Final Word from Wednesday, May 24, 2023

When Eurostat reported in late April that residential natural-gas prices rose faster in the CR in the second half of last year than in any other EU country, PM Petr Fiala said that the statistics were wrong and that he didn't plan to accept it. One of the key issues was that providers sometimes gave customers discounts off the listed rates. When the ÚOHS antitrust office reported yesterday that it found no anti-competitive behavior in the supply chains for milk, butter, eggs, flour and chicken, Fiala said that prices are now falling. One of the key issues this time is how the antitrust office looks at prices. ÚOHS Chair Petr Mlsna told Czech TV last night that it's not the job of his office to determine if someone is making an excessive profit and that ÚOHS only attempted to provide an outline of margins that include both costs and profit. In the case of both energy and food prices, the Fiala government is doing its best to make sure people get confused and don't understand where all the money is going. [ Czech Republic tariff ]