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Breakfast Brief – 11 November 2009

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Table of Contents

NEWS
Füle nominated for EU commissioner
The Minister for EU Affairs, Štefan Füle, was nominated for the post of EU commissioner for the Czech Republic, following an agreement yesterday by the two major parties, the ODS and ČSSD. Füle’s nomination sparked controversy and several MPs questioned his suitability for the post given his communist past.
Source: most Czech press

Man escapes police custody after wife opens fire
Prison inmate Pavel Tauchen escaped from police custody yesterday while being escorted to the Plzeň hospital for a medical check-up. Tauchen fled after his wife fired on police in front of the hospital. The two are still at large. Tauchen was serving a sentence for robbing safes and ATMs.
Source: most Czech press

Bém re-elected as head of ODS in Prague
Prague Mayor Pavel Bém has been re-elected as head of the Prague branch of ODS after receiving 64 votes from party delegates and defeating his opponent, Deputy Mayor Rudolf Blažek, who received 55 votes. To win the vote, Bém joined forces with controversial Prague 5 Mayor Milan Jančík, who was named ODS deputy chair. After the vote, Bém told delegates he would give up his mayoral post in exchange for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies.
Source: most Czech press

Interior Ministry backs Workers’ Party ban
The head of security policy at the Interior Ministry, Martin Linhart, has called on the government to outlaw the far-right Workers’ Party, saying another failure to ban the party risks further radicalising its members.
Source: ČTK

Restorer: Tomb of Czech patron found
Restorers working at the Church of St. Haštal in Prague believe they have discovered the more than 700-year-old tomb of Czech patron saint Anežka Česká (Agnes of Bohemia), restorer Denis Anfilov told ČTK. He said radar research conducted as part of church repairs had located the tomb, but it has not yet been opened to confirm the finding. Experts and church representatives are sceptical of the finding. Tomorrow will mark the 20th anniversary of the canonisation of the former member of the Přemyslid dynasty.
Source: HN 4, MfD A6

Stropnický seeking Green Party chairmanship
Matěj Stropnický, a member of the Prague City Council for the Greens, will seek the party’s chairmanship at a national congress in December. On Sunday, Stropnický won support of party members in the Plzeň region.
Source: ČTK

Survey: Most Czechs have not read the Bible
Some 79% of Czechs have not read the Bible, though 70% said they are familiar with its contents, according to the latest survey by Sanep of 18,300 respondents. The survey showed 3% of people read the Bible often, 18% occasionally and 43% consider it useful for today’s life.
Source: ČTK

Extended version of documentary on Havel hits cinemas
In their November programme, Prague cinemas Kino Aero, Bio Oko and Světozor are offering screenings of an extended, four-hour version of “Citizen Havel,” a documentary about dissident and former Czech president Václav Havel.
Source: ČTK

BUSINESS
PPF buys Euroclinicum, enters healthcare market
PPF Healthcare announced yesterday it had acquired Euroclinicum, the owner and operator of two hospitals and five clinics around the country. It’s the company’s first acquisition in the medical field and the deal is still pending approval of the antimonopoly office. The purchase price was not disclosed, though HN cites a source guessing CZK 500 million since Euroclinicum was in the red for a long time. The report speculates that Phoenix, the biggest pharmaceutics distributor in Europe, may be behind the sale.
Source: HN 17

Prague public transit company to receive CZK 900m from city
Prague city councillors agreed yesterday to provide a CZK 900 million subsidy to the Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) to improve the company’s financial situation and prevent a planned labour strike, said councillor and DPP board chairman Radovan Šteiner. Railway trade unions had earlier ruled out the possibility of increasing rail transport on the day of the strike.
Source: ČTK, HN 4, E15 3

ČEZ to cut prices of electricity next year
Households who buy electricity from ČEZ will see prices fall by around 3% next year, according to energy experts. The drop corresponds to a 15.3% decline in the market price of electricity, but that will likely be offset by an increase in power distribution rates and the regulated payment for transmission of electricity to households.
Source: HN 20

Minister: Govt’s bond issue to offer attractive return
Czechs who invest in bonds issued by the government early next year can expect an annual return of about 3.5%, said Finance Minister Eduard Janota, adding that the interest rate is currently set at 4.5%. The ministry is planning to sell bonds worth CZK 20 billion in the first bond issue. Banks are already discussing steps to challenge this competition.
Source: HN 17

FinMin says lowering deficit below 3% of GDP difficult
The Czech Republic will likely have to reduce its budget deficit to below 3% of GDP by 2013, ČTK reported yesterday, referring to unnamed sources. The report said the European Commission will announce a deadline later today. Deputy Finance Minister Tomáš Zídek said yesterday the requirement would be difficult to meet. The country stands to lose some EU subsidies if it fails to meet the 3% target.
Source: ČTK, LN 13

Corporate donations reach CZK 800m
Czech firms have given away nearly CZK 800 million to charity this year, about 0.5% of their profits on average and CZK 50 million more than last year, according to the Czech Donors’ Forum. The EU average for corporate donations is 1%. Firms like ČEZ and Česká spořitelna have implemented new ways to help employees participate in charity work. Vodafone even paid a one-year salary to the creators of original non-profit projects.
Source: HN 1, 18, 19

Solar power to be cheaper
The cabinet will discuss a proposal next week to allow the Energy Regulatory Office (ERÚ) to lower purchase prices for energy produced by renewable sources beyond the current maximum of 5%. ERÚ deputy chair Bohumil Němeček confirmed that purchase prices for solar power could fall by as much as 25%.
Source: LN 14

Ministry to simplify process for drawing EU funds
The Ministry for Regional Development is planning to submit to the cabinet early next year a plan for simplifying and speeding up the process of drawing EU subsidies, Minister Rostislav Vondruška said. The measures will include dividing projects into phases so that payments are made more frequently. Only Malta and Cyprus, among the new EU member states, are slower than the Czech Republic in tapping EU funds.
Source: HN 21

EU’s excise tax hike not likely to affect Czechs
An EU plan to raise excise taxes on cigarettes from the current EUR 64 to EUR 90 per 1,000 cigarettes, scheduled to take effect in 2014, will not have a big impact on cigarette prices in the Czech Republic, according to chief analyst for Atlantik FT Milan Vaníček. He said cigarette prices are set to rise anyway as part of the Finance Ministry’s austerity measures.
Source: ČTK, HN 17, 22, MfD B3

EU to impose tax on tobacco used in gardening
EU finance ministers yesterday approved an EU-wide directive introducing an excise tax on tobacco used in gardening, such as for exterminating greenflies. The legislation was proposed by the Czech Republic, the only EU country where this type of low-quality tobacco is also smoked. The state loses some CZK 1.5 billion on taxes from this kind of tobacco each year.
Source: HN 22

Farmers to protest in Prague again
Czech farmers are planning to hold another demonstration in Prague on 2 December to protest low wholesale prices. They are demanding CZK 1.5 billion more from the state budget next year, the head of the Agrarian Chamber, Jan Veleba, said. The protest is supported by the Agricultural Association, which estimates that revenue in the agriculture industry declined this year by a quarter to CZK 65 billion.
Source: LN 15

Vodafone sees subscriber numbers rise 5.5% through Q3
Mobile phone operator Vodafone reported a 5.5% year-on-year increase in the number of customers at end-September to 2.984 million. The company gained 49,000 new customers in Q3.
Source: E15 10

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