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News & Notes

October 24th, 2007 issue

UNREFINED The country’s largest oil refiner, Česká rafinérská, has announced that it will delay the relaunch of its refinery in Litvínov, north Bohemia, due to a lack of hydrogen. The closure was originally scheduled to last 40 days and now could extend for another two weeks, possibly creating a shortage on the fuel market.

BANKING Germany’s Commerzbank will launch Internet banking in the Czech Republic by Nov. 25, the daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported Oct. 22. Slovakia will follow by January. Commerzbank, Germany’s second largest bank, had previously offered only business and private banking in the countries. Also launching Czech Internet banking in November is Poland’s BRE Bank.
YOUTUBE The Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL) became the first political party in the Czech Republic to launch its own video channel on YouTube, the party said Oct. 22. The channel will include recent announcements by KDU-ČSL brass and also speeches by the party’s late chairman, Jiří Lux.
BEER The brewer Plzeňský Prazdroj will expand the number of beer vending machines on the Czech market following a successful pilot project, the company told the Associated Press Oct. 22. There are currently 50 machines scattered through Prague at university dorms and hotels; they verify a buyer’s age by scanning identity cards or passports.
AERO The domestic aerospace industry posted a revenue of 8.7 billion Kč ($453 million) in 2006, up 25 percent from the previous year and reversing what had been a steady decline, the Czech News Agency reported Oct. 19. The related workforce rose to 7,900 people and spending on research and development climbed to 1.3 billion Kč.
E-SHOPPING Online shopping in the Czech Republic grew by 40 percent last year, with sales reaching 15 billion Kč, according to a report released by the research firm GfK Praha. More than 80 percent of Internet users made at least one purchase, with the most common goods being books and electronics.
MALL Befitting the shopping boom, the fastest growing technology firm in the country is the online retailer Internet Mall, which runs 45 online shops in five countries, according to the recently released Technology Fast 50 rankings. The company’s sales have increased by 1,368 percent over the past five years. Of the 50 fastest growing tech companies in Central Europe, 17 are from the Czech Republic.
PIRATES Sixty percent of the software on home computers in the Czech Republic is pirated, according to a survey released by IDC CEMA. Respondents justified their illegal downloads by complaining that the price of software is too high and selection of legitimate programs limited.
PIPES Čepro, the state-owned fuel wholesaler and manager of fuel reserves, will invest some 6 billion Kč to modernize its pipes and 600 storage tanks, the company has announced. The average age of Čepro’s tanks is 35 years, and some of its oldest reservoirs date back to World War II. The renovation work should be complete by 2011.


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