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The Czech Cabinet has hammered out a preliminary deal on the overall budget for 2015 with a fairly low deficit of 100 billion reiterated in spite of the pressure to recognise hikes in public sector salaries after recent years of wage caps and cuts.

A Czech company has come up with an innovative process for re-using old rocket and missile fuel. After launching on the European market, Eruca Technologies is now seeking to turn its know-how into dollars in the US.

The Czech Republic could face trade sanctions from Saudi Arabia over anti-Islamic remarks by President Miloš Zeman, the Czech foreign minister says. Mr Zeman’s comments, linking terrorism to “Islamic ideology” were also condemned by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation but its demands for an apology have been rejected by the Czech head of state.

The golden-era of the state-owned Czech power giant ČEZ appears to be over. With growing uncertainty on European energy markets and problems on the home front, the company is seeking ways to cut costs and optimize investments. According to the internet business news site ihned.cz the planned austerity measures will include layoffs and significant expenditure cuts at company headquarters.

Foreign companies are increasingly taking their profits out of the Czech Republic, with the country’s figures in this respect considerably worse than those of neighbouring states. Last year over CZK 300 billion of profits left the country, twice the figure seen 10 years ago, the business daily Hospodářské noviny reported on Wednesday.

With temperatures in the 30s more people than ever are reaching for a frothy pint of the golden brew to quench their thirst. And, after years of strictly conservative tastes, many Czechs are now ready to trade their Pilsner or Budvar for a new experience – a craft beer from one of the country’s mini breweries.

The volume of Czech public tenders may have been decreasing in recent years but the workload they are create for the state competition watchdog is rocketing. The Office for the Protection of Competition would now like to see some changes in the law which could reduce some of the burden and allow it to wrap up cases quicker.

Car maker Skoda Auto is about to launch a new service on the Czech market– a long term operation leasing scheme for private individuals. At the outset the service will be targeted at well-off clients who are used to trading in their vehicle for a new model every few years and who do not want the bother of dealing with regular servicing and insurance.

Czech retailers are once again in the spotlight for the quality, sourcing, and price of the food on sale. But while the Ministry of Agriculture is increasing the maximum fines for some infringements, it looks like it is giving the stores a bit more time to improve their overal act.

Czech Airlines (CSA), the national carrier owned by Český Aeroholding, Korean Airlines, Travel Service (pending), and Česká pojištovna, has announced a new wave of layoffs in response to a drop in customer interest in flights to Ukraine, post-Soviet states and above all Russia.