In Business News this week: average monthly salary reached 26,278 crowns in second quarter of 2015; EC approves government’s plan to extend support for biofuel; cyber-security firm CyberGym to build commercial Training Arena in Czech Republic; Česká spořitelna to launch pre-paid debit card for children; Czech firm opens household utensils manufacturing plant in Vietnam.
Average monthly salary reached 26,278 crowns in second quarter of 2015;
Photo: Filip Jandourek
The average monthly salary in the Czech Republic in the second quarter of 2015 rose by 3.4 percent, compared to the same period last year, according to the figures released by the Czech Statistical Office on Friday. Accounting for inflation, real growth was 2.7 percent. Average monthly pay stood at 26,287 crowns (over 970 euros) at the end of August. The results exceeded expectations of analysts, who anticipated a wage hike of about two percent.
EC approves government’s plan to extend support for biofuels
Photo: European Commission
The European Commission has approved the Czech government’s plan to extend the support of the so-called first generation biofuels, based on food or animal crops, the daily Hospodářské Noviny wrote this week. The draft legislation, which extends the fuel support, has been repeatedly debated in the lower house of parliament since April this year. The legislation has come under fire from opposition deputies who claim that it benefits the agro-chemical group Agrofert owned by Finance Minister Andrej Babiš. The extended tax benefits, which should be in place until 2020, should amount to nine billion crowns.
Cyber-security firm CyberGym to build commercial Training Arena in Czech Republic
Israeli cyber-security firm CyberGym plans to build its first commercial Training Arena in the Czech Republic. Customers will be able to acquire defensives against even the most sophisticated cyber-attacks, the company says. It will mainly serve institutions using key infrastructure for which a potential cyber-attack could impact the whole of society, such as banking, energy and telecommunication providers. The arena is set to open in Řitka near Prague in February next year. According to CyberGym’s head, Ofir Hason, the Czech Republic was selected because it had some of the best IT experts in the world and is one of the first countries to a adopt law on cybernetic security.
Česká spořitelna to launch pre-paid debit card for children
Illustrative photo: Filip Jandourek, Czech Radio
The country’s largest bank, Česká spořitelna, plans to launch a pre-paid debit card for children in mid-September, the daily E15 reported on Friday. The biip project consists of a prepaid Mastercard debit card, on which parents load money and monitor their child’s transactions with a mobile banking application. It is intended for children from the age of 10 upwards. Similar schemes have recently made their way on Czech market, including CSOB’s Cool karta or Napka by Rockaway.
Czech firm opens household utensils manufacturing plant in Vietnam
Photo: archive of Elmich Group
Czech company Elmich Group has opened a new household utensils manufacturing plant in Vietnam. The company invested over 430 million crowns in the project. The new plant in northern Ha Nam province currently employs around 100 people and plans to create another 200 workplaces in the future. Some 80 percent of the factory’s products are to be exported to European and Asian markets. Overall investments of the Czech Republic in Vietnam exceed 100 million US dollars to date.
