Tuesday News Briefing

NEWS  

KLAUS President Václav Klaus embarked on a visit to Saudi Arabia Jan. 16, according to statements issued by the Office of the President. Klaus has been invited to Riyadh as a key-note speaker in a forum on economic transition in the Arab world. In a Web diary that has become emblematic of his official travels, Klaus mused about the ineffectiveness of the European Union, comparing Saudi Arabia's lower house members, who are appointed by the king, to the European Parliament.  

DOBEŠ Education Minister Josef Dobeš has given his controversial adviser Ladislav Bátora 250,000 Kč in severance pay, daily Právo reported Jan. 17. Bátora, a former parliamentary candidate for an extremist party, resigned amid political pressure after he published insults about Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg (TOP 09) on the Internet last year. Dobeš recently came under fire after an EU audit highlighted questionable expenses at his ministry, prompting Brussels to consider cutting off some 53 million Kč in funding.  

UNIONS Police Commissioner Petr Lessy has voided a contract with police union representatives, adding fuel to an ongoing dispute over reforming the police force, Právo reported Jan. 16. The move effectively prevents unions from participating in key reform negotiations, like reviewing directives and attending meetings. Lessy said his office would draft a new contract to include the Union of Security Forces (UBS), a group that was not included in the previous contract.  

BUSINESS

RAILWAYS As part of its overhaul to better compete with new private rail carriers, Czech Railways signed seven contracts last year for new and upgraded rail cars, daily Právo reported. The contracts, which were worth a record 11.25 billion Kč, were for the purchase of 224 new and 121 upgraded rail cars from Škoda Vagonka, OBB, Pars Nova,  ŽOS Trnava, Pesa of Poland and Siemens, which signed the largest single contract with the national carrier worth 4.9 billion Kč for 16 luxury cars.

FRAUD Czech insurers registered record frauds last year, according to a survey of domestic insurance companies by the Czech News Agency (ČTK). One of the largest insurance companies on the market, Česká pojištovna, recorded an annual growth in fraud of 22 percent to 338 million Kč, the worst results in the company's 185-year history. Compared with 2009, it constitutes a rise of more than 40 percent. Companies blamed the worsening financial situation of households and entrepreneurs for the increase in frauds.

CONSTRUCTION The construction crisis will further deepen this year and increasingly fierce competition will lead to the collapse of other companies, according to a study conducted by Soliditet, published by ČTK. The increase in the lower VAT rate from 10 percent to 14 percent, the unwillingness of banks to finance new projects, and the dramatic fall in construction orders caused by the overall economic  crisis and cuts in public spending for infrastructure were cited in the study as causes for the downturn in the sector.

WEATHER

Prague, Czech Republic; chance of snow; High: 3 C, Low: -4 C  

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