On Friday night, someone parked three cars on Charles Bridge. One of them has the inscription “sorryvlado” on the side, referring to the website sorryvlado.cz According to the whois.com domain registry, the site is registered by the Association of Outraged Citizens (Spolek rozhořčených občanů), which, according to the company registry, was founded by YouTuber Mike Pán. “We do not agree with the papalism shown by the Czech government. We do not agree with the constant tightening of measures against citizens of the Czech Republic,” the website states. The bridge is 515 meters long and 10 meters wide, decorated by a continuous alley of 30 baroque statues and statuary, erected around 1700. However, all of the statues have been systematically replaced by replicas and the originals have been exhibited in the Lapidarium of the National Museum. It was not until 1965 that all traffic has been excluded from the Charles Bridge since then, making it accessible by pedestrians only. It is not yet clear how the car owners managed to drive unnoticed on the historical bridge. Mikael Oganesjan, nicknamed Mike Pán, is known for deliberately committing offenses and insulting members of the city police. In 2018, his account was canceled due to...
Prague is an incredibly popular tourist destination. And there’s good reason why. From cheap beer to incredible historic attractions, it’s no wonder the Czech capital is visited by roughly 8 million people every year. When they aren’t traipsing around attractions like the National Library and Old Town Square, the ‘city of a Hundred Spires’ has a lot to offer in the form of nightlife. Want to have the perfect night out in Prague? This guide covers just about everything you need to know. The top bars, clubs & hangout spots Chapeau Rouge From the outside, the Chapeau Rouge may not look like much. But down below is a treasure trove of club life, with several stories of bars and dance floors. It has a reputation for getting sweatier and wilder the further down you go, so if you’re looking for a rave-style night, this is the place to be. Lucerna Music Bar Not far from central Wenceslas Square is Lucerna Music Bar — one of the city’s biggest clubs. It’s always a bustling spot known for 1980s nights as well as a concert venue where it hosts some big names. James Dean A 1950s-themed American diner, this place has...
Protesters will gather once again in central Prague today, January 29, to challenge restrictions adopted to combat the Covid-19 spread. The Chcípl PES initiative (PES/DOG Croaked), — the name refers to the government’s “PES” five-level coronavirus alert system – which brings together entrepreneurs who do not agree with the government’s anti-epidemic measures, is preparing a demonstration in Prague today. They want to block government buildings from three o’clock in the afternoon. The organizers will publish more details of the protest on social networks at 2 pm. “It will be a simple and non-violent protest. We will block some government buildings,” said Jiří Janeček from the Malý Janek brewery. The is the last of several protests organized by Chcípl PES. Last Saturday, protesters called on to open pubs, restaurants, and other businesses. On January 10, organized a demonstration in Prague’s Old Town Square, which drew up to 3,000 people to Old Town Square. On January 3rd, hundreds of protesters gathered in Prague with empty beer glasses to rally against the closing of pubs and restaurants in the country. The demonstrators, many of whom work in the hospitality industry, lit candles inside beer glasses and set them in a line stretching about...
EU regulators should loosen state aid rules further to make it easier for companies hit by the COVID-19 pandemic to receive support, the governments of Austria, Denmark, and the Czech Republic said on Thursday. The European Commission, the EU competition enforcer, relaxed its rules in March 2020 but the three-member states said limits still existed on the levels of government aid, particularly in the case of direct grants. “European businesses will face severe economic consequences well into 2021,” the trio said in an open letter published in the Financial Times. “Yet each passing month raises the amount of COVID aid that businesses have received, bringing them ever closer to the state aid limit ceilings. “To end this uncertainty, we suggest that the ceilings for direct grants and uncovered fixed costs be raised significantly,” they said. The letter was written by Denmark’s acting minister for industry, businesses, and financial affairs, Dan Joergensen, along with Karel Havlíček, deputy prime minister of the Czech Republic, and Austrian Finance Minister Gernot Bluemel. EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager is currently seeking feedback from member countries to extend the looser rules to the end of 2021 and allow more funding to businesses crippled by the pandemic....
