Unemployment in the Czech Republic has reached its lowest levels in 11
years and is expected to continue to fall according to the Czech
Statistical Office. This, despite a global slowdown in the economy and
concerns about inflation and rising food prices. The figures which cover
the first quarter of 2008, indicate unemployment levels of 4.7% according
to methodology used by the UN body the International Labour Organisation -
a 1.3% fall on the previous year’s figures. These figures contrast with
many developed economies in which unemployment has risen in recent months.
Czech journalists have exposed a fake blog or “flog” which promoted the Czech bank ČSOB and its internet banking arm, while criticizing that of its major rival. The blog, purportedly by a woman by the name of Klára Franková, was actually set up by the PR agency Bison & Rose. Klára Franková was in fact an entirely fictitious person created by the agency, and whose photograph was simply taken from the internet. The company conceded that such practices were at odds with its own ethics standards and blamed the issue on a wayward employee. Such dubious marketing methods are becoming a serious problem in the Czech Republic according to several sources.
Reports suggest that the global software giant Microsoft is in talks to
purchase the popular Czech search engine Seznam. Ivo Lukačovič, the
founder and majority shareholder is believed to be open to the possibility
of selling his stake in Seznam, which has led to a flurry of speculation
about the company – although Lukačovič has continued to deny that the
company will be sold to Microsoft. The value and therefore selling price of
the company is estimated at around 1 billion US dollars, or 16 billion
Czech crowns. Seznam has two million visitors a day and is more popular
than Google, which dominates most countries.
Newly released data suggests that The Czech Republic exports over 500
tones of snails annually with 95% going to France. The figure is a 40%
increase on 1990s figures and the country now accounts for 5% of all French
snail sales. By far the biggest company in the Czech Republic is Helix,
which processes and sells snail meat to a number of countries. Perhaps
surprisingly, most of these snails come from the wild, with almost none
coming from snail farms. Poland, Hungary and Romania are also strong
players in the snail business.
A competition on the Czech website mojepoplatky.cz – which translates as
my payments.cz – has found what it is describing as the most absurd
banking fee in the Czech Republic. The fee, for receiving money into your
bank account beat the previous year’s winners: fees for cash machine
withdrawals and fees for simply having an account. The Czech Republic has
some of the highest banking fees in Europe and this has led many consumer
action groups to advocate a change in the system. The winning fee – for
receiving money into one’s account is charged by several Czech banks,
although some including Poštovní Spořitelna have recently rescinded it.
Positive news for Czech consumers as EU readies anti-dual food quality rules
Czech town offered million hours of free porn in promotional move
Proposed new Prague development framework sets urban targets for future decades
Most successful ever Czech crowd funding project fuels relaunch of iconic Čezeta scooter
Czechs drinking less beer