czech MBas: Welcome to the jungle

The alert buyer
EU Commissioner Věra
Jourová wants to awaken
the consumer to their rights
face to face pages 10–11
Black gold in the sands
73
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Canadian wilderness oil
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super-rich revenues
feature pages 12–13
czech MBas:
Welcome to
the jungle
Petr Weikert
A
round 10 years ago,
Petr Mašín was faced
with a major decision. The trained mechanical engineer was serving
as the head of a medium-sized
manufacturing company. Although he knew the ropes
very well, he felt uneasy about
making management-type decisions affecting the future of
his company. And so Mašín
sat down at a computer and
tried to discover how he might gain a Master of Business
Administration (MBA) degree,
which arms a graduate with
practical managerial skills. In
the Czech Republic, MBAs are
popular, but they are also much
maligned.
“When a person reaches a
certain phase of life, they seek
out new paths for potential development,” explains Mašín.
“As a manager, I wanted to
know more about business
economics, management and
financial analyses.” Ultimately, Mašín decided upon the
Prague-based University of
Economics and Management
[VŠEM] for his MBA. “One
piece of important information that I learned at the start
of the course was that – as is
often the case – I might not be
able to practically apply all the
knowledge I learn. So studying
for an MBA helps far more in
terms of gaining a means to
communicate with the people who have climbed to the
top of their respective fields.
In essence, we learn what to
discuss with company economists, marketing specialists
and others,” adds Mašín.
Unlike many who ultimately
drop out along the way, Mašín
persevered in his studies. The
course began with two classes
of 25 freshmen each. By the
second year, 25 students remained, merged into just one
class. Only seven completed
the course in the allotted period. “That is one reason why
I chose this school – that it
wasn’t simply issuing degrees
to order. I wanted to actually
learn something for my money,” explains Mašín.
Continues on page 8
Photo: Shutterstock
Hundreds of thousands of crowns are
spent unnecessarily in the country’s
unregulated MBA degree industry
2/3
news
Prague wants to terminate its membership of a financial institution with no viable strategy for survival
Banking
Jaroslav Bukovský
T
he Czech finance ministry plans to initiate
negotiations for a dividend from the International
Bank for Economic Cooperation (IBEC). The IBEC and
the International Investment
Bank (IIB) are two surviving
financial institutions that
were created by the former
Eastern Bloc’s Council for
Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), which was
scrapped in 1991. The Czech
Republic is represented in the
IBEC’s management side by
side with countries including Mongolia and Vietnam.
However, the Czech Republic
has the advantage of a strong
position within the bank. With
a stake worth around CZK
10bn, Prague is second only to
Moscow when it comes to negotiating power. But the only
business the bank does nowadays comprises the leasing of
several sprawling buildings in
downtown Moscow.
“Where paying out shares
of profit is concerned the
bank’s board has the power
to make decisions in response to an initiative from one
or more member states. It
is the intention of the Czech
Republic to table the issue for
the June meeting of the IBEC
board,” said a Czech finance
ministry spokesman.
The Czech Republic obtained CZK 73m last year as its
share of the bank’s profits after the IBEC distributed the
retained profits of previous
The IBEC was established in 1963. The former Czechoslovakia
was one of its founding members. The main reason for
the bank’s existence was to provide clearing for mutual
deliveries of goods and services among the Comecon
member states. Following the disintegration of the Soviet
bloc, the IBEC was transformed into a regular international
commercial bank of regional importance.
Photo: ČTK
An artefact of history
Future wide open. The Comecon building completed in 1970
was designed to look like an open book. It is now used by
Moscow City Council
years following a prod from
Prague. The Czech stake in
the bank amounts to 13.34
percent, corresponding to
an accounting value of about
CZK 1.25bn. The majority of
the bank’s assets lie in a group
of buildings in Moscow leased out to Russian financial
tycoons. “The bank owns
buildings at 11 Masha Poryvayeva Street, near the Academician Sakharov Prospect,”
the finance ministry said. In
addition to being a home to
the IBEC itself, the building
hosts the headquarters of prominent Russian banks such as
Rosbank and Alfa Bank.
Sources close to the ministry told E15 daily that the
long-term intention of the
Czech Republic is to terminate its membership in the
IBEC. One possible scenario
is the liquidation of the bank.
Its heterogeneous group of
members lacks anything
that could be considered as
a viable long-term strategy.
“All the IBEC member states agree that they have very
little in the way of a plan for
the institution,” the finance
ministry observed.
Revived Christian Democrats
want regional recovery
Pavel Otto
Following their return to parliament and government, the
Christian Democrats [KDU-ČSL] are seeking to win back their
former regional influence too.
Presently, the party, which won
no parliamentary seats in 2010
but gained 14 in 2013, holds no
governorships anywhere in the
country. But 2014’s local elections gave KDU-ČSL the greatest
success of the traditional parties. The party also gained extra
seats in the Senate, where they
now comprise the third largest
group. They have also managed
to rid themselves of debt.
In late May, at the KDU-ČSL
party congress in Zlín, incumbent chairman Pavel Bělobrádek
was convincingly re-elected with
91 percent of the vote. In the future, said Bělobrádek, the party
plans to seek out right-of-centre
voters: “In next year’s local elections, we need to break up the
red-orange coalitions. It isn’t
right for local education to be
run by communists,” noted Bělobrádek, referring to the nine
Social Democrat-Communist
local governing coalitions nati-
Red alert. It isn’t right for local education to be run by
communists, says Pavel Bělobrádek
onwide. Congress delegates also
assessed the fruits of the party’s
membership, as the most junior
partner, in the current Social
Democrat-ANO-KDU-ČSL
governing coalition. Defending
the arrangement, Bělobrádek
argued his party had succeeded
in placing 80 percent of its top
priorities in the official government policy programme.
“Of this, half has already been
enacted. We aren’t playing for
effect, but to score goals,” he
added. One stated success is
an increase in tax credits for
working families with children.
ANO leader Andrej Babiš, unlike PM Bohuslav Sobotka (Social
Democrat) or the leaders of the
Civic Democrats and TOP 09
(who were all there as guests),
was absent from the congress.
Consequently, he found himself
the target of heavy criticism. “If
we accept [Babiš's] premise of
running the state like a private
company, then we are willingly
supporting the destruction of
democracy,” warned re-elected
KDU-ČSL Deputy Chairman
Jan Bartošek.
He bypassed Babiš,
he had to go
Vladan Gallistl,
David Vagaday
Globes for Vary
Photo: ČTK
Karlovy Vary-based glassworks factory Moser has been commissioned to make 16 crystal globes
for the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival set to take place from 3 to 7 July. The bronze
statuettes holding the globes come from the studio of Miloš Vacek. The crystal balls are made by
Moser glassmakers with the whole five-kilogram trophy assembled at the glassworks
Finance Minister Andrej Babiš
has unexpectedly rid himself
of his Social Democrat deputy
Martin Pros. The official reason for the move was a loss of
confidence because of a letter
sent to the Czech National Bank
[ČNB] in which Pros requested a
screening for possible manipulation of PRIBOR [the Prague
InterBank Offered Rate]. There
is conjecture, however, that a
dispute over the regulation of
financial advisers’ commissions
also stands behind the dismissal.
