RELIEF - The Cabinet was set to decide April 5 whether it would increase the state budget 5 billion Kč ($209 million) for flood relief. The money would reportedly come from privatization revenues and dividends. The Cabinet already agreed at a special session April 2 to commit 2 billion Kč in dividends from power producer ČEZ to combating the floods that have been ravaging the country since last week.

SICKNESS - President Vacláv Klaus has vetoed a bill that would require companies, not the government, to finance the first two weeks of an employee's sick leave. Klaus said the measure, which passed Parliament in the middle of March, would be justified if employers owned employees. Klaus' comment prompted Labor and Social Affairs Minister Zdeněk Škromach to say that this must then mean that slavery exists throughout the majority of European Union countries.

SOCIAL AFFAIRS - EU Commissioner for Social Affairs Vladimír Špidla, also the former prime minister, has reportedly said that placing a higher value-added tax (VAT) on diapers doesn't make sense, considering the EU's demographics policy. The EU will reportedly take action against the Cabinet for not raising the VAT on diapers from 5 percent to 19 percent. Špidla said this flies in the face of EU efforts to raise European birthrates.

ZONE - The regional government in Nošovice, north Moravia, will soon begin construction of an industrial zone for a Hyundai car manufacturing plant, the government's spokeswoman said April 2. The zone should be ready at the end of June. The South Korean automotive manufacturer announced at the end of March it had selected Nošovice as the location for the construction of the plant, worth 29 billion Kč.

INSURANCE - Insurance premiums are expected to rise due to the floods, but not by the 30 percent they did after flooding in 2002. That year damage reached 73 billion Kč and insurers paid 30 billion Kč in premiums. Damages related to these floods are expected to remain under 10 billion Kč.