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And the governor of the Czech National Bank said in Brussels this week that his country must choose between two strategies of adopting the euro within a year.

The Trade and Industry Minister Miroslav Gregr has accused the government's privatisation bureau - the National Property Fund - of boycotting the sale of state-held stakes in eight regional distributors to the power utility CEZ.

The Czech crown broke new records against both the dollar and the euro this week. The crown was trading at 30.08 against the dollar on Wednesday, before closing at 30.25.

European Union leaders chose to side-step tough decisions on costly farm subsidies at last Saturday's Seville Summit, but set a November deadline for resolving the issue, seen as crucial if the planned expansion of the EU to the east is to go ahead in 2004.

Ukraine's Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday that the Czech government was considering taking delivery of military cargo aircraft built jointly by Russia and Ukraine, as part of Russia's debt repayment scheme.

Sales of new passenger cars in the Czech Republic dropped by almost 2 per cent in the period from January to May this year. The most popular Czech brand Skoda recorded a more than 8 percent fall, although it still dominates the market, holding a 52-percent market share with over 32,000 cars sold.