Energy suppliers in the Czech Republic have already raised prices several times this year. Families living in houses that heat water, heat and cook with gas will feel it the most. According to experts, a household consisting of four people will have to prepare approximately 56,000 crowns more than they were used to just for gas bills. The worst situation is for families with children who live in a house and heat with gas. In a block of flats without gas, a family of four will pay an extra 11,000 crowns for electricity this year. However, if they live in a house and heats with gas, electricity costs will rise by 22,000 crowns this year, and even by 28,000 for gas. However, it is not only households with children that are at risk. “The most vulnerable category of customers are typically pensioners who live in a house heated by gas and who have not invested in that house for a long time,” said Karel Polanecký, an energy expert from Duha. According to experts, energy prices have still not reached their ceiling. For example, if a family of four uses gas for heating and water heating in their home and paid...
Construction sites, factory assembly lines and warehouses across central Europe are scrambling to fill vacancies after tens of thousands of Ukrainian men left their blue-collar jobs to return home after Russia invaded their country. Ukrainian workers had flocked to central Europe in the past decade – drawn by higher wages and aided by an easing of visa requirements – filling jobs that weren’t highly paid enough for local workers in construction, the automotive sector, and heavy industry. Many of these workers have returned home to help the war effort since Russia invaded on 24 February, abruptly worsening labour shortages in some of Europe’s most industrialized economies. Before the Russian invasion, Ukrainians were the largest group of foreign workers in central Europe. The Czech Republic hosted Ukrainian workforce of around 200,000 respectively, according to industry trade groups. “The loss of Ukrainian workers has deepened the problems companies are facing,” Radek Spicar, vice president of the Czech Federation of Industry, told Reuters. “Companies say they can’t cover all the demand from business partners: they deliver with delays and pay penalties.” Before the Russian invasion, Germany-based recruiter Hofmann Personal had more than 1,000 Ukrainian candidates due to arrive in the Czech Republic between...
Remnant of social realism stands the test of time — and so does its name It has borne many names, among them Hotel Družba (Friendship), Hotel Čedok, Hotel Holiday Inn and Hotel Crowne Plaza Prague. But for most of its nearly 50-year existence, the 88-meter tall luxury accommodation establishment in Prague’s upper-class Dejvice neighborhood was known as Hotel International, and it is a name to which its latest owners have now returned after two decades. The only Stalinist building of its size in Prague, construction of the hotel started shortly before the deaths of the longtime Soviet leader and his man in Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia’s first communist president, Klement Gottwald. The development of the hotel was the idea of the country’s defense minister at the time, Alexej Čepička, who wanted to have a hotel built that would epitomize the newly formed Czechoslovak Republic and boast its rapprochement with the communist Soviet Union to the east. The building was completed in 1956 (around the same time Čepička was getting blamed for the cult of personality around Gottwald, who was also his father-in-law, and was purged by being demoted to a job in the government patent office), but finishing touches on the decorations inside were still...
If natural gas supplies were interrupted, breweries would only be able to produce and sell a limited amount, said Zdeněk Kovář, a spokesman for Plzeňské Prazdroje. According to him, the interruption of gas supplies would have a major impact on the entire brewing industry, including suppliers. Prazdroj is the largest brewery in the Czech Republic and uses gas in malthouses and breweries. Gas accounts for roughly 40 percent of the energy used for the production of beer and malt. According to Kovář, Prazdroj’s long-term strategy is to reduce the consumption of natural gas and replace it with renewable sources. “If there was a complete reduction in gas supplies, including reserves, it would have a major impact on the entire brewing industry, including our suppliers. We would be able to produce and sell in limited quantities,” the spokesperson added. Concerns about a stoppage of Russian gas supplies persist due to geopolitical tensions. The main route for the supply of Russian gas to the EU is the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Gas deliveries through this pipeline increased to 40 percent of the pipeline’s capacity on Thursday, the same level as before the start of the 10-day maintenance of the facility. Fears that...
The Czech Republic’s gas stores are 80% full, Prime Minister Petr Fiala said on Monday, as the country and other European Union member states continue to boost storage to protect against risks of a halt to Russian supplies. The EU aims to have gas storage facilities across the bloc 80% full by Nov. 1, but its efforts have been hit by temporary outages or reduced capacity via Nord Stream 1, a major pipeline carrying Russian gas to Europe. Fiala said in a Twitter post that Czech gas storage levels were at a record level. “We are working to be as well prepared as possible for the winter,” he said. Deliveries of Russian gas via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline have now been limited to 20 percent. The annual gas consumption in the Czech Republic is about 9.4 billion cubic meters and the country gets about 98 per cent of its gas from Russia. The Czech Republic was nearly fully dependent on Russia for gas before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February pushed it to seek alternative supplies. Industry Minister Jozef Sikela said last week the country had secured 3 billion cubic meters of annual gas capacity – roughly a third...
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. Sales of electric appliances are reported to have skyrocketed as Czechs prepare for a harsh winter marked by a steep increase in the price of gas or its shortage. Salespeople report an increased interest in electric cookers and electric heaters. Coal or wood sellers are also overwhelmed with orders. . Hundreds of firefighters are battling wildfires in eastern Germany and neighbouring Czech Republic amid evacuations in tourist regions and residential areas. Seven firefighters were injured, four of whom had to be treated in hospital for smoke inhalation. Almost half of the Czechs are planning to spend their holidays in the mountains, or at a campsite, according to a survey conducted by the 4camping.cz e-shop. Approximately two-thirds of people plan to go hiking, and a quarter of respondents intend to spend the night in the countryside. Czech lawmakers have approved a ban on the production and sale of single-use plastic items, including straws, plates, and cutlery, in line with European Union regulations. The measure will reduce the consumption of such items by about 1.77 billion...
