Czech News 07.11.2012 - 01.11.2012

CR: Nečas congratulates Obama on re-election

The Czech prime minister, Petr Nečas, has congratulated the incumbent Barack Obama on his victory in Tuesday’s presidential election in the United States. Mr. Nečas said cooperation between Mr. Obama’s administration and the Czech government worked very well and he believed the two sides could build on those good relations in the future. Meanwhile, the Czech president, Václav Klaus, told the news site Novinky.cz that while his heart beat on the right rather than on the left, he congratulated the American leader on his success.

US ambassador: Obama win spells continuity

The US ambassador to Prague, Norman Eisen, described the victory of Mr. Obama – who nominated him for the post – as a signal of continuity in his country. He said the Obama administration would continue its policies aimed at supporting a path out of the recession. Mr. Eisen hosted a party at the American Embassy in Prague that ran from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning, with attendees following the results of the election as they came in on television. .

Lower house approves tax bill tied to confidence vote

The Czech lower house approved a government tax bill in its final reading on Wednesday. Prime Minister Petr Nečas had tied a vote of confidence in his coalition government to the vote on a raft of tax changes, which includes an increase in VAT. The bill is crucial to the passing of the budget for next year, and the finance minister had drafted an alternative budget in case it failed.

Its approval was complicated by the position of a group of rebels within the prime minister’s own Civic Democrats. However, the rebellion fizzled out on Tuesday, when three of the deputies in question resigned their mandates and two said they would back the bill.

Civic Democrat sentenced to jail term insists on taking up seat

A Civic Democrat politician in line to replace one of three party deputies who have resigned insists he will take the post, despite the fact that he has been sentenced to a six-year jail term for corruption. Roman Pekárek has protested his innocence and appealed against the verdict. He has ignored calls from party colleagues to forego the seat in the lower house, and has not said he would do so if he loses his appeal.

Finance Ministry planning sell-off of Czech Airlines

The Czech minister of finance, Miroslav Kalousek, is set to ask the government to prepare the privatisation of the state-controlled carrier Czech Airlines, the news website Novinky.cz reported on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance said plans were afoot to launch a tender process with a view to finding an international long-term investor for Czech Airlines. Mr. Kalousek said price would be the most important criterion but not the only one. A previous attempt to find a buyer for the airline in 2009 proved unsuccessful.

Cartoonist Vladimír Jiránek dies at 74

The popular Czech cartoonist Vladimír Jiránek has died at the age of 74 after a serious illness. He was known for his political cartoons and illustrations in daily newspapers as well as an animator who helped create the much-loved children’s television characters Bob and Bobek and Pat and Mat.

Christmas market set for Prague’s Malé náměstí

Prague will get a new Christmas market this year, with one set to be held on the square Malé náměstí, a short distance from the traditional market on Old Town Square. The mayor of Prague 1 said on Wednesday that the local council did not want to see Christmas celebrations concentrated on one site, adding that he favoured the sale of traditional Czech goods, such as a pastry known as “trdelník”. A pedestrian zone was created on Malé náměstí earlier this year.

Merta teams up with old group for LP launch

The Czech singer-songwriter Vladimír Merta is launching a new LP, entitled Nikdo v zemi nikoho (Nobody from the Land of Nobody), at a special concert at Prague’s Malostranská beseda on Wednesday night. Merta will be appearing alongside his old rock group Dobrá uroda, who last performed in 1989. The LP comprises fresh recordings of old songs alongside a number of new numbers.

Berdych to lead Czechs in upcoming Davis Cup final in Prague

The Czech men’s tennis number one Tomáš Berdych will lead the country’s team in the upcoming Davis Cup final in Prague. The team will also feature Radek Štěpánek, Lukáš Rosol and Ivo Minář. The Czechs were defeated by Spain in the final of the competition three years ago. This year’s final will take place on an indoor hardcourt at Prague’s O2 Arena the weekend after next.

Czechs call up five uncapped players for Slovakia friendly

The Czech Republic soccer squad for a friendly against Slovakia on November 14 will feature five uncapped players. Tomáš Kalas, Ladislav Krejčí, Bořek Dočkal, Martin Pospíšil and Michal Ordoš have received call-ups from coach Michal Bílek. Bílek has been forced to make do without several players, such as injured Arsenal midfielder Tomáš Rosický and goalkeeper Petr Čech, who is planning to undergo an elbow operation next summer and has been excused because of his club Chelsea’s busy schedule.

Weather

It should be cloudy with some rain over the next couple of days. Temperatures will reach a maximum of 11 degrees Celsius.

