BONDS

Investors flocked to the auction of the first-ever 30-year government bonds. The Finance Ministry said investors purchased bonds worth 13 billion Kč ($6.1 million) during the offer Nov. 29, much more than the government expected. The ministry initially wanted to issue bonds worth 8 billion Kč. The average yield of the bond is 4.223 percent. The annual coupon has been set at 4.20 percent.

CEO

Terrence Valeski, former executive of Czech mobile phone company Eurotel, will join the board of directors at rival T-Mobile, the daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported Dec. 4. Valeski was in charge of Eurotel from 2001 to 2004, before the privatization of Český Telecom, which then owned Eurotel.

TELEVISIONS

Chinese television maker Changhong Europe launched TV production in Nymburk, Central Bohemia, Dec. 5, the daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported. The company will have 100 employees by the end of the year and 300 by the end of 2007. Changhong says it wants to produce 1 million plasma TV sets in Nymburk annually.

E-TOLL

The Transportation Ministry and the Austrian firm Kapsch have not discussed canceling the contract to build the second stage of the country's electronic toll system on Czech roads, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported Dec. 1. The daily Hospodářské noviny quoted an anonymous source who said the two discussed canceling the contract.

LABOR

The government failed to postpone the new Labor Code Nov. 30. The Chamber of Deputies removed that item from the agenda at the request of the Social Democrats. The controversial law will likely come into force Jan. 1. Labor Minister Petr Nečas, of the Civic Democratic Party, said the law has nearly 80 questionable provisions, some of which run counter to the Constitution.

UNIPETROL

The European Commission (EC) fined Czech oil company Unipetrol 17.5 million euros ($23 million/490 million Kč) Nov. 29 for participating in a Europe-wide rubber cartel. The EC also fined Shell, Dow Chemical and others a total of 519 million euros. A potential fine could complicate the sale of Unipetrol's rubber producer Kaučuk Kralupy, which Unipetrol wants to unload by the end of the year.

COAL

A referendum that would have reduced the limits on coal mining in the area surrounding Litví­nov, north Bohemia, failed when only 38 percent of voters went to the polls Dec. 1. The law requires at least 50 percent voter turnout for a valid referendum. Nearly 95 percent of voters chose to keep the current limits, which the government set in 1991.

TRAINS

Modern high-speed European trains cannot run on Czech rails, causing problems for Czech companies and international rail operators, Hospodářské noviny reported Dec. 1. Fast trains are to operate direct runs between the Czech Republic and Austria starting Dec. 10, but their engines will have to be changed on the border. Debate on the problem began more than a year ago, but nothing has changed, the paper said.