News: Monday, November 18th, 2024

EDF files appeal against selection of Korean firm KHNP in Dukovany tender

The French company EDF has filed an appeal against the decision of the Czech Anti-Monopoly Office, which at the end of October rejected its objections to the awarding of the tender for the construction of new nuclear units at the Dukovany plant to the Korean firm KHNP. The US company Westinghouse, which was excluded from the tender earlier, has also filed objections. In their appeals, they questioned the Korean firm's authority to use the technology on offer and the transparency of the procedure.

The contract with KHNP is due to be signed by the end of March 2025, and the first of the new reactors in Dukovany should be completed in 2036.

Finance minister: flood damage estimate now exceeding CZK 60 billion

The September floods caused damages to the tune of roughly CZK 60 billion, Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura said on Monday after a meeting with representatives of employers, social service providers and municipalities affected by the floods in the Olomouc Region. He said the estimated amount is not final and will probably increase as repairs are still ongoing. Meanwhile Czech insurers put the damage estimate to insured property at CZK 18.8 billion. According to a report by the Czech Association of Insurance Companies, institutions and companies suffered damages to the tune of CZK 11.6 billion, while households sustained losses of approximately CZK 7.2 billion. Insurers have registered approximately 89,600 insurance claims to date.

Memory of Nations Awards given out at National Theatre

On Sunday evening, five individuals who opposed the Nazis or Communists received a Memory of Nations Award at a ceremony at Prague's National Theatre. The awards went to Marta Neužilová and Pavel Záleský from Czechia, Ladislav Szalay and Karol Dubovan from Slovakia, and Olha Hejková from Ukraine. The Memory of Nations awards are given out annually by the non-profit organisation Post Bellum, and since 2010, sixty-six people have received the award.

President Petr Pavel and First Lady Eva Pavlová also attended the ceremony this year. Last year, he became the first head of state to attend the gala evening since its inception. The nominees are selected by historians, journalists and researchers from the records of the international Memory of Nations archive of witnesses’ recollections, which Post Bellum started in 2001.

Economists consider PM’s promise to raise Czech incomes to the level in Germany unrealistic

Economists consider Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s promise to raise Czech incomes to the level of those in Germany in four years’ time, if he gets another term in office, unrealistic. Fiala made the pronouncement on Czech Television, stating his intention to lead the SPOLU (Together) coalition in next year’s general elections. Economists point out that if the prime minister were to fulfill his promise nominal earnings in factories and offices would have to rise by at least a quarter every year and earnings in Germany would have to stagnate in that period. According to Eurostat, the annual average gross wage in Germany last year was over 50,000 euros. In the Czech Republic, the average annual wage was less than half of that, and remains well below the European average.

Commission of inquiry into Charles University shooting to reconvene in Chamber of Deputies

On Monday, the commission of inquiry into last year's shooting at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University will meet again in the Czech parliament’s lower house. On the agenda for this closed meeting are the questioning of a witness and a discussion of the results of the investigation. According to earlier information, the commission has so far heard around thirty witnesses and devoted fifteen hours to the inquiry. The chairman of the commission, Pavel Kašník, previously stated that he wants to have the final report ready by mid-December.

In the attack on the faculty on December 21st 2023, fourteen people died and another twenty-five were injured. The perpetrator committed suicide after the attack. The task of the commission is to map the tragic events from the morning of December 21st until the conclusion of the intervention of the emergency services, with a particular focus on the police, whose response the commission is set to evaluate.

Food prices expected to rise in connection with growing production costs in agriculture

Growing production costs in agriculture indicate another rise in food prices in the coming months, according to analysts polled by the CTK news agency. However, in view of the development of production costs in other sectors, analysts do not expect a return of the record-high inflation seen in previous years. According to the Czech Statistics Office production costs in agriculture rose by 2.4 per cent year-on-year in October, in what is their first increase in 17 months.

Interest in mortgages on the rise

Banks and building societies granted mortgages worth more than CZK 26 billion in October, of which almost CZK 22 billion were actually new loans, the Czech Banking Association reported. Compared to September, mortgage activity increased by nine percent. The average interest rate on newly granted mortgage loans fell slightly to 4.9 percent in October down by 0.8 percent year-on-year according to the Czech Banking Association. The Czech National Bank, has meanwhile cut its base rate, on which interest rates on financial products in banks are based, four times faster - by three percentage points to 4 percent.

Weather forecast

Tuesday should be overcast around the country with rain in the western parts of Czechia and day temperatures between 6 and 10 degrees Celsius.