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Last year, the Czech state provided political parties with a total of 555.8 million CZK (€22.6 m) in funding, down 80.6 million CZK (€3.3 m) from 2024, according to figures published by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday. The total does not include support for last year’s parliamentary election, which will be paid this year.

The largest share went to the governing ANO Party, which received 180.3 million CZK (€7.3 m), followed by the Civic Democrats (ODS) with 86.7 million CZK (€3.5 m). Among parties currently represented in the Chamber of Deputies, the Motorists’ Party received the smallest amount, 5.4 million CZK (€0.22 m).

State funding is calculated based on the number of representatives and MPs, results in the most recent parliamentary election, and it supports the operation of party institutes. Successful parties are also entitled to reimbursements for election costs.

Czech state grid operator ČEPS has recommended temporarily keeping two of the four units at the Chvaletice coal-fired power plant in operation, citing risks to grid stability if the plant shuts down completely, the operator said in an analysis published on Tuesday. The plant, owned by Pavel Tykač’s Sev.en group, is scheduled for closure later this year or early next year.

ČEPS warned that a full shutdown could cause voltage control issues in the north, overload certain lines, and reduce the system’s resilience to large-scale outages. However, the planned closure of the Počerady plant and the Kladno plant and heating plant, also owned by Sev.en, is not expected to affect grid stability.

The further operation of the power plants will be decided by the Energy Regulatory Office, which will now assess the economic costs.

Czech beach volleyball world champion Ondřej Perušič has retired at the age of 31, he announced at a press conference on Tuesday. His long-time partner David Schweiner will continue his career alongside Tadeáš Trousil, with whom he previously played at the European Championships three years ago during Perušič’s injury.

Perušič and Schweiner were among the world’s leading pairs in recent years, having won gold at the 2023 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Mexico — the greatest achievement in the history of Czech beach volleyball.

Perušič will remain with the team as an assistant, as the newly formed duo aims to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

The Czech Foreign Ministry will provide electric power generators to Ukraine, with spending capped at ten million crowns due to the current provisional budget, Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists) announced at a press conference in Prague on Monday.

According to Macinka, Czech diplomacy, in coordination with coalition partners, is responding to the critical situation in Ukraine, where Russian attacks have caused long-term electricity outages. The generators will be sent primarily to the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenkova thanked Czechia for the assistance in an evening post on the social network X, mentioning the Czech government, non-governmental organisations and the Czech public. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha also expressed his gratitude to his Czech counterpart Macinka and to the entire Czech government.