Monday, 31 October 2016 Issue 137 l newsstand price CZK 24/¤ 1 l www.e15.cz

Sceptical but generousUNICEF country boss Pavla Gomba on Czechs as donors and online fundraising toolsFACE TO FACE pages 10–11

Land of the archersExploring the picturesque frontier territories once guarded by the SzékelysSPECIAL REPORT pages 12–13

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Dark Tower to fall

Daniel Novák

Once hailed as the hub of 1980s teleco-mmunications in communist Czecho-slovakia but later maligned as a symbol of the decrepit telephone network that

hampered the country after 1989’s revolution, the telephone exchange could now feature in a big real estate transaction between richest Czech Petr Kellner and fellow billionaire Marek Dospiva. E15’s information is that Dospiva’s Penta investment group is highly interested in acquiring the building, now owned by the Czech Telecommunication In-frastructure [CETIN] network operator, an asset of Kellner’s PPF financial and investment group. Located in Olšanská street, and once one of Euro-pe’s largest and most modern telecoms facilities – though Praguers have joked about it as like J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Barad-dûr”, or “Dark Tower”, fortress in Mordor from where the Dark Lord could keep watch – it is to be abandoned by CETIN.

Continues on page 4

Plans are afoot to demolish Prague’s legendary telecoms exchange in Žižkov. A tender to sell the property, known to locals as the stronghold of “Mordor”, is in its final stage

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HEALTHCAREAdéla Čabanová

An excerpt from medical documentation, a certi-ficate of eligibility for

driver’s a licence, a medical check-up of a foreigner wit-hout public health insurance or a preventative medical re-quested by a patient – such are the examples of services provided by outpatient clinic doctors which are paid for with cash or a payment card. The fact that such payments exist has prompted state finan-ce officials to add outpatient clinics to the ranks of trades which from 2018 will be requi-red to only electronically re-gistered receipts under EET, or the electronic records of sales system.

Outpatient doctors are up in arms over the requirement, protesting that EET should not apply in their case because the takings from the payments play no more than a marginal role in their overall revenue. They are demanding EET exemptions, pointing out that

their income arrives in a bank account via transfers from he-alth insurers.

EET should not extend to physicians with annual cash takings of less than CZK 60,000 a year, in the view of the Association of Outpatient Specialists [SAS]. Should the doctors be required to buy EET-compatible cash regis-ters simply because of a han-dful of occasionally performed services it might make more sense for them to stop provi-ding such services altogether. “Services that are today paid for in cash on the spot might simply disappear,” said Zorjan Jojko, chairman of the SAS.

The doctors may have an ally in health minister Svato-pluk Němeček. “In principle, the health ministry does not object to the introduction of exemptions,” said ministry spokesperson Ladislav Šticha.

The demand for exemptions is also likely to receive support from other organisations grou-ping medical professionals. The request made sense, said Michal Sojka, spokesperson

news2/3

Doctors resist digital tills impositionOccasional cash payments mean finance minister Andrej Babiš’s EET is targeting clinics

David Vagaday

The maximum fine for fraudu-lent wine trading is raised ten-fold to CZK 50m by a legisla-tive amendment just passed by Parliament’s lower chamber. Only producers and importers should now be allowed to sell wine from casks. On the other hand, the producer category should be extended to those who have wine produced for them. The new law also bans vending machine wine sales. The amended bill, which aims to bolster consumer protec-tion, will now be debated by the Senate. Christian Demo-crat [KDU-ČSL] agriculture minister Marian Jurečka has expressed objections to the planned law’s wording.

When the final MPs’ vote was taken, some KDU-ČSL deputies voted against it, whi-le others abstained. The only KDU-ČSL vote for the bill came from Jurečka. “[But] I am far from excited about the bill’s final wording as passed today,” said Jurečka. He added

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US embassy installs own power unit

National Museum joins battle to save Syrian artefactsThe Czech National Museum [NM] is to help preserve and store Syrian historical artefacts. The Prague-based institution will also help train Syrian preservation experts as part of an effort to help protect the cultural heritage of Syria, a country torn apart by more than five years of civil war. With the ancient city of Aleppo already partly destroyed and under threat from ongoing battles, NM director Michal Lukes visited Syria and discussed the cooperation with Syrian Director-General for Antiquities and Museums Maamoun Abdulkarim. Initially, Syrian conservationists will be backed with humanitarian aid, including items needed for the preservation, restoration and safe storage of archaeological artefacts. Special attention will be given to UNESCO-listed sites

Bumpy ride for wine fraud law

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for the Czech Medical Cham-ber [ČLK].

“We are rather afraid the introduction of EET could has-ten decisions of our aged co-lleagues to quit their practice and go into retirement,” said Václav Šmatlák, chairman of the Union of General Practi-

tioners [SPL]. More than 15 percent of the country’s GPs are aged 65 or more. Very often they are found running surgeries in places not exact-ly in great demand among younger colleagues. Repre-sentatives of the stomatology chamber recently not long

ago also expressed anxieties about EET prompting doctors to retire. Market stallkeepers selling farm products recently requested that the agriculture ministry grant them an EET exemption, while opposition parties have said all small traders should be exempted.

Daniel Novák

Not long from now a big hole will be excavated in the gar-dens of the Schönborn Pala-ce, the Prague Lesser Town home of the US Embassy in the Czech Republic. Next, a large diesel tank will be lowered into it.

Should the embassy’s ex-ternal electricity supply ever go down, it will be possible to draw on the resource to power a unit with a one-megawatt output. The embassy will start the digging as soon as officials have provided all the required permits.

The fuel reservoir is to hold nearly 23,000 litres. It will be possible to fill it from the em-bassy’s gatehouse, meaning the diesel delivery vehicle need not approach the palace. The po-wer unit will be a product from American supplier Caterpillar,

based in Illinois. Weighing 3.2 tonnes, the model burns throu-gh 100 litres of diesel in one hour.

“The placing of the under-ground fuel reservoir as a standby source of electricity is one aspect of some construc-tion adaptations in the garden area of Schönborn Palace, re-spectively the embassy of the USA, which are designed to raise the security of employees and representatives, and also of neighbours of the embassy,” the embassy stated.

Schönborn Palace, loca-ted in Tržiště street, is one of the most renowned Early Baroque constructions in the Lesser Town. In 1917, writer Franz Kafka briefly lived and worked in part of the building. The American government purchased the building for its permanent diplomatic mission in 1924.

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news

Doctors resist digital tills impositionOccasional cash payments mean finance minister Andrej Babiš’s EET is targeting clinics

David Vagaday

The maximum fine for fraudu-lent wine trading is raised ten-fold to CZK 50m by a legisla-tive amendment just passed by Parliament’s lower chamber. Only producers and importers should now be allowed to sell wine from casks. On the other hand, the producer category should be extended to those who have wine produced for them. The new law also bans vending machine wine sales. The amended bill, which aims to bolster consumer protec-tion, will now be debated by the Senate. Christian Demo-crat [KDU-ČSL] agriculture minister Marian Jurečka has expressed objections to the planned law’s wording.

When the final MPs’ vote was taken, some KDU-ČSL deputies voted against it, whi-le others abstained. The only KDU-ČSL vote for the bill came from Jurečka. “[But] I am far from excited about the bill’s final wording as passed today,” said Jurečka. He added

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US embassy installs own power unit

Makeover to enliven water tower landmarkWork on a reconstruction for the late 19th century Letenská water tower in Prague’s Letná has been costed at CZK 54m and will mean the closure of the Neo-Renaissance landmark for a year. Once reopened, the newly equipped premises will boast clubrooms for a children’s and youth activity group and a tearoom with a library. A social space will, meanwhile, emerge in the place where the 26-metre-high tower used to have its water tank. In an annex to the tower, a kindergarten classroom will open, while on an annex roof there will be a garden with a wooden terrace

Bumpy ride for wine fraud law

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ago also expressed anxieties about EET prompting doctors to retire. Market stallkeepers selling farm products recently requested that the agriculture ministry grant them an EET exemption, while opposition parties have said all small traders should be exempted.

that some proposals approved by MPs made the legislation overly strict, such as in the case of requirements applied to casked wine imports. “I did not agree with these and I will do my best to see changes de-livered in the Senate and have the bill returned to the lower chamber,” Jurečka said.

When introducing the bill, the government stated that when wine was tampered with consumers often ended up buy-ing a product that was in essen-ce no longer wine. Jurečka said the current top fine of CZK 5m was too low to be a deterrent as it paled against profits made from adulterating wine.

