• Actors' association chooses Thalie nominees
    02/10/2004

    The Czech Actor's Association has revealed its nominees for this year's Thalie awards, given for Best Performance on the stage in four areas: theatre, opera, ballet/pantomime, and musical. Those nominated this year include popular actress Barbora Hrzanova, actor Jiri Langmajer, and singer Jiri Korn. The Thalie Awards will be held on March 27th.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • President Klaus tops popularity ratings
    02/09/2004

    President Vaclav Klaus has become the country's most popular politician, winning 69% of confidence votes, according to a poll conducted by the CVVM polling agency. The President's popularity ratings have soared during his first year in office, going from 35% in January of last year to the present 69%. Interior minister Stanislav Gross has placed second on the popularity ladder with a 60% confidence rating, and the country's Ombudsman Otakar Motejl has placed third with 54 %.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • European Parliament elections to take place on June 11 and 12
    02/05/2004

    President Vaclav Klaus has announced the date of the first-ever European Parliament elections to take place in the Czech Republic. Czechs will go to the polls on June 11 and 12. Political parties and groupings have to submit their lists of candidates by April 6. The Czech Republic will have 24 seats in the European Parliament.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Cabinet agrees on Kuzvart for EU commissioner, junior members abstain
    02/04/2004

    The Czech government has approved Milos Kuzvart, a former environment minister and serving MP for the Social Democrats, to become the Czech Republic's first representative to the European Commission. The decision to put forward Mr Kuzvart had been widely expected despite objections within the two junior government parties, the Christian Democrats and the Freedom Union. On Wednesday government spokeswoman Anna Veverkova told the Czech news agency CTK the decision to appoint Mr Kuzvart had not been unanimous, with ministers from the junior parties abstaining on the decision. In recent weeks junior party members had made it clear that they did not agree with Mr Kuzvart's nomination, saying they would have preferred a candidate with more international experience. Still, a spokesman for Romano Prodi, the head of the European Commission, has already welcomed Mr Kuzvart's nomination as an excellent choice.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Outline for sick-leave benefits approved
    02/04/2004

    The government also approved the outline for a new amendment on sick-leave benefits on Wednesday, with Minister for Labour and Social Affairs Zdenek Skromach putting forth the proposal that sick-leave benefits be paid only for work days missed. The bill also aims to reduce sick-leave pay to just 35 percent of one's regular salary for the first three days away from the workplace. On additional days patients would receive up to 70 percent of their regular pay. The plan, meanwhile, has met with resistance from both doctors and entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are upset the bill will count on employers to cover the first fourteen days of benefits, while doctors have expressed dissatisfaction with a planned fine aimed at discouraging medical professionals from treating malingerers lightly.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • President Klaus signs law on pensions for former presidents
    02/02/2004

    Czech President Vaclav Klaus signed a law on Monday, guaranteeing all former presidents of the Czech Republic 100,000 Czech crowns a month. Up-to-date, the law only affects former president Vaclav Havel, who as of March this year, will be receiving a 50,000 crown pension and a further 50,000 crowns a month that is to be used for the operation of his office. Despite the cost of running his office totalling 150,000 crowns a month, Mr Havel welcomes the new law, his spokesman said on Monday.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • VAT to fall from 22 to 19 percent
    02/01/2004

    The cabinet has said the higher band of VAT will be reduced from 22 to 19 percent. The change will come into effect on May 1st, when the Czech Republic joins the European Union. The lower band will remain unchanged at 5 percent, although some items will be moved to the higher band. The announcement was made after seven hours of talks on Sunday between representatives of the ruling coalition. The changes mean that items such as cars, electronic goods, clothes and telecommunications should be cheaper from May 1st.
    Author: Rob Cameron

  • Palas: Czech farmers could learn from Greek experience in drawing EU funds
    02/01/2004

    Agriculture Minister Jaroslav Palas has said Czech farmers could be as successful as their Greek counterparts in drawing funds from the European Union. Speaking during a visit to Greece, Mr Palas said Czech farmers could learn from the experience of Greece in winning agricultural subsidies from the EU.
    Author: Rob Cameron

  • Skromach: healthcare reform off agenda of Sunday's coalition talks
    01/31/2004

    The deputy leader of the senior coalition Social Democrats, Zdenek Skromach, has said discussion on the proposed reform of the country's healthcare system has been postponed. Mr Skromach said the proposals, submitted by the Health Minister Marie Souckova, had been taken off the agenda of Sunday's talks between coalition leaders. Mr Skromach said there would not be enough time for a discussion on both tax and healthcare reform. The proposed healthcare reforms are controversial, as they envisage reducing the number of doctors and increasing the financial burden on the patient.
    Author: Rob Cameron

  • Palas: Czech farmers could learn from Greek experience in drawing EU funds
    01/31/2004

    Agriculture Minister Jaroslav Palas has said Czech farmers could be as successful as their Greek counterparts in drawing funds from the European Union. Speaking during a visit to Greece, Mr Palas said Czech farmers could learn from the experience of Greece in winning agricultural subsidies from the EU.
    Author: Rob Cameron

Pages