What are your
first points on the agenda with regard to
the infrastructure?
I have been, together with the Minister of
Transport, on my position for two months only,
and one of the major projects, the project
D47 has been already underway at that time,
as the first BOT project. It is the first
project when the private capital takes part
in the building of a road. So we are paying
a lot of attention to the preparation of the
project, we see that it needs a lot of attention
from our side and we would like to finish
the development of the road infrastructure
by the year 2010. Also we have to mention
a division that was created last year, it
is a new regional roads directorate that is
a joint venture between the state and the
companies. We have to look for new co-operation
models and also for new sources. Here we have
to take into consideration the public, everybody
who is holding a steering wheel is not interested
in who owns the road, but he is interested
in knowing that the road is good. So in this
sense we have more work and the task is to
be more realistic this time.
Road transportation is very capital intense.
Has it also benefited from the presence of
foreign capital?
I would like to say that the above mentioned
project is the first of its kind where the
private and foreign investment is combined,
in an Israeli project. We have to work with
some banks, for instance Deutsche Bank, and
it is actually the first new big European
project.
When you speak about a big European project,
you mean interconnecting the road system of
the Czech Republic with the EU?
All these projects that we are working on
currently are part of our international commitment.
Right now, we are working on D47 that is a
road that will lead from Ostrava southwards
and is to connect to the north and the south
of Europe. Also we will be working on a new
road called the D8, which will be leading
in direction Dresden, and another one, D5
that will connect Plzen and Germany. All these
projects represent our commitment to connect
the Czech roads with Europe. The D47 road
project will connect to the highway A1, which
is a Polish highway, it is like the Trans
European Highway but more towards the west.
Looking at the area of your responsibilities,
more precisely air transportation, how are
you improving airports in the Czech Republic
and what are your expectations in that field?
We are expecting a lot of work, the so called
Schengen agreement has been signed and we
are looking forward to a lot of work on the
airport to make sure it complies fully with
the European Union laws. Right now, there
is a tender for the financial management of
the project. Work will take approximately
1 year and the costs will be around 10 million
Czech crowns because by the year 2003 we have
to comply absolutely with the criteria of
the Schengen agreement. |
Is this only for Prague airport or also
for other regional airports?
It only concerns the Prague airport because
it is the only international airport. We have
Karlovy Vary, Brno and Ostrava but these are
only regional airports and they belong to
the administration of Czech Airlines. The
Ostrava region would like to transfer its
property and will be working on that too.
CSA is a member of Sky Team together with
with Air France and other carriers, how is
this co-operation helping the company improve
and become more international?
I think it is a mutually beneficial co-operation.
I think that the airline market is pretty
much divided, new markets are hard to find
and as an industry we have to co-operate with
each other more. I think this tendency will
continue also in the future, I think that
smaller companies will have to get together
and that their offer will have to be wider.
I think it is a very good thing that CSA is
a part of Sky Team because their selection
is larger, and now the company is able to
travel all around the world. If somebody comes
to CSA counter and asks for a ticket to Mexico
it is possible to help him and give him that
service.
What do you see personally, as the main
challenge you have in the next two or three
years?
There are several things: the reform of public
administration. The big change is that in
the year 2003 the regional offices will be
shut down and there will be new municipality
offices of the third grade, and you as a citizen
shouldn't recognise that there has been a
change and if you want to take care of something
than it should be as easy as it has been for
now this includes the reform of the car and
other related administration services, like
for instance driving licenses, technical licenses
for cars and driving schools. The second thing
is the so called road industry, that is what
we have been talking about - finishing the
project D47, to finish the project that will
connect our roads to the European highways,
and the biggest challenge that I see is to
find new sources for the construction and
maintenance of roads in general, because the
current public fund of the transport infrastructure
won't allow us to expand according to our
original plans. And also we have to take into
account the co-operation with the European
Union because we would like to use their funds
for construction. Also, the airline industry,
the first step is to finish the building of
the so called north terminal of the airport
because we would like to comply with the Schengen
agreement, and we would like to change the
structure of the public companies - the Czech
Administration of Airports and other similar
companies, to make them modern with shareholders.
It is 12 years after the revolution; we think
that public businesses are to be dead.
As you know many investors read this report,
what would you say to the ones who read the
report on the Czech Republic?
I think the biggest opportunities for them
are in the financing and building of new roads
and also reconstructing the old ones. As far
as the airline industry is concerned, I think
it is pretty much ready already. |
V.I.P. INTERVIEWS
