Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala called on Czechs to handle gas and electricity in a rational manner to save their own money and help lower state expenditures, while also helping the Czech economy. He added that the state would set a positive example by economising on the use of energy. The Czech government’s recently decided to cap the prices of energy for households, small and medium-sized enterprises and public institutions. “Over CZK 100 billion is involved, which we have to get from somewhere. We don’t want to borrow money once again, as previous cabinets did repeatedly,” Fiala said. The government is also discussing options to compensate large high-net-worth Czech companies and industrial enterprises for lost profits due to rising energy costs. Besides using the planned windfall tax, targeting extraordinary profits among energy companies, the state should finance the electricity and gas price caps from increased dividends from state-controlled companies, including the CEZ energy provider, Fiala said. The soaring price of energy in late August is a direct consequence of Russia’s economic war against the West, said Fiala. “Its goal is to threaten the social certainties of people in European countries, paralyse our economies, undermine citizens’ trust in the state and democracy itself, and...
A pilot project for the sale of long-term storage products has been launched in five branches of Czech Post. Visitors can now find shelves with drinks, sweets, chips and other snacks. The project takes place in four post offices in Prague and one in the Central Bohemian region. “This is a trial stage of the project which is based on our business strategy. It was preceded by a client survey that received positive feedback. We see in this format an excellent commercial opportunity. Thanks to the commission form we act as intermediaries and only provide premises”, – said the representative of the company Ivo Vysoudil. The post office greatly reduced the sale of additional goods at its branches in 2014, when the then head of the Ministry of the Interior compared them to convenience stores. Critics of the new project mainly raise their eyebrows at the choice of assortment. The Czech state, which on the one hand pays for campaigns to promote a healthier diet and at the same time spends considerable sums on the treatment of obesity, is now allowing the post offices to sell sugary drinks, biscuits and chips.
The Village of the Year in the Czech Republic is a national competition held since 1995, announced annually by the Ministry of Regional Development. Its aim is to promote the “restoration” and “development” of the Czech countryside through communal projects carried out by villagers themselves. Each year hundreds of Czech and Moravian villages enter the competition. Being focused on the countryside, the notion of rurality is one of the competition’s defining features. Kostelni Lhota in Central Bohemia has been named Czech village 2022. It has about 900 inhabitants. Between Poděbrady and Sadská, along the road that used to be called Slezká (Silesian) or Náchodská (according to the town of Náchod) there are four villages with Lhota as part of their name. They are as follows: Přední Lhota (Front Lhota), Vrbová Lhota (Willow Lhota), Písková Lhota (Sandy Lhota) and Kostelní Lhota (Church Lhota) respectively. The dominant building of Kostelní Lhota is naturally the local church that – together with the vicarage and school – comprises the historical village center. All of the above Lhotas were established in the second half of the 14th century. There used to be deep forest in this area before, as well as a rather wide-spread marshland...
The foreign minister of the Czech Republic, current holder of the presidency of the Council of the EU, called for a “special international tribunal” after evidence of torture on civilians emerged from a mass burial site in Izyum in northeastern Ukraine. “Russia left behind mass graves of hundreds of shot and tortured people in the Izyum area. In the 21st century, such attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and abhorrent,” Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský wrote in a Twitter thread on Saturday. “We stand for the punishment of all war criminals. I call for the speedy establishment of a special international tribunal that will prosecute the crime of aggression,” he said. Izyum was one of Moscow’s main strongholds in the area until September 10, when a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive aimed at recapturing the Kharkiv region drove Russian troops out of the city. Following the discovery of a mass grave in a nearby wood containing the remains of over 440 people — mostly thought to be civilians — Ukrainian forces started exhuming the bodies on Friday. According to Ukrainian officials, some of the bodies recovered so far show signs of torture. The chief of the prosecutor’s office for the Kharkiv region told the Reuters...
The Krkonoše mountains located in the north of the Czech Republic recorded the first snowfall of the 2022-23 season on Sunday night. According to pictures from webcams, the highest point of the country – the Sněžka Mountain – is also slightly covered in snow.
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 architect Vlado Milunic, who was born in Croatia but spent almost all his life in Czechia, has died at the age of 81. He is best-known for co-designing Prague’s now iconic Dancing Building with the American architect Frank Gehry. A freshly published opinion poll by the STEM agency suggests ANO would have won elections in September with 30 percent of the vote. The survey puts Tomio Okamura’s anti-EU Freedom and Democracy Party second on 14.3 percent, just ahead of government leaders the Civic Democrats on 14.2 percent. A long-standing employee of the Czech Foreign Ministry cooperated with the Russian intelligence service (SVR) and leaked secret information to them, according to reports in Denik N on Thursday. The official had to leave the ministry, wrote Denik N, corroborated by the Aktualne.cz and Respekt.cz news sites. According to Median’s August election model, Andrej Babiš and Petr Pavel would advance to the second round of the presidential election, with Danuše Nerudová finishing third. Although Babiš is leading, he would lose in a duel with...