On Saturday, August 13, after a three-year hiatus, Prague Pride parade will once again take place. The parade is the culmination of the entire Prague Pride festival, which is taking place from the 8th until the 14th, offering over 150 events celebrating LGBT+ people in the Czech Republic. The festival organizers are planning for some twenty thousand people to attend. “The Saturday parade will finally take place this year. We are still fine-tuning its exact form,” said festival director Tom Bílý. According to him, the organizers will strive for greater accessibility in the parade and at all other events this year, and will also work to improve the sustainability of the festival. Other Pride festivals have come under criticism for their effect on the environment. “The festival gives people the opportunity to be themselves, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity, and provides them with a safe space to do so. Prague Pride Parade 2022 Saturday 13th August 2022 – The parade will start from Wenceslas Square at 12.30 pm, setting off on a three-kilometer route towards Letná Park. Buses will be provided up the stairs. The parade takes approximately 3 hours to make its way through the streets of...
On Wednesday morning, 3 August, the tables from Prague’s dinner on Charles Bridge will come to Old Town Square for a breakfast event from 6:00 to 10:00. The organizer is the well-known Prague café owner and ‘cultural activist Ondřej Kobza, the “brain” behind a bevy of cultural projects that have sprung up in recent years. He began by installing pianos outdoors, encouraging passers-by to tickle the ivories. He then fashioned old school desks into public chess tables and placed “poetry jukeboxes” on squares that literally pipe out verses, voiced by the likes of Jaroslav Seifert. His latest project it’s the rooftop terraces of the Lucerna Palace built by Václav Havel’s grandfather a century ago. The 500 meters-long table will be installed around the monument to Jan Hus. It will be decorated with white tablecloths and vases with wildflowers. “The table is a powerful symbol. Families gather behind it, letters are written and peace agreements are signed. King Arthur’s knights gathered at the Round Table. The rules are: everyone can come, you just need to bring some food and ideally share it with a neighbor. “It can be something simple, such as grapes or cookies. And if someone wants, can bake at home cakes or make sandwiches....
Due to the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, drone flights are temporarily prohibited in the center of Prague and the wider center. Drones cannot be handled in an area with a diameter of 7.4 km from Žižkov to Braník and from Radlice to Vršovice. Only police drone flights are exempt. The ban is valid until October 25. This follows from data from the Civil Aviation Authority. The no-fly zone designated as LKP Centrum applies only to unmanned aircraft, the operation of transport aircraft over the center of Prague is not restricted. The new zone complements the permanent no-fly zone above Prague Castle. “During the previous presidency in 2009, such an area was not announced, because then the numbers, popularity, and technical parameters of unmanned systems were nowhere near today’s level,” said Radek Hodač from Air Traffic Control. According to Jaroslav Řešátka from the importing company DJI Telink, most drones have recorded coordinates of no-fly zones, such as international airports, power plants and other objects important from a security point of view. Thanks to the saved GPS coordinates, the drone will not take off in such an area, or it will alert you to the zone. “This is...
No one who’s keen on eating out has missed the fact that they have to dig deeper into their pockets when visiting the restaurant. However, the willingness to pay more and more for lunch has begun to decline. Since the beginning of this year, the price of lunch has been rising by one or two crowns every month. The costs of running restaurants are rising and their owners cannot afford to bear them all. The margin in the catering sector is very sensitive to any cuts. The average price of lunch in June reached CZK 160.20, 10.1 per cent more than a year ago. And it seems that this is an amount that for many Czechs represents the ceiling of financial possibilities. Data from the Czech Statistical Office and the Ticket Restaurant Card Index show that prices in restaurants increased by 23.5 percent year-on-year in June. At the same time, however, the gap between the amount spent and how much food costs is increasing. Thus, in May, restaurant prices rose 11.6 percent faster than spending; in June, the gap was already 13.4 percent. Which means only one thing – guests are choosing cheaper items from the menus, denying themselves salads...
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 Czech Republic plans to purchase 24 F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters to replace their current fleet of 14 Gripen fighter jets, the defense ministry said, in the latest move by Prague to rapidly move toward NATO-standard weapons in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. . The memorial to the Roma and Sinti Holocaust to be built in Lety, South Bohemia, at the site of the former WWII Roma concentration camp will cost over 100 million crowns. The first part of the memorial, the visitors’ centre, should be completed next spring. If the first round of the presidential election were held now, the head of the ANO movement, Andrej Babiš, would win with 31.7%. With 23.8% of the vote, former general Petr Pavel would advance to the second round. Danuše Nerudová also came out on top in the survey. The Czech Republic can access CZK 550 billion of EU funds, following approval by the European Commission of eight of the nine programmes for the 2021-2027 period, according to the Czech Ministry of Regional Development. Czech...
This summer Prague will dress again with the colors of Colombia during the celebration of the 2nd Colombian week. It will take place from the 23rd of July until the 06th of August. Various cultural, sports, gastronomic and other events will take place, which will introduce you to Colombian culture and traditions and will also introduce interesting personalities of the Colombian community living in the Czech Republic. On July 26, you can admire a special series of drawings and paintings inspired by Colombian flora and a discussion on the traditional use of the coca leaf in Colombia. The traditional use of the coca leaf has nothing to do with cocaine and all the stereotypes associated with it. On July 30, they organize a Colombian party 2022 at (A)VOID floating gallery. Live music by DJs and the Colombian group La Parranda. On August 2, at Dorado Coffee you can participate to a poetry reading of Julio Flórez, (Chiquinquirá, 1867-Usiacurí, 1923), a Colombian poet, the most popular of those of his time, romantic and late Becquerian. With a bohemian and adventurous temperament, he frequented the Symbolic Grotto in Bogotá, a bohemian gathering of multiple artists. Some of his pages were even set...
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