Trade deal a clear win- win for EU and CanadaMany people around the world see the European Union as a model of prosperity that provides an open community for all its citizens. But how have its 28 member states – all with their own distinct languages and historical memories – managed to achieve such a compliment? By agreeing to put aside their differences, remove the barriers between them and uphold common values. The EU plays a key role in setting global standards for free and fair trade. Should we lose this position, we lose one of our greatest virtues. In this context, we must find a way to approve the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada (CETA). After seven years of negotiations both the EU and Canada came forward with an impressive and balanced agreement which in its sheer complexity would form a milestone in European history. We all realise the economic benefits of the deal, yet we still cannot give our “Yes” to Canada because of the ungrounded objections of a small minority within the EU. Belgium’s Wallonia region is preventing the Belgian government from signing CETA, raising uncertainty about the future of the entire deal.

The Czech Republic has always stood against protectionism and unfair treatment and all restrictive policies in trade. We are also vocal on this occasion considering, as we do, that Wallonia’s attitude is exceptionally alarming. In our eyes, CETA would enhance economic growth, open new opportunities for export and increase our competitiveness. Hence, we firmly believe that the EU will not let a marginal voice take the helm.

I spent four years in Canada as a diplomat and I’m well aware that although the Canadians are a kind people, they are also tough negotiators. Nevertheless, Canada has opened itself up to trade in an unprecedented fashion and the agreed CETA text is possibly the best free trade agreement which the European Commission has ever had the chance to close. It all amounts to a win-win situation for Europe and Canada.

Canada is one of our closest allies and a like-minded partner. It has shown great responsiveness to the needs of the EU and the wishes of the individual member states. Now it is time to pay back the Canadians for their trust. We all need to take on board our responsibility and jointly move forward. CETA would mean an excellent model, not only for us but for international trade as a whole.

The author is a Czech Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry

have your say Vladimír Bärtl

based in Illinois. Weighing 3.2 tonnes, the model burns throu-gh 100 litres of diesel in one hour.

“The placing of the under-ground fuel reservoir as a standby source of electricity is one aspect of some construc-tion adaptations in the garden area of Schönborn Palace, re-spectively the embassy of the USA, which are designed to raise the security of employees and representatives, and also of neighbours of the embassy,” the embassy stated.

Schönborn Palace, loca-ted in Tržiště street, is one of the most renowned Early Baroque constructions in the Lesser Town. In 1917, writer Franz Kafka briefly lived and worked in part of the building. The American government purchased the building for its permanent diplomatic mission in 1924.

E15 weekly, economic and business news magazine | www.e15.cz Igor Záruba, Executive Editor, igor.zaruba@cninvest.cz; Marian Hronek, Editor,marian.hronek@cninvest.cz | Translation: TextMasters, textmasters@textmasters.czContact: Adéla Nová, Secretary | Call (+420) 225 977 668Postal address: Komunardů 1584/42, 170 00 Praha 7 | Published CN Invest a. s., Pařížská 130/26, 110 00 Praha 1 Josefov, IČ 04312945 Advertising: Šárka Kamarýtová, Sales Manager, sarka.kamarytova@cncenter.cz Production: vyroba@cninvest.cz | Distribution: distribuce@cninvest.cz Registration: E 21420 E15 weekly, ISSN 2464-711X Reprints & Permissions: The Publisher will consider requests for reprints or any other reproduction | Printed by EUROPRINT a. s. facebook.com/ e15weekly

EW16103102A1.indd 3 26.10.2016 17:58:45

business4/5

Štěpán Bruner

The government has inked an investment deal with General Electric Aviation for the buil-ding of a plant to develop, test and produce turboprop engines in the Czech Republic.

The height of the investment to be made in constructing the plant – a site for which should be selected during the first half of 2017 – should reach a mini-mum CZK 1.35bn.

In connection with the GE Aviation investment, the gover-nment has, among other things, pledged to inject nearly CZK 2bn between 2016 and 2018 to finance preparations for the de-velopment of new turboprop engines at the Czech Technical University in Prague [ČVUT]. The university is planning a cooperation with General Electric.

GE Aviation, a division of U.S.-based conglomerate Ge-neral Electric, plans to invest an overall CZK 9.8bn in developing new aircraft engines in Europe-an factories, with a substantial part of that being earmarked for the Czech Republic. The total

GE engines deal signed and sealed

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Deceleration in Tesla Model 3 business plan?Subtle changes were overnight applied to the marketing materials for the Tesla Model 3 all-electric four-door compact luxury sedan. The sentence “We will begin deliveries at the end of 2017” was switched to “Model 3 production is scheduled to begin in mid-2017. At this time, the delivery esti-mate for new reservations is mid-2018 or later.” The new sentence formulation perhaps indicates expected delays in warehouse deliveries, but Tesla Motors insists that is not the case. The five-seat Model 3 is to have an electric range of at least 215 miles (346 km) and will be able to accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour (0 to 100 km/h) in less than six seconds

RETAILDušan Kütner

People last year spent two billion crowns on six million 0.7-li-

tre bottles of whisky in the Czech Republic, according to an estimate from Granette & Starorežná Distilleries. In revenues that amounted to year on year growth of 11 per-cent, and in volume a rise of six percent. Distributor Rémy Cointreau, meanwhile, rec-koned seven million bottles were sold. Consumption of whisky in the country in the four years that have followed the September 2012 methanol poisoning affair increased by nearly eight percent. Statis-tics from International Wine and Spirits Research show that it is by far the biggest growth experienced among imported spirits.

The popularity of whisky is all the more surprising given that the overall domestic spi-rits market is stagnating and

even last year did not return to the heights it enjoyed pri-or to the methanol tragedy, which killed dozens of people and permanently damaged the health of many more. “For this year we are antici-pating double-digit growth, particularly from key brands Tullamore Dew, Glenfiddich and Grants,” said Rémy Co-intreau brand manager Pavel Hojgr. “Research shows that the growing interest of con-sumers in imported alcohol is mostly driven by quality, the ever-increasing popula-rity of the whisky category in general and the long-term investments in marketing and media support,” he added.

Spirits producer Granette & Starorežná Distilleries has decided to up its activities in the field of whiskey [whisky usually denotes Scotch whis-ky, while whiskey with an “e” denotes the Irish and Ameri-can liquors –Ed.]. It has taken over the Czech distribution of the most well-known and

Consumers opt for whisky galoreTainted alcohol affair has altered pattern in retail sales of spirits

Luxury business jet no flight of fancy for Travel ServiceAirline company Travel Service is to strengthen its fleet of small and midsize aircraft with a Cessna Citation Longitude business jet. American enterprise Cessna Aircraft Company in early October comple-ted the maiden flight of the new super midsize, eight-to-12 passenger model – powered by Honeywell HTF7000L-series turbofan engines – and the Czech company will in 2018 become the first firm in Europe to receive one. The catalogue price for the jet, the speed of which is assisted by a fuselage and wings made with light aluminium, is around 24 million dollars. Special features include walk-in baggage and technology allowing passengers to manage their on-board environment and entertainment units from any mobile device

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Continued from page 1

“Penta is verifying every possi-bility which corresponds to its investment strategy,” said Pen-ta spokesperson Ivo Mravinac when asked about the possible deal. No more talkative was CETIN spokesperson Tereza Gáliková. “A decision has not at all been taken,” she said.

Penta is set to go up against Central Group, the largest buil-der of apartments in Prague, in the tender. Central has com-pleted its Residence Garden Towers project in Žižkov, while it is preparing a giant real esta-te investment on the northern part of the former Žižkov Freight Railway Station. Pen-ta was originally interested in acquiring that site but Dušan Kunovský’s company snapped it up this year.

Sources acquainted with the developers’ plans for the telecoms exchange, with its 78-metre-high tower and underground corridors, said there is no intention to pre-

serve it. Instead, the plans en-visage an apartment complex on the site. Penta has tackled such a project before. In 2012, it levelled the main office of for-mer communist official daily Rudé právo, located between Masarykovo railway station and Florenc in Prague, and then built the Florentinum office complex.

Developers in Prague are more and more seeking out outdated buildings with no pre-servation status as the number of vacant plots in the capital is running out. The alternative approach, commonplace in many countries, is to replace old with new.

Slovak developer HB Reavis successfully joined this trend with investments in London. But when it attempted to knock down the former ministry of fuels, located next to Czech Ra-dio in Vinohradská street, it ran up against a determination to list the building as protected.

Read more at E15.cz/weekly

Dark Tower to fall

sold Irish brands, Bushmills. “While Bushmills belongs among the most sold Irish whiskeys globally, here it is only so far known to real connoisseurs. Demand for it is rising worldwide,”said

company export director Jan Doležel.

