AGRICULTURE - The Agriculture Ministry plans to build a state-run grain facility to prevent future storage problems, noting the government's problems securing contracts to store this year's harvest. Agriculture Minister Petr Zgarba told reporters that a future state-run store will have the capacity of up to 1 million metric tons (1.1 million short tons) of grain. He added that he would submit the proposition to the Cabinet soon.

PROFIT - Czech chemicals manufacturer Spolchemie announced this month that it earned preliminary profits worth 37.9 million Kc ($1.6 million) in the first half of this year, a considerable increase from last year's loss of 80 million Kc. According to Spolchemie spokesman Zdenek Rytír the positive results mainly reflect the launch of its new facility, Epispol, which produces three times as much as the old unit. The figures were in line with the company's business plan, he said.

LIFTS - Escalator and elevator manufacturer Schindler CZ, the Czech subsidiary of the Swiss-based Schindler Group, announced its purchase of ELETEC vy´tahy, the leading Czech-owned elevator supplier in the country. The purchase makes Schindler the largest elevator supplier on the Czech market.

LICENSE - The Czech Telecommunications Office has called on all interested domestic postal services to submit applications for a license for the next three years. The winner will be granted a monopoly to deliver mail below a set weight and price, currently 100 grams (3.5 ounces) and 19 Kc. In return, the company is required to provide secure basic postal services across the Czech territory. Ceská posta currently holds the license.

FLOUR - The Czech Ramill concern announced this month it has sold Unimills to Austrian rival Erste Wiener Walzmühle Vonwiller Vermoegensverwaltung, but the takeover has yet to be approved by the regulatory bodies. Ramill plans to focus on its bakery business, Odkolek, which will be expanding in both the Czech Republic and abroad. Unimills enjoys 25 percent of the Czech flour milling market.

PAPERS - A reported 400 of the country's 7,000 newspaper stands have gone out of business during the first five months of 2005, mainly due to falling margins on goods with fixed prices. The industry association now wants cigarettes to be sold exclusively at newspaper stands but this demand is not likely to be supported by various ministries.

DEMAND - The office vacancy rate has dropped to 14 percent, Orco Property Group Vice President Ales Vobruba told Právo earlier this month. Vobruba said the drop is an indication of growing demand and price stabilization for spacious and modern facilities outside the city center.

WAGES - Foxconn of Taiwan, the No. 2 exporter in the Czech Republic after Skoda Auto, offers such low wages that Czechs don't want to work at its Pardubice assembly plant, Mladá fonta Dnes reported. The average wage there is below the national average and according to local officials the rate dates from the time Foxconn was the sole large investor in the area. More than one-third of the workers are Slovak.