The closing down of Sklarsky Ustav (SU), a Czech Republic state institute for glass research, has been temporarily averted.
The institute“s work involves the production of glass, laboratory activiti…
The closing down of Sklarsky Ustav (SU), a Czech Republic state institute for glass research, has been temporarily averted. The institute“s work involves the production of glass, laboratory activities and state testing. Since the end of May, a provisional court order has allowed access to the production halls. Without this access, the institute will not be able to survive in the long term, according to Mojmira Vobornikova, the institute“s director. At the beginning of April, the joint stock company Statni Vyzkumny Ustav Sklarsky (SVUS) closed SU“s production halls. The production halls are the property of SVUS, and were closed because the institute owes a debt of Kc 4 million, according to Petr Sintak, SVUS“s CEO. SU does not deny it has this debt, but it believes that there are also debts on the side of SVUS. “We believe that mutual receivables resulting from the privatisation of SVUS have not been sorted out. SVUS actually originated through the privatisation,” Mr. Vobornikova said. When it was privatised in 1992, SVUS was divided into two parts: the joint stock company SVUS, and Sklarsky Ustav. While SVUS gradually stopped producing glass and entered the area of medical supply packaging, Sklarsky Ustav continued with glass production and is still awaiting privatisation. Mr. Vobornikova said that SU is involved in very complex glass research, and that if the institute is abolished, SU“s customers would have to look for services in foreign countries. In fact, among SU“s customers are the majority of main glass and ceramic companies in the Czech Republic. Firms involved with electronics and the production of medical instruments have also shown interest in their services. Almost half of SU“s orders come from abroad. Mr. Vobornikova is particularly worried about the loss of foreign orders.