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Car manufacturers say that a combination of falling demand, especially in Europe, the ever-weakening US dollar, and rising material costs are cutting into savings. The French cars group PSA Peugeot Citroen, seeking out lower production costs, three years ago teamed up with Toyota of Japan, an industry leader in terms of efficiency. Their newly opened TPCA plant, in Kolin, the Czech Republic, officially went online this week. To find out why this joint-venture producing small cars — which should eventually make 300,000 cars a year — is already making

France Telecom joins Blackstone/CVC/Providence consortium bidding for Cesky Telecom; Number of foreigners seeking work in the Czech Republic up 250 pct since 1995; Czech Airlines' profits up threefold year-on-year in 2004; Dentists may demand up-front cash payments 50-300 percent above current imbursement rate; Adidas behind COI sweep of Kaufland stores

Managers of state-run companies refuse to disclose personal assets in Hospodarske Noviny survey; EU Commission investigating Czech state's purchase of Ispat Nova Hut shares; Oskar Mobil secures '3G' licence; Finance Ministry looking to increase corporate pension-fund contributions; Unipetrol reports pre-tax profits in all key units; Lufthansa to open call centre in Brno; Hotel revenue up 12 percent

The crisis in government—triggered by media inquiries into the personal finances of the Prime Minister and his wife—came just as Czech companies were making public their 2004 full-year results. Not surprisingly, stock in blue chip companies that ended last year in the black—such as the chemicals producer Unipetrol—did very well on the Czech bourse. But the share price of Cesky Telecom, which boasted record profits last year, suffered from concerns that Prime Minister Stanislav Gross might be forced to resign.

Cesky Telecom reports profit in 2004; Ombudsman says land owners due $350m in compensation; French restrictions on Czech workers may be lifted in 2006; Private companies to prepare 'eStat' plan to cut Czech bureaucracy; Industrial production up in December

The Czech National Bank (CNB) has three new board members. Last Friday, President Vaclav Klaus renamed Zdenek Tuma as the bank's Governor, and appointed the Managing Director of the Expandia Group and former PriceWaterhouseCoopers economist, Miroslav Singer, to the post of Vice-Governor. Pavel Rezabek, the former CEO of the Czech Consolidation Agency and Robert Holman, a professor of economics and long-time advisor to President Klaus, have also joined the central bank's board, which consists of seven members - the governor, two vice-governors,

This week we look at a plan to ban anonymous, prepaid mobile phone cards, which some Czech legislators say help organised criminal gangs avoid police detection.

Czech Rep got more out of EU than it paid in; Slovak gov't promises to pay CSOB debt; Jobless rate at 10-month high; Five preliminary bids made for Cesky Telecom; Budweiser battle may go to Human Rights court; Cash registers to become mandatory; Jablotron's oversize mobile phone a huge success

This week, we look at the significance of a Prague visit by Bill Gates, the U.S. billionaire and founder of the Microsoft Corporation. A number of new Microsoft projects could be in the pipeline here, but those of you using pirated Czech-language software may be in for a nasty surprise.

Former Finance Minister off to prison; Minimum Social benefits to be cut in 2006; Prague richest 'region' in 'new Europe'; World Bank predicts less inflationary pressure for 2005; Beer union asks AgMin to axe Budvar ad campaign; TCPA to begin production at Kolin this month; Germany's Aral to quit check market