It is said that Babiš is upset that
his deputy lowered the commissions without his knowledge.
The first nail went into Pros’
coffin during April when ČNB
Governor Miroslav Singer asked
for an investigation into alleged
manipulation of PRIBOR. This
led to criticism from Babiš.
He said Pros’ initiative, about
which he had known nothing,
had damaged the good standing
of the Czech banking market.
According to the information of
E15 daily, Singer complained to
Babiš about Pros’ letter during
a session of the International
Monetary Fund.
In recent days, Pros angered
Babiš again. Social Democrat
MP Ladislav Šincl brought forward a draft legislative amendment on insurance brokers,
which Pros agreed to. But Babiš insisted that he was unaware of his ministry lending its
backing to proposed changes.
According to E15.cz sources, a
delegation of insurance agents
warned the minister about cuts
in commissions which they
were entirely opposed to.
Have your say
Igor Záruba
Pressing issues lost
in an overflowing in-tray
Photo: ČTK
Dividend sought from relic of Comecon
With Greece teetering on the economic edge, Ukraine still
in a stand-off with Russia and global markets as jittery about
prospects as ever, the G7 summit in Bavaria has a rather
chaotic in-tray. So, as we went to press, it wasn’t easy to
predict how much notice would be taken of David Cameron’s
EU tour designed to gain support for the renegotiation of his
country’s membership of the European bloc. On the UK PM’s
itinerary are the European Commission, German Chancellor
Angela Merkel, and French President François Hollande. The
threat, at least on paper, is the UK’s possible withdrawal from
the EU. Pressured by the eurosceptic wing of his Conservative
party, the newly re-elected Cameron clearly feels compelled
to spend major political capital on this endeavour, no matter
what thickness of brick wall he encounters in presenting his
ideas on the other side of the Channel.
Meanwhile, an anonymous survey of Wall Street and City of
London bankers has emerged. According to German daily
FAZ, one in four financial sector workers admit they are
prepared to act illegally to make money. Furthermore, a fifth
believe that immoral or illegal conduct is necessary to get
ahead. More than one-third of top earners (those who take
home at least USD 500,000 annually) confessed to witnessing
such activities at first hand.
And so almost seven years on from the fall of Lehman Brothers – the event that kicked off the world financial crisis – it
appears that the ensuing “get tough on the banks regime”
which recently included billions in fines for interest and currency rates manipulation, money laundering, insider trading,
and ignoring creditor risk, have failed to tame the beast at
all. Bankers appear to have regressed even further.
Many polled also admitted that the current oversight system
is ineffective. Experts agree that greater ethical standards
can be cultivated in the financial sector, partly by reforming
the system of bonus payments. The first cat is already out of
the bag in regards to playing down the need for such ideas:
US giant JP Morgan Chase recently published a new ethical
codex. Genuinely cowed or just a PR exercise?
On the other side of the proverbial wall, new data reveals
that the number of workers with less than 10 years on the
job is currently double that of those working for 20 years. In
other words, job security is down, job insecurity is up. None
of which, I might add, is topping the official agenda of the
upcoming G7 summit, taking place in Germany from 7-8 June.
Sure, the phrase “prudent financial market architecture” has
been tacked on to the official section covering sustainable
economic growth and free trade. But the G7 meeting will largely ignore banking and financial oversight, as if the matter
has already solved itself. Come to think of it, have we really
learned anything since 2008?
The author is the Executive Editor of E15 weekly
Painting installed as 600th anniversary
of Hus’s execution nears
Photo: ČTK
A special crane was needed to lift a 19th-century painting, Hus before the Council of Constance,
into a temporary home in a former Tábor town hall building. The sizeable artwork,
painted in 1883 by Václav Brožík, is to form part of an exhibition marking the 600th anniversary
of the 6 July, 1415 burning at the stake for heresy of reformist Christian priest and philosopher
Jan Hus. Pope John Paul II apologised for the execution of Hus in 1999. The canvas measures
5.5 by 3.5 metres and weighs around 400kg
E15 weekly, economic and business newsmagazine | www.e15.cz |
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4/5
business
Financier Pavel Bodlák wants to target more affluent clients with new investment firm Carduus
C
arduus, due to announce its arrival on
the Czech financial
markets in June, will set out
to make profits from “better
situated” clients. It will offer
the management of their assets and investments made
through Qualifying Investor Funds (QIFs). One-time
financier of financial group
PPF Pavel Bodlák and former
boss of the Amista firm Vít
Vařeka stand behind the new
market player.
“When it comes to the management of clients’ assets,
the main investment assets
will be fixed-income securities traded on developed and
regulated markets, including
publicly traded exchange traded funds, or ETFs. The funds
of Carduus will be focused on
direct investments into companies and real estate proper-
ty in combination with debt
financing,” said Vařeka.
The controlling stake in
the new investment company will be held by Bodlák who
will extend existing business
carried out under Carduus
Wealth Management, a financial group based in Zurich,
Switzerland. It has for some
years been operating on the
market providing advisory
services for well-off clients.
Bodlák has brought to
Prague his hitherto partner
Emil Šťáva, who for many
years worked for banks such
as Merrill Lynch and Credit
Suisse.
Czech National Bank [ČNB]
data showed that to the end
of April 27 investment companies were operating in the
Czech Republic, three more
than were present last year.
Carduus is arriving on the
market on the eve of substantial legislative changes in the
area of QIFs, which should
New player.
The controlling
stake in
the new
investment
company will
be held by
former PPF
financier Pavel
Bodlák
Photo: archive
finance
Jaroslav Bukovský
make this type of investment
vehicle accessible to a wider
array of takers.
While the minimum QIF
deposit currently stands at
EUR 125,000 (approx. CZK
3.5m), from next year the
entry-investment could be
lowered to around EUR 1020,000. There are around 130
QIFs on the Czech market,
which together manage an assets volume of roughly CZK
85bn, according to the Czech
Capital Market Association.
Spanish
reverse out
of rail tender
E-Commerce Holding
in investment drive
up and down
Martin Pros
Ex-Deputy Finance Minister
Daniel Novák
Following a financial shot in
the arm from investors Daniel
Křetínský and Patrik Tkáč, ECommerce Holding (ECH) is
already flexing its muscle. A
group of 16 e-shops operated
by ECH, in turn controlled by
the Rockaway Group, intends
to invest tens of millions of
crowns in a technological
and logistics platform this
year alone. The group is also
looking for expansion opportunities across Central and
Eastern Europe and potentially further afield as well: in
Latin America and Asia. The
holding’s consolidated revenues are expected to jump by
40 percent compared to last
year to exceed CZK 1.5bn.
