Copyright (c) 2010 Radio Prague (Cesky Rozhlas 7 - Radio Praha)
News Thursday, August 26th, 2010
By: Jan Richter
* The Czech Confederation of Industry has asked the prime minister to
reconsider planned changes to the Czech Labour Code.
* The volume of foreign investments in the Czech Republic dropped by
around one third in the first half of 2010, compared to the same period
last year.
* The Czech Senate's 27 seats, which are up for grabs in October
elections, will be contested by 228 candidates.
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Industry association asks PM to reconsider planned changes to Labour
Code
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The Czech Confederation of Industry asked Prime Minister Petr Necas on
Thursday to reconsider planned changes to the Czech labour code.
Speaking after a tripartite meeting between the government, trade
unions and employers, the confederation's head, Jaroslav Mil, said that
instead of two amendments to the code the government has prepared, it
would be better to introduce one major makeover to make the Czech
labour market more flexible. For his part, the head of the Czech trade
unions' association, Jaroslav Zavadil, said no changes were necessary;
should the government pursue the planned changes, Czech employees would
be worst off in the whole of the EU. Prime Minister Petr Necas said the
government would hold further negotiation about the planned changes
with all concerned parties.
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Labour Ministry mulls lifting all restrictions on time-limited
employment contracts
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In related news, the Czech Labour and Social Affairs Ministry is
considering removing all restrictions on time-limited employment
contracts. Under current Czech labour law, employers can only offer
temporary employment contracts for a maximum period of two years. After
that, they have to offer their employees permanent contracts. Labour
and Social Affairs Minister Jaromir Drabek is now planning to remove
the restrictions altogether although the centre-right government's
policy originally only included the extension of this limit to five
years.
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Volume of foreign investments drops by one third in first half of 2010
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The volume of foreign investments in the Czech Republic dropped by
around one third in the first half of 2010, compared to the same period
last year, according to data released by the state CzechInvest agency
on Thursday. In the first six months of this year, foreign companies
invested around 7 billion crowns, or nearly 360 million US dollars,
compared to 10 billion in the same period a year earlier. A CzechInvest
spokeswoman said foreign firms are most frequently investing in IT and
software development. Some 4,500 jobs are expected to stem from these
investments.
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Senate's 27 seats to be contested by 228 candidates in October election
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The Czech Senate's 27 seats, which are up for grabs in October
elections, will be contested by 228 candidates, the news agency CTK
reported on Thursday. That was also the last day for candidates and
political parties to make changes to the ballots. On average, each seat
will be contested by eight candidates; however, 12 candidates will run
in the electoral district of Karlovy Vary, western Bohemia, and 11 in a
district in Prague. Czech senators are elected for six years' terms;
every two years, one third of the 81 seats in the upper chamber of
Parliament are contested.
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Press: Skoda Auto faces production stoppage over supplier's problems
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The Czech-based, German-owned Skoda Auto car maker faces a production
stoppage due to problems of one its suppliers, Delphi Packard, the
daily Mlada fronta Dnes reported on Thursday. The company, which
supplies wiring for Skoda cars, has announced the closure of its plant
in the Czech Republic by the end of May 2011. Its employees have failed
to reach an agreement with the plant's management on severance
packages, and are planning to go on an unlimited strike. Skoda Auto had
to limit production two weeks ago because another of its suppliers was
hit by the floods that swept northern Bohemia earlier this month. Full
production at Skoda only resumed last week.
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Former environment minister admits to abusing MP's expenses
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Former Christian Democrat environment minister Libor Ambrozek admitted
on Thursday he had been abusing expenses he received as a Member of
Parliament, and used them to build his new family home, according to
press reports. Mr Ambrozek, who served as the environment minister
between 2002 and 2006 and as a member of the lower house of Parliament
between 1996 and 2010, spent 10 million crowns, or around 510,000 US
dollars, on his new family house; the daily Hospodarske noviny
calculated he must have saved 3.2 million crowns from his salary since
2005 which was impossible without him using MP's expenses to pay for
his new home.
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Report: Labour Ministry mulls lifting all restrictions on time-limited
employment contracts
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The Czech Labour and Social Affairs Ministry is considering removing
all restrictions on time-limited employment contracts, the news website
aktualne.cz reported on Thursday. Under current Czech labour law,
employers can only offer temporary employment contracts for a maximum
period of two years. After that, they have to offer their employees
permanent contracts. Labour and Social Affairs Minister Jaromir Drabek
is now planning to remove the restrictions altogether although the
centre-right government's policy originally only included the extension
of this limit to five years.
