News

Czech industrial firms could lose tens of billions of crowns over the short term due to sanctions between Russia and the EU, according to a survey by the country’s Confederation of Industry among their member companies. In the long run, the losses could amount to hundreds of billions, the group said. The machinery, energy, chemical and petrochemical sectors as well as agriculture technology and food industry are likely to suffer most due to the sanctions, according to the survey. The Czech government’s estimate of potential losses is much lower, of around 2.1 billion crowns but the industry group says Czech companies’ sales to partners in Western Europe could also be affected by the sanctions.

Communist Party deputy chairman Jiří Dolejš has come in for criticism from some supporters for posting a photo of the band The Plastic People of the Universe on his Facebook page, the news website iDnes.cz reported. Members of the then underground group were imprisoned under the communist regime and they had strong links to the dissident movement. The MP shared a picture of the Plastic People on the social networking site, adding the word “legend”. Beneath this followers wrote comments such as “Why are you a Communist MP? Your legend was against socialism” and “junkies with unmelodic lyrics”.

The Czech government will next week discuss an intergovernmental donation of small arms munitions to the regional government in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Czech News Agency reported, quoting representatives of the defence and foreign affairs ministries on Tuesday. At the same time, the cabinet is supporting Czech firms that wish to sell weapons to the Iraqi Kurds, who have been facing an offensive from Islamic State, or ISIS, radicals. Deputy Foreign Minister Petr Drulák said last week that Czech armaments could be on their way to Iraq by the end of this month. Talks between Prague and Kurdish representatives are ongoing.

Czech fugitive Radovan Krejčíř last week regained part of his property confiscated by the state, the news site Aktualne.cz reported. A court released valuables worth around CZK 30 million in order to sell them and raise damages, but Mr. Krejčíř’s lawyers applied for the property before his creditors did so and won it back. However, he does not have the right to take any action with regard to the items in question, according to the Chamber of Executors. Mr. Krejčíř escaped during a police raid on his Czech home; since 2007 he has been living in South Africa, where he has been linked to organised crime.