 

Civic Democrats secure support for controversial tax hikes

The ruling parties have secured support for a package of controversial tax hikes that threatened to bring down the centre-right government. The six rebel Civic Democrat MPs who were holding out against the bill all bowed to pressure from the newly elected Civic Democrat leadership on Tuesday as the crucial vote, tied to a vote of confidence, neared. MPs Petr Tluchoř, Marek Šnajdr and Ivan Fuksa have said they will give up their seats in the lower house on Wednesday morning to enable the bill to pass. Two other MPs have promised to support the bill despite their strong reservations to it and the last of the six has said he will leave the assembly hall during the vote. The package of controversial tax hikes is a key component of the government’s austerity measures for 2013 aimed at bringing the deficit in public spending below 3 percent of the GDP. It is directly linked to next year’s state budget which will also be debated in the lower house on Wednesday.

Eleven candidates in the running for president

 

Eleven candidates are in the running for the top post in the country’s first direct presidential elections. The deadline for registrations expired on Tuesday and the eleven candidates registered are: Social Democrat deputy chairman Jiří Dienstbier, former finance minister Vladimír Dlouhý, former interim prime minister Jan Fischer, MEP Zuzana Roithová, Senate deputy chairman Přemysl Sobotka, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, former prime minister Miloš Zeman, former MEP Jana Bobošíková, composer Vladimir Franz, newly-elected senator Tomio Okamura and actress Tanya Fischerova. Their registrations will be confirmed in mid-November after some of the signatures collected have been checked at random. Election criteria require candidates to collect signatures from 10 senators, 20 MPs or 50,000 citizens. The first direct presidential election in the country’s history is scheduled for January 11-12. The two most successful candidates will meet in a second round to be held two weeks later.

Stovicek leaves Public Affairs deputies’ group

 

MP Milan Stovicek who was expelled from the opposition Public Affairs party last week for consistently breaking party ranks and voting with the government on key reform bills has left the party’s deputies’ group in the lower house. Mr. Stovicek said he respected the decision. The former Public Affairs deputy has said he supports the government’s reform plans and there are efforts to secure his support for the controversial tax-hike bill on Wednesday. Public Affairs was formerly a member of the centre-right governing coalition but split and the core of the party went into the opposition, with a group around Deputy Prime Minister Karolina Peake remaining in government and setting up a new political party under the name LIDEM.

Social Democrats and Communists enter into coalition in Hradec Kralove

 

The process of forming new local governments in the wake of regional elections continues. Talks in the Hradec Kralove region have produced a coalition of Social Democrats and Communists, with Social Democrat Lubomir Franc retaining the governor’s post. The Social Democrats will have six seats on the nine member council, the Communist Party three. Left wing parties had a strong showing in the regional elections and will dominate coalitions around the country.

Syrian refugees flown to Prague for treatment

 

An army plane on Tuesday transported 10 injured Syrian refugees to the Czech Republic for medical treatment. The six adults and four children who were flown to Prague from Jordan are undergoing medical examinations at a Prague hospital. They are receiving care within the Medevac humanitarian aid programme. The Czech Republic has sent aid to Syrian refugees to the tune of 14 million crowns.

Czech industrial output down

 

Czech industrial output decreased by 7.1 percent year-on-year in September, compared with a drop of 3.1 percent in August, the Czech Statistical Office reported on Tuesday. The steep fall is being attributed to weakening domestic and foreign demand as well as a lower number of work days in the month of September. The results for September are slightly worse than predicted and a poll among industrial leaders indicates a simile trend for the rest of the year.

Czech building output down 10.6 in September

 

Czech building output fell by an annual rate of 10.6 percent in September, up from a 4.7 percent decrease in August, according to figures released by the Czech Statistical Office on Tuesday. September saw a lower number of initiated construction jobs and building permits, while the number of completed buildings posted an annual growth of 4.6 percent. Seasonally adjusted building output was 1.5 percent lower on the month. Building construction dropped by 8.2 percent and civil engineering construction was 15.8 percent lower in annual terms.

Prague jewellery shop presents Andy Warhol's diamond dust paintings

 

An exhibition of 14 diamond dust paintings by pop-art legend Andy Warhol opened in a diamond jewellery shop in the centre of Prague on Tuesday. Warhol used silkscreen ink and diamond dust to make the pictures. The exhibition, organized by Diamonds International Corporation and the US -Slovak Saga Gallery is open through November 20.