The Czech government met on Thursday evening to discuss possible tighter measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The new measures come into force at midnight from Friday to Saturday. You can find them below: Business trips The cabinet has decided to tighten rules restricting the movement of people. Trips to own recreational facilities are still allowed. However, people can stay exclusively with members of their own families. Accommodation services are allowed only for people on work trips. They need to produce a written confirmation from the employer or the customer confirming they are on a work trip and are not allowed to bring family members with them. Free antigen tests According to Blatný, the Czech government will try to give citizens at least one COVID-19 test for free every three days (now it every five days). “We approved a reduction in the time between individual antigen tests, which are covered by health insurance. Commuters can be tested more often. In addition, this decision has the potential to reduce the virus load in the population.” Voluntary public testing was originally scheduled to end on January 15 but was extended by the Ministry of Health until further notice. Nearly 1.5...
The main goal is to minimize the generation of waste, and once waste is generated, to turn it into new resources. The circular economy, with its suite of strategies suitable for urban policymakers, can deliver substantial climate mitigation opportunities, social benefits and economic opportunities. The focus of the strategic plan approved by the City Council was on recycling of construction and household waste, greater use of rainwater and development of urban agriculture. A second life for the city’s bulky waste Each year, Prague households consume approximately 307,000 tonnes of non-food products. Of this, nearly 10% is bulky waste – materials or items too large for household waste, such as electrical goods, appliances and furniture – which are destined for landfill. And as the average household income has risen, so has the level of tossed bulky waste. Potentially, 70% of this can be reused, giving furniture and appliances a second life and reducing the overall demands for brand new products. Prague is also building a growing network of Re-Use Points throughout the city: cashing in on the value this ‘waste’ provides when the circular strategies of reuse, refurbish and repair are utilised. In only half a year of the pilot being...
Budvar, the Czech brewer that has been in a long legal dispute with U.S. giant Anheuser-Busch’s overuse of the “Budweiser” brand, increased output to a record last year when the pandemic saw people drink less in bars and more at home. Budejovicky Budvar NP, a 125-year-old state-owned brewery, said Thursday that its output rose 3% to 1.73 million hectoliters in 2020. The brewer´s exports were up almost 3.5% last year, director Petr Dvorak said. Budvar sells its beer in some 80 countries and Germany, one of its key markets, grew particularly strongly in 2020. Revenues also hit a record last year, growing 1% from 2.8 billion CZK in 2019. It did not release profit figures. Demand for its beer in tanks and barrels declined last year as bars and restaurants were closed for a long time but Budvar was able to meet rising demand for bottled beer, it said. The brewer has been expanding in recent years to be able to produce over 2 billion hectoliters of beer a year. That investment made it possible to react to “dramatic” changes on the markets amid the coronavirus pandemic. Budweiser Budvar is the fourth largest beer producer in the Czech Republic and...
The Czech government will discuss further tighten coronavirus measures on Thursday afternoon, PM Andrej Babiš said on Wednesday evening. As CNN Prima reports, Babiš said that “it is not yet time for relaxation and there is no room for complacency in epidemic control. On the contrary, it is necessary to consider how to enforce or tighten existing measures.” The prime minister noted that the number of newly infected began to grow this week. “We must address measures that should manage the pandemic better than before,” he added. “We are in a situation where people who comply with the measures are upset and feel that the government is insufficiently enforcing them. Then there are other people who do not follow the measures and they are upset that we are tightening them.” Babiš did not give any details on the new measures. Finally, the PM confirmed that “the government will not make changes to the anti-epidemiological system PES”. Latest statistics The health ministry recorded 9,144 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday, down from 9,605 new cases reported on the same day a week earlier. In total, 956,155 infections have been recorded since March. Hospitalizations stood at 6,043. Officials have sought to cut the number of hospitalized...
