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Business NewsBusiness News
In today's Business News: The Czech National Bank cut interest rates by
half a point to 2.25 percent this week; Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has
warned against excessive regulation and government intervention during the
current global economic crisis; car maker Škoda Auto will halt car
production on Friday evening for three weeks; the Tatra company, famous for
building trucks and other large vehicles is to begin a series of phased
layoffs totalling 1,400 people by the end of next year; the soft-drink
company Kofola, maker of a cola drink of the same name, has received a 12
million crown fine from the country’s anti-monopoly commission and the
Czech government has approved a programme which binds it to replacing
government cars with more eco-friendly models.
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Talking PointThe Czech Republic’s Nuclear Energy Dilemma
Today, energy from nuclear power plants provides for roughly a third of the
Czech Republic’s overall electricity consumption. There are in fact six
operating nuclear power plant units – four of them have been operating
for twenty years in Dukovany, and two of them have been operating for
almost ten years in Temelín, in south Bohemia. The rest of the Czech
Republic’s energy needs are met by domestic coal as well as imported gas.
But the country has recently begun to wrestle with how it will meet its
energy needs in the future, and more nuclear power seems to be topping the
list of options. Yet, nuclear power remains an understandably controversial
choice – with both domestic opponents as well as the country’s vocal
non-nuclear neighbour Austria wanting to steer the country clear of this
option.
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Talking PointCzechs leaders in plastics recycling but ineffective on bio-waste
“Any reason for sorting waste is a good one” is a slogan underlining a
current TV campaign promoting recycling in the Czech Republic, and most
Czechs would agree recycling is a necessity. By and large, Czechs are
conscientious recyclers, with around 70 percent regularly recycling
plastics, paper, glass and other materials. In fact, statistics recently
released by Eurostat revealed that Czechs are leaders when it comes to
plastics: in 2006 they recycled 44 percent of PET beverage bottles and
other packaging – which is 3 percent more than traditional leader
Germany. But it’s not all good news. Most are aware that the country
still needs to do much more – and point out while successful in some
areas, in others they are clearly lagging. More
Current AffairsEnvironmental group takes case of Austrian and German logging to EU
The Czech branch of the environmental organisation Friends of the Earth has
filed a formal complaint with the European Union over logging practices
just outside the Czech border in the southern Šumava region. They say that
logging efforts both in Germany and Austria are threatening forests within
the Czech Republic’s famous national park.
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Current AffairsEnvironmental damage caused by Soviet troops not yet fully repaired
The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia resulted in a permanent Soviet
military presence on Czech soil. Between 1968 and 1991 –when the last of
the Soviet troops finally left the country – they operated in 73
localities. The environmental damage they caused is taking years to repair
and has already cost billions of crowns. Jakub Kašpar is a spokesman for
the Czech Environment Ministry:
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Current AffairsBavaria and Austria urge Czechs to fight bark-beetle infestation
Bavaria and Austria, which both border on the Czech Republic, have urged
the Czech Environment Ministry to fight against the spread of bark-beetle
in the country’s borderland areas. They say that the situation is growing
untenable and remind the Czech authorities of bilateral agreements that
bind the Czech Republic to prevent bark-beetle infestation along the common
border.
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Current AffairsCzechs discuss whether rising food prices are linked to biofuel production
As the price of food skyrockets to an all-time high, the international
community has started to ask itself whether the production of biofuels on
land which could otherwise be used for food-crops is in part to blame.
Czech president Václav Klaus, who is known for his anti-environmentalist
stance, has come out in criticism of the rapidly-developing biofuels
industry, and his concerns are echoed elsewhere.
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Current AffairsFirst Czech five star hotel wins EU ecological award
The first five star hotel in the Czech Republic has been awarded the
prestigious EU-Eco Label award for environmental friendliness. The Hotel
Chateau Mcely near Nymburk in the central Bohemian countryside may be
luxuriously equipped and charge up to 44 000Kc (2,700 US dollars) a night
for it's most exclusive suite, but it is certainly not lavish at the
expense of the environment. Every care has been taken to ensure that while
guests are pampered and indulged, they are treated in a way which is
ecologically responsible as well as. This has meant that the hotel, located
in a restored and reconstructed Czech chateau, is now proudly able to show
the EU flower mark alongside its five stars. Jamie Brindley spoke to the
owner and manger of the project, Jim Cusumano, about how the hotel has gone
about setting its environmental standards so high.
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