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07/19/2010
International credit ratings agency Moody’s has said it could improve its evaluation of the Czech Republic if the new centre-right coalition government delivers on its pledge to cut the budget deficit. The news was given by one of the company’s analysts in an interview with the Bloomberg news agency. The Czech Republic currently has an A1 rating with a stable outlook, the same as that of neighbour Slovakia and Estonia, which is soon to adopt the single currency euro. The Czech rating is two notches lower than the absolute top triple ‘A’ rating. The new government has pledged to cut the budget deficit to 3.0 percent of Gross Domestic Product by 2013.
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07/19/2010
Homes in Western Bohemia have been reconnected to the grid after weekend storms left tens of thousands without power. The worst affected districts were around Karlovy Vary, Tachov and northern Plzeň where high winds downed trees and power cables on Saturday. One person was killed by a falling tree. At one stage around half of the region was without power. Storms also caused flooding in parts of the centre and east of the country with rivers still at flood danger levels around the east Bohemian town Chrudim on Monday morning.
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07/19/2010
The Ministry of Environment server dealing with its Green Saving energy efficiency programme suffered repeated problems on Monday after it was widened to allow applications for grants from regional, town and local councils. Problems began soon after 6 am when mayors and other officials started to log on the server to lodge internet applications for funds. Some voiced fears they could miss out on funds if the quota for applications was filled before they could file theirs online. The efficiency saving programme has around 25 billion crowns to spend by the end of 2012.
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07/19/2010
Drunken Baník Ostrava football fans ransacked train carriages taking them back from their opening league fixture against Příbram on Sunday night. Fans ripped down curtains, smashed a window and broke a sink in the toilets. Two fans were also arrested following an assault upon a policeman. Czech Railways estimated the damage at around 25,000 crowns. The match between the two teams, which passed without incident, was earmarked as high risk following violence in May when 25 fans were detained.
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07/19/2010
Prague Civic Democrats could opt for an independent, non-aligned candidate for mayor in local elections in October. Prague Civic Democrat chairman Boris Šťastný said that is one of the options that party bosses are considering. The party’s regional council is expected to come up with a name to head the party’s list in the Czech capital at a meeting at the start of August. Mr. Šťastný refused to mention any names for the moment. The Civic Democrats are under pressure after TOP 09 last week named former central bank governor Zdeněk Tůma as its candidate for mayor in the upcoming elections. TOP 09 scored better than the Civic Democrats in Prague in elections to the lower house of parliament in May as voter disillusion eroded support in what has been a party bastion.
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07/19/2010
Conservationists began Monday to scythe water meadows at a reserve around 10 miles from the central city of Třebíč. The annual action is aimed at preserving the meadows which are a refuge for rare orchids and other plants. Invasive trees, such as the willow, were also removed. The conservation work, which will last around two weeks, also attracts international volunteers with some from as far as South Korea visiting in the past. This year, some have come from Germany.
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07/19/2010
Slavia Prague football team’s modern Eden stadium has no building permission to host concerts according to the local council. The finding surfaced on Monday, a day before the stadium is due to host a concert by the American pop singer Pink. The council added the stadium did not meet the required noise regulations for concerts. It said it could not stop the event but could impose a fine. The owners of the stadium have contested the council’s interpretation saying that they are authorised to stage cultural events. Last year the stadium hosted a concert by Depeche Mode.
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07/18/2010
The Czech prime minister, Petr Nečas, has expressed concern about the high number of new ministry officials who came from the largest private Czech security firm, ABL. The agency was until recently owned by Transport Minister Vít Bárta, a founder of Public Affairs, one of the coalition parties of the centre-right cabinet. The Public Affairs party now controls the ministries of interior, transport, education and regional development; four deputy ministers had previously worked for ABL. Mr Nečas told Czech TV on Sunday the number of these officials was unusual, but that his coalition partner, Public Affairs, assured him that no conflict of interest would occur. The prime minister said he would “vigorously intervene”, should such a conflict appear.
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07/18/2010
In related news, Prime Minister Petr Nečas told Czech TV on Sunday that a new budget supervisory body would be established by the end of September. The National Budget Council should have seven to eight members, and will assess the impact of individual bills on the state budget. Mr Nečas said the new body would be non-political, and could also include a representative of the opposition Social Democrats, an idea rejected by Social Democrat leader Bohuslav Sobotka. Prime Minister Nečas also said he would revive the government’s consulting economic board, known as NERV, which was first set up last year by former PM Mirek Topolánek.
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07/18/2010
Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg told the Austrian daily Die Presse on Sunday that the post-war Beneš decrees, which legalized the expulsion of around three million ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia, could not be abolished. Mr Schwarzenberg admitted however the decrees were a breach of human rights, but could not be lifted retroactively. The Czech foreign minister also said it was not necessary for the Czech Parliament to pass a resolution about the decrees as a symbol of reconciliation but that the Czech society was engaged in a public debate about sensitive issues in recent Czech history.
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