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President Klaus opens international agricultural fair in Ceske
Budejovice
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Czech President Vaclav Klaus opened the 38th International Agricultural
Fair, Zeme Zivitelka, or Bread Basket, in Ceske Budejovice on Thursday.
More than 740 domestic and foreign firms are participating in the fair
which this year focused on regionally produced foods. At the opening
ceremony, President Klaus said that in the current period of economic
crisis and restrained government spending, farmers needed to work more
effectively as they could not look to the state for assistance. The
Czech agriculture minister, Ivan Fuksa, who also attended the fair on
Thursday, told reporters he was not considering the privatization of
the Budvar brewery. Mr Fuksa said the time was not right for the sale
of the state-owned firm but did not rule out the sale of some five to
seven percent of the company in the future.
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Hundreds attend funeral of writer Ludvik Kundera
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Hundreds of people attended the funeral of writer Ludvik Kundera in
Brno on Thursday. The poet, playwright and translator died on August 17
at the age of 90. He could not publish after the 1968 Soviet-led
invasion of Czechoslovakia and moved to the village of Kunstat, north
of Brno. The community's mayor said a local school has been named in
his honour. Ludvik Kundera was a cousin of the French-based author,
Milan.
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Court confirms sentence for man who set off hand grenade in restaurant
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A court in Prague confirmed on Thursday a 15-year sentence for a man
who set off a hand grenade in a Prague restaurant injuring four people.
The incident took place in a restaurant in the Prague neighbourhood of
Karlin in July 2009; 20 people were present in the establishment at the
time. The man later said he wanted to commit suicide. The judge said it
was sheer luck that no one was killed.
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Sparta Prague fail Champions League qualification battle
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Czech league champions Sparta Prague have failed to qualify for the
lucrative Champions League. On Wednesday night, Sparta failed to
overcome a two goal deficit from the first leg and went down 0:1
against Slovak club Zilina. The Slovak club thus qualifies for the
first time for Europe's premiere club competition. On a miserable night
Sparta missed a penalty and never really looked making a fight of the
fixture. Pressure will mount on under siege Sparta manager Jozef
Chovanec to resign.
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Czech national football team to play Denmark in November's friendly
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The national football team will face Denmark in a friendly game in
Aarhus on November 17, just five days after a Euro qualifying game
against Liechtenstein, a spokesman for the team said on Thursday. The
two sides will have played each other for the eighth time in 12 years.
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Weather
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The coming days will be overcast with rain showers and occasional
storms. Highest day temperatures should range between 20 and 29 degrees
Celsius.
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Articles posted on www.radio.cz today
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Panorama
Febio demise marks the end of an era in Czech documentary filmmaking
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Perhaps the most successful Czech documentary film studio, Febio, has
produced over 1300 programmes since it was established in Prague in the
early 1990s. At the height of its activity, its authors made over 100
film documentaries a year that were mostly screened by the country's
public broadcaster, Czech Television. But this week, Febio's founder
and director Fero Fenic announced the studio's closure.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131115
Current Affairs
"Heroes" the theme of 7th annual Fresh Film Fest
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The annual Fresh Film Festival has gotten underway in Prague,
showcasing short and longer-length projects by student film directors
and budding filmmakers from around the world. Over the next several
days, audiences will be able to choose from 40 films in official
competition in four categories: Fresh Generation, the Main Competition,
Theatre Optique (looking at animated and avant garde film) and Fresh
Czech (focusing on Czech productions).
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131111
Current Affairs
Foreign ministry considering sale of Stirin Chateau
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With saving the order of the day, individual ministries are busy
reviewing expendables in every sphere of activity. In addition to
freezing projects and cutting jobs, some of them are considering
selling off property that they can spare. In the wake of getting
government approval for closing down five Czech embassies, the foreign
ministry said it was considering selling the stately Stirin chateau
which it occasionally uses for international gatherings.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131097
Current Affairs
Czech government clamps down on solar power boom
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In the Czech Republic the sun is no longer shining so brightly for
solar power companies. The Czech government has just adopted new rules
which threaten to sharply cut off support for the booming solar power
sector.
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/131096
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