Business News
Hundreds lose jobs as exporters buckle under strong crown
Hundreds of Czechs have lost their jobs since the beginning of the year
because of the strength of the crown and the effect that this has had on
exports, reported Hospodářské noviny on Friday. Industry and Trade
Ministry figures suggest that exporters lost more than 65 billion crowns
(4.3 billion USD) in the first quarter of 2008. In consequence, a number of
firms are moving their operations further east. Cable manufacturer Alcoa
Fujikura, for example, has laid off 850 employees and plans to move part of
its production to Romania. Exporters are putting pressure on the Czech
National Bank to rein in the crown in a bid to halt the exodus.
Household electricity prices to rise again
The cost of household electricity in the Czech Republic is set to go up
again. As of January next year, energy firms are predicting that household
electricity bills could be up to 15 percent higher, due to higher oil
prices and recent energy shortages in parts of Europe. At the beginning of
this year, electricity prices grew by around 9 percent. Raw electricity is
trading on the Prague Energy Exchange at an all time high; one megawatthour
now costs 40 percent more than it did at the start of the year.
Orco unveils massive urban development project
The development project for Prague’s Bubny district
Property developer Orco unveiled plans this week for one of the biggest
urban development projects this country has ever seen. The developer plans
to build over 2,500 flats, alongside shops, service centres, a hospital and
a university campus in Prague’s Bubny district. A spokesperson for the
firm said the project was expected to cost around 72.4 billion CZK (4.7
billion USD). Famous architects such as Daniel Liebeskind and Hani Rashid
have been linked to the project. Jakub Cigler, the Czech architect in
charge of renovating Prague’s Wenceslas Square, is also involved in the
Bubny scheme.
Burger King expands into the Czech market
US chain Burger King is coming to the Czech Republic. Burger King will
take on its main rivals KFC and McDonald’s, as well as the Czech
Republic’s indigenous sausage and schnitzel stands, in its bid for
fast-food supremacy. There are currently nearly 13,000 fast-food outlets in
the Czech Republic. The biggest chain in the country, McDonald’s,
recorded sales of 3.2 billion crowns (209 million USD) in 2007, drawing in
over 53 million customers in that twelve-month period. Now Burger King
wants a piece of the pie, but has not yet divulged where its first outlet
will be, nor when it will be opened.
Over 17,000 dollar millionaires in the Czech Republic
The number of dollar millionaires in the Czech Republic shot up in 2007 to
over 17,000, a study by Capgemini and Meryll Lynch has found. The number is
up by nearly 15 percent on the previous year’s figures. The study’s
authors attributed the rise to the strength of the crown and economic
growth in the Czech Republic. The richest man in the Czech Republic is Petr
Kellner, the main shareholder in the country’s PPF financial group. His
property wealth alone is estimated at 9.3 billion USD, which places him
inside the Forbes top-100 rich list.
Carmaker Tatra to re-launch vintage car models
And finally, after a pause lasting more than a decade, Czech carmaker
Tatra is to resume production of some of its now ‘retro’ car models.
The company, which has in recent years specialized in lorry production,
announced on Tuesday that it would be dusting-off some of its vintage car
models. Tatra enthusiasts can vote for which of the cars they would like to
see revived over the internet or at the carmaker’s museum in Kopřivnice.
The three most popular models will then reenter production in January 2010.
Tatra boss Ronald Adams has said that while the vehicles’ chassis will
remain the same as the original, the cars’ engines will be brought up to
date. Only a limited number of the retro cars will be produced; they are
expected to cost around 620,000 crowns (40,600 USD) each.
