The Prague Post Online: Business: Biz Week

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September 7th, 2008

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MERGED The national railway freight companies of the Czech Republic and Slovakia have agreed to merge, according to a deal announced by the Transportation Ministry June 23. ČD Cargo and Železničná spoločnosť Cargo Slovakia will together form one of the largest freight companies in Europe. ČD Cargo was spun off the national railway company, České dráhy, late last year.

SIGNED President Václav Klaus has signed two significant financial bills into law, Hospodářské noviny (HN) reported June 20. The first harmonizes national laws with the European Union’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, adding additional disclosure requirements for financial firms. The second law cracks down on money laundering, requiring bank clients to show IDs for transactions of more than 1,000 euros ($1,550/24,060 Kč).

CENTRUM Centrum Holdings has acquired a 75 percent stake in Croatia’s most popular Web portal,

Net.hr, the company announced June 23. Centrum controls two Czech popular sites, Centrum.cz and Atlas.cz. The move makes Centrum one of the largest Internet companies in Central and Eastern Europe. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Centrum is owned by the U.S. investment firm Warburg Pincus.

INGOSSTRAKH PPF Investments has scored another victory in its dispute over the Russian insurer Ingosstrakh, Právo reported June 23. An arbitration court ruled that Ingosstrakh’s primary shareholder, Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, had no right to boost the insurer’s registered capital in a bid to reduce the influence of PPF, which has a 40 percent stake in the firm.

FIO The Fio financial group will apply for a banking license this month, the Czech News Agency reported June 23. The group, which operates a brokerage and credit union, plans to transform its credit union into a low-cost bank for retail clients and small businesses. If approved, Fio would be the first Czech-owned business to receive a banking license in 15 years.

INFLATION High inflation has caused a significant drop in the real value of savings accounts, HN reported June 18. Prices rose 4.1 percent since the start of this year, the highest growth in nine years, while savings accounts typically have annual interest rates of 1.3 percent. In effect, the paper reported, the country has lost some 45 billion Kč in savings this year.

EMISSIONS The amount of carbon dioxide annually emitted by the Czech Republic dropped 25 percent between 1990 and 2005, from 194.2 million tons to 148.2 million tons, according to a report published by the European Commission June 18. Despite this drop, the Czech Republic remains one of the Europe’s worst carbon polluters when judged on a per capita basis.

WIND The total power generated by wind farms will increase eight-fold by 2012, from 133 megawatts to 1,000 megawatts, Lidové noviny reported June 18. According to the Wind Energy Association, the combined plants could produce some 2.5 terawatt hours of electricity a year, about one-fifth the production of ČEZ’s Temelín nuclear power plant. Investors include ČEZ, J&T and RWE.

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