BANKRUPTCY The number of companies filing for bankruptcy is likely to increase for the first time in seven years, according to a recent study by insurer Euler Hermes Cescob. The increase is due to predictions of slower economic growth in 2007, the report said. There were 1,380 bankruptcies in the country in 2005, down from 2,491 in 2000.

NOMURA The Finance Ministry wants to end the ongoing arbitration process between the country and the Japanese bank Nomura, ministry officials said Sept. 18. The Czech Republic is currently locked in two arbitration disputes with the bank. In one, arbitrators found that the state failed to protect Nomura investments. In the other, the government is seeking 111 billion Kč from the bank for costs linked to the forced administration of failed bank IPB.

ŠKODA Škoda Auto plans to open three workshops to employ hundreds of disadvantaged people by the end of 2007, company officials told the Czech News Agency Sept. 15. The company already has one workshop that employs people with disabilities, seniors and single parents.

TENDER The Anti-Monopoly Office (ÚOHS) banned phone operator Telefónica O2 Sept. 15 from providing services that would have enabled greater data transfers between state institutions. The ÚOHS is investigating whether the 610 million Kč ($27.2 million) tender was in order. The Information Technology Ministry ordered the tender to dissolve.

GROWTH The Czech economy will grow 6 percent, down 0.1 percent from last year, according to an estimate by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Sept. 14. In the spring, the IMF forecasted that the economy would grow 5.5 percent. Only the Slovak economy is expected to grow faster in Central Europe, the report said.

POWER Czech power producer ČEZ obtained an electricity-trading license in Serbia, company sales director Alan Svoboda said Sept. 14. The company made the move in anticipation of the opening of the power market in southeast Europe. Serbia is the ninth country in which the company has a trading license.

CASHBACK Sazka, the biggest lottery company in the country, wants to offer cash withdrawals in its betting terminals beginning next year, company CEO Aleš Hušák said Sept. 14. The company made the announcement during its 50th anniversary celebration, and revealed its intentions to increase its focus on nonlottery activities. Sazka has nearly 7,000 terminals throughout the Czech Republic.

DEFICIT The Czech public deficit is the result of nontransparent activity, waste and corruption, according to a new report by watchdog Transparency International (TI) released Sept. 14. It is not clear where all of the 1.3 trillion Kč in state transactions flows, TI Director Adriana Krnáčová said. Estimates put the 2007 state budget deficit at between 88 billion and 100 billion Kč.