Retail chains also con-firm rising interest in both whiskies and whiskeys. “Af-ter the methanol affair con-sumers started to trust more,

on the one hand, in impor-ted products such as malt whiskies, and on the other hand, in established brands,” said Tesco’s Central Europe manager for beer and spirits retail Jaromír Koudelík.

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business

Štěpán Bruner

The government has inked an investment deal with General Electric Aviation for the buil-ding of a plant to develop, test and produce turboprop engines in the Czech Republic.

The height of the investment to be made in constructing the plant – a site for which should be selected during the first half of 2017 – should reach a mini-mum CZK 1.35bn.

In connection with the GE Aviation investment, the gover-nment has, among other things, pledged to inject nearly CZK 2bn between 2016 and 2018 to finance preparations for the de-velopment of new turboprop engines at the Czech Technical University in Prague [ČVUT]. The university is planning a cooperation with General Electric.

GE Aviation, a division of U.S.-based conglomerate Ge-neral Electric, plans to invest an overall CZK 9.8bn in developing new aircraft engines in Europe-an factories, with a substantial part of that being earmarked for the Czech Republic. The total

GE engines deal signed and sealed

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up and down

Anthony Denny Former owner, AAA Auto

The 54-year-old businessman has left Europe, but not for an early retirement. The king of the second-hand car “autobazars” is home in Australia working as a major developer.

Charles Michel Belgian PM

Objections from Belgium’s Wallonia region meant he had to inform EU member states and Canada that his country could not approve the comprehensive Economic and Trade Agree-ment drawn up by Brussels and Ottawa. A last--ditch solution was being sought.

Karolína Plíšková Tennis player

The Czech enjoyed a highly compelling WTA Finals debut in Singapore, recovering from match point down and roaring back to take the final five games to defeat reigning Roland Garros champion Garbiñe Muguruza 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-5.

Stanislav Bruna Director, Mero

Required shutdowns at Czech refineries have lowered the volume of processed crude oil meaning the pipeline operator’s revenues have taken a substantial hit.

Jiří Šimáně Co-owner, Travel Service

His airline company recorded 11-percent passenger growth for the first three-quarters of this year.

Deceleration in Tesla Model 3 business plan?Subtle changes were overnight applied to the marketing materials for the Tesla Model 3 all-electric four-door compact luxury sedan. The sentence “We will begin deliveries at the end of 2017” was switched to “Model 3 production is scheduled to begin in mid-2017. At this time, the delivery esti-mate for new reservations is mid-2018 or later.” The new sentence formulation perhaps indicates expected delays in warehouse deliveries, but Tesla Motors insists that is not the case. The five-seat Model 3 is to have an electric range of at least 215 miles (346 km) and will be able to accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour (0 to 100 km/h) in less than six seconds

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Consumers opt for whisky galoreTainted alcohol affair has altered pattern in retail sales of spirits

serve it. Instead, the plans en-visage an apartment complex on the site. Penta has tackled such a project before. In 2012, it levelled the main office of for-mer communist official daily Rudé právo, located between Masarykovo railway station and Florenc in Prague, and then built the Florentinum office complex.

Developers in Prague are more and more seeking out outdated buildings with no pre-servation status as the number of vacant plots in the capital is running out. The alternative approach, commonplace in many countries, is to replace old with new.

Slovak developer HB Reavis successfully joined this trend with investments in London. But when it attempted to knock down the former ministry of fuels, located next to Czech Ra-dio in Vinohradská street, it ran up against a determination to list the building as protected.

Read more at E15.cz/weekly

Dark Tower to fall

on the one hand, in impor-ted products such as malt whiskies, and on the other hand, in established brands,” said Tesco’s Central Europe manager for beer and spirits retail Jaromír Koudelík.

investment in this country is therefore set to be lower than the originally indicated figure of nearly 10 billion crowns.

The Czech plant is expected to launch production of turbo-prop engines in 2022. At full output it is to manufacture more than 400 engines annu-ally. The investment deal was signed by industry and trade minister Jan Mládek (Social De-mocrat), CzechInvest director

Karel Kučera and GE Interna-tional vice-president John Rice.

Mládek hailed the agreement as a turning point in attracting foreign investment to the Czech Republic. The government now wants to focus on similar pro-jects, which deliver well-paid work and higher added-value, he said. The GE Aviation plant will create 500 jobs, thus doub-ling the number of the compa-ny’s employees in this country.

Bill Gates Co-founder & co-owner, Microsoft

Microsoft announced a free “Creators Update” to its Windows 10 operating system. The update includes new features for augmented and virtual reality gaming. It also lets users on mobile devices take 3D photos by scanning an object as they walk around it.

Putting pen to paper. GE International vice-president John Rice (left) and industry and trade minister Jan Mládek sign the long-awaited deal

Jeffrey Bewkes CEO, Time Warner

He stands to earn tens of millions of dollars if he can guide the film studios, television and comics giant through a successful USD 85bn sale to AT&T. As CEO, he’s shed many legacy businesses with limited growth potential, including AOL and Time Warner Cable, making the shrunk--down company more attractive to buyers.

EW16103104A1.indd 5 26.10.2016 17:59:30

A furore over the awarding of state honours on the occasion of Czechoslovak In-dependence Day has become so-mething of a tra-dition in itself. As soon as orders of merit and medals are announced, suddenly everyo-ne is a historian or social commenta-tor with a point to make

Since Miloš Zeman beca-me the first directly elec-ted Czech president, the

heat has been decidedly turned up at Prague Castle. It’s almost as if an impression has been created that the recipients of state honours are also decided via a public vote. But someti-mes it’s useful to poke and prod the choices. For example, it is good to know that during the Communist era Ludvík Karl, the decorated head of Liberec--based glass-maker Preciosa, was perfectly happy to utilise prisoners as labour, including political prisoners.

But it is also important to re-alise that the president awards honours purely according to their own whims. Which is why the list of those receiving the honours never was an objective assessment recognising exem-plary heroic achievements, but is rather an entirely subjective recognition of a specific presi-

dent’s views on what constitu-tes heroism and public service. Which is why alongside irrefu-table moral authorities we find names like those of the singers Karel Gott and Lucie Bílá or of musician-writer-activist Fran-tišek Ringo Čech.

That is the viewpoint from which we should examine the furore over George Brady, the Czech-Canadian Holocaust survivor. He was supposed to receive a Czech State Medal, but then alleged the president rescinded the offer after Bra-dy’s nephew, culture minister Daniel Herman met with the Dalai Lama (Miloš Zeman is

of course decidedly pro-China). If the Castle’s story holds true that Brady was never even con-sidered for such an award, it means a number of people, who apparently have no reason to do so, are lying. And if anyone is used to lying to try to battle incoming scandals, then surely it is Zeman’s Castle.

Without exception, the pre-sident utilises every power entrusted to him to push his influence, or at least his own perceptions of power and im-portance. So it is hardly surpri-sing at all that he is also using the state honours system to make himself heard. And, who knows, perhaps Zeman is con-

vinced that Czech trade with China is so quintessentially im-portant to our prosperity that the culture minister’s meeting with the Tibetan spiritual le-ader really does represent a ge-nuine danger to our interests. Of course, these assertions are highly dubious, but, as noted, state honours are entirely an expression of the president’s convictions. And if Zeman re-ally has the stomach to use an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor to make a point, there is absolu-tely nothing to stand in his way.

From a moral standpoint, such deeds need to be con-demned, and it is certainly

good to see a strong public debate in this case. However, calls for parliament to impeach Zeman are nothing but hyper-bole. The president is carrying out his mandate in a way that suits him. He is democratica-lly elected, and like with every democratically elected politi-cian, his deeds are subject to the will of voters. They will in two years cast their judgement at the ballot box. Simply put, the honours a president does or does not award are a direct reflection of the president and those in his orbit. Public disgust in this case is understandable, but the real way to react will be with a vote.

opinion6/7

joke

Jana Havligerová’s diary

Calendar for party squabbles out soonMichal Hašek, South Moravia’s governor, says the Social Democrat leadership should not be changed at the party conference next spring. As he says: To swap horses – meaning replacing the party head and thus the PM – six months before par-liamentary elections would be counter-productive. Right now, opinion polls suggest the country’s main governing party will only get 25 percent of the votes. Which would mean saving the leadership squabbles saved for autumn – after the predicted electoral bruising.

The number of those talked about as potential 2018 presidential election candi-dates continues to grow like mushrooms after the rain. Incidentally, autumn is a time of bountiful mushrooms in parts of the country. But back to the Castle: perhaps it would be best to announce some kind of competition in which the candidate who ma-nages to run up the Castle hill in the fastest time is awarded the presidency!

