News

Citizens of 12 countries to apply for green cards

The Interior Ministry has announced the final list of 12 countries whose citizens can apply for a green card to work in the Czech Republic. The number of countries is smaller than was originally envisaged, due to the global financial crisis and an expected fall in demand for low-paid workers from abroad. The countries concerned include Ukraine and all states of the former Yugoslavia with the exception of Kosovo. The Vietnamese, who make up one of the largest ethnic minorities in the Czech Republic, are also not included. Foreigners in the Czech Republic can currently only seek jobs that are not filled within 30 days with applicants from the Czech Republic or another EU country.

CNB: Czech economy may grow slower than expected

The Czech National Bank admits there could be a greater economic slowdown next year than previously forecast, the daily Hospodářské noviny reported, citing the bank’s governor Zdeněk Tůma. The most recent forecast of the Czech National Bank estimated a growth of 2.9 percent; now it says Czech GDP may only grow by 0.5 percent in 2009. Zdeněk Tůma says the change is caused by the global downturn, which is sharper than it was expected at the time the forecast was drafted.

Czech mission to UN ready to take over EU presidency

The Czech mission to the United Nations in New York is ready to take over the duties of the European presidency on January 1, ambassador Martin Palouš has told the Czech News Agency. He said the Czech mission would be responsible for all activities carried out within the European Union in the first six months of next year. The first meeting Mr Palouš will preside is a regular meeting of the 27 ambassadors of EU member states. The Czech mission has recently increased its personnel to around 50 people.

New system to reduce number of children in institutional care

The Czech Labour and Social Affairs Ministry is to submit a new system that will prefer a family environment to institutional care. According to the ministry’s plan, more attention should be paid to working with high-risk families to prevent the children from being placed in institutional care. The Czech Republic has been repeatedly criticised for having too many children in homes. There are currently around 20,000 children living without a family. The new system wants to coordinate the work of various institutions and deal with the lack of social workers, who should be the key figures to provide families in need with help. The new system will be presented to the cabinet in January or February next year.

Registration of used cars up to CZK 10,000

As of January 1, drivers registering used cars will pay an environmental fee of up to 10,000 crowns. The new fee will concern some 2.5 million cars, which is more than half of all passenger cars in the Czech Republic. More than a third of all cars in the country, nearly 1.5 million vehicles, are older than 15 years and therefore they don’t meet any of the Euro emission standards. Owners of these cars will have to pay a fee of 10,000 crowns at the next registration after January 1, an amount that often exceeds the price of the vehicle itself. The registration authorities have been bursting at the seams before the end of the year, with people trying to sell their cars or cancel their registration at the last moment.

Škoda Fabia top-selling car in 2008

The Škoda Fabia was the most popular passenger car in the Czech Republic last year, with over 22,000 sold. It was followed by another Škoda, the Octavia, with nearly 11,500 cars, according to the data released by the Car Importers Association. The top-selling imported car in 2008 was the Ford Fusion with nearly 5,000 vehicles sold. Czech drivers registered over 130,000 passenger cars last year, which is 9 percent more than the previous year. The increase was boosted mainly by sales of city cars and small family vehicles.

Bauer fails to qualify for the finals in Tour de Ski sprint

The Tour de Ski sprint competition at Prague’s Výstaviště was won by Norway’s Tor Arne Hetland and Italy’s Arianna Follis. Czech skier Lukáš Bauer has not qualified for the finals. The reigning Tour de Ski champion finished in 48th place. The best Czech Aleš Razým finished 13th. Following Monday’s sprint in Prague, the Tour de Ski competition moves to another Czech venue Nové Město na Moravě on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, before coming to a close in the Italian resort of Val de Fiemme next weekend.

Czech skier Šárka Záhrobská fourth after first leg of World Cup slalom

Czech downhill skier Šárka Záhrobská is fourth after the first leg of the World Cup slalom event in Austria’s Semmering. On Sunday, Záhrobská finished 24th in the Women’s World Cup giant slalom event. The slalom specialist is eight overall in this season’s standings.

Weather

The start of this week will see mostly clear skies over the country, with highest day temperatures between -4 and 0 degrees Celsius.