Friday News Briefing

NEWS  

BELARUS The foreign ministers of the Visegrad Four (V4) countries have called on the regime of Belarusian President Alexandr Lukashenko to release political prisoners and stop intimidating the opposition, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported March 3. The ministers said if Minsk does not do so, it faces the risk of further sanctions and isolation. The four-state group, which comprises the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, issued the statement after they met in Bratislava for talks yesterday.  

DOCTORS The chairman of the Czech Doctors Trade Union (LOK) Martin Engel will now be paid a full-time salary by the union, ČTK reported March 3. Engel was one of the 5 percent of protesting doctors that lost their jobs because they were replaced during the "Thank You, We Are Leaving" resignation protest in support of higher pay. Most of the affected medics have either gotten new jobs here or are moving abroad, according to the union.  

BLOGGERS The organizers of the Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) Europe conference are considering Prague as the host city for this year's event, The Prague Post has learned. Hundreds of travel writers and travel industry representatives attended last year's event in Copenhagen in November. The group also holds a conference in North America each year, with the next event being staged in Vancouver in June.  

BUSINESS  

COAL Czech Coal's Jan Dienstl said the only way to maintain the current system of piped-in heating, used by 3.75 million people, would be through extending the coal-mining limits, according to the daily HN. His company wants to extend a contract with ČEZ-Počerady to supply it with most of its coal from Vrsany, which would not leave much from Vrsany for heating plants. He believes the heating plants and Environment Ministry are trying to force the issue of reopening limits through efforts to force Czech Coal to supply more coal from Vrsany to heating plants.  

SUPERMARKET The Ahold supermarket chain posted 253 million Kč in operating profit last year in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, after posting losses of 1.7 billion Kč in 2009. Revenues were up 8 percent to 42 billion Kč. The company currently has 279 stores in the Czech Republic and plans to open a couple dozen more in the next few years.   

TREATY U.S. Ambassador Norman Eisen said yesterday the U.S. would not support efforts by the Czech Republic to renegotiate an investment-protection treaty, which Czech leaders have called disadvantageous. He also expressed support for U.S. company Westinghouse's bid for the Temelín project, the daily HN reported.   

WEATHER  

Prague, Czech Republic March 4. Clear. High: 5 C. Low: -2 C.