NEWS
HN: Blanka tunnel completion delayed
Hospodářské noviny reports that completion of the Blanka tunnel through Prague will be delayed by six months. The City Council and contractors denied any change in the scheduled 2011 target date. The project’s cost is also expected to rise due to two construction-related cave-ins in Stromovka park.
Source: HN 1, 4
Campaigning Topolánek hit with stone
ODS Chairman Mirek Topolánek was hit in the head with a stone during an election rally Friday in Hustopeče, south Moravia. The former prime minister suffered a slight injury above his right eye. Four men were seen fleeing the rally in a car with Prague license plates. Police spokeswoman Alice Čechová said investigators have identified two of the men but have not yet determined if the attack was premeditated. Topolánek rejected additional police protection at campaign events.
Source: most Czech press
Boy loses toes on metro escalator
A 7-year-old boy was severely injured Friday when his foot got caught between the steps of an escalator at the Můstek metro station in Prague. Police are still investigating the incident, which led to the amputation of three of the boy’s toes.
Source: Právo 1, MfD A1, A4, B1
Svoboda: Govt should wait on 2010 budget
Action on the 2010 state budget should be put off until a new government emerges from the October early elections, KDU-ČSL chair Cyril Svoboda said Friday. The current caretaker cabinet is scheduled to discuss the draft budget on 30 September. Pavel Horák, KDU-ČSL deputy chairman for the economy, said taking up the budget just before elections could produce populist proposals.
Source: ČTK
ČR to buy swine-flu vaccine for 500,000
Prime Minister Jan Fischer said after Friday’s cabinet meeting that the government had decided to purchase enough swine-flu vaccine for a half million people from drug maker GlaxoSmithKline. Health Minister Dana Jurásková criticised the contract, saying the pharmaceutical company will not guarantee the date and volume of vaccine supplies or bear financial responsibility for possible side effects.
Source: ČTK
Study: Prague still relatively inexpensive
The cost of products and services in Prague is about two-fifths lower than the average in Western Europe, according to a study by Swiss bank UBS that compared prices and wages in 73 cities worldwide.
Source: HN 17
Greens ease anti-nuclear stance
The Green Party’s programme for the fall election describes nuclear power stations as a “last option” to meet Czech energy needs if the possibilities of conservation and renewable sources have been exhausted. In the past the Greens have rejected expanding nuclear power, but under the new platform would allow new plants under certain conditions, such as zero state subsidies.
Source: iDNES.cz, E15 2, Právo 3
Roma men given community work for attacking extremists
A court in Most on Friday sentenced two Roma men to 400 hours each of community service for verbally and physically attacking Workers’ Party members during the far-right group’s march last October through the predominantly Roma-occupied Janov housing estate in Litvínov, north Bohemia.
Source: ČTK
Minister proposes compulsory labour for prisoners
Justice Minister Daniela Kovářová is mulling a proposal to require convicted criminals to work during their imprisonment. Visiting the Mirov correctional facility in the Šumperk area Saturday, Kovářová said an employment project there “functions very well” and that prison labour is necessary amid the recession.
Source: ČTK
Vondra: Left underestimates Russian goals in CE
Speaking at a press conference on the anniversary of the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, ODS Senator Alexandr Vondra said the Czech left wing underestimates Moscow’s efforts to exercise its influence in central Europe. Vondra said that as a NATO and European Union member the Czech Republic does not face an invasion threat today, but “we must not succumb to illusions and forget the past”.
Source: ČTK
Hoax bomb alerts at two festivals
Some 4,500 people were evacuated from the Stodola music festival in Hoštice late Saturday night after an anonymous caller told police five bombs would explode at the event at midnight. Police found no explosives on the premises. Earlier Saturday another hoax bomb threat was recorded before the start of the Hip Hop Kemp festival in Hradec Králové.
Source: ČTK
Poll: Czechs back curbs on state funds for parties
Nine out of 10 respondents to a survey by SANEP polling agency disapprove of state financing of political parties. Analysts say that the results mirror the public’s distrust of Parliament.
Source: Pražský deník 5 Sat
BUSINESS
Govt might ban informal work contracts
The government is considering a ban on so-called informal work contracts, under which employers do not pay the worker’s social security and health insurance costs, according to Marie Bílkova, head of the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry’s office on employment policies. Union and business representatives back such a ban, which labour leaders say cost the state CZK 3.5 billion a year. Ex-labour minister Petr Nečas opposed the move, saying it would reduce flexibility in the labour market.
Source: HN 1, 21
Press: ČSA posts CZK1.83bn loss in H1
Czech Airlines reportedly lost a record CZK 1.83 billion in the first half. The state-run carrier’s sales fell CZK 1.5 billion to CZK 9.5 billion year-on-year due to drops in both passenger numbers and ticket prices. Forecasts suggest little improvement in the coming months. The airline, which will officially announce its first-half results Wednesday, plans to reduce staff by 860, cut back on long-distance routes and sell some of its fleet.
Source: HN 17, LN 13
Retailer: Food prices have hit bottom
Further decline in Czech food prices is unlikely because supermarket chains’ profit margins are beginning to decrease, according to Libor Kytýr, spokesman for Ahold CR. Food sellers lowered the price of almost 2,000 items in the first half of the year.
Source: Pražský deník 1, 9 Sat, HN 17, 20
MfD: Govt mulling cut in building account subsidies
The cabinet will discuss a proposal by Finance Minister Eduard Janota to cut the state subsidy on accounts held with building societies next year from CZK 3,000 a year to CZK 2,000 as part of austerity measures aimed at reducing the budget deficit, Mladá fronta Dnes reports. Janota said the proposal is only at the idea stage. Petr Nečas, former labour minister, told Hospodářské noviny the change might be unconstitutional.
Source: ČTK, HN 5
Russian conglomerate to buy Aircraft Industries
United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) of Russia plans to buy the aircraft-maker Aircraft Industries, Russian press reports. Pavel Musela, general director of Pamco, which owns 49% of Aircraft Industries, said he wasn’t aware of UAC’s plans. Aircraft Industries’ management had said that Russian ownership would boost sales of Czech aircraft on the Russian market.
Source: E15 1, 4
Farm profits down, chamber chief predicts 2010 losses
Czech farmers’ aggregate earnings, including subsidies, will amount to about CZK 2 billion this year, down from profits of CZK 9.7 billion in 2008, according to the Czech Statistical Office. Agrarian Chamber President Jan Veleba said Sunday that next year Czech farmers could lose as much as CZK 4 billion loss, the worst performance since the country entered the EU in 2004.
Source: ČTK, Právo 3
Used-car imports fall 40%
Imports of used passenger cars dropped by two-fifths to 85,551 units in the first seven months of this year, the Car Importers Association reported.
Source: ČTK
OECD to raise members’ outlook soon
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which includes the Czech Republic, will upgrade member countries’ outlook in the coming days, Secretary-General Angel Gurría told Reuters Friday.
Source: ČTK
