Top Czech Business News - Prague Daily Monitor

The government still supports the completion of Temelín nuclear power plant in southern Bohemia, Prime Minister Petr Nečas said yesterday.

The situation in construction is very unfavourable for a fifth year in a row but it is still the only sector which the government has not tried to help in any way, Association of Building Entrepreneurs (SPS) Vice President Pavel Ševčík told ČTK yesterday.

Czech liqueur produer Rudolf Jelínek posted its first loss since 1998 last year owing to the autumn ban on sale of certain alcoholic drinks connected with the methanol scandal.

Popularity of game meat among consumers in the Czech Republic is growing in the long term, according to gamekeepers and retailers, but statistics show its consumption remains low at about 1% of the total amount of consumed meat.

Czech companies want to sign contracts worth several billions of crowns in Russia next week during a four-day visit to the country on which their reps will accompany Prime Minister Petr Nečas.

Czech exports should moderately revive in August, according to a new index of the Association of Exporters serving for the forecast of development of exports in the coming three months.

The Czech Telecommunication Office wants to attract more investors to a new auction of frequencies for fast mobile networks LTE, the regulator's new chairman Jaromír Novák said in an interview for ČTK yesterday.

Czechs spent CZK 9,280 on average in e-shops last year, compared with CZK 11,695 in 2010.

Metrostav's building companies could get the biggest contracts in the planned expansion of nuclear power plant Temelín if US-Japanese firm Westinghouse wins the tender.

The solution of the continuing debt crisis is currency devaluation, but only countries that are not euro zone members have this option, former finance minister and Civic Democratic (ODS) politician, Vlastimil Tlustý, said at an economic forum in Brno yesterday.

The Czech Republic should not make further budget cuts with the current worse-than-expected economic development, Masanori Yoshida, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, said at yesterday's press conference after the regular mission.

Prime Minister Petr Nečas said yesterday he wants to push for reduction of subsidies to renewable energy sources rather than for creation of new ones at the European Union summit to be held on Wednesday.

The results of the Czech economy in the first quarter of the year are one of the worst in its history and the Czechs cannot blame the eurozone crisis or the European Union for it, Jan Macháček writes in the weekly Respekt out yesterday.

Customer reviews are becoming an increasingly important criterion for online shoppers, with up to 93% of Czechs using the Internet reading these reviews before selecting an e-shop, said a survey conducted by agency NMS Market Research and price comparison site Heureka.cz.

Power producer ČEZ continues talks with US-Japanese company Westinghouse and Czech-Russian grouping Konsorcium MIR.1200 on the expansion of nuclear power plant Temelín.

Czech power plants generated 87.6 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity last year, the same amount as in 2011, and gross consumption of electricity stayed at 2011's 70.5 TWh, said an annual report made public by the Energy Regulatory Office.

Former President Václav Kluas said the news of a Czech economic downturn points to that it may be a more lasting tendency, not a short-time swing that must be survived until it fades away by itself, in a lecture he delivered at the Prague University of Economics Saturday.

The Czech branch of international company Accenture will secure source control services for all operations of US-Japanese company Westinghouse in Europe and Asia from the Czech Republic, Westinghouse said in a press release Thursday.

Czech energy group ČEZ paid the highest income tax in 2012, like in the previous years, followed by car maker Skoda Auto and bank Ceska sporitelna, according to a chart compiled by the Finance Ministry.

The mushrooming shopping centres in the Czech Republic are seeking new ways of attracting people amid growing competition and they are extending the services offered, such as cafes and rest areas, Hospodářské noviny writes.