The government disapproves of the loan of a ton of gold for Expo 2010

Prague - The government may not approve the plan to borrow gold from the Czech National Bank for the Czech exhibition at the World Expo 2010 in China. Finance Minister Eduard Janota is not keen on it. General Commissioner Pavel Stehlík told ČTK today that he does not see the willingness among ministers to lend a ton of gold free of charge, which is necessary for the operation of one of the exhibits. According to Stehlík, the government is setting too many conditions. "We are not very inclined to it," said Ondřej Jakob, spokesman for the Ministry of Finance, in response to ČTK.
    "They see it as a great risk," Stehlík described the ministers' stance, including that of Finance Minister Eduard Janota. No one apparently wants to "sign under the loan." On Monday, the cabinet will discuss the loan at its meeting. If it does not approve it, Stehlík is reportedly prepared for a backup solution, which he did not elaborate on today.
    The exhibition wants to borrow gold from the state for an exhibit called Czeknowlogy, which will allow the conversion of human emotions into shapes, colors, sounds, or scents. The office preparing the Czech participation in the world exhibition plans for visitors to sit in a sensory chair that will record their feelings when viewing a giant drop of pure gold.
    "The technology of capturing emotions is used in a certain way in polygraph tests," Stehlík said earlier. "(Artist) Federico Díaz invented a way to transform emotions into shapes or scents," he added. Every five-hundredth visitor to the Czech pavilion will thus have the opportunity to create a personal fragrance based on their feelings when viewing the gold drop. According to Stehlík, they will receive it in a drop-shaped vial.
    According to the plans of the preparatory office, the Czech National Bank would lend gold bars to China, which would be returned to the state after the world exhibition. However, this procedure is not certain at the moment. Právo wrote in February that Stehlík was arranging insurance for the transfer of gold with the British company Lloyds. "As the oldest and largest of its kind in the world, it insures everything - from tankers to a model's legs. We need to cover all risks, including the movement of gold. We know that the insurance will cost us several million," Stehlík said.
    The Czech exhibit consists of 20 cubes with artistic exhibits, with Czeknowlogy being just a part of it. Everything is to be arranged in the form of a symbolic city. Most of the exhibits aim to represent contemporary Czechia, with so-called "Czech pearls" like Charles Bridge, ship screws, or the fictional genius Jára Cimrman focused on the past.
    The exterior of the Czech pavilion is covered with hockey pucks, which create the layout of Prague's Old Town. The World Expo 2010 in Shanghai will be inaugurated by the Chinese on May 1, and the Czech National Day at the exhibition will take place on May 17. The Czech government has allocated around half a billion crowns for the "economic and cultural Olympics of nations".