State

Official name: Czech Republic
Area: 78 864 km2
Administrative divisions: The Czech Republic consists of two main parts, which have no political power: Bohemia in the west, with Praha as its main city, Moravia in the east, with Brno as its unofficial capital.
The country is divided into 14 regions (Higher Territorial Self-governing units) with regional self-administration, that is 13 regions (kraje) and 1 capital city (hlavni mesto). These regions are divided into 77 districts (okres in Czech).

Cities:

Praha (1,2 million people), economic and political centre of the Czech Republic
Brno (389 000 people), second largest city and the leading city of Moravia, the eastern part of the country
Ostrava (325 000 people), leading metallurgical centre
Plzen (171 908 people), well known for its Pilsener beer
Olomouc (106 000 people), steel and iron centre

top

top

Currency:

Official currency: Czech Koruna (CZK)
Exchange rate: 1 EURO = 31,7 CZK (rolling-last update 21.02.03)

top

Politics

Political system: Parliamentary democracy
President: Václav Havel
Prime Minister: Vladimír Špidla

Political parties

Czech Social Democratic Party, a European-style socialist party, much like the British Labour Party or the German Socialists, favouring a social market economy. It has formed a coalition with KDU and US. It is the most pro-European party in the Czech Republic.

Civic Democratic Party is a centre-right, conservative party comparable to the British Conservative Party. ODS wants to create a liberal economy without major state intervention and demands strong ties with Western Europe, especially with NATO and the European Union. Their failure in the election was mostly due to their attitude regarding the EU accession and what this would mean in terms of property rights.

Christian Democratic Union-Czechoslovak People's Party is a centre-right party, which advocates traditional Christian, catholic values and the development of a social market economy, better social policies and governmental decentralisation. Like its coalition partner, the KDU is strongly pro-European. Freedom Union is a right-of-centre party with a strong urban support, especially among the higher educated people. It is economic policy follows the free market liberalism doctrine.

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, a successor of the former Communist Party of Czechoslovakia is orthodox communist. In foreign policy the party is anti-EU and anti-NATO. Until this moment all other parties in Parliament have refused to co-operate with the KSCM. The party enjoys the support of elderly people as well of those facing unemployment in largely industrialized areas.

Trade Unions - the majority of branch unions in the Czech Republic are united under the umbrella of the Czech-Moravian Chamber of Trade Unions (Ceskomoravská komora odborových svazu, CMKOS). Most Czech workers are members of one of those unions. The CMKOS is democratically oriented, but it is not affiliated with any political party and carefully maintains its independence.

Elections:

top

Climate

Climate: Continental climate
Average temperature Lowland temperatures in July average 20°C, and in mountainous areas 8-11°C. Lowland temperatures in January average -1 to -2°C, -5 to -7°C in the mountains.

top

Time zone

The Czech Republic is one hour ahead of standard GMT, in the same time belt as most Western European countries. There is no time difference between Belgium/Germany/the Netherlands and Poland.

top

How to get to the Czech Republic?

By plane

Praha airport Ruzyne : international airport that offers direct flights to major European cities. Ostrava: internal flights from Praha
Brno: flights from Praha during the Brno trade fairs

The best way to travel by plane to southern Moravia (Brno) is via Vienna airport. From Vienna, there are several trains to Brno.

If you’re heading to Ostrava, than the Polish Katowice airport or again Vienna is probably a better option than Praha.

By car

The quickest way to Praha coming from the west is via Brussels, Cologne, Frankfurt and Nuremberg, entering the Czech republic at the Waidhaus - Rozvadov border crossing.

If you want to continue further to Brno you will take the motorway D1 or E50/E65 between Praha and Brno.

Vienna is less than 100 km from the Czech border.

Driving distance Praha-major European cities

	Km	Driving time (hours)
Amsterdam	880	9
Belgrade	823	10
Berlin	341	4
Bratislava	317	3
Brussels	896	9
Bucharest	1 308	15,5
Budapest	520	5
Copenhagen	732	10
Frankfurt	500	5,5
Ljubljana	578	7,5
London	1 216	13
Munich	385	4
Paris	1 036	10
Rome	1 295	12
Sofia	1 205	14,5
Vienna	283	3
Vilnius	1 053	14,5
Warsaw	616	8
Zagreb	658	7

top

Infrastructure:

At the moment the Czechs are building the highway from Praha to Dresden (D), the bypass around Plzen (the final missing link between Frankfurt/M and Praha), the motorway from Olomouc to Ostrava with connection to the Polish road system and a motorway from Lipnik to Ostrava. Besides the construction of new highways, older ones are being renovated

The country is today easily accessible from west (Bavaria) to east (Bratislava and Hungary), while the connections towards Dresden, Berlin are under construction both on the Czech and on the German side of the border. The international road connections to mainly Poland but also Austria remain weak.

The railway network in the country is quite extensive with some lines having been renovated. The most important routes are under reconstruction with the aim to increase traffic speed. Between Praha and other capitals in neighbouring countries are put into operation trains of EU standard; priority is now being placed on the construction of high-speed links with Bratislava, Vienna, Berlin, Warsaw, Munich, Nurnberg and Linz.

One major inland water route is on the Elbe (Labe) river stretching from Chvaletice to the German border and further down to Hamburg port in Germany.

