Page 45 - Ekonomija i Biznis_noemvri 2016.indd

INTERVIEW

was taken in competition of several fa- (photo: Economy and business)
mous European construction companies,
it was successfully realized whereby both The following two quotes will vividly bring the
construction companies had engaged ap- organizations behind the curtain closer to the readers:
proximately 600 construction workers.
An evidence of the success was the pro- “The world is divided into three kinds of people: a very
motion of the general director of the Lit- small group that makes things happen; a somewhat larger
vinov refinery, MA Eng. Peter Hoyer, who group that watches things happen; and a great multitude
after the completion of the projected was that never knows what has happened”.
appointed Minister of Industry and Econ-
omy of Czechoslovakia. Nicholas Murray Butler (1862–1947), longtime president
of the Columbia University, president of the Foundation
In 1992, Beton – Skopje signed an ex- “Carnegie Endowment for International Peace”, member
ceptionally favorable Barter arrange- of the Council on Foreign Relations, winner of the Nobel
ment (motor oil from the Czech Republic Peace Prize (in 1931)
in exchange of performance of construc-
tion works and realization of projects in “There is something behind the throne greater than the
eight Czech cities) with a total value of king himself.”
approximately 50 million American dol-
lars (calculated according to the present Sir William Pitt (1708-1778), stated in a speech before
value of the dollar). It is important to the House of Lords in 1770
point out that Benzina – Prague did not
request a bank guarantee (signatory of In the end I would indicate a good quote by the current
this agreement is the author of this text). candidate of the Democratic Party for President of the
The Czech motor oil was delivered for United States, the senator Hillary Clinton:
Macedonia immediately after the signing
of the agreement, while Beton – Skopje “The difference between a politician and a statesman is
successfully realized the agreed facilities that a politician thinks about the next election while the
whereby the management of the Mace- statesman thinks about the next generation.”
donian construction company in Prague
justified the great trust it was given by
the Czech investor.

It is important to mention the coopera-
tion with one of the most powerful con-
struction companies in the world – the
American construction company Fluor
Daniel (at the time it had approximately
120,000 employees) for which in 2000 a
project for the construction of the hydro-
cracker in Kralupy was realized. The re-
gional director of the American construc-
tion group personally confirmed me that
Beton – Skopje is the first Macedonian
construction company he has cooperated
with.

What did the transformation of the
Czech Republic from communist to mar-
ket oriented country look like? What
was of key importance for the successful
transformation, what can we learn from
this experience?

B. Nocev: The Velvet revolution of Va-

November 2016 45