• Ministry for Regional Development seeks to boost social housing.
    03/03/2009

    The Ministry for Regional Development has warned that 40,000 households could face severe problems when rent regulation ends in 2010. Two thousand households could be thrown out on the street as a result, it adds. Local authorities are now facing growing demand for social housing from the elderly, disabled, unemployed and low paid. The ministry is looking at ways of boosting the construction of cheap, social housing.
    Author: Chris Johnstone

  • Czech Airlines carries more than 5.6 million passengers in 2008
    03/03/2009

    Czech Airlines said Tuesday that it carried 2.4 percent more passengers last year with the total reaching over 5.6 million. Passenger figures started to fall with the onset of the world financial crisis in September and reached minus 8.7 percent in December. The airline predicts lower passenger numbers for 2009. The state-owned airline is slated for privatisation this year.
    Author: Chris Johnstone

  • Value Added Tax boost for new car purchases approved
    03/03/2009

    A proposal allowing businesses to write off Value Added Tax for all new cars purchased was passed by the lower house of Parliament. The move forms part of the government’s raft of measures aimed at tackling the financial crisis. Proposals by the opposition and dissident members of the main government party, the Civic Democrats, to cut existing VAT levels and incentives for scrapping old cars were defeated.
    Author: Chris Johnstone

  • Police target foreign workers in nationwide action
    03/03/2009

    Czech police carried out checks on foreign workers at sites throughout the country on Tuesday. The step was aimed not only at detaining illegal workers but also informing foreign workers about the government’s recently introduced crisis measure encouraging them to return home. Police handed out leaflets in seven languages detailing the offer of a free plane ticket and 500 euros.
    Author: Chris Johnstone

  • Czech PM: EU able to face economic crisis better after enlargement
    03/02/2009

    The Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, says the European Union is able to face the economic crisis more effectively because of the bloc’s enlargement in 2004. Speaking in Prague on Monday at a conference on the EU’s biggest ever enlargement, Mr Topolánek said a bigger EU is stronger and can better deal with economic problems.

    Ten post-communist countries, including the Czech Republic, acceded to the bloc in 2004. The Czech prime minister described the enlargement as a “tiger’s leap” which benefited both old and new member states. Mr Topolánek also criticized the fact that only two of the EU’s four freedoms are being fulfilled; unlike free movement of goods and capital, free movement of services and labour is still restricted. These limitations hinder the bloc’s economic growth as well as further integration, said the Czech prime minister.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Court allows extremists to march against Zionism
    03/02/2009

    A court in the city of Plzeň, western Bohemia, lifted on Monday a ban on an extremist march, allowing radicals to “protest against Zionism”. The march, originally planned for February 21, had been banned by one of the city’s municipalities for fears it would incite racial hatred. City officials also said the person who applied for a permission to march was a well-know figure of the Czech neo-Nazi movement. The court revoked the decision to ban the march due to its “unreviewability”, saying it would publish precise reasons on Friday. A spokesperson for the court said the march can take place within 30 days of the verdict being delivered to the organizers.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • BAC: Czech economy to drop by 1.7 pct this year
    03/02/2009

    An analysis by Bank of America predicts that the Czech economy will drop by 1.7 percent in 2009. According to the analysis, economies of central and eastern European countries will be affected by a falling demand from their western neighbours. Economic growth in the region will be also be hindered by problems of local banks and reduced levels of foreign investment. In 2008, the growth of Czech GDP slowed down to 3.5 percent.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • February’s state budget in 5.4 billion surplus
    03/02/2009

    In related news, the state budget ended in February with a surplus of 5.4 billion crowns, or more than 240 million US dollars, the Czech finance ministry informed on Monday. The state budget for the whole of 2009, as approved by Parliament, is expected to end with a deficit of over 38 billion crowns. However the finance ministry expects the deficit may reach 73 billion crowns.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Government approves 14.4 billion arms deal
    03/02/2009

    The government approved on Monday a purchase of 107 Austrian armoured vehicles Pandur for the Czech army. The deal will cost to 14.4 billion crowns, or more than 640 million US dollars. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek told reporters that a number of Czech companies will take part in the production. The Czech government first negotiated with the Austrian manufacturer Steyr in 2003; four years later the original contract was cancelled as the Austrian arms producer was unable to comply with its conditions.
    Author: Jan Richter

  • Hundreds glass workers rally in Prague
    03/02/2009

    Around 500 workers from the troubled glass giant Bohemia Crystalex Trading gathered outside the government building in Prague on Monday to draw attention to their social situation. They also protested against the government’s lack of action when dealing with the impact of the company’s bankruptcy. The protesters asked the government to allow for extraordinary social benefits; they also demanded a change in the law that would not give priority to banks over the company’s own employees when settling corporate debts.

    Bohemia Crystalex Trading was the country’s largest manufacturer of glass with around 7,000 employees. In September last year, it declared bankruptcy and closed most of its plants.
    Author: Jan Richter

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