Police crack down on SAPA open air market

 

Police have cracked down on Prague’s SAPA open air market confiscating counterfeit goods worth millions of crowns. Among the fake goods was sports gear with fake labels to the tune of 4 billion crowns and 13,000 watches with Rolex and Breitling labels being sold for 500 to 1,500 crowns apiece. The price of the originals would be around two billion crowns. A thirty-three-year-old foreign national was detained for questioning. Customs officers and police frequently target open air markets which are known to sell fake labels and rarely come away empty handed.

ATP World Tour: Berdych loses three-setter against Murray

 

Czech tennis player Tomáš Berdych began well against Britain’s Andy Murray in their round-robin match of the Barclays ATP World Tour finals in London on Monday, but ultimately saw the match slip away. Berdych, who has a good record against this year’s US Open winner and world No. 3 dominated the first set 6:3, but was himself outplayed in the two remaining 6:3, 6:4. Berdych still has a chance to move forward in the prestigious tournament, if he can defeat France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who also lost his opening match against top player Novak Djokovic.

 

Cabinet to discuss revised budget on Monday

The Finance Ministry has put forward a new draft of the 2013 state budget, being discussed by the cabinet on Monday, accounting for a drop in revenues and cuts in spending next year by 41 billion crowns. The budget deficit is to remain at 100 billion crowns, the same as in the previous draft. The cuts proposed are to affect science and research, transport infrastructure, teachers’ salaries and programmes co-financed by EU funds. The government must submit the draft budget to the Chamber of Deputies by November 23. The revised version of the budget bill, the ministry revealed, is taking into account current economic forecasts as well as the failure by the government so far to push through a tax package raising both VAT rates by 1 percentage point. The government has tied a vote on the bill this Wednesday to a vote of confidence.

Academy of Sciences unhappy about planned budget cuts

 

In related news, The Czech Academy of Science has criticised the new 2013 budget proposal submitted by the Finance Ministry. According to the revised budget bill, research and science spending will be cut by 2.7 billion crowns in 2013 and by 2.5 billion in 2014 and 2015. The Academy of Sciences will also see its budget lowered by 6.5 percent. The Education Ministry, by comparison, will receive half-a-billion crowns less. This includes funds originally earmarked for teacher salary hikes.

Additionally, under the 2013 revised budget bill, the Interior Ministry is to save an additional 1.1 million crowns mostly in operation costs, spending on construction and national programmes controlled by the Transport Ministry is to decrease by1.5 billion crowns, and the State Transport Infrastructure Fund is to receive 5 billion less in subsidies. The financial and customs general directorates will get nearly half a billion less in 2013; the Culture Ministry will get about 300 million crowns less for reconstruction of cultural heritage sites and cuts in the Environment Ministry budget will amount to 200 million crowns.

Education ministry calls cuts “impossible”

 

The Education Ministry responded to the proposed budget for 2013 on Monday saying that cuts being put forward within were “impossible” and would have to impact teachers’ salaries. The ministry’s spokesman was reacting to cuts affecting not only next year but 2014 and 2015, amounting to a total of more than five billion crowns, ČTK reported. School unions and academics have already slammed the bill including any suggestion that salaries would be lowered. The school unions’ leader František Dobšík called the bill “a provocation”, stressing that the unions had expected policies of growth or stabilisation - not uncertainty. The unions have made clear they intend to organise protests.

The opposition is also criticising the draft budget for 2013: Social Democrat senator and education specialist Marcel Chládek expressed the view that a government making cuts in science and research, regional education and teachers’ pay deserved “no mercy”.

Czech foreign minister backs Serbia on path to EU

 

Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has expressed strong support for Serbian accession to the EU, saying Serbia could always count on Czech backing when it came to EU expansion. Mr Schwarzenberg made the statement on Monday after meeting in Prague with his Serbian counterpart Ivan Mrkic. The Balkans joining the EU is one of the priorities of Czech foreign policy. Kosovo, a former province in Serbia which declared independence four years ago remains a point of contention but Mr Mrkic said Serbia was open to discussion and said the matter would be discussed by the prime ministers. The European Commission has made clear that Serbia will be able to move ahead with accession talks if it takes clear steps towards improving relations.

Bobošíková, Okamura, Franz register as candidates

 

Former Euro MP Jana Bobošíková is one of three who filed their candidacy papers with the Interior Ministry on Monday to run in the country’s first-ever direct presidential election. Mrs Bobošíková collected around 55,000 signatures – some 5,000 more than needed. The other two to file on Monday were newly-elected Senator Tomio Okamura, a businessman and former tourist association spokesman, and composer and artist Vladimír Franz. The number of official candidates is now 10. The seven others who registered earlier are Social Democrat deputy chairman Jiří Dienstbier, former finance minister Vladimír Dlouhý, former interim prime minister Jan Fischer, MEP Zuzana Roithová, Senate deputy chairman Přemysl Sobotka, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and former prime minister Miloš Zeman. The Czechs will vote on January 11-12. The two most successful candidates will meet in a second round to be held two weeks later.

