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Summer may be long gone but it will be a while since this year’s – with a heatwave that lasted forever – is forgotten, not least by potato farmers. Taters wilted under the heat and pickles curled up like a dead witch’s feet. Now Agriculture Minister Marian Jurečka had some good news for potato producers: if they post losses of more than 30 percent for 2015, they will be reimbursed.

Between now and 2021 the state will make a total of CZK 27 billion available to Czechs wishing to make their homes more energy efficient. Presenting the New Green Savings scheme on Wednesday, the minister of the environment, Richard Brabec, said homeowners would be able to apply for subsidies at any time over the next six years.

The Czech Republic is a step closer to seeing major stores close during a number of state holidays, among them Christmas Eve and Day, New Year’s and Easter. A Senate bill sanctioning the restrictions was approved in a first reading in the lower house of Parliament on Tuesday.

Swiss bank UBS Wealth Management has released the latest figures in its working-time based index revealing how long it takes Czechs, on average, enough to by a Big Mac hamburger from the fast-food franchise McDonalds. According to the figures released, Prague employees have to work three times as long as their counterparts in Berlin.

Public sector employees can anticipate a pay rise of 3 percent next month. The previously agreed deal was rubberstamped on Monday morning, the government’s spokesman, Martin Ayrer, announced via Twitter.

Last year Czech consumers spent a whopping 5.4 billion crowns on toys – a four percent rise year-on-year. According to the Czech News Agency, domestic manufacturers saw a nine percent rise in production, while multi-national national firms produced toys worth 5.6 billion.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the introduction of mortgage loans to the Czech market. Interest rates were very high in the beginning and Czechs were slow to adapt the new financial product. In fact, only 150 mortgages were secured in 1995, Hospodářské noviny wrote on Thursday.

The hot summer in the Czech Republic is set to impact on household budgets as relatively poor crop yields are leading to higher prices for vegetables, particularly potatoes, iHned.cz reported.

The world’s two biggest beer producers – AB InBev and SABMiller – have reached a preliminary agreement on a merger worth an estimated 93 billion euros. SABMiller gave the nod to the deal after four previous attempts by the other company; SABMiller is the owner of dozens of breweries worldwide including one of the most famous in the Czech Republic, Pilsner Urquell.

The first official delegation of Czech entrepreneurs to visit Cuba for decades left for the communist country on Monday. More than 20 Czech companies are taking part in the historic mission, while another is planned for the very near future, the Czech News Agency reported.