Prague The government should alert business owners and managers to their business decisions long ago, and not a few days in advance, as it does now. “Three or four weeks in advance, the development of the situation can be estimated. So you can say, the situation is getting worse, expect me to close it in so many or so many days, get ready, pre-stock, make arrangements with your customers, “says Vratislav Kulhánek, former head of Mladá Boleslav’s Škoda and director of Industrial Advisors. .
Hamáček: The CSSD wants to propose the closure of the industry. These would be companies that are not key to the running of the state |
Lidovky.cz: Deputy Prime Minister Jan Hamáček toyed with the idea of closing industrial enterprises this weekend. Could she even afford to close Škoda Auto? Would it not give way to another brand in competition with the Volkswagen Group?
Hardly. As for the Czech Republic, it doesn’t matter if you close the sale. Because more than 90 percent of production is exported. When it comes to exports, Audi or Seat would jump behind the Škoda, it’s unlikely. I wouldn’t even think of it with those other competing brands. Two or three weeks is not long enough for the competition to react. Although, of course, you have to be more careful in that industry. But again – it is always possible to pre-stock for a shorter period of time when it is known in advance.
Lidovky.cz: So what do you say to the possible closure of industrial companies, according to Hamáček, apart from those that are key to the operation of the state?
The economy cannot be closed completely. You can’t shut down power plants, gas plants, just the things that are necessary for existence as such. Also, for example, services, towing service and the like. Skoda is also a strategic company, but it is not so crucial for the existence of the state or the people. Lockdown, to make sense, should be done before the start of the second wave of coronavirus in the summer, when already. Now the question is what the point would be when everything is basically broken.
In any case, if it had been done then, the negative economic effect would have been far less than the problems surrounding it now. Due to the occurrence of new coronavirus mutations, ensuring the necessary degree of protection is far more complex and demanding than last year. And it doesn’t go very well somewhere. Where people work, for example, in the heat, such as in metallurgy, or where they shower and change in changing rooms, they will probably have a hard time wearing a respirator. It is also difficult where people have to travel to work by public transport.
Lidovky.cz: And mandatory testing in companies?
The regulation of mandatory testing in large companies makes sense. But I can’t imagine well enough that I will order something and I don’t have the resources to do it, ie test kits. If I have two or three thousand people on the shift, I must have the funds before I say it is binding. And not to say, it will be binding, but now it will be voluntary.
Lidovky.cz: In your opinion, is the government able to choose the right thing to close?
Unfortunately, I am not convinced that this government is capable of making drastic and serious decisions. We are still witnessing the application of the salami method in the style of closing something, leaving something.
The lockdown is to be decided by the owners or managers of the company, not the government, says the head of Koh-i-noor Vlastislav Bříza |
Lidovky.cz: What do you think about the objection that the moment Czech companies close, their foreign customers will immediately start looking for new suppliers?
This is, in my opinion, a naive idea. This is how banks can work, but not businesses. If there is a 14-day company-wide holiday in the summer, those customers will have to take it too. In addition, I think everyone will understand, and if it is said a little in advance, they will also pre-stock to ensure continuity. In our country, it is a bit more complicated due to the export. But 14 days wouldn’t kill anyone in my opinion. But three weeks is a lot. But these are the council’s councils for which it is too late.
Lidovky.cz: So what should the government do?
In order to make a decision that would work, you need to have a strategy. You need to know what you want. And if you know that, you have to prepare for it. And you have to prepare the handicapped for that as well. That means you can’t say on Friday that there will be something from Monday. You need to announce it well in advance. Three or four weeks in advance, the development of the situation can be estimated. So you can say, the situation is getting worse, expect me to close it in so many or so many days, get ready, pre-stock, talk to your customers. I would even say that in the atmosphere that is in Europe now, those customers would understand.
That, in my opinion, would be the right course of action. Our government is criticized for not having a strategy. I don’t think that would be just a problem for the Czech Republic. But some governments, such as the Israeli ones, decided and boomed, went for it. But even Britain, France and, after all, Italy, took it and began to act, albeit belatedly. The experience is already here.
And it is reprehensible not to use them. That’s a good name for me. But if one is to prepare it, one must work hard enough, it must have a concept and the ability to convince people that this is exactly the right thing. And opinion polls show you the degree of that belief. It can be seen from them that the orders here have lost all seriousness and content. If the police are now really catching people who are violating the latest tightening, they will hopefully find a little respect for those bans. But now it’s really so outrageous… The biggest problem is that this is done.
VRATISLAV KULHANEK (76)■ He is a graduate of the University of Economics in Prague. ■ From 1992 to 1997 he was CEO of Robert Bosch. ■ In April 1997 it happened Chairman of the Board of Directors of Škoda Auto. He was elected in October 2004 head of the supervisory board companies. ■ In 2007 he sat down in a chair Chairman of the Board of Directors of AAA Auto Group NV, the parent company of the AAA Auto group. ■ Since 1997, he has also been the President of the Association of the Automotive Industry and the Vice-President of the Confederation of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic for ten years. – |
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