Israir airline intends to take over Czech Smartwings for EUR 44 million. This emerges from a mandatory publication published on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Smartwings does not want to comment on this at the moment. Currently, the Czech carrier is majority-owned by Jiří Šimáň and Roman Vik. A company from China is also involved as a minority shareholder. The former subsidiary CSA has already been separated from the group and is now a sister company. It is currently still unclear whether Israir will take the offer. If it can be assumed that a construction must be created that formally guarantees EU majority ownership. Smartwings does not want to comment on the possible takeover by the carrier from Israel. Smartwings also owns Czech Airlines (CSA), the legacy carrier that is the flag carrier of the Czech Republic. Czech Airlines is not in a very good position at the moment: it is in administration and is being reorganized. The reorganization is going well so far because the administrator is selling off Czech Airlines’ emissions allowances to generate revenue to gradually cover its debts. Smartwings has subsidiaries in Eastern Europe The Smartwings Group also runs flight operations under the Smartwings brand in several countries outside of...
Czechia continues to have the lowest unemployment rate in the whole of the European Union, according to newly released data by the European statistics agency Eurostat. Unemployment rate dropped to 2.2 percent in September, compared to 2.4 percent in August. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the Czech lower house described the current Russian regime as terrorist. In a resolution passed on Thursday, the committee condemned the large-scale attacks on Ukrainian civilians and key infrastructure and refused to recognise the referendums on annexation of the four Ukrainian regions to Russia. President Miloš Zeman vetoed an amendment to this year’s budget on Thursday, arguing that the revenues are lower than they could have been had an amendment to the Income Tax Act been adopted first. The Czech Republic will from now on present itself as “Czechia” for the purposes of international sports, according to a decision by the executive committee of the Czech Olympic Committee (COV) yesterday. Czechia plans to close its embassy in Mali and its consulate general in China’s Chengdu, the Foreign Ministry’s state secretary Radek Rubeš said at a meeting of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee on Thursday.
This year Korzo Národní brings solidarity celebrations on 17 November. Already now a new installation on Václav Havel Square (National Theatre piazzetta) gives a voice to people in need. November 17, 1989 November 17th, 1989 set in motion the Velvet Revolution which led to the peaceful overthrow of the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. Following a brutal police crack-down on an unarmed student demonstration in Prague on that day, thousands of people took to the streets, asserting their desire for change. A week after the fall of the Berlin Wall, with East Germany, Poland and Hungary already firmly set on the road to democracy, it was clear that the Eastern Bloc was crumbling. The fall of the Iron Curtain ended nearly half a century of a divided Europe, changing the political map of the Old Continent and indeed the world. It marked the beginning of a new era for millions of people. Korzo Národní 2022 Korzo Národní is already presenting itself in public space. On Václav Havel Square there is a charity booth revealing stories from socially vulnerable groups. Just pick a number from the list, pick up a handset and listen to the stories of ordinary people in distress. With...
According to an analysis by Sodexo Benefity, lunch in a restaurant in September cost CZK 172 on average, CZK 5 more than in August and CZK 15 more than in January. People spent the most money on a lunch meal in a restaurant in Prague, at CZK 195. On the other hand, the cheapest price, on average CZK 153, was paid in establishments in the Olomouc region. “Given that the annual inflation rate reached 18 percent in September, and experts expect it to fall below the 10 percent mark by the middle of next year at the earliest, it is certain that people in Prague will pay an average of CZK 200 for lunch later this year. And with a high degree of probability, Central Bohemians will join them,” said Jan Michelfeit of Sodexo Benefity. At the beginning of this year, the average lunch cost CZK 157. The cheapest in September was in the Olomouc Region (CZK 152.6) and the Vysočina Region (CZK 154), the analysis showed. “Lunch prices have been rising continuously for the twelfth month in a row. They headed upwards in autumn last year, shortly after all covid restrictions were relaxed,” Michelfeit pointed out. The price is...
