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July 6th, 2008
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PRAISE The European Commission (EC) praised the country’s euro convergence program in a statement issued Feb. 13. The lower-than-expected public finance deficit — projected to be no higher than 2 percent for 2007 — drew the EC’s approval. The country’s long-term public finances remain at risk, however, and the EC stressed the need to see through reforms to the healthcare and pension systems.

TRANSFORMING The Czech Republic is the country most successfully transforming itself into a democratic market economy, Germany’s Bertelsmann Foundation reported in a study released Feb. 18. The study’s remaining top five was composed of Slovenia, Estonia, Taiwan and Hungary. Like the EC, the study stressed the need for pension and healthcare reform.
MUS The brown-coaling mining company Mostecká uhelná (MUS) will soon be split into three parts, Mladá fronta Dnes (MfD) reported Feb. 14. The most lucrative of the three divisions will be the Důl Vršany mine, which has coal supplies to last until 2060. The remaining two divisions will be the Důl CSA mine and Mostecká uhelná, with the rest of the company’s assets. The new divisions could enable further acquisition talks.
GAS One potential suitor for the MUS mine at Vršany, the state-controlled utility ČEZ, has said it is going forward with plans to develop power plants powered by natural gas, Hospodářské noviny (HN) reported Feb. 14. ČEZ had offered 28 billion Kč for MUS; the offer was rebuffed last December. ČEZ says it plans to build gas-fired plants in north Bohemia, Hungary, Slovakia and Russia.
LOANS Some commercial loan companies are not providing their clients with accurate information about annual interest rates and charges, MfD reported Feb. 19. The Commercial Inspection Office examined 168 offers in November and December 2007 and found that 24 violated regulations.
MOTORWAYS Some 184 kilometers of motorways will open between now and 2010, the Road and Motorway Directorate (RŠD) announced Feb. 18. The RŠD will spend 98 billion Kč on motorway construction during this time, out of its total budget of 150 billion Kč.
PUMPED Gasoline sales at fuel stations in the border regions with Germany have increased by up to 30 percent since the Czech Republic joined the Schengen zone, HN reported Feb. 18. Sales are three times higher than in the country’s interior and are largely attributed to German gasoline tourists, the paper said.
LOADED Prague is the 12th-richest region in all of the European Union, according to data published by Eurostat Feb. 12. The per capita gross domestic product in Prague is 60 percentage points higher than the EU average; it is the richest region of all the EU’s new member states. Meanwhile, the Czech Republic’s other regions sit below 75 percent of the EU average.


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