The Prague Post Online: Business: Biz Week

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October 12th, 2008

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JOBS Of all European Union cities, Prague is the easiest place to find work, according to a Eurostat survey Oct. 5. Prague’s sister city Bratislava ranked seventh in the poll; Copenhagen and Dublin ranked second and third, respectively. Unemployment in Prague was about 2.5 percent in August, with 75 percent of respondents saying it is easy to find a “good job” in the city.

SALE Czech film distributor Bontonfilm is looking for a buyer after reporting a net profit worth 32.7 million Kč ($1.7 million) from 2006. That followed a 38.2 million Kč loss the year before. Sales are up at the company as Bontonfilm raised its share on the DVD and videotape market to 52 percent in 2006 from 35 percent the year before, according to the online industry group DVDGroup.cz.

COMMODITIES Grains, potatoes, corn and rapeseed harvests are expected to be up year on year, while sugar beets, poppies and sunflower seeds are expected to be down slightly, the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ) reported. That’s in line with new realities facing the Czech Republic in the EU, where grains and potatoes do not face as much competition as sugar production. Grain harvests should reach more than 7 million tons, growth of close to 11 percent, according to the ČSÚ. The potato harvest is expected to grow close to 14 percent and rapeseed is expected to increase 18 percent.

AIRCRAFT Aero Vodochody, the Czech aircraft maker, and Latecoere Toulouse of France have signed a 1 billion Kč, five-year contract for Aero to provide parts to France’s commercial jets, according to Euro magazine. The new deal is expected to create about 150 jobs at Aero and its subsidiary Technometra Radotín, with Aero expecting to post profits of more than 200 million Kč this year because of new contracts and streamlined operations. It also supplies components for the S-76C Sikorski helicopter and Italy’s C27J Spartan aircraft.

NUCLEAR Two units of the Temelín nuclear power plant were off the electricity supply grid for two days, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported Oct. 8. State-run power company ČEZ operates the plant. Workers had to repair an oil system defect in a valve regulating the amount of steam flowing to a turbine, a ČEZ spokeswoman told ČTK. The problem showed up when the plant was restarted after it was shut down for two months for repairs.

LIVING Prague is the only city in the country with a standard of living higher than the EU average, according to a recent Eurostat survey. That standard comes with a price, however — only 16 percent of respondents said the city had good housing at reasonable prices. Prague’s per capita wealth is close to 140 percent of its EU neighbors, based on a broad index of consumer goods and services.

OIL Oil group Unipetrol closed at a record high this week, adding 1.77 percent to close at 322.70 Kč, according to ČTK. Energy and oil drove the PX stock market to within eight points of the record, which was set in July.

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