News

Trabant enthusiasts have been gathering for a weekend of events celebrating the East German car on the outskirts of the Czech capital. Organisers said they expected up to 150 Trabis to appear at the Trabantiáda, which is being held by the lake Džbán in Prague 6. Vehicles produced by the East German concern IFA in the communist era, such as Wartburg cars and Barkas vans, are also taking part.

The Czech centre-right government of Prime Minister Petr Nečas has marked its first 100 days in office. The daily Lidové noviny on Thursday gave the prime minister its highest score for the initial period in office. A poll of readers put the prime minister in third place behind the Justice Minister and Foreign Minister. Worst ranked by the paper and its readers was Minister of the Interior and Public Affairs party leader Radek John.

The three-way coalition government formed after elections in May has described itself as a government of fiscal responsibility, pushing through cuts in public spending and sparking protests, especially from plans to cut public sector wages and staff to save around 10 percent in labour costs. The business daily Hospodářske noviny said that in spite of its failures the government has embarked on its main pledge of making savings.

Police appear to have made a breakthrough in a week old search for a missing nine-year-old schoolgirl. They said on Thursday that they had detained a man suspected of being linked to her disappearance. At the same time, police have returned in mass to the scene of the girl’s disappearance, the Prague suburb of Troja, with digging and excavation equipment. A nationwide search for the girl, who disappeared on her way home from school on October 13, has involved up to 800 police, sniffer dogs and special heat seeking equipment. The internet news site novinky.cz said police were led to the suspect, who has a criminal record, thanks to DNA samples left on the girl’s belongings.

Solar power producers in the Czech Republic have reacted angrily to a raft of government moves aimed at curbing electricity prices which have been squarely blamed on an ongoing solar power boom. A representative of the Czech Photovoltaic Association told Czech Radio on Thursday that he expected some operators would launch arbitration procedures against the state. He said operators faced a 30 percent cut in earnings following the latest moves and pointed out that some investors had taken out loans on the basis of a business plan which the government has now torn up. The government announced measures on Wednesday aimed at capping electricity price rises next year below 5.5 percent. These include a surcharge on agricultural land used for solar facilities, a 26 percent tax on solar companies and a tax on carbon dioxide allowances given out by the government.