Thursday News Briefing

NEWS

EU AFFAIRS The government has created the post of state secretary for EU affairs, the daily Právo reported. The Civic Democrat (ODS) and Public Affairs (VV) parties have pushed through the new post over the objection of coalition partner TOP 09. The new job, which will be filled by Vojtěch Belling, is widely perceived as placing policy towards Brussels under closer control of Prime Minister Petr Nečas at the expense of Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.

DATABASE Parliament has agreed to create a computer database cataloguing serious diseases and the people it has affected including personal data like name, job and sociological conditions, the daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported. The Interior Ministry has launched a 299 million Kč tender for the project and expects to launch the database by July 2012.

BAR BRAWL VV Deputy Michal Babák lost two teeth in a brawl with the owner of the Blue Light bar overnight Aug. 30 in Prague's Malá Strana neighborhood, TV Metropole reported. Babák is best known for his questionable accounting methods as a key official in the scandal-ridden VV. He had previously been suspended from the party pending an investigation, but had his membership reaffirmed earlier the day of the fight. A police spokeswoman confirmed the incident but declined to provide any further details.

BUSINESS

DEBT Czech household debt at banks and financial institutions posted a rise of 5 billion Kč in July to 1.085 billion Kč, according to data published by the Czech National Bank Aug. 31. Over the course of the past year, household debt has increased by around 67 billion Kč. Corporate debts were 41 billion Kč higher on the year at 941 billion Kč and against June they rose by some 8 billion Kč.

BEER The Gambrinus brewery, owned by Plzenský Prazdroj, will cease selling brewer's yeast to microbreweries, daily Hospodářské noviny reported Sept 1. Industry observers see the move as a logical step to combat increasing competition from the small breweries, which collectively only have a 1 percent market share, but have been growing over the past year. Plzenský Prazdroj will continue to sell malt barley to other breweries.

JOBS The Labor Ministry could outsource hundreds of millions of crowns worth of work to recruitment agencies if a bill in the second reading is passed in to law, daily Právo reported Sept. 1. Agencies would be paid 5,000 Kč per person for finding jobs for the unemployed, plus a 1,250 Kč bonus if the work contract is open-ended and a 500 Kč bonus if the employee stays in the job for more than six months.

News Desk can be reached at
news@praguepost.com