On the occasion of Czechoslovak Independence Day, President Zeman presented high state distinctions to 78 outstanding personalities from different walks of life, 32 of them were awarded in memoriam. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received the Order of the White Lion, the highest state honour in the Czech Republic, in absentia. A representative from the Ukrainian embassy in Prague accepted the award on behalf of Zelenskiy. Zeman noted that Zelenskyy “showed courage and bravery. And, although the United States offered him an evacuation, he remained in the capital of his country, where he manages its defense.” The Order of the White Lion (Czech: Řád Bílého lva) is the highest order of the Czech Republic. It continues a Czechoslovak order of the same name created in 1922 as an award for foreigners (Czechoslovakia had no civilian decoration for its citizens in the 1920s and 1930s). It was inspired by the Czech Nobility Cross created in 1814 by the Emperor and King Francis I and awarded to 37 Bohemian noblemen. The state awards ceremony takes place every year on October 28. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021. The Order of the White Lion was also awarded to Josef Mašín, a member of the Czechoslovak Legions in Russia and later a member of...
In 2021, the Czech Ministry of Health received 196 applications for gender reassignment. This is a record number in the history of the country. Of the 196 applications submitted, the vast majority (131) were from women who had decided to become men. Czech law has allowed for gender reassignment since 2012. Initially, there were fewer than 50 applications a year but last year the figure reached almost 200, Czech Television said. Experts attribute this growth to the influence of social media, improved sexual education and growing tolerance in society. The costs of the surgery itself and the examinations are covered by state health insurance. Patients themselves pay only for some hormones and cosmetic improvements, such as hair removal or breast implants. The operation, open for people aged 18 or more, “requires a positive opinion from a Ministry of Health expert committee and, if the patient does not have full legal capacity, the approval of a court.” Anyone embarking on gender reassignment treatment in Czechia must be single, divorced, widowed, or, if a civil partner, their partnership must have been dissolved. If an individual is married or in a registered partnership, the registry office informs them that, if they do not...
The scientific research department at Masaryk University has spoken out about rising energy costs and the impact it has on work while asking the government for assistance. Scientific institutions across Europe are struggling with high prices, with some turning to their governments for assistance, as the research might be a highly energy-intensive activity. “For example, in the case of our institute, CEITEC at Masaryk University, the operation of instruments and technologies needed for science accounts for about 90% of the energy consumption in a given year. The energy crisis is, therefore a phenomenon that significantly affects us as scientific institutions,” said Nantl, in the letter. According to Nantl, governments should provide more sustainable funding for research institutions as these bodies are crucial in tackling global challenges, such as pandemics. In the Czech Republic, funding for research infrastructures from the Ministry of Education and Youth for 2020 to 2022 amounts to €80 million, with a further €120 million from EU funds. As Signe Ratso, acting Director of the European Commission’s DG for Research and Innovation, said at the ICRI 2022 conference organised in the Czech Republic on 19-21 October, the impact of the energy crisis on research infrastructures is one of the topics...
October 28 is Independent Czechoslovak State Day, and most large stores over 200 square meters will close due to the law passed in 2016. Pharmacies, gas stations, and stores in airports, hospitals and train stations are not included in the law. Stores under 200 square meters, such as local grocery stores, can also remain open. Violators of the law can face fines up to Kč 1 million, and some fines have been levied in the past. This year is the 104th anniversary of the establishment of the First Republic of Czechoslovakia in 1918. There are a few celebrations planned, such as a ceremony at the National Monument in Vítkov at 10 am. Independent Czechoslovak State Day marks when the newly created Czechoslovakia broke away from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the closing days of World War I. Bohemia and Moravia had been ruled by Austrian while Slovakia was controlled from Hungary. Nationalist movements began in the middle of the 18th century. Despite some cultural and linguistic differences, Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia decided to join together. Secret talks to create the country took place with the support of the Allied forces in the US, Britain and France. The Czechoslovak Declaration of Independence was drafted in October...
