Summary of newsmakers from the previous day - 4.1.2006

Vaccine against bird flu for two millions Czechs

Till the end of January the Czech Republic wants to announce conditions in agreement with which it will choose a firm for production of the vaccine against bird flu. A company which will win will get a hundreds of millions crowns job order. “We want to work out the conditions of selection procedure till the end of January. Immediately after that we will speak about in which form we will announce the selection procedure”, a main health officer Michael Vít said to a daily. He also reported that he negotiates with the State Institute for Drug Control about how the vaccine should look. The vaccine should be disposable minimally for two million Czechs.

Dairy works Promil Nový Bydžov renewed production; Jičín ended

The dairy works PML Protein.Milk.Lactose from Nový Bydžov in the region Hradec Králové, which is knows as Promil, renewed production in a limited extent at the end of December. On the contrary, its subsidiary company Krkonošské sýrárny in Jičín ended milk production. About 220 people lost work in Nový Bydžov and Jičín. The ČTK was said it by a credible source familiar with a situation in the firm. Promil to which farmers gave up to supply milk due to debts last year in September did not produce practically last three months.

This year we will be without caviar

This year sturgeons will not be fished. A caviar production and trade ended for this year. On a ban of sturgeons fishing was decided at a secretariat of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites). It approves quotas for a hunt of endangered animals. A reason is significantly decreasing population of sturgeons.

State revealed how it subsidizes farmers

The Czech Republic ranged among countries which stopped to conceal who and in what height got agricultural subsidies. The State Agricultural Intervention Fund this week set up an internet page where anyone can found out where went about 30 milliard last year. The highest sum is reported in the company AGRO-Měřín. It collected about 54 million crows last year. The firm chief is Gabriel Večeřa - “a speculator” with land who also got lucrative plots of milliard-crown value from the Land Fund last year.

Source: Agris, 05.01.2006