Business | All stories

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is set to divide up CZK 10 billion of a total of CZK 14 billion in European Union funding for the development of a fast data network in the Czech Republic, according to a government plan quoted in Wednesday’s edition of Mladá fronta Dnes.

Czech carmaker Škoda Auto, which belongs to Volkswagen AG, says 1.2 million of its vehicles were equipped with the TDI engine that manipulated emissions data in the years between 2009 and 2013. Škoda Auto spokesman Jozef Baláž told Czech Television on Monday that Volkswagen would repair all affected models and fully cover the cost. He stressed that all the vehicles were perfectly safe and functional.

The Czech National Bank has been forced to bring out its heavy weapon, in the form of currency interventions, in the last months to keep the crown below its ceiling. But lower inflationary pressure than expected now means that the speculators who bought up the currency on the hope of quick gains now appear to be quitting their crown positions. That means the pressure could be off the crown and the bank for the forseeable future.

The Třinecké železárny steelworks has won a lucrative contract worth 15 billion crowns for a project of railway route construction in Azerbaijan, the company’s CEO Jan Czudek revealed on Wednesday after a visit by the Czech head-of-state Miloš Zeman. The president reportedly helped seal the deal during a recent visit to the former Soviet country.

Czech engineering giants have agreed to pool their forces and efforts to grab a bigger share of world nuclear contracts and safeguard their know-how during lean times.

The city of Prague is preparing a system enabling the recycling of waste oil from households. Containers for used vegetable fat should appear in the city’s collection points by the year 2017. The system has already been successfully introduced in other municipalities across the Czech Republic.

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has asked for a national strategy in coping with drought to be concluded by 2016. This should be preceded by a debate on the problems and priorities of individual regions and proposed changes in the spectrum of agricultural commodities grown.

Azerbaijan is one of around two dozen countries of ‘interest’ where the Czech Republic believes it should make an effort to boost its export performance. Head of state Miloš Zeman prioritized that goal with a recently concluded official visit but oil prices will probably have a substantial impact on how many contracts will result.

A proposed mega-deal between the world’s first and second biggest brewers will be closely followed in the Czech Republic with premier export brewer Plzeňský Prazdroj directly concerned and the longer term fate of Budějovický Budvar also probably in play.

Škoda Auto has shown off new versions of its Superb models in a bid to boost ebbing sales of the top of the range model. Overall sales are still strong but a drop off in China could be a cause for concern if it is not reversed in the coming months.