Monday News Briefing

NEWS  

LOAN Speaking on a Czech Television talk show Dec. 11, Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg (TOP 09) said the government would give money to the International Monetary Fund as part of plans to help solve the eurozone crisis. The Czech Republic will contribute 3.5 billion euros out of an additional 200 billion euros being raised. Schwarzenberg said Prime Minister Petr Nečas (Civic Democrats, ODS), would also support the plan. "I am convinced the prime minister is aware of the enormous responsibility he now bears for the future of the Czech Republic, and he knows the Czech Republic must not and cannot be isolated in Europe. This would be a very steep path going down," Schwarzenberg pointed out.   

DALAI LAMA The Dalai Lama wraps up a three-day visit to Prague today. He met informally with Schwarzenberg Dec. 11, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported. Before the meeting, the Dalai Lama gave a public lecture titled "In Search of Happiness in an Uncertain World," at the Prague Congress Centre. Former President Václav Havel invited the Dalai Lama to the Czech capital and the pair met Dec. 10, the day of the Tibetan spiritual leader's arrival. The Dalai Lama will hold a press conference today.  

BRIBERY Suspended Prague Municipal Police Chief Vladimír Kotrous' bribery case is connected to the company the department uses to service its squad cars, Prima TV reported Dec. 11, quoting the owner of the Jíša autoservis company. Kotrous faces between five and 12 years in prison in the case. "During the years I have been cooperating with police, I have met a number of honest people whom I really respect. This is why I was very surprised when police head Kotrous made a demand on me by which he conditioned further cooperation. And the demand was, in my opinion, at variance with the law," Josef Jíša said.      

BUSINESS  

LAYOFFS Around one-fifth of Czech companies are planning to cut their work force, either by layoffs or voluntary departures next year, while only 10 percent say they want to hire new staff, according to the preliminary results of the latest survey of the Economic Chamber, ČTK reported. Of the nearly 800 companies surveyed by the chamber, about half of companies expect to keep the number of employees the same, and one-third responded they will have to wait and see what the economy brings in the new year. Foreign companies in particular are adapting a "wait and see" approach due to the continued troubles in the eurozone.   

AIRLINE The management of Czech Airlines (ČSA) is holding talks with potential investors interested in buying the airline and is discussing restructuring steps with them, Miroslav Dvořák, CEO of Český Aeroholding said on Czech TV Dec. 11. He also said, however, that the chances of that partner actually inking a deal to buy the company by the beginning of next year are only 50-50. Dvořák confirmed the airline will post another loss of between 100 million Kč and 300 million Kč as it saw a drop-off in passenger levels of 9.5 percent in the first three quarters of the year.  

GAS Distributor Východočeská plynárenská (VČP) raised profits 1 percent year on year to 609 million Kč in the first three quarters of this year, despite a fall in client numbers and drops in sales of 6.5 percent to 4.59 billion Kč, the company announced on its website. A member of the German energy group REW, VČP is the main provider in the Hradec Králové region but said clients switched to rival companies, with the biggest group to leave the provider being households. More than 327,000 Czech gas customers changed their supplier this year, compared with just 84,000 clients last year, according to data from power market operator OTE. Most of those who switched were looking for lower prices.

WEATHER

Prague, Czech Republic; Mostly Sunny; High: 4 C, Low: 0 C    

Benjamin Cunningham can be reached at
bcunningham@praguepost.com