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December 4th, 2008
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August 8th, 2007 | Current Issue

Grand finale
Dueling lawsuits accompany end of Petrof-Geneva partnership

Praga Hostivař not for sale
Auto-parts maker rejects bid from truck producer Tatra

'Secret restitution' ruled invalid
Future decisions could return land worth billions to state

Volný launches IPTV service, challenges O2
Volný's arrival to raise standards of once monopolized market

Biz Events
Dates of Note

10 Questions
with Dirk Collin
10 Questions

Movers & Shakers
New execs for PwC
Movers & Shakers

BRIEFS


JOBLESS The national unemployment rate is at its lowest level in the past nine years, the Czech Statistical Office announced Aug 3. For the second quarter of 2007, only 5.3 percent of the population was unemployed, with the number of job seekers dropping 92,200. The low jobless rate should continue to put pressure on rising wages.
PHARMA Pharmaceutical companies sold 21.7 billion Kč ($1.05 billion) worth of drugs in the Czech Republic during the first half of 2007, up 8 percent from last year, according to figures released by IMS Health. Sales fell last year for the first time since 2001, when former Health Minister David Rath introduced lower price caps on prescriptions.
ZENTIVA The country’s largest generic drug manufacturer, Zentiva, is embroiled in several lawsuits worth a total of 500 million Kč, Týden reported Aug. 6. One case involves plots of land in Romania, the second is a financial dispute with ČSOB dating back to 1998, and the third is a patent dispute with Israeli company Teva.
SEZNAM The country’s third-largest Internet portal, Atlas.cz, will begin using search results from the country’s dominant search engine, Seznam.cz, the companies have announced. The move is made in the face of increasing competition from Google, which entered the market with a Czech-language site last year. Already, Google commands 15 percent of the domestic search market.
ČSA The state has approved the sale of Czech Airlines’ (ČSA) freight terminal to Central European Handling (CEH), a company controlled by Kamil Slavík, former head of ČSA’s cargo unit. The airline said CEH offered the highest price in an electronic tender. The exact figure was not disclosed, but it exceeded 526 million Kč, ČSA said.
SUGAR The government will reject the plan of Eastern Sugar to sell its defunct sugar refineries to the biogas producer Onivon, Agriculture Minister Petr Gandalovič said July 31. The company is seeking 992 million Kč from the state for what it says were low sugar quotas it received in July 2003. Eastern Sugar accepted a European Union buyout of its sugar quota earlier this year.
NANOFIBER An undisclosed car parts manufacturer in the United States has launched production of nanofibers using machines purchased from Elmarco, the high-tech firm based in Liberec, north Bohemia. It is the first U.S. firm to use Elmarco’s patented “Nanospider” production system; it bought a line from the company in March for 10 million Kč.
IPO The used-car dealer AAA Auto is planning an initial public offering on the Prague and Budapest stock exchanges most likely in September, the company’s founder told Czech Business Weekly. Proceeds from the offering would be used to double the company’s branches by 2009. The firm is also in talks to purchase two additional major car dealers, he added.

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