Parliament’s lower chamber has assented to a legislative amendment covering the realms of viniculture and 

viticulture. The sole aim is to limit imports and sales of cask or box wine. Let’s not lie to ourselves; such measures will hardly improve domestic wine’s quality by any great degree. But the problem surrounds uncertainty over what exactly consumers are taking home when they have on-tap wine poured into plastic bottles, and whether it really is what sellers claim it is.

Sunday saw the clocks shift forward one hour to Winter Time. Cue the annual expla-nation of why we do such a thing. In fact the entire value of electricity savings associated with shifting the clocks twice a year has a value of less than a mere 1,000th of a GDP percentage point, or around CZK 30m. And as far as the workday is concerned, we gain just about as much as we might do by each of us working about a minute longer during the year. Nonetheless, reality is reality, and efforts to overturn the clock-shifting tradition have yet to succeed. Which means the best we can do is again grin and bear it. Not a task worth staying up for. It’s best left for daytime – whenever that starts...

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“I prefer to read the news on my phone. The little screen makes the world’s problems look smaller.“

Martin Čaban

The president utilises every power entrusted to him to push his influence

Dishonourable honours

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8/9

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Photo duel gets a touch-upCzech Press Photo

is the country’s most prestigious

photojournalism showcase. Launched in 1995, the competition is now undergoing major changes to bring it closer to contemporary trends in our visual cultureRichard Guryča

After more than 20 years, the annual Czech Press Photo competition for the best global photojournalism images by Czech photographers spanning several categories, has built up a certain level of prestige. Several thousand Czech – and also Slovak – competing photographers eagerly await the results each year. This

Szigeti, president of the Association of Hungarian Press Photographers. The renowned Czech-American photo-grapher Antonín Kratochvíl is also on the jury, alongside a number of other Czechs.

All of this means that the competiti-on is certainly the number one forum for evaluating and celebrating Czech

and Slovak photojournalism. But res-ting on laurels is not enough to gua-rantee future success. Of late, Czech Press Photo has been undergoing a number of modernisation efforts – the degree of public interest in this year’s competition will prove whether or not such efforts have succeeded.

EvolutionCzech Press Photo was founded by two notable figures in the world of Czech journalism, namely photographic cri-tic Daniela Mrázková and journalist Vladimír Remeš. Since its inception, the contest has structured its catego-ries along the lines of the most popular global photojournalism competition, namely World Press Photo. The compe-tition’s orientation is Czech and Slovak photography, and is not only open to

year’s winners will be announced this 21 November. As many as 349 photo-graphers have entered 5,861 images for the 22nd year of the competition. The awards ceremony takes place at Prague’s Old Town Hall and is a major gala event. Many of the media covering the competition are often delighted by the fact that it was their photographer who emerged victorious in a particular category.

The winning photographs are often controversial, depicting war or human suffering. That means plenty of deba-te and interest. Photographs are also displayed to the public, guaranteeing many onlookers, especially given the prime location just next to Prague’s famous astronomical clock. This Octo-ber the organisers have also unveiled a new gallery at their headquarters in Prague’s Nové Butovice, with presented archived material that covers the past history of the contest.

In recent years, Czech Press Photo has also been able to attract star na-mes to its jury, further increasing the prestige factor. The 2016 panel includes US photographer Ron Haviv, Ameri-can filmmaker Ed Kashi and Tamas

EW16103108A1.indd 8 26.10.2016 18:00:54

top story

Czech Photo CentreCzech Photo is the name of the non-profit which organises the Czech Press Photo competition. Most recently, it has unveiled a Czech Photo Centre exhibition space in Prague’s Nové Butovice. Conveniently located right by the metro, this unique space features a gallery, studio, archive and restaurant. Also at the site is a workshop area outfitted with the most modern studio technology, and a photographic archive covering the more than 20-year history of Czech Press Photo. In front of the building is the new 12-metre-high “Trifot” sculpture from Czech artist David Černý. The work’s head is made from real brand cameras and depicts the development of photographic art.“The centre forms part of the Smart development project from Trigema. This company built the site and then handed it over to us. It is an ambitious, modern space, specifically tailored for photography,” explains Czech Press Photo director Veronika Souralová. “We want to utilise the spaces for exhibitions by both Czech and foreign photographers as well as for education courses, including for seniors, as well as programmes for children.”

Photo duel gets a touch-up

Szigeti, president of the Association of Hungarian Press Photographers. The renowned Czech-American photo-grapher Antonín Kratochvíl is also on the jury, alongside a number of other Czechs.

All of this means that the competiti-on is certainly the number one forum for evaluating and celebrating Czech

and Slovak photojournalism. But res-ting on laurels is not enough to gua-rantee future success. Of late, Czech Press Photo has been undergoing a number of modernisation efforts – the degree of public interest in this year’s competition will prove whether or not such efforts have succeeded.

EvolutionCzech Press Photo was founded by two notable figures in the world of Czech journalism, namely photographic cri-tic Daniela Mrázková and journalist Vladimír Remeš. Since its inception, the contest has structured its catego-ries along the lines of the most popular global photojournalism competition, namely World Press Photo. The compe-tition’s orientation is Czech and Slovak photography, and is not only open to

professionals but also to freelancers, semi-professional documentary pho-tographers, and even those who have hitherto not found a commercial outlet for their work.

The competition’s prize certain-ly represents a key factor for Czech Press Photo. Asides from the value of the awards themselves, winners also

receive financial rewards, grants or other material subsidies designed to enable photographers to benefit from the best equipment, or to afford ex-pensive sojourns to places of interest. Which has no doubt helped to secure the participation of top competitors from the very start of the competition.

Brand potentialThe fact that the jury sits in the presti-gious Old Town Hall, or that the exhi-bition there has become a key cultural event on the Prague calendar, is also reflected by the existence of the Prague Grant. This award is also selected by the jury and is presented by the mayor of Prague. It enables one select pho-tographer to gain a one-year creative grant from City Hall to photograph Prague and its changing cityscape over

the space of one year. This has resul-ted in the gradual creation of a large archive of photos documenting the development of Prague over the years.

One additional key contribution of Czech Press Photo is that it continues to enable the Czech public to have access to a vivid, engaging and educational portfolio of photojournalism.

New rulesBut changes are afoot at Czech Press Photo. The first fundamental change was evident last year with the arrival of Veronika Souralová as competition director, replacing founder Daniela Mrázková. The new director imme-diately sought to refresh the brand, creating a new logo, a new website, and also establishing a presence on social networks.

Potential competitors were newly able to submit applications electro-nically; also updated were the com-petition categories, the makeup of the jury, and the methodology used for assessing nominations. One change which visitors can easily assess for themselves is the fact that photographs are now exhibited in a standardised format.

year’s winners will be announced this 21 November. As many as 349 photo-graphers have entered 5,861 images for the 22nd year of the competition. The awards ceremony takes place at Prague’s Old Town Hall and is a major gala event. Many of the media covering the competition are often delighted by the fact that it was their photographer who emerged victorious in a particular category.

The winning photographs are often controversial, depicting war or human suffering. That means plenty of deba-te and interest. Photographs are also displayed to the public, guaranteeing many onlookers, especially given the prime location just next to Prague’s famous astronomical clock. This Octo-ber the organisers have also unveiled a new gallery at their headquarters in Prague’s Nové Butovice, with presented archived material that covers the past history of the contest.

In recent years, Czech Press Photo has also been able to attract star na-mes to its jury, further increasing the prestige factor. The 2016 panel includes US photographer Ron Haviv, Ameri-can filmmaker Ed Kashi and Tamas

“I am bringing in changes and some fresh air,” says Souralová. “Czech Pre-ss Photo sorely needed updating. The prestigious competition, in which our best photojournalists have their photo-graphs assessed, was founded 21 years ago. During that time the world has completely changed, and we needed to react to that.” Souralová is most proud of enabling electronic submissions and of purchasing related software for the evaluation of submissions by the jury.

“We have also changed the catego-ries,” continues Souralová. “In parti-cular the jury will assess individual photographs and collections separa-tely. The results announcement will come via a new nomination system. We also want to also give young authors a chance, which is why we are awarding a CZK 70,000 Canon Junior award for authors aged up to 20. We will also be giving a ČTK [Czech News Agency] award in the form of vouchers worth CZK 80,000.”

New competition categories inclu-de “Problems in today’s society” and “Lifestyle”.

Taken from the magazine

Since its inception, Czech Press Photo has focused on attracting and supporting Czech and Slovak photographers. Although the competition has no international ambitions, its very name helped to quickly establish it as a well-known Czech brand

EW16103108A1.indd 9 26.10.2016 18:01:01

the collection then surpassed 100,000 crowns.

So crowdfunding through social ne-tworks is not in itself enough?

