European beer lovers' call for Czechs to save state brewery

A Europe-wide grouping of beer lovers has called on Czechs to lobby their government not to privatise the country's third largest brewery, Budejovicky Budvar. "Czech citizens should petition their government to ensure that Budvar remains a state asset and stays that way for the next century," the president of the European Beer Consumers Union Terry Lock, said at a news conference in Prague at the end of a two-day meeting. The centre-right Czech government announced the first step towards privatising Budvar at the beginning of April when Agriculture Minister Petr Gandalovic announced that the brewery would be transformed into a shareholder company.