Download Breakfast Brief in PDF »
NEWS
Flood warnings issued as more rain forecast
With more rain expected across the country today, Prague City Hall’s crisis team decided to implement anti-flood measures yesterday, and the town of Chlístov on the Sázava river declared a state of emergency. Rivers in Vysočina, south Moravia are threatening to burst their banks.
most Czech press
Schwarzenberg: Radar plan not untouchable
Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg acknowledged yesterday in Brussels that the placement of an anti-missile radar base on Czech soil might be reconsidered if Iran abandons its nuclear programme.
most Czech press
HN: Clinton adviser to be new US ambassador
Citing multiple unnamed sources, Hospodářské noviny reports that Lee Feinstein, who advised Hillary Clinton on security policy during her presidential campaign, will be the new US ambassador to the Czech Republic. Feinstein served in Bill Clinton’s administration and later worked as an independent analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he recommended linking negotiations on missile defence to nuclear disarmament.
HN 2
Litvínov will seize debtors’ social benefits
Following the example of Chomutov, the north Bohemian town of Litvínov has announced plans to withhold parts of social benefits from residents who have failed to pay municipal fines or fees. Other municipalities, including Ústí nad Labem, plan to follow suit. More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition posted last week in support of Chomutov Town Hall’s measure against the local debtors, mostly Roma families.
most Czech press
Slavia checking IDs for Baník tickets
Prague football club Slavia is requiring identification from ticket buyers for its home match Monday with FC Baník Ostrava in hopes of preventing rowdyism like that which erupted at a Baník match in Brno last month. Residents of Moravia and Poland, who are more likely to be Baník fans, have less chance of obtaining tickets. Slavia says the measure is not discriminatory.
LN 1, 21, MfD B1, B3
Church loses another battle over St Vitus
The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal filed by the Roman Catholic Church against lower court rulings granting the state ownership of Prague’s St Vitus Cathedral. The church plans to turn to the Constitutional Court and, if unsuccessful, take the case to the International Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
most Czech press
HN: Ústí hospitals pay 30% more for equipment
Ústí nad Labem regional hospitals, which are supplied by a holding company set up by the regional government, pay 30% more for medical equipment than hospitals elsewhere, and often cannot get orders filled, Hospodářské noviny reports. Regional authorities promised lower prices when they established Krajská zdravotní. Questioning about the pricing, firm director Eduard Reichelt, said checks indicated “everything is OK”.
HN 2
Klaus to speak at US conference on business, environment
President Václav Klaus will speak today at the Wall Street Journal-sponsored ECO:nomics on the environmental business market in Santa Barbara, California. Klaus was initially scheduled to take part in a panel discussion with former US Vice President Al Gore, but due to a schedule change Gore spoke individually yesterday. Both are addressing the impact of the economic crisis on the environmental policy.
HN 7
Terrorism, Russia top Czechs’ fear list
According to a recent STEM poll, the share of Czechs fearing a terrorist attack against the country has dropped from 75% to 52% since 2001. The proportion who fear Russia has grown from 40% to 49% in the same period.
ČTK
Mother tried for tying up toddler son
Klára Fialková, a 30-year-old mother accused of putting a dog collar around her 3-year-old son’s neck and tying him up to his bed, went on trial yesterday at the Regional Court in Beroun. She faces two to eight years in jail if convicted.
ČTK
BUSINESS
PSE to open to big brokerages
The Prague Stock Exchange will be opened to major international brokerage houses such as Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan under a system to be implemented by its new owner, the Vienna Stock Exchange. Vienna bourse CEO Michael Buhl said the changes, which will bring the PSE into line with its parent’s policies, will increase the volume of trade in Prague. PSE Governor Petr Koblic said the new system will be implemented over the next three years.
HN 1, 22, E15 13
Cabinet boosts protection for bankrupt firms’ workers
In anticipation of recessionary job losses, the cabinet yesterday approved an amendment to the insolvency law to require firms in bankruptcy to provide fired workers three months’ severance pay. Currently only creditors have a legal claim to funds raised by insolvent firms through property sales and other means. The amendment now goes to Parliament.
most Czech press
ECB lowers rates, ČNB might follow
The European Central Bank and the Bank of England both lowered their prime interest rates yesterday by half a point. The average EU rate is now 1.5%. ING analyst Vojtěch Benda said the Czech National Bank – which lowered its rate to 1.75% on 5 February then mulled raising rates as the crown weakened – will now likely decide to keep the current rate or drop it a quarter-point, as the crown has strengthened to 27/EUR.
HN 15, Právo 19
Tipsport to sell Tipgames
Tipsport shareholders plan to sell the company’s Tipgames division, one of the country’s biggest operators of gaming machines and sports bars, by mid-year. Tipsport hopes to fetch at least CZK 1 billion in the deal. General Director Petr Knybl, who also chairs Tipgames’ board of directors, said the decision to sell was made before the outbreak of the financial crisis and that Tipsport plans to focus on fixed-odds betting.
HN 1, 15
Farmers to protest in Prague over EU funding disparity
Some 4,000 Czech and foreign farmers will march in the streets of Prague on Thursday to protest disparities in agricultural subsidies for old and new EU member states. The rally will coincide with European Commissioner for Agriculture Mariann Fischer Boel’s visit to the Czech Republic. Jan Veleba, head of the Czech Agrarian Chamber, said dairy farmers in new member states face bankruptcy if the funding differences are not eliminated by 2013.
HN 17, MfD A1, A8
Říman: Carmakers have to help themselves
Responsibility for solving the auto industry’s woes resides mainly with the carmakers themselves rather than the EU or its member states, Czech Industry and Trade Minister Martin Říman said yesterday. “They have to invest in better technologies and tackle problems such as excess capacity,” he said.
ČTK
Inflation seen shrinking, joblessness growing
Analysts polled by ČTK estimated February inflation at 1.9% to 2.1% and unemployment at 6.9% to 7.1%, up from 2.2% and 6.8% in January. A recent CVVM poll shows 82% of Czechs fear losing their job, up from last year’s 51%. Unemployment has replaced healthcare as the public’s biggest source of economic concern.
ČTK
Greens push train over metro to Prague Airport
The Green Party yesterday called for modernising the Prague-Kladno railway and building a branch serving Prague Airport rather than extending the capital’s A metro line to the airport, saying the railway plan would cost about CZK 10 billion less.
ČTK
Machine firm sacks 100, curbs production
Kladno-based machinery maker Strojírny Poldi has announced 100 redundancies and a move to a four-day working week. Staff will stay at home Fridays, receiving 60% of normal pay.
ČTK
Czech mobile usage up in 2008
The number of active Czech mobile phone numbers grew by half a million to 13.57 million in 2008, an average of 1.3 active SIM cards per head.
ČTK
