News

Czech gas reserves are currently at 40 percent full capacity and storage tanks are being filled up at a rate of 25 million cubic metres per day (twice the equivalent of summer consumption), Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Síkela said on Monday as he presented the state’s plan to stack up on gas ahead of the next winter.

This will include creating the office of “state energy buyer” (státní obchodník s energiemi), who will be able to negotiate directly with European gas suppliers. The minister hopes that this will make gas purchases cheaper and more secure.

The Ministry is also preparing a July initiative aimed at motivating businesses to save on energy consumption. Mr Síkela said that up to CZK 10 billion could be allocated for this purpose.

He also mentioned that the state wants to motivate gas traders via auctions in which the state will financially support the storage of gas in storage facilities and compensate traders for the price difference.

On Monday morning, police officers conducted a raid of the state’s Radioactive Waste Repository Authority, searching for documents. A supervising public prosecutor told news site Seznam Zprávy that five people and one business entity have been charged with negotiating advantages in public tenders.

According to website hlidacstatu.cz, the Radioactive Waste Repository Authority has concluded 626 contracts worth a total of CZK 7 billion in recent years. Seznam Zprávy writes that police officers are interested in the role that the organisation’s director Jan Prachař had in some tenders.

The Radioactive Waste Repository Authority is part of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. It has recently been in the public spotlight as the Czech government seeks to speed up the construction of a nuclear waste storage facility in order to adhere to the deadline in the EU’s taxonomy for sustainable activities.

Prague City Hall councillors have voted to make Czech singer Marta Kubišová an honorary citizen, the Czech News Agency reports. The decision will now have to be approved by the City Assembly.

According to the document, which was approved by councillors on Monday, Kubišová will receive the citizenship for her achievements in the realm of Czech culture, as well as for her personal bravery shown during the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia and during the subsequent normalisation era.

Internationally acclaimed violinist Václav Hudeček is set to receive the same honour. The Council also voted to grant the City of Prague Silver Medal to deceased physician Milena Černá.

Agricultural producer prices saw their sharpest year-on-year rise since 1992 in April, growing by 35.3 percent (8 percent month-on-month), according to data released by the Czech Statistics Agency on Monday. Oil plant products rose by nearly two-thirds compared to last year, while the price of cereals grew by more than a half during the same period.

In other sectors, industrial producer prices rose by more than a quarter compared to last year (2.3 percent month-on-month). Construction work prices went up by nearly 13 percent in year-on-year terms (1.3 percent month-on-month) and service producer prices rose by 5.5 percent in year-on-year terms (0.5 percent month-on-month).