11 June 1998: According to recent press reports, Oldrich Chudoba, the lawyer acting for Regina Razlova, chairwoman of the Skloexport and Skloexport Group (SEG) glass trading companies, said today he d…
11 June 1998: According to recent press reports, Oldrich Chudoba, the lawyer acting for Regina Razlova, chairwoman of the Skloexport and Skloexport Group (SEG) glass trading companies, said today he does not know how Liberec police arrived at the figure of Kcs 1.2 billion for the losses resulting from illegal transfers of assets and securities from Skloexport to SEG. Razlova is being prosecuted for misuse of business information. “According to documents made available to me, no assets were transferred from Skloexport to any other company,” Chudoba stressed. The same goes for securities, and the accounting value of both corresponds to the 1995 level, he said. Chudoba says some assets were sold off this year in different companies belonging to Skloexport to pay off debts, which was reportedly done through Komercni banka. Jan Stancl, who manages Skloexport, says the debt to Komercni banka has fallen by Kcs 1.2 billion to Kcs 60 million, while debts to Zivnostenska banka have been reduced by Kcs 120 million and debts to suppliers by Kcs 30 million. Reports say that the company still owes Kcs 880 million to the state resulting from exchange rate differences. This debt dates from 1990. The company“s loss last year “is not alarming” and reached Kcs 20-30 million, added Stancl. Skloexport still owns twenty trademarks. The two best-known ones, Bohemia Crystal and Bohemia Glass, were valued around five years ago at more than Kcs 1 billion each. Skloexport said it does not intend to sell its trademarks. The company also still owns 17 foreign affiliates.