Czech morning news roundup: Thursday, November 4, 2021

According to a ranking by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA), the Czech Republic is one of the worst countries in Europe when it comes to CO2 emissions from new vehicles. It is thought the country’s low score is being driven by a generally conservative approach to choosing alternative, more sustainable types of car.

Europe-wide, emissions from new cars are falling, according to the data. The most successful countries in this regard are in the north of the continent: Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands. The worst are in Central and Eastern Europe. Still, interest in electric cars is growing in the Czech Republic: at the end of last year 7,109 electric cars and around 3,000 hybrid vehicles were registered in the country, with electric cars accounting for 2.58 percent of total new car sales.

Furniture and home goods company IKEA recorded a significant drop in profits in the last financial year, down 16 percent to around CZK 44 billion. The lower profits were the result of increased costs for transportation and raw materials, which outweighed a six percent growth in sales driven mainly by increased online buying.

Due to the ongoing supply chain problems, IKEA will raise prices, predicting that the issues affecting the company’s profit margins will continue for much of the next financial year. In the Czech Republic, the hugely popular outlet operates two locations in Prague, one in Brno and one in Ostrava.

Matěj Zábojník broke the Czech record in the 100m breaststroke swimming category with a time of 57.73 seconds at the European Championships. In doing so, he advanced into the semi-finals of the competition.

The 21-year-old broke the Czech 200m record for the same stroke last month, and is also set to compete in that category at the European Championships later this week. Zábojník’s success stood out as his fellow Czech competitors did not manage to make it through the qualification rounds, in the breaststroke and women’s backstroke categories.

Ski passes at Czech ski resorts are set to become more expensive, especially during busy periods. A one-day ski pass for an adult is expected to rise in price by 15 percent from the previous average of CZK 630, according to the Association of Mountain Resorts. It’s thought around 40 percent of Czechs are planning to go skiing this winter despite the worsening pandemic situation.

Ski resorts have invested significantly in development and modernization projects in the last two years, but making sure this year’s winter season can go ahead as planned is now the priority. The most expensive ski trips will be on winter weekends and around the Christmas holidays, though customers will pay less if they buy their ski passes in advance online. Indeed, online purchasing solutions have been a key area of investment for ski resorts in recent times.

Firefighters extricated a 74-year-old woman who was left hanging upside down in a paternoster lift in a post office building in Brno on Tuesday. The woman was taken to hospital with a bruised leg. Police were alerted to the incident by an English-speaking foreigner outside the building.

Upon entering they found the elderly woman hanging by her leg inside the paternoster, with two men trying to support her. The woman’s leg had become stuck between the cabin and the wall of the lift, meaning firefighters had to cut out part of the paternoster’s wooden construction in order to release her. The woman is said to have shown admirable composure, only grumbling about her own clumsiness in getting stuck.