Stories in English

Jaroslav Besperát: In a crisis, we are all looking for stability and trustWe have been building such an insurance company for 25 years

Česká podnikatelská pojišťovna (ČPP) has so far gone through the covid-19 crisis virtually unaffected. We talked with the CEO Jaroslav Besperát just after the company won the prestigious Zlatá koruna award: gold in the Business and Industry Insurance category and two bronze trophies for insurance for entrepreneurs Simplex and Autopojištění Combi Plus. Despite the pandemic, ČPP has had a very successful year in terms of overall economic results and is still one of the fastest growing big insurance companies in the country. The company’s CEO is known to like winning. What is his recipe for victory?

Štítky ČPP

Martina Mlinarević Sopta: Czech companies have no problems adjusting in Bosnia and HerzegovinaYou can be a great mentor for us

In her country and beyond, she is well known as a journalist, writer and activist. She has published six books, has 130,000 followers on Facebook, and more than 4,000 on Twitter. How does she apply all this previous experience in her diplomatic work? Why does she think Bosnian-Czech relations have great potential? We have talked to Martina Mlinarević Sopta, who is Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Czech Republic since January 2020.

Štítky Bosna a Hercegovina, Interwiev

Kenssy Dwi Ekaningsih: Indonesian middle class as well as production capacity are growingWe support closer cooperation with the Czech Republic in green technologies

Kenssy Dwi Ekaningsih has been Indonesia's ambassador to Prague since June 2019. The Czech Republic is in fact her second diplomatic mission outside the ASEAN region. Although more than half of her current term has been impacted by the covid-19 pandemic, the Embassy under her leadership is very active and busy organising and supporting business and cultural events. Still, Ambassador Kenssy believes that when the pandemic is over, the two countries will be able to further build on the already close relations. The strength of Czech-Indonesian cooperation is also evidenced by the number of Czech companies who are already active in Indonesia.

Robot, the most famous Czech, celebrates 100 years

In 1920, thirty years old Karel Čapek, an emerging literary star of the newborn Czechoslovakia, was thinking about a new play for the National Theater in Prague. Its heroes would be "artificial workers" or "living and intelligent working machines". When he racked brains how to name them, first he came up with Labors. However, he was not entirely satisfied. He shared his doubts with his older brother. Josef Čapek was a respected painter, they had already written a few things together, so Karel often took his advice. "'Name them Robots,' the painter muttered with a brush in his mouth and continued to paint. "And that was it," Karel Čapek himself later described it.

Lubomír Kovařík: We were the first in the world to launch an online configurator

Despite the pandemic, Česká zbrojovka Group has big goals. The company wants to become a world leader in the production of small arms and reach sales figures of one billion euros by the end of 2025. It is a realistic goal, though, as the combined sales of CZG and Colt already exceed half a billion euros. The company has managed to keep its production running thanks to strict anti-epidemic measures, introduced in mid-March last year. Although some initial transport issues occurred last spring, as global trade was taken by surprise by the pandemic, the company has since managed to steady its exports as well.

Adam Janek: Let’s not forget other healthcare and particularly prevention due to our fear of COVID-19

You could say that ophthalmology runs in Adam Janek’s blood since his father is a distinguished eye surgeon. It is also through him that he is half Slovak. Knowing that, it is not surprising that five years ago, on top of acting as a director of Eye Centre Prague for ten years, he also accepted the challenge of applying the know-how of the leading Czech private clinic in Slovakia, that is in Trenčín Eye Centre Sokolík, when the ownership structures of the two clinics met. This interview is taking place at the time of “round” anniversaries being celebrated in both renowned institutions, twenty years in Prague and ten in Trenčín. Long enough to test the foundations they are built on – and both institutions have passed the test of time victoriously. Normally, we would have therefore begun by asking their mutual director about the greatest accomplishments experienced throughout these years. However, in light of today’s difficult pandemic times, we began our talk with related issues and obstacles.