Long queues of cars formed at the Czech-German frontier this week and cross-border workers voiced frustration as tighter restrictions for travel into Germany came into force. At the Folmava-Furth im Wald border post — where the Iron Curtain once separated East and West — tempers flared as people waited around two hours to cross what is now an internal EU border. “It’s cold and it’s snowing and there aren’t even any toilets. It’s difficult for everyone, including my employer, because we do not know how long this is going to last,” Yveta Haladova, a Czech nurse working in Germany, said. The car park at the border was full and around 150 cars could be seen in the queue to cross. A centre for carrying out antigen tests had been hastily set up in a customs building. “I’ve just had my test and I’m waiting for the result, which should arrive by SMS or email,” said Lukas Kottnauer, an auto industry worker. “It’s very annoying, especially since we are going to have to test every 48 hours.” As the Czech Republic is now classed as high risk by Germany because of an elevated coronavirus infection rate, anyone arriving from there must...
The latest figures show that the Prague hotel market has borne the brunt of the coronavirus crisis in Europe. Hotel industry in Prague recorded the steepest decline in average revenue per room in 2020, down 84.6% on the previous year, with only Barcelona, Rome, and Lisbon being impaired on a similar scale. Even so, confidence in the Prague hotel market and its long-term potential is hardly waning, as underscored by the unflagging interest not only among investors, who are always on the lookout for good opportunities to buy but also among hotel operators, who have identified Prague as the main target of their activities. “The Czech authorities did not follow the example set by many other countries in using local hotels to accommodate health professionals or as makeshift hospitals. All this hastened Prague’s status as one of the most devastated hotel markets in Europe. Having said that, we must remember that these are temporary factors not directly related to the tourism market, which should recover quickly once the virus has been brought under control,” said Bořivoj Vokřínek, Strategic Advisory, Head of Hospitality Research EMEA, Cushman & Wakefield. Results reported for last summer, when rules were eased for a while, signalled...
The Czech health ministry has recommended regional health officials halt new COVID-19 vaccinations for the coming two weeks to prioritize second doses due to concern about delivery delays, a ministry spokeswoman said on Wednesday. The situation in a specific region must be evaluated primarily by the regional coordinator, said ministry spokeswoman Barbora Peterová. “The Health Ministry recommends interrupting first-dose vaccinations and suspending reservations for such vaccinations for 14 days,” Peterová said. Some regions, including Central Bohemia, have canceled reserved dates for seniors who have already registered for vaccination. “It’s not about the organization, but about deliveries. Now we are in a situation where we can vaccinate everyone with the second dose, but we will not be able to open any term for seniors over 80 years old for the next 14 days, because we do not have vaccines,” confirmed the Governor of the South Bohemian Region Martin Kuba (ODS). According to the ministry, 222,450 vaccines have been administered so far. Pfizer-BioNTec and Moderna are the only two vaccines available in the Czech Republic. AstraZeneca’s vaccine could be approved by the European Union by the end of the month. Czech Seniors are primarily vaccinated in social and medical facilities. Latest statistics...
Statistics show that 15% of the employees who work in the Czech Republic are foreigners, and they constitute a substantial number across various sectors. In the past decade, from 2010 to 2019, the number of foreigners in the Czech labor market has tripled. Evidently, the Covid-19 crisis had interrupted this growth, but it has only been a temporary stunt. These figures have been drawn up from statistical records documented by the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ). Dalibor Holý, from the ČSÚ, has commented that the number of employees would not have increased without the presence of foreigners, and he correlates this statement to the fact that many Czech citizens are seniors and past their prime, while young adults and those who are fit to work constitute a much smaller number of the Czech populace. “From 2010 to 2019 the number of foreign employees increased by 407,000, while the number of Czech employees decreased by 63,000”, said Dalibor. Industries that have seen a rise in the number of foreign workers include the agriculture and forestry industry, with a rise from 4 to 17% since the past decade. Meanwhile, in administration, 54% of the workers in 2019 were foreigners. In construction, foreigners now...
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