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November 22nd, 2008
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September 24th, 2008 | Current Issue

Developing crisis
Wall Street hits already-weakened property market

Czechs want their MTV
Popular music station slated for domestic broadcast next year

Emissions a headache for industry
Confederation finds EU plans for credit auctions worrying

Diamond market gains new glitter
New strong crown creates a demand for gemstone investment

Another cup of java to go
Coffee Beanery fixes a link of its chain to the Czech Republic

Biz Events
Dates of Note

10 Questions
with Mark Cichon
10 Questions

New partners at KPMG
Movers & Shakers

BRIEFS


AIG Social Democratic Party Chairman Jiři Paroubek told Právo the near-failure of AIG insurance company is a warning to those who would like to privatize the Czech pension insurance market. Paroubek questioned whether the state would be able to financially step in for those who lost their savings on the capital market. He proposed developing a system of locally owned providers of financial services instead.

ŠKODA Škoda Auto will reduce output Sept. 26 and Oct. 31 because of the global financial crisis, a spokesperson told Czech News Agency (ČTK) Sept. 22. Production will be limited on all models except for the new Superb model, lowering output by nearly 2,500 cars. The company said it has been particularly hard hit by the crisis because of its large export business. It was the largest Czech exporter last year with shares of total exports at 7.5 percent.
CRYSTALEX Giant glassworks group Bohemia Crystalex and Porcela Plus filed for insolvency Sept. 22 as the Czech press dubbed it the first large victim of the financial crisis. The company has agreed with creditor banks to work with PricewaterhouseCoopers on a petition for a moratorium that would maintain production for three months in key parts of the group. The company cited the global financial crisis as the reason it has been unable to refinance an IPB-era loan of 4 billion Kč.
ZENTIVA After a three-month effort, Sanofi-Aventis was successful in its takeover bid for Zentiva after it raised its offer by 100 Kč ($5.57) a share to 1,150 Kč.  Zentiva CEO Jiří Michal said the offer was an attractive one for shareholders in light of the global financial crisis. Sanofi owns a 25 percent stake in Zentiva, a Czech generic drug-maker. Sanofi, a French pharmaceutical firm, is looking to expand its market presence in Eastern and Central Europe through the $2.7 billion takeover.
ZONING The Prague City assembly voted to approve 43 zoning changes Sept. 18. The projects approved include a redevelopment of the Masaryk and Smíchov train stations, as well as a rail corridor between Prague and Beroun. The projects must still be financed by developers, who have faced dwindling profits as a result of a real estate market slowdown.
ACER Taiwan’s Foxconn will move an Acer PC assembly plant from the Czech Republic to Hungary. Foxconn is the second-largest exporter in the Czech Republic and its move will be a blow to the country’s export-driven economy, analysts told Hungarian business daily Vilaggazdasag Sept. 22. The company employs 3,000 workers in Pardubice and Kutná Hora, and trails only Škoda Auto in its shares of the export market.
INCOME TAX An income-tax amendment is expected to win first-reading approval in Parliament next week. The amendment would lower the social security tax rate 1.5 points. Additional proposals in the Finance Ministry’s separate tax-code proposal were sent back to the ministry for more work by the Cabinet’s legislative counsel. A new tax code will take effect in 2010.

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