Thursday News Briefing

NEWS  

LIBRARY The controversial "blob" design for a new Czech National Library (NK) made by the late Jan Kaplický has been abandoned because there isn't enough financing to build it, Tomáš Boehm, the head of NK, told the Czech News Agency (ČTK) Jan. 5. He said although he liked the design, the library mostly needs storage capacity. The current plan will be to revitalize the Klementinum building in central Prague and complete the construction of a depository on the outskirts of the city, ČTK reported. The work should be completed by 2015 and cost 3 billion Kč.  

CORRUPTION The government has decided to form a working group of coalition leaders to work further on the anti-corruption strategy after approving it Jan. 5. The group will work to modify five of the 58 points in the strategy, among which is the incorporation of proposals from the government appointed National Economic Council and the American Chamber of Commerce, specifics on pursuing legal action on business contracts between local or regional authorities and a private company, specifics on the conditions of imposing a special tax on illegally obtained property and implementing a central register of bank accounts.  

AMBASSADOR The new U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, Norman Eisen, may arrive in Prague at the end of January, the Czech News Agency reported. The ambassador, appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama through a recess appointment in December, had said he would start in his new position as soon as he could get to Prague, but no official date has been set. Eisen will only serve for about a year before he will have to be approved by the Senate.    

BUSINESS  

LAYOFFS Ministries laid off fewer employees than were pledged by the end of last year, the daily Lidové noviny (LN) reported Jan. 5. The ministries promised in September that 6,000 work positions would be eliminated by the end of the year, but only 1,700 were in fact laid off, according to LN. "Each ministry seeks its own ways to reduce their spending on wages," Viktorie Plivová, spokeswoman for the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry, told LN. "A 10 percent reduction is binding on all, but it is up to individual ministries to find ways to reach the goal."  

ČNB The Czech National Bank's authority would be expanded according to a Finance Ministry proposal that would enact measures in accordance with the EU's new financial regulatory oversight directives, a government spokesperson told the Czech News Agency. The EU system of financial market supervision was created in reaction to the financial crisis.  

LEASING A new consumer loan law that went into effect Jan. 1 has caused many banks to cancel car leasing. The new law allows customers to cancel a law, without reason, within 14 days, a time during which a car can lose up to 25 percent of its value, according to the daily Lidové noviny. ČSOB leasing, UniCredit Leasing Credium and Essox have all halted leasing cars as a result. 

WEATHER

Prague, Czech Republic Jan. 6. Chance of Snow. High: -2 C Low: -8 C