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Another five companies and one institution have joined the campaign of the Czech Ministry of Environment called #dostbyloplastu or “Enough of Plastics,” which aims to prevent and reduce the use of single-use plastic products. The news was announced by environment Minister Richard Brabec at a press conference on Monday.

This year’s potato harvest is expected to be one of the poorest in decades, the daily e15. reported on Tuesday. Due to the prolonged period of drought, the total potato harvest this season will be around 20 percent lower than in the previous year.

The PPF Group controlled by Czech billionaire Petr Kellner is looking to sell its commercial lender Air Bank and consumer loans arm Home Credit to the Prague-listed lender Moneta Money Bank. The deal would create the third-largest bank by network in the Czech Republic, and the fifth largest by assets.

Vegetable imports to the Czech Republic continue to grow, the Czech News Agency reported this week. According to data from the Czech Statistics Office, the foreign vegetable trade currently shows a deficit of 11 billion crowns.

The Australian-based mining company European Metals Holdings is continuing with preparations for lithium mining in the Czech Republic, despite the fact that the Czech government does not consider the memorandum on the extraction and processing of lithium, signed with EMH last year, legally binding and wants a Czech state-run company to mine and process the deposits. The company Geomet, which is part of EMH, has begun preparations for a series of drills near Cínovec in order to ascertain the economic viability of the project.

The availability of housing in the Czech Republic is the worst in Europe, with a new flat amounting to 11.3 multiple of an average annual income, suggests a study carried out by the international consultancy Deloitte in 14 European countries. Last year, Czechs needed 10.9 of an average annual income to buy a new 70 m2 flat.

Just before the start of the 2018 Paris Motor Show, Czech automobile manufacturer Škoda revealed its new SUV model - Škoda Kodiaq RS. Speaking at the preview event in France, Škoda CEO, Bernhard Maier, further stated that the car maker has already produced over a million cars in 2018, setting a new production record.

Statistics show that close to one in ten adults face financial execution. Against this backdrop, MPs are set to debate amendments to the Insolvency Act which aim to make it easier for people to qualify for debt relief – and thus avoid declaring personal bankruptcy. But are so many Czechs really in debt up to their ears?

As the United Arab Emirates continue to lower their country’s economic dependency on oil, new opportunities are on the rise. Czech companies, for whom the UAE are the biggest trading partner in the Persian Gulf, see the upcoming EXPO 2020, a Universal Exposition to be held in Dubai in two years’ time, as a great opportunity to extend trade relations. This week saw a special trade mission, made up of Czech companies, travel to the UAE and explore prospective business deals.

Czech customers spent some 19.5 billion crowns on purchases from foreign e-shops and on online booking of air-tickets and accommodation in the first six months of 2018.