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October 12th, 2008
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October 8th, 2008 | Archives

Hitting the brakes
Škoda loses its home field advantage against foreign imports

Banking crisis hits EU markets
Finance minister says banks are safe as bourse plummets

Second chance for transparency
IBM wins in the second tender process for a database

10 Questions
with Luděk Vrána
10 Questions

Law firm appoints partners
Movers & Shakers

BRIEFS


AGRICULTURE Farmers will block roads nationwide with farm equipment Monday, Oct. 13, to protest cuts in agricultural subsidies as proposed in the draft of the state budget. Direct payments may be reduced 2.8 billion Kč ($156.69 million) next year if the budget is approved in its current form. The Agricultural Chamber plans to send farm machinery to Prague streets, and farmers will block roads for two hours beginning at 8 a.m.

CRYSTALEX The government has promised several million crowns to regions affected by glass factory closings. The funds will go toward retraining programs and transport to new jobs for laid-off employees, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek announced Oct. 1. Crystalex Bohemia, the largest glass producer in the Czech Republic, filed for bankruptcy Sept. 22. In the Vysočina region, where Crystalex’s Sklo Bohemia factory has been closed, 3,800 employees have been laid off.
ČEZ Two units of the ČEZ energy group, ČEZ Data and ČEZnet, have merged to become the largest Czech provider of information and communication services (ICT), the company announced Oct. 1. The new company has an annual revenue of 4.5 billion Kč and employs more than 600 workers. ČEZ is transforming its ICT services to save 1.3 billion Kč by 2010. The company provides ICT services to nearly 16,000 Czech and 2,000 international clients.
WIND POWER Wind power production is expected to increase several times over in the Czech Republic, next year to 700 GWh, up from estimates of this year’s 100 GWh, a spokesperson with the Energy Regulatory Office said at an energy seminar in Brno Sept. 30. The increase will push the share of wind power plants in the total power production in the country to 1 percent.
BUDVAR State-owned Budějovický Budvar is preparing to become a joint-stock company after a law firm that has advised the company on the transformation has finished its analysis of the process. As of yet, there is no set date for the change, and Budvar CEO Jiří Boček said a timeline will be updated after studying the analysis. Privatizing the company could potentially bring billions of crowns to the government.
CREDIT The credit crunch is hitting the Czech Republic as consumer loans are becoming more expensive and less accessible, the daily Hospodářské noviny reported Oct. 6. Home Credit, one of the three largest companies in the sector, announced that it would reduce the supply of some of its credit cards. Analysts cited the financial crisis, which means credit companies have less money to loan.
WIND GE Energy will supply 139 wind turbines to Czech energy group Skupina ČEZ for its investment in the Romanian town of Tulcei. The wind farm is expected to have an output of nearly 600 megawatts, making it the biggest seaside wind farm in Europe. ČEZ plans to invest 27 billion Kč into the construction of wind farms in Romania. The turbines will be put into operation by the end of 2009.

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