GRAYING

A study by the Dutch firm SEO predicts that the Czech Republic will be short 1.5 million workers by 2050, which will be the worst labor shortage in the European Union, the daily Hospodářské noviny reported Mar. 1. The cause is the country’s rapidly aging population, and the only solution will be increased immigration, the article posits.

Half of the country’s ski resorts have closed for the season, the daily Mladá fronta Dnes reported Mar. 5. Only resorts at the highest elevations in the Krkonoše, Jeseníky and Krušné mountains will remain open this month. Czechs spent about 8 billion Kč ($374.9 million) less on winter vacations this year, according to Mag Consulting.

The ATM withdrawal fee charged by Czech banks to their own customers was voted the most absurd bank fee in the country in an annual survey by Bankovnipoplatky.com. ATM fees took 37.5 percent of the vote, followed closely by monthly account fees at a flat 37 percent.

Czech police are investigating the disappearance of 114 million Kč from České dráhy, the state-owned railway company, Aktualne.cz reported Mar. 1. The company lost the money during a debt settlement involving the company Michin, which has since gone bankrupt and had several “stooges” appear on its payroll before it did so.

GE Money Bank attracted 20,000 new customers over the first month of its new promotion, half of whom opened accounts that used GE’s new flat monthly charge, covering fees and common transactions, Hospodářské noviny reported Mar. 2. Analysts say other banks will have to respond, or they risk losing customers.

Škoda Auto plans to hire more than 3,000 new employees at its manufacturing plant in Vrchlabí, north Bohemia, Aktualne.cz reported on Mar. 3. The plant will produce 1,000 cars a day, up from its current level of 150 a day. The expansion should begin in December and be finished by 2009, and is still pending government approval.

Pharmaceutical company Zentiva will purchase a 75 percent stake in the Turkish firm Eczacibasi Generic Pharmaceuticals, Zentiva announced Mar. 5. At some 12.9 billion Kč, the deal is the largest foreign investment ever made by a Czech company. After the pact is finalized, Zentiva will become Turkey’s third-largest pharmaceutical company.

The Anti-Monopoly Office (ÚOHS) has ruled that a contract amendment signed between the Transportation Ministry and Kapsch in mid-2006 is illegal, the daily Hospodářské noviny reported Mar. 6. The case will have to be settled by a court, the ÚOHS said. Kapsch is installing the country’s highway e-toll system.

RWE Transgas will have to return hundreds of millions of crowns to customers, the Energy Regulation Office said Mar. 1. The warm winter weather has kept demand low for gas, deflating prices below estimates set by the company. The exact amount to be returned is not yet known.