GAS - The Anti-Monopoly Office (ÚOHS) launched administrative proceedings against RWE Transgas Nov. 21 to determine whether the company has abused its dominant position on the market and offered preferential contracts to certain distributors, ÚOHS Chairman Martin Pecina said the same day. RWE Transgas, a distributor of natural gas, controls 80 percent of the Czech market.

RETAIL - German retail chain Edeka, the 32nd largest chain in the Czech Republic, has decided to close up shop here. The retailer will sell its 38 supermarkets, mostly in north Bohemia, according to media reports. Edeka, which is pulling out of Austria and Poland as well, wants to focus on its operations in Germany.

REGULATION - Czech banks have rejected most of the Finance Ministry's ideas for increasing market regulation, according to media reports. Banks have said that antitrust laws have kept them from honoring some of the ministry's requests. They have also pointed out that the government is only interested in regulating banks, undermining people's trust in the sector.

PLANES - The privatization of Aero Vodochody, a jet manufacturer, should begin Nov. 24. The government wants to sell its nearly 100 percent stake in the company, as well as its considerable debt, as fast as possible. The investor that wins the tender is expected to turn the company's private runway into Prague's second international airport.

SHOPPING - Czechs are spending more and more of their money in large shopping centers, economists polled by the Czech News Agency (ČTK) said Nov. 18. Retail sales increased 4.9 percent in September, with spending at hypermarkets accounting for one-third of the growth.

NUKE - The Dukovany nuclear power plant has produced 0.25 trillion kilowatt-hours of power since its launch in 1985, said spokesman Petr Spilka. Production should increase 10 percent after Dukovany's modernization is complete in 2011. The spike will not threaten the environment, as 95 percent of the radioactive waste will be recycled, according to the company.

COAL - Coal output at Sokolovská uhelná, a mining company in west Bohemia, grew more than 200,000 metric tons to 7.4 million metric tons of brown coal between January and September. The company attributed the increase to higher demand for solid fuels.

AUCTIONS - Fewer involuntary auctions, when property is seized and sold to pay off debts, have been held so far this year compared with the same period in 2004, according to data from the public procurement information system. The number of involuntary auctions fell 25 percent to 346. Assets worth 9.7 billion Kč ($386 million) have been auctioned off this year.