Summary of newsmakers of the previous day – 16.5.2008

Cheap wood banned first private firm from forest

Three-year contracts for works in state forests, which the state Lesy České Republiky (LČR) and private forestry companies closed at the turn of year with big efforts, got a first concrete shock already after five months. A director of Lesní společnost Jihlava Jaroslav Kaláb confirmed to MD DNES yesterday that the firm from Jihlava sent a withdrawal from tender to the state colossus last week which it had closed to managed a part of forest, so called territorial unit. Probably it will not be last; several other firms negotiate with LČR on possibilities of withdrawal from contracts, including one large group.

Attitude of RAR of region Liberec towards reform of agricultural policy

A meeting of the Regional Agrarian Council's delegates of the region Liberec (RAR), which associates regional agrarian chambers of 4 regions in the region Liberec, discussed a “Reform of Agricultural Policy” at its regular meeting on the 14th May 2008 introduced on the 10 of April 2008 at a press conference by the Minister of Agriculture Petr Gandalovič in the presence of the Prime Minister CR Mirek Topolánek. It invited representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture in the negotiation to clear up all articles of the reform.

State of Benelux solve biggest pollution of environment in West Europe

According to the newest study “Environmental Performance Index 2008” of the Universities Yale and Columbia; Belgium and the Netherlands in an area of environment quality are the worst from 15 original countries of the EU. Belgium placed in a scale on the 25th place from 27 present members EU states and in total on the 57th place among 149 monitored countries. Netherlandish results are only a bit better. This country is on the 23rd place among 27 member state of EU and in the 55th place from 149 monitored countries.

SMO: ACH promotes interests of food producers at the expense of farmers

Requirements of the Food Chamber, which wants other billion crowns from the Rural Development Program, go in principle against Czech farmers' interests. It is published in today's attitude of the Union of Marginal Areas CR (SMO). “Unfortunately, also a central of the Agrarian Chamber of CR responsible for promotion of farmers' interests assists voluntarily in the process, however, which does inverse in this matter”, a chairman of the Union Milan Boleslav states. Therefore SMO warns that the Agrarian Chamber of CR wants to provide money originally determined for inland farmers de facto to food enterprises. SMO does not agree with this procedure of ACH management in principal.