Business News

In this week’s Business News: Czech exporters highlight skills shortfall; Moody’s say Czech rating not under threat; hops exports shrivel in drought; Škoda Auto-Volkswagen partnership highlighted as success; and tax proposal on church restitution kicked into long grass.

Czech exporters highlight skills shortages

Photo: Nino Satria / freeimages

Czech industry is currently lacking at least 70,000 workers and thousands of university educated experts, such as chemists and mechanical engineers, a new analysis by the Czech Exporters’ Association suggests. According to the analysis, there are currently more than 117,000 vacancies on the Czech jobs market. The Exporters’ Association has called on the Czech government to loosen its visa policy to simplify attracting foreign workforce from countries such as Ukraine, Vietnam, and Russia to the Czech Republic.

Moody’s says Czech A1 rating not under threat, sees 2015 growth at 2.5 percent

Czech economic growth this year should be around 2.5 percent, according to an estimate by the international ratings agency Moody’s released on Wednesday. The estimate is along the same lines at the Czech Ministry of Finance but slightly lower than the Czech National Bank, which sees growth this year at around 2.7 percent. Growth will be slightly higher, at just over 3 percent, in Poland, Slovakia, and Romania. Moody’s says the Czech Republic’s high rating of A1 is not under any threat with a stable outlook confirmed. It points out that the health of many local banks, such as ČSOB and Česká Spořitelna, is actually better than the parent company, Belgium’s KBC and Austria’s Erste Bank.

2015 hops exports slide after drought

Photo: H. Zell, CC BY-SA 3.0

Czech export of hops have dropped by 10 percent in 2015 compared to the previous year, to total 3,668 tonnes of hops. According to the Hop Growers Association, the slump in profits amounted to over 250 million crowns. Last year’s crops were damaged by unexpectedly high temperatures and drought. Dry weather also caused hops to have a lower concentration of alfa acids, which are responsible for the bitter flavour in beer. Most of the hop exports went to non-EU markets, mainly to Asia.

Volkswagen takeover of Škoda Auto highlighted as success story

The partnership of Škoda Auto and Volkswagen is an example of successful European partnership, the chairman of Volkswagen, Matthias Müller, said on Tuesday. Mr. Müller was speaking at a meeting at the Škoda museum in Mladá Boleslav marking the 25th anniversary of the takeover of the Czech carmaker by the German company. The Czech prime minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, told the assembled that recent government support for a new industrial zone was proof that Škoda was one of the most important investors and employers in the Czech Republic. In 1991 Škoda produced 170,000 cars a year in Czechoslovakia; in 2015 it produced over half a million at 14 plants on two continents for over 100 markets, Mr. Müller said.

Tax proposal on church restitution payments shunned by government

Photo: CTK

Ministers in the Czech government failed to agree a position on a proposal by a Communist MP which would alter details of a property settlement between the state and church which was passed by the previous government in 2012 and took effect in 2013. The proposal suggests that funds to be paid out over 30 years – a total of 59 billion crowns plus inflation – to compensate for property which was seized by the former Communist regime and could not later be returned – could be taxed. The junior party in the ruling coalition, the Christian Democrats, slammed the proposal as“populist”. In the cabinet, the bill received support solely from the finance minister, Andrej Babiš. MPs in the lower house will decide the fate of the bill.