No, it’s not sufficient. It is necessary to combine communication in traditi-onal media with personalised appro-aches to donors. But we do consider crowdfunding as a very good form of collecting among givers for humanita-rian projects. We definitely want to try it out again at a time of a big humani-tarian crisis.

Have you in the recent past been sur-prised by any non-traditional form of communication which has assisted UNICEF?

Perhaps by the Karviná high school graduates who last year were photo-graphed wearing our t-shirts for their tableau of school-leaving photos. They raised CZK 20,000 for their evening farewell party and they’ve sent us CZK 10,000. The students put their t-shirt photos on their Facebook profiles and we were taken aback by how much these were viewed and shared. It is not possible to say how many ways we could devise to capture interest on these ne-tworks, and this happened all by itself. It’s clear that young people live quite naturally on the networks.

Innovation however is also seen out there in programs in the field. For instance, in Malawi we are currently testing drones. They are carrying blood test kits to the most remote villages, and bring the samples back so that pregnant women can discover if they are HIV positive, and we can then help their children if they are.

How are internal forms of communi-cation changing in your organisation, given that it operates in 190 countries?

We are using possibilities offered by new technology. Particularly Skype, which to me means a quick connection to colleagues in Rwanda on one day, and to others in Bhutan the next. We can not only hear each other, but generally we can see each other, although in tho-se countries the video link sometimes fails. We also make plentiful use of the intranet, we can see everything that is being done in any one country at a given moment. But it’s still the case that nothing can replace a personal meeting – once or twice a year we meet and at those meeting we have nothing to do with laptops, there’s not even the paper and pencil option, it is simply just people talking to each other.

How do you perceive new technology?As full of contradiction. I know that

it helps an awful lot, but on the other hand everything is greatly accelerated, it increases the number of campaigns and sometimes it is difficult to watch over everything. And in addition, for pe-ople it means oversaturation and fickle-

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PAVLA GOMBA

As donors Czechs are sceptical but generous

Head of UNICEF Czech Republic Pavla Gomba is convinced crowdfunding and online communication with donors have become exceptionally important.

But by no means is she pushing aside traditional fundraising approaches, especially given her anticipation that “the internet will only have substantially developed new friends for UNICEF after a period of around 10 years”

Petra Horáková, Igor Záruba

Just lately you were very successful with charitable crowdfunding on the internet, thanks to which disabled

little monk Dorji will come to the Czech Republic from Bhutan for a medical visit. How difficult was it to communi-cate with donors to collect the desired 100,000 crowns?

At the start of the campaign on on-line portal Daruj správně [Darujsprav-ne.cz; the name essentially translates as “foolproof donations”] we sent out a newsletter and subsequently put the call out on social networks, but the mo-ney did not accumulate. After a nervous week – we’d planned out the crowdfun-ding campaign for one month – I used email to personally address our long--term regular donors and that worked; we received around 60,000 crowns. Of course, personalised communication entails feedback, so people wrote in and I myself responded alone. I’m used to that and do it gladly.

We also addressed potential donors and our teams who represent UNICEF [the United Nations Children’s Fund] to people on the street. But we still didn’t have the target amount and time was running short. Therefore we asked

actress Jitka Čvančarová, who was in Bhutan with the little monks – orphans and abandoned children for whom a monastery is their sole refuge – to have a photo taken for a postcard which we could send as a gift to givers and as part of a release to the media.

Did you gain some new contributors?Yes, a good many small donors. That

we know. Overall, thanks to the crowd-funding fundraising platform our num-ber of donors perhaps went up by 20 percent. It remains to be seen whether or not these people will become regular friends of UNICEF.

And the rise in donors was enough to allow you to hit your target amount?

No, we didn’t make the total at that point. Finally, we fully approached our entire database of regular givers and

EW16103110A1.indd 10 26.10.2016 18:01:44

the collection then surpassed 100,000 crowns.

So crowdfunding through social ne-tworks is not in itself enough?

No, it’s not sufficient. It is necessary to combine communication in traditi-onal media with personalised appro-aches to donors. But we do consider crowdfunding as a very good form of collecting among givers for humanita-rian projects. We definitely want to try it out again at a time of a big humani-tarian crisis.

Have you in the recent past been sur-prised by any non-traditional form of communication which has assisted UNICEF?

Perhaps by the Karviná high school graduates who last year were photo-graphed wearing our t-shirts for their tableau of school-leaving photos. They raised CZK 20,000 for their evening farewell party and they’ve sent us CZK 10,000. The students put their t-shirt photos on their Facebook profiles and we were taken aback by how much these were viewed and shared. It is not possible to say how many ways we could devise to capture interest on these ne-tworks, and this happened all by itself. It’s clear that young people live quite naturally on the networks.

Innovation however is also seen out there in programs in the field. For instance, in Malawi we are currently testing drones. They are carrying blood test kits to the most remote villages, and bring the samples back so that pregnant women can discover if they are HIV positive, and we can then help their children if they are.

How are internal forms of communi-cation changing in your organisation, given that it operates in 190 countries?

We are using possibilities offered by new technology. Particularly Skype, which to me means a quick connection to colleagues in Rwanda on one day, and to others in Bhutan the next. We can not only hear each other, but generally we can see each other, although in tho-se countries the video link sometimes fails. We also make plentiful use of the intranet, we can see everything that is being done in any one country at a given moment. But it’s still the case that nothing can replace a personal meeting – once or twice a year we meet and at those meeting we have nothing to do with laptops, there’s not even the paper and pencil option, it is simply just people talking to each other.

How do you perceive new technology?As full of contradiction. I know that

it helps an awful lot, but on the other hand everything is greatly accelerated, it increases the number of campaigns and sometimes it is difficult to watch over everything. And in addition, for pe-ople it means oversaturation and fickle-

ness. When some years ago there was the tsunami, the coverage stayed on the front pages of dailies around the world for weeks. Last year’s [earthquake] di-saster in Nepal obtained news coverage amounting to a couple of days before it was quickly dislodged by other news. That is a pity.

You know, I always recall the public collection that was held for the Natio-nal Theatre [A fire that destroyed the national monument in 1881 was seen as a national catastrophe and led to deter-mined fundraising for reconstruction –Ed.] as the first Czech fundraising, and I always think to myself that in some situations it is better to turn to stre-et collections, and in others to direct mailing, and for other people social networks might work out, or YouTube, or some advertising in the newspapers or on television. In my eyes, in the field of charity there should always be a com-bination of the old and the new.

It’s said that the trend is for online co-mmunication with donors and that it is the only way to attract young people to giving...

We discuss that a lot on the inter-national level at UNICEF and we are attempting to be on the networks and to communicate with young people. But generally there will be a wait of a minimum of 10 years before they will be persuaded to become donors. So for us face to face communication on the street stays important. UNICEF was the first to form a so-called seni-or team of people in the early days of their pensionable years and people of a pre-pensionable age. Our “seniors” do not address people of the same age or students on the street, but people in the group from 30 to 40 years of age, who are the most loyal and regular givers.

There is a growing number of company and nonprofit organisation bosses who are personally very active on social ne-tworks. They build a personal brand out of themselves while at the same time pushing the enterprise. What about you when it comes to social ne-tworks?

I use the LinkedIn service for pro-fessionals where a great many people ask me for references. And I have a Facebook profile.

Who were your first Facebook friends?Certainly not family. They were

acquaintances and colleagues, mainly people abroad. Which is fine, because with Facebook you can communicate

with anybody in the world. And I’ve been able to keep up longstanding friendships with people who are far away and can’t quickly pop to a café for a meeting.

How many Facebook friends does UNICEF Czech Republic have?

Perhaps 12,000.

Are they organically attracted fans or have they been pulled in by sponsored campaigns?

No, they’re only natural, people who really want to help.

Who runs the social network side of things for you?

We talked through this a lot, but we discovered that we need a combination of publicists, graphic designers and programmers and we couldn’t find such people for non-commercial wages. The content is done by colleagues who are

engaged in PR and communications for us, and for the technical things and campaigns we turn to agencies who work for free.

Does HQ instruct you what to and what not to communicate?

UNICEF is a very decentralised or-ganisation which is actually 190 orga-nisations. In each country the unit is a little different because UNICEF parti-cularly employs people from the given country and they know best in what ways the children in their nation need to be helped. International personnel have important roles during checks and controls to combat violations, but otherwise we really are very local.

What is very specific about the Czech branch?

We are very successful. In financial efficiency, i.e. the ratio between costs and income we tend to stand around third or fifth best in the world. Each year we receive around CZK 70m from donors, with small donors accounting for 90 percent of that; companies crea-te just a small part. Czechs as donors are distinctive – in Europe they are the most sceptical people, nothing, accor-ding to them, works, nobody should be trusted, everything in their eyes is pilfered, but in the end they pitch in. At the beginning there is always big mistrust, but finally they are very em-pathetic and generous.

