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Since last year, the government has been slowly preparing the ground for the transformation and eventual sale of the state-owned brewer Budějovický Budvar. Originally, the government hoped to sell the famous brewery – worth an estimated 1.3 billion euros – by the end of its term, but now it appears the preparations won’t be completed before mid-2010. Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek made clear on Tuesday that the government would rather delay the company’s sale, rather than rush a deal, in order to ensure the brand’s survival into the future.

Boot camps have become increasingly popularity among Czech managers. What makes carnivorous plants so popular, and a scruffy devoted little dog whose master died five years ago shows up every day at Motol Hospital to wait for him. Find out more in Magazine with Daniela Lazarova.

Many in the Czech Republic, which is home to the first pilsner, believe Czech beer is the best in the world. In the past, Czech brewers shared their expertise with the rest of world and breweries in countries as distant as Colombia, the United States, Turkey and Venezuela were built by Czech engineers. In this edition of Panorama, we look at the art of Czech brewing today.

In just a few weeks’ time, Vietnam will see the opening of its very first beer spa, where visitors can relax in a bath of beer – Czech-style lager beer made in a new brewery built by two Czech companies at a Vietnamese beach resort. One of those firms is Pivo Praha, whose Václav Potěšil. I first asked him whether this was the first commission of its kind in Vietnam:

In this week's Business News, Czech Budvar comes to China, high costs push Czech transportation companies out of business, both wind and gas power usage is set to increase and a building boom in the Czech Republic sees the country at the top of the EU construction table.

Drunk driving in the Czech Republic, like other countries, remains a serious problem, so when police announced a clampdown in the Czech capital this week, most probably expected them to apprehend a lot of motorists who were over the limit. But things haven’t quite worked out that way. The daily Lidové noviny has questioned the campaign, saying it’s more about free advertising for a major brewery than actually tackling the problem of drunk driving.

The Moravian brewery Černá Hora won the title Beer of the Year for two of their light lagers at a beer competition in České Budějovice on Saturday. Černá Hora, one of 44 Czech and foreign breweries taking part in the competition, is the largest of the Czech Republic’s small breweries with about one percent of the market share. Last year, the brewery produced 160,000 hectolitres of beer.

In this week's Business News: Czechs reduce milk supplies in protest at EU quotas, Czech Airlines post large losses, search engine Seznam is found to be the country's most famous brand, high parking prices at Prague's Ruzyně airport lead to unusual solution and predictions that Euro 2008 will help to boost beer sales.

Billed as the largest gastronomic event in the Czech Republic, a new 10-day Czech Beer Festival is up and running at the Holesovice fairgrounds in Prague right now. Since Saturday, visitors to the festival have been enjoying not only the large selection of Czech beers on offer in the numerous shady tents, but also food, live music and a carnival-esque atmosphere.

This week in Mailbox: Special QSL card marking Czech Radio’s 85th birthday, the mysterious duo Petr and Pavel, the most famous Czech ballet dancer. Listeners quoted: Konnie Rychalsky, Mark Valentine, Panha Pen.