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Czechia has contributed almost CZK 866 million to the initiative to supply artillery ammunition to Ukraine, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said before leaving for the European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday. According to Mr. Fiala, the money allocated by the Czech government will be spent on the purchase of ammunition from the Czech company STV Group.The Czech head of government also said tens of thousands of munitions will be delivered to Ukraine on a regular monthly basis. The goal is to deliver up to 500,000 pieces by the end of the year, a number that is currently covered financially.

Most Czechs enjoy their work or find it fulfilling, according to a joint survey carried out by Nielsen, NMS Market Research and STEM/MARK in six European countries in May.

According to the survey, 55 percent of Czechs find their work fulfilling or enjoyable, while 48 percent remain in their job because they like the location. Some 35 percent don’t want to change jobs because it is well-paid and 25 percent because they have a good boss. A fifth said they stay in their job because it is not too demanding.

More than half of Czechs rate their workplace relationships as friendly. However, three out of ten regard their salary as insufficient and the same number of people consider employee benefits to be small or demotivating.

Czech car companies and car-parts suppliers’ turnover reached CZK 1.48 billion in 2023, which represents an increase by 17 percent on the previous year, the Czech Automotive Industry Association announced at a press conference on Thursday. Czech car makers’ exports increased by 23 percent last year to nearly CZK 1.3 billion.

Car production returned to pre-crisis levels, rising 14.8 percent year-on-year to 1.398 million passenger cars. The number of electric vehicles produced rose by 34 percent to 181,000.

Presently around 142,000 people work in the car industry in Czechia. The average wage in the sector rose by 8.8 percent to CZK 54,637 per month, which is 26 percent above the Czech average wage.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala said after meeting with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini on Wednesday afternoon that the development of relations between Czechia and Slovakia are extremely important and that he appreciated the fact that Mr Pellegrini upheld the tradition of making Czechia the destination of his first official foreign visit as the new Slovak head of state. The two politicians met for roughly half an hour at Straka Academy, the seat of the Czech government in Prague, where they discussed bilateral relations, defence cooperation, and the agenda for the upcoming European Council meeting.

Shortly before the meeting, the Slovak government criticised the Czech prime minister for a statement he made on Tuesday saying that resuming intergovernmental consultations with Slovakia would not be on the agenda for the meeting and that it was premature to even consider it given the health status of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Bratislava accused the Czech prime minister of being disrespectful. A spokesperson for the Czech government said that on the contrary, Mr Fiala's statement was an expression of respect for the Slovak Prime Minister, who is currently convalescing at home after the assassination attempt against him in May.

The Czech cabinet suspended intergovernmental consultations between Czechia and Slovakia in March due to disagreements over key foreign policy issues.