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UP&DOWN
Written by: Monika Mudranincová

PEOPLE UP

Photo archiv		Ladislav Mareš His company Elmarco developed a unique device Nanospider, which produces nanofiber materials for commercial use. Nanofibers are bringing a revolution into science because of their wide uses in medical, biological and technical fields.
Photo archiv		Hitoshi Ozawa His company, Daikin Device Czech Republic, won the Investor of the Year competition for 2004, in the New Investment category. It was awarded for its production of compressor pumps in Brno. The company invested CZK 3,7 billion and created 807 new jobs.
Photo Pavel Veselý		Petr Fejk The Prague Zoo won several prizes for its graphic concept and marketing campaign at the international marketing conference in Münster, Germany. In a broad competition of more than 130 participants, it won three first places - for best poster, best advertisement, and best booklet.

PEOPLE DOWN

Photo archiv		Jaroslav Klapal The former CEO of Česká spořitelna left his new position as general director of ÚAMK at the end of May - after holding the office for only three weeks. Neither Klapal nor the company would comment on the reasons for his withdrawal.
Photo www.isifa.com		Petr Mach Former FC Sparta owner was sentenced for customs fraud, after confessing he was supporting Miroslav Platil, police director for economy. Mach paid for luxury holidays, donated a piece of land worth CZK 3 million and lent Platil 4.5 million crowns. Police are now examining Platil's case.
Photo ČTK		Petr Zgarba The Minister of Agriculture is being investigated for arranging a subsidy increase for his village from CZK 5.4 to 8.9 million. The money intended for reconstructing a drainage system and building a water purification plant would have also been used to connect the pipes to his lots in order to build a spa.

Photo: luminum - d.raub & l.šavrdová

Iveta Jordanová: Pink Panther on the trail of crime
FOR THREE YEARS Iveta Jordanová (36) has been hot on the heels of corrupt individuals. Namely, she founded and directs the non-governmental organization Pink Panther, which focuses on monitoring the corruption environment in the Czech Republic. Why did this former theatrical producer dive into such Sisyphean work? "It bothers me when politicians worm their way out with alibis and refuse to answer the important questions. Completely non-transparent lobbying gets my dander up, as it allows machinations with information, laws, and money, and it bothers me that large political parties don't publish their audits and don't credibly prove the sources of the money for their election campaigns," she says, ticking off just a few reasons she founded Pink Panther. Unlike Transparency International, Pink Panther gets involved in specific cases and publishes the results of its work on its website. For instance, in the past it has caused the recall from Český Telecom's security department of two workers connected with espionage. The organization deals with problems at the National Security Authority and criminal cases, and it also proposes measures that could help limit room for corruption.
A team of six close colleagues and many external experts help Jordanová. Despite occasional intimidation from "wounded" parties, the director wants to expand the organization's sphere of activities within the framework of the European Union. "We're starting to focus on the use of EU structural funds, as they're a great opportunity for corruption," says Jordanová, who hopes that her operations will one day be firmly established in Europe and that she'll live in a truly democratic country. "Maybe I'll finally get around to a husband and a baby," she chuckles.

	Photo: luminum - d.raub & l.šavrdová

Božena Jirků: Quality of life
BOŽENA JIRKŮ (57) is a woman who deserves admiration. For 14 years she has been helping physically challenged people, through the Charter 77 Foundation and the Barriers Account project, to live the same quality life as their healthy fellow citizens. When she was named executive director in 1991 she thought that it would be "such a nice job for a couple of hours a day." She was mistaken. "It completely engulfed me, I spend all my time on it," says this former television publicist who hasn't once regretted that she left her editorial post. On the contrary, she's glad that she can do good and get positive feedback from those the Foundation has helped. And there are many of them. Since its beginning the Barriers Account has supported 6,617 projects, with financing of CZK 124,510,297! The Barriers Account has earned the trust of over 40,000 permanent contributors and each year it splits up around CZK 10 million.
One of the foundation's activities is the "Computers Against Barriers project, focusing on computer education for physically challenged persons. Jirků is very happy with the cooperation with Microsoft, which supports the project and has already helped many people return to normal life. But that still isn't enough. "My greatest professional wish is for employers to hire physically challenged people - this is the only way to really help them. But instead, most employers prefer to pay a silly fine rather than help them out," Jirků complains. In terms of her personal wishes, she's hesitant to talk about them. "I've got everything! A great husband, two adult sons, two wonderful grandchildren, and a cottage under Milešovka that we love going to," she laughs. But after a moment of reflection she becomes more serious: "I wish for good health, the rest will follow on its own."