INVESTORS - Gates Europe, a subsidiary of the U.S.-based Gates Corporation, will begin production of high-pressure hydraulic hoses this fall in Karviná, in the Silesia region. According to CzechInvest CEO Radomil Novák, the Moravia-Silesian region has the best potential in the country for attracting new investors.

HEALTH - Health Minister Milada Emmerová has indicated that she supports a proposal to build a center in Brno for treating and diagnosing cardiovascular diseases and other illnesses. She anticipates that funding will come from nonministerial sources. GE Healthcare has reportedly shown interest in the project.

COMMERCIALS - Figures from TNS A-Connect show that domestic TV stations devoted more space to commercials in July 2005 than in the same month the year before. TV Nova had 20 more hours of advertising than the same period the year before, compared to a year-on-year drop of 4.75 hours at Prima TV.

TOURISM - Czech companies have started to invest in accommodation facilities abroad — mainly in tourist destinations, Hospodárské noviny reported earlier this month. Luxembourgian company Orco Property Group, which operates in the Czech Republic, recently bought nine hotels in Croatia, while Orea, the largest Czech hotel chain, has shown an interest in investing in Bulgaria. The most popular destinations are Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Egypt, where combined about 1.6 million Czechs spent their holidays last year.

REALITY TV - Production company Endemol, creator and producer of Big Brother, has announced it will take legal action against the Czech, Slovak and Hungarian producers of competing show VyVolení, which airs on Prima TV. The dispute is supposedly a result of the ongoing battle between TV Nova and Prima TV.

STAMPS - Transportation Minister Milan Simonovsky´ has decided to postpone the requirement for motorists to have highway stamps to use an additional 25 segments of highway until Jan. 1, 2006. The ministry left open the possibility that the actual number of highways where stamps will be required will be lowered.

EXTENSION - Austria announced plans to extend the transition period during which Czechs must seek approval to work in a European Union country until 2009. Austrian Economy Minister Martin Bartenstein could not rule out that the transition period will be extended again in three years, to 2011, depending on the economic and labor situation.