Czech TV to broadcast presidential debates

 

Public broadcaster Czech TV has revealed it will air debates involving all presidential candidates ahead of the country’s presidential election, and two debates between two final candidates if voting goes to a second round. A spokeswoman for the broadcaster said on Monday that candidates would also be profiled by reporters in other programmes. Station head Petr Dvořák said Czech TV wanted to provide proper coverage ahead of the vote, the first direct presidential election in the country’s history. As of Monday, 10 candidates had officially registered. The final deadline is 4 pm on Tuesday.

Retail sales 3.3 percent lower in September year-on-year

 

Retail sales in the country slid by 3.3 percent in September year-on-year, while in August they declined by 0.8 percent, the Czech Statistical Office has revealed. Consumers saved primarily on food, home items, medicine and cosmetics products the bureau reported. By contrast, spending was not curbed in the areas of clothing and footwear. Several surveys have suggested a drop in consumer spending related to fears over the economy and the government’s austerity measures including VAT hikes.

Police arrest man selling semtex

 

Police in Plzeň have revealed they arrested a man last week on the suspicion he was trying to sell 170 grams of plastic explosive known as semtex. A police spokeswoman made the statement on Monday with elaborating further. The suspect was arrested on November 1 and has been remanded in custody; if found guilty, he faces a sentence of up to five years in prison. The Czech news agency ČTK reported that while 170 grams was not a large amount, it was more than enough to do considerable damage, pointing out that in 1988 400 grams of the explosive was used in the Lockerbie bombing that brought down a Boeing 747: 270 people lost their lives in the tragedy.

Police evacuate 17 from apartment building

 

Fire fighters evacuated 17 people from an eight-story pre-fab apartment building in Plzeň-Doubrava on Monday after a fire broke out. Six people were taken to hospital for treatment; the additional ten were treated on site. The fire broke out on the first floor and spread quickly through the ventilation system, according to reports. The damage is expected to rise to several million crowns.

Police uncover marijuana-growing facilities

 

Police investigators uncovered marijuana-growing facilities in two private homes in Hradec Králové: two foreign nationals were arrested in one of the homes, who – if found guilty – could face up to 12 years in jail. The two suspects are of Vietnamese nationality, aged 25 and 26. The officers who made the arrests found a total of 384 plants on site; meanwhile, the owner of the homes uncovered that those renting and growing marijuana were illegally siphoning off electricity.

 

Prime Minister Petr Nečas has been re-elected chairman

Prime Minister Petr Nečas defended his post as the chairman of the Civic Democratic party, having received 351 at the party conference in Brno on Sunday. Mr Nečas’ contender MP Ivan Fuksa won 178 votes from the party delegates. Mr Fuksa announced that he will challenge the incumbent chairman late on Saturday night. Mr Nečas said that the government should continue with its fiscal policies in his speech before the vote.

The old-new chairman of the Civic Democratic party Petr Nečas confirmed that the government is prepared to make changes to the 2013 budget in case the tax reform package is not passed by the lower house of parliament next week, in an interview with Czech Television’s Vaclav Moravec on Sunday.

Kuba replaces Němcová as the first vice-chairman

 

Industry and Trade Minister Martin Kuba was elected as the new first vice-chairman of the Civic Democratic, replacing lower house speaker Miroslava Němcová. 363 delegates at the party conference voted for the new vice-chairman on Sunday. In a brief interview with the press after his victory, Mr Kuba said that he believes that the government may find a way to find a compromise with the rebel Civic Democratic MPs, but gave to further details.

Later on Sunday the conference delegates voted in four new vice-chair people: former Justice Minister Jiří Pospíšil, current Justice Minister Pavel Blažek, Environment Minister Tomáš Chalupa, and Ms Němcová, who received the least number of votes of the four.

Government to begin discussing new budget proposal

 

Members of the Czech cabinet will be discussing a new proposal for the 2013 budget on Monday. Despite the expected decline in tax revenue, the proposal will be based on a 100 billion crown deficit. Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek had said earlier that the main cuts will be in transportation, science and research, as well as co-financing of EU projects. Mr Kalousek is preparing an alternative budget proposal given the possibility that VAT rates will not be raised and also considering the estimated slower growth of the economy. The lower house returned the original budget proposal to the cabinet for reworking because of disagreements within the coalition over the tax reform package. The government has to present the new budget proposal by November 23.

