Business | All stories

The lower house of Parliament on Wednesday approved the 2019 draft budget in its first reading. The basic parameters of the budget, such as the deficit goal, are thus definitively set with only minor shifts in funds possible. Government spending next year should prioritize the social sphere, investments, an increase in public sector salaries and pensions.

Part of one of Prague’s most important bridges is in a calamitous state and must be knocked down. The overpass by the city’s Vltavská Metro station makes up a section of a key through road.

Portraits of the founding fathers of Czechoslovakia – Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Edvard Beneš and Rastislav Štefánik – will newly appear on the 20 crown coins. The Czech National Bank is releasing the coins to mark the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Czechoslovakia.

It’s not just municipalities that will be taking part in events marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia next weekend. The makers of the famous lager Pilsner Urquell have announced they will also be involved through a number of events and special products.

One of the worst droughts in recent Czech history is still tormenting farmers, with rainfalls in October measured at just a fifth of the monthly average. The total cost of damages to Czech agriculture and forestry has been estimated to lie at around CZK 24 billion so far and some farmers say the government is not doing enough about it.

Faced by an acute labour shortage, the Czech Republic is set to take in up to 40,000 workers from Ukraine every year, Hospodářské noviny reported on Thursday. That would represent a doubling of present numbers.

One of the Czech Republic’s biggest publishers, Albatros, has boosted its position on the market, taking over rival Panteon, which has the rights to the international bestseller the 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.

According the Czech Statistical Office’s estimate, this year’s grain harvest is 7.9 percent lower than that of the previous year. While the yield of several major crops including potatoes, peas and sugar beet has gone down, harvested rapeseed has increased by over 20 percent in comparison to last year.

A number of companies are in the running for lucrative contracts to build new nuclear units in the Czech Republic. Now the head of the State Office for Nuclear Safety says that a South Korean firm looks best placed to get the job. Dana Drábová says KHNP currently has the best references in regards to finishing construction on time and on budget.

Czech aircraft manufacturer Aero Vodochody on Friday officially presented its new aircraft, L-39NG, a next generation model of the legendary L-39 Albatros, produced by the company since the 1960.