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Czech rail operators are struggling to find new train drivers. Many are nearing retirement age and not enough young people are entering the profession, the news site Lidovky.cz reported. Employers seeking to fill the shortage are training their own engine drivers, at a cost of up to CZK 1 million each.

The number of passengers going through Prague’s Václav Havel Airport exceeded 16 million this year, setting a new record in the airport’s history. According to a press release issued on Wednesday, it is expected to clear 16.8 million passengers by the end of the year.

The Czech Film Fund will spend CZK 64 million on supporting eight upcoming feature films. The largest amount, some CZK 14.5 million, will help fund an upcoming biographical film about Václav Havel. According to the fund’s director Helena Bezděk Fraňková, the films cover a wide range of genres including historical pictures, those covering present day issues and a film for children.

Czech food export levels reached nearly CZK 18 billion last year, more than double the amount sold abroad in 2010. The steady growth is largely thanks to the international nature of supermarket chains such as Lidl and Penny, which sell the products in their stores across Europe.

In October, Czech industry experienced the second best result in 2018 in terms of year-on-year growth, as the Czech Statistical Office reported growth of 6.7 percent. Largest contributions came from the car industry, metal manufacturing and the electronics sector.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš launched a bilateral Czech-Moroccan Business Forum in the city of Casablanca on Wednesday. In his speech, Mr. Babiš said that Morocco could become the Czech Republic’s largest trading partner on the African continent and that the two countries are currently discussing cooperation in the automobile, aircraft and armaments industries.

Tuesday saw representatives of the National Wine Centre and a special evaluation committee announce the best Czech wine of 2019. The winner is the Rulandské bílé, a special Czech form of Pinot Blanc from Castle winery Bzenec, specifically the late harvest collection 1508 from 2017. The winning vintage was selected out of a pool of 400 finalists.

The Czech Statistical Office reports that the average monthly salary in the Czech Republic is now at CZK 31 516, an 8.5 percent year-on-year increase. Indeed, growth in salaries will experience a 15-year high in 2018 overall. However, experts say that wage growth in the private sector should decrease next year.

Andrej Babiš and his ministers are promising to introduce a so-called “national investment plan”, which will summarize countrywide infrastructure improvement needs as well as the schedule when they will be carried out. While detailed numbers are yet to be released, the prime minister has said that the 17 000 projects envisaged in the plan are to cost CZK 3.45 trillion.

Czechs donated eight billion crowns to charity in 2018, according to a report released by the Czech Donors Forum this week. It also suggests that an increasing number of people prefer to donate money on-line.