• Czech energy network calls off state of emergency
    07/26/2006

    The Czech electricity grid, which suffered an overload on Tuesday, has called off a state of emergency. The network CEPS balances electricity generation with consumption in the Czech Republic and battled its biggest blackout in thirty years. All large companies are still advised to minimise their energy consumption.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Finance Ministry projects economic growth of 6.2 percent
    07/26/2006

    The Finance Ministry expects the country's economy to grow by 6.2 percent this year. Its projection is up from previous estimates of 5.6 percent. The positive projection is based on external trade and an expected increase in household spending and investments. The ministry says economic growth will slow down next year to reach 5 percent.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Czech Railways to offer Pendolino lines to Vienna and Bratislava
    07/26/2006

    The Czech Railway company is planning to buy more Pendolino trains to cover destinations to neighbouring Slovakia and Austria. There are already seven Pendolino trains travelling between Prague and Ostrava and on the Prague-Brno-Breclav line. Seven more are expected to cover the Prague-Bratislava and Prague-Vienna lines as of December. A trip on the Pendolino, known for speed and comfort, is expected to cut travelling time by up to thirty minutes.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Czech energy network suffers overload and calls state of emergency
    07/25/2006

    The Czech electricity network is suffering an overload and has called a state of emergency. The network CEPS, which balances electricity generation with consumption in the Czech Republic, says the overload has led to several blackouts. All large companies are now obliged to minimise their energy consumption. The crisis committee is holding an emergency meeting to find ways of bringing the situation under control.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Centre-right coalition proposes to copy Social Democrats' policy programme
    07/25/2006

    The Civic Democrats, the Christian Democrats, and the Greens, who have been trying to form a coalition government, have offered to base their policy programme on the pre-election manifesto of the Social Democrats. The centre-right coalition is one vote short of a majority in the lower house of Parliament and has been negotiating with the Social Democrats to gain their vote of confidence.

    Even though the coalition says it would copy the ten-point manifesto word for word, the Social Democrats have rejected the offer and called it a joke. Social Democrat leader and outgoing Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek accused the coalition parties of using the offer as a "marketing trick". Talks will continue on Wednesday to find other ways out of the political deadlock.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Senators seriously considering dissolution of lower house
    07/25/2006

    Meanwhile, some Czech senators have been drumming up support for a bill that could lead to early elections. Senators will hold a vote on the amendment to the Constitution that allows for the dissolution of the current lower house at a special meeting in August. One third of the Senate, or 27 senators, would have to vote in favour of the bill for it to be approved. The senators who proposed it are reacting to the political stalemate and are hoping the bill will lead to early elections. However, the bill will also have to gain the approval of the President and the lower house.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • VAT may be lowered for hard labour services
    07/25/2006

    The European Commission has proposed to allow 17 EU member states, including the Czech Republic, to lower VAT for services that demand hard labour. In the Czech Republic, this would mean that services like construction work, window cleaning, and home care would be taxed at five percent until 2010. The proposal has yet to be approved by the Council.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Vietnamese gang supplying drugs to Roma arrested
    07/25/2006

    Czech police say they have broken up a gang that has been selling drugs to members of the Roma community in the southern Moravian town of Brno. The four men from Vietnam were allegedly supplying heroin to some forty Romany drug addicts. They face up to five years in prison if found guilty of the illegal manufacture of drugs.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Random shooter in Ceske Budejovice residential area
    07/25/2006

    Police are looking for a person who has been shooting an airgun at random in the Bohemian town of Ceske Budejovice. At least four people, among them one child, have been shot since Thursday. None of them were seriously injured. The residents of the Maj residential area are scared to leave their homes as the shots are believed to be fired from a window.
    Author: Dita Asiedu

  • Social Democrats say they will not enter a coalition with centre-right parties
    07/24/2006

    A meeting between representatives of the would-be coalition between the Civic Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Greens, and leading members of the Social Democratic Party has brought no end to the ongoing political deadlock. The Social Democrats refused to formally enter the coalition government, meaning the three-party coalition remains one seat short of a majority. Civic Democratic Party chairman Mirek Topolanek says that the goal now is to establish guidelines by which the Social Democrats would tolerate the three-party coalition, and to set these conditions in writing. Talks between the political leaders are expected to continue this week, with Tuesday's meetings focusing on economic issues and decreasing the unemployment rate.

    A fifth attempt to elect a new chairman of the lower house is also set for Friday, and Social Democrat Lubomir Zaoralek is expected to stand for the position.
    Author: Linda Maštalíř

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