PLANT - Hyundai will select a site in Poland as the location for a new manufacturing plant if the Czech government does not secure a plot of land for the project, Hospodářské noviny reported Nov. 30. The South Korean manufacturer, which has been looking at several countries in the region for the investment since earlier this year, did not specify how long it would wait for the government to guarantee the land.

FUNDS - Česká spořitelna, one of the country's largest banks, will continue to manage money from European Union Structural Funds in 2006 based on a contract it received earlier this year without competing in a tender, Euro reported Dec. 4. The Finance Ministry has said it plans to issue a tender in the future to select the bank that will manage money from Structural Funds.

PROFIT - Profits fell approximately 50 percent at Kofola, a soft-drink company, last year compared with 2003, the company announced recently. Kofola emerged in 1993 following the privatization of a unit of Nealko Olomouc, another beverage company. The new owner initially named it Santa nápoje before settling on Kofola in 2003.

TAXES - The senior opposition Civic Democratic Party (ODS) is planning to distribute circular slide rules that will enable voters to calculate how the ODS' proposed changes to income tax, value-added tax (VAT), social tax and welfare payments would affect them. Members of the ODS have said the party's proposals will save people money and lower the budget deficit.

REGULATION - The Finance Ministry has urged banks to make the market more client-friendly through self-regulation. Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said the government will level new regulations on banks if the two sides don't find a compromise. The Czech National Bank has criticized the ministry's continued scrutiny of Czech banks.

VAT - The government is considering introducing VAT refunds for cars with certain gas mileage, according to Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka. The proposal comes in response to a recommendation by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that the Czech Republic should introduce environmental taxes.

CROWN - Finance Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said Dec. 2 that the crown was overvalued and that a correction should be expected in the near future. The crown has appreciated 5.2 percent this year.