Final Word from Wednesday, August 10, 2022

The two-century history of Czech industry could be coming to an end. Some factories are going out of business because of higher costs induced by covid, the Green Deal and the war in Ukraine, while others will close because of uncertainty. As we noted on Mon., 63% of companies in a survey by the Czech Chamber of Commerce said that they don't have enough information about what a state of emergency would mean in terms of availability of natural gas for their operations. The EU's council regulation on coordinated demand-reduction measures for gas, which took effect yesterday, adds another layer of uncertainty. If voluntary conservation efforts were not sufficient, mandatory reductions could be imposed. Industry Min. Jozef Síkela told Czech TV on July 20 that this might indeed be necessary. Member states would in particular be encouraged to require companies to bid or tender for gas, which in the CR creates the dreaded uncertainty of who opens the envelopes. [ Czech Republic auction Save Gas for a Safe Winter saving deindustrialization ]