Final Word from Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Czech companies are complaining more about high energy rates but still nowhere near as loudly as in Germany. Stefan Messer, who heads the supervisory board of family-owned Messer Group industrial gases, told Handelsblatt that he doesn't think energy-intensive businesses have much of a future in Germany. The first chemical plants are already shutting down, he said, and he's very worried about the automotive industry, but more for competitive reasons. If energy rates permanently remain much higher than they were 3-5 years ago, he said, you can be as robust as you want, but an energy-intensive company will often only have the choice of closing down or relocating. Some companies could also be looking more urgently for a buyer, he said. PM Petr Fiala didn't say much about near-term energy rates in his Restarting Czechia policy speech last week. Czech owners who see the writing on the wall and don't want to close down or relocate might have a narrow window for selling out. [ Czech Republic resetting sup. technical gasses Mittelstand deindustrialization deindustrializing relocate reolcation Czechia at a Crossroads ]