On December 13 an agreement was reached on compensation to Churches and religious societies on the part of the Czech Republic. The two commissions sat at the negotiations table, that of the State and that representing the 17 Churches recognized in the Country, who reached an agreement on compensation but which need the approval of the Prime Minister before being made public. The draft agreement envisages that religious bodies recover their properties and a sum of approximately 3 billion euros to be paid in installments over a period of 60-70 years. This sum is the compensation for expropriations undertaken by the Communist government started in February 1948 on land and buildings owned by the Churches, now used for different purposes and which cannot be returned to the original owners. The solution had been envisaged on October 24 during a meeting between Msgr. Graubner, President of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, Vaclav Jehlicka, Minister of Culture and the deputy-minister of Culture Jaromir Talir. Jehlicka, on that occasion had handed to Msgr. Graubner a draft law drawn up also by Vaclav Jelicka and the Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg. The draft law regulates compensation modalities. The Minister already received a similar document by the Ecclesiastic Community.
