First of all
let me congratulate you for your recent election
and becoming of the Lord Mayor of Ostrava.
To begin with, I would like you to introduce
us your professional background and your main
priorities after becoming Mayor of the second
biggest town in the Czech Republic.
Ostrava is now at the crossroads. We expect
a continuing decrease in metallurgy and our
main goal is going to be to find other job
opportunities for the people that lost their
jobs in the heavy industry. That is why all
the five main political parties had included
attempts for the solution to these problems.
The most important is the active support of
employment, secondly it is the infrastructure
development and transport, and thirdly, what
we call "to bring life back to the city".
Our town still bears the signs of the previous
lifestyle and we would like to change old
image of a dirty city into a modern town that
would be attractive for everybody. We would
like to bring nightlife to the town and to
ensure the safety and cleanness for the inhabitants.
Quite important issue that goes hand in hand
with the support of the employment is to use
again the now empty "brown fields",
territories that were previously used by the
heavy industry and are now polluted, and solve
the environmental problems present there.
Such spaces cover about 27% of the town. We
want to use them because we do not want to
destroy the green areas for new industries.
We would like to use these "brown fields"
for cultural purposes, living, and development.
We have about 16.8% unemployment at the moment
and it seems that if we do not do anything
this number will continue to increase. With
the decrease of the industry, hundreds of
jobs will disappear and with the current investments,
only tens of jobs are created. There is therefore
a great imbalance. We would need foreign investment
to create a synergetic effect so that our
small and middle-sized businesses could join
the chains and thereby create new jobs.
What would be the sectors that could be
potential for foreign investors?
I think that we should utilise the fact that
there is already industry in our town and
we should focus mainly on heavy industry.
We have well-developed machinery production
and chemical industry.
There are several projects underway already
around the city, such as investments in industrial
zones and other facilities. Could you name
some of the most important ones and what are
your plans?
We have very good experience with foreign
investments. One such example is the investment
of the French company Suez into the sewage
system. In the area of heat, there is another
French company, Dalkia. Based on this experience
we discovered that with these investors along
also comes fair dealing with the employees
and good business culture. From this point
of view we believe that the ideal investment
would be in the automobile industry, which
with one job creates ten employment opportunities.
The top technology of Nová Hut Ostrava
and the production of sheet metals for cars
are the best examples. In the discussion with
the foreign investors we have to know their
conditions and we have to clean the polluted
area. I am going to have a meeting with the
Minister of Environment on Friday and I would
like to ask him for an increase of financial
help for our region to be able to deal with
that problem in a more effective way. There
are two main environmental concerns. The first
is the so-called "oil lagoons" that
remained after the fuel production, and secondly
it is the lower part of Vítkovice where
the soil was contaminated by the metallurgy.
The zone is right next to the cleaned area
Karolina, where the cleaning and monitoring
of the space should continue in the following
year. As this area is close to the town centre
we believe it could become an alternative
centre of the town, such as La Defanse is
in Paris, but of course much smaller.
What would be the specific incentives that
you would offer to foreign investors coming
to this region?
We co-operate closely with the company Czech
Invest. It is a good partner because it can
find the optimal partner within the Czech
Republic for us. We have created a special
manual for investors where you can see the
specific zones that we have prepared. One
of the best areas is by the airport Mošnov,
which used to be a military airport, and it
is able to receive all kind of airplanes.
It has already attracted an investor from
Iceland, which is going to use it for the
repair of Boeing Jumbos there. The smaller
zones should serve the middle and small-level
businesses. Part of this offer is also today's
free zone, which could offer duty free production.
Then there is also a great opportunity for
big investors. Currently we have a piece of
land that is used for agriculture, but we
expect it to become an industrial zone. Another
important site is near Hrabová, where
there is a place ready for about middle-sized
investment. The area of lower Vítkovice,
which has to be cleaned up first, will in
the future offer good development opportunities
as it is near the infrastructure and the center.
We also expect to build a zone near Šilherovice.
The preparation of this zone was stopped by
a local referendum, I believe the opposition
of the local people arose from the lack of
information from the authorities. I believe
that the referendum should take place again
and that it should be passed. Ostravas biggest
asset is its region and that is why I believe
we should continue in rebuilding and developing
the "brown fields" rather than take
up other green areas.
One of the most important developments
in the region is the construction of the highway.
What benefits will it bring to the town and
how do you plan to use it? And of course it
would bring also new challenges so how you
are getting ready for them?
The highway is absolutely crucial -- for the
development of industries such as the automobile
industry because of logistics and "just-in-time
"supply. The highway is therefore the
most important thing from the investor's point
of view. There should be another seven industrial
zones along the highway in a chain. The highway
should also make the transport of tourists
willing to see the beautiful surroundings
of Beskydy, Jeseníky, Odersko easier
and more comfortable. These places offer great
possibilities for leisure. We can offer within
a circle of forty kilometres three golf courses.
The largest one in the Czech Republic has
twenty-four holes, the traditional one in
Šilherovice has eighteen holes and then
there is a club playground in Kravare with
nine holes.