Do you evaluate from which firms you will accept money and from which you won’t?

face to face

Pavla Gomba (42)She hails from Ostrava and studied at the University of Economics, Prague [VŠE] before working at the Danish Embassy in Prague and for the Dutch cham-ber of commerce. Subsequently, she left for a year and a half in Africa and, after returning and dwelling on career choices, saw an advert which changed her life. A woman with a keen interest in numbers, but mainly in people, switched to the nonprofit sphere. Since 2000, she has been the di-rector of UNICEF Czech Republic. She released the book Slyšíte nás? [Do You Hear Us?] with sto-ries of children in Africa and Asia. Right now she’s pondering if she might for a short time exchange her successful stewardship of UNICEF’s Czech branch for some UNICEF work in the “front line”, perhaps in Asia or Africa where so many children’s lives are terribly blighted. Pavla Gomba is divorced. She lives with her boyfriend and parrot.

PAVLA GOMBA

As donors Czechs are sceptical but generous

We attempt to not approve money from firms which operate in conflict with our values. But that does not mean that if a company finds itself on our black list it will be there for ever. It can change.

An example?IKEA was once a transgressor, in

terms of child labour, yet today it is our main global partner.

Do you have some Czech firms on the black list?

Yes, there are those from whom we cannot accept money. And paradoxica-lly these are companies who are very much interested in cooperating with us.

What are your own plans as regards further work for UNICEF?

I am always thinking over how I could once more venture on to the front line, to help in Africa or Asia, of course under UNICEF. But currently I need to finish my doctorate. From finance I am, for a while, nipping into the area of security, evaluating risks. I am studying at the Faculty of Safety Engineering [FBI] in Ostrava.

Do you yet have your dissertation?Well, I’m somehow writing it...

Do you have thick skin after what you have experienced and seen over the years?

If the emotions depart, one should just pack this in.

actress Jitka Čvančarová, who was in Bhutan with the little monks – orphans and abandoned children for whom a monastery is their sole refuge – to have a photo taken for a postcard which we could send as a gift to givers and as part of a release to the media.

Did you gain some new contributors?Yes, a good many small donors. That

we know. Overall, thanks to the crowd-funding fundraising platform our num-ber of donors perhaps went up by 20 percent. It remains to be seen whether or not these people will become regular friends of UNICEF.

And the rise in donors was enough to allow you to hit your target amount?

No, we didn’t make the total at that point. Finally, we fully approached our entire database of regular givers and

In financial efficiency, i.e. the ratio between costs and income we tend to stand around third or fifth best in the world

EW16103110A1.indd 11 26.10.2016 18:01:57

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Jiří Sladký

The village nearest the confluence of the two rivers is called Sekule in Slovak and Székelyfalva in Hungari-an, meaning a village of the Székelys. Its name thus preserves a trace of an ethnic group no longer found around here. Following the disintegration of Great Moravia in the early 10th cen-tury, the area running from the Little Carpathians mountain range along the Morava river and past the White Car-pathians was described in historical chronicles as “confinium”, being the borderland of Hungary. The no man’s land devoid of inhabitants was guarded by the Székelys, who were appointed for the task by the Hungarian rulers of

the time. The nomadic tribe had possi-bly arrived from the steppes of Central Asia before becoming subordinated to the Hungarians. Period chroniclers use the name Terra Siculorum to refer to the uneasy lands controlled by the Szé-kelys. The contested region stretched all the way to the Olšava river in the north where the town of Uherský Brod now lies, just south of Zlín. It witnessed frequent clashes between Bohemian forces and the Székelys fighting in the pay of the Hungarian kingdom. Bo-hemian chronicler Cosmas of Prague mentions in his Chronica Boëmorum the unenviable fate of those Székely scouts unlucky enough to be captured. They had their noses and ears cut off before being sent back to report the

ordeal to their Hungarian king. Such skirmishes only ceased when the Iron and Golden King, Ottokar II of the Přemyslid dynasty, won the Battle of Kressenbrunn in 1260 and pushed the frontier to the White Carpathians. It has remained there ever since.

Following the MoravaThe river Morava flows south from the confluence and becomes much bigger, swelled by the water of the Dyje, flan-ked by stretches of alluvial plains. Only when it reaches Sekule does the land begin to rise somewhat in low sandy bumps. It is a land the Morava once ruled, as documented by the nume-rous pools, small lakes, ditches and channels passing through woodland

The land of the SzékelysWho were the Székelys? Where did they come from and what

have they left behind? In an attempt to trace this ancient ethnic group one needs to cross the border into Slovakia, into

the Záhorie region. There, not far from the confluence of the Morava and Dyje rivers, history throws up unexpected connections. These days the country of the Székely archers is crisscrossed by bike paths winding through picturesque meadows and alluvial forests

ruler but instead each settlement sent a head of cattle to the court for the kin-g’s festivities. The frontier settlements finally lost their function around 1320 and the once feared tribe of frontier-smen and warriors blended with the local population as soon as villages and towns sprung up across the land.

There is a cross by the side of the road not far from Sekule with an in-scription dated 1842 saying “Erected by Michal Dobša”. The family name is ano-ther Székely legacy as Dobsa or Dobša is considered Székely by historians. And how about Oširid, Cipánoš, Čé-kre, Ciglád, Fók, or Kišín? Local names derived from Turkish and Hungarian expressions taken over from the Széke-lys by incoming settlers. Passing though the alluvial plains along the Morava with an old map in hand, one can easily imagine where a Székely camp might have been, where barriers and dams were built using felled trees, where the fires burned, where cattle were kept and where the Székelys would hone their skills in mounted archery.

The land of archersOsirét, or “the grandfathers’ meadow”, was where the Székelys once grazed their cattle. It has since become popu-lar with bathers and anglers following gravel excavation at the site and the flooding of the resulting void. Fók was a Hungarian name for a stream flowing from a lake and there really is one flowing through a forest of the name. Čékre or Čeker, meaning the “Devil’s well”, must have been an oxbow lake once as “çukur” is Turkish for a hole filled with water. That is what the Székelys must have come upon in these parts. Aged anglers of our time would talk of a number of deep ponds full of fish. Turkish also gave name to another branch of the Morava – Ciglád – now incorporated into a navigable channel. The word would have originally been used to describe an embankment built by the Székelys. The building of impa-ssable embankments and barriers was one of their duties back in the day. The most valuable name preserved even now is Kišín, the name used today for a sandy expanse near the Morava. Local residents have long since forgotten the meaning of the name, although they may say that “huts used to stand the-re once”. For them the Middle Ages may easily be as shrouded in myth as last summer. Linguists tend to believe that the name is not derived from the Hungarian word “kis” which means “small” but rather from the Turkish for winter – kiş – denoting a winter dwelling, frequently referred to as the kishlaq, or qishlaq, in Central Asia and among Turkic peoples.

Open doors at homesteadsToday’s Sekule tells a different story. Following a visit for example to the tourist hotspot of Lednice-Valtice re-

and bisecting fields and meadows. The river’s banks are home to probably the most valuable of Europe’s alluvial me-adows. This region, once considerably wilder than what can be experienced today, was occupied by nomadic tribes that originated from the steppes of Cen-tral Asia. They built their watchmen’s posts along the frontline, some more permanent than others. On the eas-tern side the confinium was guarded by robust stone castles inhabited by another migratory tribe, the Cumans, sometimes also called the Polowci [the “Swimmers”].

The westernmost kishlaqThe alluvial plains along the Morava are flat as a table, save for the infrequent sand dunes strewn across both banks and referred to as “clumps” in both re-gions of Slovácko and Záhoří [Záhorie in Slovak]. With a bit of luck one can find shards of ancient Slavic pots deco-rated with the typical wavy line. They can be up to 1,300 years old, predating even Great Moravia. Slavs continued to live here until they were pushed north by the arriving Hungarians. As the area has not yet been subject to systematic archaeological research, it may spring a surprise or two.

It is quite possible that the area near modern-day Sekule was once home to Europe’s westernmost kishlaq [or qishlaq: in Turkic languages it means “wintering place”: a fortified Székely settlement. A most likely location would be on one of the hillocks overlooking the river where it would have been protected from floodwaters. In selecting the high ground the Székelys would have mimic-ked the approach taken before them by the Slavs. The kishlaq, most likely a winter-time but possibly a year-round settlement, would have been surrounded by wicker fences. Modern-day residents of Sekule call it the “Methuselah fence” and it can still be seen surrounding some of the gardens. You can also come across such fences throughout the Carpathians, further south in the Balkans and even as far as the Iranian mountains on the shores of the Caspian Sea where they are still made and used by local she-pherds. In the case of a permanent fron-tier camp, the wicker fence would most likely be erected on top of a rampart and be reinforced with clay to create a fortification of sorts.

