News Czech Republic 16.07.2012
CR: Audit: Czech Export Bank provided billions in unjustified loans
The Czech Export Bank has provided 8.2 billion crowns, or nearly 400 million US dollars, in unjustified loans, according to a review by the country’s supreme audit authority released on Monday. The auditors found out around half of that sum was in fact provided in breach of Czech law while more than 13 percent of the 143 billion crowns the bank gave out between 2005 and 2011 to support Czech exporters were sent to only two companies. One of the recipients paid over 40 percent of the sum to an off-shore firm which, the auditors said, cast serious doubt whether the move can be considered support of Czech exports. Some of the loans were also given out without being reviewed by the bank’s supervisory board, the review said.
Police officers signing petition in support of police president Lessy
Police officers around the country are signing a petition in support of police president Petr Lessy, following his confrontation with Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek on Friday. The police president told members of the security and defense committee in Parliament he had been lobbied and even threatened by the finance minister over the investigation into the purchase of CASA planes for the Czech army. The finance minister has strongly rejected the allegations, insisting that the calls were related to the purchase of a new fleet of cars for the police, and has demanded that unless the police president can produce convincing evidence he should resign from office. Lessy says he’s ready to take a lie detector test to prove his case.
Head of anti-corruption police says no let up in anti-corruption crusade
The head of the anti-corruption police Tomáš Martinec said the police would press ahead with the investigation of corruption in state administration despite the volley of criticism directed against them over the CASA planes investigation. In a debate on Czech Television, Mr. Martinec said the police had sufficient grounds for its request to prosecute former defense minister Vlasta Parkanova and that the request was not based solely on an assessment by the firm American Appraisal which concluded that the CASA planes had been severely overpriced. He pointed out that the police had worked on the case for two years under the supervision of the supreme state attorney. The former defense minister is to be charged within a matter of days.
Labour ministry to train care givers
The labour and social affairs ministry wants to train hundreds of care-givers. The ministry which needs to address the problem of an aging population and a lack of social workers, says it wants to train hundreds of people –mainly women between 45 and 55 years of age – who are already working as care givers for close family and elderly relatives. These people would receive special training and could join the ranks of professional care givers once they are ready to go back to work, a ministry spokeswoman told the ctk news agency.
Kidnapped baby home
The month-old baby girl who was kidnapped and abducted to Germany returned home safely at around midnight on Saturday. Several dozen family and friends turned out to greet her and over a dozen journalists and TV crews were in attendance. Baby Michaela was forcibly taken from her mother in the street when she was just 18 days old and the case evoked widespread public sympathy. The child was found by German police a week after her abduction thanks to cameras which registered the number of the kidnappers’ rented vehicle. Four people were detained in connection with the case, two remain in custody. The motive of the crime has not been revealed but the head of the local police force has moved to allay fears that the incident might be repeated.
Czech & Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids reopens
The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids reopened its doors to visitors on Saturday, four years and one month after the devastating floods of 2008. The expanded museum was showcased during a two-day celebration over the weekend that included a parade, a video-projection light show, performances by children’s song and dance ensembles and a marionette theatre performance. The museum’s biggest pride is a newly opened exhibition of 230 paintings, sculptures and other works by Czech artist Alphonse Mucha .The restoration of the museum and library was made possible through local, national and international assistance. More than 25 million dollars was raised during a capital campaign for flood recovery, to which the Czech Republic donated 10 million crowns.
Liquid manure leak threatens water species in Lišná
A liquid manure leak has contaminated a stream and pond near Lišná, in the Rokycany region, presenting an imminent danger to fish and water species in the vicinity. Firemen have been pumping contaminated water from the stream for several hours in order to minimize the damage. It is not yet clear who is responsible for the damage.
Colours of Ostrava gets record number of visitors
The music festival Colours of Ostrava broke all previous attendance records on Saturday night getting 31.500 visitors. The highlight of the third of the festival was a concert by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette. Visitors also crowded to hear the French chanson singer ZAZ and Czech singer Lenka Dusilova. The festival winds up on Sunday with a concert by Janelle Monaes.
Weather
The coming days are expected to be overcast and rainy with day temperatures between 17 and 21 degrees Celsius.
Škoda defies weak economic outlook with record car sales
Car maker Škoda Auto sold a record 493,000 automobiles during the first half of 2012, representing a year-on-year increase in sales of 8.4%, according to data released this week. The Octavia proved to be the most successful model selling almost a quarter of a million units. Sales were up globally as well, including in Eastern Europe; the only place where a fall was evident was in Western Europe, which saw a 0.7% decline. The company is planning to sell 1.5 million cars across the globe by 2018.
Transport Ministry to accept claims for vehicle registration meltdown
Photo: CTKThe Czech Ministry of Transport has announced that drivers affected by ongoing serious malfunctions in a new computerised vehicle registration system will be able to claim for damages incurred. According to the ministry, damages caused as a result of switching to the new system will be passed on to the company ATS-Telcom, which was hired to implement the 47 million crown upgrade. The ministry has also threatened not to pay ATS-Telecom and switch back to the old system if repairs are not completed by the end of this Thursday. Different locations across the country are experiencing numerous issues with the new system including missing or incomplete data related to automobile registration.