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The Czech Republic is situated in the heart
of Europe. What are your expectations once
the country enters the European Union? What
positive effects it would have on Ostrava?
It could be advantageous for us if we enter
along with Poland because the borders, which
are only a few kilometres from here, would
open. It could be good for investors who are
involved in supermarket chains, as the potential
of Polish customers is very high. Poland is
a Catholic country, which means that the shops
are all closed on Sundays. Here in Ostrava,
on the other hand we got used to shopping
on the weekend,
so our shops are all open and that is good
for the Polish people also, yesterday, for
example you could hear mainly Polish in the
Shopping City. Another advantage we expect
is the possibility of funding from structural
funds of the EU. It is an extremely important
opportunity for Ostrava because the money
we can provide from our own budget will be
very limited after 2004. We increased the
budget from selling of shares we had in power
supply and gas works. That enabled us to increase
the investment budget to 2.5 billion Czech
Crowns for the last, this and the following
year. The year 2004 should allow us to find
new sources for further developments. We gained
experience from using the pre-accession funds
like Phare and we saw we could develop successful
projects that were highly evaluated in Brussels.
Therefore, we believe we could offer such
projects that would allow us to use the structural
funds. Another advantage would be the student
exchange. Many young people leave our region
because they do not believe they could get
a good level of education here. The technical
university here has a very high standard and
could offer the foreign students education
of high quality. Our students would not only
gain in language skills, but also get experience
and self-confidence that the students of their
age have abroad.
Ostrava has the potential of becoming a
region of culture and business also. What
are your plans in marketing all these possibilities?
The town has to begin the marketing process,
which is called "investor relation".
We have a special economic and development
sector, which is under the responsibility
of the Deputy Lord Mayor; previously marketing
was not considered important. We have a highly
qualified person now for this job who was
involved in the development of Northern Moravia.
I think we need more professionals in this
area. The marketing should along with Czech
Invest have the purpose of attracting foreign
investors. We also created a Commission for
European Integration, where the issues we
discussed earlier should be discussed. We
want to say not only what we expect from the
EU, but also what we can offer. Our town went
through a very hard path. We are in a very
similar situation as there was in Wales for
example, where specialised conferences based
on these experiences take place under the
name "Life after steel". We want
to ensure a good standard of living for the
local people despite the fact that the steel
industry is decreasing. Culture is one of
the ways how to enrich the life of the inhabitans
and visitors of the city. Ostrava offers a
lot of important cultural events every year
and we are trying to use this fact in the
marketing of the city, too. People thinking
about coming to our city should know that
they will have many possibilities to attend
well known international festivals like the
music festival Janáceks may or the
festival of the puppet theatre Spectaculo
Interesse and other concerts, performances
or exhibitons.
We should not also forget about leisure. I
have a project for a leisure centre deep in
my drawer. It is deep in the drawer because
the returns from this would not cover the
costs of building such a centre. The local
people could not afford to pay the entrance
tickets due to their low incomes. We have
possibilities here in geological respect.
There is the problem of pumping out water
from the unused mines. This water is salty,
has a temperature of about 29°C and has
the characteristics of seawater. Therefore
we could use it and develop a sea aqua-park
here, with water that would be for free. Today
this salty water is a problem for us, because
it has to be treated before it can be let
into the river. We can also use water from
dams and wells for free. The possibility of
building an aqua-park is often discussed.
However, the surrounding towns and villages
are talking about such a project too and we
are afraid that they could be quicker. The
problem is that they consider less costly
projects but we believe that, since we have
such opportunities, we should use them to
build something of a large scale that would
be unique within a circle of 400 kilometres.
But of course, the bigger the investment the
more difficult it is. And again, the question
of the cost of the entrance ticket comes back.
Do you have already any serious interest
from companies in the aquapark project?
I have not met any specific investor yet,
but we have made a very good study of the
quality and the use of water.
Mr. Lord Mayor, what would be your message
to our readers, who will read about Ostrava
and the Czech Republic?
The location of our town is very advantageous
on the long run. We offer the best opportunities
in the region of Moravia and Silesia. We are
much further in the restructuring and development
projects compared to Poland. We welcomed investments
earlier than they and that made us more open.
Another advantage is that the nearby Slovak
region is hungry for investment and there
is a big need for employment. The erasure
of borders could make our region very attractive,
due to the good access to the Polish and Slovak
markets. These markets are more "closed"
than ours are. Despite the protests of smaller-sized
businesses, we believe that the main incentive
for economic development is the support of
larger businesses, which are then later joined
by the smaller ones. We would be happy if
opportunities were given also to local investors
in with respect to construction, steel construction,
and construction materials, because we have
a very good base for these. We would be glad
if a new business culture would come along
with the new investors, such as it is in the
case with Suez and Dalkia. That would also
improve the business culture here as well.
I believe that our region will remain focused
on the industry, but the heavy industry will
not be the core. Instead, it will supply the
needs of the new investors.
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V.I.P. INTERVIEWS
