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Gas consumption in the Czech Republic has fallen by 18 percent year-on-year so far in 2022, industry and trade minister Jozef Síkela told the Czech News Agency on Monday. Consumption is now at its lowest since 2016. Therefore, Mr. Síkela said, even without Russian gas, it will be possible to cover daily consumption and to continue to fill storage tanks, which are already more than 89 percent full. He emphasised that energy savings have a significant impact on handling the crisis, as despite the second half of September being the coldest since 2018, gas consumption in Czechia fell by 28 percent year-on-year that month after adjusting for the weather.

The ministry of industry and trade, which Mr. Síkela heads, has also introduced energy savings, the Czech News Agency reports. For example, the room temperature in the ministry's buildings is kept between 19 and 21 degrees, and toilets, storage rooms, and corridors are not being heated at all. According to Mr. Síkela's deputy, Petr Třešňák, the ministry has managed to save a fifth on its gas consumption using these measures.

Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavský and Slovak foreign minister Rastislav Káčer said after a meeting in Prague on Monday that a solution to the problem of illegal migration must be found at the level of the European Union, and that checks at the border between their two countries are not the answer. The Czech Republic introduced controls on its border with Slovakia on Thursday due to vastly increased numbers of migrants travelling through the country recently. Mr. Káčer said that European countries which are popular migrant destinations, as well as countries that are on the outer border of the Schengen area, need to be part of the solution.

As well as illegal migration, the pair also discussed mutual relations, the situation in Ukraine, and energy security.

Opposition leader Andrej Babiš says the performance of his ANO in the second round of Senate elections – which concluded on Saturday – was not a success, but says the party can take some positives from the results. In an interview for Mladá fronta Dnes, Mr. Babiš said ANO would likely have its own group in the Senate for the first time and had come very close in several constituencies.

He said turnout of less than 20 percent in the second round showed what people thought of the institution.

Mr. Babiš also said that ANO had been the winners of the previous weekend’s local elections by some distance.

The Czech government plans to tax the extraordinary profits of energy producers by 40 to 60 percent, the minister of transport, Martin Kupka, said on CNN Prima News on Sunday. Mr. Kupka said the specific amount would be decided at an upcoming meeting. Such a move could bring up to CZK 100 billion into the state coffers, he said.

Mr. Kupka said the government was taking measures to help citizens cope with high energy costs, including a price cap. He said housing allowances were also available to households for which the introduction of maximum prices would not suffice.