social Democrats, CSSD), mayor of Brno, added that he and the whole CSSD supported the project as well.

At present the Czech Railway Research Institute is testing one of the top modern trains, the French AGV prototype, which abounds in better aerodynamic qualities and a new undercarriage and is lighter than other models.

The Czech Skoda Plzen machine producer has already presented its locomotive that is able to run at more than 200 km/h. The Ceske Drahy (CD) national rail operator has ordered some 20 these locomotives this year, HN adds.