The Dancing House is an unusual building that resembles a pair of dancers; it’s is a rare example of top contemporary architecture in Prague, which otherwise abounds with picturesque historical buildings, churches and monuments. Due to its shape, the building is also known as Ginger and Fred after famed dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It’s formed by two central towers; the one known as Ginger is made of glass and steel, while Fred has a concrete body and a metal head. It’s located next to the building where the late President Vaclav Havel used to live. It was built on a plot of land that earlier housed a 19th-century neo-Renaissance building that was destroyed in a World War II air bombardment. Havel is said to have been the first who talked to Milunić about making an architectural study for a possible arts center on the plot. In 1992, the Dutch company Nationale Nederlanden acquired it, seeking to build an office building, and Milunić approached Gehry to participate. He agreed. Their nine-story project was completed in 1996 and was named among “The Best Design of 1996” by Time magazine. The unusual architecture initially caused some controversy, with critics saying it...
The first summit meeting of the new EU-plus forum is to take place in Prague, as the Czech Republic currently holds the rotating EU presidency, just ahead of an informal meeting of EU leaders on 7 October. “Invitations will be sent out soon” for the summit, scheduled to take place on 6-7 October in Prague, with leaders of the six Western Balkan countries, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan expected to receive them, the EU official told reporters. The idea for the new forum, a brainchild of French President Emmanuel Macron, is to provide a platform for political dialogue and cooperation while including countries aspiring to join the EU and those happy remaining outside the bloc. The main aim is “to have a political discussion on strategic issues of common interest for the European continent,” the EU official said, adding that the main issues will include Russia’s war against Ukraine, the energy crisis and Europe’s economic situation. Macron had pitched the idea earlier in May, amid the debate whether to grant Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova EU candidate status, as an option that would allow those EU neighbouring countries currently outside the EU framework to be more closely...
Saint Wenceslas Wine Festival happens annually below Prague castle on the oldest vineyard in the Czech republic – Saint Wenceslas vineyard. It was established in the 10the century and, according to the legend, Saint Wenceslas himself planted wine and harvested grapes in order to produce the sacramental wine. This year on September 24, for the fifteenth time, you will get a chance to taste the excellent 50 kinds of excellent wines from leading Czech and Moravian wineries and also local wines in the authentic setting of the oldest Czech vineyard with breathtaking views of Prague. In addition to tasting beautiful wines, you can look forward to many other delicacies. Of course, there will also be traditional burčák – new half-fermented wine. Different DJs – TGT, I Am Styf, Subgate – will be playing for your listening pleasure, while jazz music lovers will be delighted by the great saxophonist František Havlíček and his band. In addition, you can look forward to a variety of gastronomic delicacies. More info on Facebook Where: St. Wenceslas Vineyard – Villa Richter, Staré zámecké schody 6, Prague 1 When: 24 September 2022, from 11 AM to 7 PM Entry: 250 CZK including a tasting glass. Tickets can be...
The Czech government, led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala, presented a plan to relieve citizens from unprecedentedly high energy prices, with ministers finally moving to put a cap on the country’s electricity and gas prices. At the same time, proposals for price caps also came from Brussels. Jakub Kajzler, the advisor to the prime minister, spoke in an interview for Echo24 about how the Czech and European paths are related, who will not be spared by taxation, and how the Czech consumer will benefit from this. Answering the question as to why the EU price cap being lower than the one approved by the Czech government, Kajzler said that the EU price cap is a reference figure that allows governments to tax revenues from sales for prices higher than €180 per megawatt-hour. The number, however, does not say anything about what the electricity price for the consumers should be. He indicated that the European Commission is only saying that governments can use the money from the taxed income of some producers to compensate the final consumers, i.e., citizens and entrepreneurs. The Czech and European price caps are thus not comparable. A large part of the electricity that is currently being supplied was already...
The Lunchmeat Festival continues its tradition of a week-long program every Autumn bringing top-notch cutting-edge digital artists and musicians/producers/DJs in contemporary electronic music. This includes a symposium, performances in venues around Prague, and sometimes an element of shock. While Lunchmeat Festival places great emphasis on local and the most promising of rising acts in the genre, they assure a consistency of top artists from around the world and across multiple generations. A pioneer of underground electronica from the UK and at Lunchmeat for the first-time ever is Squarepusher. Squarepusher is Tom Jenkinson, an electric bass guitarist, electronic musician, producer, and a DJ. He was at the forefront of progressive electronic jazz and drum & bass since the 1990s releasing tracks on Ninja Tune and Warp Records. These days, he has become a multimedia-one-man-act with his furious attack on bass with a mobile arsenal of electronica for a full-bore performance. Another veteran this year includes the return of Lee Gamble, an artist, producer, label owner and a DJ. You can expect from a DJ mix of Lee Gamble’s anything from conceptual sound art, jazz, drill, dream pop and rave classics, since he has been at the forefront of progressive electronica...
Workshops for children instead of cars, local delicacies instead of fast food and time to get to know your neighbors better instead of hustle and bustle. On Saturday, September 17, the AutoMat association, together with hundreds of volunteer organizers, is preparing the festival Zažít město jinak (Take Back Your Street) and a varied program tailored to each participating street. This year, with the motto “No boundaries”, they are also trying to overcome barriers in public space and those in our heads. “Each neighborhood site involved is completely different. It reflects the spirit of the place as well as who undertakes the organization of the program. Sometimes it is a local school or a pub, in others it is an art group, an activist association or even a parish. Some places will become the scene of a larger street festival, while others are planning “just” a neighborhood picnic or a film screening,” explains Tomáš Fridrich, the main coordinator of Zažít město jinak (Take back your street). “But they are all united by the fact that Zažít město jinak event is open to everyone – children, seniors, people with health restrictions and, on the fringes of society, our neighbors from Ukraine and...
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