Czech Republic
High tech investment the answer to CEE’s labour crisis
As labour markets tighten across CEE, economists say the best outcome for the region is for companies to respond to worker shortages by investing into new technologies.
Profit of Czech forest enterprise Lesy CR down 60% to CZK1.62bn in 3Q18
The state enterprise has been trying to log as many trees as possible before all trees were infected with the bark beetle which has afflicted Czech forests since 2016.
European court rejects Czech Prime Minister Babis's complaint, leaves him on StB spy list in Slovakia
The European Court of Human Rights reportedly decided Babis' request to be removed from the list of former Communist secret police agents was "unacceptable".
Czech consumer prices at lowest level since April
Czech inflation slowed to 2.0% year-on-year in November from 2.2% in October. The latest figure was recorded as the lowest level since April, the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) reported on December 10.
COMMENT: The state is back in the banking business in Central and Eastern Europe
For a few years now, foreign banks have been constantly losing market share in many of the larger Central-, Southeastern and Eastern European markets, but there is a shift in the game as state banks are proudly increasing their share in many markets
Czech retail trade growth accelerated by 6.4% in October, due to Christmas shopping
Czech non-adjusted retail trade increased by 6.4% in October year-on-year, up from 1.4% in September, driven mainly by sales via mail and online Christmas orders, according to the Czech Statistics Office data
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CEE firms to invest heavily into robots
Growth in industrial robot shipments to Central and Eastern Europe to considerably outstrip global growth, as labour shortages bite.
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Czech unemployment falls to 25-year low of 2.1%
The Czech seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in a quarter of a century of 2.1% in October, down by 0.5 percentage points (pp) year-on-year, according to the Czech Statistics Office data published on November 30.
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Czech PMI dropped to its lowest level since August 2016
The Czech IHS Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) dropped to 51.8 in November from 52.5 in October, the fifth successive monthly fall in 2018 and the weakest growth since August 2016, figures released by IHS Markit on December 3 show.
CEZ starts talks with India Power on Bulgarian asset sale
Czech power company in discussions with new potential buyer as its deal with local family-owned Inercom Group was blocked by the Bulgarian authorities.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is the king of the woods
Babis has made a fortune from forestry, but critics say he has also caused an environmental disaster.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis accused of conflict of interest
Babis has reportedly been accused of a conflict of interest over EU subsidies received by his company Agrofert Holding, according to leaked documents.
Labour cost in Czechia has been rising sharply
Czechia is a leader amongst fast rising labour costs in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), with average wages up 9.3% y/y in the 2Q18, the sixth highest in the EU
Explosive growth marks most CEE media markets in 2017
The CEE advertising industry is growing at an astonishing pace, according to the CANnual Report 2018. While television is still the dominant media type in most countries of the region, digital is catching up fast.