Accessibility links

Breaking News

Skoda Says Supports Sports Interests, Not Belarus Regime


Belarusians protest outside the Skoda offices in downtown Prague.
Belarusians protest outside the Skoda offices in downtown Prague.
Officials at Skoda, the Czech Republic-based automaker, say that by supporting international sporting events, their company "supports sports interests, not a concrete state or national organization."

The statement by a Skoda spokesman was e-mailed to RFE/RL after the company was questioned about its intention to sponsor the 2014 World Ice Hockey Championship in Belarus, whose regime is regularly cited by rights groups and Western countries for being responsible for a range of human rights abuses.

Thirteen activists, including former Belarusian presidential candidate Ales Mikhalevich, on February 16 picketed Skoda's headquarters in Prague, protesting the firm's planned sponsorship of the hockey tournament in Minsk.

The protesters held up portraits of jailed political activists in Belarus and signs saying "Stop supporting dictatorship in Belarus!"
  • 16x9 Image

    RFE/RL's Belarus Service

    RFE/RL's Belarus Service is one of the leading providers of news and analysis to Belarusian audiences in their own language. It is a bulwark against pervasive Russian propaganda and defies the government’s virtual monopoly on domestic broadcast media.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.

To find out more, click here.

XS
SM
MD
LG