Top Czech Business News - Prague Daily Monitor

The average monthly wage in the Czech Republic grew by 4% year-on-year to CZK 23,598 in 2009, the Czech Statistical Office said Tuesday.

Cetelem ČR, one of leading Czech providers of consumer loans, financed loans worth CZK 8.665bn in 2009, a drop of 29% year-on-year, company spokesman Martin Malý said Tuesday.

The lower house Tuesday overrode a presidential veto and banned the sale of the country's main airport. The MPs also passed a bill on lower taxation of employee benefits, as demanded by trade unions, outvoting the Senate's veto of the bill. Transport union leaders welcomed the result of Tuesday's vote, saying nation-wide strike is no longer a threat.

Czech average wage is unlikely to rise fast this year due to growing unemployment, analysts polled by ČTK said Tuesday.

A draft amendment to the law on VAT aimed to reduce taxation of employee benefits to last year's level will cut budget revenues by around CZK 70 million, Finance Minister Eduard Janota said Monday.

The Czech Republic's unemployment rate reached 9.9% in February, a record level since July 2004 when the current method of jobless rate calculation came into use, the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry said Monday.

The Czech Republic's spending on unemployment benefits more than doubled last year, reaching CZK 15.08bn compared with CZK 7.11bn in 2008, the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry reported.

Sales of building materials' producers with 50+ employees in the Czech Republic decreased by 5.1% to CZK 72.738bn last year and workforce was cut by 9.6% to 26,792, according to Industry and Trade Ministry's website.

Czech Republic's construction of warehouses sank by 30% to 445,104 square metres last year, while in the whole of Central Europe it was down 35% to 1.6 million square metres, according to Cushman & Wakefield's report Monday.

Breweries of the Heineken Česká republika group produced 2.62 million hectolitres of beer last year, down 5.2% year-on-year, the company's spokeswoman said.

The average monthly wage in the Czech Republic grew by around 5% year-on-year in the last quarter of 2009, most analysts agreed in a ČTK poll Friday.

A state attorney proposed that 13 ČEZ energy utility inspectors be charged with oppression over their harsh practices against power fee defaulters, and he halted the prosecution of another 17, news site iDnes reported Friday, citing attorney Karel Studený.

An audit ordered by the new management of the Czech soccer association ČMFS revealed that it lost at least CZK 30 million due to bad contracts in the past three years, Hospodářské noviny writes Friday.

Power producer ČEZ is eyeing the heat distribution network in Ruda Slaska in the south of Poland, Týden.cz. wrote on Saturday.

Czech poultry numbers last year dipped 1.4% to 23.95 million after three years of slow growth, according to data from the Czech Statistical Office.

Large Czech banks lent CZK 23 billion, 9% of their capital, to their owners in 2009, the daily E15 reported yesterday referring to data of the Czech National Bank.

Unemployment in the country exceeded 10% in February, while inflation grew by an estimated 0.8% to 1% from January's 0.7%, mainly due to higher food prices, analysts polled by ČTK said.

The number of people who visited Karlovy Vary for a spa treatment last year sank by a third, from over 111,000 to 75,352.

Sales of new passenger cars in the Czech Republic have increased by 17% to 21,893 units between January and February this year, according to data from the Car Importers Association.

A transit strike planned for today will not take place as unions cancelled it yesteday due to an amendment to the law on VAT passed by the parliament on Tuesday. The strike was to halt railway transit mainly. The unions want VAT on employee benefits to be lowered back to last year's level. Engine Drivers' Federation President Jindřich Hlas told ČTK after yesteday's talks that the decision to cancel followed the government's accommodating stance and Tuesday's vote.