Summary of newsmakers of the previous day – 25.8. 2007

Second round of applications for support from PRV will start in September

The Rural Development Program (PRV) and other programs of the European Union belong to the most significant supports which will help to develop entrepreneurial activity to farmers and to improve life in the Czech countryside. The second round of applications for support from PRV will start in September. The minister of Agriculture Petr Gandalovič emphasized the significance of PRV on today’s seminar on Supports for countryside which was a part of a special supporting program of the exhibition Země živitelka (Earth bread-winner) in České Budějovice.

New centre of bird flu was found in Germany

Veterinarians found a centre of bird flu on chicken farm in south Germany. According to the first analyses it is dealt with a virus H5N1 which can be dangerous for people. An agency Reuters announced that offices closed the area of findings. A spokeswoman of Bavarian veterinary service said that it is still examined whether it is really dealt with the virus H5N1. The infection was found in several from 44 000 chickens on a farm in Schleswig-Holstein. In Germany several places with occurrence of the virus H5N1 were found already in June and also last year.

Beer will be more expensive again

Beer will be more expensive, obviously more than it was expected. A reason is a lack of raw-materials for production of this hop beverage. Beer-lovers will have to pay probably by 4 – 6 percent more for their popular beverage. In last years a price of beer increased by average 2 – 3 percents. However, a chairman of the Czech beer and Malt Association František Krakeš admitted that the increase could be as much as double. “Regarding results of this year’s harvest malting barley will be substantially more expensive this year”, the chairman František Krakeš said.

Turbine dried up. Green electricity enormously fell

Production of electricity from renewable resources fell enormously this year. It is due to an extreme drought because of which there is a lack of water in the river Vltava cascade. “Development in this year is really unfavourable and the fall is dramatic”, Aleš Bufka who monitors production of electricity from renewable resources at the Ministry of Industry said to Aktuálně.cz. He added that this year for the first time after minimally five years a share of electricity from renewable resource in the total Czech consumption will not increase but decrease.