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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.

The Czech power company ČEZ has said it will temporarily halt operations at its coal burning plant in Bulgaria as of the beginning of next year after it emerged that a planned investment to bring the plant up to EU environmental rules would not be economically justifiable given the cost of electricity.

The European Commission has allowed winemakers in the Czech Republic and other EU countries to use sugar to increase the alcohol content in their wine. The decision comes after winemakers complained that due to poor weather conditions this season, the natural content of sugar in grapes would be too low.

The west Bohemian spa town of Karlovy Vary is looking to save money on heating bills by using the town’s own natural resources – its hot thermal springs. The idea is for the town to gradually introduce this form of heating in all its public buildings.

The Czech machinery firm PBS has landed a contract to develop a micro turbine for a new Chinese jetliner. The deal with the Hongdu Aviation Industry Group was sealed during the visit of Czech President Miloš Zeman to China.