
Czech Government Earmarks CZK 66 Billion to Help Ease Energy Price Shock

The Czech government will earmark 66 billion crowns to help households and companies hit by soaring energy prices, Industry Minister Jozef Sikela said on Wednesday.
Measures aimed at taming the price shock in the next winter heating season will include the state covering some “green energy” fees and giving subsidies to households, including a planned discount electricity rate subsidised by the state.
Around two-thirds of the assistance will go to households, Sikela said.
Moreover, the Czech state has prepared a website called the “Umbrella against Inflation” (Deštník proti drahotě) where it summarizes the aid available to different groups in the population due to price rises and will allocate approximately CZK 100 billion [EUR 4 billion] from the budget this year for the anti-inflation measures; the information portal was created to make the situation more transparent and to serve as a guide on how to claim eligibility for it.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (Civic Democratic Party – ODS) announced the portal last week after the cabinet session.
According to Fiala, the cabinet has had to deal with high prices and inflation from their onset at the end of last year and “the lavish behavior and policy of the previous Government had an indelible share” in the phenomenon.
He pointed out that the situation has deteriorated and is further deteriorating as a result of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Fuel Prices in the Czech Republic at All-Time High
Both petrol and diesel prices have increased since the second half of January, and have now reached a level last seen at the end of November 2021, with a litre of the most popular Natural 95 petrol currently selling for an average of CZK 47.69.
This is an increase of over one crown within a week
Diesel is selling for an average of CZK 46.94. Prices in the Czech Republic are significantly higher, by about nine crowns, than in other Central and Eastern European countries, except Slovenia.
These prices stand in stark contrast to the situation a year ago, when the average price for one litre of petrol was CZK 15.28 lower and CZK 16.66 lower for diesel.
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