What did the Székelys leave behind?Not much was left behind in terms of tangible objects, or at least none that would have been found on the banks of the Morava. But that does not mean they departed entirely without leaving a trace. There are both Székely names preserved throughout the region as well as certain Asian features in the faces of locals. The frontier tribes en-joyed similar privileges to those of yeo-men: they paid no tax to the country’s

EW16103112A1.indd 12 26.10.2016 18:02:51

special report

Taken from the magazine

ruler but instead each settlement sent a head of cattle to the court for the kin-g’s festivities. The frontier settlements finally lost their function around 1320 and the once feared tribe of frontier-smen and warriors blended with the local population as soon as villages and towns sprung up across the land.

There is a cross by the side of the road not far from Sekule with an in-scription dated 1842 saying “Erected by Michal Dobša”. The family name is ano-ther Székely legacy as Dobsa or Dobša is considered Székely by historians. And how about Oširid, Cipánoš, Čé-kre, Ciglád, Fók, or Kišín? Local names derived from Turkish and Hungarian expressions taken over from the Széke-lys by incoming settlers. Passing though the alluvial plains along the Morava with an old map in hand, one can easily imagine where a Székely camp might have been, where barriers and dams were built using felled trees, where the fires burned, where cattle were kept and where the Székelys would hone their skills in mounted archery.

The land of archersOsirét, or “the grandfathers’ meadow”, was where the Székelys once grazed their cattle. It has since become popu-lar with bathers and anglers following gravel excavation at the site and the flooding of the resulting void. Fók was a Hungarian name for a stream flowing from a lake and there really is one flowing through a forest of the name. Čékre or Čeker, meaning the “Devil’s well”, must have been an oxbow lake once as “çukur” is Turkish for a hole filled with water. That is what the Székelys must have come upon in these parts. Aged anglers of our time would talk of a number of deep ponds full of fish. Turkish also gave name to another branch of the Morava – Ciglád – now incorporated into a navigable channel. The word would have originally been used to describe an embankment built by the Székelys. The building of impa-ssable embankments and barriers was one of their duties back in the day. The most valuable name preserved even now is Kišín, the name used today for a sandy expanse near the Morava. Local residents have long since forgotten the meaning of the name, although they may say that “huts used to stand the-re once”. For them the Middle Ages may easily be as shrouded in myth as last summer. Linguists tend to believe that the name is not derived from the Hungarian word “kis” which means “small” but rather from the Turkish for winter – kiş – denoting a winter dwelling, frequently referred to as the kishlaq, or qishlaq, in Central Asia and among Turkic peoples.

Open doors at homesteadsToday’s Sekule tells a different story. Following a visit for example to the tourist hotspot of Lednice-Valtice re-

gion in South Moravia why not make the short trip across the border into Slovakia to get a taste of this virtually unknown region and its peculiar histo-ry. Local folk architecture has houses that face with their gables onto the tri-angular village common, or a square a century ago when Sekule still enjoyed the status of a town. A jewel of Sekule is the fortified churchyard with Baroque headstones, low stelas terminated in simple leaf-shaped ornaments. Modern Sekule is cautiously beginning to open its doors to tourists. With a bit of luck you may chance upon a Sekule homes-teads festival promoting local crafts-men. It takes place every September with a similar if smaller fair occurring in the spring. It comes nowhere near the Znojmo historical grape harvest in terms of scale as it is more of a limi-ted affair organised by enthusiasts and supported by the whole village.

More than 20 homesteads open their doors to visitors and showcase a range of crafts and farming activities. Repre-sentatives of individual guilds, clad in historical garments first solemnly swear to trade fairly and honestly before they receive the “village sceptre” from the hands of the mayor. Visitors are treated to displays by a fish farmer, butcher, hun-ter, spirits distiller and wine producer. On the menu there is plenty of traditi-onal sauerkraut to go with roast boar, traditional local “lokše” thin potato pan-cakes, various pig slaughter products, bean soup with homemade noodles and of course plenty of good wine.

What else is on the menu in Sekule?The local “information officer”, clad in undyed sirwal, typical baggy trou-sers, could easily pass for either the night watchman or the herald, had he had a drum slung across his belly. The whole event gives the impression of a bit of a slapstick comedy rather than a serious affair and the mayor’s speech is no exception. The open homesteads are dispersed throughout the village while floats are the means of transport of choice. A minibus is available for the more remote destinations in a nearby pine wood. The local pub transforms for the duration into a fishermen’s inn whe-re the fish soup “halaszle” is served by the gallon, spicy and rich. Local fisher-men have no doubt about the best fish being not in the river itself but within old branches. Before the river became regulated they would employ a special technique to catch fish using branches tied together with water plants. They would push the branches up the river and against a bank where they would pick the fish that got caught in their ingenious device.

and bisecting fields and meadows. The river’s banks are home to probably the most valuable of Europe’s alluvial me-adows. This region, once considerably wilder than what can be experienced today, was occupied by nomadic tribes that originated from the steppes of Cen-tral Asia. They built their watchmen’s posts along the frontline, some more permanent than others. On the eas-tern side the confinium was guarded by robust stone castles inhabited by another migratory tribe, the Cumans, sometimes also called the Polowci [the “Swimmers”].

The westernmost kishlaqThe alluvial plains along the Morava are flat as a table, save for the infrequent sand dunes strewn across both banks and referred to as “clumps” in both re-gions of Slovácko and Záhoří [Záhorie in Slovak]. With a bit of luck one can find shards of ancient Slavic pots deco-rated with the typical wavy line. They can be up to 1,300 years old, predating even Great Moravia. Slavs continued to live here until they were pushed north by the arriving Hungarians. As the area has not yet been subject to systematic archaeological research, it may spring a surprise or two.

It is quite possible that the area near modern-day Sekule was once home to Europe’s westernmost kishlaq [or qishlaq: in Turkic languages it means “wintering place”: a fortified Székely settlement. A most likely location would be on one of the hillocks overlooking the river where it would have been protected from floodwaters. In selecting the high ground the Székelys would have mimic-ked the approach taken before them by the Slavs. The kishlaq, most likely a winter-time but possibly a year-round settlement, would have been surrounded by wicker fences. Modern-day residents of Sekule call it the “Methuselah fence” and it can still be seen surrounding some of the gardens. You can also come across such fences throughout the Carpathians, further south in the Balkans and even as far as the Iranian mountains on the shores of the Caspian Sea where they are still made and used by local she-pherds. In the case of a permanent fron-tier camp, the wicker fence would most likely be erected on top of a rampart and be reinforced with clay to create a fortification of sorts.

What did the Székelys leave behind?Not much was left behind in terms of tangible objects, or at least none that would have been found on the banks of the Morava. But that does not mean they departed entirely without leaving a trace. There are both Székely names preserved throughout the region as well as certain Asian features in the faces of locals. The frontier tribes en-joyed similar privileges to those of yeo-men: they paid no tax to the country’s

EW16103112A1.indd 13 26.10.2016 18:03:01

food14/15

society�

xxxxxx

Phot

o: X

xxx

Some like it greasy

Phot

o: x

xx

Taken from the magazine

To put it mildly, lard does not enjoy a good reputation, particularly among health fanatics. But goose

lard compares with olive oil, given its unsaturated acids. It is even used as a medicine for various maladies

Goose�lard��with�liver2 GLASSES (250 ml)PREPARATION: 20 minutes + time for congealing

300�ml�goose lard incl. enough for frying2 shallots200�g goose liver1�handful of thyme salt and pepper

257504/72

Štěpán Vašák

In a little goose lard, fry finely sliced shallots and chopped and cleaned goose liver. Add thyme, salt and pepper and for a short while (perhaps 3 minutes) fry. The middle of the liver pieces must stay pink. Tip all the con-tents into glasses and flood with goose lard. Place in the fridge. Ideally leave overnight so that the lard will certainly congeal and solidify properly.

