• Planned increase in old age pensions
    09/24/2007

    Old age pensions in the Czech Republic will increase by 346 crowns monthly on average as of next year, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Petr Necas told journalists after a cabinet meeting on Monday. The minister said that the living standard of pensioners would not drop despite the fiscal reform package approved by the government. He said increased expenditures would be further compensated in 2009 if necessary. Opposition parties on the other hand argue that the increase in pensions is woefully inadequate to counter the expected price hikes resulting from higher VAT tax on food, medicines and transport.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Poll suggests Social Democrats edging ahead of their main rival
    09/24/2007

    An opinion poll conducted by the STEM agency indicates that the opposition Social Democrats are edging ahead of their main rival, the ruling Civic Democratic Party. Its findings suggest that if elections were held today the Social Democrats would come out top of the pile with 33 percent of the vote, followed closely by the Civic Democrats with just 0,8 percent less. The Communists would come third with 15.3 percent of the vote, followed by the Greens and Christian Democrats with 7.1 and 6.8 percent respectively. The Social Democrats lead was reflected in two earlier polls conducted by CVVM and Factum Invenio.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Czech government sends aid to Moldova
    09/24/2007

    The Czech government on Monday said it had sent more than 420 tonnes of wheat seed to Moldova to counter the "catastrophic effects of a local drought." The government of the former Soviet republic, one of the poorest countries in Europe, appealed for international help after drought hit its first harvest this year. The Czech government has requested that the seed be divided between the worst struck areas.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Crown hits record high against dollar
    09/24/2007

    The Czech crown hit a record high against the dollar on Monday after the US currency fell through the 19.50 crown-per-dollar threshold to trade at 19.49 crowns per dollar. Economists said higher inflation fears twinned with worries about a slow down in the economy and interest rate cuts were behind the slide. The Czech currency was stable against the euro at around 27.50 crowns with no major changes expected ahead of the meeting of the national bank board on Thursday.
    Author: Daniela Lazarová

  • Heads of parties in parliament to discuss direct presidential election
    09/23/2007

    The heads of the five parties in parliament are scheduled to meet next week to discuss the terms under which a popular vote could be introduced to elect Czech presidents. Those terms include also the powers of Czech heads of state. The chairmen of the Civic Democrats, the Social Democrats, the Communist Party, the Christian Democrats and the Green Party will be discussing the matter at a conference at the Senate on Wednesday. Czech heads of state are now elected by both houses of parliament. The parties in the current ruling coalition pledged in the coalition agreement signed in January this year they would launch a debate on the issue.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Senate chairman: Civic Democrats should discuss coalition pledge to vote for Klaus
    09/23/2007

    The chairman of the Senate, Premysl Sobotka of the Civic Democratic Party, has said his party should discuss with its coalition partners, the Christian Democrats and the Greens, an appendix to the coalition agreement in which the coalition parties pledged to support Vaclav Klaus in next year's presidential election. Prime Minister and Civic Democrat chairman Mirek Topolanek says however that differing views of the coalition parties on presidential candidates do not harm the existence of the coalition and a joint position on the election is not part of the agreement itself.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Lower house chairman wants to curb officials' perks
    09/23/2007

    The chairman of the lower house Miloslav Vlcek says he would like to see the right of MPs and Senators to use public transport free of charge abolished and therefore he is going to propose to the lower house an amendment to the law on the remuneration of public officials. Mr Vlcek had earlier announced he would like to make the incomes of politicians more transparent and abolish some of their perks. The public and also some politicians have been critical of the current system but lawmakers have repeatedly rejected attempts at reducing these privileges.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Police detain money-forging gang
    09/23/2007

    The Czech Police anti-organised crime squad detained a group of 15 people on Friday suspected of distributing forged 100-dollar notes, a spokeswoman said. Thirteen people have been accused of currency counterfeiting. The estimated damage is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The members of the group are Czechs, Slovaks, the citizens of former Soviet countries and the former Yugoslavia and Syrian nationals.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Estimated two tonnes of fish killed by toxic leak in Dedina river
    09/23/2007

    According to estimates, some two tonnes of fish were killed on Saturday after a toxic substance leaked into the Dedina river from a sugar refinery in Ceske Mezirici in East Bohemia. The leak of lime water, a substance used in the process of sugar production, polluted around seven kilometres of the Dedina downstream. The cause of the leak is being investigated as well as the amount of the substance involved.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

  • Finance minister: government to privatise Ruzyne airport, CSA
    09/23/2007

    Finance minister Miroslav Kalousek has said the government is going to privatise Prague's Ruzyne international airport next year. Speaking in a live debate on Prima television on Sunday, Mr Kalousek said the primary reason for the move was not money but rather a principle that "the state should not be doing business". Earlier this month, the government approved a proposal under which the state-owned company would transform into a joint stock company within eight months. Mr Kalousek also said the government wants to privatise the national carrier CSA, if not next year, then in 2009.
    Author: Pavla Horáková

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