The Senate passed a bill on registered partnerships that still needs the signature of President Václav Klaus. If he signs it into law, the Czech Republic will be the first post-communist and 13th European country to allow same-sex partnerships. The bill ensures a couple's entitlement to information on their partners' health condition and a chance to inherit property.
Health Minister David Rath wants to extend the sale of nonprescription medicines to more stores than just pharmacies. Czech Chamber of Pharmacists President Lubomír Chudoba claims that Rath is trying to weaken the role of pharmacists. Separately, about 1,500 pharmacists protested outside Rath's office last week over proposed changes in margins on drugs. Rath is proposing a fixed margin of Kč 500 (e 17.63) on drugs over Kč 5,000, and a sliding margin for drugs between Kč 200–5,000.
The senior opposition Civic Democrats (ODS) will increase investment in health care if they win the June elections to the Chamber of Deputies, their shadow health minister Tomáš Julínek said during last week's pharmacists' protest. Julínek said that he would like the annual investment in the health sector to increase by Kč 20 billion.
The EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) approved the Czech euro convergence program. This means that European officials have confirmed the Czech Republic can join the eurozone in 2010. But Ecofin urged improving fiscal planning, pension reform and taking advantage of economic growth to slash budget gaps. The European Commission earlier made a similar assessment of the Czech convergence program.
The Czech National Bank (ČNB) slightly lowered its inflation estimate. For 2006 it expects consumer prices to grow by between 2.4 and 3.8 percent, and a moderate acceleration is expected for 2007. GDP is to grow by 3.3 to 4.5 percent this year. The ČNB decided to leave interest rates unchanged at 2 percent. The ČNB had previously estimated inflation rates of between 3 and 4.4 percent by October 2006.
Credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service has bought CRA Rating Agency, the largest ratings agency in Central Europe, and will change the Czech firm's name to Moody's Central Europe. CRA was previously controlled by U.S. company Pragocontact Corporation and provides independent rating of the ability to pay debt. In 2005, CRA raised sales by almost 20 percent to more than Kč 20 million.
Russian company Evraz Group has assumed ownership rights in Czech steelmaker Vítkovice Steel, which it bought from the state last summer. Five representatives of Evraz top management assumed posts in Vítkovice Steel statutory bodies. Vítkovice Steel is the third-largest steel company in the Czech Republic. Evraz paid more than Kč 7 billion for Vítkovice Steel shares.
Czech power company ČEZ raised electricity production from renewable resources by 19 percent to 1.449 terawatthours last year. Hydroelectric power plants were the biggest contributor to the growth; their output went up by a quarter at 1.33 TWh. Renewable resources make up about 2 percent of ČEZ power production.
The Prague Stock Exchange (PSE) began trading a new issue of shares in Austria's Erste Bank. The issue will be offered separately from the current Erste shares because the owners of the new shares aren't entitled to dividends for last year. The revenue of € 2.65 billion from the issue will be used in part to finance a takeover of a 62 percent share in Romania's Ban ca Comerciala Romana.
The PSE will switch from using two indices, PX 50 and PX-D, to just one, PX, as of March 2. The new index will combine the advantages of the two existing indices. The PX 50 index began to be used in 1994. The PX-D index was introduced in 1999 and covered stocks traded on the SPAD system. The change is linked to the planned launch of trading in derivatives.
The Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (RRTV) has imposed 19 more fines totaling Kč 16.8 million on commercial TV Nova over indecent scenes from its reality show Big Brother aired before 10 p.m. The latest fines, ranging from Kč 400,000–2.5 million, concern episodes of the show broadcast between Oct. 13 and Nov. 18. The council imposed earlier fines of Kč 25 million.
T-Mobile, the largest Czech mobile operator by client numbers, reported an increase in the number of users of 274,000 to 4.63 million for 2005. The smallest Czech mobile operator, Oskar/Vodafone, raised client numbers last year (see Center Stage, this page). The third operator, Eurotel, which had 4.49 million clients at the end of September 2005, has yet to publish its results. Mobile phone sales went up 29 percent over 2004 to 873,000.
The last of five Italian-made high-speed Pendolino trains that had been in regular passenger service followed the others to the rail yard after a software defect stopped it in North Moravia. The same defect disabled four Pendolino trains at the beginning of the month. National rail operator České dráhy said it would probably demand E 600,000 from Italian train maker Alstom as a fine for the defects. Betting shops have been taking wagers on when the repairs will be finished.
National air carrier Czech Airlines (ČSA) last year transported 5.2 million passengers, a 20 percent increase over the previous year, and made 40,000 flights, an 18 percent rise. But the number of passengers fell short of ČSA's estimate that it would reach 5.4 million passengers for the year. Despite the growing number of passengers, ČSA is expected to post a loss of Kč 330 million for 2005.
The Council for Radio and Television Broadcasting (RRTV) has reportedly decided to take the English-language service of the BBC off the air and reassign the frequency. Czech-language service began to be phased out in December, and the station had been attempting to gain permission to broadcast solely in English. Prague will be one of only a few major European cities without BBC broadcasts.
Antimonopoly office ÚOHS has confirmed its original decision to award the tender for supplying an electronic toll collection system to Austrian firm Kapsch, which offered the second highest price. Rival bidders Mytia and Autostrade, who offered lower bids and appealed the original decision, can now file an administrative complaint or go to the European Commission.
František Mrázek, partner of businessman Tomáš Pitr, was shot dead in a Prague 4 parking lot Jan. 25 near his office building. Mrázek was alleged to be the owner or one of the owners of Český olej, which controls food and chemical company Setuza. Police said he was hit with a single shot to the chest and that it looked like a contract murder. A previous shooting in 2002 left Mrázek with a minor wound (see editorial, page 8).
Prague is ranked as the fourth-best place to live in Europe, according to a study by the University of Mannheim in Germany. Prague beat the capitals of all EU newcomer states and, out of 58 cites in total, was preceded only by Paris, Frankfurt and Luxembourg. Prague got 97 of a total of 100 points for low living costs. But for career opportunity, it got only 7 points, the worst result.
Magdalena Souček of Ernst & Young has become president of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic and plans to expand and restructure the organization, which is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the European Council of American Chambers of Commerce (ECACC).
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