Minister: Govt planning discount to help Czechs cope with energy prices

The Czech government plans to help citizens cope with fast-rising energy prices by offering them a discount of up to 20 percent, the minister of industry and trade, Jozef Síkela, told the newspaper Právo on Saturday. Mr. Síkela said that the details of the proposal still needed to be worked out.

The minister said his officials were preparing legislation that would both help households save on energy costs and encourage them to conserve energy, which he said would be important in connection with plans to reduce Czech energy dependency on Russia.