In this week’s Business News: The minimum wage will rise in August; Food prices in 2012 grew by a larger margin than in any other EU country; Czech Airlines has withdrawn from its contract with the unions; Fuel prices around the Czech Republic have gone up again; Škoda has signed an almost 1 billion crown contract to deliver trams to Bratislava.
Minimum monthly wage to go up
Photo: Barbora Kmentová
The minimum monthly wage in the Czech Republic will go up by 500 crowns to 8,500 crowns (or around 430 American dollars) starting in August. Jiří Rusnok’s cabinet approved the hike on Tuesday, though the increase was also discussed by the previous government. Petr Nečas’ cabinet debated an increase of either 400 or 600 crowns but after talks with trade unions and employers they settled on 500 crowns. This is the first increase in the minimum wage since 2007.
Food prices grew more last year than in any other EU country
Photo: archive of Radio Prague
Food prices in the Czech Republic saw the steepest rise among all the EU countries last year, according to a report released this week by the Czech Office of Agriculture Economy and Information. Prices for food products rose by an average of 6.9 percent in 2012. The report states that the rise in the VAT from 10 to 14 percent was one of the main contributing factors, although the increase in import prices and the growth in energy and commodity prices also played a role. According to the Federation of the Food and Drink Industries, the rise in prices was also caused by an increase in store mark-ups for better quality food. Consumer prices grew almost twice as fast last year as the prices of produ. For Czech households food, drinks and tobacco made up 22.8 percent of all consumer spending last year, which is way above the European average, although not the highest.
Czech Air withdraws from union contract
Photo: Tomáš Adamec
Czech Airlines have withdrawn from their contract with the unions this week. The airline, in which the state has the majority stake and which has had financial problems for years, said it wants to lower costs and has told the unions to put together a more favorable agreement, for which they have six months. Pilot union representatives said they will not allow any dismissals of pilots or lowering of wages. None of the unions are so far planning a strike and the airline said it is not planning to decrease the number of destinations or flights.
Fuel prices up again
Photo: Barbora Kmentová
Fuel prices have been on the rise in the past week. The price of Natural 95 petrol went up by almost half a crown to an average 36.82 crowns per liter, while diesel prices increased by 29 hellers to 36.24 crowns per liter. According to figures compiled by the CCS agency, fuel prices are highest in the capital and in the south Moravian region, while drivers can get the cheapest petrol in southern Bohemia, for an average of 36.41 crowns.
Škoda trams will be running in Bratislava and Konya, Turkey
Photo: CTK
Plzeň’s Škoda Transportation signed a deal this week to deliver 15 new 30T type trams to the Slovak capital Bratislava. The contract, which includes the possibility of delivering 15 more trams in the next 15 years, is worth 975 million crowns. Škoda Transportation has also recently signed a contract with the Turkish city of Konya for 60 low-floor 28T trams. Their sister company Škoda Electric also signed a contract with the city of Bratislava a few weeks ago for the provision of 80 new trolley buses, worth in total 1.1 billion crowns.
