Eager to stay closed

Many businesses are raring to go and want to reopen as soon as possible. Not large bookstores. Culture Min. Lubomír Zaorálek told Czech Radio on Fri. that when he met with owners, the small bookstores and publishers definitely wanted to reopen but that the big ones did not, because they didn't think people would buy books right now. Chair Martin Vopěnka of the SČKN Union of Czech Booksellers and Publishers let the full truth be known two days later, when he said that large bookstores don't want to reopen yet, because they would then stop receiving what little support the state is providing to them to pay salaries. They're afraid their operations will produce big losses in the first months, he said. Simply put, billionaire Daniel Křetínský, as owner of the largest operator in the book sector (Euromedia Group), makes no qualms about asking the state to socialize his losses until the very moment the market returns and he's able to start privatizing the profits again.