• Ministry revises GDP growth predictions, predicts 16 percent inflation in 2022
    08/19/2022

    The Czech Ministry of Finance has revised its estimate for economic growth this year and in 2023. It had previously expected GDP expansion of 1.2 percent this year, but now says 2.2 percent should be achieved.

    However it has lowered its outlook for next year, from 3.6 percent to 1.1 percent.

    Ministry officials also said they expected 16.2 percent inflation this year, falling to 8.8 percent next year.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czech school meals to rise by up to 10 percent from September
    08/19/2022

    Czech school canteens are set to increase prices by up to 10 percent from September, the Czech News Agency reported on Friday. Some already raised prices some months back, due to growing food and energy costs.

    A representative of a website devoted to Czech school canteens said that it was hard to make savings due to rules that require meals to be nutritional; some would therefore cut back on organic foods and more expensive types of meat.

    Czechia saw year-on-year inflation of 17.5 percent last month.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Zeman released from hospital after one-day stay
    08/19/2022

    Czech President Miloš Zeman was released from the Central Military Hospital in Prague on Friday, a day after going in for what his staff said was a planned visit. His head of office said doctors were carrying out tests of his digestive system.

    The head of state was then brought by his team to the Lány presidential retreat near Prague, where he lives.

    Late last year Mr. Zeman spent 48 days at the hospital after being admitted with complications to a chronic illness which doctors said was a liver condition.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Slavia lose to Polish side in first leg of Conference League qualifier
    08/19/2022

    Slavia Prague were beaten 2:1 away by Rakow Czestochowa in the first leg of the fourth qualifying round of football’s European Conference League on Thursday night. The Czech side came from behind to draw 1:1 with the hosts after 60 minutes, before conceding for a second time soon after.

    Slavia will have a chance to overturn this scoreline and reach the group stage of European soccer’s third-tier competition at their Eden ground in Prague next Thursday.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Registered Covid infections increase for first time since last month
    08/19/2022

    The Covid-19 epidemic accelerated in Czechia in the last week, for the first time since the end of July. Just over 13,000 new cases were recorded over the seven-day period, 300 more than in the previous week. The number rose slightly despite fewer tests being conducted.

    The seven-day case incidence rate stands at 122 per 100,000 inhabitants, which was just slightly higher than the figure for the week before. Prague has the highest recorded incidence.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Palát named ice hockey player of season for first time
    08/19/2022

    Ondřej Palát has won the Golden Hockey Stick for best Czech ice hockey player of the previous season. It was the first time the forward, who reached the finals of the NHL’s Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay, received the award, which is voted on by people in the sport in Czechia.

    David Pastrňák, who had previously taken the prize for five years in succession, came second this time, ahead of Roman Červenka in third.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Weather forecast
    08/19/2022

    It should be mainly overcast in Czechia on Saturday, with an average high temperature of 23 degrees Celsius. After more cloudy days sunny weather is expected to return on Tuesday.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Czechs to get eight helicopters for free from US
    08/19/2022

    Czechia is to receive eight helicopters free of charge from the United States, the Czech minister of defence, Jana Černochová, said on Thursday evening. Six will be combat helicopters and the remaining two will be transport aircraft, she told Czech Television.

    The US Embassy in Prague said the Czech side would only pay for the transport and modernisation of the helicopters.

    The Czech Army had previously ordered eight Viper and four Venom helicopters from the American company Bell at a cost of CZK 14.6 billion. The newly announced donation means it will have a total of 20 US helicopters.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Miloslav Stašek to become Czech ambassador to US next month
    08/18/2022

    Miloslav Stašek, who is currently state secretary at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is to become the country’s ambassador to the United States on September 1. The appointment was announced by Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský on Thursday.

    The country’s present ambassador to Washington, Hynek Kmoníček, is to become Czechia’s envoy to Vietnam.

    A former deputy Czech ambassador to NATO, Petr Chalupecký, will take over at the country’s new embassy in Qatar.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

  • Fiala explains Mlejnek role, stands by Rakušan
    08/18/2022

    Prime Minister Petr Fiala says that the head of the civilian intelligence service, Petr Mlejnek, helped to shed light on a criminal case centred on Prague’s transport authority before an investigation was launched and outside that investigation. He made the comment on Thursday. Mr. Fiala also said the minister of the interior, Vít Rakušan, who gave Mr. Mlejnek the post, still had his trust.

    Opposition leader Andrej Babis has called for Mr. Rakušan’s dismissal for appointing Mr. Mlejnek, who has been linked to a businessman named Michael Redl accused of being the ringleader in the corruption case.
    Author: Ian Willoughby

Pages