Rebel Civic Democratic MPs who have been refusing to support the tax reform package will continue talks with the government over the reforms, said one of the rebels Ivan Fuksa, although they are unlikely to change their stance. The lower house will renew deliberations on the reform package on Tuesday

Šafářová wins her second match securing Czech victory

 

Lucie Šafářová secured the Czech women’s team’s second Fed Cup victory in a row, after she beat Jelena Janković 6-1, 6-1. The Czechs beat Serbia 3-1 on Sunday, with a single loosing match between Petra Kvitová and Ana Ivanović. Both Šafářová and Kvitová won their matches on the first dame of the final. The Czechs won the Fed Cup last year against Russian, receiving thetitle for the first time since the Czech Republic became an independent state. The Czechoslovak women’s team won the Fed Cup title three times in a row in 1983-1985. The Czech men’s team is also in the final of the Davis Cup this year, which they will play against Spain in Prague on November 16-18.

Czech Table tennis player in World Tour final

 

Czech Table tennis player Iveta Vacenovská beat the Belorussian Viktoria Pavlovich in the World Tour semi-final in Bremen, Germany. Vacenovská will be playing in the final of the World Tour for the first time in her career, facing ninth seed Shen Yanfei of Spain on Sunday.

Number of Saint Martin feast wines much bigger than last year

 

This year will see a record number of bottles of Saint Martin’s wines going on sale, up by almost 200 thousand bottles from last year. 380 samples from 122 vinyards received the designation of Saint Martin wine, the majority were from the Müller Thurgau grapes. The feast of Saint Martin, which is celebrated in the Czech Republic on November 11, has become an occasion for the country’s winemakers to present and sell their young wines. Saint Martin wines are the first new wines of the year that are supposed to be consumed within a few months after bottling. The first bottles of Saint Martin wines will be opened at celebratory events on November 11 at 11 am.

A valuable 19th century palace still on sale in Ústí

 

A neogothic palace in the northern city of Ústí nad Labem, which has been used as a chemical laboratory for the past 50 years, is up for sale. The palace’s current owner, the biggest Czech oil refinery Unipetrol, has announced the sale of Ústí nad Labem’s most valuable building from the 19th century. Unipetrol had to lower the selling price this week, after the building has been on the market for about a year.

 

Petr Nečas, rebels and Vondra speak at party conference

In his opening remarks at the Civic Democratic party conference on Saturday morning, Prime Minister and party chairman Petr Nečas said that he takes full responsibility for the party’s losses in the recent senate and regional elections. The prime minister added that the Civic Democrats should look for the faults within their own party, and said that the main problem the Civic Democratic party has to face is that its name has become associated with corruption and a government of money. The Civic Democrats need to get rid of this negative label.

During the following deliberations at the conference, former Defense Minister Alexandr Vondra announced that he will not re-election as the vice chairman of the Civic Democratic party. Another current vice chairman Pavel Drobil also said he will not be asking for a nomination.

During the following deliberations at the conference, one of the rebel MPs Ivan Fuksa said that he and the others who have gone against the tax reforms do not want to see the current government fall. He added that the only way they will vote for the reform would be if the bill would not raise the VAT at all.

Topolánek gives pessimistic speech at the conference

 

Former Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek also spoke at the Civic Democratic conference on Saturday, saying that the party needs to regain the credibility that it has lost. Mr Topolánek expressed his belief that the Civic Democratic party’s survival is under threat, and that a special emergency team should be named to carry the party over to the next conference after January’s presidential election. He also criticized President Václav Klaus for threatening his former party.

Karolina Peake retains her leadership role in LIDEM

 

The LIDEM party is also holding its conference in Brno this weekend. As expected, deputy prime minister and LIDEM’s main founder Karolina Peake was elected chairwoman of the party on Saturday. The 70 delegates present at this founding conference voted in Peake's preferences for vice chair-people. Dagmar Navrátilová was elected first deputy chair, and MP Viktor Paggio, Jiří Neumann and Jiří Rusnok were also elected as deputy chairmen.

The Liberal Democratic party was formed this spring after a number of MPs from the Public Affairs party, including Ms Peake, left the party over disagreements with its leadership. The Public Affairs party subsequently left the governing coalition, while Ms Peake formed LIDEM, which instead became a coalition partner.