A major share of the current capital expenditure is in
support of the holding’s online grocery store Kolonial.cz,
the launch of which is imminent. “We have invested in a
warehouse in Rudná u Prahy, just outside the city. The
warehouse looked very large
at first but we have already
found out that we will have to
expand it,” said Jan Jírovec,
He supported a move to lower commissions
on settled life insurance policies, which put
him in conflict with Finance Minister Andrej
Babiš. Sources claim that could be the real
reason why he was dismissed.
Lubomír Kovařík
Boss of Česká Zbrojovka
Photo: archive
New fund for well-heeled unveiled
All go in Rudná na Prahy.
The warehouse makes 24,000 square metres of storage
the holding’s CEO, speaking
to E15 daily.
ECH is poised to expand
the warehouse’s 7,500 square
metres of floor area. Storage
racks provide an area of about
10,000 square metres. After
the completion of planned
galleries and other storage
facilities, the holding’s storage capacity at Rudná u Prahy
will increase to about 24,000
square metres. The online
grocery store is expected to
utilise around 35 percent of
the storage capacity with the
rest being available for other
goods traded by the holding’s
shops.
In addition to developing a
unified technological and logistics platform for all of the
holding’s e-shops, ECH is also
plotting a broader international reach. “It is certainly our
ambition to become a major
player in Central and Eastern
Europe,” Jírovec added.
Film-makers’ favourite mill up for sale
Photo: Michael Tomeš
The Prague property market recently took on an unusual addition. A historical estate and cultural monument protected by the state has
been put up for sale by its owners. Trojan’s Mill [Trojanův mlýn] has often been used by both Czech and Hollywood film-makers. The mill
comes with a price tag of CZK 100m. Having featured in the US thriller Bourne Identity, it has, you might say, achieved worldwide fame
Pavel Bělobrádek
Chairman, Christian Democratic Party
[KDU-ČSL]
At the party congress in Zlín of the smallest
party in the ruling government coalition
he retained his post of KDU-ČSL chairman
without a hitch. The party, which failed to
gain a parliamentary seat in the last election
but one, is thriving on his leadership.
Christian Karnath
CEO, Kaufland CR
Jan Šindelář
ADIF, the Spanish state-owned
railway infrastructure manager, was poised to take part in
providing a solution for the
future of the Czech high-speed railway network. However,
the European number one in
the sector has been discouraged by the tender’s terms and
conditions.
ADIF entered into an agreement with Czech organisation
CEDOP. According to CEDOP’s
director Petr Šlegr, the CzechSpanish partnership backed
away from the tender as it could
not meet the qualification requirements. These were labelled
by Šlegr as discriminating. The
matter is already being investigated by the Czech anti-trust
authority.
The Czech railway infrastructure manager, SŽDC, has
however decided not to wait
for the outcome of the investigation. It has already signed a
contract with the winner.
The Uherský Brod arms maker has made
the short list in a tender for the supply of
240,000 assault rifles for the re-arming of
the Indian army. The rival bidders are from
Italy and Israel.
Following an agricultural and foodstuffs
inspection, the business was fined CZK
400,000 for marking goods with foreign
origins with a flag and label bearing the
slogan “Fresh from the CR”.
Bronisław Komorowski
Outgoing Polish President
In an upset, he narrowly lost the presidential
election. He was put forward for re-election
by Civic Platform, which has been the major
coalition partner in Poland’s government
since 2007.
Armin Delong
Physicist, Czech Academy of Sciences
Taxman catches up with raw tobacco
Photo: Profimedia.cz
A consumption tax is to be levied on raw tobacco. The required legislation for the tax has just been
passed by the Parliament’s lower chamber. The new tax will befall anyone who uses raw tobacco
for any purpose other than the manufacture of cigarettes or for export consignments
The founder of acclaimed electron
microscopy has won the Association for
Foreign Investment (AFI) award for his
long-term contribution to the investment
environment of the Czech Republic.
6/7
opinion
up close & personal
Hospitals need surgery
Jana Havligerová’s political diary
Every finance
minister worth
their salt has
confronted the
effectiveness
of the Czech
healthcare system.
Andrej Babiš is no
different. Expect
a new battle on the
old battleground
Equip the Chamber now
Photo: Jan Rasch
Excepting the
communists, the
opposition parties of the
Chamber of Deputies were
so outraged by ANO MPs
recently voting to continue
the controversial biofuel
subsidies – in spite of their
leader and Finance Minister
Andrej Babiš’s stated
opposition to such subsidies
– that they called for a vote
of confidence in the ruling
coalition. It’s as if they’ve
forgotten the old Czech
adage: dumb who gives,
even dumber who fails to
take...
Miroslav
Zámečník
I
f the intensity of current
media reports are anything
to go by, then the finance
ministry is upping the pressure for an increased say in the
country’s healthcare system.
The problem is not, nor has
it ever been, net healthcare expenditure. Although this is at
employers in their locations.
Any restructuring will inevitably hit a political roadblock
– so far, two such attempts have
ended without success. The result is plenty of hospital beds,
as well as the crucial problem
of high fixed operating costs.
Solving the latter issue will
oversight. From the point of
view of public finance stability,
the ministry has a right, and
even duty, to ensure that the
plans offered by healthcare insurers are equitable, and that
our healthcare system learns
to play by the same rules as the
rest of the economy.
The finance ministry has a right to ensure
that the plans offered by healthcare insurers
are equitable. The best way forward is to
appoint an expert commission
a lower GDP ratio than what
is found in the wealthiest nations, it is roughly comparable to
that of other Central European
nations. Indeed, our healthcare
indicators paint a pretty decent
picture, with a little money,
in essence, going a long way
towards good care. But that
doesn’t mean there isn’t room
for improvement on a microeconomic level. One inescapable factor is the relatively high
number of patient doctor visits.
An optimal middle path in the
form of economic “gatekeeping” (without patients having
to pay a fee) is something this
country has failed to create.
Then there is the matter of
hospitals, typically the largest
require major restructuring.
Or, stated otherwise, it will
require many hospitals to be
transformed into institutions
providing care for the elderly – and without ambitions to
practice medicine.
As we know, a former hospital reimbursement mechanism, founded upon payments
for groups of diagnoses, was
replaced with a system whose
methodology remains opaque.
Something more objective and
fair will evidently have to wait
five more years.
Given the system’s woes, the
finance ministry would understandably like to take a look under the proverbial hood. Indeed, there is even talk of pricing
But rather than battling with
colleagues, the best way forward is to appoint an expert
commission, preferably with
an international component.
This will produce a report,
forcing individual parties to
retreat from their entrenched
positions. PM Bohuslav Sobotka can hardly oppose such
a plan.
Eleven years ago, as finance
minister, he did the very same
thing. And so we are faced
with a new battle on an old
stage. Any finance minister
intent on showing their mettle has confronted the Czech
healthcare system’s struggles.
Babiš is sure to do more than
dabble.
Unsurprisingly, the vote
to continue the biofuel
subsidies had a behindthe-scenes epilogue. While
Babiš suggested Deputy
Chair and head of the
parliamentary “TOP 09 and
Mayors” faction Miroslav
Kalousek should undergo
a breathalyser test after
each statement made in the
chamber, Kalousek retorted
that Babiš should undertake
lie detector tests under the
same conditions. Let’s hope
our parliament finds the
money for these schemes.
