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Finance Minister Andrej Babiš’ proposal to lower the VAT on draft beer from 21 to 10 percent raised a storm of opposition in the lower house on Friday with opposition deputies calling it “blatant populism”. The finance minister’s plan, unveiled on Czech TV on Thursday, raised eyebrows even among his coalition partners with Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka saying that if the price of draft beer were to go down then the Social Democrats would push for a tax reduction on basic groceries such as meat, milk, bread and butter.

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 world’s two biggest beer producers – AB InBev and SABMiller – have reached a preliminary agreement on a merger worth an estimated 93 billion euros. SABMiller gave the nod to the deal after four previous attempts by the other company; SABMiller is the owner of dozens of breweries worldwide including one of the most famous in the Czech Republic, Pilsner Urquell.

Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s purchase of SABMiller, which owns the Czech brewery Plzeňský Prazdroj, will not impact the price or quality of the latter’s beers in the Czech Republic, according to experts cited by the Czech News Agency. Vladimír Balach of the Czech Union of Breweries and Malt Houses said the move would not affect the manufacture of the brewery’s Pilsner Urquell or Gambrinus brands. However, some experts believe the huge deal could help boost international sales of the Czech-produced brews, iDnes.cz reported.

In Business News this week: Czech foreign debt grows to CZK 2.9 trillion in second quarter; hop harvest worst in 45 years; Czech aviation firms increase turnover by 15 percent; and Czech Republic has EU’s highest number of breweries per head.

The Danish beer company Carlsberg, which distributes the popular Czech Staropramen brew in Sweden, this week recalled all Staropramen beer on tap from 680 Swedish bars and restaurants. The move came after two people tasted the beer and suffered blisters and mouth bleeding as a result.

A proposed mega-deal between the world’s first and second biggest brewers will be closely followed in the Czech Republic with premier export brewer Plzeňský Prazdroj directly concerned and the longer term fate of Budějovický Budvar also probably in play.

The value of the Czech Republic’s beer exports to China has nearly doubled over the last year. The volume of beer exports in 2014 rocketed to 22,688 hectolitres, compared to 12,688 hectolitres in the previous year, the head of the Czech Beer and Malt Association, Vladimír Balach, announced this week.

Protivín, a Czech brewery in East Bohemia, is producing a soon to be released beer called Queen Bohemian Lager, marking the 40th anniversary of Bohemian Rhapsody – one of the most famous of rock songs by British legends Queen. The beer will go on sale first in Europe and then round the world.

Celebrated rock group Queen has commissioned a Czech brewery to produce a special beer for the 40th anniversary of its biggest hit, Bohemian Rhapsody. Queen Bohemian Lager, as it will be named, will be produced at the Protivín brewery in East Bohemia, which is part of the Lobkowicz group. The price of the special brew comes in at a rather royal amount of 799 crowns for a 12-pack bottle. It will go on sale in Europe first and then round the world.