Summer storm damages reach half a billion crowns
Photo: CTKDamages caused by summer storms in the Czech Republic could soon reach half a billion crowns, with insurers registering thousands of claims for damages caused by flooding, lightning and hailstones during the months on June and July. According to the insurer Česká Pojišťovna, the Central Bohemian and Eastern Bohemian regions are seeing the most claims lodged, with the south and west of the country also strongly affected. The greatest damages have been caused by the effects of strong winds and hailstones on roofing as well as falling trees damaging electricity lines. According to meteorologists, severe weather occurrences are set to continue in the coming weeks.
Czech debt up despite austerity
The national debt rose by 136 billion crowns during the first half of 2012 according to new data from the Ministry of Finance. In total, the Czech Republic now owes around 1.6 trillion crowns, up almost a quarter of a trillion from the same time last year. According to the Finance Ministry, low borrowing rates enabled to Czech Republic to sell bonds at relatively low rates of interest and bolster its reserves should the eurozone crisis escalate in the future. For example, in February of this year, the country sold around 2 billion euros, or around 51 billion crowns, worth of debt bonds and also sold around 110 billion crowns worth of long and medium term bonds during the same period on the domestic market. Short term government debt remained at 19.3% of GDP according to the Finance Ministry, well below the IMF’s debt red line of 25%. Overall, the Ministry plans to borrow 243 billion crowns this year and around 12 billion less in 2013.
Inflation up in June to 3.5%
Inflation rose in June to 3.5% year-on-year from 3.2% the previous month, according to the latest numbers the Czech Statistics Office. Rises in the prices of food and tobacco products are viewed as chiefly responsible for the increase. Conversely, energy and housing price impact on inflation decreased in June, for example the annual increase of natural gas prices fell from 25.1% to 16.1%. Clothing and electronics, meanwhile, witnessed a decrease in prices, as did non-food-related household goods.
Czech Railways selects companies for train maintenance
Czech Railways have chosen the winners for a tender worth 5.3 billion crowns to repair numerous train carriages within its fleet. The winners of fourteen separate tenders will be tasked with maintenance and repair for the next four years. The greatest winners, Movo and Pars Nova, are companies that belong to the Škoda Transportation family. The former won a contract for 1.8 billion and the latter for 1.4 billion crowns. Other winning bidders include Přerov-based DPOV, CZ Loko from Česká Třebová and Legios from the town of Louny.
Police officers signing petition in support of police president Lessy
Police officers around the country are signing a petition in support of police president Petr Lessy, following his confrontation with Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek on Friday. The police president told members of the security and defense committee in Parliament he had been lobbied and even threatened by the finance minister over the investigation into the purchase of CASA planes for the Czech army. The finance minister has strongly rejected the allegations, insisting that the calls were related to the purchase of a new fleet of cars for the police, and has demanded that unless the police president can produce convincing evidence he should resign from office. Lessy says he’s ready to take a lie detector test to prove his case.
Head of anti-corruption police says no let up in anti-corruption crusade
The head of the anti-corruption police Tomáš Martinec said the police would press ahead with the investigation of corruption in state administration despite the volley of criticism directed against them over the CASA planes investigation. In a debate on Czech Television, Mr. Martinec said the police had sufficient grounds for its request to prosecute former defense minister Vlasta Parkanova and that the request was not based solely on an assessment by the firm American Appraisal which concluded that the CASA planes had been severely overpriced. He pointed out that the police had worked on the case for two years under the supervision of the supreme state attorney. The former defense minister is to be charged within a matter of days.
Labour ministry to train care givers
The labour and social affairs ministry wants to train hundreds of care-givers. The ministry which needs to address the problem of an aging population and a lack of social workers, says it wants to train hundreds of people –mainly women between 45 and 55 years of age – who are already working as care givers for close family and elderly relatives. These people would receive special training and could join the ranks of professional care givers once they are ready to go back to work, a ministry spokeswoman told the ctk news agency.
Kidnapped baby home
The month-old baby girl who was kidnapped and abducted to Germany returned home safely at around midnight on Saturday. Several dozen family and friends turned out to greet her and over a dozen journalists and TV crews were in attendance. Baby Michaela was forcibly taken from her mother in the street when she was just 18 days old and the case evoked widespread public sympathy. The child was found by German police a week after her abduction thanks to cameras which registered the number of the kidnappers’ rented vehicle. Four people were detained in connection with the case, two remain in custody. The motive of the crime has not been revealed but the head of the local police force has moved to allay fears that the incident might be repeated.
Czech & Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids reopens
The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids reopened its doors to visitors on Saturday, four years and one month after the devastating floods of 2008. The expanded museum was showcased during a two-day celebration over the weekend that included a parade, a video-projection light show, performances by children’s song and dance ensembles and a marionette theatre performance. The museum’s biggest pride is a newly opened exhibition of 230 paintings, sculptures and other works by Czech artist Alphonse Mucha .The restoration of the museum and library was made possible through local, national and international assistance. More than 25 million dollars was raised during a capital campaign for flood recovery, to which the Czech Republic donated 10 million crowns.
Liquid manure leak threatens water species in Lišná
A liquid manure leak has contaminated a stream and pond near Lišná, in the Rokycany region, presenting an imminent danger to fish and water species in the vicinity. Firemen have been pumping contaminated water from the stream for several hours in order to minimize the damage. It is not yet clear who is responsible for the damage.
Colours of Ostrava gets record number of visitors
The music festival Colours of Ostrava broke all previous attendance records on Saturday night getting 31.500 visitors. The highlight of the third of the festival was a concert by Canadian singer Alanis Morissette. Visitors also crowded to hear the French chanson singer ZAZ and Czech singer Lenka Dusilova. The festival winds up on Sunday with a concert by Janelle Monaes.