Brno has announced
a Year of Reconciliation
for all WWII victims. One
person not reconciled to
this idea is South Moravian
Governor and Social
joke
Democrat Michal Hašek. He
is unhappy over Brno Mayor
Petr Vokřál’s description
of the post-war expulsion
of Germans from the city
as “violent”. Consequently,
he has declined to take
part in memorial events
to be attended by not
only Czech politicians
and clergy, but also the
German and Austrian
ambassadors. Meanwhile,
Social Democrat Senator
Zdeněk Škromach went
a step further, describing
Brno’s representatives as
“collaborators” for such
reconciliatory measures. Not
sure what such a tough line
will do for the party’s image.
A photo of Transport
Minister Dan Ťok, spade in
hand, shovelling asphalt,
became the talk of the town
last week. Ťok was levered
into this public relations
exercise by readers of
tabloid Blesk. They were
asked by the paper to
point out some of the most
egregious examples of
potholed Czech roads. The
minister then embarked
on an inspection of road
repair efforts, adding
that he, too, was working
“shovel in hand”. So Ťok
appears to have mastered
the intricacies of PR. Now if
he could only master actual
competent road-building...
Cameron revisits Thatcher’s ‘Right to Buy’
Michael
Zámečník
The Queen’s Speech
at last week’s State
Opening of Parliament
in the UK confirmed
the new government’s
plan to sell off swathes
of housing association
homes to tenants
despite the national
housing crisis
A151005033
T
he original concept of the ‘Right
to Buy’ extends back to British
politics of the 1980s. The scheme
was a popular cornerstone policy of
Margaret Thatcher, with hundreds of
thousands of local government council
houses sold at substantially discounted
rates into the private ownership of the
dwellers.
Endeavouring to emulate the success of that policy, re-elected PM David
Cameron is pressing ahead with a new
housing bill. It will extend subsidised
house-buying to 1.3 million housing
association tenants, who will be offered
the chance to purchase properties with
discounts ranging up to GBP 100,000.
But unlike Thatcher’s policy, this election pledge has not met with the same
strident reception.
In a country strained by an acute
shortage of affordable housing, the
prospect of selling off limited stocks
of cheaper rented homes has been heavily criticised. Campbell Robb, Chief
Executive of Shelter, a housing charity,
said the policy was “yet another nail in
the coffin for affordable housing. We
In a country strained by an acute
shortage of affordable housing,
the prospect of selling off limited
stocks of cheaper homes
has been heavily criticised
have already seen an outright failure
to replace like for like the homes sold
under Right to Buy”. Indeed, of approximately two million council-owned properties sold since 1980, only 345,000
were replaced.
Wider public opinion has proved
equally as damning. According to polls
conducted by the Financial Times,
traditionally a Conservative-leaning
newspaper, a whopping 83.5 percent
of people believe the policy will worsen
the current situation, cutting the supply
of affordable rented housing.
The government has countered by
arguing that sale receipts will go to-
wards building “affordable” housing
stock. The bill promises 200,000 “starter homes” at a 20-percent discount
for first-time buyers under 40, the
population segment most affected by
skyrocketing house prices.
Nevertheless, the supposed solutions
offered by the Tories will hardly solve
what has turned into a nationwide crisis of housing supply unless more is
done to free up land and permissions
to build are dramatically extended. Unfortunately, with the pervasive spectre
of nimbyism and a government eager
to please its voters, this seems unlikely
to happen.
a dve r t i s i ng
8/9
cover story
Czech MBAs:
Welcome to the jungle
‘MBAs that barely hit Bachelor’s
degree standards’
Czechs’ obsession with degrees, and a
willingness to pay hundreds of thousands of crowns to be able to have a
prestigious three letters after one’s
name (such as Mgr.), has led to the
creation of a profitable higher education industry. But there are no official
numbers. Statisticians do not tabulate
this field separately, while the Ministry
of Education neither formally recogni-
ses, nor administers MBA title awards.
Experts contacted by Euro magazine
estimate that around 150 Czech institutions offers this degree. There are
presently 44 private universities in
the country. Thirty of these offer an
MBA title. The majority of institutions offering MBAs thus operate via
study courses, including online ones.
Prices range from CZK 54,000 for a
University of Economics, Prague [VŠE]
French-Czech course supported by the
French government, to hundreds of
thousands of crowns. The average price
is between CZK 150-300,000.
The question of who has the authority to award MBA degrees in the Czech
Republic remains unresolved. In a statement to Euro, the Ministry of Education said it had no plans to regulate professional MBA courses because they are
A key piece of important information I learned
at the start of the course was that – as is often
the case – I may not be able to practically apply
all the knowledge I learn
Photo: Profimedia.cz
The graduate added that for him, simple
endurance proved the greatest challenge. Spending the summer holidays by
the sea, a book in hand, isn’t for everyone. Furthermore, weekend classes
subtract from precious family and social
time. On the other hand, Mašín was glad
of the opportunity to mingle at school
with other students, many of whom were
managers and bosses of notable businesses spanning many fields. “I gained
many contacts, and it proved particularly informative to observe how fellow
students tackled particular assignments.
The atmosphere in our classes was engaging, and much different from previous
schooling experiences. Certainly there
were no paper airplanes being thrown
at the teacher!”
In the ensuing eight years after completing his post-graduate studies, Petr
Mašín worked in several different jobs.
He never again worked in a sub-management capacity. Today, he works
as a business consultant and is also an
Inceptor at the Economics Faculty of
the University of West Bohemia [ZČU],
where he specialises in risk management issues.
Such experiences underscore the
potential benefits of an MBA, but also
how difficult it can be to secure the
vaunted degree. Mašín was fortunate in
that he was able to find a good school.
But as many other examples across the
Czech Republic show, MBA studies can
be a thick and lawless jungle.
Troubling quality. “Seventy percent of students are unable to write up
a quality project. They‘re largely writing compilation pieces and rehashing
well-worn themes, with only one in one hundred writing something truly
original,” says MBA teacher Leoš Bárta
not required for working in any specific
profession. Nor will MBAs be legally recognised degrees any time soon. MBAs
can thus be offered by any institution
which has reached an agreement with
a certified foreign school. No official
rules govern teaching standards, or
mandatory accreditation regulate the
quality of offered studies.
Leoš Bárta is a young MBA teacher at the Prague-based College of
Information Management, Business
Administration and Law [VŠMIEP]. He
believes the government should give its
blessing to this degree. “Anyone able
to talk in front of students can teach
an MBA course in this country. I have
sat in on countless final exams and defences of theses, and must say that in
a good deal of cases, I have witnessed
a massacre of sorts. Some schools are
teaching MBAs, which in reality are
barely at Bachelor’s degree standards,”
argues Bárta. The main pitfalls, he adds,
are student work and its correlation to
hands-on experience. “Seventy percent
of students are unable to write up a
quality dissertation. Rather, they create
compilation pieces, selecting well-worn
and already thoroughly-analysed sub-
ject matters. Individual contributions
remain weak. On average, of the hundreds of works I see, perhaps two are
in some way interesting. Which is a
very small number. But the problem
harks back to elementary schooling –
students are not encouraged to think
independently.”
