News

Construction of a school and kindergarten costing 150 million crowns in the Brno district of Židenice will begin in the coming weeks. In previous months the local authority had the original house demolished and the site cleared where the new building will stand. The contractor has two years to complete the project and, if nothing complicates the process, the school could open in the 2027/2028 school year, deputy mayor Štěpán Juránek (KDU-ČSL) told CTK.

The new building in Šámalova Street will replace an old courtyard house. The ground floor will house three kindergarten classes for 75 children, while the upper floor will include three, possibly four, classes for primary school pupils. The facility will serve pupils from the primary school in Kuldova Street, whose historic building cannot be expanded. The total capacity will be about 150 children.

When providing consumer loans, a maximum annual percentage rate of charge will likely be introduced. This is proposed in a draft amendment to the Consumer Credit Act that the government will discuss on Monday. The proposal has been criticized by the Association of Non-Bank Loan Providers (APNÚ). According to the association, some applicants – especially those with low incomes – would lose access to legal loans and could turn to the black market.

The proposal sets a maximum cost for loans with a maturity of less than 12 months and an amount of up to 20,000 crowns. The cap includes a fixed fee of 2,000 crowns as the cost of providing the loan. An additional amount would be added based on the loan size, the loan period, and the maximum possible interest rate. This interest rate would be derived from the Czech National Bank’s base rate.

Coalition party Freedom and Direct Democracy have proposed that postal voting in Czech elections be scrapped, Czech Television reported on Friday. The other two parties in the government, ANO and the Motorists, say they are open to a debate on the matter.

Opposition legislators have criticised the move against postal ballots, which were enshrined in law in the previous electoral period and have been used only one time.

Interest in voting by mail was lower than originally expected in elections in October, while the system was rarely the reason for complaints lodged against their conduct, an official told Czech TV.

Former Prague mayor Pavel Bém may run for the post again in elections this autumn, as a candidate of the ruling ANO party, the news website Aktualne.cz reported on Friday. Mr. Bém was recently appointed national coordinator for drug policy by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.

The 62-year-old served as mayor of the Czech capital between 2002 and 2010, as a representative of the Civic Democrats.