Monday News Briefing

NEWS

EXTREMISTS Around 400 supporters of the Workers and Social Justice Party (DSSS), a right-wing nonparliamentary organization, demonstrated in Varnsdorf, north Bohemia, Jan. 29 to voice protest against the town's allegedly "unadaptable" Roma population, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported. The protest, which passed without major incident, was a reaction to the Jan. 21 death of a 62-year-old woman who was hospitalized after a New Year's Eve skirmish with local Roma. Town officials fear the incident may rekindle ethnic unrest in the region.

FINE The weekly magazine Respekt has been fined 10,000 Kč for refusing to reveal the identity of a source who leaked an incriminating document showing corruption at the State Environment Fund (SFŽP), ČTK reported Jan. 30. The case, which is currently under police investigation, allegedly involves former Environment Minister Pavel Drobil, deputy chairman of the Civic Democratic (ODS) Party.

BUGGED Police discovered a listening device in Transport Minister Pavel Dobeš's automobile last fall, ČTK reported Jan. 30. At the time, Dobeš's personal driver was a man connected to Vít Bárta, the chief financier and founder of the Public Affairs (VV) party, which is part of the tripartite governing coalition. Bárta is the former owner of ABL, a private security firm.

BUSINESS

GROWTH FORECAST Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek said the ministry's January forecast predicts 2012 growth will be "positive zero," or just a few tenths of a percent this year. In a discussion program on private TV channel Prima Family, he said the Finance Ministry will likely not need to take any dramatic measures like increasing the value-added tax rate again this year. He cautioned that around 20 billion Kč will have to be saved this year, but said the government should be able to manage this savings on its own.

NUCLEAR Czech construction company Metrostav and U.S. energy company Westinghouse, one of the bidders in the tender for the expansion of the Temelín nuclear power plant, will sign a future cooperation agreement Jan. 30. Similar agreements have been signed by Westinghouse with Czech companies Vítkovice Steel and I&C Energy in an effort to improve its chances in the tender by partnering with local companies. Other firms bidding for Temelín's expansion are Czech company Škoda JS in a consortium with Russian firms Atomstroyexport and Gidropress and France's Areva. Bids are to be submitted in mid-2012, and the winner will be chosen next year. Temelín's units three and four are to be completed by the year 2026.

ELECTRICITY Preliminary data from electricity grid operator ČEPS shows net exports of electricity from the Czech Republic reached a record 17.4 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2011, making the country one of the world's largest net exporters of electricity, with more than half of the exported power going to Germany, daily Lidové noviny reported. Electricity exports to Germany surged last year after the government announce all nuclear power plants in the country would be closed in the wake of the Fukashima disaster. Czech exports have also increased to countries that previously imported their electricity from Germany.

WEATHER

Prague, Czech Republic; mostly sunny; High: 1 C, Low: -11

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news@praguepost.com