Interest rates are rising in the United States for the first time in a decade, and the impact is being felt around the world. For starters, the value of the dollar has been rising, suddenly putting the prospect of parity with the euro in reach. Rising inflation forced the European Central Bank to announce it would also begin raising interest rates. One of the main reasons these had remained low for so long was fears over the Italian banking system. Fears of an economic slowdown and rising levels of national debt have pushed yields on Italian government bonds up from 1.2% at the end of 2021 to 3.2%. That matters because government bonds are traditionally one of the primary assets of Italian banks. As a result, the ECB is expected to roll out a special “anti-fragmentation” bond buying program. If you want to see if the program works, watch the prices of shares in Italian banks.
Nuclear energy projects can be classified as green energy investments that are eligible for EU support. The proposal emerged in February even before Russia invaded Ukraine, angering environmentalists and proponents of alternative energy sources. When the so-called EU Taxonomy came up for a vote, the Czech Republic had just assumed the EU Council presidency for six months. Addressing the council in his first speech, Czech prime minister Petr Fiala insisted that the transition from fossil fuels wasn’t feasible without including nuclear energy in Europe’s energy mix. It’s the achievement for the Czech presidency, which comes at a challenging moment in European history. Ruinous inflation has been made worse by Russia’s barbaric attempt to reshape the continent’s security structures. Energy is at the heart of it all, as we’re likely to find out this winter.
Kamil Vacek made his fortune selling mobile phones through his company TCCM. Now he’s begun his first real estate project, building apartments that cost CZK 190,000 per square meter. But they’re not in Prague – they’re in his project Elements, located in the High Tatra mountains of Slovakia in Tatranske Lomnici near a chair lift. Construction of five buildings and 60 apartments is expected to complete in 2024 on the project that’s been in planning since 2024. The project’s name is connected to the names of five buildings: metal, wood, water, earth and fire. Vacek told Hospodářské noviny that the apartments went on sale the same day Russia attacked Ukraine. None sold for three weeks, but then demand began to rise. The most expensive has a price tag of €1.4 million. “I don’t feel like a developer, I take pouring concrete anywhere seriously,” he told HN. “It’s more that I wanted to do something nice for the area.”
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