Daily news summary

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Czech president visits scandal linked Stork’s Nest farm

President Miloš Zeman has visited the notorious Stork’s Nest farm linked to ANO leader and minister of finance, Andrej Babiš. The farm was at the centre earlier this year of a scandal over whether Babiš, the owner of the massive agro-chemical group Agrofert, wrongly claimed European funds for the conversion of the complex. Babiš eventually told a special session of the lower house that the farm was owned by his daughters and son-in-law. The president’s visit is being taken as a sign of close links between Babiš and Zeman and their possible mutual support in upcoming election battles. The use of funds for the farm is still being investigated by a European fraud squad.

ČEZ seeks to bolster safety checks following Dukovany problems

Czech electricity giant ČEZ says it is has relocated and cut pay of some workers responsible for failures at its Dukovany nuclear plant last year which resulted in drawn out outages at reactors. The state-controlled company also said that it changing safety check procedures after a sub-contractor was found to have carried out flawed X-ray checks on pipe welds at reactors. ČEZ says around 100 new specialists will be hired at the reactors, a lot more work will be handed to daughter company ÚJV Řež, and steps will be taken to limit sub-contractors from re-sub-contracting work.

Police call for fraud charges against former national ice hockey coach

Police have called for fraud charges to be pressed against former national ice hockey coach, Vladimír Rúžička, according to the ČTK news agency citing police sources. The charges relate to his period as trainer at the Prague Slavia club when he is alleged to have received half a million crowns from a wealthy businessman in order that his son would play for the club. The sum never found its way onto the books of the hockey club. The allegations came to light ahead of last year’s ice hockey world championships with Rúžička later resigning his post. He is currently the trainer at Chomutov.

Prague parties seal new coalition deal over city hall

An agreement between three political parties, ANO, the Social Democrats, and the three-way coalition (composed of the Christian Democrats, Greens, and party of mayors, STAN) has been signed aimed at the future running of Prague City Hall. The deal brings together the same three groups who fell out in October last year leaving the Czech capital rudderless. The agreement has the backing of 34 of the 65 members of the council. An new council executive does not feature the Green leader Matěj Stropnický, who previously clashed frequently with mayor Adriana Krnáčová.

Vineyard owners say frosts will hit crop

More than a fifth of vines in Southern Moravia have been affected by early morning frosts over the last week according to the Association of Vineyard Owners. There will be a clear impact on the future grape crop but the association has so far been unable to put a figure on the estimated damage. Temperatures dropped to below zero on Wednesday and Thursday nights. The worst affected vines are expected to be those in valley locations. Severe frosts last affected vineyards in the region four years ago.

Škoda Transportation lands Riga contract for 20 new trams

Czech company Škoda Transportation has announced a contract to deliver 20 trams to the Latvian capital Riga. The contract is worth around 62.6 million euros. Advantageous financial terms for the contract have been offered by a local Latvian bank with repayments over 15 years from the delivery of the first tram. There are already 26 Škoda trams in service in the city. The deliveries of the new trams will be completed by the end of September next year, according to the company.

Chinese company signs 1.0 billion crown investment deal for Sokolov

The Chinese auto and farm machinery producer Shijiazhuang Zhogxing group has signed an agreement with Czech company Czech Industry Group which includes the investment of 1.0 billion crowns in a new plant near the West Bohemian town of Sokolov to make car discs. The Chinese company is one biggest producers of such discs in the world. The new factory is expected to employ 100 initially, eventually rising to 200 people. There is an above average unemployment rate of around 8.6 percent around Sokolov.

Record seizure of drug for Pervitin production made at Polish border

Customs officers in the Liberec region in the north of the country say they have made a major swoop on Polish exports of drugs used to manufacture the illegal drug Pervitin. The stopped a vehicle crossing the border from Poland with a consignment of 50,000 tablets of the anti-cold drug Cirrus. The drug, only on available on prescription in the Czech Republic but on open sale in Poland, is popular to make the illegal drug. The single seizure exceeds the entire haul of Cirrus in the Liberec region for 2015. It’s estimated around 4 million Cirrus tablets are imported from Poland into the Czech Republic every year. Much of the pervitin produced is then sold in Germany.

Javelin medal hope Barbora Špotáková’s comeback delayed

The comeback of one of the biggest Czech hopes for a gold medal in the Summer Olympics is encountering some problems. Javelin record holder Barbora Špotáková is still unable to train regularly after a bone fracture suffered in March. The athlete had been hoping to take part in her first major Diamond League appearance of the season at Qatar next week but that has now been cancelled. She now expects to compete at the earliest in June.

Czechs crash to 7:2 defeat against Sweden in ice hockey worlds warm-up

In ice hockey, the Czech Republic team suffered a crushing 2:7 defeat at the hands of Sweden in a warm up match for the upcoming World Championships which was held in Znojmo on Wednesday night. The Czechs were leading 2:1 in the first period but the visitors went on to score a further six goals without reply before the final buzzer. The game was held as part of the Euro Hockey Tour. The Swedes assured first place in the competition. The World Championships take place in Russia in the first week of May.