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November 23rd, 2008

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TENDER The Cabinet has approved the Finance Ministry’s plans to offer one combined tender for all of the environmental remediation work stemming from state-owned businesses prior to privatization, Mladá fronta Dnes reported June 10. The value of the damages caused by these businesses before 1992 is believed to be around 115 billion Kč ($7.2 billion). The bidding process for the contract, which will likely be enormous, will last more than a year.

WIND The German energy utility RWE plans to build 100 megawatts worth of wind farms in Bohemia and north Moravia, the company announced June 6. RWE expects building permission for the six projects to come between 2009 and 2011. Renewable energy accounts for 4.7 percent of Czech power generation and must rise to 8 percent by 2010, according to European Union directives.

HOSPITALS The government will not transform its teaching hospitals into joint-stock companies, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek said June 6. The Health Ministry has pushed for the transformation, drawing protests from a number of universities that said it would worsen teaching conditions. The opposition Social Democrats have submitted a proposal that would make such a move impossible, which could draw support from members of the governing coalition.

MILK A June 6 protest by Czech dairy farmers lasted just one day, with farmers reducing their milk supplies to dairies by 10 percent as a sign of solidarity with their German counterparts, who had halted milk supplies to dairies to protest low prices. German farmers ended their strike June 5, after receiving assurances from retailers that milk prices would increase.

APC Tests of the Pandur armored personnel carriers (APCs) the military is set to receive from the Austrian contractor Steyr will likely take place this month, the Defense Ministry said June 5. The ministry and Steyr have yet to agree on a revised contract for the 199 APCs it ordered. The ministry canceled the previous 20 billion Kč contract last year, citing Steyr’s tardiness in supplying the vehicles.

HEALTH The steel magnate Tomáš Chrenek has purchased the Slovak health insurance company Apollo, the weekly Trend reported June 5. Chrenek’s Agel has grown into one of the largest healthcare providers in the region, owning or operating 17 hospitals. This year Agel launched a health insurer, looking to capitalize on the government’s planned healthcare reforms.

JOBLESS The unemployment rate fell from 5.2 percent in April to 5 percent in May, the lowest level since November 1997, the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry announced June 9. Economists had expected the rate to fall below 5 percent and said that the slowdown in falling unemployment could be a sign of storm clouds ahead for the economy.

WINNERS Škoda Auto and Iveco Czech Republic have been named the country’s carmakers of the year, the Automotive Industry Association announced June 3. Škoda, the country’s largest automaker, won for the third consecutive year, while Iveco won for the second time in a row.

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