The List of Motorways and Expressways Sections Which Are Subject to a vignet, that you should purchase at the border crossing:

top

Wages:

Average gross salary (2001): 392 EUR

The wages tend to be lower in the eastern part of the country. The wages are considerably (50 % to 100 %) higher in Praha.

Average wage for a manual labourer: 160 EUR

Average wage for economist leaving university: 500 - 1 000 EUR

Wages differ significantly from one region to another, being considerably (almost double) in the capital city. Therefore when looking for staff, it is important not to pay exuberant wages, as they will not motivate your local staff at all, but on the other hand beware not to pay too low wages, as they will without doubt demotivate your local staff. Eastwards takes care of your recruitment of local top management, sales and financial management or specialists, and will consult you which wage packages are most suitable for the job responsabilities and place of employment you offer.

top

	2000	2001
Inflation	3,9%	4,5%
Real GDP growth rate (change to previous year)	3,3%	3,3%
GDP per capita	5400 EUR	6200 EUR
Unemployment	8,8%	8%

Trade with Germany

	2001	Percentage of the total
Exports to DE	15 544 mil. EUR	38,2%
Imports from DE	13 387 mil. EUR	32,9%

Trade with UK

	2001
Export to UK	2 050 mil. EUR	5,5%
Imports from UK	1 627 mil. EUR	4%

Trade with Belgium

	2001	Percentage of the total
Exports to BE	1 118 mil. EUR	3%
Imports from BE	976 mil. EUR	2,4%

Trade with the Netherlands

	2001	Percentage of the total
Exports to NL	1 043 mil. EUR	2,8%
Imports from NL	976 mil. EUR	2,4%

Trade with EU

Export to EU	25 676 mil. EUR	68,9%
Imports from EU	25 146 mil. EUR	61,8%

top

Official documents

International passport needed for entering the country, you will be controlled at the border. EU nationals do not need a visa for entering the country.

top

Cultural heritage

The Czech Republic is full of historical as well as natural beauties.
Praha, the capital, is the largest and most important city in the Czech Republic. It is often referred to with the attributes “golden”, “hundred-spired” or as the “mother of cities”. Its countless cultural and historical sites make it one of the most frequently visited places in Central Europe and its historic kernel has been listed in the World Cultural Heritage Treasury Records of UNESCO.

The Czech Republic offers also other charming historical towns that are worth seeing such as Ceský Krumlov, Kutná Hora, Brno, Olomouc, Kradec Králové and Telc. For the romantics who like dark medieval castles places like Karlštejn, Bezdes, Bouzov, Zvíkov or Perštejn will be very fascinating. The Czech Republic is also known for its spas where you can relax and improve your health (Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázne, Teplice, Jeseník, Jánské Lázne etc.)

In the north and the east of the Czech Republic stretch a range of mountains (Sudeten, Carpathians, Ceskomoravaska Vysocina) with scattered reasons where people ski in the winter or take beautiful hiking trips in the summer (Šumava, Krkonoše, Jeseníky, Beskydy)

Other very attractive part of the Czech Republic is the so called Bohemian Paradise that is a bizarre sandstone rock-piller landscape with countless observation points from which people admire fabulous shapes and deep gorges and canyons.

Gastronomy

The Czech republic definitely does not serve Europe’s best food, although beer and wine lovers will find their paradise on earth. A wide variety of bread and pastry are available. Lunch, the main meal of the day, begins with a soup followed by a main dish of meat and potatoes or dumplings. A common dish is vepro-knedlo-zelo (pork roast, dumplings, sauerkraut). Some other national dishes are: tripe soup, potato soup or “kulajda” soup, roasted sirloin beef in sour cream sauce and dumplings, Moravian sparrows (roasted fat pork offcuts), potato pancakes, fruit dumplings, baked yeast dumplings, fried cheese etc. Czech national alcoholic drinks are: beer, home made wine, “šlivovice” (spirit made of plums) and “becherovka” (spirit of bitter spicy taste).

The Czechs are, among the Germans and the Belgians, the heaviest drinkers of beer in Europe. Drinking beer is a national sport and a social phenomenon. When people go out to have some fun they will always say: “Let’s go have a beer!” Beer opens the hearts of the reserved Czechs and makes them talk about everything in a very emotional way. Most famous beer brands are Pilsen Urquell and Budweiser but there are also other local tasty brands available. A Czech proverb says that ‘only beer makes thirst wonderful.

top

Prices

The highest prices are in Praha and are generally higher in the larger cities.

	CZK	EUR
bread	18	0.6
0,5 l of beer	15	0.5
1 cup of coffee	18.6	0,62
1 bottle of wine	75	2.5
1 litre of milk	18	0.6
1 kg of chicken meat	120	4
1 litre of petrol	25.5	0.85
1 litre of diesel oil	22.5	0.75
Taxi services	24/km	0.8/Km
Average cost of meal	100	3.3
Real estate/m2	1 500 - 3 000	500 - 1000
1 movie ticket	51	1.7
Average cost of lodging	600 - 1 200	20 - 40

top

Safety

The Czech Republic is in general quite safe. In the bigger towns and places with higher unemployment, criminality is higher than in the smaller towns and villages. It is advisable to beware in the Praha tourist centre and on several tram lines used by tourists because of pick pocketers.

top

top

top