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. Energy poverty is an issue that needs to be discussed at the European level and one cannot rely on national solutions only, the Czech Labour and Social Affairs Ministry and Industry and Trade Ministry representatives agreed at a conference on energy poverty. They said if EU member states proceeded separately, it would violate the single market. Czech conductor Libor Pesek, who was the music director and chief conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO) from 1987 to 1998, died on Sunday. Pesek received the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1996, on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Czechia. The Czech prime minister, Petr Fiala, says he will attend an honours ceremony at Prague Castle on Friday’s October 28 national holiday despite the fact he does not like President Miloš Zeman’s selective approach to inviting guests. Over 5,000 people in Czechia have undergone gender reassignment, Czech Television reported on Monday. The number of Czech teenagers dealing with issues of sexual identity has increased in recent years due...
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. The number of Ukrainian refugees who have received temporary protection status in Czechia has now passed 450,000. During the last week 3,288 more people were given these special visas, bringing the total number to 450,090, according to the Ministry of the Interior. Organisations representing sexual minorities are set to hold a rally named Together Against Violence on Prague’s Wenceslas Square on Wednesday, October 26. The LGBT+ groups say they expect up to 10,000 people to attend the event The Prague Sounds music festival kicked off in the Czech capital on Sunday with a concert by US group Snarky Puppy at the Lucerna Grand Hall. Eight other events are taking place in the festival previously known as Strings of Autumn. The ANO party will now announce their plans for the presidential election on Monday October 31, instead of next Wednesday as originally promised. The reason given is that leader Andrej Babiš is in isolation after testing positive for Covid-19. Czechia will change its quotas for employing non-EU foreigners as of November, making...
If your day doesn’t start until you’re up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to our new morning fix. Households account for about 30 per cent of total energy consumption in Czechia, with two thirds of their consumption used for heating, according to the results of a survey by the Czech Statistics Office presented on Thursday. After several years of reconstruction, the Army Museum at the Military History Institute in Prague will be officially opened on Thursday. The renovation of the building, which is located at the foot of the city’s Vítkov hill in the Žižkov district, amounted to over CZK 900 million. The police have proposed charging former TOP 09 MP Dominik Feri with three counts of rape, according to a statement posted on Twitter on Thursday. Mr. Feri, who is 25, faces up to 10 years in prison because prosecutors are also pursuing him for the crime of rape committed against a 17-year-old girl. The Czech Defense Ministry can provide care for up to 35 wounded Ukrainian soldiers in its hospitals, and these military hospitals have treated nine such soldiers so far, the ministry said on its website. Ukraine...
The history of Czechoslovak LSD is one of the greatest phenomena of the second half of the 20th century. How come for almost a quarter of a century, in a communist state, thousands of people, including many popular artists such as Karel Gott, were able to use psychedelic drugs entirely legally? In the autumn of 1952 several young psychiatrists in Prague ingested for the first time a mysterious substance that had been sent from a laboratory in Basel. This is how the Czechoslovak adventure with LSD began. The substance arrived in Prague in an entirely legal way. A standard shipment from the pharmaceutical company Sandoz was sent to Dr Jiří Roubíček, an associate professor at the Faculty of Psychiatry at the Medical University of Prague. It contained ampoules with an oily, transparent substance described as ‘lysergic acid diethylamide’, a substance first synthesized in 1938 by the Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann. Initially considered useless, LSD attracted the attention of the company owners after Hoffman accidentally tested its effects on himself on 19th April 1943. Four years later, the first study summarizing the results of LSD tests involving healthy volunteers and patients in psychiatric hospitals was released. The article was attached to the parcel...
Don’t have an account? Register
[swpm_registration_form level=”6″]
Already have an account? Log In
How Would You Like to Promote Your Business? PR ArticleDisplay bannersVideo productionNewsletter adsJob ListingsInfluencer Marketing
Your Email
We will come back to you within 24 hours with our proporsal
