Trade and Industry Minister Milan Urban supports the idea of CEZ becoming a Central European giant; the value-added tax on museums, hotels, and historic sites may be lowered to the 5 percent rate in 2005; and TV Nova is considering reviving its relationship with its former servicing company CNTS.
Trade and Industry Minister backs CEZ to become a major Central European player
According to the Czech daily Lidove Noviny, Trade and Industry Minister Milan Urban is backing Czech power utility CEZ to become a major Central European player and is therefore supporting the idea that CEZ take part in all major energy privatisations in the region. Mr Urban told the daily that if the privatisation of the energy sector was launched in Poland, CEZ would take part, while Cyprus and Macedonia were also being considered. Meanwhile, CEZ has already won a tender for power distributors in Bulgaria and is aiming to vie for several power distributors in Romania. Besides competing for foreign acquisitions, CEZ may also launch a bid for the Czech brown-coal mining company Severoceske doly.
VAT on museums, historic sites, & hotels to be 5 pct in 2005
National Museum in Prague
The Chamber of Deputies has decided that accommodation services will remain in the 5-pct VAT category next year, while tickets to museums, historic sites and zoos will also be shifted to the lower 5 percent value-added tax rate from the 19-percent rate. The VAT on building construction and welfare housing projects is also expected to drop. The current VAT law was passed in April with separate rates of 5 and 19 percent introduced after May 1st, with large groups of goods and services shifted between the two categories. The amendment to the VAT law now put forward by the Lower House must still be approved in the Senate, and finally signed by the president before coming into effect.
Czech Republic's most successful private broadcaster considering using former servicing organisation
Thursday's edition of the daily Pravo says that the Czech Republic's most successful private broadcaster, TV Nova, is considering using a former servicing organisation for the production of some of its programmes next year. The U.S.-owned CNTS exclusively produced programming for TV Nova up until August 1999, when TV Nova's then-general manager Vladimir Zelezny split with the station's American investors, leading to a series of much publicised lawsuits and the cutting-off of CNTS. The servicing company could now produce as many as 10 programmes for TV Nova next year. Meanwhile, the company is considering a name change to signal a move from the past.
