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The government of Bohuslav Sobotka has made a brisk start in business and economic areas, though some of the more difficult decisions have been postponed. A clean divide has been made with the previous centre-right government. While some personal prickliness is evident, major rifts have been controlled.

Outside Ukraine and Russia, markets are failing to factor in the likelihood of an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine. But some economists and politicians are warning that the result could see Czech economic growth halved or even wiped out altogether this year.

Data published by the Czech Statistics Office indicate that the choice of food imports to the Czech Republic is still directed mainly by price, with retail chains favouring competitive German, Polish and Slovak producers. Higher quality but less affordable Czech products are often left lying on the shelves.

Hungarian refinery giant MOL is about to seal a deal with AGIP to buy the Italian’s firm 124 petrol stations in the Czech Republic, the Czech daily Hospodářské Noviny reported. If the deal goes through, MOL will become the second biggest player on the Czech market. It could also spark further consolidation.

Comparative data released by the Czech Statistics Office on the 10th anniversary of the Czech Republic’s accession to the European Union indicate that the country’s export-oriented economy greatly benefited from the move. In the past ten years the country has seen its exports more than double.

The target of rounding off Europe’s internal energy market by the end of the year is a no hoper. More worrying, some moves suggest that a completely piecemeal not than completed market might be the more likely outcome with prolonged German low electricity prices for its industry one of the signs.

The Czech Republic has a fairly unique position in the European Internet world with local search engine company Seznam by most calculations dominating world leader Google. But one of the biggest players on the local e-commerce market warns that European Commission moves to curb Google’s dominance in Europe could backfire and worsen the situation on the Czech market.

Czech consumers can look forward to having more change in their pockets after shopping trips if reported plans for the phase in of three levels of Value Added Tax come true. A preliminary document outlining the changes has already been drawn up by the finance ministry but still needs to be approved by the government by the end of the month.

Squandering of public funds in ill-conceived investment projects has always been a big problem for Czech state administrations. Now the centre-left government is setting up a watchdog body which should assess the necessity for major investments and make sure that the money is spent according to plan.

Several restaurants in central Prague were among two dozen eateries fined last year for severe breaches of consumer legislation. The Czech Trade Inspection Authority found that nearly 40 percent of restaurants inspected broke the law; the most frequent problems include short measures of beer and other drinks, overcharging, as well as automatically including tips in bills without the guests’ knowledge.