>>> Summer holidays have officially started. The majority of holiday packages offered by the large travel agencies for the first three weeks of July have been sold out, the Association of Czech Travel Agents has reported. A survey by Factum Invenio has shown that 51% of Czechs are determined to go for summer vacation, down from 55% last year. Those 800,000 Czechs who head to Croatia each year can see billboards with bare-chested ODS leaders. The billboards are part of the ODS campaign launched on Thursday, iDnes.cz reported. Members of ODS’s Blue team support group will allegedly get discounted tickets to several summer music festivals, Lidové noviny reported on Thursday.
>>> Floods hit the Czech Republic at full blast. The number of victims has risen to 13. The construction of new motorwayswill be delayed due to the unexpected expenses for road repairs, the Finance Ministry has said. The total damages could top CZK 5.6 billion, most of which will be covered by the state, Finance Minister Eduard Janota said on Tuesday. Ministry of Industry and Trade decided on Friday the steel giant ArcelorMittal will not receive a financial aid from the state.
>>> Prague public transport will now operate according to summer schedule – intervals between individual connections will be longer and some services will disappear altogether for two months. The old Russian metro trains that were in operation for 35 years will no longer be used by the Prague Public Transit Company, Mf Dnes reported on Tuesday. Flights at Prague airport were delayed by hours on Tuesday as passengers that arrived from Russia were accidentally admitted to terminal 2, which is reserved only for travel within the Schengen zone, Lidové noviny reported on Tuesday. Interior Minister Martin Pecina suggested cancelling the Czech Airlines’ Prague-Toronto flights in order to stop mass Roma departures to Canada, following reports Canada is considering reinstalling visas for Czech nationals.
>>> ČSSD and ODS vied who will offer more money to the victims of the current floods. Last Thursday, ODS decided to donate CZK 1 million. Last Friday, ČSSD said it would give CZK 1.5 million for the same purpose. KDU-ČSL has promised to donate CZK 100,000. Parties have refused accusations of making populist steps.
>>> The Czech crown, similarly like other currencies in central Europe, was breaking records this week – on Wednesday it was traded for 25.75 to euro, a record value since last December. Industrial production has been falling for eight months in a row. ČEZ plans to lower electricity prices for next year, according to Wednesday’s Mf Dnes.
>>> Czechs passed the EU presidency baton to the Swedes on Tuesday. While the former PM Mirek Topolánek and the current PM Jan Fischer both called the presidency a success, some European media reported the EU will be breathing sighs of relief after the Swedes take the helm. President Václav Klaus’s public support is lowest since his election as president in 2003, a STEM agency poll has shown, attributing the result to Klaus’ refusal to sign the Lisbon Treaty.
>>> Prague experienced its historically first celebrations of the capital city over the weekend. Hundreds of Michael Jackson fans gathered in remembrance of the singer’s death at the Old Town Square on Sunday. Farmers blocked traffic on several motorways because of low milk prices on Monday.
>>> Relative humidity of air was above average for several days, especially in the mornings, reaching up to 95%, while it is more common to be at around 58% at the end of June, Dagmar Honsová from Meteopress told Právo on Tuesday. The scarce Victoria regia, the biggest tropical water lily from South America, burst into flower in a greenhouse in Flora Fairgrounds in Olomouc on Monday night, Právo reported on Wednesday.
>>> It is women who decide on the purchase of a new mattress, Lidové noviny’s headline said on Monday. Prague’s last squat in villa Milada was shut down on Tuesday. Minister for Human Rights and Minorities, Michael Kocáb, said he wants to find alternative housing for the squatters. Bohuslav Sobotka’s Prague flat worth CZK 7 million was of interest to media this week – the press had been disputing the savings of the ČSSD first deputy chair who admitted his MP clothing and transport bonuses helped him save the necessary amount to purchase the flat. At least 70 deputies rent their offices from their relatives, acquaintances, or their political parties and use MP monthly bonuses earmarked for office rent for that purpose, Hospodářské noviny reported on Thursday.
>>> J&T group on Wednesday acquired all assets of the Czech branch of the UK’s International Power for CZK 22.5 billion. Unipetrol’s owner, Polish PKN Orlen, must pay CZK 2 billion to Czech entrepreneur Andrej Babiš for the company’s contractual breach, according to a Prague arbitration award from Tuesday.
