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Czech Budvar brewery wins another trademark battle with American giant Anheuser-Busch. European Union candidate countries are trying to cut a bigger slice of EU budget pie. The Czech foreign trade grows more than expected, Q1 result revised to half of original figure due to mistake. Czech Central Bank is satisfied with the recent relative stability and the exchange rate of the crown. The International Monetary Fund has lowered its 2003 GDP growth forecast for the Czech Republic. Parliament approves a law on local loop unbundling to increase competition

There has been a long tradition of wine production in the Czech Republic. It is believed that wine production in the dates as far back as the year 276, where a conquering Roman legion laid out the plans for a vineyard in the Moravian town of Palavain. Today, almost one and a half million hectoliters of wine are consumed annually by Czechs. Although these numbers are much lower than the traditional drink in the Czech Republic beer, wine is gaining in popularity.

Economic news in brief...

In this week's economics report we take a look at the current labor dispute at the national air carrier Czech Airlines (CSA). As if the war in Iraq and the fear of SARS around the world isn't enough to shrink business for airlines, CSA now has to deal with a labor dispute between management and the pilots' association. The dispute between the two parties took a turn for the worse last Wednesday when pilots' commenced a work slow-down because of a deadlock in negotiations. The major roadblock is the issue of new contracts for CSA pilots', the pilots'

A government's proposed fiscal reform - too radical or too mild? The unemployment rate drops below 10 percent for the first time this year. The Czech industry records the quickest output growth in six months. The Plzensky Prazdroj brewery is to double the production of its famous premium brand Pilsner Urquell.

The focus of this weeks economics report is the possibilities for Czech firms to participate in the reconstruction of a post-war Iraq. Iraq's infrastructure has been devastated by the recent war and over a decade of crippling sanctions which has left the country in dire need of assistance. The Czech Republic has signalled that it wants to play a role in rebuilding the country; after all the former Czechoslovakia played a large role in the development of the country's infrastructure and overall economic development. One example of this is the petrochemical

In this weeks economics report: Czech foreign trade deficit increases. Czech Republic likely to cut corporate income tax, increase sin taxes. National Property Fund dismisses one-third of staff ahead planned closure in 2006. Selection of adviser for Unipetrol sale commenced. Tractor producer Zetor back in black. And many more.

Revenue offices are to overlook fines and interest on old tax arrears in an attempt to secure extra revenues for the state budget. Czech producer prices grew 0.3 % month-on-month in March, drop 0.4 % year-on-year. The volume of payments with bankcards in the Czech Republic rose by 84 percent in 2002. Both the ruling coalition and the opposition have been presenting proposals for changes in the tax system lately with little success. Czech retail sales rose by a stronger than expected 4.3 percent year-on-year in February. The government is planning

In this weeks Economics Report we look at the technology sector in the Czech Republic, and more importantly, the development of this sector. Although the technology sector in the Czech Republic is smaller than those in Western Europe and North America, the industry has been experiencing healthy growth in this country at a time when things have not been going so smoothly for many IT firms elsewhere.

Czech consumer prices decreased by 0.1 percent in March, extending the deflation period to the third month in succession. The government has revealed ambitious transport infrastructure development plans. The Czech unemployment declined slightly in March but experts warn there might be a latent upward trend. The European Commission predicts that economic growth in the ten EU candidate countries this year will be weaker than expected in 2003. Contradictory expectation of development of real estate prices. EU accession should bring millions of new