Business News

The privatization of the dominant Czech telecommunications operator, Czech Telecom, has been postponed. The government decided to announce the winner of a public tender for the state's stake in Telecom at the end of October instead of June, as originally planned.

The consortium of BAE SYSTEMS and Saab has made public its offer for supplying new supersonic jet fighters to the Czech armed forces. The consortium has offered to compensate for the purchase with massive offset programs involving investments in Czech industry of around 150 billion CZK or 3.7 billion USD, which is double the purchase price.

The world's leading producer of motion and control systems and technologies, the Parker Hannifin Corporation, has launched operations at a new production plant in the Czech Republic, in the North-Western town of Chomutov. The plant will create 300 new jobs in a region with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.

And while Western companies seek favourable conditions and cheap labour in the Czech Republic, some Czech companies have moved their operations further East. The largest Czech car maker, Skoda Auto, is planning to construct a production plant in the Ukraine. Negotiations on the location are still underway.