Summary of newsmakers of the previous day – 18.9.2006

EU supports of bio-fuels support system proposed by Vicenová

In frame of ordinary session of the Council of Ministers of Agriculture and Fishing which takes place in Brussels today Milena Vicenová, the Ministress of Agriculture CR met and negotiated with Mariann Fisher Boel, the commissioner of European Commission for Agriculture and Fishing. Hugo Roldán, the communication director of Ministry of Agriculture (MZe) informed on it. According to him Vicenová acquainted her with her priorities, main intentions and tasks which the new government faces. She mentioned that the most important are to connect direct and continuous communications with all non-governmental organizations connected in their activity t o the resort of the MZe. She emphasized an interest in general development of the entire countryside, looking for new asserting and job offers to people living there.

Forestry firms will forfeit money from EU or profit

Czech entrepreneurs in forestry are in a threat that they will either forfeit money from European funds or their profits will significantly decrease. The Ministry of Environment has enforced in conditions for drawing subsidies from the Unified European Fund for Rural Development a clause which supposes rise of natural forest or wildwood. News server Aktuálně.cz wrote it. The Ministry of Agriculture is about to negotiate with the Ministry of Environment (MŽP) on a change of already approved conditions. According to MŽP a receiver of European subsidies has to have a certificate of the international non-governmental organization FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), which promotes ecologically and socially economical forest management. „Only about 25 thousand hectares of forest is certificated in the Czech Republic in this way“, said the vice-chairman of Association of private agriculture, Jan Votava. Acreage of Czech forest growths is roughly 2,65 million hectares.

Kněžice: they will produce heat, gas and electricity themselves

People in a small village Kněžice in Nymburk region will not need any energy from “outside”. The municipality will produce electricity, hot water and heat itself. And moreover ecologically. Kněžice will become an energy-self-sufficient municipality which can spend European Union’s money for production and combustion of biogass from animal waste, straw, corn and remains from timber processing. Moreover, also waste from households will be led in biogas plant, so it will serve as sewage plant as well. The village with 400 inhabitants has obtained for this project 83 million crowns from European funds; other 11,6 million from the State Environmental Fund. The municipality will supply the heat to people for 260 crowns for gigajoule. Some similar boiler houses in other towns are more expensive by more than 40 crowns.

Kněžice: they will produce heat, gas and electricity themselves

This year’s apple harvest in countries of the European Union will be obviously the lowest in last ten years. According to estimation 9,55 million tons of apples should be harvested in the EU which is five percent under the last year ’s result. Neither supply of the Czech market nor price of apples should be influenced by the lower crop in Europe. Martin Ludvík, the secretary of Fruit Union CR told it ČTK. The reason of weak harvest is, according to him, unfavourable weather, mainly frosts in winter period and huge droughts which affected practically entire Europe. “Last time the harvest was below ten million tons in the EU in 1998”, reported Ludvík. The most apple producers in old EU countries, France and Italy, estimate year-on-year lower harvest by ten and five percent. Poland which is the most grower of apples in new EU countries and at the same time the biggest importers in the Czech Republic, will face decrease of harvest by four percents.