In today’s business news: The Czech prime minister speaks out against using EFSM funds to bail out Greece; the agrochemical giant Agrofert holding is to acquire eight new companies; the Czech power giant ČEZ will be collaborating with consultancy firm McKinsey & Co; the country’s fruit farmers and wine growers estimate damages caused by unexpected frosts in spring to reach half a billion crowns; and the biggest Czech insurer brings forward an interesting analysis of the country’s pension savings habits.
Prime Minister speaks on Greek debt crisis
Photo: CTK
Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas said on Thursday that only eurozone money should be used to provide further assistance to Greece. Mr. Nečas added that he opposed drawing funds from the European Financial Stabilization Mechanism (EFSM) to help Greece. Greek debt restructuring would evidently be better than continuing pouring financial aid into the Greek economy, he said. At an EU summit on Thursday, the Czech Republic pushed for involving the private sector in efforts to help resolve the Greek debt crisis. European Union leaders on Friday are holding a second day of meetings in Brussels to discuss possible solutions to the Greek debt crisis.
Agrofert to acquire eight new companies
Andrej Babiš, photo: CT24
One of the Czech Republic’s largest agrochemical companies, Agrofert Holding, is planning to add eight firms to its portfolio. According to the daily Lidové noviny, the firm’s major stakeholder, Mr. Babiš is willing to spend up to 6.5 billion Czech crowns for the acquisition of those new companies. He has not yet specified which ones they would be, though he has said that not all of them would be Czech firms. Mr. Babiš recently took over the wood manufacturing Wotan group. Agrofert is the market leader in the country’s agricultural and food sectors and an important player in the chemical industry. Last year, the company increased its market share by 7.3 percent to over 92 billion Czech crowns.
ČEZ to collaborate with McKinsey & Co. on Temelín expansion
Czech power giant ČEZ will be collaborating with the global management consultancy firm McKinsey & Co. on the enlargement of the Temelín nuclear plant. According to the British Financial Times, the role of the company is to draft a contingency plan for the event that the tender for the expansion of the plant fails. ČEZ denied the claim, stating that it was planning to spend 300 billion Czech crowns on investments over the next four years. The third reactor at Temelín should be completed by 2025. The French Areva, the American Westinghouse as well as the Czech-Russian consortium Atomstrojexport are applying for the Temelín expansion tender. A decision on who will win it is expected to fall in 2013.
Fruit and wine industry estimate damages caused by springtime frosts to reach 500,000 Czech crowns
Photo: Štěpánka Budková
Unexpected frost in the spring has lead to damages of over half a billion Czech crowns in the country’s fruit and wine industry. So far, this year’s harvest is the smallest since 1984, and might even be shaping up to be the worst fruit harvest of the last 50 years. The Agriculture Ministry is to distribute funds of 30 million Czech crowns amongst the country’s fruit farmers and wine growers. Temperatures below zero hit the country in early May. The apple harvest was among the most affected by the unexpected drop in temperatures.
Biggest Czech insurer publishes analysis of connection between saving habits and given names
Photo: Štěpánka Budková, Radio Prague International
According to an analysis by the biggest insurance company on the Czech market, Česká pojišťovna, there are certain correlations between a person’s first name and their attitude to savings. The insurer’s data reveals that those whose given name is Vladimír or Ludmila on average save 575 and 514 crowns for their pension fund per month, respectively. At the bottom of the list are men named Martin and women named Lenka, who save 408 and 383 crowns every month, respectively. Overall, experts say that people in general are not saving enough towards their retirement. A spokesperson for Česká pojišťovna’s pension fund said that if people expect to keep the same standard of living once they retire, they should save more than
