Friday News Briefing

Czech police have charged Pavel Čaniga, executive of the Likérka Drak liquor producer, in connection with the uncovering of spirits containing poisonous methanol in the storage of the firm's distributor, according to local state attorney Roman Kafka. He also proposed that Čaniga be remanded in custody. Čaniga was accused of endangering public health by selling defective products. If found guilty, he faces up to eight years in prison. Čaniga was detained after bottles containing liquor with 50 percent of methanol were found in the storage facility of the Verdana company, which is an exclusive distributor of Likérka Drak from Chvalcov, south Moravia. A total of 7600 bottles of the suspicious liquor were found in the Verdana storage in Zlín in late September. The producers had the bottles prepared for dispatching to retailers. A laboratory analysis of the samples proved 536,000 mg of methanol in one liter of pure alcohol, or half of the bottle's content.   

The number of dollar millionaires in the Czech Republic grew by more than 5 percent to 17,100 last year, while worldwide the growth did not exceed 1 percent, according to a report produced by companies Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management. The increase in the number of rich people in the Czech Republic was influenced by the growth of GDP, relatively low inflation, positive export balance and the position of the Czech currency. In contrast, a drop in real estate prices and a decrease in market capitalisation had a negative impact. Most Czech dollar millionaires are, just like elsewhere in the world, people with invested assets worth one to five million dollars. The assets were most frequently in the form of various saving products.   

The Iraqi delegation headed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that visited the Czech Republic showed interest in the rifles, submachine guns and pistols produced by Česká zbrojovka arms maker. Iraqi representatives are also negotiating about establishing a service and training centre for gun servicing in Iraq, Škrabal said. Iraq was interested in CZ 805 Bren new assault rifles, CZ Scorpion EVO3 submachine guns and CZ 75 P-07 Duty pistols. The number of arms to be delivered is being discussed.

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