News

Sparta Prague lost 2:1 to Panathinaikos Athens in the first leg of the Champions League’s third qualifying round in Prague on Wednesday. The first score took place in the 24th minute of the game after Sparta’s defender Kučera netted an own goal. It only took the home side six minutes to equalize but the winning score by Simao, of Athens, came some 20 minutes before the game ended. The second leg of the qualifier will take place in Athens in two weeks’ time.

Czech police have formally shelved an investigation into former Social Democrat Prime Minister Stanislav Gross’ business dealings. The case revolves around last year’s purchase and sale of shares by Mr. Gross in the company Moravia Energo. Mr Gross purchased a one third stake in the electricity company last year from former colleague Robert Sykora, who also served as deputy trade minister – the loan was financed by a company called Key Investments. Mr Gross then resold the shares to a company called Arca Capital Bohemia, making a sizable profit in the process. The case was investigated by the Czech anti-corruption police, who today announced that they had found no evidence of wrongdoing.

The first half of 2008 has seen a sharp fall in foreign investment into the Czech Republic, according to Czech Invest, the government agency which promotes this cause. According to Czech Invest, the country received 124 investments in the period between January and June totalling around 20 billion crowns. This figure is 29 billion crowns lower than in the same period in 2007 and represents a serious decline and challenge for the Czech Republic. Other seismic shifts have also been evident – last year 98 percent of investments were in manufacturing projects, this year’s figures indicate that 65 percent of investments are in research, development and services. The change in investment dynamics has been explained as a shift from large-scale projects to smaller more targeted projects and is viewed as somewhat positive in the sense that the Czech Republic appears to be moving towards its desired goal of becoming a so-called knowledge-based economy rather than a manufacturing base.

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has departed for a planned visit to China to take in the Beijing Olympics. Mr Topolánek will spend three days in the country although a detailed itinerary for the visit has not been made public. Several NGOs and other groups have been pressuring Mr Topolánek to address the issues of human rights, political prisoners and also Tibet during his stay. Although there is speculation just how Mr Topolánek will relay his concerns to China, most analysts are expecting a statement similar to those made by French president Nicolas Sarkozy or US president George W. Bush during similar visits.