Individual application
Following his experiences with the
Czech MBA landscape, Bárta now teaches MBA-level marketing at VŠMIEP.
The institution significantly expanded
the number of courses on offer last
year, but still lacks any kind of accreditation. Indeed, the school says it wants
to establish its own accreditation rules
– something which Czech law permits.
“We don’t want to apply for any of the
existing accreditations. We will create
our own principles. We will accredit
ourselves and then others in cooperation with renowned foreign schools,”
explains Bárta.
The teacher also argues that VŠMIEP
insists upon having each subject taught
by at least three experienced experts in
their respective fields. Student exams
are also evaluated by the school from a
Photo: Shutterstock
Continued from page 1
financial viewpoint – meaning how ideas
can be sold in the marketplace, and to
whom. Each exam must be worth at least
a theoretical CZK 100,000. Somewhat
unusually, their MBAs are divided up
into distinct fields – for example generational change in companies, marketing
2.0 or sales manager.
According to Bárta, an MBA title is
important because, asides from a theoretical knowledge, students gain key skills
and decision-making abilities. But, in reality, deciding which school to attend can
be just as important. Bárta recommends
interested parties research the reputation of a given institution, the make-up of
its teaching staff, and also which experienced persons from the field of business
choose to lecture there.
But there is one more tip. Dozens
of institutions operate under the
CAMBAS (Czech Association of MBA
Schools) umbrella. This association
provides accreditation, with schools
then required to meet its educational
criteria. CAMBAS is itself a member of
the Europe-based EQUAL (European
Quality Link), an international association of quality assessment and accreditation agencies devoted to business
education. All MBA-related institutions
across the world are members [outside
the US, organisations such as the Association of MBAs (AMBA) oversee accreditation –Ed] . “In selecting a school, a
student should chiefly examine the level
of accreditation of a given institution.
That is the best benchmark for selecting a quality school,” says CAMBAS
chairman Milan Malý, adding that the
number of Czech business schools has
remained largely unchanged in recent
years. Meaning that the market has
largely settled.
long since passed in the Czech Republic. But despite this, considerable interest remains in the field. Expats living
in the Czech Republic represent an
interesting addition to the next generation of MBA-seekers. In many cases,
these are managers of foreign firms,
living in the country and lacking the
time to study back home. Consequently,
as of this October, the University of
Economics, Prague [VŠE] is starting a
course taught exclusively in English.
Furthermore, an English MBA will be
on offer at the International School
of Business and Management [ISBM]
Beyond trendy
from within their faculty of business
The initial mid-2000s wave, when administration.
MBAs became a trendy novelty – one
Since 2008, VŠE has offered Czechsurfed by the likes of Petr Mašín – have English studies – 21 students current-
Seventy percent of students
are unable to write a decent
dissertation. Instead, they write-up
compilation pieces on well-worn
and previously-analysed subjects
ly attend such courses. Also on offer
since 1992 are Czech-French studies,
currently attended by 29 students. Since their founding, 600 students have
partaken in these courses.
For educational institutions, student
numbers are crucial. No-one – not even
the education ministry – collects information on the number of Czech MBA
students, or the extent to which such
a degree increases earning power in
the country. The largest Czech MBA
schools have around 500 students
each, the smallest around 20. But for
a school, even 20 students can mean
a decent CZK 4m towards operating
costs.
According to Bárta, the future looks
bright for this popular field of study.
“Thirteen years ago, there were voices
saying MBAs have no future here, but
that has not proven correct. Until someone comes along with a better way
to complete a higher education, which
comprises practical business experience, the future for this field is strong.”
Also worth adding is that so long as
the Czech demand for titles remains,
the MBA, in all its forms, need not fear
for its future.
10/11
face to face
Věra JouroVá:
There is a website where one can
interactively search for information –
banners on social networks refer to this
website as do classic adverts in print
media and on posters.
Every consumer
has real rights
And how can the campaigning do that?
To claim one’s rights, one must first
know what they are, so the information campaign chiefly wants to put out
information about the kind of rights
people have. There is the right to return
goods purchased online within 14 days,
there is the right to purchase contracts
without hidden or disadvantageous
provisions, and there is also the right
to have truthful advertising and the
right to have faulty goods exchanged or
repaired. These are four basic rights in
the consumer protection field.
When it comes to a consumer credit, there is the right to pre-contract
information. I should add that we’re
talking about information that must be
delivered in a comprehensible way, with
the inclusion of information on what
conditions the person taking the loan
is subject to. There’s the famous Annual Percentage Rate [APR, or RPSN
in Czech], which in other words is the
increase in the percentage over the
year. The consumer needs to know in
advance how much in total they will
pay by the end. And as we have discovered, the way that the APR is calculated
varies. It is necessary to explore whether there’s also a need to unify these
calculations.
Another right of the consumer is
the right to withdraw from a contract
within 14 days, while finally we have the
right to complete the payment of a loan
prior to the final payment deadline that
was arranged – including the amount
that the provider was supposed to make
Igor Záruba
in profit. All these rights require European legislation in the form of directiYou have arrived back in Prague to ves, which are then processed through
introduce a consumer protection in- the member states’ legal systems.
formation campaign. What does it inWhy is it the Czech Republic‘s turn to
volve?
In fact it comprises of two cam- have the campaign period right now?
paigns, with the first focused on the
This wasn’t planned by me, I took
protection of consumers. The second over the issue at the Commission. The
concentrates on peoples’ rights when information campaign has in the past
it comes to taking a consumer loan. In year passed through eight countries,
other words, one is generalised, while and this year it is taking place in a furthe the other one is specific. But we can ther six, the Czech Republic included.
say that both of them basically state the The campaign focused on loans last
same thing: let’s convince people that year visited four countries, and this
they actually have rights and that they year we’re planning three visits – the
Czech Republic, Austria and Greece.
should claim those rights.
What comprises your personal contribution, did you make some changes?
I’ve asked for new data, because I’m interested in this. Politics from the vantage
point that looks at individual behaviour
is an important part of my job. This is
also reflected in the campaign in which
we focus on each individual in order to
explain to them what rights they have and
how they can claim them. When working
on a consumer policy, I am interested in
How are you determining the order in
which you are visiting these countries?
Is it with a view to the state of things in
the given countries?
No, on the basis of agreements
struck with the institutions in the EU
states that they will cooperate with the
campaign.
So you are dependent on their willingness?
In each member state I am dependent on whether the corresponding
ministry, as well as the corresponding
institution that oversees the market,
will identify with the campaign. In our
country, we turn to the Czech Trade
Inspection Authority [ČOI]. Thanks
to this authority, the campaign has arrived here.
Are the member states contributing to
this activity?
