Summary of newspapers of the previous year – 7 1. 2010

Agricultural trade unions have not pushed wage growth through yet, enterprises are against

Agricultural trade unionists have not come to an agreement with agrarian entrepreneurs on a collective agreement for this year yet. Representatives of both the sides confirmed it to ČTK. While trade unions require four-percent year-on-year increase in wage tariffs, entrepreneurs deny committing themselves to any salary growth. Wages in agriculture lags in long term significantly behind an average of the whole national economy. The branch suffers of low buy out prices for more than year.

Parliament will not probably pass senate proposal for decrease of beer tax

The Parliament will not apparently approve a Senate proposal according to which the beer consumption tax would be reduced to last year´s level. ČSSD is against this draft, nor majority of ODS representatives as well as communists will obviously support it. It results from today´s opinion poll of ČTK. The tax has increased by 50 hellers per half-liter since January. Some civil democrats speak about a need of wider change of alcohol taxation so that the tax would be imposed on now free-tax wine. In the Upper Chamber it push a regulation through about a reduction of beer consumption tax in an amendment on consumption taxes of ODS. Its senators spoke about negligible impact on the budget and a compromise when wine does not subordinate to the tax.

Lesy ČR got high fine for mistakes in order

Lesy ČR got a fine one million crowns from the Office of Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) for mistakes in orders from 2007 concerning computing technology. A chairman of the Office, Petr Rafaj told it on Thursday. The fine is not in authority; Lesy ČR can appeal against it. It is dealt with one of the biggest sanction imposed by the antimonopoly office for orders. Lesy ČR disagree with the verdict and appealed against it to the chairman of ÚOHS. A spokesman of Lesy ČR, Zbyněk Boublík, said it to ČTK. According to him, the whole affair concerns agreements closed by the management, which was in the enterprise in 2007.

Lowest sale of fertilizers since 1949

Sale of fertilizers, mainly potash and phosphorus, significantly decreased in the economic year 2008/2009 in Germany. The economic situation is difficult and development of state of incomes of German farmers owing to the actual economic crisis reflects also in costs for operational means. The decreasing trend in fertilizer consumption per hectare thanks to environmentally friendly and adjusted way of fertilization for plants manifest itself roughly from the half of 90´s, however, such a small amount of potash and phosphorus fertilizer as in last economic year was sold for the last time in 1949/50.