The Czech government is developing a special program to support the voluntary return of Ukrainian refugees living in the country, the CTK news agency reports. The draft of the program was made available to the news agency by the government’s press department. According to the document, the Czech government would provide concrete assistance to Ukrainian refugees wishing to return to their home country and would cover part of the costs. The state would, for example, pay for the cost of tickets and ensure the repatriation of the refugees’ personal belongings. The draft will shortly be submitted to the government, which will set up the necessary financial fund once it is adopted. The document shows that the Czech government would first extend the temporary protection package for Ukrainian refugees by one year, from March 2024 to the end of March 2025. Under a government decision last year, refugees from Ukraine will be granted temporary residence permits that entitle them to benefit from the Czech social and health insurance system. Children will be able to go to school and adults will be free to work. Refugees also receive financial support of several thousand crowns a month for a certain period. Since the invasion...
There is no exaggeration that Prague has the only one café in the world built in the cubist style. Cubism used to be a popular style of painting at the beginning of the 20th Century, but in Prague, it finds its popularity also in architecture. Once you enter the cubistic House of the Black Madonna, see the stairs in the shape of the light bulb and enter the unique Grand Café Orient on the first floor. What is unique about this place is the interior. Grand Café Orient is the only café designed in cubism. You might find numerous cafés in similar styles such as Art Deco and Art Nouveau, but the cubist style café is the only one. In 1912, young architect Josef Gočár designed the whole building together with light bulb stairs and café on the first floor. Because of the small sculpture in the corner, it is well known as the House of the Black Madonna. Unfortunately, the café was open only for several years and then closed because the cubism was not modern anymore. The café reopened in 2005 after extensive renovations according to the original photographs of interiors, so the cubist style is still visible...
It’s been two years since the Prague Writers’ Festival held its annual event in the city of a hundred spires. Prominent writers from around the globe swooped into the Czech Republic, spoke about their lives, and shared their work and culture with hundreds of aficionados of literature. And though some time has passed since it whetted people’s appetites for contemporary letters, Moving Center Literary Festival is taking up the reins to continue to harness Prague’s love of literature. The brainchild of American Prague-based poet and novelist Lucien Zell, Moving Center Literary Festival aims to foster literary exchange and help connect Central European writers to the broader world. Incorporating readings, panel discussions, and workshops, this new annual event is meant to welcome people with established interests in literature as well as those more typically left out of “intellectual” spheres. “Milan Kundera asserted that Central Europe is a “laboratory of twilight,” and I think that phrase is significant on a multitude of levels”, says Zell. “Twilight happens twice a day. First at the beginning of the day, with dawn, and then it happens at the end of the day, with night. Central Europe is a laboratory and we are living experiments. What...
Czechia has tightened the conditions for paying benefits to Ukrainian refugees, bringing considerable savings to its economy during financial consolidation. According to Czech government data seen by Seznam Zprávy, expenditure for Ukrainian refugees has been cut by over a third. In June 2023, the state spent nearly €71 million on humanitarian aid and solidarity grants, with spending falling to around €46 million by July. The savings are linked to the so-called Lex Ukraine law, which overhauled refugee benefits and came into force in July. The Czech government’s move comes when it is intensively discussing the consolidation of public finances and austerity measures. Czech Labour Minister Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL, EPP) confirms that the change in the conditions led to a significant drop in expenditures. According to him, some refugees even left the country and returned to Ukraine. Others decided to find a job in Czechia to be able to cover their needs. “Obviously, this has also had an impact on employment, which is still growing,” said Jurečka, as quoted by Seznam Zprávy. Currently, there are 325,742 Ukrainian refugees with temporary protection registered in Czechia – making it one of the European countries that hosts the most Ukrainian refugees per capita. According to the Czech...
At 85 CZK per beer, the price of enjoying a drink in Prague might surprise you… A prime example of this is Náplavka, where beer prices compete with those at Croatia’s seaside spots. On a floating bar, a pint costs 85 CZK. Even if you’re looking for non-alcoholic beverages, you’ll find yourself dealing with higher costs, like paying 75 CZK for a liter of water. And don’t forget about the craft lemonades and cocktails that add up… Riverside Bar not only provides a unique chillout atmosphere but also offers an assortment of refreshing cocktails and light snacks. What could be better than leisurely walking along the Vltava River during the warm months, accompanied by refreshing drinks and summer tunes? However… the cocktails offered by the bar are priced at around 150 CZK each. The popular Cuba Libre is slightly cheaper by ten crowns, and the beloved Aperol Spritz, is priced at 145 CZK. If you’re looking for budget options, you can go for the Gin and Tonic at 135 CZK. For those who aren’t into cocktails, there’s not much relief from the expenses. A half-liter of beer costs 65 crowns, though it’s Dutch Heineken, despite Staropramen being brewed on the...
The Radegast brewery, located in Nošovice, near the Frýdek-Místek region, has accomplished a significant milestone in brewing. For the first time, they have created beer using water extracted from the air’s humidity. This achievement comes through a special batch called Radegast Futur, which aims to raise awareness about the scarcity of water in the Czech landscape. This innovative water-harvesting technology was developed in collaboration with ČVUT and Karbox. A member of the research team, Nicola Pokorný, explained that the EWA (Emergency Water from Air) device is based on the principles of ČVUT’s Solar Air Water Earth Resource (S.A.W.E.R.) system. Designed primarily for extremely hot and dry regions, the EWA device can produce approximately 30 liters of drinkable water per day. Its main purpose is to serve as an emergency source of drinking water during natural disasters or conflicts where water becomes scarce. Unlike most air-to-water systems that cool the air to condense moisture, the ČVUT team developed a unique approach using a specific sorption material. This material collects moisture from the air and releases it through heating, creating highly humid air. This humidity allows for water condensation, even in challenging environments. Beyond conservation, the brewery aims to preserve water within the...
