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A parliamentary commission has begun investigating the controversial sell-off and subsequent collapse of coal company OKD. However, the investigation has got off to a poor start, with no-shows from several of the witnesses that MPs have called for questioning.

Czech petrochemical giant Unipetrol announced its financial results for the second quarter of 2018 on Friday. The company recorded a net profit of 2.9 billion crowns, down 687 million crowns in annual terms. The group’s total revenues reached 31.1 billion crowns, a year-on-year decrease of 44 million crowns.

The number of passengers handled by Václav Havel Airport Prague keeps increasing. In the first half of 2018, the airport cleared a total of 7,463,975 passengers, a ten percent increase in annual terms.

The Czech economy is thriving, marked by robust employment, expanding exports and falling government debt, suggest the 2018 0ECD Economic Survey and the Environment Performance Review of the Czech Republic. The survey was presented by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría on Monday.

An increasing number of Czech children are getting their pocket money on a bank card. In addition to being practical and boosting financial literacy, this gives parents a good idea of where their children are spending their money.

Uber has signed a deal with the Czech tax authorities committing its drivers to registering their earnings using electronic cash registers from later this year. However, the country’s taxi drivers want a firmer approach to Uber and similar operators – and are threatening more protest action.

The Czech Federation of Food Banks has recorded a sharp increase in the amount of food donated to charities. According to Czech Radio, the amount of food collected in the first quarter of 2018 was five times higher than in the same period last year.

Czech hotels and other accommodation facilities saw a record number of tourists in May, the daily Hospodářské noviny reported on Tuesday.

This summer, aphids – those small, sap-sucking insects which infest potatoes and other key agricultural crops – have been appeared on Czech farms in alarming numbers. While drought is a factor, efforts to save the honeybee are also behind the infestations.

The Czech Republic boasts a relatively high number of swimming pools per capita. However, most are loss-making and many municipalities are looking to replace aging pools with more attractive water parks, the business daily E15 reported.