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For the first time ever, the value of Czech crowns in circulation has exceeded 500 billion crowns. The figure was reached on Friday, the Czech National Bank revealed. The amount translates into more than two billion individual banknotes and coins. At some point though the country is slated to join the Eurozone, giving up the crown for the euro – the only question is when.

The lower house of Parliament has agreed to raise taxes on gambling from the current 20 percent to 28 percent. According to news website iDnes, among the most affected will be venues offering gambling machines such as video lottery terminals. Under the ruling coalition proposal, tax on lotteries and betting agencies will also increase, to 23 percent.

The Czech magnate and finance minister Andrej Babiš is set to invest around CZK 1 billion in food companies in Poland, despite the fact that he has had bad experiences doing business with Poles in the past, Hospodářské noviny reported on Thursday.

The Czech competition watchdog, the Office for Protection of Competition (ÚOHS), in a three line statement on November 6 announced that it had taken initial steps to impose a 2.036 billion crown fine on a cartel of construction companies.

A continued squeeze on electricity prices and problems with its Dukovany and Temelín nuclear power plants have hit the Czech Republic’s biggest electricity company.

With the ending of current sanctions expected to come as soon as the start of next year, Iran is now the target for trade delegations and missions from around the world. The Czech Republic is no exception and, after a ground breaking visit by the foreign minister, is now looking at the practical steps needed to exploit the opportunities when full two way trade resumes.

A third Czech power company has boosted the ranks of potential bidders for German power assets of Swedish energy company Vattenfall. In fact, Czech companies and joint ventures are the only bidders so far for the sizable portfolio of coal, hydro, and lignite mines.

A Czech manufacturing icon is making a comeback with a new design and new power source.

The Czech state will back a huge investment by a Czech company in Russia. Russia’s fertilizer producer PhosAgro, has contracted Czech technology firm Chemoproject Nitrogen to build a plant.

The World Bank Group comes up with an annual ladder basically comparing how much regulation and obstacles companies face in different countries to start up and then perform their day to day. The annual survey is sub-titled “Doing Business.”