Czechs end the first day of the Fed Cup final with 2-0

 

The first day of women’s tennis Fed Cup final in the Czech capital ended with triumph for the home team. The Czech team won both of the Saturday’s matches. Lucie Šafářová beat Serbia’s Ana Ivanović in two sets, 6-4, 6-3. And the eight seed Petra Kvitová was victorious over former top world player Jelena Janković. Although Kvitová was first losing 2-4 to her Sebian rival, she did not lose a single game after that finishing the set 6-4, and the next one 6-1. There were doubts about how well Kvitová could perform in this weekends final, because of an illness she’s been fighting for the past week. But the youngest player in the Czech team did not seem to be struggling with her cold during the game. The final will continue tomorrow with two more singles matches and a double match.

Healthcare unions prepare for repeat protests

 

Doctors’ union representatives from the Czech Republic may join forces with their colleagues in neighboring countries – Slovakia, Poland and Hungary – to stage another set of protests, similar to last year’s ‘Thank you, we’re leaving’ campaign. Mlada fronta Dnes daily reported on Saturday that doctors want to protest against similar problems as last year, but in addition to persistently low salaries, they are also criticizing plans to further privatize, and the insurance companies’ unfair practices. The unions are planning to stage a warning to the government and the Health Ministry and have doctors stop working for a few minutes on November 20th. If their demands are not met after that, union representatives are threatening massive resignations from doctors around the country, but said that this will not happen until after Christmas, so as not to complicate matters for patients during the holiday season.

ING chief explains decision to stay out of pension

 

In an interview in Saturday’s Lidové noviny newspaper, Head of ING’s Czech Pension Fund unit Jiří Rusnok said that he considers investing in the proposed second pillar of the pension reform to be risk both ofr pension funds and customers. Mr Rusnok, who was one of the main advocates of the reform, expressed his dissapointment at the lack of political consensus. ING announced on Thursday that the fund is not planning on introducing financial products that would comply with the embattled pension reform. One of the main reasons, that the former Finance Minister Rusnok cited in the Saturday interview, is that given the opposition’s pledge to repeal the reform once the Social Democrats win the next parliamentary election, the new type of funds will cease to exist in two to three years time.

Changes to high school leaving exam to come into effect this school year

 

On Friday, President Václav Klaus signed a bill that simplifies the single national high-school leaving exams into law. For high school students who have to register for the exam by 15 November this will mean that there will be only one level of difficulty, instead of two, and that they will have to pass only two required subject tests, instead of three. The controversial national exams were tested out last year, and lead to numerous complaints from students and teachers. Education Minister Petr Fiala said that the current bill only introduces temporary changes that will be in place until more comprehensive reworking of the exams can be carried out.

 

The Civic Democratic party conference will take place this weekend in Brno.

The Civic Democratic party, which leads the current ruling coalition, will gather this weekend in the Moravian regional capital Brno for the closely watched party conference. Party members will vote for its leadership and will determine whether Prime Minister Petr Necas will keep his position as the chairman. The other important topic on the agenda is the position of the Civic Democrats in the lower house of parliament, where they have lost the ability to effectively pass proposed legislation due to growing opposition and rebelling MPs from their own party. Petr Tluchoř, one of the rebel MPs, has made it clear that even if Mr Nečas is reelected, he and his five colleagues will not change their negative stance on the current proposal of the tax reforms, which the lower house will vote on next week.

Prague and Ústí back Nečas before party conference

 

As the head of the Civic Democratic Party Petr Nečas prepares for this weekend’s party conference, news is coming in from different regional chapters about whether they will re-elect the Prime Minister as the party chairman. The Civic Democrats in Ústí nad Labem voted late on Thursday to support Mr Nečas’s nomination. Early on Friday, the Prague chapter of the party also gave the Prime Minister its support, as was expected. In the surrounding Central Bohemian region, though, Mr Nečas was not as successful, missing out on the regional backing by one vote. Although, ten out of fourteen regional chapters now back the nomination, this does not necessarily assure the current chairman’s success this weekend. In an interview published in Friday’s Hospodářské noviny daily, Mr Nečas said that there is no strong enough leader in the party who could unseat him.

Nečas supports ČEZ’s decision to rule out Areva’s Temelín bid

 

In the same interview for Hospodářské noviny, the Prime Minister commented on the scandal over the French company Areva getting excluded from a ČEZ tender, saying that the Czech energy provider was left without a choice given that Areva underestimated the price of their bid and refused to follow some rules pertaining to public tenders. Mr Nečas said that Areva, for example, refused to committed to the final price of their bid, which is against regulations. Yet, he also added that just as the ČEZ managers he was disappointed that Areva is no longer in the running, because they would have preferred a three-bid competition. The two parties still competing for the tender to expand the Temelín power plant are an American-Japanese company Westinghouse and a Czecho-Russian consortium MIR.1200.

