Summary of newsmakers of the previous day – 9.1.2007

Martin Bursík took over Ministry of Environment from Petr Kalaš

The president of republic Václav Klaus appointed Martin Bursík the vice-chairman of government and the minister of environment at 11:00 today. After constitutive session of the government he was officially introduced in the office by the Premier Mirek Topolánek. The present minister of environment Petr Jan Kalaš awaited his successor at the Ministry.

2,5 billion crowns will go to subsidy programs in 2007

Annually national subsidy programs are set to support development of regions and living. The support of regions is realized by means of two regional programs of support aimed at the area of North-West Bohemia and Moravia-Silesia, and further in development of economically weak and structurally afflicted regions. Programs of support of living are directed to renewal of panel buildings, building of technical infrastructure and supported flats. In frame of subsidy programs also renewal of the countryside and development of industrial entrepreneurial subjects in selected regions (e.g. NUTS II North-West) are supported as well as regeneration of former military premises for common use.

Saw-mills and state forests argue about amount of wood

Saw-mills and pulp-mills can not come to an agreement with Lesy ˙eské republiky whether there is enough wood. While plants processing wood speak about that they have a reserve for several weeks; according to Lesy there will be sufficient amount of wood in the first quarter. Although timber harvest does not run fully now. That all because the state enterprise has not closed contracts yet with firms which won advertised tenders for forest works in October. The original contracts expired to the end of 2006 or Lesy terminated them with reference to a decision of the Antimonopoly Office. “After expected February signing of contracts with winners of tenders there is a presumption that other 1,47 million cubic meters of wood will have been harvested till the end of March”, Tomáš Vyšohlíd, a spokesman of Lesy said. In his opinion there will be 2,14 million cubic meters of wood disposable in the first quarter.

Budvar came to agreement with feudal rival

An agelong rivalry for trademark Budvar has calmed down; both rivals start to sell beer together in the United States and they finished the first legal dispute by pacific settlement. That there is a warming of relations between Bud˙jovice Budvar and Anheuser Bush it was obvious already from the historically first trademark-legal settlement concerning the trademark Budweiser which both breweries closed in April last year in Cyprus. “It was such a test on commercially insignificant market. Medias dissembled it, nevertheless, a base of the current agreement was created there”, said and expert, who, however, owing to good relations to Budvar did not want to be named, to Hospodá˙ské noviny.