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Netflix is a US multinational provider of on-demand Internet streaming media which many now Czechs had no doubt heard of – in no small part thanks to the successful original TV series House of Cards. Now, Czechs will be able to take advantage of the service at home.

Czech Internet search engine company Seznam is regarded as a local success story which has held off the competition of global giants such as Google.

The state budget in 2015 ended with a deficit of 62.8 billion crowns, which is 37.2 billion less than the approved deficit for the year, finance minister Andrej Babiš announced at a press conference on Tuesday. He added that it was the best budget result the country reached since 2008.

Ministry of Industry and Trade Jan Mládek sees Czech economic growth this year at 3.5 percent, that’s a slight drop from the 4.5 percent expected this year. One of the reasons for the slowdown will be diminished pumping of EU funds which probably contributed one percentage point to growth this year.

In line with a government proposal approved by Parliament late last year the country’s close to 3 million pensioners will be paid out a one-off bonus of 1,200 crowns in February to make up for the low valorization of pensions in 2016. Following lengthy disputes on the issue in the lower house, the government now says it wants to be able to increase pensions without Parliament’s consent in the future.

Twenty-five years ago, on New Years Day, Czechs experienced a shock transition from communist planning to a market economy. The post-communist government of prime minister Petr Pithart launched a price deregulation sending the price of goods up several fold overnight. Since then prices have increased on average 5 times but a faster growth in wages means that Czechs are enjoying a much higher living standard than before the fall of communism. The daily Mladá fronta Dnes recalls this economic milestone in its Wednesday edition.

Small breweries significantly boost their annual sales at the end of the year by offering beer lovers special Christmas and New Year brews. Among those now on offer are mandarin, gingerbread, cinnamon and caramel brews for gourmets.

The Czech Republic has long had ambitions to be out there with the pioneers in e-government; linking up ministries and regional authorities and allowing citizens to transact more of their business over the computer rather than at office counters. But the roll out of those ambitions have hit many obstacles and some of these were highlighted on Monday in a report by the country’s public spending watchdog, the Supreme Audit Office.

The plan for an Olympic sports park at the Lipno Reservoir has been officially approved. On Monday, it was signed by the governor of South Bohemia, Jiří Zimola, and the head of the Czech Olympic Committee, Jiří Kejval.

A Czech power company has just taken a giant step to become the biggest player in the Slovak energy sector. But the Slovak government appears to have hedged its bets down the road with an option to take back control and make sure two new nuclear reactors are completed.