Social Democrats discourage financial institutions from supporting the pension reform

 

Bohuslav Sobotka, the chairman of the opposition Social Democrats, has called on financial institution on Friday not to offer products that would comply with the second pillar of the pension reform system, which has not been approved yet by the lower house of parliament. Mr Sobotka advised banks and pension fund providers to put off offering partly private pension funds, that the government wants to introduce with the reform, until the next parliamentary elections. If the Social Democrats win a strong enough majority in the next elections, they are prepared to revoke the so-called second pillar of the planned pension reform. Even before Mr Sobotka’s announcement, the Czech branch of ING Commercial Banking as well as AXA had announced that they will not offer the new type of pension savings scheme. The remaining seven retirement plan providers are mostly likely counting on introducing the new type of financial product, if the lower house passes the bill.

John role downplayed

 

František Nachtigall, the editor-in-chief of the Czech weekly newsmagazine Týden and a member of the board of Empresa Media publishing company has said that MP Radek John will have no influence over the magazine or a sister publication, Instinkt. Earlier, Mr John - a former investigative journalist who headed an influential current affairs programme on TV Nova in the 1990s, caused a furor on the Czech political scene when announced he would be taking over as head of current affairs at Empresa while retaining his post as an MP. The announcement drew sharp response across the political spectrum. The news website Mediář.cz has since reported that Mr John will only be employed as a consultant on a new current affairs show on TV Barrandov similar to the programme he worked on years earlier. TV Barrandov is owned in part by Empresa Media, which holds a majority stake.

A joint Czech-Saxon police unit to be formed

 

The police in the Czech Republic and in Germany’s free state of Saxony will join forces next year to battle cross-border criminal activity. Czech Interior Minister Jan Kubice and his Saxon counterpart Markus Ulbig have agreed to begin preparing plans for a joint police unit that would begin operations in March of next year. The main goal for the unit would be to fight against drug sales and trafficking across the Czech-German border, especially in the case of Methamphedamine, as well as car theft. A similar unit called Nisa already exists on the Saxon-Polish border.

Number of new HIV patients this year may reach 200

 

In the first nine months of this year, 165 more patients with the HIV virus were registered in the Czech Republic. During the whole of 2011, there were only 153 new HIV patients in the country. Miroslav Hlavatý, from the Czech AIDS Help Society, warned that this most likely means that this year the Czech Republic will cross the 200 mark in terms of new HIV-positive patients, which has never happened since these statistics began to be gathered in 1985. Ten years ago, the number of people who tested positive for HIV was 50, during the whole year. So far the highest number of new cases was registered in 2010, when it reached 180. Since 1985, 186 people died of AIDS in the Czech Republic.

Prague’s Na zábradlí theatre to unveil a memorial plaque to Václav Havel

 

The Prague Na zábradlí theatre will unveil a memorial plaque to the late former Czech Presiden Václav Havel, who was also a frequent collaborator. In the 1960’s Mr Havel worked in the theatre, as a member of the stage crew, actor, head of the drama department and playwright. The bronze plaque, which should be unveiled on December 18, was created based on the design by the “bad boy” of the Czech art scene David Černý. Mr Černý told the press that it is a classic memorial plaque and that it will be funny, but respectable. The theatre has been trying to gather the necessary funds to produce the plaque.

Tennis: draw for Fed Cup final determined

 

Czech tennis player Lucie Šafařová will be the first from the national squad to take to the court at the weekend in the Fed Cup final against Serbia, being played in the Czech capital. She faces Ana Ivanovič in their singles match at the O2 arena on Saturday. The second match of the day will pit Petra Kvitová against Jelena Jankovič, the draw on Friday determined. The Czechs are the Fed Cup defending champions but could face difficulties; the 22-year-old Kvitová, a Wimbledon champion and the Czech team’s strongest asset, has been fighting an infection which could impact her game.

Comics horror books exhibit starts in Prague

 

An exhibit of the work of the Swiss comic book artist Thomas Ott will have an official opening at Prague’s Veletržní Palác on Friday. Ott’s books such as Tales of Error, R.I.P or Exit all belong to the horror genre. The exhibit is part of the KomiksFEST! taking place around Prague.

