In Business News this week: Czech public finance deficit to gradually drop to 0.6 percent in 2018; Škoda Auto agrees with unions on 3.5 percent salary hike; Zdeněk Bakala steps down from NWR board of directors; Cetelem discusses purchase of loss-making Zuno bank; Prague loses 40 million a year on SMS transport tickets.
Czech public finance deficit to gradually drop to 0.6 percent in 2018
Photo: Filip Jandourek
The Czech public finance deficit is to gradually drop from this year’s estimated 1.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product to 0.6 percent in 2018, the Finance Ministry announced on Friday. The estimate is based on an updated version of the Convergence Programme that will be discussed by the government on Monday. Last year the public finance deficit reached 1.98 percent of Gross Domestic Product. The Convergence Programme expects the Czech economy to grow by 2.7 percent this year and to slow down to 2.5 percent in 2016.
Škoda Auto agrees with unions on 3.5 percent salary hike
Photo: Škoda Auto
Car maker Škoda Auto has reached an agreement with trade unions on a 3.5 percent wage hike, the carmaker’s main union group said on its website. Unions at the biggest Czech carmaker threatened last week to stage protests to advance their claims for a 6.5 percent wage hike. The two sides had already agreed on a record bonus for workers of 25,000 crowns for last year. Škoda Auto employs around 24,000 people and is the biggest car producer in the Czech Republic. The average monthly salary for workers is 34.000 crowns.
Zdeněk Bakala steps down from NWR board of directors
Photo: archive of OKD
Czech businessman and investor Zdeněk Bakala has not been re-elected to the board of directors of the New World Resources (NWR) mining company, the owner of the Ostrava-based coal producer OKD, the company wrote on its website on Thursday. Bakala already announced in mid-March that he would be leaving NWR’s management. One of the richest Czechs, Bakala acquired a stake in OKD in 2004 and became a co-owner in NWR, which is among Central Europe’s leading producers of hard coal for coke. Analysts say that Bakala’s departure from NWR’s board signals that he wants to be free for other activities.
Cetelem discusses purchase of loss-making Zuno bank
Photo: Kristýna Maková
The biggest provider of non-bank loans in the Czech Republic, Cetelem, is discussing the purchase of the loss-making Zuno bank in Slovakia and the Czech Republic owned by Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International, the daily E15 reported on Friday, citing two unnamed sources. Zuno was launched four years ago and has around 250,000 customers, mostly in the Czech Republic. Its accumulated losses currently exceed 2.5 billion crowns. The owner of Cetelem, BNP Paribas, has previously announced its plan to open up a bank in the Czech Republic.
Prague loses 40 million a year on SMS transport payments
Photo: Filip Jandourek
Prague loses 40 million crowns a year on the sale of city transport tickets via SMS messages, the opposition Pirate Party said on Thursday. The Pirates carried out a survey of regional cities around the country. According to the results, Prague is paying the highest percentage fee in the country for every SMS ticket sold, which is 24 percent. Other cities allegedly charge from 10 to 20 percent. Pirate Party spokesman Mikuláš Ferjenčík said the result is alarming, and added that Prague councillors should try to agree on a lower price with the contractor, the company Erika.