The Czech Republic is facing the biggest turning point in its modern history as it has exhausted all previous growth drivers, lost its competitive advantages and fallen into the so-called middle-income trap, a new study has found. The study on Czech competitiveness was conducted by the Czech Chamber of Commerce. According to its findings, the country could face long-term economic stagnation and a slowdown in wage growth and living standards. Further convergence with the level of more advanced European countries will be complicated given the current structure of the economy, the study also found. “If the economy continues to converge and reach the level of Western countries, it will have to escape the middle-income trap, i.e. move towards higher value-added production. In such a situation, it is possible to remain competitive even with relatively more expensive labour,” said Chamber of Commerce President Zdeněk Zajíček. However, according to experts, the problem with the Czech economy today is that it generates only low-added value. Compared to other EU countries, the value added generated is one of the lowest in the EU, with the Czech Republic ranking 24th out of 27 countries. The economy has not yet escaped the middle-income trap, failing to...
The Lobeč brewery is one of 30 heritage projects to receive the European Heritage / Europa Nostra Award this year. For Czech architect Pavel Prouza, restoring a run-down building with historic value was a childhood dream nurtured during family tours of old monuments. Next month, he will receive a major European heritage award in Venice for having renovated a sprawling derelict brewery on the brink of total destruction. The Renaissance-era site in Lobeč, a village north of Prague, is now producing beer again after architect and his wife sank all their money into the high-risk investment. With an annual output of almost 100,000 litres of beer, the brewery looks set to thrive in the country known for its love of the tipple. Several hundred years old, the brewery produced over a million litres of beer a year during its heyday in the early 20th century. It flourished until World War II but was nationalised when the Communists took power and turned into a produce warehouse, tractor garage, workshops and flats. Falling into disrepair, the site changed hands several times post-communism, its owners using it for construction material. Squatters finished the job, burning up the floor planks and treating some...
The Czech Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) has rejected an appeal from a pre-op transgender person who claimed that the requirement for them to undergo surgery to change from a woman to a man before they can officially change their gender was unconstitutional. The appellant was born as a woman but now identifies as a man. They wanted official recognition of their amended gender status but the Czech registry office refused to comply with the request for an official change of gender, including the entry of a male name and a male version of the birth number, because the appellant had not undergone a surgical procedure associated with the disabling of reproductive function, as required by law. The decision, in which the NSS emphasized the importance of protecting the basic natural attributes of family and parenthood, is temporarily binding on the official board. The Constitutional Court recently decided on a similar case with the same result. According to the NSS, the applicant’s hope that the new composition of the Constitutional Court will rule in his favor was curious. The applicant, whom the court refers to as male according to his wishes, claimed that the conditionality of gender change by carrying out...
Fifty-five years ago on 21 August, Milan Linhart reached for his camera as Soviet tanks rolled into the streets of Czechoslovakia’s capital.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit the Czech Republic in October for a collaborative government meeting. The meeting will mark a renewed effort in discussions between the two nations. The news was confirmed by Seznam Zprávy, following a briefing from Veronika Kuchyňová Šmigolová, the incoming Czech ambassador to Israel. Netanyahu will visit Prague on October 9th. However, any unforeseen global or domestic circumstances could potentially lead to a change in this schedule. Netanyahu is currently grappling with pressure concerning contentious judicial reform and has also faced scrutiny regarding his selection of coalition partners and ministers. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Interior Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, both representing ultra-nationalist parties, will not take part to the trip. “The finance minister will not attend the meeting as there are no pertinent topics for discussion with him,” said the incoming Czech ambassador to Israel, Veronika Kuchyňová Šmigolová. She further highlighted the diverse range of subjects on the agenda, encompassing defense, science, research, innovation, education, and transport. Czechia is probably the most enthusiastic supporter of Israel in the EU and have long tried to protect Israel in votes at the UN. For example, when former US president Donald Trump moved...
The Transport Company of the Capital City of Prague has awarded the production contract for two new cars for the Petřín cableway to DOPPELMAYR lanové dráhy, a subsidiary of the Austrian-Swiss Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group. The contract was officially signed today, August 17, with Doppelmayr’s winning bid of CZK 137.7 million, undercutting the estimated contract value by CZK 12.3 million. The competition for the contract involved two bidders, with the Italian company LEITNER S.p.A./AG as the runner-up. The manufacture of the new vehicles is slated to take 11 months, preceded by a comprehensive design study and production documentation phase. Both carriages for the Petřín cable car will be fabricated in Switzerland, involving various entities within the Doppelmayr/Garaventa group. The actual manufacturing will be carried out by sister company CWA Constructions SA in Olten, specializing in cable car cabin design and production, with an annual output of over 2,000 cars. Meanwhile, cableway control and management systems will be developed by Frey AG Stan in Oberdorf, and rope production will be undertaken by Swiss company FATZER AG from the BRUGG Group. The carriages, tailor-made for Prague, will undergo further detailing during project preparation to determine passenger capacity and vehicle weight. Technical Specs of...
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