 

MP Radek John under fire for taking up journalism

The leader of the opposition party Public Affairs Radek John has come under fire from all sides over his decision to return to journalism while keeping his seat in the lower house. Mr. John announced on Wednesday that as of November 1st he will head the current affairs department of the Empresa Media publishing company that among others issues the Tyden weekly. Mr. John said he would vacate the post of party chairman but would not give up his seat in the lower house. Prime Minister Petr Nečas said Mr. John should make up his mind whether he wanted to be a politician or journalist because engaging in both went against the principle of independent journalism. Opposition leader Bohuslav Sobotka has also slammed the decision saying it was clearly a conflict of interests. The head of the TOP 09 party’s deputies club Petr Gazdík has called on Mr. John to resign from Parliament’s security committee and give up his seat in the lower house.

Public Affairs MP expelled from party for breaking ranks

 

The leadership of the opposition party Public Affairs has expelled one of its parliament deputies, Milan Štoviček, for consistently breaking party ranks and voting with the government. According to party deputy chairman Tomas Jarolim Mr. Štoviček had received several warnings and the decision to expel him was unanimous. Public Affairs was originally a coalition party member, but eventually split up with the core of the party going into the opposition and a grouping around deputy prime minister Karolina Peake remaining in government.

Central bank cuts interest rate to 0.05 percent

 

The Czech central bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate to 0.05 percent – a new record low since the country was formed in 1993 after the breakup of Czechoslovakia. The central bank had last cut the rate in September to 0.25 percent, the previous record low. Thursday's move was expected by analysts and is aimed at boosting the economy.

State budget deficit at 51.31 billion crowns in October

 

The Czech state budget showed a 51.31 billion crown deficit at the end of October, down from a 71.4 billion crown deficit in September, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday. A year on year comparison shows that the budget was 40 billion crowns higher in October of last year. The Finance Ministry says growth in revenues from VAT has been slower than anticipated. The Czech government has approved extensive spending cuts and is trying to push through a package of tax hikes for 2013 in view of lowering the gap in public spending to below 3% of gross domestic product by the end of next year.

Šumava National Park management warned to observe international norms

 

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)has called on the Czech government to ensure better protection of the Šumava National Park and make sure that the park’s management fully adheres to international environment protection norms, Friends of the Earth activists told the CTK news agency on Thursday The IUCN has reportedly warned that the Šumava National Park is under close scrutiny and if this is not done Šumava could lose its internationally acknowledged status of a national park. In a letter to the park’s management the IUCN has allegedly criticised the size of the no-human-intervention zone within the total area of the park. The park’s management has said it is not possible to increase the no-intervention zone in view of 22 inhabited localities nearby.

President says he has no advice for Civic Democratic Party

 

President Klaus has said he will not attend the weekend conference of the Civic Democratic Party nor presume to advise the party on how best to resolve the ongoing crisis. Mr. Klaus who founded the party but later left it over ideological differences with the new leadership said it was no longer his party or his conference. In connection with the rebellion in the party there had been speculation that some Civic Democrat members want Mr. Klaus back as party leader.

Methanol liquor claims 31st victim

 

A 53-year-old man died of methanol poisoning in the north-east of the country on Wednesday night, a police spokeswoman said. The man became the 31st victim of the outbreak of methanol poisonings in the country. Another two people have been hospitalized with methanol intoxication, one of them is in critical condition. Although the government has taken measures to protect consumers from the dangerous bootleg liquor, experts say isolated cases of methanol poisonings could continue for several more months.

Miloš Zeman officially registers in presidential elections

 

The former Czech prime minister Miloš Zeman on Thursday officially registered as a candidate in the 2013 presidential elections after collecting more than 105,000 signatures in support of his bid. Miloš Zeman, who was prime minister for the Social Democrats in 1998-2002, ran for office in 2003 but lost to his main rival the incumbent president Vaclav Klaus. The first direct presidential elections are scheduled for January 11-12, 2013.

Catholic charity organization helping orphans in Ukraine

 

A Catholic charity organization (ACHO) in Olomouc has invited Czechs to buy Christmas gifts for orphans in Ukraine. The charity has been involved in this project since 2008. It gets a list of children from several orphanages with details regarding their age, dress size and interests. People who want to give Christmas presents to a child who may never have received one in their lives, are requested to bring a Christmas package to the tune of 1,000 crowns to the charity organization by December 13th.

Boy commits suicide with father’s hunting rifle

 

A fourteen-year-old-boy is reported to have committed suicide with his father’s hunting rifle. The boy was reportedly stressed out over poor school grades. The boy’s school master has rejected speculation that bullying may have been behind the suicide. At the family’s request the police are not disclosing any details.