No, it’s all coming from the European Commission budget. The general consumer protection campaign is
costing 1.1 million euros. The plan is
that it will be around for five years,
so for this year we’re talking about
620,000 euros. The consumer credits
campaign is costing one million euros with 200,000 euros for the Czech
Republic. The [industry and trade]
ministry and the ČOI are sourcing
something from their budget plans,
so they will also have an outlay.
You have mapped the situation. Have
you worked purely from national polls
or did European Union statisticians get
involved?
We have drawn on national polls. In
the Czech Republic, the conclusion was
that 30 percent of people would like to
take a loan within the course of the next
two years. Another survey showed that
up to 52 percent of consumer credits
were bad ones, meaning that the people
who took them were caught by surprise in terms of what they had actually
contractually signed up for. And they
were also surprised by the frequency of
the payments... I wouldn’t say that the
situation in the Czech Republic is much
worse than elsewhere, but awareness
is of course necessary.
Above all, what should the campaign
mainly cause consumers to do?
It should strengthen prevention,
raise alertness. It should lead to consumers really reading the contract, and
consulting it with somebody, and only
then deciding whether to take a con-
The protection of the consumer
has a big tradition in Europe, we
have a lot of regulation here but
that‘s not going to be sufficient on
it‘s own
a concrete person who is not a lawyer
and does not read contracts in advance,
and so after all shouldn’t be needlessly
surprised by the unbelievable conditions
or rules that a merchandiser – or one of
their lawyers – has come up with.
I wouldn’t say that the situation in the Czech Republic is much worse than elsewhere, but awareness is of course necessary
Are the older EU member states evidencing better results than the newer
ones?
In terms of awareness, there are no
significant differences. But I have to
say that I see a significant difference
in terms of empiricism in the sense
that the Western European consumer
is [more experienced and so] more demanding. They can cause more trouble
for the merchandiser in claiming their
rights.
What does the information campaign
look like in reality?
Photo: Hynek Glos
E
uropean Union
Commissioner
Věra Jourová
is convinced that
consumers often have
no idea of what they
are entitled to demand
from merchandisers
and what steps they
can contemplate taking
against them. Jourová
– a Czech politician
and lawyer who serves
as the Commissioner
for Justice, Consumers
and Gender Equality
– wants to see more
public education that
would improve the
situation
Have you got a slogan? Have you some
television spots?
The slogan reads “You have rights”,
but there is no planned audiovisual
campaign.
I‘ll use a parallel with a camera system: when you place cameras somewhere, you see a drop in the number of offences and petty crimes. And that‘s only
because of the fact that the cameras can
reveal what occurs. In our case it also
applies that we are running campaigns
for higher awareness and more intensive defensive behaviour on the side of
the consumer, and we expect that the
number of complaints and disputes
emerging between the salesperson and
the consumer will subsequently fall. We
measure these processes and we will
continue to do so.
Věra Jourová (50)
Between 2001 and 2003 she served as head of the regional development department of the regional government of the Vysočina region and
subsequently became a deputy for the regional development minister
Jiří Paroubek. In 2006, she spent more than a month under investigative
arrest due to the Budišov case; no corruption was proved, the prosecution
was terminated in 2008. She has advised on the levying of European funds
in Romania, Georgia, Belarus and Moldavia. The year before last, she was
the ANO movement’s lead Vysočina region candidate for the parliamentary elections. Last year, she was made minister for regional development.
Since 1 November last year, she has served as the fourth Czech representative in the European Commission after Pavel Telička, Vladimír Špidla and
Štefan Füle.
But if people won’t take an interest
in contractual conditions no directive from above will resolve things for
them...
And that’s exactly why we’re doing
this campaign. The protection of the
consumer has a big tradition in Europe, we have a lot of regulation here
but that’s not going to be sufficient on
it’s own. Common sense must always
be put in first place, there must be an
ability to think things through as seen
from the side of the concrete person.
And a preventative task for each and
every one of us is to consider in what
way we are handling our finances...
Surveys show that people don’t read
contracts so much in our country. On
the other hand, isn‘t it a bit much to
have information written in tiny text
over several thousands of pages?
That’s why I was talking about the
fact that the directive on consumer
loans places the main emphasis on
the comprehensibility of the message.
The form of the information delivery
is important and there is no reason for
contracts to be complicated.
What reaction do you expect in the individual countries?
sumer loan. In the European directive,
which needs to be reflected through
national legislation, there is also a point
about being able to withdraw from a fixed contract. I am talking about cases
in which someone takes a loan at some
type of presentation event. I don’t want
to label these cases as fraudulent, but
unfortunately there are common and
special methods for detaching a person
from his or her money. Therefore there
is a ban on tying down money in this
way and a chance to withdraw from
such a contract.
There can be a whole range of reasons
why people accept these loans and similar ones...
Certainly. An advisory centre for
people in financial distress [which
I am familiar with] draws attention
to just how many bad credits people
take on and what pressures them to do
so. I would say that the life of a person
stands on three legs – their work, family and health – and that when two
of these legs are undermined, a person
doesn’t stand a chance and they are
driven into moves such as accepting
a bad credit. I’d say also that thanks to
the monitoring of developments that
such advisory centres undertake, we
will find out if this campaign proved
efficient. And if its outcome turned out
to be long-term or even permanent,
which would be something national
bodies would secure, it could lead to
a smaller number of personal bankruptcies.
12/13
feature
Striking
black gold
Alberta potential.
The oil sand deposit to be exploited by
PetroLama, majority-owned by Silesiabased entrepreneur Petr Lamich,
contains up to 300 million barrels of
extractable oil. “We could be producing
oil here for 30 years,” says Scott
Holmes, the greying Canadian at the
helm of the company
in the wilderness
A
big bet
on oil sands
in northern
Canadian back country
has paid off for Petr
Lamich. Revenues
of CZK 20bn were
recorded by his
company PetroLama
last year
Photo: archive
CZK
Vast swathes of coniferous forests interspersed with lakes and quagmires
stretch for hundreds of miles on end.
The air is thick with mosquitoes in the
summer and temperatures plummet to
minus forty in the winter. These are
lands in which bears roam and barely
any people live, save perhaps for a few
Aboriginal Canadians. Roads won’t get
you to this remote territory – if you really want to arrive there, you must take
to the air. The landscape described is
found around Namur Lake in northern
Alberta, west of the Athabasca River.
It is here that an exploratory bore was
drilled by Calgary-headquartered PetroLama Energy Canada, a company
in which Petr Lamich, an entrepreneur and a Silesia-based native of the
Czech Republic, holds a majority stake.
However, no oil is being produced at the
site just yet as the company has not yet
received all the necessary permits from
the Canadian authorities.
Obtaining the permits will amount
to a big breakthrough for the company,
which is backed by Czech capital. The
two-year plan is to extract as many as
10,000 barrels of oil a day from depths
of several hundred metres in the early
Photo: Profimedia.cz
Petr Horký
Lucrative oil sands.
