Copyright (c) 2008 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
By: Rosie Johnston
* The Czech Finance Ministry is to raise guarantees for bank deposits
to 50,000 euros.
* The Prague Stock Exchange recorded its biggest loss since 2004 on
Wednesday.
* Speaking during a visit to Ankara on Wednesday, Czech Prime Minister
Mirek Topolanek said that Prague fully supports Turkey's EU membership
bid.
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Czech Finance Ministry plans deposit guarantee hike
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The Czech Finance Ministry has announced a plan to raise guarantees for
bank deposits to 50,000 euros, in line with a decision by EU finance
ministers. European Union finance ministers agreed at a meeting on
Tuesday to raise minimum bank deposit guarantees in Europe to 50,000
euros from 20,000 euros currently. Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek
said the measures he would propose to the cabinet on Wednesday would be
permanent, unlike the EU deal which is valid for a year. The move is
expected to cover the vast majority of small savers but according to
Wednesday's edition of Lidove noviny many Czechs with higher bank
deposits are considering transferring their accounts abroad,
particularly to banks in neighbouring Austria which guarantees the full
amount of deposits. The finance minister rejected calls from the
opposition for blanket guarantees on all private deposits, saying the
circumstances did not merit such action.
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Prague Stock Exchange posts worst losses since 2004
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The Prague Stock Exchange recorded its biggest loss since 2004 on
Wednesday. Its headline PX Index ended the day 3.87 percent down at
1,042.6 points. At one point, the PX Index dropped below 1,000 points
and trading in the shares of property giant Orco and car-dealer AAA
Auto had to be suspended, with shares in the construction firm falling
by over 35 percent. Markets were revived in the afternoon, however, by
news of a surprise interest-rate cut across the eurozone and beyond.
Following the announcement, the Prague bourse's loss decreased from
five percent to two percent.
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PM says Czech Republic 'unreservedly' supports Turkey's EU membership
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Speaking during a visit to Ankara on Wednesday, Czech Prime Minister
Mirek Topolanek said that Prague fully supports Turkey's EU membership
bid. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded warmly to Mr
Topolanek's comments, and said that he hoped Prague's view would remain
the same throughout the Czech Republic's EU presidency next year. After
a meeting with the Turkish PM, Mirek Topolanek told reporters that the
Czech Republic was 'unreservedly' for Turkey's accession to the EU, and
not 'any alternative membership, half-membership or privileged
partnership'. Turkey entered into membership talks with the EU in 2005,
but several EU member states remain strongly opposed to Ankara's
membership.
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Students expelled from Czech universities under Communism to be
compensated
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The government has agreed to compensate students thrown out of Czech
universities for political reasons following the Communist coup in
1948. Ministers are still to work out the sum that those affected will
receive, though Education Minister Ondrej Liska has said the award will
be 'symbolic'. It is not yet clear either who will be eligible for
compensation. Minister Cyril Svoboda has proposed that compensation be
handed to those expelled between 1948 and 1956, while other MPs want
all those affected until the fall of communism in 1989 to receive
financial remuneration. Education Minister Ondrej Liska said that he
would draft a directive by the end of the year.
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PM Topolanek to visit USA in October
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The Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek is to visit the United States
at the end of this month, it was announced on Wednesday. According to
the newspaper Hospodarske noviny's website, Mr Topolanek is to meet
outgoing president George W. Bush during his visit to Washington. This
will be the prime minister's second official visit to the United States
this year. America's decision to abolish visas for Czechs, and US plans
to build a radar base on Czech soil, are set to be top of the agenda.
It is thought that Mr Topolanek will fly to the States on the evening
of October 28, after celebrating the Czech Republic's most important
national holiday - the anniversary of the birth of independent
Czechoslovakia in 1918.
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Czech inflation up in September...
