Summary of newsmakers from the previous day – 15.11. 2005

Inquiry: Agricultural dotations mainly at large firms in the EU aims

In the European Union, agricultural dotations end mainly in the largest companies. On the contrary, small farmers fighting for a survival get disproportionately less money from the Union cash. It is confirmed by data from all EU countries which decided to publish recipients of supports. The Czech Republic has not done it yet. Recipients of agricultural subventions were published for example by Great Britain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark and under pressure of the European Union also Belgium. On front places in utilization supranational giants as Nestlé, Philip Morris and Heineken figure. The French gazette La Tribune reported last week that roughly 60 percent of direct payments went to 15 percent of the richest companies.

More than 140 millions will support educational projects

A selection commission of the Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic (MŽP ČR) headed by the Minister Libor Ambrozek suggested last year to support the best eleven projects from the Operational Program of Development of Human Resources [1]. A chairman of Department of Communication of the MŽP ČR Jakub Kašpar informed about it. In the second round [2] of a grant schema the Ministry, according to its data, advanced to a material evaluation of 38 projects which offered various possibilities of education in area of environment and sustainable development in frame of the grant scheme Network of Environmental Counseling and Information Centers. Mainly a creation of information centers, new job opportunities, and a cooperation with public administration belong to them.

Ministry and entrepreneurs want to simplify administrative, to speed up procedures and make easier orientation of applicants in programs

A present state of preparation of operational programs for the program period 2007-2013 was discussed by participants of a conference „Structural funds today and tomorrow“ in Prague which was organized by the Ministry for Local Development CR under the personal auspices of the Minister for Local Development Radko Martínek. A sense was to deepen a dialogue among ministers, entrepreneurs and other interested subjects and to negotiate subject matters and suggestions of the entrepreneurial sphere for the state administration.

Farmers buy record numbers of tractors

Producers in the Czech Republic estimate this year as record one. Not only they will sell more machines but also customers ask also better equipment. A dominant Czech producer of tractors Zetor increases its domestic sale in comparison with the last year by more than 40 percents. Also the main importers, as Strom Prague and Agrotec, increase sales significantly. A higher interest of farmers is there thanks to investment dotations from the European Union which were paid out this year for the first time. Moreover also competition increases since the entrance in the EU and agricultural enterprises have to willy-nilly to invest in modern machines.