There are areas where the bituminous material rises to the surface
on its own and it has been used by local indigenous populations
to tar canoes since time immemorial
stages, and to gradually increase output
to up to 40,000 barrels of oil a day. The
deposits are immense: there are an estimate 300 million barrels of extractable
oil. “We could be producing oil here
for 30 years,” says Scott Holmes, the
greying Canadian who is at the helm
of the company.
They met in Calgary
The story of the Czech presence amid
the Canadian oil sands began with a lucky encounter. Czech manager Pavel
Pojdl was working in Calgary as a commodity trader for the international company Mercuria Energy. When Mercuria
Energy decided to close its Calgary
offices, which were mostly trading in
oil, the employees left behind sought
ways to stay in business. Pojdl knew entrepreneur Lamich, who in the Czech
Republic undertook business in diverse
fields – from selling electricity and gas
to households to telecommunications
to small-scale oil production. And thus
the initial required capital was found
to get a Canadian branch of business,
namely PetroLama Energy Canada, off
the ground. Lamich owns an 85 percent
stake in his Lama business group which
in turn holds a 60 percent stake in the
newly created Canadian company, with
the remainder in the hands of North
American shareholders and company
managers.
The main business of the company
was initially to purchase oil from small
producers and sell it on to bigger players. “Some of the small companies do
not want to deal directly with the big
ones. They may be reluctant to share
information with them or they can
have a host of other reasons. That is
where we step in,” says Holmes. As the
company grew, it gradually turned its
attention to areas with higher added
value, such as processing crude oil. At
its oil terminal in the Alida district of
the Saskatchewan province the company processed 6.8 million barrels last
year. Oil processing has now become
its main business, contributing approximately 65 percent of its total turno-
ver. Another 20 percent comes from
oil sales and the remaining 15 percent
from transporting oil. PetroLama leases 200 tank wagons to conduct its
oil transport activities. The company’s
total revenues reached 964 million
Canadian dollars last year, equivalent
to about CZK 20bn.
Lamich’s Canadian business contributes about two-thirds to the total
revenue of CZK 30bn generated by
his business group. The results feed
Lamich’s appetite for investment in the
Czech Republic as well. Back home he
has already wrapped up two acquisitions since the beginning of the year: that
of a heating plant in Kyjov plus the acquisition of one of the Czech operators
of satellite TV company Digi TV.
Tar for canoes
The company’ managers are well aware
that the next stepping stone for PetroLama on its way to ever greater heights
is securing its own source of oil. Canada possesses the world’s third biggest
oil reserves after Venezuela and Saudi
Arabia. Most of the 172 billion barrels
of extractable oil is deposited in what
are called oil sands, tar sands or, more
precisely, bituminous sands. As much
as 95 percent of the oil sands are found
in the wilderness of Northern Alberta,
where PetroLama has its plot near Namur Lake. The sands are a mix of clay,
sand, water and bitumen from which
oil can be extracted. However, oil sands
are too dense to allow for conventional
production. There are areas where the
bituminous material rises to the surface
on its own and it has been used by local
indigenous populations to tar canoes
since time immemorial. A method of
separating the oil from the rest of the
mineral material was discovered in 1929
by Canadian chemist Karl Clark.
The first truly successful oil sand
mine was opened in 1967 and opera-
on, on top of generating vast amounts
of emissions and polluted water. Although oil companies keep promising
to restore affected landscapes once
their production ceases, the industry
has not yet improved its considerably
tarnished reputation.
Open-cast mining gives access to
only about 20 percent of the oil sand
deposits in Canada, with the rest being
too deep under the surface to be accessible for the process. That is why deep
Open-cast oil sands mining
is strongly criticised by
environmentalists since it creates
a lifeless, crater-dotted landscape
ted by Great Canadian Oil Sands. The
company that founded it has since been
renamed Suncor Energy and it has become the biggest player in the oil sand
business in Canada. Initially, oil sands
used to be extracted from open-cast mines. The obtained material was mixed
with hot water to separate the bitumen.
However, this manner of bitumen extraction is quite controversial and it is
strongly criticised by environmentalists
since it creates a lifeless, crater-dotted
landscape for the duration of producti-
mining, which also happens to be a bit
more environmentally friendly, comes
into play on an increasing scale. The
most frequently employed technology is SAGD: steam assisted gravity
drainage that uses a pair of horizontal
boreholes drilled into a deposit. The
upper borehole is used to pump high
pressure steam into the solid deposit
while the lower one is then used to
extract the released oil. SAGD is the
technology that PetroLama has selected for use by Namur Lake. A new
30
bn
is the annual revenues generated
by Petra Lamich’s business group
consortium has been established,
named PetroLama Namur Oil Sands
Exploration, to carry out the project.
PetroLama holds a majority stake in
the consortium, Holmes confirmed.
An investment to the tune of up to one
billion dollars will be needed before
production can commence.
According to Holmes, there are
several companies operating in the
vicinity of Namur Lake. Some plan to
extract a couple of thousand barrels
a day while others hope to produce
as much as 200,000 barrels per day.
With its plans for 10,000 to 40,000,
PetroLama ranks in the medium-sized
grouping. Latest information indicates
that everything should be ready at the
site, complete with all the necessary
permits, for production to commence
towards the end of 2017.
Global oil prices are currently decidedly low with a barrel of Western
Canadian Select, the oil produced from
the sands of Alberta, selling at around
USD 50. However, Holmes maintains
that it still pays to extract oil from the
sand even at the current price level:
“When you plan to produce oil for the
next 30 years you are not really concerned about today’s price.” And despite
the very low oil prices, the number of
new projects in Canada keeps growing.
Bloomberg predicts the volume of oil
production will rise by 3.5 percent this
year.
14/15
wine & dine
society
society
Luka Lu
Major spa sanatorium renovation celebrated
Darkov Spa held a celebratory opening for a newly reconstructed floor of its
spa sanatorium in Karviná-Hranice. The modernisation of 120 rooms on the
third floor required an investment of some CZK 40m. A symbolic ribbon was
jointly cut by Deputy Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region Ivan Strachoň,
Czech paralympic archer Lenka Kuncová and the Darkov Spa General Director
Pavlína Filipi
a Balkan powerhouse
Photo: Jiří Kuneš
Hearty
Bosnian-Serbian
cuisine can
survive even
in the centre
of Prague
150,000 crowns’ worth of good shots
Petr Holec
O
a dve r t i s i ng
A151002214
Photos: Martin Pinkas
Roasted
Octopus.
In the
traditional
“pod peko”
style
The Verdict
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The alert buyer
EU Commissioner Věra
Jourová wants to awaken
the consumer to their rights
face to face pages 10–11
Black gold in the sands
73
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menu, authentic
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Good selection of
Serbian, Bosnian,
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riety is much more robust and
fuller-bodied.
The salmon tartare looked
appetising on first inspection,
made in the traditional way
with capers and attractively
presented with lemon, watercress and white toast. The dish
was evidently well prepared
but I still had to muster the will
to finish it. The taste of the raw,
fresh fish was obscured by an
excess of oil and overall it lacked sophistication.