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Czech annual consumer price growth rose to 6.6 percent in September, up
from August's 6.5 percent. The rise was mainly down to fast-growing
power, gas and heating prices, the Czech Statistical Office said on
Wednesday. Prices dropped by 0.2 percent last month compared to August;
the drop was mainly caused by cheaper recreation and a fall in the
price of fuel, which hit a five-month low.
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... while unemployment remained stable
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Unemployment remained unchanged at 5.3 percent in September, the
Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs announced on Wednesday. Analysts
had predicted that this figure would fall to 5.2 percent. Employment
offices registered over 297,000 job seekers ready to take up a job
immediately as well as nearly 140,000 unfilled job vacancies, the
ministry said.
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Czech firms generate record profits from arms exports in 2007
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In more business news, Czech arms firms generated a record 174 million
euros (4.3 billion crowns) from exports alone last year. The amount of
weapons exported stood at a fourteen-year high in 2007. Czech arms
imports also shot up last year from 93 million euros in 2006 to 193
million euros (4.8 billion crowns) in 2007. The figures were unveiled
on Wednesday on the Trade and Industry Ministry's website.
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Adria Hotel gets Flower certificate for environmentally-friendly
services
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Adria Hotel in the centre of Prague has become the first luxury hotel
in the country to be awarded a Flower certificate for
environmentally-friendly services, the daily Hospodarske noviny
reported on Wednesday. The certificate is awarded for measures such as
insulated windows, energy-saving light-bulbs, environmentally-friendly
heating systems and waste sorting baskets. The Flower certificate has
been awarded to ten accommodation facilities in the country, usually
small select hotels favoured by tourists from Scandinavia, the
Netherlands, and Austria.
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Small earthquake strikes Cheb
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The Western Bohemian town of Cheb was struck on Wednesday morning by a
small earthquake measuring 2.5 on the Richter scale. The quake was the
strongest recorded in the area since 2000, with geologists predicting
that further tremors may be felt over the next couple of days. The
earthquake caused no serious damage, though woke a few of the town's
inhabitants up. The biggest earthquake to have been felt in Cheb in
recent years was in 1986 and measured 4.7 degrees on the Richter scale.
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Weather
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Temperatures should remain high over the next couple of days, ranging
from 15-20 degrees Celsius. It is set to be mostly cloudy, with the
occasional sunny spell.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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Current Affairs
Major Czech record label Supraphon changes hands
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The oldest Czech record label Supraphon has a new owner. The music
publishing company, part of the Bonton entertainment group, was sold
last week to Czech industry tycoon Milos Petana. The new owner also
acquired the publisher's extensive archives containing more than
100,000 recordings made throughout the 20th century.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/109086
Current Affairs
Prague Castle marking anniversary of state's foundation with historical
exhibitions and other events
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A number of hugely important historical moments have been remembered in
the Czech Republic this year: the communist takeover of 1948, the
Soviet-led invasion of 1968, and the signing of the Munich agreement in
1938. But there is also one anniversary that Czechs can mark with
pleasure - the foundation of Czechoslovakia 90 years ago, on October
28th 1918. Among the institutions marking that day is Prague Castle,
which has organised several events.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/109087
Current Affairs
EU ministers agree on steps to reassure savings account owners
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EU ministers meeting in emergency talks in Luxembourg on Tuesday agreed
on steps to stabilise the situation for European banks, hit or under
threat by the global financial crisis. At the heart of the agreement: a
pledge by individual countries to raise the guarantee for customers'
savings accounts to a minimum of 50,000 euros, around double the amount
currently provided in most countries including the Czech Republic. The
move is aimed at calming savings account holders and, by turn, renewing
confidence in banks hit hard in the on-going crisis.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/109085
Czechs Today
Antonin Holy: one of the country's most renowned scientists
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Antonin Holy is one of the Czech Republic's most renowned scientists.
Most recently, his name was put forward by the Czech Academy of
Sciences to be nominated for the Nobel Prize in medicine for his work
finding compounds to fight both the AIDS virus and cancer. Learn more
in Czechs Today.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/109069
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