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UP&DOWN
Written by: Monika Mudranincová

PEOPLE UP

Photo Petr Poliak		Gabriel Eichler The president of Grisoft sold 65% of this Czech company to Intel Capital and Enterprise Investors. At 1.2 billion crowns, the sale represents the biggest acquisition in the Czech IT market. Grisoft expects 575 million crowns turnover this year.
Photo archiv		Martin Dvořák With his network's reality show, TV Prima's director has beaten his strongest competitor, Nova TV. The gap in ratings reaches around 1 million viewers daily. Nova TV's "Big Brother" will therefore surrender prime time to competing "VyVolení".
Photo archiv		Jiří Michal Under his management, the Zentiva company bought 51% of Romanian pharmaceutical firm Sicomed. The purchase price of 2.4 billion crowns makes this the second biggest foreign investment in Czech history. Zentiva is going to buy the rest of the company as well, and the acquisition will then reach 5 billion crowns.

PEOPLE DOWN

Photo ČTK		Zdeněk Doležel Paroubek's chief of staff was accused of taking bribes relating to the privatization of Unipetrol. TV Nova recorded him in a meeting with Polish lobbyist Jacek Spyra, asking for a CZK 5 million bribe. The prime minister fired Doležel after seeing the footage.
Photo archiv		Andrej Babiš His company Agrofert was excluded from the privatization of Polish chemical company Zaklady Azotowe Kedzierzyn. Thus a project in which Agrofert invested millions is lost. According to Babiš, this is the first concrete effect of the negative campaign led by Polish media against Agrofert.
Photo ČTK		Marie Benešová According to HN, the state prosecutor who was openly quarreling with minister of justice Pavel Němec, will have to leave her office. Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek decided that the situation involving Benešová is harmful to the government and is therefore intolerable.

Photo: Tomáš Kubeš

Jana Ryšlinková: Just no routine!
JANA RYŠLINKOVÁ (54), the dean and executive director of US Business School in Prague, can't stand routine, and the phrase "enthusiastic founder" would be the most fitting for her. This woman, who has dedicated her entire life to working for others, likes establishing new projects, and once they're in motion she moves on to the next challenge. During her career she's built several institutions that are operating to this day - for instance, the New School civic association, which came up with an initiative to pay Romany assistants, the Information Center for foundations and other nonprofit organizations, and the European-Czech Forum. She also tried her hand at politics - from 1990 to 1992 she was a Czech National Council deputy for the Civic Forum. Four years ago she accepted an offer to serve as dean of the US Business School, a prestigious organization that offers post-graduate MBA day studies. The teachers are all American professors, and its graduates include the likes of Český Telecom financial director Juraj Šedivý and Jan Sýkora, the owner and director of Wood & Company.
" This is the first institution that I didn't set up alone," Ryšlinková laughs. "I really enjoy working with young people and thinking up what we can do better. My goal is to constantly improve the quality and extent of the school's scope," she adds. Even though she graduated in mathematics and physics from Charles University, you'd be hard pressed to find the tedious, exacting scientist in her. She's vital and unconstrained, and captivates others with her élan. Ryšlinková comes from a cultural background - her parents were actors who regularly met with artists from various fields - so her favorite way to relax is attending exhibitions and concerts, or just getting together with friends.

	Photo: Vojtěch Vlk

Petr Pávek: A very active mayor
THE MAYOR OF Jindřichovice pod Smrkem, Petr Pávek (42), is something like a natural phenomenon. This rebel, who wears a leather jacket and rides a BMW chopper, once issued an anti-bureaucracy decree. He's a thorn in the side of technocrats, but to the locals he's a respected leader of the city's government. During his seven years as mayor in this north Bohemian border town, far from the madding crowd, he has been able to attract people from cities in such numbers that the demand for housing in Jindřichovice is beginning to exceed the town's possibilities. How did he do it? Jindřichovice has the image of an exceptional municipality where something is always going on. And Pávek is the engine that drives the goings-on.
He arranged free internet for the local populace, had two wind farms built that contribute to the town's revenues, and initiated a project to construct low-energy houses. He's also planning to build an international university and innovation center. "Our citizens are already self-confident, they don't suffer from a superfluity complex like before. That was my main goal," explains this former entrepreneur who spent a part of his life in Germany, where he founded Mipam, a computer firm.
After returning to the Czech Republic in 1993 he chaired the board of the joint-stock company Citadela, a successful development firm. "But once I'd looked inside to see how it worked, business stopped satisfying me," he says. But he didn't want to become complacent, so he decided to leave for Jindřichovice, where he bought an old mill, a dog and two choppers, which he now rides on "business trips". Pávek says that he doesn't want to run for another term as mayor next year, adding that after eight years new people with new causes should come in. What will he do then? "I don't know, but hopefully something that makes sense," he says.