Monday, 31 October 2016

Issue 137 l newsstand price CZK 24/¤ 1 l www.e15.czSceptical but generous

UNICEF country boss Pavla Gomba

on Czechs as donors and online

fundraising toolsFACE TO FACE pages 10–11

Land of the archers

Exploring the picturesque frontier

territories once guarded by the

SzékelysSPECIAL REPORT pages 12–13

977

1803

4543

140

01

37

Phot

o: A

nna

Vack

ová

facebook.com/ e15weekly

Dark Tower to fall

Daniel Novák

Once hailed as the hub of 1980s teleco-

mmunications in communist Czecho-

slovakia but later maligned as a symbol

of the decrepit telephone network that

hampered the country after 1989’s revolution, the

telephone exchange could now feature in a big

real estate transaction between richest Czech Petr

Kellner and fellow billionaire Marek Dospiva. E15’s

information is that Dospiva’s Penta investment

group is highly interested in acquiring the building,

now owned by the Czech Telecommunication In-

frastructure [CETIN] network operator, an asset

of Kellner’s PPF financial and investment group.

Located in Olšanská street, and once one of Euro-

pe’s largest and most modern telecoms facilities –

though Praguers have joked about it as like J.R.R.

Tolkien’s “Barad-dûr”, or “Dark Tower”, fortress

in Mordor from where the Dark Lord could keep

watch – it is to be abandoned by CETIN.

Continues on page 4

Plans are afoot to demolish

Prague’s legendary

telecoms exchange in

Žižkov. A tender to sell the

property, known to locals as

the stronghold of “Mordor”,

is in its final stage

EW16103101A1.indd 1

26.10.2016 17:24:34

EW16103114A1.indd 14 26.10.2016 18:03:51

society�

Hanakian village takes ecology prize in E.ON Energy Globe awardsThe village of Haňovice has been declared the overall winner of the eighth edition of the E.ON Energy Globe awards for ecological projects. The judges were impressed by the Haňovice and Litovel municipality’s partnership in preventing groundwater contamination that threatened drinking water supplies and by a biogas plant that provides free heating for local government buildings. A greenhouse vegetable cultivation project is also under way in Haňovice, located in the Haná ethnic region in central Moravia, where the Hanakian dialect is spoken. Energy Globe awards were also given in categories entitled Company, Construction, Youth, Handyman and Community Ph

oto:

Hua

wei

Phot

o: E

.ON

Some like it greasyGreat Hall celebration of Huawei’s Seeds for the FutureHuawei has celebrated the completion of its corporate social responsibility project Seeds for the Future. The Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company awarded 10 talented Czech information and communications technology students who in September attended a two-week educational program in China. The award-giving occasion, held in the Great Hall of Charles University, Prague, was attended by Huawei specialists, Czech government representatives and the Chinese ambassador Ma Keqing

Phot

o: x

xx

adver t is ing257504/72

You can subscribe securely via e-mailUse the e-mail address weekly@predplatne.cz, State your name and delivery address. Use the code WEEK 1116 as the message subject

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Monday, 31 October 2016

Issue 137 l newsstand price CZK 24/¤ 1 l www.e15.czSceptical but generous

UNICEF country boss Pavla Gomba

on Czechs as donors and online

fundraising toolsFACE TO FACE pages 10–11

Land of the archers

Exploring the picturesque frontier

territories once guarded by the

SzékelysSPECIAL REPORT pages 12–13

977

1803

4543

140

01

37

Phot

o: A

nna

Vack

ová

facebook.com/ e15weekly

Dark Tower to fall

Daniel Novák

Once hailed as the hub of 1980s teleco-

mmunications in communist Czecho-

slovakia but later maligned as a symbol

of the decrepit telephone network that

hampered the country after 1989’s revolution, the

telephone exchange could now feature in a big

real estate transaction between richest Czech Petr

Kellner and fellow billionaire Marek Dospiva. E15’s

information is that Dospiva’s Penta investment

group is highly interested in acquiring the building,

now owned by the Czech Telecommunication In-

frastructure [CETIN] network operator, an asset

of Kellner’s PPF financial and investment group.

Located in Olšanská street, and once one of Euro-

pe’s largest and most modern telecoms facilities –

though Praguers have joked about it as like J.R.R.

Tolkien’s “Barad-dûr”, or “Dark Tower”, fortress

in Mordor from where the Dark Lord could keep

watch – it is to be abandoned by CETIN.

Continues on page 4

Plans are afoot to demolish

Prague’s legendary

telecoms exchange in

Žižkov. A tender to sell the

property, known to locals as

the stronghold of “Mordor”,

is in its final stage

EW16103101A1.indd 1

26.10.2016 17:24:34

This subscription offer is valid until 27 November 2016

This offer is available to new subscribers only and applies while stocks last. The publisher reserves the right to provide a substitute gift if stocks are exhausted. The offer is only valid for subscriptions taken out with a delivery address in the Czech Republic. Gifts are ordinarily dispatched within six weeks of the receipt of the subscription payment. By placing an order, the subscriber expresses their agreement with the General Terms and Conditions for a periodical press delivery according to the subscription as published at www.cninvest.cz and undertakes to act in accordance with these General Terms and Conditions. By placing an order, the subscriber also expresses their consent to the storage of personal data submitted with the order (hereinafter “data”) in a database administered by CN Invest a. s., with its head office at Pařížská 130/26, 110 00, Prague 1-Josefov. This consent extends to the use of such data to provide subscription services and to the subsequent processing of the data for the purposes of offering products and services by CN Invest a.s. and/or third parties, including the forwarding of information regarding events and other activities, the use of such data for analytical purposes and/or the forwarding of commercial messages by means of electronic communication in accordance with provisions of Act No. 480/2004 of the Czech legislative code. This consent is provided for an indefinite period, i.e. until revoked in writing either in a letter delivered to the publisher’s address at CN Invest a.s., Subscription Department/ Oddělení Předplatného, Komunardů 1584/42, 170 00, Prague 7, or via electronic mail delivered to predplatne@cncenter.cz. The subscriber also consents to the processing of their data by third parties authorised for the purpose by the publisher as the administrator of subscribers’ data. The subscriber acknowledges their rights as per Sections 11 and 21 of Act No. 101/2000 of the Czech legislative code, i.e. that the provision of the data is voluntary, that the consent to the storage, processing and use of the data may be revoked at any time free of charge at the publisher’s address, and that the subscriber has the right to access the data, request the correction of data entries, have incorrect personal data blocked, have data destroyed, etc.

EW16103114A1.indd 15 26.10.2016 18:40:35

16

diversions

Covered in shawlsA Jewish worshipper at Wailing 

Wall in Jerusalem uses his mobile phone to record worshippers who 

are covered in prayer shawls as they recite the priestly blessing

invitations

picture of the week

Phot

os: A

rchi

vePh

oto:

RFe

uter

s

GIG

Crystal Fighters at MeetFactory

“Fast, mesmeric and passionate” electro-folk group Crystal Fighters, who mix folk music with dance beats, return to Prague. The London/Brooklyn-based band put out their impatiently awaited new album Everything Is My Family last week. 4 November.

EXHIBITION

David Černý at DSC Gallery

Notorious Czech sculptor David Černý presents Black Hole. It showcases the last three years of his work. Monumental stainless steel sculptures and his latest smaller reliefs feature. 29 November. Černý first sprang to attention in 1991 by painting a Soviet tank pink.

CINEMA

Florence Foster Jenkins (2016)

It’s the 1940s and New York socialite and amateur soprano Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Streep) dreams of becoming a great opera singer. Her husband goes to extreme lengths to make sure his wife never discovers how truly awful she is. Various cinemas.

GIG

Onyx at Rock Café

Hardcore hip hop group Onyx from Queens, New York, play Prague’s Rock Café on 5 November. Composed of East Coast rappers Sticky Fingaz and Fredro Starr, the outfit’s music has featured in movies such as How High and 8 Mile.

TRIP TIP

Saint Barbara’s Church in Kutná Hora

Built in the style of a cathedral in Kutná Hora, this is one of Central Europe’s most famous Gothic churches. UNESCO-listed, it is notable for its windows, choir stalls, altars, pulpits and medieval frescoes depicting the medieval silver mining town and religious themes.

About us. E15 Weekly is one of a group of business and economics-oriented publications printed by CN Invest a. s. It is a sister title to the E15 daily. Both periodicals, as well as a number of others, came under new ownership in the spring of 2016 when part of a portfolio formerly published by Mladá fronta a. s. was acquired. CN Invest a. s. publishes a broad range of print and online titles. In addition to other business-minded titles, the company also publishes lifestyle and women’s magazines (Maminka, Dieta, Moje psychologie) and children’s titles (Mateřídouška, Sluníčko). The publishing house also enjoys a considerable presence in the segment of technical and men’s online titles. CN Invest, and its sister company CZECH NEWS CENTER a. s. (the biggest publishing house in the Czech Republic, with titles such as Blesk, Reflex, Svět motorů, ABC), are members of the media concern CZECH MEDIA INVEST a. s.

EW16103116A1.indd 16 26.10.2016 19:44:52