Panattoni and its investment partner Accolade have leased 12,000 sqm of space to Marmon Foodservice at its industrial park at the Brno airport. Marmon announced in a press released that it was shifting its production of refrigeration units to the site from Germany and Great Britain because the location would allow it to service its customers efficiently. Accolade director Milan Kratina says Marmon will employ up to 300 people on the site. “It wants to strengthen its business on the European continent,” he said. “Brno is an ideal place thanks to its strategic location that’s close to all of the markets of Central and Eastern Europe.”
After months of a strict lockdown, the state of emergency has been lifted for the Czech Republic, while restrictions on movement have been eased. People will once again be allowed to travel between regions and the curfew after 9 p.m. will no longer be enforced. Restaurants can’t open yet, nor can hotels serve anyone not on official business, but shoe stores, stationery and children’s clothing stores can once again serve customers. Elementary schools will also open on a rotation business, but following the usual chaotic decision-making process, outdoor gatherings are limited to just two people.
The business mogul Ondřej Vlček and his wife Katarina have bought the historic Cibulka complex in Prague 5. They plan to transform it into a children’s hospice by investing CZK 1.5 billion of their own money. Vlček is the director of the anti-virus software company Avast, while his wife is a pediatrician specializing in palliative care. The Cibulka complex’s ancient history stretches back to the 14th century, but having fallen into disrepair in this century tended to make headlines because of the squatters who took up residence in it. Five days ago, its owner officially retracted his offer to sell it to the district of Prague 5 for CZK 101 million.
The Minister of Trade and Industry Karel Havlíček is leading a charge against solar power producers to force them to pay taxes on energy sales. Havlíček is calling for solar plants built after 2010 to pay 10% on the revenues they collect for energy sales, while those that went online before 2010 would have to pay 20%. The minister has a long-standing grudge against early solar investors who took advantage of the high prices that the state promised to buy electricity for before in the first wave of state-support for renewable energy. “The so-called solar baron is a myth, an imagined enemy of the state,” said the head of the Czech Solar Association Jan Krčmář. He says the volume of support for solar power generators was reduced in the past, accompanied by a promise of no further reductions.