Next up was the Čevapčiči,
a Serbian specialty, traditionally made from minced lamb
and similar to a Turkish kofta
kebab. The version offered on
Luka Lu’s daily menu amounts
to five sausage-shaped pieces
of grilled minced meat served
with spring onions, cream and
even cheese – should your taste
buds require further stimulation. The dish is a regional speciality and not to order one in
a Bosnian-Serbian restaurant
does not fall far short of a national insult.
The five pieces of grilled
meat proved to be more than
adequate, especially with the
heavy cream dressing, onion
and other accompaniments.
Full-year subscription:
Canadian wilderness oil
deposits offer a Czech firm
super-rich revenues
CZK 650 and as a gift
feature pages 12–13
czech MBas:
Welcome to
the jungle
vouchers with a value of CZK 1,500
crowns are
Hundreds of thousands of
country’s
spent unnecessarily in the
industry
unregulated MBA degree
t
Economics and Managemen
“One
Petr Weikert
[VŠEM] for his MBA.
of important informatiround 10 years ago, piece I learned at the start
that
Petr Mašín was faced on
as is
the course was that –
with a major decisi- of
the case – I might not be
on. The trained me- often practically apply all the
able to
chanical engineer was serving knowledge I learn. So studying
ed
far more in
as the head of a medium-siz
Al- for an MBA helps
a means to
manufacturing company.
ropes terms of gaining
though he knew the
with the peoabout communicate
to the
very well, he felt uneasy
de- ple who have climbed
making management-type of top of their respective fields.
what to
cisions affecting the future
learn
we
Mašín In essence,
econohis company. And so
and discuss with company
specialists
sat down at a computer
he mi- mists, marketing
tried to discover how
and others,” adds Mašín.
Business
of
Master
a
ght gain
Unlike many who ultimaAdministration (MBA) degree, tely drop out along the way,
with
which arms a graduate In the student persevered in his
began with
practical managerial skills.
are studies. The course
the Czech Republic, MBAs
25 freshmen
much two classes of
25
popular, but they are also
each. By the second year,
merged
maligned.
a students remained,
“When a person reaches
Only seven
seek into just one class.
in the
certain phase of life, they
de- completed the course is one
potential
for
paths
out new
“That
Mašín. allotted period. this school
velopment,” explains
reason why I chose
to
wanted
I
issuing
“As a manager,
– that it wasn’t simply
know more about business degrees to order. I wanted to
t and
for
economics, managemen
actually learn something
financial analyses.” Ultima- my money,” explains Mašín.
the
tely, Mašín decided upon of
Continues on page 8
Prague-based University
A
One of the fuller reds from
the wine list is recommended
to wash it down.
After I was done, instead of
another glass of wine I asked
for an espresso, which is offered as a gratuity here with
any meal from the daily menu.
It was not the evening’s final
surprise; if you pay for a drink
from the menu in cash, you get
a 10-percent discount.
can be used for e-shop
www.luxuryoffice.cz
Photo: Shutterstock
n entering Luka Lu,
you immediately begin to understand that
a dash of kitsch is part and parcel of the Balkan experience.
Not that the customers of this
Bosnian-Serbian restaurant
seem to mind. While plenty of
restaurants in this neighbourhood have come and gone in recent years, Luka Lu has made
a home for itself in the Lesser
Quarter.
The enterprise, whose name
means Port Lu, aims to combine the culinary traditions of the
former Yugoslavia with those
of Italy. This is no small order
and the permanent menu stretches to well over 50 dishes,
including specialities from
the grill, fresh fish and seafood, soups, salads, hors d’oeuvres, risotto and pasta. From
the more concise daily menu
I chose the Sarajevo Čevapčiči
with spring onions and cream,
along with two smaller dishes
from the main menu; roasted Sarajevo Čevapčiči. With spring onions and cream
peppers in oil with garlic and
parsley and a starter of salmon
tartare.
The wine list includes some
intriguing regional varieties
but the by-the-glass offer of
whites was limited to a single
Macedonian Chardonnay, so
that was that. It was somewhat
over-chilled and took some
time to reveal its true aroma
and flavour. It wasn’t a bad
wine at all but you can forget
about the typical Chardonnay
that you know from France or
overseas. The Macedonian va-
Photo: Lázně Darkov
The first annual charity golf tournament of the Committee of Good Will – Olga
Havlová Foundation, held at Golf Resort Karlštejnm raised CZK 150,000. Parners
of the event, with the slogan “Every good shot helps”, were Generali and pension
insurer Penzijní společnost České pojišťovny. The proceeds from the tournament will
go to financing the neuro-rehabilitation of children with cerebral palsy. Martin Vít,
representative of the tournament partners, handed a cheque to Foundation Director
Milena Černá
until 29 September 2015
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Photo: Reuters
diversions
picture of the week
The Walking Gallery
Anyone in São Paulo, Brazil, complaining they never have enough time to visit an art gallery might get a shock – an art
gallery might visit them. The Walking Gallery is the name of a mobile exhibition that has lately been seen moving around
the city picking up admirers. It was last seen on an escalator at the Consolacao subway station
invitations
festival
modern dance
aviation fair
gastronomy
The Return of
Ladislav Sutnar
The 20th edition of
Concentus Moraviae
A dazzling June
with Tanec Praha
Military aircraft displays
at Pardubice show
Second RawFest,
with Mimi Kirk
The work of information design
and information architecture
pioneer and painter Ladislav
Sutnar (1897-1976) is presented
by the exhibition Venus at The
Gallery of the City of Pilsen until
6 August. Communist Czechoslovakia tried to wipe Sutnar
from history. This Sutnar revival
event will also include work
under the The Inspiration of
Sutnar banner from University
of West Bohemia students.
Until 25 June you can see
a performance at the 20th
edition of the annual international music festival Concentus
Moravia. It will tour 13 towns
and cities of Moravia with the
programme including mezzosoprano Magdalena Kožená,
Italian tenor Marco Beasley
and the Accordone early music
ensemble, Belgian harpsichordist Jos Van Immerseel and
BL!NDMAN.
Tanec Praha, The International Festival of Contemporary
Dance and Movement Theatre,
begins on 3 June with a gala
opening starring acclaimed
German dance company Sasha
Waltz & Guests’ performance
of Impromptus. Prague and
15 other locations will feature
performances of the festival
which runs until 25 June.
Pardubice Airport is your destination for the 25th Aviation
Fair on the weekend of 6-7
June. There will be focus on
the 75th anniversary of the
Battle of Britain and displays
from an American WWII P-38L
Lightning fighter aircraft, a
twin-engine bomber, a naval
fighter, an L-159 advanced
light combat aircraft and a
battle helicopter. And don’t
miss the aerobatics.
The second Rawfest healthy
lifestyle festival takes place
over the first weekend of June
on Prague‘s Štvanice Island.
Tastings of restaurant menus
devoted to raw food are on
offer to visitors. Mimi Kirk, the
76-year-old American health
and life coach and raw food
diet pioneer, will guest. Expect
endless smoothies, protein
drinks and superfoods, both
exotic and local.
Photos: archive
exhibition