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A decision is looming on the selection of an operator for a controversial truck toll system which has already come under heavy fire for excessive costs and disappointing returns to the state coffers. The decision will be under the spotlight as the next transport minister tries to grapple with an apparently dysfunctional roads and highways directorate.

The Czech national bank says Europe’s fragile growth and sharply falling prices for commodities means that inflationary pressure has ebbed even further. But the economy is still seen performing strongly based on greater local demand, rising wages and lower unemployment.

Electric cars have been slow to take off in the Czech Republic. But they now appear to be on a much faster track with energy companies and now top car manufacturer Škoda Auto taking specific steps to put hybrids and full blown electric cars on the roads.

Pity the power companies: low electricity prices, renewables undermining past investments, and many with heavy debts. Czech power group ČEZ is suffering from the first two symptoms but is not burdened by the third and can still look to boosting its assets and services sold to its customer base.

More than 40,000 people have signed a petition calling on the Czech government to hold a referendum on euro adoption. The petition, organized by the opposition Civic Democrats, will now be debated in the Senate. But it’s unlikely it will bring about a change of mind in the government coalition which believes the country should adopt the euro by the year 2020.

Several large Czech and international companies have expressed interest in acquiring the Czech food producer Hamé, the daily Hospodářské noviny reports. Hamé, which last year posted revenues of over five billion crowns, goes on sale six years after it was bought by Latvia’s Nordic Partners Group. One of the companies interested in the acquisition is an investment fund owned by the Czech finance minister and food industry tycoon Andrej Babiš.

Although Christmas is still weeks away, Christmas decorations are filling shopping malls and supermarkets and by all accounts salespeople can look forward to high profits. With confidence in the economy growing, Czechs are ready to go on a spending spree.

Czech ministers have fallen out over hiked charges on coal mining companies. The charges would just target brown coal, or lignite, companies, which appear to be holding up a lot better than their hard, or black coal, counterparts.

Anyone making use of the country’s major highways and roads this summer will have likely noticed – and possibly suffered long delays because of – ongoing and extensive renovation projects. The D1 highway, among the most in need of repair and reconstruction, including lanes and spanning bridges, was the most notable case in point. It should not come as a surprise that the overhaul of that and other routes has led to a rise in expenses: one-quarter according to the Road and Motorway Directorate of the Czech Republic.

A third of ski hills in the Czech Republic will modestly boost prices this winter season, news website iDnes reported on Tuesday, citing the Association of Czech Ski Resorts (AHS). The price will go up on average by 11 crowns for a children’s daily ski pass, the highest increase. Ski hills have invested hundreds of millions of crowns in snow making equipment as well as to broaden existing runs. Above all, operators will be hoping for decent conditions and not a mild winter like the season last.