Summary of newsmakers from the previous day 1. 6. 2005

Bark beetle threatens the Central-Bohemian region, in particular forests in Příbram district

According to foresters, bark beetle threatens the Central-Bohemian region, and in particular forest stands in Příbram district and similar areas, where there are too many different forest owners. This is often a reason for not implementing preventive measures. The Czech News Agency (ČTK) has been informed today by Zdeňka Hajleková, a specialist on bark beetle from the Regional Inspectorate of Forests of the Czech Republic. „When there is a coherent forest area, which has a single owner, it is much easier to take control of it. However, it is certainly not the case in Příbram district, forests are very fragmented there,“ said to ČTK.

Supermarkets flourish while small shop-keepers struggle along

When shopping, Czechs have lately seemed to prefer modern types of shops such as supermarkets or hypermarkets. Quite a great popularity also receive shops that are stationed in the large shopping centres. On the contrary, original self-service shops, from which the first one in the Czech Republic was opened 50 years ago, have not attracted Czech consumers for a long time. ACNielsen surveys suggest that already 70 per cent of people in Czechia spend considerable sums of money in huge stores.

Ecologists remember Vavroušek´s message also by awarding his prizes

The prize of Josef Vavroušek for enforcing sustainable development was awarded to three people this year. The prizewinners are founders of the Brontosaurus movement, married couple Hana and Jiří Kulich, and recently late social ecolog and publicist, Bohuslav Blažek. The award is to remind us of the former minister of environment, Josef Vavroušek, who died with his daughter during an avalanche disaster when exploring the High Tatra 10 years ago. He would have celebrated his 60th birthday this September. Since 1996 the prize has been awarded through the Charta 77 foundation and Partnership foundation.

New Zetor in search for workers

Yesterday the Zetor factory started to produce tractors on a smaller scale than so far. Production halls now take up only a quarter of the original premises. The remaining area is a subject to discussion between the company representatives, town council and Czech Invest agency. The turnover of Zetor tractors producer annually increases by hundreds of per cent, yet, there are spare three quarters of the original premises. At first it seems illogical, but it makes sense. Profits are climbing since the company management succeeds in making the production more effective.