Canadian firm Frontier Petroleum Services is suing the Czech Republic for more than 450 million Kč ($20 million) for an unpaid loan, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported Oct. 17. The company gave a 200 million Kč loan to company Moravan-Aeroplanes to buy aircraft maker LET Kunovice in exchange for future profits and stock that became worthless. It now wants the money from the country.

FLIGHT

Czech Airlines will open a new Prague–Atlanta route, representatives of ČSA and Letiště Praha said. The flights will operate in cooperation with Delta Airlines. Delta officials said they expect 40 percent of the passengers on these flights to be transit passengers flying on to Eastern Europe.

MANAGERS

There is increasing pressure on companies in the Czech Republic to find top-level managers, as turnover and profits continue to increase, the daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported Oct. 16. New businesses opening in the country are also contributing to the lack of qualified leaders. Most of the world's headhunting firms now have Czech branches, the paper said.

WI-FI

Prague 13 suspended its plan to offer free wireless Internet connections to residents of the Stodůlky neighborhood after the Anti-Monopoly Office (ÚOHS) notified the European Union about the plan, the daily Hospodářské noviny reported Oct. 16. Internet service providers have challenged several attempts by Prague municipalities to offer free wireless Internet to residents.

MODRÁ

Komerční banka (KB) completed the takeover of the building society Modrá Pyramida, buying 60 percent of its stock. The Czech National Bank and the ÚOHS approved the transaction. Modrá pyramida — established by KB, the German Postbank and Česká pojišťovna in the early 1990s — has nearly 1 million clients. It raised net profit to 216 million Kč ($9.6 million) in the first half of the year.

ADVERTISING

Gross spending on television advertising increased 213 million Kč on the year to 2.1 billion Kč through September, according to data from analyst TNS A-Connect. The advertising rates for Prima TV increased over that time, while the rates for TV Nova and Czech Television decreased. The five largest advertisers spent almost 615 million Kč, more than 25 percent of the total.

EURO

The government postponed approval of a scenario for adopting the euro, outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek said Oct. 11. The government will discuss a new date for euro adoption in the near future and approve the plan by the end of the year, he said. The government originally planned on adopting the euro in 2010.

FINANCE