News

There were 130 confirmed new cases of coronavirus in the Czech Republic on Friday, the fourth consecutive day of increases over 100, Ministry of Health data show.

Hygienists extended anti-epidemic measures in force in the Karviná region on Friday to the entire Moravian-Silesian region. Outbreaks are rising in the region, and Covid-19 is spreading to at-risk groups over the age of 65.

Over the past seven days, the number of cases in the Karviná region rose by about 50, the most in all regions. The neighbouring Frýdek-Místek region and Mělnicko have also recorded jumps in the past seven days.

The Czech Republic’s government debt rose to by CZK 516.7 billion to a total of 2.16 trillion crowns, the Ministry of Finance informed on Friday. It is the highest level ever in the history of the country. In June, the ministry’s financing strategy projected that government debt at the end of 2020 will lie at CZK 2.12 trillion.

The skyrocketing of debt is primarily the result of the ministry issuing bonds to cover for this year’s budget deficit, which has risen from the originally planned CZK 40 billion to CZK 500 billion mainly thanks to a combination of coronavirus related relief measures and investments.

The Ministry says the average yield of the bonds it has issued lies at around 1.15 percent per annum and informed on Friday that it has now covered 77 percent of the funds needed to finance the debt in the national currency, some CZK 533 billion.

The long-term bonds, issued in the first half of 2020 were mainly aimed at covering the deficit and paying for already existing bonds, most of which are scheduled to be paid in the second half of this year. According to the ministry this should lead to a lowering of the absolute size of government debt so that relative debt to GDP will not exceed the level reached in 2013, when that ratio was at its highest with 44.9 percent.

Detectives from the National Centre for Combatting Organized Crime have filed charges of human trafficking, sexual coercion and rape against nine individuals after uncovering a crime ring that posed as a modelling agency only to force female victims into sex. This was recorded and then put online as pornography under the channel “Czech casting”, spokesman Jaroslav Ibehej informed on the police unit’s website on Friday.

According to police the group had been putting up ads since 2013, which offered paid professional modelling photograph opportunities for women over 18. However, this was only a trick to find women and subsequently manipulate them into filming pornographic videos.

The videos were subsequently posted online causing personal and employment difficulties to many of the victims. Furthermore, some of the women suffered from psychological and health problems as a result, Ibehej said, noting that hundreds of women took part in these “castings”.

Ostrava based steel manufacturer Vítkovice Heavy Machinery (VHM) has gone bankrupt, the Regional Court in Ostrava announced on Friday.

Rumors of a possible bankruptcy were already present at a company creditors meeting last week, the Czech News Agency writes.

According to the court, there are several reasons for VHM going bust. A company reorganisation proposal, which was originally put forward by the majority shareholder CE Power Industries, was taken back after VHM’s business activity was severely impacted by the epidemiological situation and coronavirus containment measures. Furthermore, the company discovered it does not have sufficient creditor support to initiate a reorganisation

VHM currently owes more than CZK 1.7 billion, insolvency administrator Lukáš Zrůst told the Czech News Agency. As of June, the company employed more than 560 workers, he says.