Politics

Exporters Fear Trade War Over Digital Tax

Czech exporters are pleading with Prime Minister Andrej Babis to amend the current digital tax proposal. They fear it will damage Czech-US relations and bring severe retaliation by US President Donald Trump. The Chamber of Commerce says the state stands to lose more money over the loss of exports to the US than it will […]

Czechia Falls In Corruption Perception Index

Corruption in the Czech Republic is worsening, and Prime Minister Andrej Babis is to blame, Transparency International (TI) says. TI’s 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption. TI compiles expert assessments and surveys of business executives. Then assigns a score between zero (highly corrupt) […]

Digital Tax Moves Ahead Despite Trade Threat

US Tech companies face 7% digital tax in the Czech Republic The Czech Republic is seeking a 7 percent tax on companies that provide digital services to Czech users. The tax bill went before the Chamber of Deputies today, who gave it tacit approval in the opening round. Next, it will go before the Budget […]

babis trump
Trump Threatens Trade War Over Czech Digital Tax

Czech Digital Tax The United States is threatening the Czech Republic with a Trade War if it implements its planned digital tax. “We reserve the right to impose retaliation if the tax is discriminatory against US companies,” the US government source told HN saying that the US sees the Czech digital tax proposal as discrimination. […]

Zdenek Hrib
Shanghai Cuts Ties With Prague

The city of Shanghai’s city government announced the suspension of official communication with Prague. Shanghai’s retaliatory move is in response to Prague signing a sister-city agreement with Taipei, Taiwan. Shortly after terminating a similar agreement with Beijing. Reuters reports on the spat, excerpt below. While Czech President Milos Zeman has pushed ties with China, he […]

Czech Agriculture
EU Demands Return Of Agriculture Subsidies

The European Commission wants the Czech Republic to return 1.16 billion crowns paid out in agricultural subsidies, iROZHLAS.cz reports.  The sanction is based on an audit that took place three years ago. At the time, the auditors examined the introduction of the so-called active farmer institute to determine whether the subsidies were actually used by farmers. According […]

agrofert andrej babis
Senate Investigates Agrofert Loans

Czech Senator Lukáš Wagenknecht has contacted banks in Austria, Slovakia and Germany to investigate Agrofert loans. The Senator is seeking details on how Agrofert operates and whether false ownership information was provided by Agrofert when securing the loans, Neovlivni reports. Senator Lukáš Wagenknecht decided to obtain information on how European banks financing Agrofert in various […]

Andrej Babis Agrofert
2nd EU Audit Finds Babis In Conflict Of Interest

The second EU audit of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is complete and has found him once again, in a conflict of interest. Andrej Babis retained control of his business holdings, which continued to receive EU funds after he assumed office. The following article first appeared on the Czech news website Neovlivní.cz. The second of […]